Homeless Banana

Wow!  Sorry that it has been such a long time since we last spoke.  I've been experimenting with feeding myself something other than tuna from a can, quinoa and frozen vegetables.

I hate to admit some bad nutrition, but that's what happens when you get busy doing other things and then you realize you're hungry.  And I don't mean hungry in the way of "you know, I think food might be a good idea in the near future" sort of way, but the "wow, my stomach is digesting itself slowly" sort of way.  Yeah, that happens a lot.  Tuna, bread and vegetables are a pretty quick fix.  Then I eat strawberries and am extremely pleased!

Anyway, getting back to the baking business.  Wouldn't you know that I got off-handed someone's banana recently.  It wasn't even really at the edible point.  I'm a full supporter of all bananas spotted brown like giraffes, but tiger streaking?  That's a tad too ripe, even for me.

So what to do with this banana that no one wants?

Well, one banana does not a great loaf of banana bread make.  And I know that bananas can replace oils sometimes in recipes I've learned.  Where do you go with one over-ripe banana that needs a purpose other than to line the rubbish bin?

I decided to make cookies.  Chocolate ginger cookies.  After a lot of browsing on the internet - what *can't* you find on the web, seriously? - I came across Anja's Food 4 Thought recipe for 'Crispy Ginger Chocolate Cookies'.  I scrapped the olive oil and replaced it with the banana.  It came out to what appeared to be a little over a third of a cup.  I wouldn't say heaping, but it wasn't a third of a cup flat.

I think they came out okay.  I find them pretty tasty and will try to post back with an update.  I have to have more opinions; my opinion just doesn't cut it in my kitchen.  Then again, I'm the girl who eats tuna from the can and frozen vegetables.  By no means do I think my palette is sophisticated!

If you have a banana kicking about that needs a use other than the rubbish bin, maybe give this one a try sometime.

Oh!  I should probably also mention that I put these babies in a container after they were all cooled off and they didn't stay crispy.  I'm mentioning this because I don't want you to get upset if it happens to you.  I get extremely upset when this happens to me... ^__^;;;



Crispy Ginger Chocolate Banana Cookies
Adapted from Anja over at Anja's Food 4 Thought (<- Click for original recipe!)

So not really thin and crispy but more like chewy and puffy.  These cookies puffed right up given that I used banana and no oil.  I have seen crispiness increase when using oil when making pizzelle as well.  It happens.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 medium banana
• 1 egg

How It's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, ground ginger and cocoa powder.  Whisk until it is evenly distributed in colour and consistency.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar and banana.  Beat the sugar and banana until it is creamy; it likely won't get too fluffy because there is a lot of moisture in the banana.
4. Add the egg to the sugar-nana mixture and beat until fully mixed.
5. Stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop the dough by teaspoon full onto the sheet.
7. Pop the tray in the oven for 12 minutes and pull them out when they are domed and slightly dark on the bottom.
8. Let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transfering them to a wire rack to cook completely.

Makes about 22 cookies.

Best Italian Family Memory?

Oh yeah!  Though, sadly, back down to low-def. pictures again.  The sister's camera is on lockdown...

Wow, how long has it been?  A month you say?  I’d say it’s a good thing you aren’t plants or fish (fishes?), otherwise, we’d have some issues!

The past month (x__x) has been a little turbulent to say the least.  April is the month of last-ditch stress before the end of the semester.  As such, that means assignments are due, marking needs to be done, exams and anything else in life that decides it doesn’t want to be neglected.  Like one’s health.  Yeah, I got a cold on top of it.  That happened.

Because I was sick (with a nose like a faucet), I figured it was in everyone’s best interest that I not bake.  Sure, the heat of the oven would probably kill anything bringing me down but I didn’t want to run the risk.  If it was a selfish bake, I would have anyway.  However, baking should be for sharing!

My birthday also came up during all this madness.  While I personally do not like my birthday (I’m not going to tell you when it is for that reason), I don’t mind getting the gifts!  My gift this year?  A pizzelle press!  Just imagine my bliss!

Pizzelles were sort of like a childhood fixture for me when I was growing up.  Every Sunday when we went to visit my Nonna at her house, dinner would be followed by coffee, cookies and a big tub of pizzelle.  But it didn’t stop there.  All family gatherings, those beautifully browned wafflesque cookies seemed to appear.  There would be plates of little desserts and then an unassuming white Rubbermaid container filled with pizzelle that my Nonna had made with a press. 

How do I know she made them?  I know she made them because, when I slept over, sometimes we would make them for hours in the afternoon.  Aside from the use of a really hot press, this activity was incredibly fun.

My Nonna passed away a few years ago.  She was a fantastic lady and I miss her every day.  When you lose someone near and dear, I think it’s important, even if it’s painful, to keep cherished memories of them alive.  One of those cherished memories for me was the pizzelle.  They have been missing from family gatherings from quite some time now and sometimes I get the feeling that, despite no one having mentioning it, some of my relatives think about it.  It wasn’t the cookies that were important; the tradition itself was comforting.

