Chocolate Coconut Minute Tapioca Pudding—not really Tuesdays With Dorie—Baking Chez Moi (Dairy Free)

Today for Tuesdays With Dorie we were to make her Coconut Tapioca from Baking Chez Moi.  I planned to and wanted to, but the recipe called for large pearl tapioca.  I couldn’t find it anywhere.  So I went with the only tapioca I could find, which is pre-cooked Minute tapioca.  I felt like using that was such a disservice to Dorie’s recipe that I pretty much changed it and went more off of the recipe on the Minute tapioca box.  Then I changed it up from the box recipes as well.  So I’ll post for you my version of a healthier pudding made with mostly raw honey (and a little organic cane sugar) as well as coconut milk, a little almond milk, I even used a free range egg (does that crack anyone else up, to imagine an egg running free? Okay, it’s just me then, I’ll continue.)—and the healthiest thing of all—chocolate. ; )  Thank you for the three dozen eggs from your little chickadees, Mom!

To be fair and stick with Dorie’s Coconut Tapioca, I did decide to make one portion of regular tapioca, then while the pudding was still hot, I stirred in some Enjoy Life (dairy, egg, soy free) chocolate chips and they melted away.  I definitely like the chocolate version better, I can’t help it.  Minute tapioca is easy to make with just a few, simple ingredients that are cooked on the stove for a short time, then put into dishes to chill.

I really like adding the nuts, berries and chocolate on top of each serving.  Tapioca has a texture that has not always been my favorite with the little bits of gelled tapioca in the pudding and the different texture and flavor added makes it taste great.  Give me more chocolate, please!

Chocolate Coconut Minute Tapioca Pudding (Dairy Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3 tablespoons Minute tapioca

1 (13.5 oz.) can full fat coconut milk

1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/4 cup raw honey

2 tablespoons organic cane sugar (or omit and use 6 T. raw honey)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (and more for sprinkling on top)

berries and nuts of choice (optional)—for garnish

In a medium sized saucepan, add the tapioca, coconut milk, almond milk, honey, sugar and egg.  Whisk together to combine.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  With the heat on medium, stir the mixture almost constantly until it comes to a boil and thickens slightly (takes about 5 minutes).  Pour the pudding into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing it over the top of the pudding.  Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.  Chill in the refrigerator for up to a couple hours.  Stir the pudding and put enough in each serving dish.  Garnish with chocolate chips, berries or nuts as desired.  Makes 4 servings (about 2/3 cup each).

How easy was that?  The main difference between this pre-cooked Minute tapioca and Dorie’s recipe that uses uncooked tapioca is that the pearls are soaked overnight before making the pudding (her recipe used coconut milk as well as some whole milk, which is another reason I just decided to make sure you knew the recipe I made isn’t hers—I forgot to get some whole milk as I’m not against it, but don’t drink milk anymore as I used to do.)  Try this one and definitely get Dorie’s Baking Chez Moi for an amaing cookbook. 

Lemon Cupcakes—Baking Chez Moi—Tuesdays With Dorie

These cupcakes were so fun to make and were a hit with everyone who ate one.  Wish I would have doubled the recipe.  It made exactly twelve cupcakes and the frosting was the perfect amount.  Dorie’s recipe was for Limoncello Cupcakes and since that is an alcohol, I made them just using fresh lemon juice in place of the limoncello.  An option was to put lemon (or orange) marmalade in the middle of the cupcakes, but I decided not to do that.  The cupcakes out of the oven are brushed with a lemon syrup.  To make sure the lemon flavor was kicked up enough, I poked holes over the tops of each cupcakes with a toothpick while they were still hot so the syrup seeped into the cupcakes more. 

The frosting was simple and delicious.  Again, I replaced the limoncello with lemon juice and also used a little milk to get the consistency I wanted. 

The cupcake batter has a bit of cardamom added, which was a great little addition.  Dorie also suggested in place of that some black pepper.  Both just make you ask, “Hmm, what is in there?”  I received quite the compliments on these cupcakes and even though I didn’t taste them and they didn’t have chocolate (ha), I will use this recipe when I need lemon cupcakes again.

Want the recipe?  Get Dorie’s book, Baking Chez Moi.  I’m loving being a part of Tuesdays With Dorie again.  Good times.  Great recipes and yummy treats to share.  Check out the Tuesdays With Dorie link to see everyone else’s cupcakes this week.

Healthy Peanut Butter Caramel Chocolate Truffles

Another pretty darn healthy treat!  Underneath that Enjoy Life chocolate is some pretty darn tasty peanut butter caramel—all natural, no sugar added.  Did you know if you blend dates in a food processor long enough, it becomes like a paste, or even better—like caramel.  No joke.  Sure you might think it’s not the same caramel you’re used to, you know, the kind made with lots of sugar, cream, butter and some kinds even high fructose corn syrup and other unmentionables.  And while it’s not just like your favorite caramel, it’s a darn good and much healthier substitute.

