The Best Chocolate Cake

This cake isn't cakey. That probably sounds strange, but I mean that it's not your average birthday cake with layers of buttercream. It's a dense chocolaty flourless cake that isn't a cop out, and is best served with creme anglaise or fresh berries.
It's not just chocolate wither. There's vanilla, espresso, salt, and cinnamon going on there too. You don't taste them all separately, though. All of these additions share flavor notes with the chocolate, and just make the cake taste even more chocolatey. I like to use Valrhona for these because it has a more intense chocolatey flavor than my usual baking favorite, Scharffen Berger, which is sweeter with a little bit more fruit.
If you have a favorite brand, though go ahead and use that. I just prefer the less fruity flavor because the darkness of the Valrhona ties in better with the earthy flavor additions.

Deep Chocolate Cake
10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, diced
5 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp instant espresso
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9 inch cake pan and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out the extra. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar, and add the vanilla, salt, and cinnamon.
In a small saucepan or microwave safe bowl, melt the butter, and add the espresso powder, then add the chocolate to the hot butter, and stir until melted and smooth.
Slowly drizzle the melted chocolate into the eggs, whisking the whole time.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and cover with a sheet of tin foil. Put the pan in a roasting pan and fill 1/2 way up the side with boiling water.
Bake the cake for an hour to an hour and15 minutes, or until the cake is set on top. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack and cooling to room temperature.

Lightened up Buffalo Chicken Dip

It's Super Bowl Sunday. A weekend of sports, bets, beer, and eating things that you otherwise wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. So, in the spirit of embracing this weekend's extremes, I made Buffalo chicken dip. I'd never heard of buffalo chicken dip before, but since I've been living in Central New York for about 4 months and have yet to eat a single Buffalo wing, I thought it was the perfect time to make this strange but tasty dip and watch some football!

Lightened Up Buffalo Chicken Dip
Serves 8-10

2 cups shredded chicken
4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1/4 cup light Ranch dressing
1/2 cup hot sauce (most recipes called for Frank's, but I used the Tobasco Buffalo flavor)
1/2 cup finely diced celery

In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, sour cream, dressing, and hot sauce until they are well blended and smooth. Fold in the shredded chicken and celery, and add more hot sauce or cooling ingredients like celery or dressing to your taste.
Serve with celery sticks, carrots, and other mixed veggies.
Enjoy!

Cranberry Walnut Bread

The "Wine and Cheese Party" has long been a staple of Bonaccorsi family meals. These "parties" are the dinners where we cut up bread, apples, and all our favorite cheeses and sit around the kitchen counter, snacking up a storm. If we're feeling really fancy, we'll occasionally bust out the shrimp cocktail. No matter how fancy or casual we're feeling, though, there's always a loaf of cranberry walnut bread from Whole Foods. Actually, there are two loaves, because this dream bread heats up like a dream for the next day's breakfast.

I have strong feelings about this bread and wanted desperately to make it myself while I was still in my bread making craze. When I looked up the recipe online, though, I found that the recipe for the exact Whole Foods bread isn't the greatest thing for your health (which is probably why it's so delicious) I decided to spruce it up a little.
This version uses whole wheat flour, a lot less sugar, and apple sauce instead of the fats that the traditional recipe.

I am seriously considering making this bread again and bringing it to Thanksgiving dinner with me, but that might be a little much as I am already responsible for the cranberry sauce (recipe to come). If you're hosting the meal this year, I strongly encourage you to make this bread--the smell alone is totally worth it!
I hope you love this bread as much as we do, whether you serve it at a feast or a wine and cheese party.

Cranberry Walnut Bread
Makes 2 round loaves

3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs honey
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 tbs unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
5 tbs butter
1 Tbs dry active yeast

In a small pot or microwave safe bowl, heat the milk and butter until the butter is melted. Cool the milk Add the sugar and honey, and mix until dissolved.
All ow the mixture to cool until it is warm (105-110ºF), then mix in the yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes, or until the milk bubbles through the butter layer on top.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, nuts, and cranberries.
When the yeast has proofed, add to the flour mixture, along with the apple sauce. Mix with a fork until thoroughly combined.
Turn out on a floured surface and knead the dough well for about 8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Form the dough into a ball and cover with flour. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and allow to sit until doubled in size, about an hour and a half. *If you need to move a little more quickly, you can let it rise for an hour, but the longer it sits, the more the flavors will develop.*
Preheat the oven to 400ºF
When the dough is risen, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute.
Divide the dough into 2 balls and allow them to rise, covered, for 30 minutes.
Bake the 2 balls on a pizza stone or parchment lined sheet for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350ºF and continue baking for another 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool to nearly room temperature before slicing.
Enjoy!

Gluten Free Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies were a challenge to myself.
I sometimes do that, set random challenges for myself when I am bored.