I had some mixed feelings, admittedly, about receiving a pizzelle maker.  I was excited because it was something that I’ve wanted for quite a while now and because, honestly, it brought back the memory of my Nonna’s kitchen; the way it smelled sort of like zucchini fritters she’d make on the stove, the rosemary growing in water on the window sill, a fresh apple pie sitting patiently on the table to be eaten.  Oh, I could keep going on forever I’m sure, but we should probably get back to the business.

Okay, I was excited, but I was also apprehensive and still am.  I am going to take pizzelle with me to Christmas dinner this year.  However, I want my relatives to know that I am not trying to replace my Nonna.  That’s impossible.  I just want to keep her memory alive.

The pizzelle maker that I have is a Cuisinart and, smart people that they are, they include a small booklet with a few basic recipes.  What’s great about basic recipes?  Making your own variations, of course!  So far, I’ve made Vanilla-Chai, Chocolate Mint, and Traditional variations.  And I can’t wait to try more flavour combinations! 


Basic Pizzelle

Courtesy of the great folks at Cuisinart 

What You’ll Need:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3 large eggs, room temperature (ish)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted* (microwave!)
• 1 tbsp vanilla or anise extract**

How It’s Done:

1. Set three eggs in a dish of warm water before starting so that they can warm up a bit before you get into everything.  (I usually wait until the water feels as though it’s about the same temperature as my hand and then lower the eggs into the water.  I leave it on the counter while I get everything together.)
2. Mix flour and baking powder in a small bowl, whisk to combine and then set aside.
3. Turn on the pizzelle maker and set it to the appropriate setting for making pizzelle.
4. Put the butter in a microwaveable container and zap it for about 45 sec (or until liquid).  (For this one, I do it right in a Pyrex measuring cup and then leave it in the microwave so that it stays warm.)
5. Put the sugar in a bowl, add the three eggs and, using a hand mixer, beat at medium speed until thicker.  Make sure to move the mixer about so that everything gets dragged into the mix.  (The mixture will get lighter in colour and won’t look runny like it does inititally.  I have found that this usually takes about 1 min 30 sec or so.  I set a timer and just stop when the timer runs out at it usually turns out.  It might vary a little bit for you so maybe set a timer for two minutes and see how it goes?)
6. Stop the mixer briefly to free up your hands.
7. Remove the butter from the microwave, stir in the extract of your choice.
8. Resume mixing at low speed with the hand-mixer in one hand and, with the other hand, add the butter in a slow, steady stream.
9. Stop the hand mixer and clean it off.
10. Add the flour mixture and mix with a spoon until just combined. (I used a folding technique and rounded it out with some straight mixing.  The instruction book is all about the yelling about the over mixing.  “Do not overmix.”  So bluntly.  This.  Terrifies.  Me. X_X)
11. Turn your attention to the pizzelle press and drop the batter onto the press by the heaping teaspoon.
12. Remove the pizzelle to a rack to cool completely.  (This is sort of important.  The first rack I used had rungs that were too far apart.  I got really nice wavy pizzelle that sort of looked like ruffled chips.  That was not, however, what I was shooting for…)
13. Let those patterned beauties cool completely (completely completely) and then shove them in a tin.

Notes!
*About the butter/margarine exchange:  I’ve made these both with margarine and with butter.  With butter, the pizzelle come out a little more cakey and lighter.  If you use margarine, you will get a bit of a crispier pizzelle that’s crunchier and snappy.
**Extracts:  Vanilla or Anise are pretty standard additions.  My mom likes the anise ones because that’s the way that my Nonna used to make them.  I have to side with her on this one; there is a really nice liquorice taste to them.  When I make them with anise extract oil, I still use a little bit of vanilla because I think it rounds out the flavour nicely.

I hope that, if you have the desire and the will to get a pizzelle maker (or maybe you have one), you have fun making these.  If you don’t have one, no worries.  It’s a bit of a specialty thing and I don’t hate on not wanting to buy specialty kitchen gadgets.  You can, however, pick these up sometimes at the Italian grocer, especially around Easter and Christmas.  Whichever way you fly, be brilliant!

Birthdays and Baking and Biscotti, Oh My!

Would you look at that?!  It has been seventeen days (give or take maybe a handful of hours and minutes) since we chatted about baking.  And, as much as I would like to say it was just because I was busy, that’d be a little bit of a lie.  Actually, I think it would be better to state that it would be a lie of omission.  I have been busy, however, I have also been sick, sleepy and sore.  Stressed, sick, sleepy and sore do not a baking mood create.

So why, do you ask, am I posting?  Well, I’m certainly not throwing an internet-wide pity party (that’s for sure!).  I’m posting because, in the spirit of celebrating birthdays, I was quite the busy baker.

This past weekend was my father’s birthday!  Remember we had been talking about biscotti?  Why, why haven’t I baked more biscotti since Christmas?  How could I be so cruel not to make more biscotti?  Oh, I’m such a horrible daughter!

You can imagine the shock (followed by happiness) that greeted the biscotti that I baked up as a gift.  That is one thing that I must say I adore about baking; you can always bake to your heart’s content and then give the results as gifts!

I didn’t, however, just stop at cookies.  A good birthday has cookies.  A great birthday calls for cake!  Apple cake as a matter of fact.

