Intense Chocolate Fudge Cookies

If a cookie is going to have a chocolate dough, it must have melted chocolate in the dough not cocoa powder! Well the chocolate marble chunk cookies I made with cocoa powder were good but maybe because the cookie was half chocolate dough, half regular cookie dough. I realized yesterday when I was reaching to use the cocoa powder, that I rarely ever use it. But now I'm also remembering the chocolate cake that I made that used only cocoa powder and how amazing that was.

I made these quite a while ago actually when I had this intense chocolate craving - and they definitely satisfy a chocolate craving and a half. I found them to be really sweet, with a fudgey middle and brownie-like edges. Tish Boyle (the author) suggests that you take the cookies out when the centers are not completely set, to get that fudgey middle - but personally I think I'd be happier cooking them a bit longer for a more brownie like texture. I substituted some of the bittersweet chocolate for semisweet which I'm sure accounted for the cookies being too sweet. You could probably even reduce the amount of sugar a bit.

I still really want to try out Martha's outrageous chocolate cookies. And I really want to try out this style of super chocolate cookie with espresso, like this one.

Other delicious chocolate things I've made:
Dulce de Leche Brownies
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones
Chocolate Orbit Cake
Chocolate Pots de Crème

Intense Chocolate Fudge Cookies (aka Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies*)
The Good Cookie

Makes about 36 cookies

1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
14 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; set aside.

2. Chop 6 ounces of chocolate into pieces between 1/4 and 1/2 inch squares; set aside.

3. Coarsely chop the remaining 8 ounces chocolate and place in the top of a double boiler with the butter. Melt the chocolate and butter over barely simmering water, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat; separate the top of the pan from the bottom and let the chocolate mixture cool for 10 minutes.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla extract at high speed until doubled in volume, about 3 minutes. At low sped, blend in the melted chocolate mixture. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the reserved chopped chocolate and the walnuts; the dough will be thin. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 24 hours).

5. Position two oven racks near the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare two baking sheets.

6. Drop the chilled dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto the baking sheets. Moisten your palm to prevent sticking, and flatten each mound of dough slightly. Bake the cookies, two sheets at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, until the cookie appear set; switch the position of the baking sheets halfway through baking. Do not overbake, or the cookies will be dry; the centers should not be completely set. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

*I renamed these cookies to be more descriptive of what they actually are (the original name is chocolate chocolate chip cookies, if you're interested).

Banana Nut Shortbread

I love shortbread. Like really love shortbread. Maybe because I grew up with my mom and grandma making it, or maybe because yes it's just that delicious. My mom has always made it at Christmas, and my grandma's shortbread is one everyone fights over (I still need to try out her recipe). Their shortbreads are quite different though, with my mom's being light, extremely crumbly and topped with half of a maraschino cherry, and my grandma's being covered in sugar and more sturdy. Both are yummy.

I was really curious to try out this recipe, wondering if it would be anything like shortbread since there's half of a banana in it. Impressively it was quite like shortbread in texture, but it didn't have a strong banana taste. There was way too much nutmeg, so I recommend halving it which is reflected in the recipe below. And it was easy to roll out (a huge plus in my books).

I really loved trying this recipe out, but I doubt I'll make it again because the flavour just didn't do it for me (maybe it was the extreme nutmeg). So why am I posting it? Well it's worth trying if you're an adventurous shortbread lover, or just looking for something different. And if you're fancy, you can add dried banana chips, walnut halves and/or maple icing to these. The Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Cookies magazine has a few different shortbread recipes, and I can't wait to try out the other ones - carrot cake, peanut butter candy, and strawberry.

Other cookies I've made:
Earl Grey Tea or Matcha Shortbread
Chocolate Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
Russian Tea Cakes (Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies)
Strawberry Shortbread Cookie Bark

Banana Nut Shortbread
Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Cookies 2007

Makes 32 (If you can roll the dough out properly, which apparently I can't so it made 36 for me)

1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup mashed ripe banana (1/2 medium banana)
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg*
2/3 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts

Beat butter, banana, and vanilla in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours or freeze about 20 minutes until firm.

Preheat the oven to 300F. Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg ni a large bowl. Cut in butter mixture using a pastry blender until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling together. Add chopped nuts. Knead dough until smooth; form dough into a ball. Divide dough in half.

Roll each dough portion into an 8 inch x 6 inch (20cmx15cm) rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Cut each rectangle into sixteen 2 x 1 1/2-inch rectangles. Place rectangles 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake in preheated oven about 30 minutes or just until bottoms begin to brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool.

*The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp, which I used but I thought it was too much so next time I'd recommend 1/4 tsp or even 1/8 tsp unless you are a huge nutmeg lover.

TWD: Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was pecan honey sticky buns, chosen by Madam Chow's Kitchen. This recipe didn't really call out to me before, probably due to the honey in the name (I'm trying to like honey) and all the nuts on top (though I don't know why sugary pecans wouldn't appeal to me considering my new love of pecans). And making brioche to make these? I was a bit scared. I had this idea in my head that brioche would be this horrible sticky mess and would be so hard to make. But with the use of a Kitchenaid and Dorie's recipe, the most difficult thing was remembering to go back and punch the dough down every 30 minutes after it was in the fridge.

With how easy the brioche was to make, and how absolutely perfectly soft it was on the inside with the most delicious browned outsides - I know I'll be making brioche many more times. The brioche made these honey pecan sticky buns the type of cinnamon/sticky roll that I love. And I for some reason never thought of making a caramel to put the sticky buns in as they baked - I'm sure Dorie's not the first person to do this but wow am I happy to be introduced to this idea. I used to think that a cinnamon roll MUST have cream cheese icing, and while I do still love cream cheese icing, I think I actually prefer them without. As long as they have lots of gooey sugary cinnamony caramel type stuff, which is exactly what this one has.