So next you’re thinking, “Ew, dates, I don’t like dates.”  Well, I’m being honest here and telling you if I gave you one of these truffle candies and didn’t tell you what was in it, you’d never know!  I’m super happy about this.  I’d seen a few other places on the internet that have made “homemade refined sugar free caramel” and just used my own decided measurements until I was happy with it.  I’m so happy I might need to forego this post right now and go make some more candy!

Oh, okay, I’ll share it with you first.  So first I made the caramel.  Then I knew I wanted peanut butter involved with the candy, so I added some natural, organic peanut butter.  Then just threw in a little salt, vanilla and coconut flour.  The coconut flour probably wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to make sure it would all bind together and I’d just be able to form the dough into balls.  I am happy with the results, so I plan to just leave it as is.  After the peanut butter caramel balls were formed, they spent a little time in the freezer just to make sure they were good and ready for a quick dunk in a chocolate bath.

 Healthy Peanut Butter Caramel Truffles, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1  1/4 cups pitted dates, soaked in water (not cold, but doesn’t have to be hot) for 30 minutes, then chopped (save the water)

1/2 tablespoon coconut oil

1/2 tablespoon water

4 tablespoons natural, unsweetened peanut butter

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon coconut flour

4 ounces Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (or chocolate of your choice)

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Put the soaked, then drained and chopped dates in the bowl of a food processor.  Let the processor go for about 2 minutes.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Turn it on again and let it keep chopping up the dates.  Add the coconut oil and water and let it process for another couple minutes.  You’ll know when it is a paste caramel-like texture.  (It is not quite as smooth and liquid runny like some caramel, but it’s good!)  Add the peanut butter, salt, vanilla and coconut flour.  Pulse until well combined.  Remove the blade from the processor bowl and scoop the filling into balls.  (I used a small cookie scoop, it’s probably about 1 tablespoon.)  Lay them on a waxed paper lined plate or small baking sheet and put it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. 

Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe glass bowl in 30 second intervals on 7-8 power.  Stir after each 30 seconds, it only takes about 1  1/2 minutes, add the coconut oil before the last time.  Stir until smooth.  Let it sit for a few minutes before dunking the candy into it.  Using a fork, set the candy on the fork and dunk it into the melted chocolate.  Spoon chocolate over the top until it is all covered.  Tap the fork on the edge of the glass bowl, letting the chocolate smooth over the surface.  Using another fork, push the chocolate covered candy onto a wax paper lined plate.  They start to harden immediately but once you have the all coated, put the plate in the refrigerator for a few minutes.  Makes about 16.  Keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  They are great cold, but you can have them out of the refrigerator before serving for a while, too.   

Make yourself a healthy treat for Easter this weekend—or anytime year round!

Crispy Topped Brown Sugar Bars—Baking Chez Moi—Tuesdays With Dorie

I missed the last TWD post.  It was two weeks ago.  I actually just forgot about it until late the day it should have been posted.  Good thing we have a rewind week next week—I plan to make up the lemon madeleines I missed.  Dare I try to make them gluten free?

Anyway, today we get to tell you about the Crispy Topped Brown Sugar Bars in Baking Chez Moi (pages 324-325).  These were a fun, simple treat to make for my family.  First off all, they are topped with some caramelized Rice Krispies cereal.  While I think I made them just a tad crispy, I still think those are really fun.  Dorie mentioned they would be great as a crisp topping for ice cream and I agree.  They couldn’t be easier to make.  Put some sugar in a skillet, let it begin to color, add the cereal, stir it until the cereal is all coated in the caramelizing sugar and let it cook another minute or two.  Spread it on a sheet to cool.

 

I love that for these bars, she talked about a lot of different toppings you could use, including granola, coconut, caramel popcorn, nuts, endless options.  I might need to play with this recipe some more.

The boys mentioned that even the cookie layer on the bottom was a bit crispy, so I will just make sure to not bake them quite as much next time (I only baked them for 16 minutes when the recipe suggested 22).  I used milk chocolate just to please the boys, but would love to make these with a bittersweet chocolate as Dorie suggested. 

Chocolate is spread on the hot-out-of-the-oven bars and it melts pretty quickly and is spread evenly.  Then the Krispies are added and pressed into the top.  Cool and cut into squares.  Love trying new recipes!

 

Healthy Almond Joy or Mounds Coconut Candy

We all know the tune—“Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.”  It’s just too perfect.  Not trying to steal from the real candy company, but it really is a perfect statement.  I’m so happy to have made these and to have a treat stashed away for me to enjoy!  I originally was just making another treat I could have with dates, but then decided after adding some coconut to try to form them into an egg-like shape and dunk them in melted chocolate.  I’m brilliant, I say! ; )  Okay, I have no idea if something similar has ever been done before, I didn’t even look, just was happy that I came up with this all on my own.  I’m such a big girl nowadays.