Long story short, the coconut biscotti went over really very well.  I should probably mention that I never actually got to eat one of the biscotti.  Don’t get me wrong, I totally munched on the crumbs on the baking sheet, but it seemed cruel to eat part of a batch of cookies that I intended to give as a gift.  That’d be like opening the packaging of something before giving it away (in my opinion).  I fully intended to swipe one after they were opened though.  My dad, however, hid the tin and refused to share.  And you can’t guilt someone out of something that you gave them!  Gah!

I can say that the apple cake turned out absolutely lovely.  I give fully credit to my mandolin.  That little sucker is the newest addition to my arsenal of … random kitchen gadgets that I have always sort of wanted.  Next up, I dream of pizzelle maker.

Before I wrap this up completely, its probably worth mentioning that a student in our lab also had his birthday this week but 'didn't want to make a big deal about it and bother people'.  I mean, I can relate, but only because I really have a jar full of hate for my birthday; that majority of them over the years have been, shall we say, of a less-than-stellar nature.  But I digress.  Long story short, I cranked up the oven late at night to bake him a batch of short-cut cookies.  Is there nothing that Quaker Oat's Oatmeal Cookie Mix can't fix? ^__^


Oh, I should also mention, because I rambled so much, I hid the recipes behind a cut.  I didn’t want to be a spammer.  My bad!

'Hey There!' From The Abyss

Woah, the last little while has been a miasma of activity!  How's that for a two-dollar word.  Blame my word-a-day calendar for that one.

I have, however, somehow managed to do some baking in between.  Before I get right into things, though, I just wanted to say 'sorry!' for having delayed in doing a lot of writing to you guys.  I think I might be coming down with something (again).  Man, have I been tired lately!  Thankfully, the sniffling, nose running, can't-get-out-of-bed-to-save-your-life sickness hasn't descended.  Come on, let's rally, immune system!  Lay on the O.J.!

Right, baking.  I did attempt to be healthier this time around.  I tried really desperately very hard to be healthy.  Really.  I was going to bake cupcakes and then, when I thought about how much icing I would have to make (because inevitably I'd be doing a lot of cleaning with my tongue) and then how much further I'd have to push myself, I wimped out.  Cut me a little slack, though.  Its bitter cold outside!

So, I fired up the laptop and set my internet search skills to work (read: google).  Somehow, I came across apple quinoa cake from 'Anja's Food 4 Thought' .  Quinoa in a cake?  Intrigued...  Also, I'm a huge apple fan so finding a 'large apple' to use simply requires me to open the fridge to the bounty of apples from the farmer's market!  (In a word, awesome.  And the farmers who sell them are totally rad too.  Win-win!)

So, I baked 'em up just as the recipe online said to do.  Aren't you proud?  Okay, don't be too proud because I left out the sunflower seeds (allergic, my bad) and raisins (none in the pantry, bummer).  I even picked up some palm sugar that, let me tell you, smells wicked.  Sort of like a more buttery, coconut-y version of brown sugar in a powder form.  I think we will have other cullinary adventures together in the future.

Those muffins were reserved for personal use.  They freeze pretty okay, too.  I just let them cool completely then wrapped in saran, placed them into a Chinese take-out container and shoved 'em in the freezer.  Somehow, that sounded a lot more succinct in my head.  Why freeze them?  Well, those muffins were a bit of a selfish bake.  They made the apartment smell awesome and were for my nom-ing purposes.  Since I started this blog for the recipes that I share, I'm going to skip over copying that recipe here.

Okay, I did say that I baked some things so I still owe you guys a shared adventure right?  Very yes.

Do you guys eat PB?  I grew up on the stuff (Kraft, the one with the teddy bears on the jar, and Skippy, I think, intermittently).  Combined with jam, I really can't make a lot of complaints.  Also, peanut butter cookies with a few chunks of actual peanuts are lovely (Tim Horton's classic, anyone?).  Growing up, however, my love for the PB has really died.  The final nail in the coffin was figuring out how they make the commercial stuff.  Its was like figuring out that atoms don't have discrete shells of electrons; don't get me wrong, the math is cool, too, but I liked the shell concept while it lasted.

Okay, given that I gave up PB.  I switched to almond butter and am much happier.  Its just a richer, nuttier flavour without needing like a ton of it.  Buying a big jar of almond love, however, was not my smartest move.  It separates and, if you don't eat it quickly enough, it can go bad.  So I had a jar that needed some using up.  I was worried it would go bad and, honestly, good AB shouldn't go to waste.  The solution?  Skip the bread and make some cookies.  Oh wait, first, check that you won't kill anyone in the work place *then* bake some cookies.  'Cause some people are allergic, you know.  Just saying.




AB&J Cookies 

From wet crumbles, to crumbs before arriving at baked awesome!  I was scared that this might not turn out because the almond butter was inherently a little bit runnier than your standard PB.  I mean, when you have to mix the crap out of something to get it spreadable as opposed to I-opened-the-jar-for-use, things are going to be a little different.  I think this might be why mine spread more.

