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PB&C, My Favorite Combination

Published February 22, 2010 Chocolate , Cookies , Peanut Butter 7 Comments

Is anyone getting sick of me posting about chocolate and peanut butter combinations? I know I’ve gone a little overboard at times, but they really are my favorite flavors and when combined, totally hit the spot. And can I help it if they also happen to be the favorite flavors of some of my favorite people, too? On Wednesday, my brother came home from nearly two years abroad, and we had a welcome home dinner party for him – he happens to love chocolate and peanut butter, and so did many of our guests (does anyone remember the decadence of Zoe’s birthday cake?). I had been eyeing this recipe from Isa’s Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and I knew this was the perfect opportunity to make the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pillows. The benefit of making these cookies when you’re about to have a dinner party is you can make them at the last minute, and it becomes a good activity for early-arrivals – you need lots of hands to roll all the little balls of peanut butter batter and cover them in dark chocolate cookie dough. Luckily, I have lovely friends who are happy to help out (and happy to do a lot of tasting along the way!). Make a double batch, and you’ll have enough for the party, the days following, enough to send as a birthday present to a friend out of town, enough for the friend doing the out-of-state delivery, and enough to give as little gifts to special people in your life. There is no end to these cookies…except, sadly, after giving them all away and watching them disappear as your little brother/garbage disposal consumes them in handfuls. Cute.

Mapoodles!

Published January 25, 2010 Cookies 4 Comments

I had a meeting yesterday that was just asking for cookies – so I whipped these Snickerdoodles up. Maple Snickerdoodles (or Maple Doodles, or even Mapoodles) are an old favorite of mine, and I had a recipe that I’ve been using exclusively for the past 7 years, and it never fails to please everyone’s tastebuds! However, when I went to find it yesterday morning, I couldn’t locate it anywhere! I racked my brain for where I could have put it, where it might have been written out or typed up, and I just couldn’t think of where. And for the life of me, I couldn’t think of where the recipe had come from originally. So, I got creative and I made this one up, adding in cream of tartar and corn starch and making maple sugar by hand when I didn’t have any in the cupboard. And you know what? These cookies were just as good as I remembered them being – perhaps even better. Soft and gooey in the center, with a crisp crunchy outside, and perfectly crackling tops…And a subtle maple flavor bursting out from behind the more common cinnamon had me reaching for more and more tastes.

I’ve made more traditional Snickerdoodles and Snickerdoodles with even more radical flavor adaptations, but I think this is my absolute favorite. Everyone at my meeting liked them (I was told “These can’t be vegan!” and that I should share my recipes with Paula Deen). My two-year old step-first-cousin-once-removed (how’s that for a complicated relationship?) was with me while I was baking, and ended up being my first taste-tester. He doesn’t usually like sweets, but he loved them and was reaching for a second cookie before he even finished his first! Isn’t he adorable? Pretty much as sweet as the cookie he’s eating, don’t you think?

Maple Snickerdoodle Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1 Tblsp. corn starch
1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
3 Tblsp. real maple syrup
3 Tblsp. warm water
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For rolling your cookies:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup maple sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
OR:
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. real maple syrup
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon, cream of tartar, and corn starch. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup of white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the maple syrup, water, and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients until just mixed. In a small dish, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup white sugar, maple sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Alternatively, if you don’t have maple sugar on hand, you can make your own version by mixing 1 cup white sugar with about 1 teaspoon of maple syrup (stir together quickly by hand or in a food processor, till texture of sugar is dry but fully covered by the syrup – you want to still be able to roll cookie dough in it, so it should be crumbly enough). Mix this with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon in a small bowl.
Roll your cookie dough into 1-inch balls, and roll the balls in the sugar mixture.
Place cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 8-10 minutes in the preheated oven. I like mine a little underbaked, so that the centers are perfectly gooey but have a crunchy outer shell. Cookies will be crackly on top and look wet in the middle.
Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Pecan Wedding Cookies

