Oatmeal Molasses Cookies

Soooooo, I went to the most ridiculously well organized cookie exchange (see below) and these were my contributions. Chewy, oaty and with a depth of flavor that only molasses will bring. The mix of cranberries and raisins also gives a bit of tartness. A total winner of a recipe (modified slightly from here) and my inspiration to get back to blogging after a post wedding hiatus of 6 months (!!!).

I plan on never hosting a cookie exchange from this day forward because 1) Mine would be totally crap in comparison and 2) My butt just doesn't need all those extra cookies lying around!

This was my selection of cookies after only round 1!!

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten
6 Tbs molasses

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 325F
2) Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl and mix well
3) In a separate bowl cream together remaining ingredients
4) Mix wet with dry ingredents
5) Drop spoonfuls of dough (I did about 2 Tbs per cookie) on a silpat and bake for 12-15 minutes (don't over bake!)
Note that these spread so don't over crowd your cookie sheet.

Give to lovable husband and expect major credit for these. Over and Out!

Double Chocolate Raspberry Ice cream Sandwiches

I have been making several versions of ice cream sandwiches over the last few months in search of the perfect cookie-ice cream combo. Well I have found at least part of the equation: This is the perfect cookie recipe for an ice cream sandwich. It bakes up flat and is still soft after it is frozen. Oh, and it has an insanely chocolatey taste. The raspberry ice cream was a great choice for a summer BBQ but other rad choices might be peanut butter (Duh!), caramel or strawberry. Make these. NOW.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon amaretto

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Softened Raspberry ice cream

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line  baking sheets with Silpat or parchment. Sift first 4 ingredients into bowl. Using Kitchen Aid, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in both sugars, then eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla extract and amaretto, then flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, spacing mounds 2 to 3 inches apart. Using moist fingertips, flatten mounds to 3/4-inch thickness (this step is important to get the right flatness for an ideal ice cream sadwich cookie).

Bake cookies 5 minutes. Reverse sheets. Bake until cookies are puffed and dry-looking but soft to touch, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Cool on sheets.

Spoon your chosen flavor of ice cream (I did half with raspberry and half with vanilla but peanut butter sounds great too) onto flat side of 1 cookie. Top with second cookie, flat side down; press together. Wrap and freeze. Repeat with remaining gelato and cookies. DO AHEAD: Keep frozen up to 2 days.

Upside Down Pineapple Cake with Rum

I don't think I would ever make an upside down pineapple cake if it wasn't for my beautiful and talented friend Kiran. But here we are in July and it's Kiran's birthday again and that can only mean one thing: Upside down pineapple cake. She loves this cake! I have a previous post for this cake but this year I tried a new recipe that incorporated rum and, really, what isn't better with a little bit of booze? I adapted it from a recipe on epicurious.

Ingredients:

For topping:

• 5 rings of tinned pineapple (the kind not packed in sugar)

• 3/4 stick unsalted butter

• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

For batter:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 tablespoon dark rum

• 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

• 2 tablespoons dark rum for sprinkling over cake ( I may have used slightly more :)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Make topping:
Melt butter and pour into 10 inch cast iron skillet or cake pan. Add brown sugar and mix in the bottom until even. Arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture in concentric circles, overlapping pieces slightly or make up your own design like me :)

Make batter:
Sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and rum. Add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. Beat in pineapple juice, then add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. (Batter may appear slightly curdled.)

Spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. Bake cake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes (I baked mine for 40). 

Let cake stand in skillet/pan 5 minutes. Invert a plate over skillet and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). Replace any pineapple stuck to bottom of skillet. Sprinkle rum over cake and cool on plate on a rack.

Serve cake just warm or at room temperature. Or with vanilla ice cream (Good call Sid!!)

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I must say I am a little suspicious of recipes that use only whole wheat flour. I have always thought that would lead to baked goods with the texture of hockey pucks. But I have had very good luck with every recipe I've tried from the awesome food blog Orangette. So I thought I'd try this recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. My sweetie brought home Scharffen Berger bittersweet chocolate chunks for me to bake with and, really, how could you go wrong with that? Try these cookies, I think you'll like them. I should admit here I did add slightly more chocolate than was called for. I suggest everyone does the same :)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4- and 1/2-inch pieces

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with a Silpat (or parchment paper)
2. In a large mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk to combine.
3. Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer; beat on low speed for abou 2 minutes, until just blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition, then add the vanilla extract.
4. Add the flour mixture and beat until barely combined. Stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed just until evenly distributed. I made my dough the night before and chilled it in the fridge. This means for easy baking the next day and slightly fatter cookies.
5. Now scoop your cookies. I am a bit OCD so I weigh 50g of dough for each cookie and roll that into a ball so each cookie is exactly the sam size....no comments please.
6. Bake the cookies you want to bake into the oven for 15 minutes or so, until the cookies are golden brown on the outsides and fragrant. Let them cool for a bit on a cooling rack, then eat them!