This time around, I wanted to make my favorite thing ever: A Chocolate Chip Cookie
The rules were: I needed to use up the rest of my glutenous rice flour, left from mochi making
                         I needed to make something totally gluten free without a trip to the grocery store
                         I needed to make something with browned butter. And 1 bowl. (Mix in the pot!)
                         I needed to make something that I would want to eat myself.

My chips were a little...huge

These cookies are chewy! There's really no other way of describing them, other than beautifully caramelized, golden with browned butter, and extra soft from extra brown sugar.
Really, though, they're the chewiest cookies I've ever had. I love it!
The recipe may seem a little confusing as they are gluten free cookies, made with glutenous flour. This description is just of the texture of the flour, not the actual gluten content.

I sometimes find the texture and taste of rice flour a little too starchy and just a little off, but the toastyness of the browned butter, the slightly caramelized sugar, and chunky chocolate (something I usually don't go for in chocolate chip cookies) meld so well together, and really counteract any white-starch taste that could otherwise lead to a pasty cookie.

Browned Butter and Brown Sugar

Gluten Free Browned Butter Cookies

1 stick of butter, browned
1 stick of butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups + Tbs glutenous rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Preheat oven to 350ºF, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cream the softened butter and white sugar until fluffy.
Brown the other stick of butter in a medium sauce pan. Quickly mix in the brown sugar and mix well, until some of the sugar has totally dissolved. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
Beat in the softened butter and white sugar and add the eggs one at a time, beating until well combined. Add the vanilla.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk out any lumps in the flour, and to combine.
Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar, mixing well with a rubber spatula. Gently fold in the chocolate chunks.
Portion the dough into 1 inch balls and refrigerate for 1 to three hours. Place chilled dough on the cookie sheets and bake for 9 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges but still soft in the middle.

*These are slightly different from standard cookies, in that they can be under baked. I know, it's a great shock, but it's true. Rice flour has a slightly starchy consistency so if it's under baked the cookies will taste a bit off. Letting the dough sit and meld in the fridge will help a lot with this, so make sure it gets at least 1 hour to chill*

Amaretti Cookies

When I was a little kid, my dad would go to Domino's bakery every Saturday morning. It was a small Italian pastry shop near my house, and every trip was the highlight of my week. Even the dog loved the trip in the car. Every Saturday, Joe Dad would put on his blue jeans and she would go wild, leaping in circles, and tackling my sister and I until we made our way out to the car.
My sister, Andrea, would always get either a chocolate eclair or a cream napoleon, my mom always got a Danish (I still don't understand this) and my dad and I would mix up our orders every week. I always gravitated toward the petits fours, with either a mini cheesecake, carrot cake, almond cream puff, or cannoli--the only thing more appealing than mini cakes. My dad seemed to get a different thing each time, though if there were almond croissants, he'd get at least one.
He always got a box of amaretti.

Well, he almost always got a box of amaretti. Each time we'd visit, he would ask the little old lady behind the counter whether the cookies were crisp or chewy, and would only buy them if they were chewy (lucky for us, the pastry chef who preferred chewy usually had the morning shift on Saturday)
These cookies are still my dad's favorite and though he has a new favorite bakery, every time he goes, he still picks up a box of amaretti and I get to relive those great Saturday mornings filled with delicious cookies, almond scented pastry cream, and adorable petits fours with my family.
I decided to leave each member of my family with a little gift of food when I leave for school, and thought these would be perfect for Dad. My mom's getting pretzel rolls, and Andrea's getting meringue cupcakes, but of the 3, these are my favorite, and the most sentimental.

I've tried several recipes and though they always come out tasting great (except the one batch that was crunchy shudders) I have never ben able to perfectly recreate the cookies from the bakery. This batch comes closest as it's pretty dense and has a stronger almond flavor from the almond extract. In all honesty, most people probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between these and the cookies from my childhood, but I've had plenty of experience with amaretti, and the memory of the flavor of these cookies stands out in my mind because it's surrounded with so many other great memories.

Soft Amaretti Cookies
(Gluten Free)
Makes about 20 cookies

7 oz crumbled almond paste
1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg white
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbs honey
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment.
In a stand mixer, beat the almond paste on high speed, until thoroughly broken up, somewhere between crumbs and a spreadable paste. Slowly add the powdered sugar, continuing to stir on low speed.
Add the egg white, extract, honey and salt and beat on medium, until thick and well mixed. This should take about 5 minutes.
Put the dough in a pastry bag with a plain tip and pipe 1 inch circles onto the cookie sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until crisp on the outside but still soft and slightly gummy on the inside.

My Taste of Home: The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

My favorite food is a really good chocolate chip cookie. Really, it's true. It's not because I have memories of making them from scratch with Mom (who NEVER ever bakes) or because my grandma has a great recipe that makes me sentimental. No, I am in love with chocolate chip cookies because they embody everything I love about food.
And, if you were unsure, I love food.
They're a textural adventure, chewy, crunchy, gooey, and crisp all in one bite. They're chocolatey and vanilla-y and caramelly and salty and sweet. They don't have frosting, they shouldn't ever have a glaze, and they just look so adorable and perfect.