Published January 16, 2010 Cookies 4 Comments

My mom made mixed up a double recipe of the batter for these cookies, and baked only a few of them to take to an event she was attending. She left the rest of the batter in the fridge, waiting to be baked the next day. Completely oblivious to any of this, I arrived home and found the bowl of batter while looking for a snack. I didn’t know what kind of dough it was, and took a tiny taste. Then another tiny taste. I thought to myself, “Mmmm, This is delicious! I probably should stop”, but then again, the dough was so creamy, rich, sweet, delicate at the same time, I couldn’t resist having another bite. I literally had to put the cookie dough back in the fridge, go brush my teeth so I couldn’t taste or be tempted by the deliciousness any more, and close myself off in another room so I didn’t finish off the whole bowl of dough in that one sitting!

We know now that the dough for these cookies is addicting and should definitely not be left alone for too long (translation: I should not be left alone with the dough for too long…). Instead, you should bake the cookies, and you are guaranteed to make a lot of new friends, because the baked cookies taste just as good! I didn’t think they would, but they really do. They have a crumbly, powdered texture that is unique and gives them a melt-in-your-mouth effect. They are simple and quick to make (and use only a few ingredients that you may already have lying around in your cupboards). If you want, you can substitute a different type of nut for the pecans. I suggest almonds or walnuts, or a combination. Enjoy!

Pecan Wedding Cookie Ingredients:

1 cup Earth Balance, room temperature
1/2 cup very fine granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the Earth Balance with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Beat until combined. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Stir in the pecans.
Shape slightly rounded teaspoons of dough into balls the size of large grapes Place balls 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, or until the bottoms just begin to brown.
While the cookies are still slightly warm, roll them in powdered sugar. Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and cool completely.
This recipe makes about 72 cookies.

Sparkling Ginger Cookies for a Happy New Year

Published December 30, 2009 Cookies 7 Comments

Today I started writing in my new 2010 planner. I’ve been putting all my notes, future dates to remember, and appointments on a page at the end of my old organizer, not willing to acknowledge that 2009 is nearly over, and hoping not to let the last few days of the year slip by. However, it’s reached a point where I can’t ignore it anymore, and I think I should welcome the new year in with a good celebration! I’m spontaneously flying to New York to visit dear dear friends, and am so excited to do this. It’s pretty uncharacteristic of me, booking a ticket only a day and a half in advance, but with some wonderful and powerful convincing on their part, my friends got me to buy the tickets and brave the cold weather in New York so that I can snuggle up with them and celebrate! How did they do this? They sent me roses. Seriously, I arrived home at midnight last night and had roses on my doorstep! What sweeties! I can’t wait to step off the plane tomorrow and see them.

Another way to positively bring in the new year, of course (and very typical for me), is to bake! These are the same Ginger Cookies that I made previously, and I told you that we had made them many many times! I just wanted to show you one of the other forms they can take, this time in a sparkly and crunchier form. Well, the middles of the cookies are still chewy, but the coarse sugar coating gives them a super crunchy and sweet outer layer. They are also smaller, nearly bite-sized, so you can justify eating more of them! My mom made these ones, and she used the same recipe as I did before, but she made the balls smaller (about 1/2 – 3/4 inch sized), rolled them in coarse sugar (actually, large clear sugar sprinkles) and stuck a piece of candied ginger on top. Because they are smaller, you can bake them for a minute or two less than described previously (so, only about 8 minutes). These cookies looked really lovely on our holiday platters!

I hope that wherever you are, whatever you are doing, that everyone has a joyful New Years. Be safe, happy, and resolve to be thoughtful to yourself and others this year. Above all else, be celebratory, because why not?

Sweet and Spicy

Published December 23, 2009 Cookies 10 Comments

Looking for a last-minute Christmas cookie? These Ginger Crinkle Cookies are for you! They are fast and easy to make, and fill your house with the scents of the season as they bake. Time your baking right so that you take them out of the oven just before your guests arrive, and you won’t need to do anything else to get them in the holiday spirit. I’ve made these cookies three times in the last couple weeks, because they are so tasty and have been gobbled up in no time flat!