I love making different sweet treats with dates.  Like these Raw Brownies with Walnuts or these Chocolate Peanut Butter Grain Free "Granola" Bars.  I love them all and they are sure easy to make.  Can’t forget these Chocolate Hazelnut Bombs or these Healthy Fudgy Brownie Bites.  The possibilities with flavors are almost limitless.  Whatever will I decide to make next?

Healthy Almond Joy or Mounds Coconut Candy (Grain Free, Refined Sugar Free, Dairy Free), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1  1/4 cup dates, pitted and cut into smaller pieces, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes

1 cup raw almonds

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon date water

1 tablespoon raw honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut, these are the bigger pieces (or another 1/4 cup of shredded)

2 tablespoons Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (dairy, grain, soy, egg free chocolate)

Chocolate coating (enough for half the bars, double if you want to coat all of them):

1/2 cup (3 ounces) Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

1 teaspoon coconut oil

Presoak the dates, drain and reserve the water.  Cut them on a cutting board (even if you have pitted dates, you should always cut them to check for pits!).  Cutting them into pieces also makes them grind up in the food processor easier.  Put the dates and almonds in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until coarsely ground.  Add the cocoa powder and pulse a few times.  Add the water, honey and salt and let it grind until it all clumps together almost forming a ball around the bowl (it will take a couple minutes).  Add the coconut and chocolate chips and pulse just a few times to combine.  Line a 9x5 inch bread pan with waxed paper.  Press the mixture evenly into the pan.  Refrigerate for an hour (I happened to make mine one day and didn’t get to dip them in chocolate until the next day.)

Melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave safe glass bowl in 20-30 second intervals, stirring after each one.  It should only take a minute or so.  Stir until smooth.  Remove the pan from the refrigerator and lift the sides of the waxed paper.  Set it on a cutting board and with a 1  1/2 inch round cutter, cut out circles of the date/nut mixture.  You can leave them in circles or form them into oval shape with your fingers.  It was super easy!  If you feel like a nut, dip one side of an almond into the melted chocolate and place it in the center of the candy oval.  Let the chocolate for those harden in the fridge for a few minutes.  Put each piece of candy on a fork and dip it into the melted chocolate, also spooning excess chocolate over the top.  Tap the candy on the sides of the glass bowl, letting the excess chocolate smooth out and drip down.  Place the candy on a wax paper lined plate.  When finished dipping the candy, put the plateful in the refrigerator until the chocolate is hardened (5-10 minutes).  (I only covered half the date candy in chocolate, but the rest is still sitting in the fridge waiting to be eaten plain—still good! or cut and dipped in more chocolate.)  The 3 ounces of melted chocolate was enough for about 8 candies.   Store candies in the refrigerator.

You don’t HAVE to dip them in chocolate and they are still really good.  I like the bigger, flaked coconut in these.  But these are certainly delicious WITH the chocolate coating—just remember, “sometimes you feel like a nut…….sometimes you don’t”.  (And remember, no matter which way you do them, there’s almonds in the date mixture.)

I think I hear one calling my name right now……………………………

 

  

 

Gluten Free Banana Bread

I heard that yesterday was National Banana Bread Day.  Whether it was or not, I didn’t confirm it, but I did get in the kitchen and make some banana bread.  Don’t really need excuses here, we always have bananas ready to eat, almost always have overripe ones needing to be taken care of and by taken care of I mean turned in to something banana-yummy. 

Four bananas who have been screaming at me for days now, became this banana bread last night.  I’ve actually made it many times, always just a little different, but enough the same that it comes out every time.  I love that I make a gluten free (and refined sugar free!) treat that I can enjoy.  Bananas are one of my favorite fruits.  Probably one of my favorite foods.  They are cheap, readily available, sweet and tasty and can be used in so many things.  What is not to love?  (Don’t answer that, Deborah.) ; )

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

1 tablespoon water

1/4 cup raw honey

1/4 cup coconut sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons almond milk, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mashed overripe banana (about 4 small bananas)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1  3/4 cup gluten free all-purpose flour (with xanthan gum)

1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips (optional) add nuts instead if you’d like

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9x5 inch baking pan with foil.  Brush the foil with coconut oil.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, water, honey and coconut sugar.  Add the almond milk, vanilla, and mashed banana and whisk together until combined.  Next add the salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour and stir together with a spoon.  Fold in the chocolate chips.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let sit on wire rack for 5 minutes then using the foil edges, remove the bread from the pan, peel off the foil and let the bread cool completely on a wire rack. 

If you don’t want chocolate in your banana bread (crazy!), you can add walnuts or pecans instead or just have it as good ol’ plain banana bread.  I’ve done them all.  This has a great outside crust and is nice and soft and moist inside just the way banana bread should be.  I love having a slice of this with a little peanut butter spread on it.