I'm leaving for college in the morning, so I just had to make a double batch of these. 1/2 are hiding in the freezer for Mom and Dad to enjoy when both their kids leave in one swoop (I'm a twin) and the other 1/2 has been packed up in my purse. Yep, I have a purse full of cookies and I'm not ashamed.
They're a little taste of home.

I have been on a quest for the absolute best chocolate chip cookie ever. I might post my original recipe someday, but now that I've found this guy, I might not give you any of the others. I don't want you wasting your time on sub-par cookies.

These guys aren't your super quick mix, drop, bake at 350º for 15 minutes cookies. These are made in a large pot, there are 3 different oven temperatures involved, and they have to be baked for exactly 9 minutes. Yep, 9. Not 10, not 8, and if you leave then in for the standard "12 to 15 minutes" I might just cry.

Please, also use chocolate chips. I know that using good quality chopped chocolate is sort of the big thing to do now, but that's a chocolate chunk cookie and that's an entirely different animal. An animal I'm not too big on either, believe it or not. I do recommend a slightly bigger chip here, though. Ghirardelli 60% is perfect because the chocolate is free of waxyness, and the chips are fairly flat, so they melt very well.

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen

1 3/4 cups AP flour
1 tbs cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
14 Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 large egg, 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (yep, the 1/3 is right on the money for even chip distribution)

1) Preheat the oven to 400ºF and position 1 rack at the middle level and the other at the level 2nd from the top. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2) In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue cooking until the butter turns a golden color and starts to smell nutty. Remove from the heat and immediately mix in both sugars. Mix until well combined and the mixture has cooled significantly. This should take about 2 to 4 minutes, and some of the sugar should have melted. If the sugar does not melt, return the pot to medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes, and then re-cool the mixture. Beat in the vanilla, egg and yolk.
3) Add half of the flour, all of the cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, stir until almost combined, then add the rest of the flour. Mix well.
4) Fold in the chocolate chips and form into about 20 cookies of 2 tbs dough. Space evenly on the two baking sheets. Put in the 400º oven, on the center rack, and bake for 2 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300ºF and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Heat the oven again to 425º and move the cookies to the higher rack for the last 2 minutes of baking. Remove from the oven at 9 minutes exactly.
Cool on the pan for 2-5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or your mouth.
Enjoy!

Nightcap of Choice: Steamed Cinnamon Almond Milk with Honey and Cardamom--ready with pics

I need to drink something hot after dinner. I call it my nightcap.
If I had my way, it would be hot chocolate every night, but because I have to be rational sometimes, and a day full of cookie baking, followed by a large mug of cocoa cannot be called rational, I usually make tea.
I'm sick of tea right now. I sipped it all summer long, and I want something more. Something that screams fall, something spicy, healthy, and a little sweet.
That's where Andrea comes in.

My sis is a die hard almond milk fan and has really turned me onto the stuff. Her favorite preparation: Steamed.
She usually just gives it a good fluff, maybe with a little bit of cinnamon or honey, but I go hard.
Not like that, oh no, I meant with spices.
Legal, healthy spices.

Steamed Honey-Spiced Almond Milk
Serves 2

1 1/2 cups plain, unsweetened almond milk
2-3 cardamom pods, cracked with seeds inside
3 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the steam setting on a cappuccino machine.
Fill 2 10 oz mugs (8 oz will cork, but it's a tight squeeze) with 3/4 cup of almond milk, each.
Add half the honey, cinnamon, and cracked cardamom pods to each mug.
Stir well. Using the steamer heat the milk until warm, not adding any foam. Stir again, until the honey is dissolved in the mugs.
Return the mugs to the steamer, moving constantly and bobbing up and down until foamy and hot. Serve hot with the cardamom pods still in the mugs for extra aroma and steeping flavor. Do not eat the pods.

*Make sure you clean your steam nozzle thoroughly, as the honey will make it sticky*

Mom's Quick Corn Salad (ready w/ pics)

There are a few things you need to know about my mom: She's not into cooking. She makes great banana bread. When she finds a recipe she likes, she makes it nonstop.
That third fact is why she is a gnocchi pro, and why I look forward to family barbecues. I love my family and all, don't get me wrong. But I really, really love her corn salad.

I have a weird memory of her getting the original recipe from something Paula Deen made, but because she's very into altering recipes, she made something better.
She always makes it with frozen corn, but because it's summer time and that means that freshly husked corn on the cob is pretty much mandatory, you can feel free to use that instead, just cut the corn off the cob instead of tossing a bag in the microwave. Other types of beans ca be subbed in too, depending on what you like and have on hand. We're a black bean family, but if you're the kidney or pinto sort, I'm sure that would be great too!