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup almond butter, properly stirred (You can't have it all separated, after all.)
• 1 cup sugar 
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• jar of your best preserves, my kind sir (or ma’am) (I'm kidding, any jam you use will do nicely.  Like the jar of preserves your mum made you about a year and a half ago... ^__^;;)

How It's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Line a couple baking sheets with some foil.  (You can use a greased cookie sheet, but I love my pyrex pan a little too much to gum it up just yet.)
3. In a bowl, combine the AB and sugar with a mixer until its well combined.  (Basically, you want to mix it up until it looks even and, turning it over, you don't find any sugar hiding from you.)
4. Add the egg and baking soda and mix again for 2 minutes.
5. Add the vanilla and mix briefly to get it throughout; it will come out a little crumbly.  (For this, my batter looked much like the sand that you find on the beach underneath the dry powdery stuff; it looked pretty damp and crumbly.)
6. Grab a cloth and set near the mixing bowl.  (This is pretty key; it will come in handy later!)
7. Using your hands, form balls of dough and drop them on the sheet.
8. With a finger (or your smallest measuring spoon), press a small hole in the top of each ball.
9. Give you hands a wipe with the cloth to clean them off a bit so you don't get batter everywhere.  (Because I used the almond butter, my hands had some of the almond oil there so the towel was pretty handy.  Told you it would come in handy.)
10. Drop a bit of jam in each little well.
11. Stick the cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes.  (I found for mine that they needed about 11 minutes but, as I'm sure I've mentioned, my oven is tricksy!)
12. Once they're done, cool them on the sheet for five minutes then transfer to a rack to cool. (I let mine cool a little longer than usual because it took the pan a little longer to cool too.)
13. When you're done, tin 'em up and separate layers with wax paper.  Or just enjoy!  (But wait for them to cool.  As I quickly learned, hot cookies not only crumble all over the place but stick and burn.  Its a yummy burn, but it makes tasting a little tricky for a while! =P)

I found the recipe for these beauties on Joy's webpage.  Originally, it's done with peanut butter and, I have to say, her cookies look a lot cuter than mine.  T__T;;;  Jealous!  I think the reason is that the almond butter had more natural oil than solids (probably because my mixing skills were lacking once when I went to use it).  They still turned out okay so I guess I shouldn't belly-ache.  =P

Cookies Baking In A Closed Oven

I don't know about everyone, but for a lot of people Christmas is inherently linked to baking.  Maybe it’s the fruit cake.  Wait, is the cake they sell at the store even count as baking?  I mean, I know it’s baked, but it’s more like a paste by the time you unwrap it and everything.  I have respect for the dish as an acquired taste that some really dig.  I, on the other hand, am not interested in acquiring this taste.

But I digress.  I have been doing me some baking and figured that I would share.  I usually try new things during Christmas.  Sure, I bake the favorites (we shared Chocolate Chip cookies and I'm certain we discussed the snickerdoodles) but I like to try other stuff too.  Pivotal to this is the internet; a mighty tool of information-sharing and (on more than an occasional basis) a source of information.

So, with my meager baking utensils in hand and a tiny kitchen, I set off to bake up a minor storm to fulfill some vague suggestions that they might be received as gifts.  As part of this effort, I present to you some cookie brittle and coconut-lime biscotti.  If you've scrolled through already, you will probably have noticed that I only attached one recipe; I attached the recipe for the brittle.  Why no biscotti recipe? 

Its not a family secret or anything, I can assure you of that much.  I didn't include the recipe because I believe I used a little too much coconut and not enough lime.  The result?  The coconut totally took over the cookie and the only point where I started to detect the lime was during the second baking; I could smell the lime, however, still no taste.  Because of this, I'm not going to share quite yet.  This requires a re-bake with some adjustment.  When I get it all Goldilocks'd, I'll post it up, okay?



Almond Cranberry Crispy Brittle

The infamous biscotti, so harmless in loaf-form but so dreaded for double baking (left).  Before you get all hesitant and such, you should know that the double-bake is well worth the effort you put into it.  Mmm... Double baked crunchiness!  However, if you don't like baking twice for crunch, consider the cookie brittle instead (right).  You bake once, pressed out really thin and, boom, you have crunchy, yummy treats!

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup "I Can't Believe Its Not Butter" margarine
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 cup toasted almond chunks (see below)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• white chocolate chips for decorative purposes

How It's Done:

1. Preheat your oven to about 350F. (The rack should be around the middle position of your oven for proper cooking.)
2. Toast the almond bits.  (In a dry, non-greased fry pan over medium heat, toast the almond pieces until they turn from the light off-white color that they are in the package/bin.)
3. Soften the margarine however you like and set aside for a short while.  (I just let it hang out in a dish and leave the dish on my oven while that ramps up as well.  Two birds, one stone.  All right.)
4. While butter cools, sift together the salt and the flour and set aside.  (I also chose to measure out everything else at this point too because I'm picky like that.  Thumbs up for streamlining!)
5. Transfer the butter to your mixing bowl and add the sugar and cream for a short span.
6. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until dispersed out.
7. Add the flour and mix to combine.  (My dough was a lot like really thick cookie dough at this point.  It was probably the margarine because I find that baking with margarine makes things a little bit stickier than butter.)
8. Add in the toasted nuts first, making sure they're combined.
9. Add in the cranberries, turning the mixture over until the berries are also pretty much throughout.
10. Using a spatula, put half of the dough onto a tin-foiled baking sheet and then squish down until really thin and more-or-less even.
11. Bake for 24 minutes in the oven; let the other half of the dough chill out in the fridge while you're baking it up.  (And then you can either set a timer and check back OR you can be like me and sit there watching it.  However, it should be noted that I only watched the first batch.  I was worried this was going to be an epic fail and then I'd be scraping it off of everything.  I realized after the fact that I had used tin foil.  Silly me.)
12. Remove when the edges are dark brown and the middle is a lighter brown and let it cool down on the pan for a bit then transfer to a rack.  (I tried to lift the first batch out of the pan with very little success because it started to sag in the middle.  By letting it hang out on the pan for a bit and then moving it away, it was pretty firm and the transfer was super easy.)
13. Bake up the second batch the same way.  (Same story, other half of the dough.)
14. Let the almondy-cran-awesomeness cool entirely then break it into bits and hook it up with a home in an airtight container.  (I spread melted white chocolate chips and then spread it over one half.  If you do this, the brittle should then chill in the fridge for an hour or so to get everything all solid.)