 

Marquise au Chocolat—Baking Chez Moi—Tuesdays With Dorie

Marquise au Chocolat (Frozen Chocolate Mousse), Baking Chez Moi, Tuesdays With Dorie

You might not realize what this is (which is why I put it in parenthesis in easy terms) and might not even think it looks too terribly good, but let me tell you, this frozen chocolate mousse is divine!  I even kind of like the lines in it from lining my heart-shaped mold with plastic wrap and it not being perfectly smooth.  It’s rustic and heart-warming and hello, it’s frozen chocolate and it’s definitely smooth going down the hatch.

I’m so glad I buckled down and made this, though it was last minute (the weeks sure fly by, not sure how I used to do TWD way back when, when we posted weekly)!  My seven year old woke up early, early Monday morning (the middle of the night) with the stomach flu and was sick all day yesterday.  I even dragged him to the store so I could get some chocolate and cream, which was in my plans before he was sick.  It worked well for me to tell him we needed to get some Sprite and saltine crackers for his upset tummy.  We got to the store and they were out of the chocolate I needed/wanted.  SIGH. 

Never fear, we went back home and I decided I had enough of everything to quarter the recipe and make a small serving.  Then I decided it would be fun to make it and put it in heart-shaped molds (this was before I even read Dorie’s suggestion to do that if desired).  She and I, we’re so smart.  So while my son lay on the couch trying to rest and not be sick, I got out the things I needed to make the quarter recipe for this chosen delight, Marquise au Chocolate (Frozen Chocolate Mousse), from Baking Chez Moi, pages 357-359.  Don’t let seeing that it’s three pages in her book make you think it’s too much.  A lot of it is all her background about the dessert and a great photo.  This was really so easy to make!  It took a couple steps, um, most recipes do, but if you plan it out and get everything together before starting, it’s pretty simple!

I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips, they are dairy, nut and soy free and made with evaporated cane juice.  They taste great!  Love the fun-shaped chocolate flower that showed up in the mix here.

The chocolate and butter were melted in a double boiler.  Since I made only one-quarter of the recipe, I beat the egg yolk and sugar with my hand mixer, then added that to the cooled melted chocolate and in another small bowl beat the heavy cream.  That was folded in to the chocolate mixture, then I put it in a small heart-shaped ramekin and a small heart-shaped metal mold that I’d lined with plastic wrap. 

 I put the molds in the freezer for only about four hours (recipes says six), but since they were smaller, I thought it would be okay.  Had to taste (and photograph) it right after an early dinner.

I ate about 2/3 of this little dessert (and gave Kevin the rest), it was rich and delicious and perfectly creamy.  I’m so excited that the bigger heart is still there for me in the very near future.  This was pretty simple to divide (especially with the gram measurements).  I’m sure I’ll make this again, maybe, just maybe I’ll try it with coconut cream and honey for the sweetener.  I’m not afraid. ; )  I would like this with some raspberry coulis or fresh raspberries next time.  If I make it that way, I’ll post it with the recipe for you.  Go get Dorie’s book!

Nutella Caramel Swirled Brownies—World Nutella Day

It’s World Nutella Day today!  You might remember back in August (or you might need this reminder), when I made and posted a bunch of recipes from Shelby’s blog, The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch for The Secret Recipe Club.  Normally, we were just to make one recipe for the blog we were assigned that month, but Shelby and her blog are one of my favorites and we are good friends, so just for fun, I spent that whole month after getting my assignment, making as many recipes from her blog that I could during that time.  Here's that post—look for something with Nutella among all the deliciousness. 

One of the recipes I made from her blog then were my version of her Peanut Butter Caramel Swirled Brownies.  After getting things measured and ready to make her brownies, I realized I was out of peanut butter, so I did what any smart person would do—I made the caramel with Nutella instead.  These brownies are so good.  You might be thinking that you thought I don’t eat sugar and gluten anymore.  Well, I don’t, mostly.  These brownies became an occasion where it was necessary (for quality control purpose, you understand) that I taste the caramel AND then ultimately a bite of the brownie that I then topped with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup (next time save some Nutella caramel for the brownie sundae!) and some hazelnuts.  I only took a small bite….see….

Don’t be intimidated by the idea of making caramel, this is so easy, even more so if you measure out the ingredients first and have everything ready.  When I made these brownies last August, I made a full batch, which is a 9x13 inch pan.  For the remaking of them today, I halved the recipe—the ingredients are all perfectly easy to halve, so you decide how much Nutella caramel you want and how many brownies.