Probably would have been a better idea to take pictures before digging in. Oops

Mom's Corn Salad:
Serves an Army

6 cups frozen sweet corn (thawed, or fresh, cut off the cob and blanched for 4 minutes)
2 15oz. cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 avocados, finely cubed
1 large red onion, chopped fine
2 medium tomatoes, chopped fine
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp lime zest
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Thaw your corn and place in a large bowl. If you're using fresh corn, cut it off the cob and blanch it in boiling water for 4 minutes. Transfer to an ice water bath tho stop the cooking and cool the kernels.
Drain your corn and toss with the beans. Gently fold in the onion, tomato, and avocado.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the olive oil, vinegar, chili powder, cumin and lime zest.
Slowly mix the dressing into the salad, until the mixture is coated but not wet. Taste and season with additional cumin, chili, salt and pepper.
Chill the mixture for an hour, or until cold all the way through.
Serve and send the extras home with grandma!

Vegan, Flourless Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

It's fall, and I'm excited. I'm super psyched for sweater weather, crunchy leaves, the pretty contrast of orange leaves against a blue sky, and pumpkin. I'm excited for pumpkin.
I go a little crazy in the all, adding pumpkin and cinnamon to just about everything I bake and eat. Pumpkin and spinach curry, pumpkin mousse, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup. I especially love adding it to chocolate.
The sweet earthy flavors of chocolate and pumpkin are surprisingly similar and go together beautifully, especially with a healthy splash of vanilla and a healthy dash of spice.
These cookies are vegan and flour-less, but that's not a matter of them being trendy, it's a matter of getting the best texture possible. They're like loose fudge and the oats provide just enough texture to keep these guys in the cookie category.
I hope you love them as much as I do, and share them with your vegan friends who have Celiac's (I really hope that's not a thing, it would just be too sad.)

Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 24 cookies

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 fake egg (mix 2 Tbs baking powder, 2 Tbs water, and 1 Tbs oil of choice)
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger


In a bowl, mix the oats, cocoa, spices, baking powder and salt.
Combine the "egg", pumpkin and sugar and mix well, until slightly fluffy.
Add the oat mixture to the pumpkin and mix until thoroughly combined.
Scoop 1 Tbs rounds onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350ºF

Because We Can: Ripening Tomatoes

Dad is a doer.
When he works at home, he grocery shops, fixes the bathroom sink, makes 25 gallons of beer, and actually gets all his work done.
On Sundays, he take a nap. His nap is a sort of reward for what he does earlier in the day like...
walking the dog, making a trip to the grocery store, going to Lowe's, watering the plants, dropping off the dry cleaning, making about 400 espressos/coffees/teas for the rest of the family, making at least 5 work calls, driving me or Andrea or the dog somewhere, waking up at 6am, going for a run, and picking up lunch.
This week, we added ripening tomatoes to that list.
Dad likes to do interesting things, and the kitchen or basement brewery are where most of these things take place. The mostly all work out, probably because he bases a lot of his kitchen decisions on Alton Brown's teachings.
We love that man.

We've been growing a lot of tomatoes this summer, and Mother Nature's been growing a lot of chipmonks. Turns out, chipmunks like to devour tomatoes. To protect our miniature home garden, we've been hoarding still-green tomatoes, hoping and praying that they'll ripen up on the kitchen counter.
We haven't been too successful.

This disappointment, of course, led my dad to do some research on how to coax your tomatoes into ripening. After a couple of attempts and remembering that Mr. Brown ripened something with a banana in a bag, we threw some better thought out key words into Google and found the method.
The very best way to ripen tomatoes off the vine.

You will need:
Tomatoes
A ripe banana
A paper bag

You will need to:
Put the banana in the paper bag.
Add the tomatoes, close the bag pretty tightly.
Leave the bag on the counter for four-ish days, checking for ripeness every 2 days or so.

Enjoy your tomatoes!

Strawberry Swirl Meringue Cupcakes

My sister is a meringue fool.
Marshmallows are her absolute favorite, but a meringue with a soft center will make her crazy.
Meringues are to Andrea what Chocolate Chip Cookies are to me. Yes, Chocolate Chip Cookie is a proper noun here.

It's where they had the snowball fight in Elf!

Before we left for college, I made each member of my family a special treat. Mom's getting soft pretzel rolls, Dad's getting amaretti cookies, and Andrea's getting meringue cupcakes.

They may look like regular cupcakes, but...

These are pretty amazing, and I'm pretty proud of myself. Martha, as in Stewart, has a recipe that's really similar to this, but I didn't see it until after I developed my own. I sort of feel like a pro, but no big deal.


The meringues are still soft on the inside and the base is all vanilla. Andrea's a huge fan of strawberry, so that's the flavor I used, but if you prefer plain vanilla or another fruit, feel free to substitute. The mango from Trade Joe's would probably be great, and I'm dying to make a couple batches of these with apples and cinnamon in the fall.