This recipe was adapted based on the recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle that I found on Shauna's site called 'Piece of Cake' (click here!).  It was a total 'stumbled upon' moment, whilst I was wandering aimlessly around on the internet.  The recipe totally worked out well (even given the fact that I didn't use chocolate chips and used almonds/cranberries instead).  I'd really like to try this with another flavor combination.  Not sure what yet.  I'm thinking something like... well, there's... oatmeal raisin?  Maybe that's a little plain Jane.  I'll keep thinking on it.  We'll talk again in the future!

The Oven, The Bowl, and "The Chewy"

When I talk to other people about their family trips as kids, Disneyland or amusement parks almost always come up.  It is a reasonable trend; these places have candy, lots of bright colors and over-sized characters with whom to take pictures. 

I can't say that I didn't have these experiences as a kid.  I can, however, say that they aren't the most prominent ones.  Apparently, we went to Disneyland a whole bunch of times when I was 'too young to remember'. (Side note:  Does anyone else thing that parents say stuff like that when they don't want questions about things?  I mean, you can't really make an argument because they tell you why you can't remember!  In conclusion, quite infuriating.)

But I digress.  Anyway, as I was growing up, a lot of our trips became educational:  Disneyland (or Magic Kingdom) was replaced by Epcot; we went for more hikes; and car rides weren't direct to the beach but scenic routes with a historical sites (like old train stations) included.

Another thing I really remember is watching Bill Nye the Science Guy.  How popular is he throughout the world?  I'm wondering because I'm pretty sure that was a pretty awesome show.  It was so awesome, in fact, that they still used the videos to teach us a lesson in grade school.  Well, in retrospect,  I guess it could also have been a successful method of keeping us quiet and compliant.  Oh well!

So, just why are we talking about Bill Nye the Science Guy?  It is related, I promise you that much!  After a long while of being separated through time (and opportunity) from Bill Nye, I found Alton Brown while keeping the Food Network on the tv in the next room.  'Good Eats' is pretty neat because, instead of just telling you how to do things (mix ingredients, put in oven, consume) you also get tidbits *why* things work or historical facts.  Its sort of neat that way.

And also because it taught me how to make pretty awesome chocolate chip cookies.  Mine spread a little much for my liking, however, the fault is entirely mine; I was on a bit of a deadline and I didn't let the dough chill for as long as it probably should have.  The lesson I'm taking away from this is as follows: "If the recipe says chill the dough, make sure it is cold to the touch before proceeding."

"The Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookies

Is there anything that smells as fantastic as melting butter?  I used a bowl over some simmering water to melt the butter slowly while I dealt with the other steps in preparation (top left).  Taking that melted butter and adding sugars, you get this awesome dark brown mixture that, when mixed vigorously until smooth, gives something that is tempting to spread on toast (top right).  Yes, I know it sounds gross, but it looks nearly like caramel!  Then, after the batter is completely mixed, the result looks pretty sweet on my oven mittens in natural light (bottom).  I may or may not have, shortly after, eaten about half of those.  ^__^;;;

What You'll Need:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour (To the bulk foods store!  I know, a little silly, but I don't make bread often so I do not commonly have this stuff just lying around.  Also, I don't make these often enough to justify buying a whole bag.)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar (Sweet.  Literally!)
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar (I finally found a brown sugar puck!  I tried to find a clay pot, but there aren't any plant stores nearby.  I was very sad, but the puck works just the same I think.)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp milk (I told you before that I don't drink a lot of milk so I had to use the soy milk.  I didn't find a large difference so I'd say the switch was an overall win.)
• 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract (Mmm... Vanilla....)
• 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (I only used about 1 cup.  I like my cookies with some chocolate, not the other way around.  I will say that I have indeed done it with two cups and, I don't know what chips other people use, but it is just way too much chocolate for me!)

