Month: April 2012

“Surprise” Cookies!

Sadie1 Comment

The men folk in my family are way into the peanut butter and chocolate combination.  Don’t get me wrong, I love it too, but not like these guys.  My default favorite dessert flavors are more in the vanilla, strawberry, or apple directions.  But I digress…  Anyway, the last time one of my brothers got a year older, I decided to find a good chocolate and peanut butter cookie recipe to try out.  I found a good one from Martha, who else, and have a made it a few times since, because it’s just that good.  It’s a little extra effort because the “surprise” means that there’s a special filling inside the cookies.  But it’s worth it!  My brother can testify!

Chocolate Peanut Butter “Surprise” Cookies

slightly adapted from Martha

yields about 2 dozen

Ingredients

  • 2 cups AP flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder
  • 1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup peanut butter

Method

  1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, dry coffee, and cocoa.  Set Aside.
  2. Use an electric mixer to cream together butter, shortening, white sugar, and 1 cup of the brown sugar. Mix until fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla extract gradually and mix until light and fluffy.
  3. Add dry ingredients gradually to wet, then mix in the chocolate chips until combined.  Chill dough for at least 1 hour.
  4. Mix together peanut butter and 1/4 cup of brown sugar for filling.
  5. Preheat oven to 350.
  6. Spoon chocolate cookie dough onto parchment lined baking sheets 1 Tbs at a time.  Form dough into little cups and fill the cups with a small amount of the PB filling.  Cover up the cookies with more cookie dough and make sure to seal in the peanut butter so it doesn’t leak out.
  7. Bake for about 12 minutes.  Remove and allow to cool.

Celtic Spirals

Carrie1 Comment

Yesterday I went to an art workshop at St. Paul’s in Princeton, NJ.  We learned all about celtic spirals and how it symbolizes the ebb and flow of life.  How everything eventually comes full circle.  From life on earth, to death, to new life after death.  Even if you do not share the same religious beliefs I do, you can still find beauty in the underlying spirituality of a celtic circle.  As we gilded the gold leaf onto our piece, you had to breathe deeply onto the piece to warm up the medium that the gold leaf adheres to.  As you take in breath you receive and as you release your breath you give back.  There was something comforting and meditative about the tedious work involved in creating this piece.  It allowed me to reflect on life and how I affect people and how I am affected by them.  Take time to reflect on your own life and find out what you can do to make yourself the greatest version of you.

Granola Obsession

Sadie2 Comments

I used to think that granola was one of those things that you had to buy from a store.  I didn’t realize you could make it at home until I saw a post on the blog Chocolate and Zucchini in 2010.  It looked so easy and delicious that I decided to give a try.  The rest is history.  These days I make some serious granola.  I highly recommend giving it a try.  The great thing is that you can add, subtract, and substitute ingredients as you feel like it.  Beware, it’s addictive.

This is my favorite version:

Sadie’s Granola

Ingredients

  • 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (I add a half cup each of sliced almonds, pecans, and walnuts)
  • 1/2 cup seeds (I only use sunflower seeds, unsalted)
  • 2 Tbs oil ( I use olive oil)
  • 6 Tbs maple syrup
  • 1-2 Tbs honey
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp coarse salt
  • 1 Tbs vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 egg white
  • 3/4 cup chopped dried fruit (I use half dried cranberries, half raisons)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300.

2. Combine oil, syrup, spices, salt, sugar, and honey.

3. Combine oats, nuts, and seeds.

4.  Add wet to dry and mix so everything is evenly distributed.

5. Add egg white.  (this will help make little clumps of oats and nuts, it makes a good texture)

6.  Spread mixture out on a greased cookie sheet.  (make sure the cookie sheet has sides, otherwise the granola will get all over the place)

7.  Bake the granola about 40 minutes depending on the oven, or until golden brown.  Check on it every  10  minutes or so and mix it up or turn it around in the oven to ensure that it bakes evenly.  You should be a little conservative because the granola will continue to crisp up after you take it out of the oven, you don’t want to over do it.

8.  Add the dried fruit when the granola has cooled off.  Allow to cool completely before you store it in a sealed container (you don’t want trapped moisture raining on your parade).

I like enjoying my granola with a little almond milk.

FYI: This is a great food-gift.  It’s my go-to hostess gift.  I buy a cute container like a mason jar, fill it with some fabulous home made granola and tie it with a pretty ribbon.  Voila!