 

Nutella Caramel Swirled Brownies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

Nutella Caramel Sauce:

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup water

½ cup (148 grams) Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread), warmed slightly

1 tablespoon corn syrup

Pinch of salt

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat cream on low heat in a small saucepan (or in a microwave safe measuring glass) until hot (just barely simmering). In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and heat over medium-high heat. Do not stir it. Let it cook until amber brown (2-3 minutes). Slowly whisk the hot cream into the sugar until smooth and let it cook for 1 minute. When you stir the cream into the caramelized sugar, it will bubble a lot. Don’t worry, just keep stirring. After 1 minute, remove from the heat and whisk in the warm Nutella (it combines better when it is heated up a bit—just microwave it in a small bowl for 20-30 seconds and stir), corn syrup, salt and vanilla. Stir together until well combined and smooth. Set it aside to cool while you prepare the brownie batter.

Brownies:

1 cup unsalted butter, melted

3 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 large eggs

1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9x13 pan by lining it with tin foil (I prefer nonstick foil). Spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.  In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until well combined. Add vanilla extract. Set aside.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder and salt. Whisk together. Fold dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Drop spoonsful of the Nutella caramel in dollops over the brownie batter. Drag a knife through the batter and the caramel to swirl. Don’t do it too much or you’ll lose the swirled effect. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with crumbs on it and not wet batter. Cool completely before cutting. Serve individually or as a base for brownie sundaes with ice cream, chocolate syrup (or more of the Nutella caramel if you didn’t use it all) and some toasted hazelnuts.

I mean, come on, don’t these look like great brownies?  If you are a Nutella lover, like so many, you will love this caramel and these brownies, they stand alone great, but also make an awesome brownie sundae.

Thanks to Sara at Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso for their inspiration and the start up of World Nutella Day.  Check it out for hundreds of mouth-watering Nutella recipes!

Check out all the Nutella goodness on my blog!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I saw King Arthur Flour post their 2015 Recipe of the Year and that it was cookies—these Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies and they looked like the perfect cookie that I needed to make for my family this week.

Kind of bummed, I went to the store to specifically get some King Arthur Flour, but I’ve looked before and was just wishful thinking—the stores near me here in Utah don’t have King Arthur flour available, so I almost hate to use their name for these cookies, but I did stick to their recipes almost exactly, so I do want them to get all the credit for these.  I will tell you, the recipe calls for their unbleached all purpose flour and I do have and use a good name brand unbleached flour for almost all my baking. 

This recipe has a lot of chocolate chips.  It suggested semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I used mostly milk chocolate chips and added some dark chocolate chips.  I wish I would have just stuck with the milk chocolate, as the boys really like the cookies but said there is too much chocolate in them.  Oh well, it’s not stopping them from eating them.

I wish I would have taken a before picture of these cookies on the baking sheet because I want to let you in on a little secret—when some (most) cookies come out of the oven, they are often not nice and perfectly round (as you see in the photo), but one of my tricks is as soon as I remove a baking sheet from the oven, I immediately take a metal spatula and go around the edges of each cookie, pushing in the areas where they aren’t nicely rounded.  Sometimes I do it when the cookies still have a minute or two in the oven then finish the baking. Once they are done, leave the cookies sitting on the hot baking sheet for a few minutes until they set up a bit more.   These cookies did seem to be the type that spread into other shapes a bit more, I often call those kinds “amoeba” cookies. ;  )  Just do my trick of quickly forming them back in to circles and you’ll be happy.  It has always worked great for me. 

These cookies have perfectly browned and crisp edges but are chewy in the centers.  I can’t believe I haven’t taken a single bite of them, but it’s because I can tell they are the kind of cookie I’d really like and have a hard time not eating more!  I love a good oatmeal cookie.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (220 grams) light brown sugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1 large egg yolk, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups (240 grams) unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup quick cooking oats (or old fashioned)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

12-18 ounces chocolate chips (I used 12 ounces milk chocolate and 6 ounces dark chocolate)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Put the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until well combined, about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Scrape sides of bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.  Add them to the creamed mixture and beat together just until combined.  Scrape sides of bowl and stir in the chocolate chips (In the future I will just use 12 ounces as my family thought 18 was too much.)

Scoop cookie dough onto baking sheets spacing them about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10 minutes, cookies will be browned on the edges and still a little doughy on the insides.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and using the edges of a metal spatula, form the cookies where needed back into rounds pushing lightly around the edges of each cookie.  Return the cookies to the oven for another 2 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 5 minutes, they will set up and the centers will bake a little more on the hot sheet.  Move the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes about 30 cookies.

Granola Energy Bars—Tuesdays With Dorie—Baking Chez Moi

It’s Tuesdays With Dorie time.  To start out the new year, we picked the Granola Energy Bars from Dorie’s Baking Chez Moi.  How fun for me to have a recipe that didn’t need altering.  I just used gluten free oats.  We could use any nuts and dried fruits we wanted and the granola bars were easy to make.

Dorie mentioned that these were best with brown rice syrup and I’ve been wanting to get some and try it so I bought some (and yay, it was on sale).  I did exactly as the recipe said, but only baked these for 20 minutes, not 25-30 and they were super crispy/hard. Bummer. So much that we had a hard time cutting them immediately.