How It's Done:

1. Preheat the cookie baker to 375F.
2. Put the butter in a dish over a bowl of hot water and let it melt away.  (Alternatively, you can do it in the microwave, but I like the control that you get with the double burner set-up rather than having to camp out the microwave to prevent nuclear hot butter from going just about everywhere.  Its a cleaning time reduction quirk of mine.)
3. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda then set aside.  (I added the salt straight then sifted the rest.  I also used a whisk.  Just for good measure.)
4. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed with a mixer.  (I didn't have a mixer and so I attacked the butter and sugars with a whisk.  I would highly suggest using the mixer though.  These babies were much easier to make when I had one!)
5. Add the egg, yolk, milk and vanilla to the butter/sugars and mix until smooth and homogeneous.
6. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients from before and make sure there are no lumps.
7. Dump in the chocolate chips of awesome-ness!
8. Shove the dough in the fridge and chill for a while.
9. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a parchment covered baking sheet, 6 cookies per batch.  (The cookies do spread out so by only making six at a time, you can get some good space and prevent one large cookie catastrophe.  Unless you like eating these as much as I do.  In that case, maybe test how many you can fit on a sheet at one time for the first batch! ^__^)
10. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden (and a little bit darker around the edges).
11. Remove and let cool on the sheet for a bit then move to a rack.  (I only let them cool for a few seconds before moving them because... I've dropped a few batches in the past and they have crumbled and it gets everywhere and... well, I had mentioned about my aversion to drawn out cooking, yes?  Anyway, by letting them cool for a short while, they get a bit firm around the edges before I move 'em! ^__^  In short, crisis averted!)
12. Store them in an airtight container and enjoy!

This recipe is brought to you by Alton Brown via 'Good Eats'.  However, because its hard to watch an episode and remember everything exactly as you saw it, Food Network is pretty cool about hosting all the recipes.  That being said, the original recipe (without all of the short-cuts I had to take due to a lack of mixer and, well, a couple of other kitchen-related devices) can be found on the Food Network website.  Oh and, while you're there, you may also want to check out his recipe for coconut cake done with a real coconut.  There's something to be said about fresh ingredients, you know!

Buttery, Nutty, Goodness Me!

Okay, don't take it personally, but I baked since we last spoke. It was entirely on a whim and late at night (so you know that the picture isn't going to be as swell as it was when I baked on Sunday afternoon). I had mentioned before but, darn, do I sound like an addict don't I! Okay, this doesn't really count as "true baking" because I cheated. A lot.

While surfing on the internet, I was interested in the concept of using cake batter to make cookies. So many variations, so many different flavors, but how to pick one? Well, I was going to make pumpkin spice but, as luck would have it, Walmart was out of Spice Cake Mix. I like chocolate as much as the next person, but I like it in limited quantities. This recipe makes a little bit more than a limited quantity. Thusly, chocolate was also out. Yellow Cake and French Vanilla are a little plain but have very admirable traits; they can be wielded and turned into flavorful things. So, Vanilla Cake Mix in hand, I started to hike off down the eisle. And that's when the Butter Pecan Cake Mix caught my eye. How intriguing!

Vanilla lost this round, but it still remains our most favorite flavor. The Vanilla bean; from many origins and yet each one with a delicate, creamy, and (at times) earth aroma and taste. Need I say more?

Back to the cookies though. Most of the recipes call for oil of some kind. I, however, so not use a lot of vegetable oil so it is a bit of a loss if I get an entire container of it. You can, I have read, substitute oils for fruit purees with little flavor loss. But, just in case, what is the harm in picking a fruit puree that is more complementary?

Ingredient no. 2: Pear puree (because you know apple is a little cliche).

Last, but certainly not least, have to take an egg out and make sure that its at room temp.

Mix it all together and drop by the spoonful onto a baking sheet. Everything in my reading suggested that I should have been able to roll the dough. If you like dough-gloves, by all means, go for eet! I, however, like my hands in the useful conformation (getting dough on everything in the kitchen is a little cumbersome) so I dropped by spoonful and made imperfectly shaped cookies. There's just something about irregular cookies that I like. They're kind of like snowflakes; each one is different and unique in its own right.

My apartment smelled like buttery pecan goodness for a solid two hours. Baking, for the win!

Boxed Cake Mix Cookies

Mmm... Pecan buttery goodness.  Apologies for no natural lighting.  That's just what you get when you spontaneously feel like baking short-cut cookies at night after the sun has gone down.  The moon doesn't hit my side of the building until I'm nestled in bed.  I heart you guys, but all of my systems start to give up around 11:00 pm.

You will need:

• 1 pkg Betty Crocker Cake Mix (The possibilities is relatively limited so I can't state that they're endless per se, but rather that the choices are many)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (Or vegetable oil substitute of your choosing. It sounds icky, but prune puree has always served me well if you feel like the choices are too great. Also, I use baby food to fill this purpose. Then I eat the rest because fruit is awesome. Though apples out-of-hand can't be beat. More on that earlier.)
• 1 large egg
• Handful of white chocolate chips (For some creative flare!)

