Erika's Compost Cookies

Wanna know more about me and my NY? Well, I compost. Yep. In a huge city where hardly anyone has a yard or garden, I contribute to making soil out of "trash." It's so easy. Here, come along on a quick pictorial tour of the process.

I keep items that can be composted in my freezer - egg shells, pears and apple cores, a squeezed lemon...

Once I have a bag full, I take a ride on the subway down to Union Square Farmer's Market...

 And dump my bag of compost in a garbage bin...

Which is found surrounded by other bins ready to receive compost as part of Lower East Side Ecology Center's Composting program.

I can even put my plastic bag with other plastic bags being recycled! :)

Then, JUST as cool, I turn around and donate clothing and scraps of material to GrowNYC's Clothing & Textile Recycling Program.

That's my jean capris I haven't worn in a year and an old race shirt! GrowNYC will either resale/donate good usable clothing or will send them to recycling markets where they will be made into insulation etc.

After having completed what I came for, I enjoyed Union Square's Holiday Market. There are great wreaths being sold...

Along with bangles and bobbles galore!

At this cute and eco-friendly shop...

I bought this angel for the top of my Christmas tree.

It is made out of banana tree husk and a dried nut that can be dried and carved to look like ivory. (See the hanging birds in the previous picture.)

Since I am into composting (and hey! It's not just a holiday activity. It's a year round thing!), I figured I would dabble with Momofuko's Compost Cookie Recipe to make my own type of Compost Cookie.

Enjoy!

Erika's Compost Cookies (base recipe found at The Amateur Gourmet)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (that's two sticks, unsalted)

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsps Kosher salt
1 1/2 cups your favorite baking ingredients (options: chocolate chips, Raisenettes, Rollos, Cocoa Krispies)
1 1/2 cups your favorite snack foods (chips, pretzels, etc.)

To make Erika's Compost Cookies variety, use a mixture of mini chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and crushed up Ritz crackers.

1. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars and corn syrup on medium high for two to three minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides with a spatula.
2. On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size.
3. When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix 45 - 60 seconds just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated. Do not walk away from your mixer during this time or you will risk over mixing the dough. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula.
4. On the same low speed, add in the hodgepodge of your favorite baking ingredients and mix for 30 - 45 seconds until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in your favorite snack foods last, paddling again on low speed until they are just incorporated.
5. Using a 6 oz. ice cream scoop and portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined sheet pan.
6. Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of one hour or up to 1 week.
DO NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.
7. Heat the oven to 400 F. Take the plastic off your cookies and bake 9 to 11 minutes. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread. At 9 minutes, the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center. Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don't match up and your cookies still seem pale and doughy on the surface.
8. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan before transferring to a plate or an airtight container or tin for storage. At room temp, they'll keep five days.

Erika's Extras: I was skeptical about baking the cookies at 400 degrees. The first batch burned on the bottom and then I lowered the temperature to 375. This created bottoms that were baked a little more than the tops, but not burnt. Maybe it's because I don't use parchment paper.

Bake well and prosper!

Boston Brown Bread

Are you ready? Ready for all the holiday baking? No? Well, have no fear! I, Erika Beth the Messy Chef, am here and presenting the 12 Recipes of Christmas.

You've heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. In fact, I did 12 Days of Christmas posts last Christmas. This year I will post 12 recipes in December leading up to Christmas. That's about 3 posts a week compared to 1 a week. How excited are you?! Now you can get great ideas for treats to make for the season.

First up: Boston Brown Bread. Wikipedia describes it as "somewhat seasonal, being served mostly in fall and winter." PERFECT!

The recipe uses molasses. I think this is the first time I've ever used molasses. It was so pretty in my goose measuring cup!

What's even better about molasses is that when you pour it in a bowl, it can double as a spirograph!

This recipe also uses some wheat flour to help it keep its brown color. I think it's the first time I've used wheat flour too! And yes, I have the same problems with wheat flour as with white flour: a mess is made.

The other awesome thing about this recipe is that you bake the bread in soup cans! So, save up some empty cans and then bake away this great winter recipe!