Since you have to make a whole recipe of brioche (and this recipe uses only half of it), I had planned to make one loaf of brioche, half a recipe of honey pecan sticky buns, and save and freeze the other piece for half a recipe of brioche raisin snails (another Dorie recipe). BUT silly me, I forgot to wrap up that extra 1/4 and didn't end up halving the dough for the recipe, though I halved everything else - including the size that I rolled the dough out to and the dish that I baked them in. That's why my sticky buns were so fat. There was definitely nothing wrong with them but I want to try this recipe the way it was intended, with the dough rolled out thinner.

Thanks Madam Chow for choosing this insanely tasty recipe! I've been looking for a really good cinnamon roll recipe and I think I've now found it. If you don't like pecans, these would definitely be good without. And if you're a little wary of things tasting like honey, don't worry about it for this recipe as you can't taste it.

Other TWD recipes I've made:
Matcha Coconut Madeleines
Bill's Big Carrot Cake
The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns
Baking: From My Home To Yours

Makes 16 buns

For the Glaze:
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)

For the Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Buns:
1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves (see below), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)

Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this).

To make the glaze: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out as best you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinkle over the pecans.

To make the filling: Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.

To shape the buns: On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months. Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the glaze recipe accordingly).

With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.

Lightly cover the pan with a clean dry dish towel and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

Getting ready to bake: When the buns have almost fully risen, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375F. Remove the dish towel and put the pan on a baking sheet.
Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily. Pull the pan from the oven. The sticky buns must be unmolded minutes after they come out of the oven. If you do not have a rimmed platter large enough to hold them, use a baking sheet lined with a silicone mate or buttered foil. Be careful - the glaze is super-hot and super-sticky.

Golden Brioche Dough
Baking: From My Home To Yours

(This recipe makes enough for two brioche loaves. If you divide the dough in half, you would use half for the sticky buns, and you can freeze the other half for a later date, or make a brioche loaf out of it.)

2 packets active dry yeast (each packet of yeast contains approx. 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

Glaze (you would brush this on brioche loaves, but not on the sticky buns):
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water

To Make The Brioche: Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.

Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.

Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight. (After this, you can proceed with the recipe to make the brioche loaves, or make the sticky buns instead, or freeze all or part of the dough for later use.)

The next day, butter and flour two 8 1/2-x-4 1/2-inch pans.

Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of the dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3 1/2 inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Again, rising time with depend on how warm the room is.)

Getting Ready To Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400F.

To Make the Glaze: Beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.

Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies & Toblerone Cookies

These cookies may just take the chocolate chip cookie champion title from the Neiman Marcus cookies. I was really happy with how soft they were, and how they were a bit chewy with slightly crispy edges. The taste of the actual dough was good but I'll try adding a bit more vanilla next time to see if that can make the cookies even better.

I made the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies as a request from my mom, and decided to do half of the batch as Toblerone cookies. The Toblerone cookies were definitely more addictive than I could've expected. Unfortunately I didn't add enough Toblerone, and the Toblerone I used was a limited time one (milk chocolate with white chocolate caps). I also learned that raw macadamia nuts do not taste good! At least not the ones I had. And that they really must be toasted before being used in these cookies.

9 days and 5 exams until I'm free to go on a baking spree!

Other chocolate cookies I've made:
Chocolate Oatmeal Coconut Cookies
Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies
Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies & Toblerone Cookies*
Adapted from Tyler Florence (from Bon Appetit Dec 2006)

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract**
1 1/2 cups white chocolate, chopped (about 8 1/2 ounces)
1 cup coarsely chopped roasted macadamia nuts (about 4 1/2 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift first 3 ingredients into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until blended. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat just until blended. Using spatula, stir in white chocolate chips, and nuts.

For large cookies, drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets, spacing 21/2 inches apart. For small cookies, drop dough by level tablespoonfuls onto sheets, spacing 11/2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until just golden, about 18 minutes for large cookies and about 15 minutes for small cookies***. Cool on sheets.

*Note: To make Toblerone cookies, replace white chocolate and macadamia nuts with chopped Toblerone bars.

**I'm going to try 2 tbsp next time.
***I underbaked them a bit, baking large size cookies for 13 to 14 minutes.

A Neb at Nut Roast Event: Walnut and Mushroom Nut Roast

The lovely Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe is hosting an event called A Neb at Nut Roast. She loves nut roasts (a savoury vegetarian loaf made of nuts and other things that is kind of like meatloaf) and is wanting other people to share the love. I jumped on the chance to be a part of this, intrigued by the mysterious loaf. My adopted blogger, Holler, made a nut roast a couple of months ago and I was really interested to try my own.

Unfortunately I did not find a new and exciting recipe. I wanted to try out a recipe from Johanna's blog. A funny thing happened - I was telling my mom how I was going to make a nut roast and this was a great new adventure and exciting thing. Then she told me, didn't you make one of those years ago and how it was pretty good. I vaguely remember this nut loaf and couldn't remember where I possibly got the recipe from. Nut roast/loaf recipes are not something I've often come across in vegetarian cooking. Anyway I think I found it in 365 Ways to Cook Vegetarian.

So as my second nut roast experience, I know I'll definitely be making it again. I love one dish meals and this is perfect for that - with a salad or some random vegetable like broccoli on the side it's the perfect satisfying healthy meal. For me, I don't think it needs gravy or a sauce but I'm sure it would be yummy. I'll be making a nut roast for future Thanksgiving dinners and anytime meals. As for this particular nut roast, it was very tasty. Though I only remembered to add the soy milk halfway through the baking time, so that could account for it not sticking together at all. I loved the sunflower seeds, and I wasn't sure that I'd like the sun dried tomatoes because I sometimes find them too tangy, but they were a great addition.

