Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats

These are super tasty and super easy to throw together. Need a quickie semi-non-guilt-inducing treat? You can have these ready in less than 30 minutes. I made a batch of these as per Alisa at One Frugal Foodie's recipe for my book club the other night. They went over well, but the Monster needed another batch just for his wee self. I thought the original recipe was great but a little too sweet, so in my adaptation I'm using less agave nectar. I didn't look at the recipe when I made my second batch and totally forgot to put in the ground flaxseed. I'll list it in the ingredients, but I really don't know what it will do to the treats given you're using dry cocoa powder and a little less agave. Might just opt to leave it out. Do try the original recipe too though. It was really great too but I was just too lazy to take photos and they disappeared too quickly.
This recipe is open to all kinds of additions. I've already bought dark chocolate covered cocoa nibs to add in to Alisa's original recipe...minus at least a Tbs. of agave that is.
I'm thinking another alternative to the agave and cashew butter would be one made with honey, tahini and no cocoa or chocolate.

Cocoa Rice Crispy Treats:
(Adapted from One Frugal Foodie's recipe)

1/4 cup roasted unsalted cashew butter
3 Tbs. agave nectar, or honey
2 Tbs. extra-virgin coconut oil
2-3 Tbs. dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Valrhona brand)
a pinch of sea salt (to taste)
2 cups crisp brown rice cereal (I used Whole Foods 365 Organics brand)
(1 Tbs whole flax seeds that you've ground in a spice grinder...which I didn't do for this batch)

Prepare a muffin tin by lightly oiling all 12 cups (not necessary to oil if you have a silicone pan).
Alternately, you can just oil an 8x8 cake pan and cut the treats into squares after they've come out of the freezer)
Add cashew butter, agave nectar, coconut oil, cocoa powder and sea salt to a small saucepan and warm low heat just until everything is incorporated.
Remove from heat...mix shouldn't really even be warm at this point...and fold in brown rice cereal, stirring until well coated.
Distribute the mixture between the 12 muffin cups, lightly flattening down with the spoon to level.
Place the muffin tin in the freezer for 20+ minutes, then pop them out of the tin either into your face, or into a freezer bag. Store in the freezer to keep fresh.

Chocolate Coconut Almond Bark

The perfect treat! One with a built in "limit" switch! Ideal for people like ME...lacking a know-when-to-say-when button.

I am the daughter of a man who as a professor, received many boxes of See's chocolates during the course of his tenure. Let's just say that by the time I got home on the day he'd have received such a gift, to my immense frustration, BOTH levels of that box of chocolates would have been completely cleaned out....all the lovely little pinked-edge paper cups still in there proper places.

I am aaaaalmost that bad people, but not quite.

Apparently, one might feel decidedly unwell if driven to eating too much coconut oil at a time.
I've heeded that warning, practicing vast amounts of restraint (read: subbing other treats after I've reached my one piece of coconut bark per day limit) and now days later, still have the above bounty of goodness that friends brought to dinner on Saturday!

The recipe is apparently really easy to make, and it's delicious to boot.
I'm guessing halving the recipe would be fine, but it keeps in the refrigerator for quite a while if you'd like to work on developing YOUR willpower by making the whole batch. :-)

Chocolate Coconut Almond Bark:
(Suzanne Menuet)

6 Tbs extra virgin coconut oil
3 Tbs agave nectar
3 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mix well…best to heat over low flame in a small saucepan if coconut oil is solid.

Stir in:

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
~1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

Pour into a parchment lined (so that it comes up on the two longer sides) 9x13 pan, level and place in the refrigerator.
Once solid, break into pieces of bark.
Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container, or it will melt if kept at room temp.

Profiteroles au Chocolat

Part of me is really missing my West coast family this holiday season. I was able to soothe myself somewhat by preparing some of the dishes we've enjoyed together this Christmas Eve for my mom and my Monster. When I was growing up Christmas Eve was a night that, if I was with my dad, would have always been spent with my Muttie, Aunties, Uncles and great cousins, and it typically ended with profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with a goodly amount of love-filled chocolate sauce. Mmmm.
All I can say is that it's been too, too long since I've gotten to spend that special night with all those wonderful people but, making this dessert helped to take me back...just enough.

The recipe is in my copy of our family cookbook, put together 20 years ago by my step-monster.
Many thanks to her for doing so, as I still go to it for comfort from time to time.
Maybe it's time for me to start working on a new edition for Christmas next year? It would be wonderful to see how our collective "favorites" have changed over the years.
I put my own little spin on the chocolate sauce this year, since we were having tamales for dinner. A touch of cinnamon and a little almond extract in the sauce made it really special and just a little south of the border.

