Three awesome holiday desserts

Yesterday was the perfect Saturday.  It was snowing, I had a fire going, and I baked all day.  I was making bite-sized desserts for a party, all recipes I have never tried before.  Some how they all turned out great.  I did a nut, a sour fruit, and the most deadly of chocolate.  I cut the bar and brownies into 2 inch squares and arranged everything on a big silver platter.  There was a little something for every palate.

Pecan Tassies
Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

(Dough)

• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) cream cheese
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt

(Filling)

• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the dough: Process pecans in a food processor until finely ground (you should have about 1/3 cup); set aside. Put cream cheese and butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until well blended. Add flour, ground pecans, and salt; mix just until dough comes together.

Roll dough into sixteen 1-inch balls, and press into bottoms and up sides of cups of mini-muffin tins.  You may need to use some flour on your hands to stop it from sticking to you.  Keep tart shells in the fridge while making the filling.

Make the filling: Whisk the egg, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, butter, and salt in a small bowl. Stir in pecans. Spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons filling into each muffin cup.

Bake pecan tassies until crust begins to turn golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely in tins on wire rack. Unmold. Pecan tassies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers up to 3 days.

Lemon Bars

Recipe courtesy of Recipe Connoisseur

Ingredients:

(Crust)

• ½ pound unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ⅛ tsp. salt

(Filling)

• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups sugar
• 2½ tablespoons grated lemon zest, packed
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy in electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and with mixer on low, add to sugar mixture until just combined. Gather dough into a ball and press into a 9 X 13 inch pan, pressing the edges up the sides about a ½ inch. Chill in freezer for 15 minutes.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, until edges start to brown. Let cool while making filling.
Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the filling is set. Cool to room temperature before slicing.

Flourless Dark Chocolate Brownies with Queen Mother Icing

Recipe courtesy of Yammie's Gluten Freedom

Ingredients:  

(Brownies)

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup special dark cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

(Queen Mother Ganache)

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 tsp instant coffee
• 16 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 2/3 cups)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan. Combine the sugars and oil and beat until well combined. Add in the eggs and whisk together. Mix the vanilla and instant coffee together until the coffee powder is dissolved and add to the egg/sugar/oil mixture. Beat for about two minutes. Stir together the cocoa and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and blend until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake about 20 minutes.

While the brownies are cooling, make the queen mother ganache.  Heat the cream in a sauce pan over medium heat until bubbles form around the edge.  Whisk in instant coffee until dissolved, then add in chocolate and whisk about 30 seconds.  Now remove from the heat and continue to whisk until ganache is completely smooth.  Pour ganache over brownies and put in the freezer for about a half hour.  You want them to be chilled and set enough to cut without the knife catching in the chocolate.  The brownies are really moist and crumbly, and the ganache becomes like fudge so it wants to stick on the knife.  While you are cutting, keep wiping off the knife of excess chocolate to get a clean cut.  

Mostly apple muffins

This batter turned out to be 75% apples and 25% actual batter..... oh well the muffins turned out delish anyway.

Apple Cinnamon Almond Muffins
Recipe adapted from Culinary Chat

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbls cinnamon
• 1/2 cup canola oil or butter (your preference)
• 2 eggs or 4 egg yolks
• 2/3 cup milk or soymilk
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 4 small gala apples- cored and cubed
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup raw almonds for tops

Method:

Preheat oven to 430.  Paper a 12-cup muffin tin.  Chop up your apples and set aside.  In a small bowl mix flours, b powder, salt, cinnamon, set aside.  In a larger bowl mix sugar, eggs, oil, eggs, milk, extract, and raisins.  Add the dry to the wet and mix, then add the apples and mix.  Pour into muffin cups and drop a few almonds on top of each muffin.  Bake for 10 mins then lower temp to 400 and turn the tray in the oven, bake for another 10-12 mins.  Take out the muffins when they bounce back and are crusty on top.  They may remain moist because of the fruit.  

Almond extract is amazing

I picked up some almond extract at BJ's the other day and used it in these cookies instead of vanilla.  WOW.  The smell alone is enough to convert you.  Then pair that with cinnamon and whole almonds and you are in heaven.  I need to start branching out on my extracts.  Coconut perhaps?

Almond Coconut Cinnamon Cookies
Adapted from Chocolate Moosey

Ingredients:

• 1  cup white flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg or 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• handful of raw almonds for decoration

Method:

In a small bowl mix flours, b soda, salt, and cinnamon, set aside.  In the bowl of your stand mixer beat the butter and the sugar til fluffy.  Add eggs and extract and beat.  Add flour and coconut and beat to combine.  Fridge batter for 30 mins.  Preheat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with foil.  Make walnut-sized balls of dough and place them a couple inches apart on the sheet.  Press one raw almond into each cookie and bake for about 16 minutes til golden brown at edges.  