Thanks Johanna for hosting this event and pushing me to try out a nut roast again! For those who want to participate, you have until Friday the 18th to make and post about your delicious nut roast.

Walnut and Mushroom Nut Roast
slightly adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe who adapted it from Leah Leneman

1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
200g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup soy milk
1 cup dried whole wheat breadcrumbs
1 tbsp flaxseed meal
1/2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 cup basil, freeze dried*
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp A1 steak sauce**
sea salt to taste

Heat oil in large frypan. Sauté onion over medium heat until translucent. Add mushrooms and sauté an additional 5 minutes until mushrooms are cooked. (The recipe says tenderized but this just reminds me of meat too much. I also followed the recipe and just sautéed the onions and mushrooms together but I felt the onions needed more time than the mushrooms – although they were fine in the loaf.)

While the vegetables are sautéing you could dry fry walnuts until they smell roasted. Then process walnuts and sunflower seeds in food processor until coarsely ground.

Mix mushroom mixture, walnut mixture and remaining ingredients. Spoon into lined (with parchment paper or aluminum foil) loaf pan. Press the mixture into the tin with the back of a spoon. Bake in moderate oven for about 45 minutes. Stand 5 minutes.

*Fresh is of course better
**Original recipe calls for Worcestershire sauce but that has anchovies in it.

My 100th Post! And Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread

This is my 100th post! I don't have anything exciting to celebrate it with but this banana bread was pretty delicious. I rarely make banana bread because when I was growing up my mom always made it. It was yummy but I guess lost its magical appeal. She never put walnuts or chocolate chips in it though, and this was actually my first time putting chocolate chips in banana bread. I like to maintain this image in my mind of banana bread being healthy and if I put chocolate chips in it, well it just makes it a little more difficult to believe! But I thought if I cut down the sugar a lot (to 2 tablespoons) and only put a small amount of chocolate chips, it wouldn't be a terribly unhealthy snack. And thus begins my love of this chocolate walnut banana bread.

I haven't used my mini loaf pans for a while and forgot how great little loaves are. In the recipe I wrote that you can use either oat flour or whole wheat pastry flour. The oat flour makes it much denser, but I loved it that way. If that's not quite for you, try the whole wheat pastry flour. It will still be a dense muffin but lightens it up a bit.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Earl Grey White Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Healthy Banana Bran Muffins
Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins

Chocolate Walnut Banana Bread
Adapted from How It All Vegan!

Makes 1 loaf, 6 mini loaves, or 12 small-ish muffins

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour OR oat flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup chocolate chips, optional*

Preheat oven to 375F. In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until very mushy, then add the applesauce, sugar, and walnuts and stir together.

In a separate large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour (or oat flour), salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and mix together gently until "just mixed". Gently stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon into a lightly oiled loaf pan (or muffin pan) and bake for 40-50 minutes**. Test with a toothpick or a knife to see if done.

*Use nondairy chocolate chips or omit them to make this vegan.
**The first time I made these, I used mini loaf pans and I can't remember how long it took. I would check them around 25 minutes and see how they are. Maybe even 20 minutes.

Caramel Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

I'm submitting this caramel cake with caramel cream cheese frosting to the Sugar High Friday Sweet Gifts event. The idea behind this month's event is that you post about something you made for someone or want to make for someone.

I made this cake for my sister in law for her birthday a few weeks ago. I wasn't sure what to choose for her. Something really chocolatey? Something with nutella? (I think I'll have to make a nutella one for her next year.) And then I remembered this caramel cake I saw on Bake or Break and thought it would be perfect. She really loved it and said that it had all of her favourite things, which made me really happy. Plus the cake was insanely delicious. And I do mean insanely.

I think my round cake pans must be 8 inch pans though since the cakes really rose into quite the domes that I had to slice off (and nibble away at all day while making the different parts of the cake). I really loved the cake. It was my vision of the perfect dense cake. I don't think the cake itself really tasted like caramel though. But there was caramel in the frosting and as a filling.

I had no idea that this cake was going to involve so many different things and so much time. I was happy to make it but I guess I didn't read the recipe too in depth and just dove in. I've only made caramel a couple of times and think I was only partly successful this time. I was really scared of burning the caramel that was used in the icing and I think I ended up not cooking it long enough (it was quite thin). As for the caramel filling - as you can see, I didn't let it cool enough before spreading it on the cake, so it oozed over the sides and everywhere. My sister in law said this was a good thing though. Anyway, the cake was awesome, my sister in law was happy, and I learned a few things about caramel and praline making.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Carrot Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese-White Chocolate Icing
Caramel Almond Tiger Cookies
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Caramel Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Cottage Living

Makes 1 (9-inch) 2-layer cake

3 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups light brown sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups butter, softened and divided
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Garnish: Pecan Praline

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 2 (9-inch) round cake pans; line with lightly greased parchment or wax paper.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside. Place 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, and 1 cup butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 5 minutes or until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture and 1 cup milk alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating at low speed after each addition. Pour into prepared pans; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire rack. Place 1 layer on a cake plate.

3. Combine 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, evaporated milk, and 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cook (without stirring) until a candy thermometer registers 238°. Transfer to a heat-resistant bowl, and beat 3 minutes or until thickened and easy to spread. Quickly spread filling over cake layer on plate. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; chill 15 minutes or until set.