How it's done:

1. Preheat the oven up to 350F. (Trust your knowledge of your oven on this one. However you usually set it for a recipe that needs it to be 350F; there's variation in oven sometimes.)
2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Using a small spoon, drop spoonfuls onto a prepared parchment-covered cookie sheet.
4. Place a couple of chocolate chips on the top of the drops. (I used white chocolate chips, but I don't see why you couldn't use those round chocolate discs they have at the bulk food store or nuts of some kind.)
5. Place the cookie sheet in the middle of the oven and bake for 10 minutes. (8-10 minutes, depending. The cookies, if you're using a light mix, should get light brown around the edges and you will know they are done.)
6. Pull them out and let them cool 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a rack (still on the paper) to cool completely. (When baking these, I noticed that trying to pull them off of the paper tore them to bits. I'm not saying I was complaining because I got to eat a whole batch of them, but I do learn from my mistakes. In the interest of sharing - and my waistline - I let them cool off completely then peeled them off the paper.)
7. Store in an air-tight container and then spread the wealth!

This recipe was loosely adapted from a handful of different recipes hosted on Allrecipes.com. They all seem to like using different proportions of egg and oil. So, I made a compromised adaptation and was pretty pleased with the results. I would fully encourage you to check out Allrecipes.com for the variety of Cake Mix Cookies (give it a click or search 'Cake Mix Cookies' with the search function). All that said, go forth and bake up a storm mightly crafters of yummy treats! ^_^

p.s. Hopefully, we will be able to have a great heart-to-heart about cookies of many different kinds. I have to bake up some Christmas presents after all!

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

That's what Chai Snickerdoodles are made of.  Well, in all honesty, there's some other stuff in there too.  Like butter (heck, yes!), flour and eggs.  Basically, some par-for-the-course cookie ingredients.  The cookies themselves, however, are not par.  They're more like birdies.  Or eagles.  But, let's break away from this entire golf metaphor and move on to something with which I am far more familiar.  (Random point of interest: I am certifiably horrible at golf, despite promising though sporadic performances during visits to the driving range.)

I wanted to reference this recipe hardcore back when the oven was a carbon container and the Easy-Off was but a pipe dream at the end of a very long and dark tunnel.  However, because I bake these more often than just once, I held off and gave up another recipe in its place.

My friend, Hannah, first introduced me to this recipe in high school when we had a Christmas bake-off.  Nothing says holidays like spending precious moments with friends in the kitchen making something that tastes wonderful.  I mean to say that those are memories that you carry with you for a while.  Thusly, we are talking about it right now!

Before I give up and we get into the baking portion of this, I do have a random observation about this cookie recipe in particular.  I have made these a grand total of... six (?) times.  Each and every single time that I have made these cookies they come out differently.  For example, the first time, they were more rotund and puffy.  Subsequent times, they have been flat, crispy, chewy and probably combinations/variations thereof.  I have no doubt that they will turn out slightly different for you as well.  However, no matter what they look like or the firmness of them (crunchy vs. soft) they are still lovely little things.  Even with coffee.

So, without further delay, let us get down to the baking!

p.s.  You know what I miss most about baking at home?  Multiple baking sheets.  You wouldn't believe how much longer it takes to bake with only one cookie sheet.  Maybe Santa will leave one for me under the Christmas tree.  (Mom, if you're reading this, MASSIVE HINT!)(And much love, duh! ^_^)



Chai Snickerdoodles

Now don't those look yummy?  Spicy, sugary cookies that stand alone or walk in a friendly manner with a cup of coffee (or tea, I'm not biased).  On a completely unrelated note, I am totally cooking on Sunday afternoons and not evenings more often; just look at how well daylight and my camera get along! ^__^

You will need:

• 2 cups sugar (Granulated, ftw!)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I'm not brand-name dropping, but the one I used was the Club House one.  The original recipe, which is linked at the bottom, calls for cardamom but this works just as well)
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 cup butter, soft (You can also use margarine; I've gone both ways.  No snickers, please!  I just realized that is sort of a pun.  No pun intended and no dirty-joke chuckling please!)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt (I totally 'pinch' this out; no measuring equipment required)
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda

How it's done:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.
2. Combine the sugar and spices in a bowl then scoop out 1/2 cup of it and set it aside.  (You know that good things can only come from spiced sugar).
3. Whisk (or sift) together the flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking soda and set aside for subsequent use.
4. Cream the butter (or margarine) with the sugar mixture until light and fluffy.  (This step is really spicy so be careful not to sneeze into your cookies.  Or, if you do, don't mention it when handing out the results of your hard work.  Just saying.)
5. Add in the eggs one at a time.
6. Mix in the vanilla extract.
7. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet junk and stir until there is no streaking or dry clumps.
8. Grab walnut-sized chunks of dough, roll into nice round balls in your hands.
9. Roll the balls through the sugar that you set aside before and set them down (as balls) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  (This is especially easy if you spread the sugar over a plate with a lid or a super shallow bowl.  I like the plate method, but I'm not going to preach it to you.)
10. Bake for 11-13 minutes.  (Like we've seen before, this is going to depend on your oven and how you and your oven interact.  Mine is picky, so is my mum's, so the oven times vary a little.)
11. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them just hang out on the cookie sheet for a bit before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
12. Store 'em up in an airtight container or appropriately decorated cookie tin. (It is December after all!)

The recipe that is listed above was retrieved from the internet a long while back (I will not detail when because that would place a date on my still ambiguous countenance).  I do know for sure that it was retrieved from Nicole over at Baking Bites.  Check out Chai Snickerdoodles on her site and, if you have some time, definitely check out the other neat stuff there too; she's a great blogger!  Plus, there are also reviews on baking stuff and products that are totally useful.  ^_^



KitchKem is currently rocking House MD season three on her DVD player.