But these are very special!

Strawberry Swirl Meringue Cupcakes
Makes 12 Cupcakes and tops

6 egg whites, at room temperature
pinch of salt
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup freeze dried strawberries, powdered in a food processor (use your favorite fruit)

Preheat your oven to 225ºF, and line a 12-muffin tray with cupcake liners and spray with nonstick spray.
In a clean bowl, with a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites and salt on medium-high, until they are frothy, continue beating and slowly add the vinegar and vanilla.
Beat on high until the mixture forms medium peaks. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, beating continually, then beat for 2 more minutes more, until the eggs are shiny and form stiff peaks. The sugar should be dissolved.
Transfer the 2/3 of the egg whites to a plain pastry bag or plastic bag with the corner snipped off, and fill the 12 liners just to the top.
In the bowl, gently fold the powdered strawberries into the remaining egg whites, mix until the mixture is marbled with pink--swirled, not solid.
Transfer the strawberry meringue mixture to a clean pastry bag and pipe 2-inch swirls onto the tops of the cupcakes, coming about 1 inch above the top of the liner, at the highest point. The swirls should be the same diameter as the top of your cupcakes.
Put the cupcake pan in the oven on the center rack and bake for about 3 hours, until the outside is dry and brittle, but the middle is still soft. Turn the pan half way through.
Enjoy!

*You can find freeze dried fruit at Target (Archer Farms brand) and Trader Joe's*

The Nervous Bakes

Some people get the nervous shakes. 
Or the nervous giggles.
I get the nervous bakes.
This leads me to do regrettable things, like attempt a batch of yeasted, flourless, sugarless, banana-oat bread at 1:30am.
Than a new recipe for chocolate peanut butter cookies at 2am. When I'm on a diet. 

I didn't realize I was nervous until I emptied the too-large jar of yeast, busted out the peanut butter and began mixing even though there were dirty dishes still in the sink.
I didn't realize I was nervous until I started planning a cookie spree instead of tomorrow's workout (I stopped that one dead in its tracks)
I didn't realize I was nervous until I started using Punchfork like a stress ball, scrolling farther and farther down the page with every squeeze of my heart, each clench of my stomach.
I didn't realize I was nervous until 20 different people asked me if I was nervous. I told them 
No.
I'm fine.
Excited.
Just fine.

Then I went a little nuts.
In the kitchen-with the rubber spatula and metal bowl I will have to leave behind.
With the oven knob and the tablespoon measure.
With the plastic wrap and tiny tasting spoon.

But now I know. I know I'm nervous. 
I know I screwed up. I know that tomorrow I will finally pack.
And finish that survey. And find my passport.

Oh, and I have some cupcakes to make, too.

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

I know, it's strange how much bread I've been baking in August.
Bread is my de-stresser, my therapy, my physical outlet (I firmly believe of the throwing of dough on the counter)

I made 2 different types of bread this morning-to-afternoon.
Whole wheat pita, and cranberry walnut bread, both are to be gifted away.
There's something very grandmotherly about giving somebody a loaf (or stack) of bread for a gift. Unlike brownies or cookies, nobody can assume it was made from a mix or prepackaged dough, it has a certain heft that makes me feel like it actually counts as a gift.

Now that I'm finished singing the praises of loaves of bread, let's sing about flatbread, specifically the pita.
Boy, oh, boy, the pita! Firm, bubbled, pocketed vessel of hummus.
Baked into chips, used to clean out the bowl of spicy soups, simple to make, and so fun to shape from little balls into rounds.

These hold flavors beautifully, garlic, herbs, even a little parmesan cheese can be added to the top or middle of the rounds for a more flavorful bread, but that'll be another post. For now, we'll focus on plain pita, hummus' favorite friend.

Whole Wheat Pita
Makes 16 (2 oz) pitas

3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup warm water (105-110ºF)
1 tbs dry active yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tbs olive oil, divided

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix the water, sugar, and yeast. Let the mixture proof for 5 minutes, or until foamy. If the mixture does not foam, repeat this step with new yeast.
In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture and 1 Tbs of olive oil to the flour.
Mix with a fork until thoroughly combines (about 3 minutes)
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and continue kneading for about 6 more minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Form the dough into a ball and coat with the remaining oil. Place back in the mixing bowl, and allow to sit, covered with a warm kitchen towel, for about an hour and a half, or until doubled in size.

Once risen, preheat the oven to 500ºF and turn the dough out onto a clean work surface.
Divide the dough into quarters, careful not to press the air out of the dough.
Flatten each quarter into a square, about 1 inch thick, and cut the square into quarters.
Roll the 16 pieces of dough into balls. Cover the balls with a kitchen towel and allow to rise again until slightly risen, about 20 minutes.
After the second rising, roll the dough into 6 inch rounds on a floured surface and place on a heated pizza stone or bottom of an overturned baking sheet.
Cook the pitas for about 2 minutes, or until puffed.
Eat with hummus, bake into chips, use to soak up soup; enjoy them in whatever way you please!

