Fresh Mint Double Chocolate Cookies

Today Maxine and I picked some mint from my garden and made cookies! When I saw this recipe, from Heather Christo, I got really excited. I love doing weird things with baked goods. Like putting plants in them. This is one of those recipes that you're not sure is going to work out the way you want or not, but it totally did.

I think that we could have used a little more mint. As usual I subbed the 2 eggs for 5 yolks. We used a combination of peppermint and spearmint (I think). We had to borrow some from Jenn's yard.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
5 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

2 cups chocolate chips
2 cups chopped fresh mint

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.
Chop mint, set aside.
Mix all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, b soda, salt) in small bowl, set aside.
Cream butter and sugars in bowl of a stand mixer.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine.
Carefully add flour mixture to mixer in small additions while mixer is off, drape a towel over mixer and then turn it on low and hold on to your socks, cocoa may blow everywhere.
Keep adding flour while mixer is off and then beat each addition.
Once flour is all added, add mint and chocolate chips and combine.
Scoop 2 tbsp sized balls and plop them on a cookie sheet, about 8 on a tray.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until they are set.
Let them cool on the tray for a little while so they can firm up.

Baking with Maxine

Oh my lord these cookies are good. I haven't made peanut butter cookies for a long time but Maxine really wanted to try them out. The whole wheat flour really makes this recipe. The flavor is so intense and rich.  We subbed more butter for the yogurt because I didn't have any yogurt left in the fridge, and again I used egg yolks instead of whole eggs. The batter was a little crumbly but once we got them baked and cooled they held together nicely.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies
Recipe adapted from Cait's Plate

Ingredients:

• 9 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup natural peanut butter
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix flour, b soda, and salt in small bowl, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer cream butter and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix.
Add peanut butter and mix.
Add bowl of flour etc. to mixer and combine.
Make 2 tbsp sized balls, squish them flat with your hand or the bottom of a drinking glass and then make hatch-marks with a fork.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until cookies are set.
Let them cool completely before handling too much, they are very crumbly before they cool, but they will set up nicely.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Pancakes

It's waaay too hot to bake. But not too hot to make pancakes for Jenn and Natalie.

I like anything that involves bananas because I always have a lot of them lying around. I put just one banana in this recipe and it gave it just a hint of flavor. I think next time either 2 bananas or add in some sliced banana with the chocolate chips.

This recipe made enough pancakes for 4 or 5 people. You can definitely half it for 2 people unless you want leftovers. Again I used egg yolks in here because I alway have them lying around too.

This recipe comes from Leanne Bakes.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt

1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup soy milk
1 mashed banana
5 egg yolks or 2 whole eggs
1/4 cup canola oil

water to thin batter

a few handfuls of semi-sweet chocolate chips- added after the pancake has been poured in the pan but before you flip it.

Method:

Combine all dry ingredients in 1st paragraph in one bowl, set aside.
Combine all wet ingredients in 2nd paragraph in another bowl.
Add dry to wet and mix.
Thin batter with a little water until it is the consistency of thick soup.
Heat your pan and melt a little butter on it.
Pour out a tester pancake and when that starts to really cook begin cooking the rest.
Add chocolate chips after you pour the batter on the pan and then flip them over. You would do the same thing for any addition like berries etc. to ensure equal distribution.

Pancakes keep really well in the fridge and are good toasted in the toaster oven the next day or just eaten cold from the fridge.

Whole Wheat Pear Walnut Muffins with Poppy Seeds

8 am and I'm baking muffins. I really like my lazy mornings. I was supposed to garden today but it got cancelled so I have the whole day to bake and study. Baking takes priority obviously.

This recipe comes from Bon Appetite. It was originally a tea cake but I changed out the butter and subbed whole wheat flour for the almond meal.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup 2% buttermilk
1 1/2 cups
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup soy milk

1 ripe pear, cut into small cubes
1 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

Preheat oven to 450.
Mix first paragraph of dry ingredients, set aside.
Mix second paragraph of wet ingredients, set aside.
Add dry to wet and mix until almost combined.
Add pear and nuts and mix until just combined.
Divide batter into prepared muffin tin and bake at 450 for 5 mins.
Lower baking temp to 400 and bake for another 12 mins or until muffins bounce back to the touch.