Well, never fear—I decided to make them again.  This time, I changed up the nuts and fruit a bit (I went with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, coconut and peanuts and just raisins.  But I decided to use raw honey and lower the temperature of the oven.  When I make granola, I bake it at 300 degrees F.  It was written in the recipe to bake these at 325 degrees F.  So I went with 300 degrees and I used raw honey instead of the brown rice syrup.  I baked the new batch for only 20 minutes as well.  They seemed a lot softer.  Enough that I was even worried they wouldn’t cut into bars.  But I waited as the recipe said—let them cool for 3 hours and while they hardened up nicely, they were much better, still a little more firm than I like a chewy granola bar to be, but I am going to love having them for snacks for the next week.  I wonder if it’s a high altitude thing?

I couldn’t help it—with the peanuts and raisins, I kept thinking about those candy bars called Chunky that have peanuts and raisins in them and I decided these granola bars needed to be dipped in chocolate.  LOVE!  I’m so smart. Just kidding.  Dorie mentioned in the recipe that you can add any and all kinds of nuts and fruit and chocolate if you want.  I never think of chocolate………….(right!?)  I used some 70% organic chocolate (3 ounces) melted with about 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil. 

When I didn’t have enough chocolate left to keep dipping the bars, I drizzled the rest over the remaining bars.

Never fear—I did not and will not throw out the first bars that are so hard.  This morning, I put them in some almond milk on the stove and waited and watched and broke them up as they softened and turned them in to my morning oatmeal!  Good stuff!

Classic Criss Cross Peanut Butter Cookies

Sometimes the thing to do is just go with the gool ol’ classics.  I needed/wanted to make some cookies for a couple people and went with the perfect Classic Criss Cross Peanut Butter Cookies.  I just finished making them (the recipe makes more than four dozen cookies) and I think I’ll make another batch because I know the boys will love having these on hand. 

Cookie dough is almost always best after it has been chilled.  Many have asked me through the years why their cookies spread so much and are flat and one of the number one reasons I tell them is because they didn’t chill the dough.  When the butter is too soft and you use a cookie dough right after making it, it can make the cookies spread too much when they bake because all the ingredients are already warm.  I made this dough yesterday and it just didn’t work out for me to get them baked until today.  But the dough really only needs a couple hours in the refrigerator.  I haven’t tried it with these, I’m going to—but my favorite thing to do is make cookie dough, form cookie dough balls and freeze them.  I almost always have some kind of cookie dough to grab from the freezer and all I have to do is set them on a baking sheet, preheat the oven and bake them.  When you bake them from frozen, you just add a couple minutes to the baking time.

This cookie dough is perfect after it has chilled for a couple hours to roll into balls.  These cookies are then rolled in granulated sugar.  Once you place them on a cookie sheet, you can press down on them with a fork in a criss cross pattern.  Another thing I love about these cookies—they are all perfectly round.

Very similar recipes can be found all over the internet for these types of classic peanut butter cookies.  I adapted a recipe I found at Sally's Baking Addiction.

Classic Criss Cross Peanut Butter Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys! adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chunky peanut butter (you can use smooth, too)

3 cups, plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar (for rolling the cookie dough balls)

In the bowl of a mixer, beat together the butter and sugars.  Scrapes the sides of the bowl.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for 2 minutes.  Scrape sides of bowl again.  Add the peanut butter and beat until well combined.  Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and mix on low just until combined.  Scrape the dough into an airtight container and refrigerate for about 2 hours (or longer, the dough is great stored in the refrigerator for a couple days).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (325 degrees F for convection oven-I love baking cookies in a convection oven with 3 baking sheets at a time.)  Form walnut-sized balls of dough and roll them in the sugar.  Place about an inch and a half apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Bake for 10-11 minutes.  Remove from oven and let sit on the baking sheets for a couple minutes.  Move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.  Makes 54 cookies.

*If you make the cookie dough balls and freeze them, press them down with the criss cross pattern with a fork before freezing,  (store in an airtight container or freezer bag) set them on the baking sheets while the oven is preheating and add 1-2 minutes to the bake time.  Also note—I have since baked these fresh from making the dough (without chilling) and while the dough is soft and harder to form into balls, mine baked the same and look great.  I have even tried forming the dough balls, criss crossing them, then freezing them for 15 minutes and they also baked great for 12 minutes.

Pile the cookies onto plates and give them away (okay, maybe have a few if you must).  Wish I could!  I already know peanut butter cookies are great and there is nothing better than the classics!

