Hey Blog! Happy Birthday! - White Chocolate, Strawberry, and Oatmeal Cookies

Yesterday I felt the baking bug bite. (Alliterations...gotta love 'em!) I just had to make something, even if it meant turning on the oven at 8:30pm (which I did.) Even if it meant ignoring my roomie's guests to make delicious cookie dough (which I did.) EVEN if it meant going to bed with a sugar high (which I definitely did.)

Today I perused my blog and realized that yesterday was my blog's anniversary. No wonder I just HAD to bake. I felt it in my bones!

I had been eyeing recipes that use dried strawberries and decided on this one because I had all the ingredients on hand. Obviously stopping at the grocery store was something I didn't want to do last night (even though I did everything else from the first paragraph. Ha!)

These cookies are REALLY sweet and REALLY yummy. My room mate made the comment that they taste like strawberry ice cream and I totally agree.

As for my blog's bday, what's happened in the last year since my last update?

Pretty much doing the same thing as the year before. Something different is that I'm singing more and running less (so burning off all these desserts is getting tricky!) Also, I've been growing my hair out since January. Check it out (photo is post a hair dryer blow-out. Usually I keep it curlier.)

 

Some of my favorite blog posts from this year are:

Seafoam Frosting - I really loved the peaks and color of this "family" recipe.

Vegan Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding Pie - It was my first time making a complex vegan dessert and it was REALLY good.

Black Forest Trifle made with Gluten Free Brownies - I made this gluten free AND in high altitude. It was just as good as the gluten version (if not better.)

Rosemary Orange Honey Fig Cake - I made a dessert that had a more sophisticated palate than most desserts I make, and I really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed making it with my roomie.

Quite frankly, I am AMAZED that a year has gone by. Where did it go? I just remember that I enjoyed the majority of it. :)

White Chocolate, Strawberry, and Oatmeal Cookies (from myrecipes.com)

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 1/3 ounces)

1 cup regular oats 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg
3/4 cup coarsely chopped dried strawberries
1/3 cup premium white chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt; stir with a whisk. Place sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer; beat at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes). Add vanilla and egg; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating until blended. Add strawberries and chips; stir with spoon.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; cool on pan 1 minute. Remove cookies from pan; cool completely on wire racks.

A little photo shopped fun for my blog's bday:

Bake well and prosper!

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've realized that visitors to my blog like visiting the "My Kitchen" page. I wish I had a fabulous kitchen that looks like something from Good Housekeeping, but I live in a normal Astoria apartment (which means it's only a slightly larger kitchen than the rest of NYC's apartments.) But this doesn't mean I can't keep posting photos of things in my kitchen!

Check out what my mom gave me this summer:

It's a cute kitchen towel that says "Domestic Diva!" on it. She gave it to me since I bake a lot AND I'm "an opera diva." Ha!

Oh, and remember when I got my finger stuck in my stand mixer? (Bourbon Chocolate Chip Banana Bread) Well, I forgot to post a photo of how my finger won the fight. Here's that beater now:

Yep. It's bent, but it still works!

I had to use the mixer this past weekend when making these whole wheat cookies. While my finger gets scared at the sound of the mixer, I persevered and made some good cookies.

I bought organic whole wheat flour from the grocery store and really enjoyed working with this dough. The consistency of the dough made it so easy to roll it up into a ball.

The cookies didn't taste too different from chocolate chip cookies that are made with white flour. I just thought they tasted slightly smokey/hardier. It was a great cookie to share for the fall (and for my fellow singers during rehearsal.) 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Green Cilantro)

Makes 18-24 cookies

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 sticks cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup dark brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
8 ounces chocolate, chopped into bits (I used Ghiradelli 65% Cocoa chocolate chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk the whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl in which you can use a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars. Once they are creamy, add the eggs and vanilla. Beat to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix. Finally, add the chocolate chips and just stir to incorporate.
5. Scoop balls of dough that are approximately 3 tablespoons worth onto cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until they start turning golden brown.
6. Let cool on a cookie rack.
(Erika's Extra: Eat with a nice, cold glass of milk.)

Bake well and prosper!

No-bake Chocolate Crackle

When I made the Vegan Breakfast Cookies last week, I shared some with my coworker and explained to her how I used coconut oil for the first time ever. Another co-worker overheard and told me about a coconut oil based dessert they have in Australia (which is where he's from.)