Vegan Whole Wheat Peach Pancakes

Cousin Arthur brought Marie some maple syrup back from Vermont so I made pancakes again!!

I think I said once before, pancakes are very easy and they're very vegan friendly. This recipe comes from She Bakes Here. I made a few changes like using whole wheat flour and adding soy milk.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Dash of salt

1 tbsp white sugar (for vegans, make sure there is no bone char)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2/3 cup of soy milk

1 peached- sliced

water to thin batter

Method:

Mix first paragraph of dry ingredients, set aside.
Mix second paragraph of wet ingredients, set aside.
Pour dry into wet and combine.
Add sliced peaches, mix to combine.
Thin batter with water until it is like a thick soup.
Heat skillet and brush pan with oil.
Start with your tester pancake, when it really starts to cook you can begin cooking the rest of the pancakes.

Muffin Thursday: Sweet Potato Zucchini Muffins

This is a great recipe. I love a muffin with a lot of stuff in it. And anything that fills the house with cinnamon smell is a keeper.

The original recipe is from Bake-A-Holic. I made a few changes. I made it half whole wheat flour and half white, I quartered the sugar, subbed out some of the oil, and made the whole eggs into yolks because I eat the whites and save the yolks for baking.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup ap flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy milk or regular milk or OJ- whatever your preference
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 small zucchini- grated
1 small sweet potato- peeled and grated
1/2 cup nuts (I used pumpkin seeds)
1/2 cup raisins or craisins (I used some of both)

Method:

Preheat oven to 450.
Combine first paragraph of dry ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
Combine 2nd paragraph of wet ingredients in another bowl, set aside.
Add dry to wet and combine, don't over-mix.
Add grated veggies, seeds, and dried fruit, mix until just combined.
Divide batter into prepared muffin tin and throw them in the oven for 5 minutes at 450. Then bring the temp down to 400 and bake for about 18 or so minutes more until they are mostly done in the middle.
The zucchini is so wet they might be a little under in the middle, it's ok, they'll set up as they cool.

Lemon Curd Cake

Happy Birthday Jenn!!

This is the quintessential spring cake. For some reason it's a big hit at baby showers. If you like lemon, this is the only cake for you. The flavor combinations are perfect, the cake is subtle and lets the lemon curd and cream cheese icing shine. And you know I love that it's the easiest damn cake in the entire world to make. I made the lemon curd, cake, and cream cheese icing in an hour plus baking time. AN HOUR. Just get yourself organized and use your kitchen aid well and you too can bust out the perfect cake in one hour. This doesn't include my favorite part though- assembling the cake and decorating it. That can take me about 30 minutes. It all depends on how fancy we're getting with the decorations.

Yellow Cake Recipe Here

Lemon Curd Recipe Here

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese
8 oz butter (2 sticks) @ room temp
1 tsp vanilla
3 c powdered sugar

Method:

Cream the butter and cream cheese in your electric mixer.
Add the vanilla.
Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Watch out cuz it's going to blow all over the place. That's why you're adding it 1/2 cup at a time. I add it when the mixer is off and then turn it on low and mix between each addition.

Assembling the cake:

Everything should be room temp or slightly still chilled from the fridge- basically don't ice a hot cake and don't use hot lemon curd. Let it all cool down.
Cut each of your cakes in 2 horizontally giving you 4 total layers. (I've been really into 4 layers lately).
Give the cream cheese icing a quick beat in the mixer to get it nice and fluffy- don't just ice with it right out of the fridge.
Ice the sides with a light layer of icing first- a base coat if you will. Just get it all covered.
In between each layer of cake spread cream cheese icing and then lemon curd on top of that.
On the very top, again, icing then lemon curd so that the top is yellow and we can write on the curd with icing.
I'm leaving the sides of this cake un-iced so you can see the layers.
Then I just did a little piping around the top edge and embellished a little.