4. Spread a thin layer of Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting over filling. Top with second layer. Frost cake. Chill 20 minutes or until frosting sets, then cover and chill 4 hours or overnight. Let stand 10 minutes at room temperature before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Cottage Living

1/4 cup light brown sugar
10 tablespoon butter, divided
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of salt
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar

1. Melt brown sugar and 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil over medium heat; remove from heat. Whisk in cream; blend well. Transfer to a heat-resistant bowl. Cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally.

2. Place remaining 6 tablespoons butter and cream cheese in a large bowl; beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Beat in vanilla and salt. With mixer running, slowly pour in cooled brown sugar mixture; beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar gradually, beating well after each addition until completely smooth. Chill slightly for a firmer texture, stirring occasionally.

Pecan Praline
Cottage Living

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Combine sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small skillet over medium-high heat; cook (without stirring) until golden. Stir in pecans; remove from heat. Rapidly spread mixture onto greased foil. Cool completely. Break into small pieces; store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Pumpkin Pecan Raisin Muffins

I've sadly never heard of the Weekend Breakfast Blogging event, even though it started over a year ago. I'm happy I stumbled across it though and can't wait to see the round up for this month's theme which is balanced breakfast meals. I'm always looking for new and healthy ideas for breakfast (that can be used for snacks too!) and the bonus is that everything for this challenge has to be vegetarian. I think my muffin does a good job of meeting the balanced meal requirements, especially if paired with a yogurt. It has pumpkin and raisins (vegetables and fruit), whole wheat flour (grains), and pecans (protein). And to top it all off, it's healthy!

I've been making a lot of things from Vegan with a Vengeance recently, including corn chowder. I'm trying to cut back on dairy and eggs, so I've been turning more often to my vegan cookbooks and finding yummy recipes. These pumpkin muffins are really moist and soft, and very delicious. Since a can of pumpkin is about 1 3/4 cups of pumpkin (and the recipe only calls for 1 cup), the second time I made these I attempted to replace the applesauce with extra pumpkin. That really did not work out so well. I need a pumpkin recipe that uses up the whole can! (Or I could approximately double this one.)

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Healthy Banana Bran Muffins
Pumpkin Banana Muffins
Pumpkin Loaf

Pumpkin Pecan Raisins Muffins
Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance

Makes 12 muffins.

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves**
1 cup pureed pumpkin (fresh or from a can; do not use pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tbsp molasses***
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin.

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin, soy milk, applesauce and molasses. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.

Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

*I think I might've used 1 3/4 cups of whole wheat flour, no whole wheat pastry flour but I'm not sure. So to be on the safe side, I'd say use some whole wheat pastry flour so the muffin isn't too dense.
**If you have pumpkin pie spice, replace the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves with about 2 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.
***Original recipe called for 2 tbsp but I am not a huge molasses lover. I might cut it back to 1/2 tbsp next time.

TWD: Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits

This week it was my turn to choose the recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie and I chose pecan sour cream biscuits. I've been dreaming of biscuits for weeks. I can't believe I've never actually made them before, though I have made scones. Now I want to find or create a whole wheat healthier version of biscuits but hopefully still retain the tenderness, if that's possible. Maybe with whole wheat pastry flour and oat flour. Anyway onto the pecan sour cream biscuits!

I found them easy enough to put together, though I'm always paranoid about overworking any sort of dough and/or softening the butter with my hands by accident. I pretty much just squashed the dough together, patted it out in a shape that I shall call a squircle (square/circle). I don't like rerolling dough, partly because I don't like rolling dough and partly because again, I don't want the dough to become overworked. So I just cut the dough into 12 roughly even size pieces.

When they came out of the oven they looked perfect. I could see that they had risen and become a bit flakey when I looked at the side of the biscuits. Seeing the way biscuits and scones rise like that always makes me happy. And the bottoms were nicely browned. Yum yum. It was so nice to have fresh warm from the oven biscuits!

As for the taste, they were slightly sweet and the pecans added a nice crunch, as Dorie says in the intro to the recipe. I loved how the edges of the biscuit were crispy, though that only lasts for the first day. I'd use this recipe as the base to try out other flavours, though I'm not sure what yet. My mind immediately thinks earl grey biscuits! Because I'm obsessed with putting earl grey in things, but I'm not sure how that would turn out.

Go check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and see their delicious biscuit adventures!

If this sounds good, you might like:
Almond Coconut Muffins
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones
Apricot or Cranberry Orange Scones
Pumpkin Loaf

Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
Baking: From my home to yours

2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/3 cup cake flour)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces*
1/2 cup cold sour cream
1/4 cup cold whole milk
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425F. Get out a sharp 2-inch-diameter biscuit cutter, and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk the flour(s), baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a bowl. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You'll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces the size of everything in between - and that's just right.

Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients. Grab a fork and gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you've got a nice soft dough. Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick, gentle kneading - 3 or 4 turns should be just enough to bring everything together. Toss in the pecans and knead another 2 to 3 times to incorporate them.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour and pat the dough out with your hands or roll it with a pin until it is about 1/2 inch high. Don't worry if the dough isn't completely even - a quick, light touch is more important than accuracy.

Use the biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Try to the cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most you can out of this first round. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Gather together the scraps, working them as little as possible, pat out to a 1/2-inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer these to the sheet. (The biscuits can be made to this point and frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight and kept for up to 2 months. Bake without defrosting - just add a couple more minutes to the oven time.)

Bake the biscuits 14 to 18 minutes, or until they are tall, puffed and golden brown. Transfer them to a serving basket.

*I didn't do it this time but next time I'm going to freeze the butter and grate it (like cheese) then just stir it in, as suggested by Leigh.