Kabocha squash recipes

The other day I went to a farm to buy squash and they ended up giving me a bunch of free squash because they were getting a little old and soft.  So I took them home and cut off the soft spots and baked them all.  Now I have a ton of cooked kabocha squash and not enough time to eat it.  (Who am I kidding I could eat that stuff day and night).  Anyway I saved this pumpkin muffin recipe so I decided to sub the kabocha squash for pumpkin to use some of this stuff up.

Kabocha Squash Spice Muffins
Adapted from Dainty Chef

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 large eggs or 8 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups mashed kabocha squash
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• splash of milk or soymilk 
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup nuts of your choosing or pumpkin seeds

Method:

Preheat oven to 430.  Line 12-cup muffin tin with papers.  In small bowl mix flours, spices, salt, b soda, and b powder, set aside.  In larger bowl mix eggs, sugar, squash, oil, molasses, nuts and raisins.  Add the dry into the wet and combine without over-mixing.  At this point if your mixture is a little dry add the splash of milk, leave it out if the batter is wet enough.  Portion evenly into muffin tins and pop in the oven for 10 minutes.  When the timer goes off lower the temp to 400 and rotate the muffin tin.  Bake for another 10 minutes or until the muffins bounce back to the touch.  Take them out still a little underdone, they will continue to bake in the pan.  Pop them out when they are completely cooled.

Trail mix cookies

Wow, long time no post right?  Thanksgiving come and gone, these are the cookies I made that were inhaled shortly after arriving at my grandma's house.

Chewy Maple Trail Mix Cookies
Adapted from Hungry Rabbit

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups (4-1/2 ounces) old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1-1/3 cups (6-3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) packed light-brown sugar
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup pure grade B maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 cup dried cranberries or raisins
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat oven to 300.  In small bowl mix oats, flour, salt, and sugar, coconut, raisins, and chocolate chips, set aside.  Melt butter in small saucepan and stir in sugar, maple sugar, and vanilla.  In another small bowl mix baking soda and boiling water and then add to sugar/butter mixture immediately.  Pour sugar/butter mixture into dry ingredients and mix til combined.  You might have to add a little more maple syrup at this point (1 or 2 Tbsp) if the dough is a little dry.  Make walnut-sized balls of dough and place on a tin foil-lined baking sheet.  You can crowd these cookies on the tray because they don't really spread.  Flatten the cookies a bit with your hand because they don't melt down like a regular cookie.  Bake for around 20 minutes give or take depending on the cookie size.  I like these quite brown on the edges, otherwise they don't hold together as well.  Let them cool before you remove from the sheet or they will fall apart.  Sometimes I add nuts to these or other seeds or dried fruit.  They are a big-time crowd fave.

Baking doughnuts

I am too lazy to fry my doughnuts.  I don't want the mess of oil or the chance of burning myself.  So the Wilton doughnut pan is a great alternative.  Basically you are making a muffin in a different shape.  The recipe is much like a muffin, although I tend to make everything a little more hearty and less buttery and sugary etc.

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts
Recipe adapted from The Kitchn

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup ap flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/3 cup apple cider
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt or you can sub more apple sauce

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray your doughnut pan with Pam spray.  In one bowl mix flour, b soda, b powder, salt, and cinnamon.  In another bowl mix egg, sugar, apple sauce, vanilla, cider and yogurt if you have it.  Pour dry into wet and mix just til combined.  Pour into doughnut pans, don't fill higher than the top rim of the mold or when they bake they will over-flow and it won't look like a doughnut!!  Bake for about 11 to 13 minutes- less time if you are using the mini-mold.  When the cake bounces back to the touch remove and let cool.   Knock out your doughnuts and enjoy!!

Apple cinnamon muffins

Saturday morning and the guys are here refinishing the floors.  To combat the smell of polyurethane I decided to bake some cinnamon muffins.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Oats and Almonds
Recipe adapted from My Recession Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups ap flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon 
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup soy milk 
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 3 apples worth of peeled and cored apple chunks
• 1 cup rolled oats
• almonds for topping

Method: 

Preheat oven to 430.  Paper a 12-cup muffin tin.  Mix flours, cinnamon, b soda, b powder, salt in one bowl.  Mix sugar, milk, apple sauce, oil, vinegar, vanilla, and molasses in another bowl.  Mix dry into wet and then mix in oats and apple chunks.  Divide into muffin tins and top with 3 almonds each and sprinkle of cinnamon.  Put into oven and turn temp down to 400.  Bake for about 25 mins.  

Leftover beer bread baking

We had a party last weekend and had several cans of Yuengling lager left over.  I found a really great recipe for a beer pretzel bread to try out.