The traditional way to assemble this cake is leave it in 2 layers, put lemon curd in the middle, ice the outsides and the top with cream cheese and then put a final coat of curd over the top of the cake. The white icing under the curd makes it look very yellow.

Have fun with it, decorate with strawberries or fresh flowers or icing roses. Swiss dots are fun too. You can also add a little food coloring to some of the icing and write on the cake, cream cheese icing is a good consistency for that.

Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Nutmeg Pancakes

I'm getting so into pancakes lately!! This morning I woke up and said to my mom "if you make the coffee I'll make the pancakes". And pancakes are pretty easy to make vegan. You just need the liquid, the flour, and the b powder. No eggs, no butter or milk necessary. They are so versatile and so much fun to cook. I'm perfecting my flipping technique. Needs work.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp white sugar
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Dash of salt

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup of water- more as needed to thin the batter to the right consistency
1/4 cup buttermilk or regular milk or soymilk

2 Bananas- cut up
Handful of walnuts- chopped up

Method:

Combine all dry goods (1st paragraph of ingredients) in one bowl, set aside.
Combine all wet ingredients (2nd paragraph) in another bowl, set aside.
Mix dry into wet, just til combined.
You may need to add more water at this point to get the right consistency. It should be like thick soup.
Add bananas and walnuts and mix til just combined.

Heat your skillet to med-high heat and melt some butter on the pan.
Drop on a small tester pancake and wait until it starts to bubble, then flip it and let it cook for another 20 seconds or so, when it comes free of the pan easily it's done.
Now you know your pan is properly heated and you can cook the rest.

Photo Credit: cuizoo

Simple Brownie with Cookie Crust

So what do you do when you mess up a cookie recipe and it gets a little burnt and spreads into one huge flat cookie? Then when you try to pull it of the parchment paper, because you couldn't find the foil, it falls apart and sticks every where! I'll tell you what you do- crumble the burnt cookie and sprinkle it on the bottom of a 9x13 pan and then google the simplest oil and cocoa brownie recipe and make brownies with a cookie crust.

Essentially you can do this with any cookie, not just a messed up one. I used a honey oatmeal chocolate cookie from White On Rice Couple. I added some heath bar chips to that cookie. My brownie recipe is literally the easiest thing ever. I got that from squidoo. I added extra salt to the crumbled cookies to get a salty/chocolatey contrast going on.

Brownie Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
4 Large eggs

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
2/3 cup Coco Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup flour

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.
Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.
Crumble about an inch of cookies on the bottom of the pan.
Shake a bit of salt on top of the cookie if you want to do the salty/sweet thing.
Set the pan aside and make the brownie mix.
Mix the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla till they are well blended.
Mix all the dry ingredients together separately.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture.
Pour into prepared pan and make sure the brownie is completely covering the cookie, you may have to spread with spatula.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Anzac Biscuits

Have you ever heard of Anzac Biscuits? I started seeing recipes for them on taste spotting a few months ago and I loved their golden color. As usual I was sold by the awesome cookie photos. Apparently they are an Australian cookie that used to be made very thick and hardy and they kept well, for this reason soldiers took them to eat during war time.

This recipe comes from Whisks and Whimsy. The only changes that I made were to use honey instead of golden syrup and I added chocolate chips. I baked my cookies in a little longer to get the desired brown-ness, they really can't get over cooked because they're supposed to be really crispy.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut or unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix flour, oats, coconut, and salt in bowl and set aside.
Mix boiled water and b soda in small bowl and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar.
Add honey and mix to combine.
Add b soda/water mixture to bowl and mix just til combined.
Add dry ingredients and mix til combined.
Add chocolate chips and mix in.

Drop tablespoon sized balls on cookie sheet, I pushed mine down to be little discs, they don't have to be really far apart because the cookies don't spread as much as regular chocolate chip ones do.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies have achieved desired brown-ness. I let mine get pretty good and brown.
Let them cool on the sheet, they are really soft when you pull them out of the oven, but they harden on the sheet so don't start picking at them until the coconut really hardens up- about 15 mins.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Mom texted me today and said she needed a cake for a birthday at work. Right away I remembered this banana cake I've been wanting to try...