Caramel Almond Tiger Cookies

Here's my second cookie that I made out of Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie. I made this before going back to school, and chose it partly because I knew it might be finicky and would require a lot of time. On a morning that I had all to myself, I put these cookies together.

For me these weren't as tasty as the chocolate marble chunk cookies that I made from the same cookbook, but I think that's more my fault than anything. I don't have a lot of experience making caramel, and I let it go for just a few seconds too long. The colour turned dark so quickly! And my caramel tasted kind of burnt, or you could say it tasted like "creme brulee" to put a positive spin on it. I think I put too much caramel in between the cookies because the tops kept slowly sliding off. I, of course, kept trying to push them back into place - a futile effort. These were seriously gooey cookies!

The cookie is like an almond shortbread, and I thought it tasted okay but not awesome. Actually I thought it had kind of a weird taste, maybe due to the ground up almonds, or maybe it was just in my head. I found the dough difficult to roll out, but then I need a lot more practice rolling out all kinds of dough so maybe it's just me. Rolling out shortbread-like dough just seems like you're asking for stress and crumbles! I was happy that I challenged myself to make a different and more complicated cookie, but if I were to make it again I would use a different shortbread recipe, and definitely watch my caramel very closely!

Other cookies I've made:
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (the ones that convinced me to like oatmeal cookies)
Snickerdoodles
Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies
Earl Grey Tea Shortbread

Caramel Almond Tiger Cookies
The Good Cookie

Makes about 44 sandwich cookies.*

Almond Cookies
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 all cups all-purpose flour, divided into 1/4 cup + 1 1/4 cups
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract**

Caramel Filling
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter

1. Place the almonds and 1/4 cup of the flour in the bowl of a food processor and process until the almonds are finely ground, about 45 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and stir in the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour, the cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars at medium-high speed until light in texture, about 2 minutes. Beat in the almond extract. At low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Scrape the dough onto a work surface and shape it into a disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until firm enough to handle (or up to 2 days).***

3. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F.

4. On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch, sprinkling it lightly with flour as needed to prevent sticking. Using a 1 1/2 inch fluted round cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible from the dough. Using a 3/4 inch round cookie cutter, or the tip of a 3/4 inch plain pastry tip, cut out the center of half of the cookies (these cookies will be the tops). Reroll the scraps, chilling the dough for 10 minutes if necessary, and cut out more cookies. Cut out the centers of half of these. Transfer the cookies to ungreased baking sheets, spacing them 1/2 inch apart. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just barely beginning to color at the edges. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool completely.

5. In a small heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and water and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to high and cook, without stirring and occasionally brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, until the syrup caramelizes and turns a golden amber color, about 4 minutes.**** Remove the pan from the heat and carefully add the heavy cream (the mixture will bubble up), stirring until smooth. Stir in the butter and salt until the butter is melted. Let the caramel filling cool for 20 minutes, or until it has thickened enough to spread.

6. Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or waxed paper. Spread a scant teaspoon of the caramel filling over the bottom of each whole cookie. Top each with a cut-out cookie, and place the filled cookies on the lined sheet. Place the saucepan of caramel over low heat and heat, stirring constantly, until it is thin enough to drizzle. Using a spoon, lightly drizzle the tops of the cookies with parallel lines of caramel.

*For me it made 19 5.5cm diameter cookies.
**I used vanilla.
***I found it easier to let the dough warm a bit before I started to roll it. But then I'm not really awesome at rolling out dough so maybe you shouldn't listen to me!
****Watch very closely! You don't want burnt caramel.

Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies

One of the yummy cookbooks I got for Christmas was Tish Boyle's The Good Cookie. Over 250 cookie recipes, how could I resist? I went through and picked 3 cookies to start with but only ended up making 2, this being one of them, the other being caramel-almond tiger cookies that I'll be posting about soon and you can see in the blurry background.

Usually I'm not really a fan of chocolate dough cookies, except I've really fallen for the Andes Chocolate Mint Cookies (which use actual chocolate in the dough instead of cocoa powder). And I also usually don't like nuts in my cookies, so I'm not sure what drew me to this recipe that uses cocoa powder and pecans. I was really happy with how they turned out though. Very chocolatey. This cookie seems to benefit from using chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips, and was the perfect excuse for me to use up the last of my Callebaut chocolate (which was quite possibly one of the reasons I loved these cookies.) And the pecans added the perfect bit of crunch and something special.

I love how cute these cookies are (not traditionally cute no but to me they are!) and I loved how they were soft throughout and stayed soft for days. They also freeze really well. And I have now begun my love affair with pecans. Okay so I've only made 2 baked goods with pecans so far (I added them to a muffin) but I predict good things in our future. Butter pecan biscuits from Dorie's book for one, and also pecan pie cookies.

Chocolate Marble Chunk Cookies
Adapted from The Good Cookie

Makes about 34 3-inch cookies or 55-60 small cookies.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted*
12 ounces bittersweet or semisweet bar chocolate, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup pecan pieces

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375F.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars at medium-high speed until light, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract and eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of th ebowl as necessary. At low speed, add the flour mixture, mixing just until blended.

4. Transfer 1 3/4 cups** of the dough to another bowl and set aside. Add the cocoa powder to the dough remaining in the mixer bowl and mix on low speed until blended. Add half of the chocolate and half of the pecans and mix unitl well blended. Stir the remaining chocolate and pecans into the light coloured dough.