Beer Pretzel Bread
Recipe adapted from Baked By Rachel

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 C beer
• 1 pkg rapid rise yeast
• 1 tsp sugar

• 3C bread flour
• 1 tsp salt

• 1/3C baking soda

• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• Course salt, for topping

Method:

Microwave the beer in 30-second intervals until it is warm.  Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast and sugar and cover with a towel to proof for 7 mins.  With your dough hook add the flour and salt until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  You may need to knead in a little more flour.  Transfer to a oil-sprayed bowl and cover with a towel to rise for an hour.  Once risen, cut into 4 balls and let them rise again for 25 mins on parchment.  Preheat the oven to 375 and bring 3 inches of water to boil in a stock pot.  Once the water is at a rolling boil add the baking soda, careful it will bubble up so be prepared.  Cut an X into the top of each roll and drop them into the water.  Boil them for 30 seconds on each side and then take them out and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake for about 25 mins until dark brown on top.  

Peanut butter cookies for work friends

I promised a coworker something with peanut butter and chocolate.  I think this will work...

Peanut Butter Hershey Kiss Cookies with Sea Salt
Recipe adapted from Knead To Cook

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks butter at room temp
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter 
• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• About 20 or so Hershey Kisses
• Sea Salt for sprinkling on top

Method:  

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix flours, b soda, b powder, and salt in small bowl.  In bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter, peanut butter, and sugars until light and fluffy.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture.  Make walnut-sized balls out of the batter and place on cookie sheet.  Press one hershey kiss face-down into each cookie and then sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake for 14 minutes or until they are as golden as you like them.  I like them pretty golden around the edges.  

Baking with pumpkin!!

Yet another way to tell that it's fall, canned pumpkin is aplenty.  I saved this recipe a week ago and was very glad that I did.

Pumpkin Cornbread Muffin with Craisins and Walnuts
Recipe adapted from Aida's Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 1 cup craisins
• 1 cup crushed walnuts

Method:

Preheat oven to 430.  Mix flour, b powder, salt, cinnamon, and cornmeal in a small bowl.  In a larger bowl mix sugar, eggs, pumpkin, canola, and molasses.  Pour dry into wet and mix til almost combined.  Add craisins and walnuts and mix completely.  Divide into about 8 muffin cups and put in oven.  Turn oven down to 400 and bake for about 20 minutes.  Muffins are done when they are firm to the touch.

Illustration credit:  www.123rf.com

It's a cold day... let's make some cookies

Chilly outside, but warm and smelling like baking inside.  Fall is here isn't it?  It sure felt like it today.  Shivering all day at work, but came home to a nice warm fire and a bag of chocolate chips.

Chocolate Chip Walnut and Butterscotch Coffee Cookies
Recipe adapted from A Zesty Bite

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks salted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 lg eggs
• 2 Tbsp plus 1 tsp brewed coffee
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp instant ground espresso
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips 
• 1 cup crushed walnuts

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix b soda, flour, salt, espresso, and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy in electric mixer.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Add coffee.  Add dry mixture.  Add chips and walnuts.  Divide cookies between 4 baking sheets and bake for about 14 minutes, until golden brown.  

Illustration credit:  favim.com

The barter system

My friend Blue and I have a really great barter going on where she gives me massages in exchange for baked goods.  This week I had her work on this wicked knot in my back and I made her cookies.  I really like this trade, we've been doing it pretty much all summer.  Blue often challenges me by asking for gluten-free or vegan recipes and I try to rise to the occasion.  I pulled out an oldie but goodie Martha recipe for this weeks trade.

Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Cookies
Recipe from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 7 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1/2 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Method:

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Chop chocolate into 1/4-inch chunks; set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and grated ginger until whitened, about 4 minutes. Add brown sugar; beat until combined. Add molasses; beat until combined.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Beat half of flour mixture into butter mixture. Beat in baking-soda mixture, then remaining half of flour mixture. Mix in chocolate; turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Pat dough out to about 1 inch thick; seal with wrap; refrigerate until firm, 2 hours or more.
4. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Roll dough into 1 1/2- inch balls; place 2 inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Roll in granulated sugar. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makin' bread on the weekend

Bread is really fun.  I have found a few really easy recipes that turn out pretty much every time and are big crowd pleasers.  I'm adding this one to the list.  This recipe was a little off for me, I had to add a significant amount of white flour to the dough to get it to come together.  I added 1/4 cup at a time and probably added about one additional cup all together.  I also had to throw away my first starter because my yeast didn't turn out.  It didn't foam so I had to start all over.  No biggie I just hate to waste all that honey.  Anyway...