This cake is from White On Rice Couple. I changed the original recipe by adding nutmeg and molasses and halving the sugar. 3 cups of sugar AND 8 bananas? You're joking right? I also left out the pecans and the butterscotch sauce all together because I didn't have the time to get in to all that fanciness.

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
4 Egg Yolks
2 whole Eggs
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 two 10" cake pans or use two 9" pans and make a couple of cupcakes too.
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 eggs 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 and muffin tins depending on the size you are making.
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.
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 each layer into 2 horizontal pieces making 4 pieces all together.
Layer each piece of cake with cream cheese icing in between and then ice the top and decorate with walnuts.

Revani: Turkish Semolina Cake

For my fam's mother's day dinner I made an awesome semolina cake layered with lemon curd and topped with fresh whipped cream and berries. I doubled the original recipe from Food For Poems to make two 9 in round cakes and instead of soaking the cake in simple syrup after it was cooked, I used orange juice. I thought the cake had enough sugar baked into it and I think the orange complimented the lemon curd nicely. This was really just a spin on a summery strawberry short cake that is one of my favorite cakes to assemble.

For the Cake:

Dry:
1 cup semolina
1 1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
8 eggs

Lemon Curd Recipe Here

Whipped Cream:

2 C Heavy Cream
4 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla or lemon- your choice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 and grease and flour two 9" cake pans.
Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and all wet in another bowl.
Combine dry into wet and mix until just combined.
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for about 25 minutes or until they are firm to the touch and a knife comes out clean from the center.
Let the cakes cools in the pans on wire racks.
Once cooled, loosen around the edge with a knife and knock the side of the pans with the heel of your hand until you can feel the cake is loose from the bottom.
Flip onto wire rack.
Cut each cake into 2 layers making 4 layers total.
Starting with the first layer soak the cut side up with OJ and then put a layer of lemon curd. Keep soaking with OJ and spreading with lemon curd for each layer until all 4 are assembled.
Make the whipped cream by combining all 3 ingredients and whipping with whisk or beater until the cream holds a nice shape and is stiff with incorporated air. Pile the entire batch on the top of the cake- about an inch and a half to 2 inches thick- wow I know.
Layer the very top with fresh berries.

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Pancakes

I made these awesome pancakes for my family yesterday morning. They were really tasty and very very easy. I made the batter very early in the morning and just left it in the fridge until they arrived. They were so good they didn't even really need syrup. Just a little butter and yummmmm...

Original recipe from Eatliverun, it had chocolate chips which I left out but that would be awesome too. I doubled the original recipe because I was feeding several hungry people. Also next time I'm adding either vanilla or molasses. It seems to me that pancakes are just more liquidy muffins, so you could probably put all kinds of nuts or seeds or the zest of an orange, or fruit in them.

Ingredients:

3 small sweet potatoes- peeled and diced, microwaved to cook and then mashed
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 cup milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice

water if the mix is too thick

Method:

Mix all the dry in one bowl and all the wet in another bowl while you are microwaving your potatoes.
Mash your potatoes and mix them in to the wet ingredients.
Add dry to wet and mix just until combined.
At this point you would add your chocolate chips or what have you, then possibly a bit of water if the mix is too thick.
Heat up your skillet with a little oil or butter and test out the dough to see if the pan is hot enough.
When the test pancake is really getting cooked properly you are ready to start cooking the rest.

Extra Sharp Cheddar Mac and Cheese

I did it again!! Mac and Cheese for mother's day dinner. Here is the link for the first time I made it with white cheddar for my aunt Nan. This time I used New York extra sharp orange cheddar. I tripled the original recipe from Family Kitchen to make enough for our Mother's Day family party and we barely touched the 2nd casserole dish. The ingredients below are for one batch.

Like I said this time I used orange cheddar. It kind of separated and was a little oilier than the white cheddar. I'm not sure if this is because of the orange coloring or what but it freaked me out for a minute when I was making the cheese sauce. When I tossed it with the pasta though, it came out fine.

