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22 Oct White Chocolate Chocolate Molasses Crunch Cookies….

And, yes, I could have added more to the cookie and the title, thank you very much.

This was unexpected, a total surprise. A kernel of an idea bloomed, transformed, morphed, evolved, was deconstructed, and reconstructed all on my 15-minute commute home. It didn’t turn out anything like I imagined. Nothing. Good news: it was still a total win! Very nice way to end the day.

Two things: (1) Don’t be scared of the whole wheat flour. The molasses makes everything soft and chewy, so there isn’t that added earthiness that whole wheat flour can give that some people don’t like. (2) The molasses also gives these cookies a little nutritional lift (if you want to know more about molasses, try here), so you can feel better about the little bit o’ refined sugar (which you can feel even better about if you take advantage of the molasses to use less and if you use organic sugar or coconut sugar).

I think this recipe is pretty versatile. In fact, I’m pretty excited by its versatility. But I’m not going to tell you all the great variations that occurred to me while I was baking, otherwise what will I post about once the rain starts and I want an excuse to turn on the oven? (Neighbors beware, there may be a lot of cookies in your future.)

White Chocolate Chocolate Molasses Crunch Cookies

1/2 C organic butter (1 stick)
1/2 C organic sugar (scant 1/2 C, maybe even less depending on your sweet tooth)
1 pastured egg
2 t vanilla
1/4 C molasses
1 1/2 C organic whole wheat flour
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 C good quality semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (heaping 1/2 C is good)
1/2 C excellent quality white chocolate chips
1/2 C organic walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prep a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Melt butter in a small sauce pan, keeping heat on medium so it doesn’t burn (browning a little is fine, but no burning).

3. While butter is melting, add sugar, molasses and vanilla to a large bowl.

4. When butter is all melted, pour on top of sugar mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon. It’ll take a few minutes for the molasses and butter to mix. Set aside to cool, so you won’t cook the egg when you add it. (You can put it in the refrigerator to speed this up, but it doesn’t take that long, really.)

5. While butter/sugar mixture is cooling, chop your semi-sweet chocolate and walnuts. (Either emi-sweet chocolate bar or chips will do, just chop fine.)

6. When butter/sugar mix is room temperature, add egg and stir until thoroughly incorporated.

7. Add flour, salt and baking soda. (Honestly, I rarely – well, to be really honest, probably never – do this in a separate bowl. Shame on me, I know. I just sprinkle the small stuff in first, then add in the larger measurements and mix well. Let your conscience be your guide on this one.)

8. Add chopped chocolate, stir well. Add walnuts and white chocolate chips, and stir well. The batter (you know you’re gonna taste it) will taste more molasses-y than the final cookie will.

9. Using a cookie scoop (best idea ever, thank you friend for converting me), place scoops of dough on prepared baking sheet. They’ll spread to 1 1/2-2 inches wide, so place accordingly.

10. Bake for 10 mins. Let rest on cookie sheet for a minute or two before removing to a cooling rack.

Ummm… now go eat one. Warning: when they’re still slightly warm, all that chopped chocolate mixed in will smear on your finger tips. The only solution is to lick them clean. It’s a tough life, I know.

10 Jul Oat Date Bars…

Another bbq, another quick inventory of my pantry, a glimmer of an idea and fingers crossed for luck. These were actually inspired by some date bars a friend brought camping a couple of weeks ago. I’ve tried to remember to email her for the recipe since then, but no luck. So, this was the perfect opportunity to give it a shot on my own.

When I originally made these, I thought they were pretty sweet, maybe because the flours are on the sweet side, so I’ve reduced the brown sugar a bit below to correct that. Don’t get me wrong, when I cut them too soon and mangled an entire row, I didn’t exactly have to choke down the botched bits. Speaking of sugar… I am sure these would be great with honey, maple syrup, agave or stevia (or a combination of these) as the sweetener, just be aware that the first three will be slightly sweeter to taste than brown sugar, and you should adjust the amount according to your taste buds. Also, the texture of the base and top is slightly crumbly (I increased the coconut oil a bit to help with that). Be sure you can actually press that base layer together and if it’s too crumbly to do that, add a little more melted coconut oil – maybe a tablespoon at a time as you don’t want it too wet either (using a liquid sweetener, instead of the brown sugar, maybe help with the crumble as well).

Gluten-Free Oat Date Bars

1 C dates, pitted
1/4 C warm water
1/4 t nutmeg
1 1/2 C oats (certified gluten-free, if you need to be safer than sorrier)
1/4 C brown sugar, packed tightly
1/2 C sorghum flour*
1/4 C brown rice flour*
1/4 C almond meal/flour*
1/4 C coconut flakes
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 C coconut oil, melted (melted butter will work, too)
1 flax “egg” (1 T ground flax + 3 T water, mixed and set aside for 5 mins to gel)*

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 8×8 baking dish with a quick spray of canola oil (or your baking spray of choice).