5. Fill one side of a measuring spoon*** with the light dough, making it well rounded, not level. Fill the remaining half with chocolate dough. Roll the dough into a bowl and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Moisten your palm to prevent sticking, and flatten the dough into a 1 1/2 inch disk. Repeat the remaining dough, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the lighter dough just begins to color. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

*I used regular cocoa.
**Don't be like me and put less than 1 3/4 cups because it looks like too much. You'll end up with more chocolate dough, which was actually quite tasty on its own.
***I used a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop but the recipe recommends a 1 tablespoon scoop.

Almond Coconut Muffins

I've gotten back into a muffin baking craze. Well a craze in the sense of I always have home baked muffins, and I've been trying to modify muffin recipes to make them healthier but still tasty. I was quite happy with how these muffins turned out (though now it's got me thinking about these most perfect cupcake-masquerading-as-a-muffin banana coconut muffins which I have to make again).

There were three main reasons I loved this muffin. The first because it is quite coconut-y, using coconut milk and dried unsweetened coconut. (And I went to look up the health benefits of coconuts so I could feel good about eating coconut. Coconut oil is quite good for you and regular coconut milk - not light - is too. Dried coconut I'm not sure, but it's so tasty!) I was also really excited about this muffin because it was my first time using "flax eggs" in a muffin recipe. I was scared that I would end up with flat sad little muffins or muffins that had gooey centers and wouldn't cook, but no, you can't even tell that they're made with flax eggs. I'm so excited about using flax eggs in muffins now!

The third and last reason I loved this muffin was because it's a dry muffin! A dry muffin you say? Who wants a dry muffin? Well I've found that many of the healthier versions of muffins end up having "wet" tops the next day. Maybe due to the applesauce used to replace the oil, or other things like water from fresh grated carrots or blueberries (which also happens in recipes that are not as healthy). I was just ecstatic to have a muffin that continued to stay "dry" for the next few days. These are not the moist fluffy kind of muffin - they're more of a dense hearty muffin. I need to do more to play with the ingredients to try and make it healthier too. Maybe replace the olive oil with coconut oil even and see how that works, though I don't know if coconut oil can be used in baked goods like that. Oh and I put craisins in some of the muffins which is what those red things are, for the curious.

Soon I'll post about my other healthy muffin modification (the almond coconut muffin I didn't modify that much): 100% whole wheat blueberry coconut nut muffin. Yes I like to shove lots of things into a muffin.

Almond Coconut Muffins
modified from The Garden of Vegan

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut milk
egg replacer, equal to 2 eggs (2 tbsp flax seeds & 6 tbsp water)*
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, coconut, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in the coconutmil, egg replacer, oil, vanilla and almonds, and stir gently until "just mixed." Spoon into muffin tins that have been lined with muffin cups and bake for 12-15** minutes or unitl toothpick comes out clean. Makes 10 muffins.

*To make flax seeds, grind the flax seeds up first in a food processor, magic bullet or something. Then add the water and grind it up a bit more. Now you have a flax egg! (From Post Punk Kitchen.)
**15-18 minutes for me.

Spinach Walnut Pesto with Smoked Tofu & Whole Wheat Rotini

I love trying out different variations of pesto and since fresh basil is only available for a limited time every year (which makes me very sad), I try to find decent substitutions. This pesto surprised me with how well it turned out. The bit of freeze dried basil that I added gave the pesto enough basil taste for a person to not be able to tell that it wasn't made with basil. I was happy that it tasted like regular pesto even thought it's made with spinach instead of basil, walnuts instead of pine nuts, and no Parmesan cheese. I added some ground flax seeds (I was adding them to everything for a while) and smoked tofu (which was a bit overpowering when eating the leftovers). The raw garlic made the pesto a bit spicy, so next time I'd either use half as much or maybe roast it. Overall a great discovery and a recipe I will make again. And full of healthy spinach!

Oh and if you have yet to try smoked tofu, you must make every effort to find it! The taste and texture are similar to smoked gouda, at least to me. My mom who isn't a big fan of tofu really likes it, so it could be a good way to get non-tofu lovers to eat tofu and/or as a "gateway" tofu product.

Spinach Walnut Pesto with Smoked Tofu & Whole Wheat Rotini
modified from Quick-Fix Vegetarian

makes about 1 1/2 cups, serves 2-3 when with pasta

3 cups fresh spinach
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup firmly packed fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup walnut pieces
1 tbsp freeze dried basil
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil or walnut oil

1 block of smoked tofu (about 8 oz)

Cook your favourite whole wheat pasta (I'm sorry I can't remember how much I cooked, but if you have leftover you can make pasta salad?).

Meanwhile, steam the spinach over boiling water for 1 minute, or wilt it in a covered bowl in the microwave for about 3 minutes. Mince the garlic with the salt in a food processor. Squeeze any moisture from the spinach and add to the food processor along with the parsley, basil, flax seeds and walnuts. Puree until smooth. Add the olive oil gradually and process to a smooth paste.

Cut up smoked tofu into squares or small strips. In the pot that you cooked the pasta in, add the pesto and the tofu. Heat over low until tofu is hot.

No Fail Granola

I've been wanting to make my own granola for quite some time now. So you can imagine that I was really excited when I came across this incredibly easy and versatile recipe at Everybody Likes Sandwiches. It does take longer than I'd like to make since I chop up all the fruit and nuts, but it's definitely worth it.

I use apple juice instead of oil so I assume that's why the granola doesn't turn out hard/crispy at all, which is how I would prefer it but I don't want to add oil. At first I tried eating just a bowl of this granola with milk (as I would cereal) but it was so soft and soggy. Then I started doing half box cereal (Vector or Special K usually) and half this granola, with an extra sprinkling of almonds, and I really love it. I also love knowing that without even trying, I'm eating lots of things that are good for me every morning!