Ingredients:

1 lb box macaroni
6 Tablespoons butter
2 T. flour
2/3 c. milk
1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese
about 8 oz feta cheese
1 small 8 oz block New York extra sharp orange cheddar, grated

1/2 c. bread crumbs mixed with 4 T. parmesan cheese for the topping

Method:

Cook your pasta al dente and put it aside.
In a bowl grate all of your cheddar, crumble feta, and mix them with your parmesan so the cheese is all ready to go when you have melted the butter.
In a medium to large frying pan (depending on how much mac and cheese you are making) brown the butter over medium heat by melting it and continuing to stir it until it foams and then brown bits form in the pan and the butter smells really nutty. I really browned my butter this time and it came out better than last time.
Immediately add the flour and stir, it will get all foamy again.
Now add the milk and stir it in.
After a minute of stirring add all of your cheese and turn the burner to low, continuing to stir until the cheese is melted.
Pour the cheese over the pasta in a big bowl and mix to combine it.
At this point you may want to add more butter or cheese if you desire, I added more cheese and a couple more tablespoons of butter. Mix it all in so everything is evenly combined.
Pour the mac and cheese into a cake pan or casserole dish and sprinkle your breadcrumb mixture on top. Put it in the oven on BROIL until the top is brown and crispy.

Grilled Romaine and Radicchio

This is a really easy way to change up the traditional caesar salad. You just buy a bag of those pre-washed romaine hearts, cut them in half long-ways and brush them lightly with olive oil. Throw them on the grill for a few minutes until they are wilted and eat them with a sweet balsamic vinegar or the Martha Stewart caesar dressing that we love. Last night we also tried grilling radicchio and it came out really well.

Mocha Banana Muffins

This recipe comes from The Happy Housewife. My aunt Nan left some chocolate milk in the fridge so I needed a muffin that would go well with it. I didn't add any sugar to this muffin because I added the milk (Wawa brand), which has sugar in it. I beefed up on the bananas and put in some instant coffee to give it an extra mocha kick.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
3/4 cup chocolate milk
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup strong black coffee
2 mashed ripe bananas
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tsp instant coffee (add to wet so it dissolves)

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 425. Mash the bananas in a large bowl and then add all of the other wet ingredients plus the instant coffee. In a separate bowl mix all of the dry ingredients and then add them to the wet ingredients. Stir just til combined. Then add your chocolate and coconut, again, mix just until combined. Pour batter into muffin tins, sprinkle with a little coconut for fun, and bake for 3 minutes at 425. Then turn down the temp to 400 and bake for about 12 more minutes or until muffins bounce back to the touch and a knife comes out clean.

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins with Raspberry Jam

It's peanut buller jelly time!! So my friend's boyfriend takes peanut butter and jelly to work every day for lunch (yeah I know) and that was my inspiration for this muffin. If Joe was going to eat a muffin this would be it. I'm thinking about peanut butter jelly cupcakes for his birthday.

This recipe comes from lovefoodeat. It's pretty healthy. I didn't add any sugar because I put in extra banana and I backed off on the peanut butter a bit. It's all whole wheat flour and it's actually vegan because of the flax meal instead of eggs.

I experimented with a new baking technique on this recipe. I am now preheating the oven to 425 and baking the muffins for a few minutes to get a nice crust and a puffy muffin, then I turn it down to 400 or so and bake them the rest of the way. So far good results!! Really nice crusty top. Which I loooooove. This might be my new thing.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp ground flax seed + 4 tbsp water
3 mashed bananas
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 cup water

jelly of your choosing- I used raspberry

flax seeds (for sprinkling on top)

Method:

Preheat oven to 425
Mix flaxseed powder and water, keep it aside. Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well (1st paragraph). In a separate bowl, mash bananas and add all other wet ingredients (2nd paragraph) and mix well. Pour the dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix till everything is combined. Do not over mix. Grease your 12 cup muffin tin and pour about 2 tbsp of batter into each cup. Then spoon in 1 tsp of jelly into each cup. Then with your remaining batter cover the jelly taking care to spread the batter evenly between each cup- don't run out. If you want bigger puffier muffins only use 9 cups. Sprinkle some whole flax seeds on top for looks. Bake the muffins for 3 minutes at 425 and then turn the temp town to 400 and bake for another 12 minutes or until they bounce back to the touch. Let them cool and enjoy!!