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Raisin Bread
Recipe adapted from Naturally Ella

Ingredients:

• 1½ cup warm water
• 1 package yeast
• ½ cup honey
• 3 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1½ cup whole wheat
• ½ cup white flour (plus more)
• 1 cup raisins

Method: 

Start by placing water, yeast, and honey in the bowl of stand mixer. Stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve yeast and honey, let sit for 5-10 minutes or until mixtures begins to foam. (If this does not happen your yeast was either old or your water was too cold or hot or your yeast was no good.)  Once yeast is ready, add oil, salt, oatmeal, and 1 cup of the whole wheat flour.  Add raisins.  Begin to knead with dough hook, adding the rest of the whole wheat flour and white flour as needed until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.  I had to add about 1 cup of extra white flour at this point, this may be different for you so don't take my word for it (dough should still be kind of soft, just not sticky.)  Continue to knead for 10 minutes.  Once done kneading set in a warm spot to rise.  If there are no sunny spots outside I turn the oven on to the lowest degree for a few minutes and then turn it off and make sure it's just warm and let it rise in there.  Let dough rise until doubled in size- usually about an hour.  Turn dough out and shape into a loaf or some rolls and place on a parchment-papered baking sheet. Again, place in warm spot and let rise until dough doubles in size-this is usually about 45 minutes.  Heat oven to 375˚, spray loaf lightly with water, sprinkle oatmeal on top, and spray with water again. Bake for 45 minutes or until bread is golden on top and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Let cool and slice.

Wedding cookies?

I was calling these wedding cookies but apparently they are called "will you marry me cookies" because they are so good that someone will fall in love with you if you bake them. So obviously I made them for my mom.

Will You Marry Me Cookies
(Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Oat Cookies)
Recipe adapted from The Cooking Channel

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup uncooked rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup dark  chocolate chips
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

In a small saucepan melt butter, remove from the heat and add the sugars.  Let the pan cool for 10 mins add egg yolks and vanilla and whisk to combine.  In a separate bowl Mix all of the dry ingredients, pour the butter mixture to the dry and combine.  (Can be done in a mixer).  Add the chocolate chips and combine.  Chill the mixture for about 30 minutes and then place walnut-sized balls of dough onto prepared cookie sheets and bake in 325 degree oven 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown.  

Muffins baked with no power!!

We had quite a bit of rain today didn't we?  And the power went out just as I was finishing baking my muffins, thankfully the oven wasn't effected by the storm and I could feel that the muffins were done without my oven light.

Apple Molasses Bran Muffins
Recipe adapted from Circle-B-Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup OJ
• 1/4 cup dark molasses

• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda 
• 3/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup bran 
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 4 apples, diced (Granny Smith or other baking apple) 
• 1 cup chopped almonds

Method:

Preheat your oven to 450 and paper a 12- cup muffin tin.  Mix all wet ingredients and set aside.  Mix all dry ingredients and set aside.  Mix the dry into the wet and when almost combined add the raisins, apples, and almonds.  Mix until combined, divide into muffin cups and place in the 450 degree oven.  Turn the oven down to 400 and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins are set in the center.  

About time I made some cookies

It's been a little while since I got the Kitchen Aid going so I made some chocolate chip cookies last night.  I found a simple recipe and then rolled the dough in coconut and sea salt before putting it on the cookie tray.

Coconut Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Verses From My Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• pinch of coarse salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• sea salt

Method:

Mix together the brown sugar, sugar and butter in Kitchen Aid. Add the eggs, mixing until incorporated. Add in the vanilla and continue to mix. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt and add into the mixture. Pour in the chocolate chips and fold until well distributed.
Drop tablespoon-sized balls of the mixture onto a parchment paper-lined sheet that you have rolled in coconut and sprinkled on top with a little sea salt.
Place the sheet into a pre-heated 325°F oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until the bottom is slightly browned.

Maida Heatter's bran muffins yet again

When you don't have walnuts and raisins for your bran muffins, almonds and apples will have to do...  This time I bumped back the sugar and bumped up the molasses and the salt.  

Almond Apple Bran Muffins

Recipe adapted from Maida Heatter

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup dark or light molasses or honey
• 4 egg yolks 
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 1/2 cups bran flakes
• 1 chopped apple
• 1 cup almonds chopped into large pieces
• 1 cup unsifted all purpose white flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 450 and paper a 12-cup muffin tin.  Melt the butter in a pan, remove it from the heat and add the sugar and molasses to it.  Stir to combine.  Separately, combine the egg and the milk.  Then add that to the butter mixture and combine.  Add the bran flakes and stir them in so they absorb the liquid.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and b soda.  Add the wet to the dry and stir til almost combined.  Add the apple and nuts and mix the rest of the way.  Divvy into muffin tins and pop in the oven.  Once the pan is in turn the oven down to 400 and bake for 17 minutes or until the muffins are set.  

I made up this recipe (sort of)

For Bruce and Molly:  these are healthy so you don't have to feel bad about loving them.

Blueberry Orange Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup or more OJ
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 mashed bananas
• zest of one orange

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup ap flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 pint blueberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 430.  Paper a 12-cup muffin tin.  Mix all wet ingredients in one bowl, all dry in another.  Pour dry into wet and mix, then mix in blueberries.  Divide batter into muffin tray and bake at 430 for 7 minutes, then reduce temp to 400 and bake another 12 minutes until muffins are cooked through.  