Soft Earl Grey Shortbread Biscuits

I don't think of myself as an elegant person. I have yet to master any sort of glide, I don't own a hair dryer, and I have been known to wear yoga pants for more than 24 hours in a row.
I have my elegant moments, though.  I'm a bit of a mascara pro, I don't cry in public, and I firmly believe that you must wear heels to work.

Oh so Elegant

These cookies are a bit like me. I identify with these cookies. I know that sounds super strange and possibly creepy, but I already know I have an abnormal relationship with food, so say what you please.
These cookies sound refines and elegant, but are super easy to make, and taste a bit like the crust of a PopTart (Thanks, Sis, for that observation)

They are complex in that the taste and texture are familiar, but also new, as the pepperiness of the tea sits in contrast with the simplicity of the white sugar and flour.
They're hard to explain, easy to make, and amazing to eat. They sound fancy, impress guests, but are also right at home clutched in a toddler's fist.
They're like people, they have many different moods, and sides, and they always have a place on the cookie platter.

Soft Earl Grey Shortbread
Makes about 24 cookies

4 oz cold butter, cut into cubes
6 oz flour
2 oz + 2 Tbs white sugar
2 Tbs Earl Grey Tea (from a tea bag is fine)
1/3 cup skim milk

Preheat your oven to 375ºF and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, pulse the butter, sugar and flour until they form a dough with a texture similar to pie crust. Don't worry if your butter gets too small, it doesn't make too much of a difference in this recipe.
Pour your milk and 1/2 Tbs of the tea into a small microwave safe dish and heat on high for a minute to a minute and a half, or until the milk is just about to boil.
Allow the tea to sit and steep in the milk for just about 2 minutes before adding to the food processor in a slow stream, while pulsing.
As soon as the milk is incorporated into the dough, fold in the remaining tea leaves (you may have to transfer your dough to a larger bowl and crumble it up a bit for more even distribution.)
Chill the dough on the counter overnight.
Flour a board and roll your dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. Use a 2 inch round cookie cutter (or the size  of your choice) to cut the dough into your desired shapes, continually rolling out any dough scraps.
Bake on parchment lined baking sheets for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies are just getting a pale golden cast around the edges.
Enjoy!

Caramelized White Chocolate Cornmeal Macarons

Everybody Breathes

Everybody Sits
Everybody Sleeps
Everybody Eats Cornmeal/Grits/Polenta/Pap

Everybody likes Cornmeal/Grits/Polenta/Pap even if they don't like it by any other nam
Personally, I think it tastes just as sweet with any title.

Especially here. Thanks to the wonderful Clotilde at Chocolate and Zucchini, I have finally found the perfect corn meal cookie. I'm Italian, so I like my desserts either tooth-numbingly sweet and mushy or almost sugarless, crunchy, and dry. I adore cornmeal cookies. Usually, I group them into the latter category, but with the adjustments I made to her already-perfect-if-you're-looking-for-something-very-French recipe, these are a total mix of the two.
They remind me of the perfect slice of cornbread when you're a kid. Everybody knows what I mean, because I'm sure every person in the world gets nostalgic when presented with some form of corn meal--it's like a wrap, every culture has their own version. For me, it was the corn bread from Whole Foods, the Jewel stuff just didn't cut it. Like I've said, my mom isn't much of a cook.
The slight toasty butter taste of the caramelized white chocolate, the combination of crunchy exterior and chewy inner center have me melting. And then there's the combination of almond and corn meal, my two favorite cookie texturizers.

Caramelizing, cooling, and grating the chocolate may seem like a lot of work, but do not skip it. I repeat, do not skip the caramelization  process. Don't. Promise me. Good.
The rest of the cookie comes together in almost literally no time at all so the extra effort is more than well worth it. I'll promise you you won't regret it, if you promise me you'll do it.
Also, because you're really tampering with the structure of the chocolate, make sure you're working with a brand that uses 30% cocoa butter or over, like Green and Blacks or Scharffen Berger so it doesn't go all gritty on you. Also, use good quality vanilla extract. I'm really not too much of a snob about this and I have bought more than my fair share of the cheap stuff, but the vanilla in the white chocolate really needs to shine against the butteryness of the cocoa butter, and nuttiness of the almonds and corn. Pleas, again, you won't regret spending a little extra (Trader Joe's has good quality extract for much cheaper than any other specialty store).
Oh, and they're at their prime when served alongside just about any hot beverage, but they're also absolutely amazing on their own.