Thanks to the applesauce in the batter, these cookies are soft and chewy in the center, with crisp crunchy edges – perfect for all cookie lovers. The fresh ginger gives them a nice spicy kick, and sets these cookies apart from more traditional gingerbread. Drizzled with a sweetly spiced Lemon Icing, they carry quite a citrus zing!

Ginger Crinkle Cookie Ingredients:

3/4 cup Earth Balance, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 Tblsp. grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup molasses
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat Earth Balance with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, fresh ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and ground ginger. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in applesauce and molasses. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Put the extra 1/2 cup of sugar in a small bowl, and roll your dough balls in the sugar to coat. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and tops are crackled. Cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. Makes 48 cookies.

When cookies are cool, fill a pastry bag fitted with a very small round tip with Lemon Icing. Pipe icing onto cookies in a zig zag pattern. Or, thin icing with additional lemon juice to make icing of drizzling consistency; use fork tines to drizzle icing over cookies.

Lemon Icing Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1-3 Tblsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Add more lemon juice as necessary to make icing of piping consistency.

What’s Black & White & Striped All Over?

Published December 19, 2009 Almond , Chocolate , Cookies Leave a Comment

I’m done with my finals! And all of my student teaching. It was incredibly sad yesterday to say goodbye to all my five-year old students. I was choking back tears all day as they made me the most lovely and thoughtful gifts, and gave me hugs and asked why I have to leave them – Next semester I’ll be student teaching in a third grade class at a different school, which they don’t understand. One child said to me “But we have third grade here!” and another sweet girl told me with a completely straight face that I must be so smart because they’re sending me to third grade straight after Kindergarten. That was pretty classic and sort of made my heart melt.

I was sad to leave my students, but I’m excited about having a little time off right now! I’m going to spend it mostly outside, taking hikes and bike rides, going to yoga, sleeping, having fun with friends, and of course baking. And, of course, updating my blog! Now I will have time to post recipes for all the cookies I’ve been baking!

These cookies take some preparation time, so be aware of what you’re getting into when you begin! It’s not much labor but a lot of freezing/hardening time in between each step. They are worth the effort though, because they look very fancy, and are incredibly tasty. I’ve seen variations of them in many holiday cookie books. In fact, my mother likes to make a checkerboard version that is ultimately exactly the same, just a different way to roll and slice the cookies. The Almond Dough is easy to adapt to your favorite flavor; you can take out the almond extract and add extra vanilla instead to have a very traditional cookie. One of my mother’s popular choices was to add orange rind into the dough to make a chocolate-orange combo, and I’m sure adding mint extract would be delightful. No matter what flavors you use, or shapes you create, these are perfect gift-giving cookies, since they are easy to stack and wrap, and they keep pretty well when in a covered container or wrapped tightly in plastic.

Almond Dough Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup Earth Balance, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer, blended with 2 Tblsp. warm water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 Tblsp. ice water

Chocolate Dough Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup Earth Balance, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. Ener-G Egg Replacer, blended with 2 Tblsp. warm water
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tblsp. ice water

To prepare the Almond Dough, lightly spoon 1 1/4 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup Earth Balance, and blended Egg Replacer in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla and almond extracts. Gradually add flour to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons ice water over surface of dough; beat just until moist. (Dough will be slightly crumbly.) Press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover and chill 1 hour or until firm.

To prepare the Chocolate Dough, lightly spoon 1 cup flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 3/4 cup flour and cocoa, stirring well with a whisk. Place 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup Earth Balance, and Egg Replacer in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually add cocoa mixture to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons ice water over surface of dough; beat just until moist. Press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover and chill 1 hour or until firm.

Prepare a piece of parchment paper over your rolling surface. Unwrap and place chilled Almond Dough on the paper. Cover dough with and additional sheet of parchment paper. Roll dough, still covered, into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle. Place dough in freezer 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can easily be removed. Remove top sheets of parchment paper.