Cute Cartoon from John

My next door neighbor John just sent me this adorable cartoon. Thanks John! Click on the image to see it bigger.

Lemon Poppy Seed Doughnuts with Maxine

Today my friend Maxine and I made Lemon Poppy Seed Doughnuts. It's a basic muffin recipe that we baked in the Wilton doughnut pan. The original recipe called for sour cream but we just subbed extra milk instead. We also changed the milk from whole to 2% since that's what my aunt Nan left in the fridge. Here is the link to the original recipe.

Maxine is so good at zesting lemons!! She also helped me make lemon curd for a cake I'm making later this week. We're planning on baking again this Thursday and I'm thinking pumpkin granola bars. I have to remember to buy pumpkin. And an assortment of nuts. Look for Maxine in the future, we're thinking of making this collaboration a regular thing.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoon 2% milk
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

For the icing:
juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 400.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In large bowl, or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar, until light and fluffy - about 1 minute. Add egg, lemon zest, and poppy seeds. Beat to combine, scrapping down the bowl as needed. Then add milk to mixture and then add flour and beat just til combined. Do not over mix.

Grease your doughnut pan and fill the cups just below the rim. Bake about 12 to 15 minutes or until they bounce back to the touch. Knock them out of the pan and let them cool.

Combine powdered sugar and lemon zest into bowl with whisk and drizzle the icing over top of the doughnuts.
Enjoy!!

Rolo Cookies

I've been trying to make these cookies for a while now. I've had the rolo candies sitting in my cabinet for at least a month telling people not to eat them!! I finally got to them today. Original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:

¾ unsalted butter, softened
½ c. + 2 tbs. granulated sugar
½ c. + 2 tbs. light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 lg. egg
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¼ c. cocoa powder
2 c. all purpose-flour
24 Rolo Candies

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 3 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. You don’t have to do this, but it will make it much easier to clean if some of the caramel leaks through.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Mix in baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and flour until well combined, but do not over mix.

Shape dough into 1” balls. Flatten slightly in the palm of your hand. Place one Rolo in the middle and roll the dough up around it so that it is completely enclosed. Place on prepared cookies sheets – 8 to a sheet, staggering them, as they will spread quite a bit when baked.

Bake 9-11 minutes until puffy and the edges are set. They will appear very fluffy but will gradually flatten out slightly as they cool.

Cool 1-2 minutes on pans and then remove to wire racks and cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

When I pulled these out of the oven I decided that they needed a little something extra so I threw some ganache on there. Here is my ganache recipe.

Sweet Potato Hummus

Mom wanted an interesting hummus recipe so I found this one on taste spotting. Original recipe found here.

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes- peeled, diced, and microwaved til they are smashable
1 can garbanzo beans (15.5 oz), rinsed
1/4 C fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 C tahini sauce
1/4 or more extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling on top of hummus
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 clove minced garlic
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. paprika garnish (optional)

Method:

Cook your sweet potatoes (I microwaved mine for around 8 mins)
Combine cooked potatoes and all other ingredients except paprika garnish in a cuisinart or blender.
Add olive oil a few tbsp at a time until you get the consistency you want.
You can also use water to thin it.
Garnish with paprika and a tbsp of olive oil.

Caesar Dressing

I like this recipe for classic caesar dressing. It's not one of those creamy ones, more an intensely garlicy olive oily one. It's also really easy and besides the anchovies I had all of the ingredients laying around. Of course, it's a Martha. Original recipe can be found here. The only change I made was to add a little parmesan cheese.

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves
4 anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Method:

Combine all ingredients in your cuisinart or a blender and enjoy!