Caramelized White Chocolate Cornmeal Macarons
Makes about 30 cookies

1/4 c chopped candied (non crystalized) ginger
1 cup almond meal
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup raw turbinado sugar
1/3 cup cake flour
1/3 cup coarse stone ground corn meal--I like Bob's Red Mill
3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For Caramelized White Chocolate:
Preheat oven to 250ºF
Line a small plate with parchment paper.
Chop your chocolate into small, even sized pieces and spread across a small baking pan (I used a pie plate because the quantity is so small)
Bake the chocolate on the center rack for 10 minutes, ten stir
Return to the oven for 10 more minuted before stirring again. Repeat this process for 30-40 minites, or until the chocolate is the color of caramel and very fragrant.
Using a rubber spatula, scrape all of the chocolate onto the lined plate and chill for at least 2 hours, or until solid.

In the mean time...

For the Cookies:
Increase your oven temperature to 400ºF and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together the almond meal, salt, flour, corn meal, and sugar. Add in the egg whites and vanilla and mix until a thick dough forms.
Grate your newly hardened caramelized white chocolate on the coarse side of a box grater. Fold the shavings into the dough very gently.
Spoon onto baking pans by the teaspoon and place in the oven. Immediately lower the heat to 325ºF and bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden around the edges but still soft and delicate.
Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!

Busy Week Birthday Brownies

I have four days left at school. Four short, busy, test filled, celebratory days. I have spent more than 400 days at my school, and now I only have 4 left. It's sort of crazy.
These are not 4 days of Popsicle licking and movie watching, like they were when I only had 4 more days of kindergarten or even eighth grade. These are 4 days or finals, concerts, and projects that I have put off for far too long. It's also my friend's birthday.
I cannot possibly let a friend's birthday pass without sharing a treat-usually chocolate-with them, and Emma is the last person whose treat should ever be forgotten, and certainly the last person you would dare present with anything other than chocolate. I wanted to make her a Butterfinger type chocolate bar but these bars take hours, or days and involve a whole lot of chocolate tempering. I other words, they are not ideal when you only have about 20 minutes free for the next 7 days.
I have a small arsenal of recipes that I can make in less than 20 minutes, most of them using five ingredients or less. I decided to make Emma one of my favorite recipes from this collection, that also happens to be one of the chocolatyist. Nutella Brownies.

Gotta love silicon baking cups-no messy muffin tins!

If you're really a brownie purist, you may call these brownie bites because they're baked in cupcake liners, but to me, these are brownies because they're a real dessert, not at all like the store bought 2-bite variety. These are gooey, nutty, chocolaty, simple, and soooo good. I especially like them topped with some nocciola ice cream, but this batch is for Emma, so I must resist.

Nutella Brownies

1 cups Nutella
1 c minus 2 Tbs AP flour
4 large eggs
Pinch of salt
A whole bunch of chocolate chips
(I used about 1 1/2 cups, which may sound like overkill but was really really good.)

Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line a 12 muffin tin with liners.
In a bowl, mix eggs and Nutella until completely combined, add salt and flour 1 cup at a time, and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide evenly between the muffin cups and bake for 10 minutes. They should be completely jiggle-less, but an inserted toothpick should come out covered with damp, fudgy crumbs.

Walnut Butter (cookies)

I've had a revelation.
Some people have them while sitting on solitary rocks in the desert.

Some people have them while sitting in the belly of a whale.
I had mine sitting on the couch with a jar of almond butter and a spoon.
Yep, I'm refined like that.

The revelation was this: I love natural nut butters...I can make natural nut butters...I love making food...I bet I'd love making natural nut butters.
Oh, and my revelation was correct. Since I first did the math, I have fallen in love with making nut butters from scratch, adding unexpected ingredients, and then using those butters as the unexpected ingredient in a whole new recipe. It really makes you feel like you deserve the respect you get when you drop the Made from Scratch title.

These are 2 of the most basic nut butter recipes, but I promise I'll post more soon, and hummus too, because that's essentially just a bean butter (and peanuts are technically beans, so.. yep)
These are like the sophisticated big brother of the peanut butter cookie, not quite as elegant as the almond butter cookies I made a few months back (they're more like the great aunt who's surprisingly trendy) but clearly there's a lot more going on with these guys than there is with their peanut butter companions.

In reality, the only real big difference is that these use a different nut, a couple of slightly different measurements, and a giant food processor. The nut does all the heavy lifting, but go ahead, take credit, you did make the butter after all.

Slightly Seasoned Walnut Butter
Makes about 1 cup 

8 oz of walnuts, peeled and coarsely chopped
Water
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp decent vanilla extract)

Soak the walnuts over night in water. This removes any bitterness.
In the morning, preheat your oven to 350ºF and drain your nuts.
Roast the nuts in the oven until dry and slightly fragrant, this should take bout 15 minutes, but check them often and turn them half way through. Do not let them get dark.
Remove the nuts from the oven and cool to room temperature, feel free to keep your oven on if you're going to make the cookies.
Place the nuts in the bowl of your food processor and grind them for a while. At first you'll just have nut mal, but if you keep on scraping down the sides and grinding on and on, you'll end up with a creamy butter. Just before the nuts reach their ideal smoothness (about 13 minutes in) add your vanilla, and continue pulsing and scraping for about another 2 minutes.
Use as you please, I like it in the cookie below.