Prepare another piece of parchment paper over your rolling surface. Unwrap and place chilled Chocolate Dough on the paper. Cover dough with an additional sheet of parchment. Roll dough, still covered, into a 12 x 8-inch rectangle. Place dough in freezer 5 minutes or until paper can easily be removed. Remove top sheets of parchment paper.

Place Almond Dough on top of Chocolate Dough, paper side up. Remove paper from Almond Dough; turn dough over onto a lightly floured surface. Remove plastic wrap from Chocolate Dough. (***To make Spirals, see directions below. If you want to make Stripes, continue reading here***). Cut dough stack in half crosswise to form 2 (8 x 6-inch) rectangles. Stack one rectangle on top of the other, alternating Almond and Chocolate Doughs; wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze 10 minutes or until firm and plastic wrap can easily be removed.

Cut the dough crosswise into 6 (6 x 1 1/3-inch) strips. Stack 2 strips on top of each other to form a stack, alternating Almond and Chocolate to form a striped pattern; wrap in plastic wrap, pressing gently. Repeat procedure with remaining 4 strips to form 2 stacks (there will be 3 stacks total). Chill 30 minutes or until very firm.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Working with 1 stack at a time, unwrap dough. Carefully slice each stack into 12 slices. Place dough slices 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 12 minutes. Cool on pans for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

***If you want to make Spirals:
Roll your double-layer of dough in a tight spiral shape, starting from the long (12-inch) side. When you have rolled your dough, press down lightly on the edge so that it sticks. Cut your log in half, and wrap each piece in plastic wrap. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes or until very firm. Preheat oven to 375° and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Slice your logs in 1/4-inch slices, and place each slice 2 inches apart on prepared pans. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Cool on pans for 5 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Hazelnut Shortbread

Published December 13, 2009 Cookies , Hazelnut 3 Comments

A few months ago, I made a Nutella Cake for my friend Becca’s birthday. I also made her Hazelnut Nutella Sandwich Cookies that I decorated the cake with, and that she could give out to friends to celebrate. I posted the recipe for the cake, but never for the cookies! Very bad blogging behavior. I’ve been getting a few requests for this cookie recipe, and I decided it was about time I responded, just in time for holiday festivity baking. This is a pretty standard shortbread dough, with ground hazelnuts mixed into the batter. You can eat them plain, dip them in dark chocolate, or sandwich them with whatever your favorite spread is – I used a vegan nutella that I had, but any chocolate, vanilla, or even fruit spread would pair well. Enjoy!

Hazelnut Shortbread Ingredients:

2/3 cup Earth Balance, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup toasted hazelnuts, finely chopped or ground*

*I often put my nuts in the food processor, and grind until they are nearly a flour – but not so much that they turn into paste/butter-like consistency.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
Combine Earth Balance and sugar in a large bowl. Cream the mixture together until light and fluffy.
Add 2 1/4 cups of the flour and mix until blended. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup flour by the tablespoonful as needed to make a smooth dough.
Stir in the hazelnuts until incorporated.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Pat it into an oblong shape, then roll it out with a floured rolling pin to a thickness of 1/2 inch.
Using a knife, cut the dough into 2 1/2-in squares, or use whatever cookie cutter shape you want!
Using a lightly floured metal spatula, lift the cookies and slide them off onto the prepared pans, placing them at least 1 inch apart.
Bake on the 2 middle racks of the oven for 15 minutes. Rotate the pans and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden brown.
Let cool completely on the baking sheets, set on wire racks. Store in an airtight container.