The profiteroles can be made ahead and frozen in a freezer Ziplock bag for up to a month.
I made the chocolate sauce right before serving, but I think it could be stored in a wide-mouth jar in the freezer and spooned out at will. Will have to test this theory. :-)

Profiteroles au Chocolat:
(Butler Family Cookbook; compiled by Antoinette Butler 1991)

Profiteroles
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup (4TB) butter
1/2 boiling water
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 425.
Heat water to boiling in a heavy saucepan (I used a 3 quart pot).
Add butter, stir to melt.
Reduce heat and add flour all at once, stirring rapidly with a wooden spoon until incorporated.
Remove from heat.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
Beat the mixture until it's satiny and breaks off when spoon is raised.
Drop mixture from a teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet in about 1 inch mounds (I used my Air Bake insulated non-stick cookie sheets with great success, I think parchment paper would be a good idea if you don't have these, but don't use butter or spray as it will interfere with the rise of your cream puffs).
Bake ~20 minutes until golden brown.
Cool them completely on a baking rack.
At this point you can either serve them by cutting off the tops and filling them with vanilla ice cream and topping with warmed chocolate sauce, or you can freeze them.
If freezing, place them in a large Ziplock freezer bag and place the bag flat on a cookie sheet that will fit in your freezer. Once frozen you can take the sheet out from under them.
To serve from freezer, place them on a baking sheet in a 350 oven for about 8-10 minutes to crisp them up again.

Chocolate Sauce
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
5 Tb butter (I had unsalted, but I added a pinch of fine sea salt to the mix)
3 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 cup undiluted evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan (make sure you use a large enough pan that your sauce won't boil over. I made 1.5x this recipe and had to change pots midway!)
Remove from heat.
Add sifted confectioners sugar alternately with the evaporated milk; blending well after each addition.
Return to heat and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly.
Cook and stir until mixture becomes thick and creamy, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla (and if you want to do what I did, ~1/2 tsp ground cinnamon and a small amount ~1/8-1/4 tsp? almond extract).
Serve warm.

Chocolate Sweet Potato Torte

This is such a lovely cake...well, maybe lovely isn't the word as it doesn't seem much to look at, but it tastes wonderful. I reduced the amount of sugar by a quarter cup both times I made this as my sweet potatoes were plenty sweet. Folks I served it to had no idea it was a "healthier" cake until I told them. No butter, no oil, and as it happens no flour if you're looking for a recipe that is gluten-free (make sure you use gluten-free chocolate if that's what you're going for).

Chocolate Sweet Potato Torte:
(Vegetarian Times Magazine)
Serves 12

1 1/4 cups sugar, divided (original recipe calls for 1 1/2...1 being added to the sweet potato cocoa mix, the other 1/2 to the egg whites. I used evaporated cane juice crystals.)
1 cup packed cooked, mashed orange-fleshed sweet potato, such as Beauregard, garnet, or jewel (I roasted them wrapped in foil at 400 for about an hour, till soft, then peeled once cool)
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup unsweetened dark-chocolate cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
4 large eggs
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 Tbs. milk, or any plant "milk" you prefer

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.
Blend sweet potato, 3/4 cup sugar, almond flour, cocoa, and salt in food processor 30 seconds, or until smooth, scraping bowl as necessary.
Separate 3 eggs, placing whites in bowl of electric mixer. Add 3 yolks and remaining whole egg to sweet potato mixture; pulse to combine. Transfer sweet potato mixture to large bowl.
Beat egg whites with electric mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar; beat 2 minutes more, or until stiff, glossy peaks form.
Fold one-third egg white mixture into sweet potato mixture with spatula. Gently fold in remaining whites. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (mine was done at 40 min). Cool 10 minutes in pan on wire rack. Remove springform sides; cool completely.
Melt chocolate in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in soymilk. Alternately, you can just put both chocolate and soymilk in a bowl in the microwave for ~15-20 seconds taking care not to burn the chocolate. Spread chocolate mixture over top of cake. Let stand until chocolate sets.

Per slice: Calories: 227, Protein: 6g, Total fat: 9g, Saturated fat: 2g, Carbs: 37g, Cholesterol: 71mg, Sodium: 61mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugars: 29g

Cocoa Cream Cheese and Whipped Cream Frosting

This is just the most awesome frosting! I've made it several times without the cocoa as the original recipe was printed, but this time I had one gnarlsbad deep-sea angler fish to frost so I tossed 3 Tbs. of unsweetened Valrhona cocoa powder into the mix. I spose I should have taken step by step shots, but all my efforts went into creating the crazy cake that would be receiving the frosting.
You can pipe this quite nicely as I've done in the past, and it's nice and light due to the incorporated whipped cream. Yum, yum, yum! That said, when it came to eating the above cake, I'd already eaten waaaaaay too much frosting to even consider a slice without turning green. ;-)

Cocoa Cream Cheese and Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 1/2 cups well-chilled heavy whipping cream
1 8oz package of softened cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat Philly)
1 cup granulated sugar (I used evap. cane juice crystals)
1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbs dark unsweetened cocoa powder

Chill the bowl and the beater of your mixer in the freezer till it's good and cold.
Whip the cream to firm peaks and set aside in the fridge.

In the bowl of your mixer, add softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and cocoa powder. Mix on high until smooth and no longer grainy from the sugar.
Retrieve your whipped cream from the fridge and now carefully fold it into the cream cheese mix until blended.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and return to the fridge until you're ready to use it...trust me and don't even TRY it, or you'll have a lot less for your cake!

Alternately, you can just make this a white frosting by leaving out the cocoa.

I'm pretty sure Daniel (the 6 year old recipient of the cake) is gonna NEED this t-shirt!