Taking Care of Business

What up my blog-following friends?

Man, has it been eternity since I last posted hasn't it?  My apologies, buddies!  I have baked recently, but didn't have the time to throw up a post here.  Do you remember that I had mentioned how much like a black hole November is?  The work is piled up high until you're backed between a hard place and more textbooks and reports than you care to specify.

However, I am now free.  Well, free of course work at least until January.  There is still marking to do, but we'll not get into that right now.  Perhaps later when I decide to bake decadent chocolate cookies to get through the entire pile.  They have to be done by next Monday so there is some work to be done yet.  Not stressful stuff though, I just have to get through it.  I suppose that's true of most things!

Anyway, getting back to the baking that I did and didn't exactly tell you right afterwards.  So, I had really wanted to bake for quite some time now as I'm sure you're aware.  I also had a pantry that was quite lacking and had to purchase some all-around baking stuff anyway.  Like flour.  You don't realize how much you use it until, well, you don't have it.  Plus, I had some left over cereal bits that, for the life of me, I couldn't bring myself to just throw out.  So, baking with left-over cereal?  This calls for some internet research.

I managed to find myself a recipe for Cornflake Chocolate Chip Cookies by Sneh at Cook Republic.   The only problem was that my cereal bits were Special K Vanilla Almond.  I have to say, I did pause to ponder on this for a short time.  Was it worth risking disappointment given I had a major project due in three days?  It didn't take long to realize that either way I wouldn't be working on my project so, disappointment or not, this was a good step away from my project for a short while.  A break for a brain-refresh.

Wrapping up this blurb, this is a bit of an adaptation of that recipe reflecting the stuff I keep around in my kitchen a bit.  Case in point: I don't drink a lot of milk.  My bad.  These cookies came out okay though it needs to be said that they are crumbly and not the chewy kind.  By my reckoning, they are more of a dipping cookie to be enjoyed with a hot beverage I think.  I might try to tweak this a little bit more in the future.

Cereal Crumble Cookies

From the above, you can see the speckling from the Special K bits that I used.  I know they look a little yellow but they actually came out a paler creme colour.  My camera isn't super co-operative (I take pictures with the flash off because otherwise all my cookies look white.  Yes, even the double chocolate ones.)

You will need:

• 9 Tbsp margarine
• 1/2 cup white sugar (The original recipe called for 2/3 cup but I figured since the cereal appeared to be frosted, I didn't want to blow people -- and their sweet teeth -- out of the water).
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup a.p. flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp soy milk
• 1 1/2 cups Special K Vanilla Almond bits (By 'bits' I mean the crumbs that you get in the bottom of the box after you've eaten all the big chunks and almond in the top.  Not the dust but the smaller bits.  You can use a sieve to get rid of the dustiness! ^_^)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips (This is approximate because, in measuring chocolate chips, I look at the dough and then use 'handfuls' which is by no means a standard unit.  I would say for chocolate chips, add to your liking.)

How it’s done:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F. (My oven is from the dark ages and only has F degrees on it, sorry!)
2. Cream the margarine, vanilla extract and sugar until they are light an fluffy with a sturdy wooden spoon.  (The margarine will likely look lighter and the mixture won't seem quite as 'sandy' in texture from the sugar.  The use of a sturdy bowl is also suggested.  I was using this floppy plastic salad bowl because its the biggest one that I have and, let me tell you, that was by no means easy.)
3. Add the flour.
4. Get the milk stirred in.  The dough might look a little sticky at this point but that's okay because there's still more to be added! (Plus, we're lucky enough to have fingers that can be licked afterwards.  Just saying. ^_^) 
5. Fold in the Sp. K bits and make sure that they are well-dispersed throughout the dough.
6. Fold in the amount of chocolate chips to your liking and make sure that everything is well-distributed.
7. Prepare a baking sheet with some parchment paper. (Remember to dampen it according to the package.  My mum's friend didn't dampen and the stuff will actually start to deteriorate along the edges during the baking.  It was a bit of a shock for my mother's friend as I'm sure you can imagine.
8. Roll dough into balls about the size of a walnut (another subjective measurement!) and place them on the cookie sheet with the paper, using a fork or spoon to press the dough balls down slightly. (I didn't do this with my first batch and had to whip open the oven halfway through to get 'er done.  These cookies don't seem to spread out very much.  Or at least mine didn't. <_<;; )
9. Bake for 13 minutes.  (This will likely vary depending on your own oven's cooking preferences.  Mine can be a little picky.  I think it might have it out for me at times.  Just jokes; that would be insane! ^_^)
10. Pull the cookies out of the oven with some mitts and let sit for 5 minutes on the tray before shifting them over to a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Store those dippers in an airtight container after they've cooled completely.

Makes about 30 cookies

This recipe was adapted for sure, but the adaptation would never have been possible without the original recipe for Cornflake Chocolate Chip Cookies that I found online.  To make a long story short, this adaptation was made possible by a recipe courtesy of Cook Republic!

  

KitchKem is swaying away to How The West Was Won by Katie Herzig on her iTunes.