Lauren's Birthday Cake

This cake is a standard at our house. When you just feel like making something easy and delish this is the cake for you. It's always a big hit and it has so many possibilities. Sometimes we do layers of ganache, this time I did ganache and raspberry jam. You can definitely do lemon curd layers, whipped cream and fruit, a mousse, yadda yadda...

Here's the recipe for the cake and ganache, and here is the lemon curd recipe should you choose to go that route.

Twisted Sisters

This was a 4 hour undertaking but totally worth it. Basically you make the dough and go do other stuff for 3 hours and then form them and bake them for a half hour. While mine was rising I made muffins and a birthday cake. I used amy stand mixer with a dough hook to make my dough even though they used a whisk.

To see how to put this pastry together check out the original recipe at Ask Chef Dennis. Really good pics and explanations.

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
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Filling

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

6 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh vanilla beans from a 2 inch pod
12 Tablespoons brown sugar
zest of one lemon

Instructions:

Dough

Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly.
Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl.
Add honey, salt, and melted butter to beaten eggs. Gently and briefly mix together then set aside.
Combine lukewarm water, yeast and a dash of honey together in a big bowl using a sturdy fork or whisk. Add eggs mixture. Mix together briefly.
Add half the flour. Mix it in with a fork or sturdy whisk. Add the remaining flour and mix. Use damp hands once your fork or whisk becomes overburdened. 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 with a towel for three hours. The dough will rise and be full of air pockets. Perfect!

Filling

Melt the butter, set aside.
In another bowl combine all the rest of the filling ingredients and mix, then set aside.

Assembling the twisted sister:

Preheat oven to 350.
Dust top of dough with flour. Dust hands with flour. Covering your work surface generously with flour and some more standing by for sticky moments. Flour!
Cut dough into about 6 to 8 pieces, grab one piece and plop it onto your floured surface.
Roll the dough into a long rectange, turning and keeping the dough well-floured the whole time.
Spread top with melted butter.
Sprinkle filling evenly across entire rectangle.
Fold one long edge to start roll.
Roll the dough into a long log.
Cut the dough log in half lengthwise.
Turn the two halves so that the cut sides face up and you see all the layers of dough and cinnamon and such. Admire your artistry thus far.
Pinch ends of the two halves together on one side and coil them a bit to get the two halves joined lightly at one end.
Gently cross the ends over each other taking care to arrange the cut sides together as much as possible. Don’t stress. It’s gonna be pretty. Twist the two halves together till you use up the lengths and have one pretty twist.
Coil the twist into a nest.
Lift the coil up and tuck the final end under the center of the coil then gently let the coil fall into place. You don’t have to do any excessive pinching or sealing. Just arrange it nicely. Think Zen.
Use the little bit of melted butter you saved earlier to drizzle over the center of the twisted sister.
Bake on center rack at 350 degrees for 22-27 minutes. Pastry should be golden on top and feel firm to the touch in the center. Poke the center with your finger and you should feel some resistance.
Allow to cool a few minutes and enjoy. It pulls apart or you can slice it into servings.

After making these we decided it needed a danish drizzle, so put about a cup of powdered sugar in a bowl and add some milk, whisk it and add more milk until it's drippy, then drizzle that over the pastry and let it harden.

If you are eating these left-over, toast them up first!!

Muffin Thursday: Olive Oil Blueberry Muffins

This recipe comes to us from Giada De Laurentiis via Food Librarian.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup oats

1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons 2% milk
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 400.
Mix dry ingredients (1st paragraph) in small bowl.
Mix wet ingredients (2nd paragraph) in another bowl.
Mix dry into wet just until combined.
Fold in blueberries.
Put batter into muffin cups and bake about 25 minutes or until they bounce back to the touch and knife comes out clean.

Ice Cream Sandwich a la Elias Grim

This is what happens when Elias and Jenn come over for dinner and we have ice cream and these whole wheat chocolate chip walnut cookies on the table. Elias- dessert slut that he is- made this beautiful sandwich with softened vanilla ice cream and proclaimed it to be delicious. Good thing Nan and I softened the ice cream for him in the sun on the walk home from Pathmark.

Enjoy Li Li!!