Cashew Cream

I had some girlfriends over for lunch today (fish and chickpea burgers with tartar sauce...yum!), and one of them brought some gorgeous fruit for dessert. Better yet, she brought her Vitamix so that we could experiment making cashew cream to top the fruit with! This recipe is all over the internet in some form or another, but here it is again...cause it's sooo yummy! The recipe I used said that you could use a food processor to make this, just add 1/4 cup of water to start, then add the other 1/4 cup once stuff really gets good and moving. The Vitamix makes this a no-brainer. Just toss everything in and let'er rip.

Cashew Cream:

1 1/3 cups whole raw cashews; soaked then drained (preferably soaked overnight in the fridge covered with filtered water, but I had to speed things up by pouring boiling water over them and just leaving them on the counter from about 8am to 1pm)
1/2 cup water
2-3 Tbs agave nectar or 1-2 dates (our fruit was really sweet so I would add sweetener slowly next time...that said, it went over REALLY well with 3 TBS of agave ;-)
1/2 of a whole vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Toss all the ingredients in a Vitamix or other high-powered blender and blend til nice and creamy. If making in a food processor, add 1/4 cup of water to start, then add 1/4 cup more after the ingredients have had a chance to come together, scraping down the sides frequently.

Should keep well covered in the fridge for several days.

"Frog Spawn" Thai Tapioca Pudding

Bet you have no clue how insanely delicious frog spawn is, am I right? Take it from me, you'll want to slave over a hot stove for this one. I just happened upon this old photo from one of our parties in 2007 and it's popped me out of my non-blogging stupor just long enough to want to post this deliciously foul recipe. How could I not share, what with Halloween right around the corner? I'm not sure this is the serving suggestion Bon Appetit had envisioned when they published this in '06. But we've always called their "Thai Tapioca Pudding" Frog Spawn anyway...why not dress each cup accordingly.

"Frog Spawn" Thai Tapioca Pudding:
(Bon Appetit Jan '06)

1 2x1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, sliced
1 1x1-inch piece fresh galangal,* peeled, sliced
10 Thai basil leaves*
6 fresh cilantro sprigs
2 kaffir lime leaves* or 2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1 tablespoon sliced lemongrass*
2 cups water
2 cups whole milk (you could probably sub unsweetened soymilk)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup small pearl tapioca* (not quick-cooking. I usually use Reese brand)
1 13.5- to 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk*
mini plastic frogs optional, but thoroughly recommended! :-)
another option would be to tint the "spawn" to a pale yellowish-green with food coloring...it's not been colored in my photo.

Combine first 6 ingredients in food processor; blend 20 seconds. Transfer to medium saucepan; add 2 cups water and bring to boil. Remove pan from heat and let steep uncovered 20 minutes. Pour mixture into strainer set over heavy large saucepan; press on solids to release flavored liquid. Discard solids in strainer.
Add milk and sugar to flavored liquid in pan; bring to boil. Stir in tapioca; return to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until pudding thickens and is reduced to 2 1/4 cups, stirring frequently (you really should just pull up a chair and stir the whole durn time or it'll scald), about 35 minutes. Stir in coconut milk (pudding will be runny). Transfer to bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Tint with food coloring if desired and garnish each serving with a mini frog.

*Galangal, Thai basil, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, small pearl tapioca, and unsweetened coconut milk are available at Asian markets, or if you're in Austin or close to a Central Market they now seem to carry the kaffir lime and galangal as well as lemongrass, etc.

Alton Brown's Moo-less Chocolate Pie

Book club tonight, and I'm FINALLY remembering to take a picture of a dish I've made for it! I don't know what's come over me. Could be I just really want to share this ungodly rich dessert that took all of 2 minutes to put together. This was served with dollops of whipped cream, decidedly moo-some. But, after licking the bowl of the food processor and nearly falling over from the hardcore chocolate of it all, I figured it needed something to cut it a bit. Maybe next time I'll use a little less chocolate? I know...blasphemy! It'd also be fun to try another liqueur too.

Moo-less Chocolate Pie:
(Adapted from Alton Brown)

2 cups chocolate chips (I use one whole bag of Ghiradelli 60% cacao chips...I'm fairly well addicted)
1/3 cup coffee liqueur
1 block firm silken tofu, room temperature (aseptic package that is shelf stable...I used MoriNu lite)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a touch of almond extract to taste (ours is really strong, so I err on the side of less is more)
1/2 tsp, or to taste cinnamon (I use Vietnamese cinnamon)
1 tablespoon+ honey
1 prepared chocolate wafer crust (I just used a store-bought graham crust I already had, but will make a crust next time. The pie filling sliced nicely, but the crust just crumbled to bits.)
Update: I now use this tart's crust recipe. So good!
whipping cream (optional, but highly recommended)


Nuke the chocolate in a bowl at 20 second intervals, stirring each time until melted...careful not to burn it. Combine the tofu, chocolate mixture, and honey in a food processor.  Add coffee liqueur, vanilla, cinnamon, and a touch of almond extract.  Blend until smooth. Pour the filling into the crust and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until the filling is set. Serve with whipped cream if you know what's good for you.

Happy Halloween! Ogre Toe anyone?