Shortbread for dessert tonight

I'm making dinner for some friends tonight and settled on shortbread for dessert.  I really like this Martha Stewart recipe because there's no mixer involved and you can add anything you want to flavor the dough.  I used chocolate chips and heath toffee bits that I got on sale at Acme.

Chocolate-Toffee Press In Shortbread
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup or more toffee bits

Method:

Preheat oven to 325.  Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.  Then add butter and vanilla and cut in with pastry cuter.  Add chocolate and heath chips and stir to combine.  Press into an un-greased 9x9 baking pan firmly.  Bake for 25 mins or so until golden brown on the edges.  Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for half an hour then run a knife around the edges and flip it onto a cooling rack.  After the massive square cookie has cooled chop it into square pieces and devour it.  

Chocolate chip oatmeal coconut cookies and why I haven't been baking as much

First of all it's been hot.  When it's above 90 degrees no one feels like turning on the oven.  And even though some people are clever enough to bake on a BBQ, mine is pretty crappy so that's not an option.  So if I'm not baking what am I doing?  Well catching a lot of toads apparently.  Also a lot of gardening and I got to the beach a few times with friends.

But as the temp drops and the oven becomes more tolerable I start thinking about cookies and muffins again...

Chocolate Chip Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe adapted from Thyme of Taste

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 C of flour
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 4 Tbsp of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 1 C of brown sugar
• 1 C of dark chocolate chips 
• 1 C oatmeal
• 1 C shredded coconut

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 and put tin foil on 2 baking sheets.  In a small bowl mix flour, b soda, salt, and oatmeal.  Melt butter in microwave and then add to it the egg, vanilla, and sugar.  Mix into the dry ingredients and then add the chocolate chips and coconut and stir to combine.  You might have to use your hands if it gets stiff.  Make walnut-sized balls of dough and place on baking sheet.  These don't spread too much because of the coconut.  Bake for at least 15 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms.  

Black toad in the flower pot

I found this black toad in a pot I was watering last week.  He was sucking up the moisture from the soil and chillin in the shade.  And he wasn't too happy when I moved him, he started chirping at me.

Lots of fruit lying around...

Strawberries, a couple of aging peaches, and half of an apple that no one ate...  I haven't made muffins for a while.  So I looked up a strawberry muffin recipe and then basically didn't follow it.


Strawberry Muffins
Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Charms

Ingredients:

• 1/2  cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup or more soymilk

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup ap flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt

• 1 pint chopped strawberries
• 2 mashed peaches
• 1/2 apple (chopped)

Method:

Wash and cut all of your fruit into one bowl, set aside.  Preheat oven to 430 and paper a 12 cup muffin tin.  Combine all wet ingredients in a bowl, mix, set aside.  Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl, mix, and add to the wet ingredients.  Mix until almost combined, add fruit and then mix just until combined.  Divide into prepared muffin pan and bake on 430 for 7 minutes.  Lower temp to 400 and bake for another 13 or so minutes, until muffins bounce back to the touch.  

Molly's birthday cake

I made a banana cake with cream cheese icing for Molly's surprise birthday party!  We had a great time last night celebrating Mole's birthday at Gravers Lane Gallery, where Molly works.

The first time I made this cake I brought some to Molly at work.  She told me it was her new favorite cake and she wanted it for her birthday.  That was months ago, but I didn't forget.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Adapted from White On Rice Couple

Cake Ingredients:

• 3 c Flour 1 T Baking Powder
• 1/2 t Salt 
• 1/2 t Nutmeg 
• 1 c (2 sticks) unsalted Butter, room temp 
• 1 1/2 c Brown Sugar 
• 8 Egg Yolks 
• 1/2 c Canola Oil 
• 1 T Molasses 
• 8 ripe Bananas

Icing Ingredients:

• 8 oz. package of Cream Cheese
• 2 sticks Butter
• 3 c Powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour two 9" cake pans and one tall 4" wedding cake top if you want the double layer look like I did for Molly's cake.
Mash bananas and set aside.
Mix flour, b powder, salt, and nutmeg and set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer beat the butter on high until fluffy.
Add sugar and cream with the butter.
Add egg yolks and mix just til combined.
Add canola and molasses and mix til combined.
Add dry ingredients to mixer and mix just til combined.
Add bananas and mix just til combined.
Pour batter into cake tins.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, the cakes are done when they are firm to the touch and a knife comes out clean from the center.  My little 4" took a bit longer than the 9" cakes because it was so thick.
While the cake is cooling make your icing.
Beat the butter and cream cheese in a mixer until fluffy, then add powdered sugar one cup at a time beating well and then add vanilla.
Once the cake is cool cut the 4" cake top into 2 separate layers.

Ice your cake and then decorate with some icing chocolate (melted semisweet chocolate chips and a little butter) in your piping bag.  My mom threw on a little mexican heather and some lantana for color.