I extremely adore this jar for keeping my granola in. Originally it was purchased for cookies but I think the granola has now staked its claim on the life of the jar. (It's from Ikea.)

On top of the oats, flax and wheat germ in the granola, I like to have a real mix of seeds, nuts and dried fruit so I've been doing:
1 cup of seeds (half sunflower, half pumpkin)
1 cup of nuts (half almonds, half walnuts)
1 cup of dried fruit (mix of raisins, apricots and apples, though I'd really like to add blueberries, pears and figs - if only the dried blueberries I've seen weren't packaged using some oil!)

No Fail Granola
slightly adapted from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

4 c rolled oats
3/4 c wheat germ
1/4 c flax seeds

Plus 3 cups of any of the following suited to your tastes:
Nuts* (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, etc)
Seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, etc)
Dried fruit* (raisins, apricots, apples, cherries, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, pears, peaches, coconut, figs, etc)

Mix all of your grains and nuts together and add some spice:
1 T cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground ginger
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t ground cardamom

In a large measuring cup, mix together the following:
1/3 c + 2 T apple or pear juice, ideally the cloudy kind
1/3 c sweetener (honey, brown sugar, molasses, or maple syrup)

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix well with a wooden spoon until everything is well coated.

Pour onto a cookie sheet or large rectangular pan and bake in a 300 degree oven. Stirring every 20 minutes or so for about 45 minutes until mostly dry. Remove and cool. Store in a tight lidded container.

*I always chop up the fruit and nuts into raisin size pieces. Obviously I do not cut up the raisins!
Note: Next time I might try baking everything without the dried fruit to make sure it gets all nice and toasty (and adding the fruit in after).

Bulghur Grape Salad

Another salad from a cookbook that's becoming one of my favourites, Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. The recipe for bulghur grape salad caught my eye a few times but bulghur is not something I just happen to have around the house so I couldn't make it without a trip to Galloways. I've never had bulghur before and I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not, but I want to try out all the different kinds of grains (amaranth, quinoa, millet, barley, etc) and incorporate them more into my diet. Some I'm more familiar with like barley and somewhat quinoa, but I've yet to make anything with millet and amaranth (though they're both waiting patiently in my cupboard!)

I was surprised at how delicious this salad was. I've never had a salad like this before, not only with bulghur but also combining grapes with other veggies. And oh those grapes were so good and crisp. I wish all grapes were crisp like that. I loved the surprising crunch and sweetness that they added to the salad - it definitely wouldn't have been the same without them. I thought the dressing smelled a bit strong at first with the cumin and coriander. Once I mixed everything together and served it with greens, I discovered that the dressing was mild and perfectly accentuated the ingredients in the salad. One reason, among many, to love this salad is how healthy it is: a mixture of fresh veggies, omega-3 filled walnuts, and too many health benefits to list whole grain bulghur.

Bulghur Grape Salad
from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special

2 cups raw bulghur
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cucumber
1 red bell pepper
1 cup minced red onions
2 cups (8 ounces) walnut halves
2 cups (12 ounces) rinsed and stemmed seedless red grapes

Dressing
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

mixed greens

Place the bulghur in a heatproof bowl, pour the boiling water over it, cover and set aside to soak for 15 to 20 minutes.

While the bulghur soaks, cut the cucumber lengthwise into halves, then again in half lengthwise. Slice all 4 long strips crosswise into thin bite-sized pieces.* Stem, seed, and chop the bell pepper. Place the cucumbers, peppers, and minced red onions into a serving bowl and set aside.

Toast the walnuts in a single layer on an unoiled baking tray in a toaster oven at 350F for about 5 minutes, until fragrant. Let them cool slightly and coarsely chop. Cut each grape into halves. Add the walnuts and grapes to the serving bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together lal of the dressing ingredients.

When the bulghur has softened, fluff it with a for and refrigerate it, uncovered, until cooled to at least room temperature. Add the cooled bulghur to the serving bowl, pour on the dressing, and toss well.

Serve with mixed greens, sharp-tasting sprouts or whatever you like.

*The recipe suggests you peel and seed the cucumber, but why waste a good cucumber?! Unless the skin is really tough.

Balkan Roasted Vegetable Salad

I'm currently loving the interesting and different salads in Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special, and their Balkan Roasted Vegetable Salad is no exception. I wasn't sure what the marinade would taste like and I was a bit wary of the fennel seeds, but wow I cannot believe how good it smelled as the vegetables were roasting with the marinade. What a wonderful combination of flavours!

The original recipe called for double the amount of vegetables (which is why there's 1/2 an onion and 1/2 a cucumber in my version), but I halved it because I wanted to add barley to make it a more substantial meal. Feel free to double the veggies and omit the barley if that's what you'd prefer. I also added the walnuts and sunflower seeds for some delicious nutrition. I ate the salad at room temperature the first time and it was good, but when I had it the next day after it had time to sit in the fridge and the flavours had mingled, it was so much more delicious. I really loved the combination of roasted veggies with raw cucumber and tomato, plus the marinade was so good.

Balkan Roasted Vegetable Salad
(adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special)

1/2 cup raw barley (pearl or pot)
2 cups water

Marinade
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil*
1 to 1/2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Vegetables
1 sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 red pepper, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 of an onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, trimmed and halved (quartered or cut into 8 if large)
1 tomato
1/2 a cucumber

1/2 cup grated feta
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Preheat the oven to 500F.

Place the barley and water in a saucepan, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook on low heat until most of the water has been absorbed and the barley is soft, about 40 minutes. When the barley is tender, drain it in a colander.