Originally found a recipe online a few years ago for some peaky looking witch finger cookies. Now they looked bad enough I suppose, but when have I ever been able to leave well enough alone? Over the last few years my toes and fingers have gotten ever gorier. All the better to freak the wee chillun's out I say. You can take these as far as you're willing to go. Either just bake 'em and leave it at that, or go whole hog and get out your paintbrushes!
For whatever reason, a recipe that used to work just great, holding the form/details I sculpt in, now has the tendency to flatten out and puff up in the oven. (UPDATE: see alternative recipe that I'll be using from now on below the first!)
They still look gnarly, no matter what condition they're in upon coming out of the oven...especially with cocoa mix "shading". I know I'm late in getting this particular post together, but look at it this way. Now you have a whole year to get your technique down. ;-)

Severed Ogre Toes (or ears, etc.!):
(Adapted from a recipe from Britta's awe inspiring site devoted to Halloween)

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup icing (confectioner's) sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
raspberry jam (if using an all-fruit no added sugar, add red food coloring)
whole blanched almonds
food coloring
Ghiradelli's cocoa mix
assorted paint brushes...a nice soft fan brush, and fine detail brushes

In a bowl, beat together butter, egg, almond extract and vanilla. Add food coloring at this point if you'd like to tint the dough.
I use a combo of red and blue with a touch of green to come out with a greyish purple dough.
Add flour and salt to mix.
Cover and refrigerate dough for about an hour. During this time, split some of the almonds and carve toe nails. You'll be using the fat end of the almond for the outside edge of the nail, so concentrate on making it creeptastic. Now, take whole almonds and cut off the butt end to create the bone shard that will stick out the back of the cookie.
Load a small Ziplock bag with some raspberry jam and make a small cut at one corner.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Working with small amounts of dough at a time, keeping the remainder in the fridge, roll a heaping teaspoon (my fingers/toes vary quite a lot in size honestly) into an oval shape then flatten. Pipe a bit of the jam down the center, then carefully close up the dough around it.

You can then shape the toe or finger. Create a knuckle, use a knife to make slashes across it.

If you have a jam "blowout" know that these end up being the best looking cookies in way of gore factor. So don't worry if some of the jam starts oozing out as you're shaping the cookies. :-)
Push in an almond nail, so that some of it is in the cookie...lessening the likelihood of it coming out after baking. Push in a "bone shard" end. Place cookie on parchment lined baking sheet and once you have the sheet loaded up with cookies, put them back in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven at this point to 325.
Bake cookies for about 20-25 minutes, depending on their size. I sometimes end up taking the smaller ones off first and popping the larger ones in for a little longer.
As soon as the cookies come out of the oven (they MUST be hot for this step!), dip a fan brush into the cocoa mix and tap/shade the cookies. I usually do this around the nail bed, at the severed end around the bone, and shade along the edges around the knuckle.

Now you're ready to paint! Get a small ramekin and make puddles of blue, green, and red.
Red and green make brown, red and blue make purple. Just play with different mixes or straight color. I paint around the nail, the bone end and in the knuckle slashes sometimes. Just have fun with it. Oh and I also keep a bowl of water to thin the color if needed.

You can get bold and start making other icky severed parts too. This year, I've branched out into severed waxy ears. Filled with caramel and fig preserves "wax". Complete with a carved almond skull earring. The q-tips are just pretzels dipped in melted white chocolate.

That's it! Now comes the tricky part. Seeing if you can get anyone to eat them!!! Easier said than done. ;-)

Happy Halloween everyone!! Chickpea sends her witchy-poo love!


UPDATED ALTERNATE RECIPE:
(developed with Debbie's help in the quest for a better tasting and looking cookie)

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 TBS corn starch
1/8+ tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup confectioners sugar; sifted
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup almond flour (or hazelnut flour)
1 TBS fresh squeezed orange juice
1 TBS cocoa powder
optional: jam of your choice for filling...raspberry is nice for blooood but apricot is tasty too!

Preheat oven to 325.

Sift flour, cornstarch, salt and cocoa into a bowl.
Cream butter in a mixer, then sift in confectioners sugar and mix until fluffy.
Add vanilla, almond/hazelnut meal, and orange juice and blend well.
Slowly add flour mix to butter and combine until dough appears crumbly.
Roll between wax paper and pop it into the refrigerator for about an hour. Or alternatively you can put the wax paper wrapped dough into a freezer bag and freeze.
Make fingers/toes as in the prior recipe, then bake for ~22+ minutes. This might vary quite a bit depending on how large you make your fingers, so just do an initial test bake.
Decorate as in previous recipe.
Now gross out your friends with your new and improved tasting ogre fingers/toes! :-)

Pear Cake with Streusel

Pears have been plentiful in the stores of late and this recipe caught my eye in one of the blog's I read. I added a streusel topping to her recipe and changed out the regular flour for whole wheat pastry flour. A few other changes here and there and I came out with a yummy not-too-sweet cake for us to snack on. Check out the original recipe...as you might like to just make it as originally written.

Pear Cake:
(adapted from All Buttoned Up's blog)

Streusel:
6 Tbs rolled oats
3 Tbs whole wheat pastry flour (for some reason I'd halved the amount of flour from the fruit crisp recipe's struesel...I might use all 6 Tbs next time)
1/4 cup Sucanat
a good pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 -1 tsp ground ginger (honestly, I can't remember how much I used)
a couple rasps of nutmeg
4 tsp agave nectar
6-8 tsp canola oil (can't remember exactly how much I used for this either :-)

Mix all together then set aside.