I promptly asked for a link to a recipe and last night I finally had time to make them. (After being released early from an opera rehearsal. Yippee!)

I didn't want to buy a whole box of Rice Krispies that I wouldn't finish eating, so I decided to make this recipe with some Special K I had on hand. Man, these things are good (and sugary)! Super quick and no oven needed, these are a great last minute recipe to make for a party. I should have named them Special Krack!

No-bake Chocolate Crackle

Ingredients

4 cups of Special K (or cereal of your choice)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup desiccated coconut (shredded if you can't find desiccated)

1cup+ ounces of coconut oil

3 Tblsp cocoa

In a large bowl, mix the Special K, powdered sugar, cocoa, and coconut.

Slowly melt the coconut oil in a saucepan over low heat.

Allow to cool slightly.

Add to the large bowl, stirring until well combined.

Spoon mixture into paper cupcake liners and refrigerate until firm.

Bake well and prosper!

Vegan Breakfast Cookies

Confession (I feel like I confess a lot on my blog...) - I've never used coconut oil before. This recipe calls for it and I was scared that I wouldn't even find it at the grocery store. But there it was in the "European and World" food isle.

When I opened it up at home I was surprised to see it was in a solid form. I guess I was expecting more of a liquid oil. I was concerned I would never get it blended into the cookie dough. But then I researched it online and found out that it usually comes in solid form and softens very quickly in heat. I let out a sigh of relief.

You can make these cookies with normal chocolate chips, but since I had vegan chocolate chips on hand I decided to use those. Therefore it made the recipe vegan.

I really enjoyed these as did the few people I shared them with. One friend said, "I could eat a couple of these each morning." To which I said, "Me too. In fact, I think I ate 5 this morning!"

Vegan Breakfast Cookies (Modified from uTry.it)

Ingredients

2 bananas (preferably ripe or spotty bananas)

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

3/4 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Then, mix the remaining ingredients into the bananas until well combined.

Allow the batter to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. With a mini ice cream scoop (about 1 tablespoon), place the batter onto a baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.

Bake well and prosper!

Rosemary Orange Honey Fig Cake

This cake was extremely fun to make for many reasons. Top 4 reasons:

1. My roomie found this recipe and wanted to be my baking assistant for it (and he was very good. I might hire him!) ;)

2. We used figs that our landlord gave us from his tree! Thanks Charlie!

3. I had an excuse to buy a springform pan!

4. Raw honey, figs, butter...all glistening in a saucepan. See below.

Lovely, right?

I also enjoyed that this recipe used orange zest and rosemary together. It smelled great and reminded me of the Buttered Rosemary & Orange Nuts recipe.

I've also seen a lot of shares online via pinterest, facebook, etc about fig cakes. And I can see why. Fig cakes are so cheery and a perfect dessert to transition from summer into fall.

My roomie and I will be enjoying this all weekend long. (We even left a couple of slices for our landlord.) 

Have a good weekend! Bake a cake! With Figs!

Rosemary Orange Honey Fig Cake (from seriouseats)

Ingredients

Baking spray
2 1/2 cups (about 12 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (about 5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons grated zest from 1 orange
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey (I used raw)
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
12 figs, stems trimmed and quartered lengthwise
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup honey (I used raw honey)

Instructions
For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9-inch round springform pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Pulse sugar, rosemary, and orange zest in food processor until no zest strands remain and rosemary is coarsely chopped (see note above).

In large bowl, beat butter, oil, and rosemary-orange sugar on medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add honey and beat just until incorporated.

Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Increase speed to medium and beat mixture just until combined, 20 to 30 seconds. Add vanilla and beat once more, just to combine, about 10 seconds.

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake tester inserted in cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating cake halfway through baking. Transfer cake to cooling rack set inside baking sheet and cool in pan 10 minutes.

Release springform and invert cake onto cooling rack; remove bottom of springform. Invert cake once again and cool completely, about 1 hour.

For the Figs and Assembly: Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat and cook until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add figs and season with salt and pepper. Cook until figs soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in honey and remove from heat.

With a knife (serrated is best), slice about 1/8 inch off top of cake. Spoon figs and any released juices on top of cake. Serve.

Bake well and prosper!