 

Gingerbread Buche de Noel—Tuesdays With Dorie—Baking Chez Moi

Wait—before the year is over, I must post about this Tuesdays With Dorie recipe we made in the group over Christmas!  I’m a little late on posting it.  The date was for the Tuesday before Christmas, but I wanted to make it for Christmas Eve, so didn’t get it posted—until now—all the sudden it’s New Year’s Eve!  I did make this for Christmas Eve and I must say, though it was a huge labor of love and there were many steps to follow, I have learned that with Dorie’s recipes, if I do just that—follow all directions, the recipes always turn out great.  That said, I followed all the steps perfectly, except I decided to try making it gluten free and used organic cane sugars. 

Oh, look, two skinny little ends cut off.  I had to taste them for quality control!

I had high hopes that since the cake only called for 3/4 cup of flour that changing it to a gluten free flour blend would probably be okay.  I was going to retype the recipe as I made it, but I really didn’t change anything except the flour (I happened to have some Pamela’s Gluten Free Baking Mix, so that is what I used) and I used organic cane sugar and organic brown sugar.  All the many involved steps to the recipe were not changed at all.  And though I say it was a labor of love and there were what seemed like many steps involved, it was SO worth it.  I would certainly make this cake again for a special occasion.

The gingerbread flavor was not too strong, so I think this cake could be made year round.  And even if it was a strong ginger flavor, I would not be against making this in the summer if I really felt like it.  ; )

The cake roll worked perfectly—that’s always a worry that it will not roll up nicely.  This rolled perfectly with not even any cracking.  The filling is a nice cream cheese/butter filling that isn’t sweet at all and then the delicious egg white/sugar syrup frosting is a perfectly sweet addition to the cake.  Also loved the pecan praline crunch that was in the filling and on the top of the cake. 

This cake was my big holiday splurge and I won’t tell you how many pieces of it I ate (not all in one sitting).  I took the cake to a family Christmas Eve celebration and it was well liked by everyone who ate some of it.  Nice thing about those big family get-togethers—so many desserts that I was able to bring a little bit of the cake home to enjoy later.

I wish you all a wonderful, Happy New year!  Thanks for still sticking around here with me.  It’s almost been seven years since I started my blog and while I’m not in it for the fame and money, I love sharing with my readers the happiness I get from baking and sharing with all those around me.  While how often I blog has changed over the years and even the kinds of things I blog, I’m happy you’re still here.  I wish you all health and happiness in the new year!

You are in luck if you want this recipe, it can be found on the internet from some of the promotions done with Dorie’s new book.  You can find the recipe HERE.  I think you should just get Baking Chez Moi!  My link at the top for Tuesdays With Dorie has everyone else in the groups’ posts for their Buche de Noel cakes.  Check them out!  We’ll be starting the year out more healthy with some granola bars, coming soon! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Gingerbread Buche de Noel—Tuesdays With Dorie—Baking Chez Moi

Just a quick note—Today for Tuesdays With Dorie  the recipe is Gingerbread Buche de Noel.  I plan to make it tomorrow for Christmas Eve, so my post won’t be up today, but I’m looking forward to making it! 

Stay tuned and in the meantime, check out the link for others in the group who have already made and posted about their cake!

Tuesdays With Dorie--Baking Chez Moi--Gingerbread Buche de Noel links

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY

HOLIDAYS!

Salted Mixed Nut Brittle

I’m here!  I know I haven’t been blogging as much and it makes me sad, but one can only do what they can do, right?  Before Christmas is here (it’s almost here!), I wanted to share this perfectly crispy, but not tooth-breaking-hard mixed nut brittle.  That’s right—mixed nuts.  Why not use other nuts and not just peanuts in a brittle?  I’ll never go back to just peanuts again.  In fact, this brittle doesn’t even have peanuts.  I used a mix that is peanut-free. 

My friend, Paige (chef extraordinaire), who blogs at For Love of the Table first introduced me to this brittle (the link to her blog is the recipe!) and I’ve made it numerous times since.  I used some Planters mixed nuts that have lots of pistachios as well as the usual cashews, almonds, pecans and some Brazil nuts.  Hazelnuts would be so good, too!

This brittle is easy (the stove does all the work).  Some sugar and water, a little corn syrup and butter are dissolved, then brought to a medium boil.  The only difference for me compared to Paige’s instructions is that she says it should take about 10 minutes to come to hard crack temperature and mine took almost 20 minutes.  Just make this when you have some time to hang around the kitchen and babysit it a bit, but you can plan to easily get a few other things done while it’s cooking away.  Check out Paige’s blog post for not only the recipe, but I love that her posts are always so full of the best instructions.  I have never had a “recipe fail” when I follow the directions in her recipes. 

I love Paige’s tip to have the nuts on a baking sheet in a low temperature oven to warm them while the brittle is cooking.  Once the mixture is at the right temperature, you need to quickly add the nuts, stir and spread it on a buttered sheet.  It begins hardening quickly, so to have the nuts warm, it helps the process, rather than if you add colds/room temperature nuts, it brings the brittle to a cooler temperature faster and makes it start hardening before you can even spread it on the baking sheet!  Here’s where I forgot (waaaahhh!) to salt the brittle while it was still soft enough to keep the salt on top, but definitely add it as soon as you spread it because the salt is a great addition, even if you’re already using roasted, salted nuts.  And it looks great with those little white specks on top.  Even though mine was a bit hardened when I remembered, there is still a little finer salt on the top.  I hurried and ground my pink Himalayan sea salt over it, so it wasn’t as course as it should be.  But this brittle sure tastes great!