Dry bowl:
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I'd like to try a combo of spelt flour and ww pastry flour next time)
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbs Sucanat, brown sugar or reg. sugar
couple rasps of nutmeg
~1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wet bowl:
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbs canola oil
1 egg (or egg replacer or 1/4 cup applesauce to make it vegan)
1/2 cup yogurt (regular or soy)
1/3 cup liquid sweetener (I used agave nectar, but recipe said brown rice syrup, maple syrup, or barley malt would work out too)
1 tsp vanilla
1 or 2 pears chopped up (I used 1 1/2 largish Bartletts and didn't bother peeling them)

Mix wet and dry bowls together and pour into a greased 8" by 8" pan. Add streusel to top and bake for ~35-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Do the toothpick test to make sure it's done in the middle.

Let it cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a rack to cool.

Serve alone or with some agave sweetened Fage Greek yogurt. :-)

Chocolate Biscotti

About 2 years ago Christmas I hit a wall where biscotti baking was concerned. Totally burned out in the biggest way possible. Debbie and I embarked on baking a good 300+ biscotti to give as Christmas presents. She's got 3 ovens and a nice collection of Kitchen Aid mixers at her house, so that's where we set up shop after having procured a vast amount of ingredients needed at Costco and Central Market. I'm going to let you in on some hard won knowledge now. Please don't be upset, but I'm going to have to use all caps....DON'T EVER BUY ANISE SEEDS IN THE BULK SECTION OF ANY SUPERMARKET. Anise seeds have an unfortunate resemblance to CUMIN seeds! Let me just mention that we made all the dough before baking any of the 10 batches of biscotti off. Need I go on?
Who knows if it was a genuine mistake or a cruel prank, but there were definitely cumin seeds mixed in with the anise seeds. I walked away from the whole business. Could not face giving away those freak show biscotti...though several people claimed that they were still edible.
They ended up in the trash...such a waste. I remained pretty put out about the whole episode for for a looooooong time.

But! The other day I had a gift that needed giving. These are what were made...my first foray back into the biscotti baking arena. I still couldn't bring myself to make the old recipe, but this was a wonderful alternative. Although they don't fall into the category of being a healthful treat, they sure were good. Even better, I got to eat just a few then send the rest on their way! ;-) If you're a chocolate lover, you should give these a go. Fantastic dipped in a hot steaming cup of matte latte tea (now that I've eschewed coffee!).

The recipe comes from Farmgirl's blog...that I go to every day for my "daily dose of cute." :-)

Farmgirl Susan's Biscotti For Chocolate Lovers:
(only slightly changed...) Makes About 36 Pieces

2/3 cup (4 ounces) semisweet,dark chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate (I used dark choc. chips)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar (I used evaporated cane juice baking sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 to 2-1/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder (make sure it's fresh)
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tbs corn meal (This is the only change I made to the recipe...a hold over from James' mom's recipe. :-) I like the texture it adds since there aren't any almonds in this one.)
1 beaten egg white for glaze

Farmgirl writes "Make it a Mochaccino!":
Adding 1 Tablespoon of instant espresso powder (Medaglia D'Oro brand) in with the dry ingredients does amazing things to this biscotti. (I didn't use this in my batch, but I'm sure it'd be delish.)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and chocolate together (I put them in a Pyrex measuring cup and microwave them) and set aside.

2. Beat the eggs and sugar until lightened (I use an electric hand mixer and beat them for about two minutes.)

3. Add vanilla and chocolate mixture.

4. Mix in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt just until combined. You should have a soft, but not sticky, dough. Add the extra 1/4 cup of flour if dough is too sticky. (I had to add the extra 1/4 cup)

5. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, form each half into a log that is 3-1/2 inches by 9 inches. Place logs on a large baking sheet and brush with egg white and sprinkle with a dusting of evaporated cane juice sugar.



Bake for 25 minutes or until tops are set.

6. Reduce oven to 275 degrees. Let logs cool as long as you can (the cooler they are, the easier to cut), and then slice into 1/2-inch thick slices. Arrange the slices on baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, carefully turn slices over, and bake for another 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container or freeze.

Greek Yogurt Pancakes with Chocolate-Cashew Spread

It has been a loooong while since we had our regular weekend pancake or waffle day. So we were eager to get back to that tradition this weekend. On the menu was a yummy batch of our oatmeal pancakes....wrong! Last night I asked The Monster to mix the buttermilk with the oats and set them to soak overnight in the fridge while I went to brush my teeth before bed. This is what I hear from the kitchen while brushing...."Honey? Is the buttermilk supposed to be chunky?" The answer to that my friends, is a resounding no. ;-) The whole previously unopened container was one big solidified chunk. We assessed at that point that it probably wasn't a good idea to proceed with the oatmeal pancakes for Sunday breakfast plan. Off to Bob's Baking Book I went! I found that we had all the ingredients for these lovely pancakes/crepes. Maybe not quite as nutritious, but an enjoyable change nonetheless. And if you make them with a good yogurt, infinitely better for you than with sour cream. I'm thinking that they could probably be made using all whole wheat pastry flour, but I thought I'd make them as written for the first go. If you're worried about cholesterol you could probably use an egg substitute for the 4 eggs.
We had pancake blowout from the first batch that hit the griddle (impossible to flip them without making a huge torn mess), so I thickened the batter slightly with 2 more Tbs of whole wheat pastry flour. Watch that your griddle isn't too hot. It's a delicate batter that needs some care.

