Archive for April, 2012

  • Guilt-Free Chocolate Chewy Cookies

    April 29th, 2012

    There are some “not unhealthy” recipes I make where people are generally “pleased” with the outcome, and then there are some where people go all ape-poo. These cookies have caused quite a stir, because they’re just really, really good. Despite being really, really not bad for you.

    Consider these to be a cross between a cookie and a brownie… like you made a brownie batter and then decided you absolutely had to have cookies instead. (Hm- I just thought of making these as brownies next time. We’ll see how that goes. I’ll keep you informed.) These have an intense chocolate hit (no issue there, I know) because both bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder make an appearance. And as discussed, these are health-ified by taking out added fats (like butter or oil), using egg whites, and replacing processed white sugar (the evil yet deliciously addictive crack-cocaine of the kitchen) with Sucanat and a teeny bit of brown sugar (because these are cookies, after all).

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  • Baked Mini Buttermilk Donuts

    April 25th, 2012

    Mini anything is good. Eating something small creates the illusion that you’ll really only consume just a little bit, and you’re allowed to feel like you’ve still been responsible if you only have three of something mini. (Hit the four mark and you’re a total glutton- but three? You’ve simply had a taste.)

    When I think of donuts I think of something wonderfully deep fried. The only problem is that ‘wonderful’ and ‘deep fried’ are just a tad oxymoronic, and anyways, we don’t happen to have a deep fryer at home- so these donuts are baked in a mini donut pan (you can get them at any department or kitchen store these days). They are cakey and yet somehow light at the same time… and the simple glaze is an absolute necessity to finish these miniatures off.

    (Speaking of glaze- I have inordinately fond memories of sitting in Tim Horton’s once a week as a kid with my Mom, eating their chocolate donut covered in white glaze which was then covered in sweetened coconut [inappropriately and boringly called the “Chocolate White” donut- couldn’t they have done better than that?]. I’d eat the donut slowly and methodically, entering a Tim Horton’s Trance of sorts, wondering how on earth they achieved the right glaze:coconut ratio. Yes, donuts have a special place in my heart. And now I feel the need to re-create the Chocolate White. I might just have to get a deep fryer after all.)

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  • The Zesty Ginger Scone with Raisins & Orange Glaze

    April 21st, 2012

    I went a bit scone-crazy a couple of weeks ago, which wasn’t hard to do (because I have always loved a good biscuit- especially ones with glaze that drips off the edges and sometimes pools underneath).  I did this because I wanted to participate in Pastry Chicago’s Scone Competition (a cool organization that puts on […]

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  • Scary, Scalded Scones.

    April 21st, 2012

    Word to the wise: don’t ignore your kitchen timer when it goes off. Don’t be all brazen and think “oh, I’ll get the scones out of the oven in a second” and then do what I do, which is not get the scones out of the oven in a second.

    However many minutes after the timer sounded (5? 15?), I remembered the scones, and not because I was responsible and thought “oh yes, the scones”, but because I could smell them. Not that wonderful ‘butter baking’ smell that you know I love… but rather that ‘carbon’ smell I have grown to know all too well.

    (FYI: scones aren’t like toast. You can’t scrape the burned parts off them and try and make a go of it anyway. You have to wait for your failure to cool down enough to throw out and not melt the plastic garbage bag, so your disaster gets to sit and look at you up until that point. Mocking you.)

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  • Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

    April 18th, 2012

    I was made aware of some profoundly disturbing news the other day through a one-liner email from my friend Sharon:
    “Did you hear about the world wide vanilla shortage?”
    I swallowed hard. I hadn’t heard the news.
    As a baker who goes through a significant amount of vanilla (the good vanilla, the Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon vanilla bought by the quart), this was not a happy, smiley-face-emoticon kind of email to read. So what’s a girl with a penchant for the good stuff to do, when it’s on the brink of extinction? You do what they did during the days of prohibition- you go hogwild. You make the most special vanilla recipe you have, and celebrate every last tiny bean before the pasty chefs start bootlegging vanilla into the country (and carrying guns).

    So- what special dessert to choose? Crème brûlée is special, and not just because it has three different accents in its title.
    No, this dessert tops the favorite list for many (other than raging chocoholics) for many delectable reasons:
    * It’s one part creamy, one part crunchy. This stunning juxtaposition of textures makes for some serious cravings.
    * It’s fun. Breaking through the caramelized sugar crust with a spoon is unexplainably entertaining. (It helps that the custard waiting for you underneath the crunchy roof oozes a bit through the sugar shards that are left behind.)
    * It tastes freaking amazing. That might be the only reason that matters, folks.

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  • Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

    April 15th, 2012

    It’s banana-ey, and it’s fluffy. And it’s topped with a glob of cream cheese frosting. Come on, doesn’t this cake have your name written all over it?

    When you have a bunch of ripe bananas (don’t waste your time with bananas that are more yellow than black, my friends— when I made this cake, the bananas looked burned to a crisp), you must make this cake or cupcakes (or if you’re not in the mood for cream cheese icing [really?], consider making Banana Nut Bread instead).

    Back to the cake. When to do a cake and when to do cupcakes? It’s one of life’s challenging questions, I know. A cake takes longer, which I always find annoying (waiting for something to finish in the oven- come on), and yet it’s easier to spread the frosting over. (There’s always pressure for frosted cupcakes to look so pretty, and what if you’re just not that type?) Cupcakes are more portable, though, so if you’re serving them at the office for a birthday thing, you can pop them into a tin and not have to take your massive cake transporter-container-minivan. Everyone finds cupcakes charming, so that’s always a win, but cake is also kind of homey when you’re a casual dinner party and you get to cut slices right at the table- like you’re sharing one big dish, without the group saliva. I’m no closer to an answer about what’s better, as it’s usually a game time decision for me. (In this case, I just wanted to use my cute new cupcake holders I ordered online. Sometimes it’s that simple.)