Toad chronicles

Somehow this blog has become more about toads than baking.  I keep coming across the biggest fattest toads while I'm gardening.  The best place to find toads is in the woods while it's raining.  If you can stand to go on a hike in the rain in Valley Green, as I did earlier this summer with a couple of friends, you will literally trip over all of the toads that come out to absorb the water.  Toads don't actually live in water, they like rain, moist soil, and shallow puddles.  They need water to lay eggs and for their tadpoles to develop but they aren't water-bound like frogs are.

This guy was hiding in the dirt where I was pulling out some ivy ground-cover.  He jumped up on a rock and sat there for about an hour.  He has kind of a grumpy looking face doesn't he?   

Grump

More toads

There's something about a toad...  This summer I've been finding lots of different colored toads.  I saw a big yellow one about a month ago and then the other day in the same garden I found this little dark brown/grey guy in the bottom of a flower pot.  What a little sweetheart he didn't want to get off of my hand.

It's hard to find toads, they stick to the dirt and come out when it rains to soak up the moisture.  But the frogs in the pond are bold and loud!  They sound like angry rubber bands.  They're harder to catch and slimy.  If you can manage to get your hand around one they slip right out if you're not careful.  These guys are much easier to catch with a net.  

What to do with aging peaches?

Muffins.  A beautiful golden bran muffin with fresh peaches.  I stopped at the farm stand on my way home the other day and got some really nice local fruit.  I thought the richness of the molasses in Maida Heatter's bran muffin recipe would go nicely with the sweetness of a fresh peach.

I cut back on the sugar in this batch and threw in a splash of OJ because the batter was a bit thicker than I wanted.  I also used egg yolks instead of whole eggs.  I cut my peaches into good-sized wedges and then stuck them in the muffins after I poured the batter into the pan.  I wanted them to be on top of the muffins so you could see the fruit poking out the top.

Bran Muffins with Peaches
Adapted from Maida Heatter

Ingredients:

• 2 ounces ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dark or light molasses or honey
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups bran cereal (do not use flakes, Maida recommends Kellogg's All-Bran)
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup unsifted whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unsifted all purpose white flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 peaches- cut into wedges

Method:

If your oven can not fit both muffin tins side by side on the middle rack, adjust the 2 racks to divide the oven into 3rds.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Butter 18 2 3/4 inch muffin forms. Note: Buttering the tins will create a very nice crust for the muffins, if using paper cups the crust may be diminished but the muffins will keep longer.  Melt butter over low heat. In a large mixing bowl combine the melted butter, sugar and molasses or honey and stir to mix.  In a separate bowl beat the eggs and milk to mix.  Slowly add the egg mixture to the butter mixture stirring with a wire whisk to blend. Mix in the bran and raisins and let stand for a few minutes. Or cover and refrigerate overnight.  Sift together flours, salt, and baking soda and add to bran mixture. Stir quickly with rubber spatula just enough to moisten dry ingredients.  With a large spoon, fill prepared cups with batter about 2/3rds full.  Stick 3 peach wedges in each muffin.  Bake for 6 minutes on 425 and then lower the temp to 400 for another 10 or so minutes.  Check the center of the muffins carefully by poking with your finger, they may still be a little wet because of the peach juice but the cake should not be raw.  So take a close look around the fruit.  Hopefully your muffin tops will be golden brown and gorgeous.  

Maida Heatter fan

Finally!!  Someone who likes Maida Heatter as much as I do.  She's the chocolate goddess of the baking world.  I recently made her Palm Beach Brownies and it is by far the best brownie I've ever made or tasted.  She knows how to make a rich decadent dessert like no one else.  So imagine how excited I was when I came across this blog where this guy is baking only from Maida Heatter's cookbooks!!  I have been bookmarking every other recipe.

For whatever reason I decided to make these chocolate chip wheat germ cookies.  The germ intrigued me.  I switched the ap flour to whole wheat and used egg yolks instead of a whole egg.

Chocolate Chip Wheat Germ Cookies
Adapted from Maida Heatter's Great Book of Chocolate Desserts via Mad About Maida

Ingredients:

The last lonely cookie

• 3/4 cup unsifted whole wheat 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 lb (1 stick) sweet butter (softened)
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats (not instant) oatmeal
• 3/4 cup untoasted wheat germ
• 2/3 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Method:

Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with foil and set aside.  Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.  Cream the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat in the vanilla and two sugars. Add the egg and beat well. On low speed add the sifted dry ingredients, scraping the bowl and beating only until mixed. Mix in the oatmeal, wheat germ and coconut. Stir in the morsels.  Make walnut-sized balls of dough and spread about 2 inches apart on tin foil-lined baking sheets.  Bake two sheets at a time for 12 - 20 minutes (depending on your oven), reversing the sheets from top to bottom and front to back midway through baking. When they are done, the cookies will be lightly colored and the tops will spring back when lightly pressed. Do not under bake - make sure they are crisp on the edges and bottom when cool.  (If baking only one sheet at a time, use the upper rack).**

**Note:

I definitely left mine in a bit longer than the average cookie.  I wanted these to get nice and brown so I waited until they were thoroughly darkened around the edges and on top.  This cookie can't get overcooked.  It can only get more flavorful the browner it gets. Plus we like slightly burnt cookies over here.  