Delicately Delicious Sour Cream Pancakes:
(Bob's Red Mill Baking Book)

Makes about 24 pancakes

4 eggs
2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt (I used 2% Greek yogurt mixed with a little non-fat Bulgarian yogurt)
1/4 cup unbleached white flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tbs whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbs sugar (sucanat, or agave nectar which I used)
1/4+ tsp fine sea salt

Heat your oven to 200 with an oven safe dish and a piece of foil placed inside.
Lightly oil and heat a griddle over medium heat.
Place all ingredients in a blender and puree, stopping every few pulses to wipe down the sides with a rubber spatula.
Ladle about 1/4-1/3 cup batter onto the griddle and cook over medium heat until bubbles appear, about 2-3 minutes.
Turn and cook until golden brown on underside.
We keep the pancakes in the oven under foil until the last one comes off the griddle.
Serve with pure maple syrup, or a fruit sauce (or chocolate-cashew spread!!! impromptu recipe follows)

Chocolate-Cashew Spread:

When we were in Paris last year, we ate our fill of Nutella filled crepes from street vendors. This morning (after I'd made blueberry sauce for the pancakes!), when we realized these pancakes were more like mini crepes, The Monster said, "Too bad we don't have any Nutella!"
No, says I...but we have cashew butter and chocolate chips and a gal that's more than willing to experiment! So I set to work while he was flippin' cakes.


Equal parts roasted cashew butter and melted dark chocolate chips (just melt the chips in the microwave, taking care not to burn the chocolate)
fine sea salt to taste
agave nectar to taste
a couple splashes unsweetened soymilk or other type of milk

Mix the cashew butter and chocolate together.
Add salt and agave nectar to taste.
Thin with milk until it reaches a consistency you're happy with.
That's it! Spread the delicious goo on hot (or cold I just realized quite pleasantly 10 minutes ago!) crepes, roll and eat.

I dusted our breakfast crepes with some powdered evaporated cane juice sugar. Keep any leftover spread covered in the fridge.

Ohmydogthisisgood Maple-Chile Popcorn!

Ok, I've now made this twice in as many days...and STILL no picture! There's a total disconnect in my brain when it comes to this stuff. Wait for to eat??? NO!! ok obviously this has been amended...finally was able to snap a quick pic. :-)
So until I've made this for the 20th time and have become somewhat blase about it (enough to get the camera out before stuffing it in my gob) you'll have to go to the place I found the recipe in the first place for a lovely photo. Culinary in the Desert's blog has become like one-stop recipe shopping for me. I've bookmarked a good many of his recipes to try in the future as there's a huge index of yummy dinners and desserts. I'm trying to stay away from the latter, but this one sneaked in! This has just enough sweet, salty, and spicy to make just about any normal person ecstatic.

Ohmydogthisisgood Maple-Chile Popcorn: (Adapted from Culinary in the Desert's adaptation of a Cooking Light recipe :-)

1 bag of as plain as you can get microwave popcorn, popped. (I like Central Market's Organics brand 94% fat-free and only stuff in it you'd use to make popcorn at home!)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup (I tend to add a little extra)
1 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)

Preheat oven to 300.
Line a baking sheet with foil.
In a small sauce pan, add the maple syrup, butter, salt and red pepper and place over medium heat. While the mixture heats, stir the ingredients just until combined. When it comes to a boil, cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes.
Add popcorn to a large heat safe bowl (removing any unpopped kernels).
Now carefully pour the syrup mixture over the popcorn in a slow stream, stirring to coat.
Transfer popcorn mixture onto foil-lined baking sheet and spread to an even layer.
Bake for 15 minutes, stirring midway. Remove and let cool completely in pan then serve. Um, that should read let cool if you can...I however lacked any willpower required for this step and immediately unhinged my jaw. It was not a pretty sight.
There was no breathing involved...

Tofu Saag over Brown Rice with a Cornmeal-Chickpea Pancake and Cucumber Yogurt Salad...Strawberry Crisp for afters :-)

I have a ton of chickpea flour, so am on the lookout for recipes where I can use it. I found this recipe for a cornmeal-chickpea pancake on Epicurious.com. I'm not sure if you can find chickpea flour in a Whole Foods type bulk section, but that would be the place to look if you don't want a horrendous amount of the stuff. )If you're in Austin please feel free to take some of mine, since I did end up with a huge bag of it!)
I usually make saag with paneer, but rather than going to the trouble of making the paneer, and given I have extra-firm tofu in the fridge, I'm going with tofu this time. I'm sure I'll post on how to make the paneer some time soon, since I have a recipe for whey muffins. The whey is a by-product of the cheese making. :-) Buy whole coriander and cumin seeds in the bulk section and grind them yourself for a much fresher flavor.
I'm serving this with my favorite Bulgarian plain yogurt mixed with fresh chopped cilantro, cucumber, and diced red onion.