Boston Brown Bread (from My Mom's Best Recipes Cookbook)

1/2 C molasses

1/2 C sugar

2 1/2 t baking soda stirred into
2 C buttermilk
1 t salt
1 egg
2 1/2 C wheat flour
1/2 C all-purpose baking flour
1 t baking powder
1 C raisins plumped

Combine ingredients. Stir. Grease and flour 5 15 oz cans. Fill about half full with batter. Put cans on a baking sheet or a large pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes with a cookie sheet covering cans. Uncover. Bake for another 10 minutes. Once done baking, remove from oven and then remove bread from cans when still hot. Use a knife around the edges to gently pry out.

Erika's Extra: BBB is best served warm and with butter on top and makes an especially good treat for breakfast. Mmmm!

Bake well and prosper!

Brownie Pecan Pie

I was in Virginia for Thanksgiving. This means I was making a dessert in someone else's kitchen. And this means I was making a mess in someone else's kitchen.

Whoops. Well, flour is my nemesis everywhere, not just in my own kitchen.

Naomi, my boyfriend's sister-in-law, was nice enough to let me use her kitchen for 2 hours Thanksgiving morning. And by use I mean commandeer.

On Bakerella's site I saw what looked like heaven. A pie with brownie in the middle and pecan pie on top. I HAD to try to make it for Thanksgiving. I'm not much of a pie person. (Seriously. I was born after my mom had two pieces of lemon meringue pie. I HAD to get out of that womb and get some chocolate.) Since this pie involved chocolate it was definitely for me.

It was a success at dinner and we got to eat it off of Christine's great great grandmother's lovely China plates. (Christine, my boyfriend's step mom, was the wonderful hostess of the dinner.) I also learned that there is a southern pie recipe called Chocolate Chess Pie that it is similar to. Awesome! Another pie to research and bake. Yum!

Brownie Pecan Pie (adapted from Bakerella)

I used my mom's recipe for pie crust instead of buying it pre-made. This makes 3 pie crusts.

Never Fail Pie Crust (from My Mom's Best Recipe Book)

1 heaping t baking powder

1 t salt
5 1/2 C flour
Mix together

Mix 1 lb (2C) lard (Crisco) into flour mixture until crumbly

Put 1 egg in 1 C measuring cup; beat with fork. Add 1 t vinegar and fill cup with cold water. Mix well and mix with flour mixture. Dough can be frozen.

Makes 3 pie crusts
Can use combo of lard and Crisco (1 C of each.)

Then I used my never fail brownie recipe for the brownie part.
Supernatural Brownie Recipe
 
Then I used the topping Bakerella used.
Bakerella's Mama's Pecan Pie Recipe

Instructions
Make the pie crusts and mold into pie pans. 

Make the brownie batter and pour an equal amount into each pie.

Make the pecan pie filling and pour on top of brownie batter.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and then place aluminum foil on top of pies for the last 15 minutes. This ensures the pie crusts don't burn.

Once completely baked, take out of oven and let cool for 3 hours. Serve at room temperature.

Bake well and prosper!

A Little Thanksgiving Humor

Hats off to Off the Mark. They did it again. They made me smile.

Check out Gravy Boats for a little holiday humor.

I love it!

Bake well and prosper!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Before I got to the beautiful outcome of the whoopie pies (seen above), I had this scary outcome:

I had put everything together and the dough was so sticky. I tasted it and it just tasted like flour. I was mortified and scanned the recipe to see what I missed.

Oh. There it was. I am embarrassed to report this, but I missed the SUGAR!

So, to get this

Out of this

I did the only thing to do. I added the sugar even though it was supposed to be added at the very beginning. Wow. What a difference that made! (I felt like such a rookie, but  you know what, it turned out fine!)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

Cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
1.For cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or line four baking sheets with parchment paper.
2.Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin and vanilla extract; beat until smooth. Stir in flour mixture until combined. Drop by heaping measuring teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets. (A total of 72 cookies are needed for the recipe.)
3.Bake for 10 to 13 minutes or until springy to the touch. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely then make sandwiches from two cookies filled with Whoopie Pie Filling.

For filling I used the recipe from my Oatmeal Whoopie Pies.
Filling
1 egg white
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup shortening

4.To Make Filling: Beat egg white. Mix in the milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Beat in the shortening and remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Beat until light.

Bake well and prosper!