The Finals Crunch, Sweetened with Agave

Published December 11, 2009 Almond , Cookies , Gluten-Free , Refined Sugar-Free , Wheat-Free 5 Comments

The end of the semester somehow snuck up on me (can you believe it? It’s already December! The first night of Hanukah is tonight!) and I’m in the midst of the finals crunch at school. I have so much work it seems unbelievable, and of course this cold, rainy weather is tempting me every minute to drop my work and just cozy up and bake cookies! There’s nothing I want more than a comforting, healthy, sweet snack to eat with tea or coffee while I study and write final papers, so I took the plunge and started baking with these simple delicious treats. Of course, I got seriously distracted, and completely caught up in the pre-holiday baking whirlwind, and made a dozen or so other truly sinful sweets. Unfortunately my papers won’t seem to write themselves, as much as I hope that will magically happen overnight, so I’m going to have to wait a few days to post the photos and recipes till I actually write more and can cross things off my finals to-do list. Most of the other cookies are intensely rich and buttery, with dark chocolate, rum, sugared ginger, and icing – just what you’d expect (and want!) from holiday baking sessions. Please check back soon to see these exciting morsels! But for now, I hope you enjoy these healthier cookies which are gluten-free, refined sugar-free, protein-packed, chewy delights.

Apricot Almond Quinoa Chews

Adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero

Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond milk
2 Tblsp. ground flax seeds
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3-1/2 cup dark agave, depending how sweet you want the cookies to be
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 Tblsp. arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup quick-cooking quinoa flakes
1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
Additional chopped almonds and apricots for decorating cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large mizing bowl, whisk together the almond milk and flax seeds and let sit for 1 minute.
Then, stir in the agave and vanilla until smooth.
Sift in the quinoa flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot powder, cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda, and salt.
Mix to form a thick batter, then fold in the quinoa flakes, apricots, and almonds.
For each cookie, scoop 1 rounded tablespoon of dough onto the baking sheet, keeping the cookies about 2 inches apart.
Sprinkle the cookie tops with a few chopped almonds and apricots, and flatten the tops with the back of a measuring cup.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until puffed and just starting to brown on the edges.
Remove the cookies form the oven and let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes.
Transfer them to wire racks to cool completely and store in a tightly covered container.
These cookies are best eaten the day they are made.

Trying-to-Be-Sonja’s Chewy Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Published October 16, 2009 Chocolate , Cookies , Mint 8 Comments

One of my friends (and now classmates!), Sasha, had a birthday yesterday! Since we had a long day of student teaching and then classes of our own, I knew she was going to need some treats to keep the day fun. One of her favorite cookie recipes is the Post Punk Kitchen’s Chewy Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, and one of my favorite kinds of cookies is my friend Sonja’s Mint Chocolate Cookies, so I decided to meld the two together and create Chewy Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. I used the PPK’s recipe (which is simple and quick!), and instead of 2 teaspoons of vanilla I used only 1 teaspoon vanilla and added 1 1/2 teaspoons of mint extract to the batter. The cookies are dark and chewy just as promised, with a strong hit of mint. They are not quite as thick as Sonja’s cookies but to my memory, they taste just as good. Mmm. They were eaten with gusto by many of our classmates and professors, and I got a big grin and hug from Sasha – which was definitely the biggest incentive for making them!

Happy Birthday With a Kick!

Published September 25, 2009 Chocolate , Cookies 7 Comments

This birthday treat was going to be a surprise for my little brother (who, I have to admit, is not so little anymore), but I decided to let the cat out of the bag early by way of this post. My parents are visiting him this weekend, so I’m entrusting them to deliver the goodies…Jesse, if you read this, I’m sorry I didn’t get to spend your birthday with you, but I hope these cookies make up for it, till I see you next. And, I know they’re reaching you nearly a week after your birthday, but they come in good hands! I hope you enjoy them.

I got this Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodle recipe from Isa and Terri at The Post Punk Kitchen. It’s a preview recipe from their upcoming cookie cookbook which I am eagerly looking forward to seeing/baking from/tasting when it comes out in November. I didn’t have any canola oil in the house (oops!) so I substituted softened Earth Balance margarine instead. I also used only half the amount of cayenne, because I was opening a new package of it and wasn’t sure how intensely spicy it would be – I think next time I can use the full amount, the spicy kick is great. These cookies are deliciously chocolaty, thanks to the chocolate extract, and have a great crunchy exterior and melt-in-your-mouth chewy middle. The added spiciness will hopefully help dissuade my parents from eating them all on the airplane ride before the cookies reach my brother.

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