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, flours, coconut, baking soda and salt, mix thoroughly with a spoon. Add coconut oil and flax, stirring well to avoid huge clumps. If it feels too dry, maybe add a wee bit more coconut oil – I will likely try 1/2 C next time. Next time, I’ll also try the food processor to pulse it all together and to mix in the wet ingredients more consistently.

3. Place dates in bowl of a food processor (if you use one for the dry ingredients, empty them into a bowl first). Add nutmeg and water. Process until well broken down, but not completely smooth. Scrap down sides at one point so it all gets processed. Take ~1 min total. Set aside.

4. Press half of the oat mixture into bottom of baking dish. Scoop date mixture on top – best to scatter it evenly over top of oats versus one huge clump in the middle (learn from my mistakes) and carefully spread dates (with hands or spatula) to cover oats (wetting your hands may help with stickiness factor). Add top layer of remaining oat mixture, pressing firmly enough to create a solid top, but lightly enough not to completely smash and dislodge other layers.

5. Bake for 20-25 mins – until top starts to golden up a little.

6. Cool completely before slicing into bars (again, my mistake is your fair warning).

Eat ‘em up!

*Two notes: (1) if you don’t care about the gluten-free bit, just use 1 C wheat-based flour instead of the sorghum, brown rice and almond. This may make the mixture less sweet and you may want to up the brown sugar to 1/3 C to compensate. (2) if you don’t have flax, try one egg-worth of Ener-G egg replacer (will keep this vegan) or 1 egg white, instead.

29 Jun Sugar and Spice Morsels …

Gluten-free baking continues! I’m a baking machine these days. And I blame the gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake I mastered (well, that may be overstating it) for a very special birthday party a couple of weeks ago. Now baking’s back in my blood. I can’t say I’m complaining, but I can say that this time around I’ve undersized things. I’m more interested in smaller batches, smaller portion sizes.

These are almost like Snickerdoodles, but spicier. They’re also almost like shortbread, but moister. They’re almost like cookies, but smaller. They are Sugar and Spice Morsels. A sugar cookie-like dough, rolled into small, two-bite morsels and dipped in a nice mix of spices, makes these a nice little treat or addition to a dessert tray. (Picture above shows some spiced on the outside and some with the spice mixed in – I preferred the ones rolled in spice. If you want to add the spice in, reduce amount – maybe 1/2 t total to start).

Another gluten-free baking winner with only two flours: coconut and brown rice. Coconut flour is an interesting flour to work with: it’s packed with fiber and it sucks up moisture like a sponge, so you have to make some adjustments to liquids if you’re substituting it into recipes. As far as nutritional values: in a single 1/4 C serving, it has 160 calories, 10g fiber and 6g protein (compare to traditional wheat flour, which clocks in at 120 calories, <1g fiber and just a little more than 3g protein). If you decide to use glutenous flour for this recipe, you may need to add more to make up for the coconut flour sponge factor, and you may need to up the sugar to 1/2 C to make up for the sweetness of the brown rice flour.

Sugar and Spice Morsels

4 T butter, softened (substitute with Earth Balance to make vegan)
1/3 C turbinado sugar (or white sugar)
3/4 t Ener G egg replacer mixed with 1 T water (or 1/2 of a beaten egg – which means you should just double the recipe and use a whole egg, right?)
3/4 t vanilla
1/2 C brown rice flour
3 T coconut flour
1/4 t baking soda
1 t chinese five spice (or, if you want a more familiar spice, combine 1 t nutmeg + pinch or two of cardamon), sprinkled in a shallow dish or plate for dipping morsels

1. Prehead oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. With a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add “egg” and vanilla. Beat until well-incorporated.

3. Add dry ingredients, except spice, and mix until well-incorporated.

4. Use a spatula to scrape down sides of bowl and pat dough into one big mound. Tear off little pieces and roll into balls (~3/4 to 1 inch in diameter). Dip morsel balls into spice – just one side will do. Place, spice side up, on baking sheet. (Makes approximately 20 morsels.)

5. Bake 8 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for a minute or two before transferring to wire rack. Let cool completely before eating (it’s hard, I know), or they will be too crumbly. Store in an airtight container.

Eat it up.

(These morsels run ~ 55 calories each, a little more or a little less depending on a couple variables, such as exact size of each morsel, using egg vs Ener-G, etc.)