Walnut Butter Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

1 cup walnut butter (above yield)
1 large egg
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp sea salt
2/3 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line 2 pans with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, mix together the first 5 ingredients until well incorporated and almost verging on creamy.
Sift in the flour and baking powder, stirring after every 5 hits or so.
Scoop 1/2 tbs sized balls onto the parchment and space them about 2-2 1/2 inches apart, they have a decent spread.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until they're crisp around the edges but still soft int eh middle.
Enjoy!

Super Gooey Peanut Butter Nougat Brownies

Sometimes you just need chocolate and peanut butter.

Sometimes a Reese's just won't cut it.
Sometimes you just need something so gooey it almost seems under cooked. Really, though, it's not. It's just what you needed.

Sometimes you just really need Super Gooey Peanut Butter Nougat Brownies.
If that time is now, I'll stop talking so you can make these, eat the whole pan, and not feel any guilt, because you just really, really needed them.

Super Gooey Peanut Butter Nougat Brownies


Brownies:
8 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
6Tbs unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup minus 2 Tbs flour
2 Tbs cocoa powder
Peanut Butter Nougat:
5 oz marshmallows, half a standard sized bag
1/2 c smooth peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and line an 8x8" pan with parchment paper.
Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave or in the top of a double boiler, stirring every 20 seconds or so.
Remove from the heat and beat in the eggs, sugar and vanilla.
Once combined, add the flour and cocoa in 3 batches, mixing well.
Spread evenly into the bottom of a your prepared pan, reserving about 1/4 of the batter.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until they're just undercooked.

Just before taking the brownies out of the oven, place marshmallows, salt and peanut butter in a vary large microwave safe dish, and warm until the marshmallows swell and the peanut butter begins to melt. Remove and stir until combined.
Scoop the nougat mixture out over the warm brownies and spread across the top, working quickly so the marshmallow doesn't set.
Dollop the rest of the brownie mixture over the top and continue baking for an additional 5 minutes, or until the top layer of brownie is just beginning to set.
Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature before cutting and serving while the top layer is still soft and gooey.
ENJOY!

I want more S'more Cookies!

My second favorite food, after the cannoli, has to be the S'more. I swear, it's one of about 184678415 reasons why I love summer. Fire, caramelized sugar, grainy crunchy crackers, and melty chocolate all together in a dessert that almost always means you're with people you love and having a great time? Yes please!
When we recently had a party, I had my own cookie extravaganza and baked up a batch of these beauties so all the family and friends could relive the glories of a camp fire S'more with out the fire hazard of small children and an over eager dog.

S'more Cookie Bites
(makes about 32 cookies)

1 1/2 cups roughly ground graham cracker crumbs (plus 1/2 a cup more for later)
1 cup of AP flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 c softened butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar (medium pack)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

10 oz chopped chocolate (I prefer milk for a real S'more taste)
16 marshmallows, cut in half

Preheat oven to 350ºF and line 2 to 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the egg and mix in until incorporated.
In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, cracker crumbs, cinnamon and salt. Mix into the butter and sugar slowly, about 1/3 at a time.
Your dough will be thick, sticky, and little lumpy from any larger cracker crumbs, don't worry, that's normal.
Scoop 1 Tbs sized balls onto the baking sheets and bake for 9-12 minuts, or until golden.
Cool on a rack until luke warm.

While the cookies are cooling, melt the chocolate. When they are just slightly warm to the touch, top each cookie with a small dollop of chocolate and a marshmallow half. Toast the top of each cookie with a blow torch or under the broiler (only 30 seconds at a time if using a broiler!) Add another small dollop of chocolate to the top of the toasted marshmallow and sprinkle with the remaining cracker crumbs.
Cookies can be served warm for a classic messy S'more experience, of cooled for a more sophisticated crowd
(My group was all for the mess, though!)
ENJOY!

Classic Hummus with No Added Oil

Hey all! So, if you've been following me on twitter you probable have figured out that the reason I haven't posted in FOREVER is because I was on vacation. Now, I'm on a diet. I will get back to posting sweet and savory recipes this week (2 per week, promise) starting.....NOW! Here's a healthy hummus recipe for you all.

Classic Hummus with No Added Oil:
3 cups warm chickpeas
1/4 cup almond milk
1 Tbs tahini
3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2-1 tsp cumin
1/2-1 tsp cayenne pepper
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until a smooth (or chunky, if you prefer) paste forms. If you need to thin it out, or are making this in a blender add up to 1/2 cup of slightly warm water.