Saag with Tofu*:
Adapted from Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking

enough canola oil to shallow fry your tofu cubes
1 package of extra firm tofu (water pressed out this way, but cut into cubes instead of slabs)

Heat oil in a wok to 300 degrees. Fry 1/2 of the pressed tofu cubes until a light golden color, 3-4 min. Remove from oil and drain on paper toweling. Repeat with the rest of the tofu. Set aside.

*We didn't like the tofu in this anywhere near as much as the paneer, but if I DO make it with tofu again, I will NOT fry it. You could try it that way instead, still pressing the water from it but then disregarding the whole frying step. It'd be way easier and I think the texture would be better.

2 Tbsp canola oil
5 medium cloves garlic finely chopped
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 cup tomato sauce
1 Tbsp whole coriander, then ground
1 tsp whole cumin, then ground
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
2 (10 oz) packages chopped frozen spinach, thawed and undrained
2 cups 1/2 inch cubes of extra firm tofu (water pressed out) or paneer sauteed until golden in olive oil
1/2 cup whole milk (original recipe uses whipping cream)
1 tsp Garam Masala

Heat oil in 3 quart saucepan over medium high heat. Add garlic and ginger; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until garlic is golden brown.

Stir in tomato sauce, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, and salt; reduce heat to low. Partially cover and simmer 7 to 8 minutes or until a thin film of oil starts to form on surface of sauce. I always seem to have to cook longer than he specifies...

Stir in undrained spinach and water. Cover and simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until spinach turns a light olive green. Transfer spinach mixture to food processor and puree; return to pan.

Stir in tofu or cheese. Cover and simmer 3 to 4 minutes of until tofu or cheese is hot; remove from heat.

Stir in milk (I just realized you could use soy milk if you're using tofu for a vegan saag) and Garam Masala.

Serve over jasmine brown rice.


Cornmeal-Chickpea Pancake:
Makes one large pancake to cut into quarters


1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon onion, finely chopped
2 large leaves basil, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chickpea flour*
1/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

*Chickpea flour, also called gram flour or besan, can be found at Middle Eastern and Indian markets or at Kalustyans.com.

In heavy, 12-inch, nonstick skillet over moderately high heat, heat olive oil until hot but not smoking. Add onion and sauté until onions are translucent, about 1 minute. Stir in basil and cook 30 seconds more. Remove from heat.

In medium bowl, and even though you can't possibly have a whisk as cool as my Squidward...


whisk together chickpea flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. In small bowl, whisk together egg and buttermilk. Add to dry ingredients and stir gently just until mixture is smooth, then gently fold in sautéed onion and basil. Let batter rest at room temperature 15 minutes.

Wipe skillet clean and heat over moderate heat until drop of water dropped into pan sizzles. Pour in batter and cook, turning over once, until light golden brown on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer pancake to cutting board and cut into quarters.

I think I'll add more basil next time and maybe some frozen green peas to the cake.


Strawberry Crisp:
Adapted from Self Magazine by Cake Maker to the Stars
Makes two 5" round minis

This really wasn't ANY good. You should probably just skip this recipe. ;-)

* Cooking spray
* 2 cups sliced strawberries
* 4 teaspoons fresh orange juice
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
* 3 tablespoons rolled oats
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar (I use Sucanat...SUgarCAneNATural)
* 4 teaspoons canola oil
* 2 teaspoons agave nectar
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* a couple grates of fresh nutmeg
* a handful of dark chocolate chips (optional...NOT! :-)

1. Preheat oven to 375F and spray the mini pans.
2. Combine the berries, juice and vanilla in a bowl and then distribute equally between the pans.
3. Mix together the rest of the ingredients, until it comes together into a moist well blended mixture.
4. Divide mixture equally between the two crisps and sprinkle evenly over the tops.
5. Bake until browned and bubbly, about 30 minutes (the crumble mixture is already brown, so watch carefully to prevent burning).

I plopped a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of mine...The Monster decided not to be that decadent. Next time I make this...oh yes, there WILL be a next time...I'm going to use some chopped crystallized ginger instead of cinnamon just to change it up a bit.

Apple-Cinnamon Goodness Pancake/Waffle Topping

I had a couple of Granny Smith apples left over in the fridge from something or other, so decided to make those into our Sunday morning pancake topping. This could be my new favorite! I weighed light on the scale this morning, so figured I could afford the extra butter I used in the apples. ;-) I did forgo putting any extra butter on top of the pancakes themselves. They really don't need it anyway since they're already nice and moist. I ate my appley-goodness-topped oatmeal pancakes sprinkled with walnuts which added a nice crunch.

Apple-Cinnamon Topping for Pancakes or Waffles:
(This made enough for 2)

2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3 Tbs unsalted butter
cinnamon
amber agave nectar
pinch of salt

Melt butter in a large skillet (that you have a cover for) over med.-high heat. When just beginning to brown, add apples and sprinkle with cinnamon to your taste (I probably used ~1/2 tsp). I cooked them like this for a bit before reducing the heat a bit and adding about 3 good squeezes of agave nectar (again, just add to your own tastes). After adding the agave nectar, cover and simmer until soft and yummy.

Tofu Chocolate Pudding

Ok, ok, I know a lot of you are going...ick poo! But, don't knock it til you've tried it I always say. Unless we're talking about the baby duck heart the Monster ate while on a business trip to Copenhagen. Not going there, sorry.
I was in the mood for a little sweetie last night, happened to have the meager ingredients needed for this recipe on hand, so I thought I'd give it a try.
Well I'm pleased to say that I plan to make it again, making a few changes next time. I'll type up the recipe as I found it online, then list the changes I think I'll make next time.