Baked Mac n Cheese

This is the other dish I made my Aunt Nan while she visits for my graduation. I liked the brown butter aspect of it. The recipe comes from The Family Kitchen.

My picture shows the mac n cheese ready to go into the fridge to wait until tomorrow when it will get breadcrumbs on top and stuck in the broiler.

I changed the cheeses a little from the original recipe, I added feta, and I accidentally added too much flour so I had to add additional milk. But if you follow the directions you shouldn't have that problem.

Ingredients:

12 ounces macaroni
6 Tablespoons butter
2 T. flour
2/3 c. milk
1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese
3/4 c. white cheddar, grated

1/2 c. butter crackers, crushed
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Method:

In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheese sauce: In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and whisk it constantly until it foams and then begins turning a light brown color. Immediately whisk in the flour until smooth, then add milk and whisk it over medium heat until smooth and slightly thickened. Whisk in cheeses and continue to stir over medium heat until the cheese is smooth and not at all clumpy. Pour over cooked macaroni, then transfer to a large baking dish. In a small bowl, stir together cracker crumbs and melted butter, then sprinkle over the top of the macaroni and cheese. Bake on the middle rack in an oven preheated to “BROIL,” just until the top of the crackers is slightly browned, about 5-8 minutes.

Veranda Bread with Pepperoni

More adventures in bread... I finished my final test today and I am officially a nursing school graduate as of Friday at 10 am. That being said my aunt Nan is coming in tomorrow from the big apple to see me graduate. So I asked her what she wanted me to make for her and she said pepperoni bread. Apparently my mom used to make veranda bread with pepperoni in it at the Night Kitchen and that's what Nan was referring to. She likes food memories too.

Now this recipe takes a little time and it makes a lot of bread. I actually ended up with two fat loaves when I should have rolled them longer and thinner and made a lot of skinny rolls. Oh well next time... While this was rising I actually made the Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies I blogged a few minutes ago.

Ingredients:

5 C warm water
1/4 C honey or maple syrup
3 tbsp yeast

4 1/2 C ap flour plus

2 tbsp salt
2 1/2 C whole wheat flour
more ap flour

Stick of pepperoni
Parmesan cheese- or other cheese of your choice
1 egg yolk plus a splash of water for the egg wash

Method:

First combine warm water, honey or maple syrup, and yeast and let sit for about 5 mins until it is foamy and bubbly.

Then put the yeast mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Beat in the ap flour until combined and then let that sit in a warm place for 30 mins.

Now add the salt and whole wheat flour and let it combine in the mixer.
At this point you are going to add more ap flour by the 1/2 cup until the dough comes together and pretty much holds a shape. It shouldn't stick terribly to your hands. I added a decent amount of flour at this point. Probably several cups, but I wasn't counting. It should be kneadable.
Put some flour down on your counter and turn out the dough, knead it a little and add more flour and knead it in if the dough is sticking everywhere. I kneaded more flour in here too.
Once you've got a good dough break it into 2 pieces and make a rectangle out of one with your hands- no need to use the rolling pin, you should be able to just press it and flip it with your hands.
Once you've got your rectangle add your pepperoni and a decent amount of parmesan cheese to the middle of the dough- like you were making cinnamon buns. Now roll up the dough starting with the longer side and tuck each of the loose ends under to keep in your meat and cheese.
Do the same thing to the other hunk of dough.
Now take one egg yolk and mix it with a little water to make your egg wash. Brush the top of your loaves.
Take a knife and make slits across the top of the loaves- this just looks pretty.
You might have to cut your loaves in half to make them fit on the sheet, I did, and thank god I did because they at least doubled in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 400 and let the loaves rise again while the oven is preheating. Once the oven is ready and the loaves have puffed up again throw them in for about 35 mins or until they sound hollow when you hit the bottoms.

This recipe is good for rolls too, or boules, or the crust of a pizza, that was another Night Kitchen fave of mine- this dough pressed into a baking sheet with a little corn meal on the bottom then coated with marinara and a cheddar/mozzarella combo. Mmmmm.....