While the barley is cooking, combine the marinade ingredients by whirling briefly in a blender or food processor, or by whisking them in a bowl. Set aside. On a large baking pan with raised sides, spread out the sweet potato, red pepper, onions, and mushrooms and drizzle with about 1/2 of the marinade. Right on the baking tray, toss the vegetables with the marinade until evenly coated. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until tender and slightly browned.

While the vegetables roast, dice the tomatoes and cucumber.** Place them in a serving bowl. Add the drained barley. Drizzle with the remaining marinade and toss well. With a slotted spatula, transfer the roasted vegetables to the bowl and toss well.

Serve immediately, or at room temperature, or chilled. Top each portion with feta.

*I used freeze dried basil and I can't remember how much I put.
**The recipe suggests you peel and seed the cucumber, but I like eating the whole cucumber plus I don't want to throw good cucumber away! It's up to you what you want to do though.

Mexican Wedding Cake Cookies

Every Christmas there are a few types of goodies that my mom makes. One of them is what she calls "snowballs", but most of you will know them as Mexican wedding cake cookies, or Russian tea cakes. Whatever you want to call them, I've never really liked them. Other people seem to though, including a friend whose bridal shower I was going to, so I said I would bring them. I was feeling really conflicted about bringing these cookies since I knew that I didn't like them and so I guess I worried that no one else would? Though I know everyone has different taste. Anyway, I used the same recipe that my mom always uses (where she crossed out the name "Russian tea cakes" and wrote snowballs, which I thought was funny). Also, to me snowballs are these chocolate coconut balls that my grandma makes, so it's just not right in my head for my mom to call these snowballs. Though I guess it's weird to call the brown chocolate coconut balls snowballs too.

The recipe for these "snowballs" is from an old worn copy of Betty Crocker's cookbook. This is one of two cookbooks that my mom and I made cookies out of when I was growing up. The tabs for the cookie sections have long been broken off in both cookbooks but I always knew what area of the book they were in. Now the incredibly good news is that I was really happy with how they turned out (despite some fears after rolling them in icing sugar and seeing how they became gummy/gluey on the outside while warm - though I later found out that it hardens up and is just fine and delicious). I'm not sure what it was that made them taste better this time to me. Most likely it was the vanilla I used, which my mom brought back for me (two 1 liter bottles!) from Mexico. Or perhaps she uses margarine instead of butter when she makes them, I'll have to ask her. Or maybe it was the expertly finely chopped walnuts that my boyfriend patiently and diligently prepared. As is my usual tendency, I made the snowballs way too big. I think that's a result of my impatience to get through the batter, and my love for big cookies.

When making the dough I was scared that it was too crumbly, but it turned out to be just fine. At the bottom of the recipe it suggests a variation called "ambrosia balls" that sound good, so I'll add that to the recipe below.

Russian Tea Cakes (aka Mexican wedding cakes, aka "snowballs")
(from Betty Crocker's cookbook)

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 400F. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar and vanilla. Work in flour, salt and nuts until dough holds together. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set but not brown. While warm, roll in confectioners' sugar. Cool. Roll in sugar again.

Variation (Ambrosia Balls): Omit nuts; add 1 cup finely cut coconut and 1 tablespoon grated orange peel with the flour.

Healthy Banana Bran Muffins

A while back I made a post about my search for delicious healthy muffins. Cookie baker Lynn commented and directed me towards her healthy banana bran muffins. I of course had to try them and wow was I happy with the results. They are so incredibly tasty! My only issue is that All-Bran cereal has sugar in it, though surprisingly it doesn't have weird chemicals that seem to be added to a lot of packaged foods. I just did the math, and even with the sugar from the All-Bran cereal there's about 7 grams of added sugar in every muffin. However when you include the banana and the raisins, it's 12 grams of sugar in every muffin. The raisins really up the sugar but they're good for you so I won't really count that extra sugar. Ah this seems to be a glimpse into my obsessive nature with all the sugar talk, and this was scaled back! Next time I would try replacing the oil with applesauce, adding less sugar, adding more flax, and using pumpkin pie spice instead of cinnamon.

When I was making this recipe, I made quite a few changes (at least it was quite a few changes for me). I'm becoming more and more comfortable with making changes, moreso in cooking than in baking - a huge accomplishment for me! Before, if I didn't have the exact ingredients required for a recipe, I just couldn't make it. I needed to have apple cider vinegar - there was no way I could replace it with red wine vinegar. I wasn't even scared of what the muffins would turn out like - probably because I've made so many muffins recently that I know what things I can safely change (which is another accomplishment!) So yes, good for me and my adventurous baking. I'm growing as a baker/cook!

Banana Bran Muffins
(adapted from Cookie baker Lynn's recipe)

2 cups Kellogg's All-Bran cereal
1 1/4 cups milk (I used 1%)
1/3 cup raisins
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 banana, mashed
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray, or line with cupcake papers.

2- In a large mixing bowl, combine bran cereal, milk and raisins. Let stand for about 2 minutes to soften the cereal.

3- Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ground flax seed in a small bowl. Set aside.

4- Into the softened bran mix stir the egg and oil. Beat well. Stir in the banana and walnuts. Add the flour mixture, stirring only until combined. Divide the batter evenly into 12 muffin cups.

5 - Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

French Barley Salad

I was flipping through Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special and came across this recipe for French barley salad. It had lemon and dill (I really should use dill more often) in the dressing so I thought alright that sounds like it could be good. And oh man was it good. This has fast become one of my favourite recipes that I've come across in any cookbook. Actually this cookbook could possibly be one of my new favourites, but I haven't made enough from it yet to be sure. The tofu and beet salad was a good start as my first recipe tried from Daily Special though so I