Daphne's 1st birthday cake

I made this cake for my friend Sylvia's daughter's 1st birthday party.  It's lemon curd with cream cheese icing.  I like this cake because it's nice for summer and everyone really loves the zing of the lemon curd.  The cake itself is a pretty simple orange juice cake that is very moist and tastes great with any kind of icing.  In this case it really lets the lemon curd shine.  And who doesn't love cream cheese icing?  That also goes really well with lemon curd.  They have a complementary tang.

This cake needed to feed 25 people and I'm not super keen on double stacked sheet cakes so I used
2- 12" rounds and 2- 9" rounds.  I tripled the cake recipe, made one batch of lemon curd, and doubled the icing recipe.  I had the perfect amounts of everything- I like to have a little bit of everything left over in case I need to touch something up or just to save in the freezer.

I layered lemon curd in between the 2- 12"s and the 2- 9"s but between the 12" cake and the 9" cake I just spread a nice layer of cream cheese icing.  One thing that I did to make serving the cake easier is I put a tinfoil covered cardboard cake round in between the 9" and 12" cake layers.  This way the top cake can be cut and served, they can remove the cardboard round and then cut the bottom cake.  I put lemon curd on the very top, piped dots around the edges with the cream cheese icing, and wrote on top of the cake with melted butter and semisweet chocolate chips.  Lastly, I threw on some sliced strawberries for color.

Lemon Curd Cake
Recipe from The Night Kitchen Bakery

• Lemon curd
• Yellow cake
• Cream cheese icing

Phil's birthday cake

It's Phil's birthday!!  Happy birthday to one of the greatest dads I know.  For this special occasion I made one of the Keitel-Sosnov family's favorite cakes, the chocolate mocha cake.  It's a simple classic chocolate cake with a coffee kick and one of the greatest chocolate icings ever.

Chocolate Mocha Cake with Mocha Icing
Recipe from the Chestnut Hill Spice Shop

Ingredients:

(cake)

• 3 1/2 cups ap flour
• 1 1/2 cups cocoa
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp b powder
• 4 tsp b soda

• 2 cups milk + 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 cups hot coffee

(icing)

• 1 stick butter
• 1 stick margarine
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp coffee
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 c powdered sugar
• splash of milk

Method:

(cake)
Preheat oven to 350 and grease and parchment 2- 9" cake pans plus at least one 12 cup muffin pan.  Sift together dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  In the stand mixer mix oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients alternating with the buttermilk in a few additions.  Add hot coffee all at once and mix til combined.  Pour batter 3/4 full into the cake pans and muffin tins, don't over-fill.  Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until cakes bounce back to the touch and a knife comes out clean.  Try to let the cakes cool completely before removing them from the pan.  Loosen the sides with a knife because this cake tends to stick- hence the parchment paper.

(icing) 
Once the cakes have cooled beat the butter and the margarine in the stand mixer until light and creamy. Add vanilla, cinnamon, coffee, and then one at a time add the sugar and cocoa.  Beat to combine in between additions.  Last add the milk just to loosen up the texture.

I drew a fish on top of my cake with some melted semisweet chocolate chips mixed with butter in my piping bag.  Phil caught us a lot of delicious blue fish when we were at the shore last week and cooked us an amazing meal of baked blue fish with garlic and fingerling potatoes.  Thanks for the fish Phil, I hope you liked your cake!!

Muffin Thursday: peach muffs

Fresh Jersey peaches plus oats and brown sugar.  But not a whole lot of brown sugar.  Which makes this muffin not so bad for you.  Portable breakfast.  Like oatmeal you can hold in your hand.  I actually threw these together the other night after dinner while my friend's birthday cake was in the oven.  My peaches were about a day away from being too ripe so I recycled them into a muffin.

Peach Oat Muffins
Adapted from Alida's Kitchen

Ingredients:
(dry)

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup rolled oats

(wet)

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 peaches cut up and mashed

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray (or line with paper liners).  In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients.  In a large bowl, combine all wet ingredients.  Fold wet into dry. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Big yellow cake

I actually went out and bought tumeric for this big yellow cake.  This recipe was so simple I had to try it even though I had no clue who would actually eat it.  It's vegan and it has a really earthy taste from the turmeric.  My cake came out a little less sweet than it should have because I used unsweetened coconut, so I suggest sticking with the sweetened.

Vegan Turmeric Cake
Adapted from May I Have Hat Recipe?

Ingredients:

• 3 cups self rising flour (**see note for recipe)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1 ½ cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• Pinch of salt

• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1 ¾ cups SWEETENED almond, coconut or soy milk (here we used Silk Pure Almond)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour a 10" spring form pan.  (The original recipe uses an 11x7" pan).  In a small bowl mix the dry ingredients, in a larger bowl mix the soy milk and the oil, add the dry to the wet and stir just til combined.  Pour into the pan and smooth down with your spatula.  Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until done in the middle.  Lastly, after the cake cooled I sifted a little powdered sugar on top.  