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  • Healthy Cashew Butter & Banana Cookies

    April 14th, 2012

    These are very healthy, so don’t ever say that “More Sweets, Please” is all about sinful, sweet, rich, decadent, unhealthy, over the top desserts.  (I would actually consider that to be a real compliment.) No, these cookies are the cousins of the Healthy Almond Butter & Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies, and they upped the fiber […]

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  • Spring Nest Cookies with Chocolate Eggs

    April 11th, 2012

    I’m not too into froof when it comes to baking, but even I said “awww” when I made these sugar cookie nests.

    Flashback to a year ago when wandering aimlessly through Williams Sonoma- I stumbled upon a book called “The Art of the Cookie” with pictures of these- and knew I had to purchase the potato ricer required to push the cookie dough through to get the funky little nest-like pieces. (Basically a play-doh tool for grown ups.) So I have had the potato ricer in the cupboard for a year now (which makes dramatically better mashed potatoes, by the way), the time had come to make the nests. It’s spring, and Cadbury Mini Eggs are everywhere. They deserve a home, resting securely in a sugar cookie nest with the help of a simple icing. And these cookies deserve a home, too… in your mouth, hungry baker.

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  • Hot Cross Buns

    April 8th, 2012

    I have a little bit of explaining to do.

    I screwed this recipe up (read here for the details), but in the spirit of salvaging a recipe (especially a recipe that takes a crapload of time to prepare, what with the whole yeast-rising-time and all), I turned the unrecognizable buns into toast. (My mistake was relatively benign… the buns looked strange upon taking them out of the oven, but they smelled and tasted PDG. The Kitchen Guinea Pig eagerly approved of the taste test. So naturally I took the baked bun block, used a serrated knife to cut it in half across its belly, and then into bread-size slabs, perfect for the toaster. Wouldn’t you have done the same thing?)

    Anyway, I am confident to present this recipe to you, because I know it works out just fine if you don’t do something stupid like add an extra egg in. Please, make the buns- unless the toast version has totally inspired you. Next time I’ll make the buns, because I so miss the icing cross that goes on top of the former. (Hm. How wrong would it be to put icing on the toast?)

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  • The “Not So Hot” Cross Buns.

    April 8th, 2012

    Okay, so here is what a slaved-over batch of hot cross buns looks like when you misinterpret a recipe and add an extra egg by mistake (see picture): not so hot. Not so bun-like.

    However, they smelled wondiferous. And other than the oddly-shellacked shell on top, the texture was like a hot cross bun- albeit a sturdy one. So I didn’t waste three hours of baking (okay, that includes rising time)… I immediately thought “toast”. If you’re interested in a hot cross bun recipe that does work, click here.

    And don’t add an extra egg.

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  • Chocolate Mocha Cake with Fudgy Frosting

    April 7th, 2012

    Be prepared to swoon, chocolate lover.

    This is the chocolate cake recipe that you will adopt as your own, so you might as well print it out right now and laminate it. You’ll bake this cake for your own birthday parties (tacky, but worth it), you’ll start eating it for breakfast (if you happen to have a piece left over in the morning), and you’ll find yourself craving it in the middle of the night when you get up to go to the bathroom (explaining why you might not have any left for breakfast).

    This is the chocolate cake that’s decadently dense and rich- so much so that I was told “I love these brownies!” when serving last week (don’t get me started on brownies- I am forever married to the World’s Greatest Fudge Brownie recipe and can’t fathom a cakey brownie as an acceptable dessert experience). And how appropriate is it to slather a fudgy cake with an even fudgier icing- one that literally pours over the cake in a strangely seductive fashion? Oh, it’s appropriate, and it’s happening in this recipe.

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  • Cocodamia Nut White Chocolate Bars

    April 5th, 2012

    I know there’s no such word as ‘cocodamia’, but work with me here. Coconut & macadamia got together and had a love child, who then hooked up with white chocolate. And these bars were born, in the tropics.

    You’re basically going to take the recipe for Coconut Macaroons and stir in the nuts and chocolate. Throw it into a pan, bake it, and call it a day (after eating your share and then some). Another day’s hard work in the kitchen.

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  • Berry Orange Fool

    April 1st, 2012

    There’s no better way to celebrate April Fool’s day than with a classic British dessert that calls itself a “fool”, is there? (Other than playing horribly evil jokes on coworkers and loved ones.)

    With spring in full effect, it’s time to kick the fruit consumption into high gear… as an appetite-whetter of what’s ahead (strawberry season! strawberry season!). This fool recipe swirls berries and orange zest with a simple mixture of whipped cream and yogurt… served with crumbled Classic Shortbread Cookies.

    (Be careful not to get too ambitiously healthy with this recipe. I altered the whipped-cream-to-yogurt ratio in my last Fool escapade, thinking I was all ‘responsible’ [we did just watch ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead’ and feel the need to either sustain ourselves on 100% fresh fruit & veggie juice or stop eating altogether] and The Husband politely [but pointedly] protested. I ended up adding the full amount of the whipped cream after all, because it IS my aim to please, of course. If you’re looking to add less fat and sugar into your life, then keep this recipe as is and serve Baby Fools, as pictured. In short: don’t f with the Fool.)

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