You know how when you break it in to pieces and smaller bits and chunks break off?  I might have tasted a few of those, but only if there was a healthy nut in them.  ;  )

Here’s the link to the recipe again on Paige’s blog.  If you like or love brittle—make this!  It’s fun and perfect to give as gifts, too.

Apple Pie with Lucky Leaf Pie Filling and Pampered Chef Pie Plate (Giveaway)

 

Who would like a slice of Apple Pie?  ME!  I think apple pie is my favorite kind of pie.  Too bad I didn’t make this one gluten free.  I will admit to having snitched a bite.  (Living on the edge.)  My favorite pie filling folks at Lucky Leaf sent me a fun package with some pie filling and this awesome Pampered Chef pie plate.  My family convinced me to make a cheesecake for Thanksgiving.  They love nothing more than opening cans of pie filling, especially cherry and blueberry (which Lucky Leaf also sent me) and having it with cheesecake.  But even though I can’t and didn’t eat the pie, I had to make apple pie with the apple filling. 

Lucky Leaf’s canned pie filling is full to the top with apples. 

I love that and wish I’d had two cans of it for the pie, but since I didn’t, I cooked some apples and added it to the filling to make a fuller pie.  Another thing I love about Lucky Leaf premium pie fillings—no high fructose corn syrup.  Not only that, but there are just minimal ingredients, basically the same as you’d make at home—fruit, sugar, cornstarch, and spices.  Sure comes in handy in a pinch.

I chopped up 4 apples, added a little sugar, a touch of lemon and some cinnamon and cooked them in a pot for about 10 minutes.   Then I folded the Lucky Leaf filling in with the cooked apples.  I put that in my prepared pie crust in the awesome Pampered Chef pie plate, added a crust top and baked it for 35 minutes.

I think the pie turned out great!  I really like the already fluted edge of the pie plate. 

I have always had a hard time fluting the edge of pie and this really did make it easier for me.  And it’s a pretty plate!

Apple Pie with Lucky Leaf Premium Pie Filling, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 can Lucky Leaf Premium Apple Pie Filling

4 apples, peeled, cored and sliced (use your favorite apple)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Homemade pie crust, ready for top and bottom of pie (I used Dorie Greenspan's Galette Dough recipe), chilled for at least 30 minutes

2 tablespoons cream, for brushing on the crust

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling over the pie

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

Put the prepared apples in a saucepan, along with the lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar.  Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

While the apples are cooking, roll out the bottom crust and put it in the pie plate.  Fold the pie filling into the cooked apples and put them in the prepared pie plate.  Roll out the top crust and cover the apples with it.  Tuck the top crust around  the edges slightly over the bottom crust and flute the edges.  Vent the top of the pie making slits with a knife.  (I always make a little pie crust cutout of whatever kind of pie I’m making to put in the center of the crust.) Bake for 35-40 minutes, if the crust is browning too much during baking, cover lightly with foil.  Let cool on a wire rack.

(I didn’t check the browning of my crust in time and would have covered it with foil a little sooner, it was almost done when I looked.  It was still definitely not too dark though.  It sliced nicely, too.

A couple of the boys had a slice of the pie, but Kevin wouldn’t want me to tell you he has eaten about 3/4 of it over a couple of days.  Every time he’s in the kitchen and wonders what he can eat, I keep telling him to eat the pie.  He’d want you to know he’s doing it just for me.  Besides that, it’s really good!

Did I mention a giveaway?  Yes—Lucky Leaf wants to give one of my lucky, randomly chosen readers a Pampered Chef pie plate and some of their premium pie filling, too!  I want to make it simple for you—just leave me a comment here about one of your favorite holiday family traditions.  The giveaway will be open to US residents only and will go until 12:00 p.m., Friday, December 12.  A winner will be announced on Facebook and other social media, so make sure you’re following Baking and Boys and Lucky Leaf!  Thanks and thank you Lucky Leaf!

Baking and Boys! on Facebook

My Twitter Account (@koismith)

Baking and Boys! on Pinterest

Lucky Leaf on Pinterest  Check out all their delicious pinned recipes!

Lucky Leaf on Facebook

Lucky Leaf on Twitter

#BakethisHolidaySpecial 

***UPDATE—GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED.  WINNER SELECTED.  THE WINNER IS LISA BARRON!  LISA, PLEASE CONTACT ME VIA EMAIL (kevnkoi@hotmail.com) ASAP WITH YOUR ADDRESS.  Congratulations!