**Note:

• 3 cups ap flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Twisted sister pastries take two

I made these dinishy pastry things once before, it's one of the best doughs I've ever worked with.  This time I decided to change the filling because the plain cinnamon vanilla butter filling that I did the first time was a little boring.  I had to drown them in danish glaze to make them interesting.  I also subbed some whole wheat flour this time because I ran out of white.  I thought that was going to be the kiss of death and the dough would come out weird, but I think this second try was a winner.

For the fillings I did a raspberry jam one and a chocolate one, both had brown sugar, butter, and almonds too.  And then I made a very thin danish glaze with skim milk and powdered sugar and drizzled it over the top.  Rather than hardening on top like a drizzle it acted more like a glaze that soaked in and made the pastry moist and sweet.

Twisted Sister Pastry with Chocolate and Raspberry Fillings
Adapted from Ask Chef Dennis

Ingredients:

(dough)

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons lukewarm water
• 3/4 Tbsp. granulated yeast
• 3/4 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 cup ap flour
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

(raspberry filling)

• 3 Tbsp. raspberry jam
• 1/2 stick melted butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• handful of pulverized raw almonds

(chocolate filling)

• 1/2 stick melted butter

• 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup pulverized semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Method:

(dough)

Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly.
Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl.
Add honey and melted butter to beaten eggs. Gently and briefly mix together then set aside.
Combine lukewarm water, yeast and salt together in your stand mixer and mix a little. Add eggs, butter, honey mixture. Mix together briefly.
Add ap flour and mix to combine. Add whole wheat flour and mix until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be damp and sticky. This is a no knead dough so just get all the flour mixed in and you’re done.
Place dough in a warm spot, covered but not closed (you want air flow) for three hours. The dough will rise and be full of air pockets. Perfect!

**Once the dough has risen you can assemble your twisted sisters, I suggest looking at the original recipe for pictures on how to twist the dough etc.  It's not hard but you really need to look at the pictures to get the idea.  

(raspberry filling)

Melt the butter, pulverize some almonds in the cuisinart, and mix with the brown sugar and raspberry jam.  

Spread a fre tablespoons of the filling on the dough before you roll them up to make the pastry.  

(chocolate filling)

Melt the butter and set aside.  

Pulverize the almonds and chocolate chips in the cuisinart, then mix in the other ingredients.  

For this filling, leave the butter separate and brush it directly onto the dough, then sprinkle the nut and chocolate mixture over top before you roll up the pastry.  

After you have assembled your pastries bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until they get a little brown on top and are hard on the outside.  With the pastries still warm I spooned a mixture of powdered sugar and skim milk on top.  I used about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and added skim milk a little at a time until the glaze was as thin as I wanted.

Tahini almond cookies

I found this recipe on foodgawker.  I've never baked with tahini before so I thought I would give this a try.  My mom wanted me to incorporate some chocolate in there somewhere so I dipped them half in melted chocolate.  Some of the cookies I broke in half and rolled them in powdered sugar.  Both of those ideas came from a cookie that my grandma used to make at Xmas.  She made an almond crescent dough, formed them in the crescent shape and rolled them in powdered sugar, and some of them she made into longer shapes and dipped half in melted chocolate.  This cookie had a similar light shortbread-like consistency that took both of those decorating options well.  I was also thinking that they would be nice if you made them into little round cookies with an almond pressed into the center of each cookie.

Tahini and Almond Cookies
Adapted from David Liebovitz

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (140 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (140 g) whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 ounces (70 g) ground almonds (see note)
• 5 1/2 ounces (150 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (200 g) raw tahini paste

Method:

Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC) degrees. Line two baking sheets with tin foil.

In a large bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, ground almonds, sugar, and salt.

Using a pastry cutter, cut in the cold butter until the butter is incorporated into the flour mixture and looks like pea-sized balls.

Add water, vanilla, and tahini and fold with a spatula until a smooth dough begins to form.  You may have to switch to using your hands if the dough needs a little extra kneading to fully come together.  (If the dough feels very dry, dampen your hands and knead the dough slightly.)

Pull off a piece of dough the size of a large walnut and either roll them in balls and flatten on your baking sheet to make a circular cookie, or roll and squeeze into a longer cookie if you want to dip them in chocolate later.  (You can do half and half).  Or you can press an almond into the center of them if you want to forgo the decorating later.  

Bake for about 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.

Once cool you can roll them in powdered sugar, or melt chocolate chips in a double boiler and dip one end in chocolate, then leave them on the baking sheet to set the chocolate up.

**Notes:

For the almond flour I ground up 3/4 cup whole raw almonds in my 4-cup cuisinart.