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles

We got a waffle iron as an early wedding gift. I am obsessed with it. I have made waffles every weekend since we got in. In fact, I think I want to marry my waffle maker. I have been using a standard buttermilk waffle recipe but I have decided to try to incorporate more whole grain flours into my baking. So here is the the recipe for my whole what waffle. They were fantastic served with maple syrup, toasted walnuts and bananas. Also, they are tasty cold out of the fridge. Or, if you wanted to go really bonkers serve them with fried chicken!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour (I used Bobs Red Mill)
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups buttermilk
4 tsp melted butter (or flavorless vegetable oil)

Method:

In a large bowl mix together first 5 ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Comine wet and dry ingredients and stir well. The mixture will be slightly lumpy. Rest for 2-3 minutes while the waffle iron heats up.

Brush waffle iron with melted butter or oil (I use a silicone pastry brush), pour on 3/4 cup of batter and cook until golden brown and your house smells like a bakery.

Serve with Maple syrup. Enjoy your food coma!!

Amaretto Biscotti

I have such awesome girlfriends. I don't know what I would do without them. So for Valentines day this year I am doing a sweet treat swap with my wonderful friends Sharon and Amy. I sent off these biscotti today and I am so excited to see what I get in the post over the next few days...

As for the biscotti they were absolutely delicious. I should say that I am a huge biscotti fan. They aren't as popular in America as in Europe and Australia. I think Americans are more used to a softer texture in their cookies but the flavor is something everyone will love. Enjoy with a coffee or hot chocolate, or just straight up standing in the kitchen all sweaty after a long run...I'm just saying...

Happy Valentines day ladies. I love you!

Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking. I'm thinking next time I might add lemon zest.

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds (145 grams)

1 tsp baking powder (5 grams)

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups (260 grams) AP flour

3/4 cup sugar (150 grams)

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp Amaretto

Method:

- Preheat oven to 350F

- Toast almonds and cool. Coarsely chop (I like getting big chunks of almond in each bite)

- Whisk eggs with vanilla extract in small bowl

- Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in bowl of stand mixer

- Gradually add egg mixture until combined, adding almonds half way through

- Place dough on baking sheet in a log shape (about 14 x 4 inches)

- Bake for 35-40 minutes until firm and golden brown. Leave to cool on wire rack for 10 minutes

- Use a serrated knife to cut the log into biscotti

- Arrange evenly on baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes on each side

- Store in an airtight container

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

I thought of making my hard training IM chocolate chip cookies but that didn't seem healthy enough. So I thought oatmeal peanut butter cookies would be better. They're not exactly rabbit food but the peanut butter has protein and the oatmeal has lots of fiber and a bit more protein. These cookies are soft and chewy with a great peanut flavor. Super easy to make with ingredients that are always around. Except for butter which I always seem to be running out of - what kind of bad ass baker am I??

Ingredients:

1 cup AP flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (I always add extra because I like my baked goods to have that sweet-salty taste)

1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

Method:

- Preheat oven to 350F

- Whisk flour, oats, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl

- In stand mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (scraping down the edges and bottom of bowl occasionally)

- Add egg and vanilla and mix until combine. Mix in peanut butter until completely combined

- Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Use spatula to mix by hand for the last little flour streaks. Place mixture in fridge for 30 minutes

- Place 1 inch balls of mixture on a baking sheet lined with silpat

- Bake for 11-13 minutes until lightly browned at the edges

Distribute to your loved ones (maybe for Valentines day ?!)

Deviled eggs with capers

These deviled eggs were so great. A perfect mix of tangy and salty. I got the recipe from one of my favorite food blogs, Orangette. Molly tops hers with a Basil Aioli but I skipped that because Basil isn't in season. I also didn't fry the capers. I just added them straight from the jar and they were still great. I had a very retro Martha Stewart moment holding this plate of deviled eggs :)