Tofu Chocolate Pudding
Adapted from Vegetarian Express by Nava Atlas and Lillian Kayte (Little, Brown, and Company, 1995).

6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 10-ounce package lite firm silken (aseptic-packed) tofu (not chilled like I used it! Your chocolate will solidify before it has a chance to fully incorporate into the tofu)
1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar, honey, or brown rice syrup, or to taste (I used agave nectar)
Dash of nutmeg (I didn't use this)
1 banana, thinly sliced (optional) (didn't use this either)

1. Melt the chocolate chips in a small saucepan or double boiler with a tablespoon of water over medium heat. (I nuked the chips in a bowl for 10-15 second increments, stirring in between til melted most of the way. Then I just stirred until the rest melted in the already warm chocolate. Be careful not to burn the chocolate.)

2. Transfer the melted chocolate to the container of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the tofu and process until smooth. Add the brown sugar, honey, or rice syrup to taste, and sprinkle in the nutmeg. Process again until velvety smooth.

3. Stir in the rounds of sliced banana, if desired. Divide the pudding among 2 small dessert cups and chill until needed.

Ok, NEXT time I plan on using a melted Lindt 70% cocoa dark chocolate bar. I'm not sure if I'll use more than one bar (3.5 oz). Think I'll try that and see if it's chocolatey enough. Chocolate chips always taste like chocolate chips to me...does that make any sense whatsoever?? Kind of raisiny?? I know...I'm a weirdo.
I also want to add a little pure vanilla extract to the mix. See what that does for the flavor. I'll stick with the agave nectar...my low-glycemic sweetener of choice these days. :-)
I suppose if you're not worried about eating a bunch of nasty stuff found in Cool Whip, it'd be nice to fold that into the pudding, or serve dolloped on top. But, after reading the ingredient list, I just don't think I can go there anymore.

Take this recipe for what it was meant to be last night. A quick semi-healthy cure for a sweet tooth. It's not gonna be your granny's puddin' but it was good, so give it a try! And, no dad...you won't even taste the tofu! :-)

Valentine's Day Dinner

No photos today, since I decided this blog would be a fun thing to try AFTER we'd dissected the heart-shaped plum galette. But, I'll go ahead and list the simple Valentine's day meal we ate nonetheless.

Order of bidness...Marinate the chicken earlier in the day. About 2 hrs before dinner, make the galette then set aside to cool. With oven still at 400, start baking the squash. When done with initial baking, set aside on baking sheet. Pop the chicken in and while that's cooking, prep and grill your veggies. When the chicken comes out and rests, turn on the broiler and finish off your squash. Everything will be done about the same time.

Scottie's favorite Cardamom Roasted Chicken Thighs:

4 cloves garlic, smashed whole cloves
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 TBS honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (I grind the pods in a spice grinder so it’s nice and fresh)
1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Place the garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey and cardamom in a resealable plastic bag. Place chicken thighs (I trim off as much fat as I can first) in the bag, and squeeze to coat. Press out most of the air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Remove the chicken from the marinade, and discard the marinade. Place chicken on a broiling pan or baking sheet (lined with aluminum foil). Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3. Roast in the oven for ~30-35 minutes, or until chicken is browned and a thermometer registers 180.


Baked acorn squash with butter and brown sugar:

Acorn squash (1 for 2 people, or more as needed)
brown sugar
butter
salt

Pre-heat oven to 400
Cut squash in half, scoop out seeds and place cut side down in a casserole with 1/4 " water.
Bake for ~35 min or until soft. Remove from water and place on a foil lined baking sheet, cut side up this time. Sprinkle with salt, add a pat of butter, and sprinkle brown sugar inside and around cut egdes. Broil on high for ~5 min.

Grilled zucchini and red peppers:

2 Zucchinis (for 2 people), sliced lengthwise about 1/8-1/4" thick.
1/2 large red pepper sliced ~1" thick
lightly oil with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

I cook ours in a stove top grill pan til done with nice grill marks on both sides.


Heart-shaped plum galette (can serve 4)

1 prepared pie crust
almond meal
sugar
flour (I used spelt flour)
butter
~4-5 plums, sliced about 1/2 inch or thinner
whipping cream; made with agave nectar, vanilla and a touch of amaretto. (or however you like your whipped cream)

This by no means has to be heart-shaped, but it was perfect for Valentine's Day.
Pre-heat oven to 400.
Unroll the pie dough onto a sheet pan lined with parchment. Mix ~2Tb. almond meal, 2 Tbs. flour, and a 2 Tbs. of sugar together, then sprinkle onto the opened pie dough. I think I only used about 1/2 of this mixture though. Just use as much as you think you need. I sprinkled it on in a heart shape, so I'd know where to lay the plums. Artfully, lay out the sliced plums on the dough leaving about a 1 inch border of dough, then sprinkle with more sugar. I think I went a little light on the sugar...don't get me wrong, it was super yummy anyway, but I think I'd use a little more next time. Fold the 1" border of dough over the plums. I pleated mine. Then pop in the oven for about 40 minutes.