My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies

I got to thinking the other day about how I didn’t have a good old fashioned classic peanut butter cookie recipe on this site. The horror! While there’s tons of cookie recipes in my recipe index, most of them are all gussied up with chocolate, nuts or other fancy things. Sometimes you just need a classic cookie and a cup of milk…amen?

These peanut butter cookies are no frills delicious. They are like the kind you get from a bakery — all big and soft and full of peanut butter flavor. I must have made these cookies at least a hundred times in college. They are perfect fuel for late night study sessions, parties, gifts for the boyfriend, girls nights and, let’s be honest, broken hearts. In my experience, a good home baked cookie and a bubble bath often functions as life’s perfect medicine.

So if you like big soft peanut butter cookies, these are for you!

I think they key to great peanut butter cookies is using only brown sugar in the dough. It makes them super chewy and soft. And don’t even get me started on what it’s like to make ice cream sandwiches with these babies warm out of the oven using vanilla bean gelato and a {huge} drizzle of chocolate sauce. Please.

Yum. I just don’t even know what else there is to say….but yum.

Happy {early} weekend!

My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies

adapted from Gourmet

Yields 2 dozen large cookies

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup bread flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with either silpats or parchment paper.

Cream together the butter, brown sugar and peanut butter until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until just combined.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add to the wet ingredients and blend just until a dough forms.

Using a large spoon or an ice cream scoop, scoop out big balls of dough onto your prepared baking sheet — about 3″ apart. Press down gently with a wet fork on each cookie.

Bake for 15 minutes until edges are golden.

Time:

25 minutes

PUMPKIN SAGE SCONES WITH SPICY CHERRY JAM

That time of year is here again. That obnoxious time, that I secretly love, where anything and everything is pumpkin spice flavored. And I hear both sides of the coin all the time. There are the people that are totally into it. All out pumpkin eeeeeverything. And they tweet and instagram and facebook it all. “First pumpkin spice latte of the season ya’ll!” You know the kind. Maybe you are the kind. I’m not judging. But then there are those that mock that side. They’re all, “Why is everything pumpkin flavored? Pumpkin sucks!” And you guys are right. Pumpkin completely on it’s own isn’t really all that exciting flavor wise. But pumpkin hating peeps, here is the deal: It really isn’t about the actual pumpkin flavor. It’s about the spice! The cinnamon, the nutmeg, the allspice, the ginger. All of those things that go into pumpkin pie spice is what we associate with the flavor of pumpkin. And I secretly love it because those spices scream that Fall is coming and things are about to get a whole lot more cozy.

After writing all that, I feel like I just became an advocate for pumpkin season. That really wasn’t my intention. But since we’re going that way, pumpkin is actually pretty awesome especially as a substitution in baking. Similar to mashed banana, pumpkin can often be used as a substitution for eggs or oil in baked goods. For instance, a scone recipe typically calls for one egg. But since I am making pumpkin scones, I don’t even need a replacement for the egg. The pumpkin will do the trick in binding the scones together. And pumpkin works similarly in this pumpkin pecan bread, thesepumpkin cinnamon rolls, and pumpkin chocolate coffee cake.

Probably the most important thing to keep in mind when adapting or writing recipes for alternative baking methods is what the purpose of each ingredient is that you are substituting. In a traditional scone recipe there are typically three components that need to be adapted for a vegan version.

The Egg: Because of the amount of other leaveners in a scone recipe (baking powder and baking soda), the egg is mostly used for binding the scone together and for a bit of moisture. The pumpkin in this recipe replaces both. Other options could be banana, non-dairy yogurt, chia egg, or flax egg.

The Fat: Often cold butter is the fat in a scone recipe, though shortening is seen at times. The fat gives richness to the scone but also serves as an important part of the rising process. The fat needs to be cold so that when it heats up in the oven the water will start to evaporate and the steam helps the scone to rise. This cold solid fat is easily replaced with vegan butter, or vegetable shortening. I prefer the flavor, or lack there of, and texture that vegetable shortening brings to the party.

The Milk or Buttermilk: Plain milk or cream in a recipe mostly serves the purpose of moisture and richness and can be easily replaced with non-dairy milk. Buttermilk, on the other hand, is acidic and brings some tang into the batter and usually serves an additional purpose of activating the baking soda. (Because as we know, if you’ve read my science of baking soda and baking powder article, baking soda needs something acidic to balance it’s alkalinity in order to serve the purpose of leavening the batter.) So non-dairy milk on it’s own will not be a good substitute. We need to add some acidity, and vinegar (or lemon juice) will do the trick.

And now, I leave you to gawk at the scones. The lovely orange colored, and beautifully earthy flavored, scones. Not to toot my own horn, but the idea of the spicy cherry jam to pair with these was a pretty damn good idea. In fact the jam all on it’s own is a pretty amazing idea. Toot, toot.

Welcome to Fall. Welcome to pumpkin spice season. Here we go!

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Pumpkin Sage Scones (vegan)

Yield: 12-14 scones

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 TBSP vinegar
• 4 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup packed fresh sage leaves, chiffonade (thin strips)
• 10 TBSP cold vegetable shortening (or vegan butter), cut into small pieces
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

Instructions

1. Combine the non-dairy milk and the vinegar together and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and sage.
3. Add the shortening and use a pastry blender or a fork to cut it into the dry ingredients until it is the consistency of peas.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add in the pumpkin puree and non-dairy milk/vinegar mixture.
5. Stir together just until combined. Knead the dough over itself in the bowl about 4 times.
6. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
7. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
8. Flour a clean work surface and pat out the dough to 3/4" thick. You can cut out with a circular cutter, or cut into squares or triangles.
9. Place in a greased cake pan or cookie sheet and bake for 16-18 minutes. Do not open the door to check on them for at least the first 8 minutes or you will release the steam and they will not rise as high.
10. Serve with spicy cherry jam.

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Spicy Cherry Quick Jam

Ingredients

• 1 lb frozen tart cherries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)
• pinch salt

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Stir occasionally while the sugar is melting and the cherries are thawing.
3. Once the cherries become soft begin to mash them down with a spoon or a potato masher.
4. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture begins to thicken.
5. Remove from the heat and let cool.
6. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Slow cooker honey chicken w/ quinoa

If you know me, I’m all about quick and easy DELICIOUS recipes! This slow cooker honey chicken is one of those recipes. The chicken has such a unique flavor and leaves your family begging for more! They’ll think you slaved all day in the kitchen. Shh! Don’t tell. They don’t have to know it only took you five minutes to make. ;) This dish is also pretty healthy as well. You can cut back on the honey to make it even more healthy. It’s one of our family’s new favorite recipes!

Slow cooker honey with with quinoa recipe -

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Slow cooker honey chicken w/ quinoa

Ingredients

• 3 large frozen chicken breasts (if your's are thawed, adjust cooking time)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup sesame seed (optional)
• 1 cup quinoa (cooked according to package directions) - could substitute with rice

Instructions

1. Place chicken breasts in a crock pot. Combine soy sauce, honey, olive oil, onion powder, garlic, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir until combined. Pour sauce over chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until the chicken easily falls apart.
2. Serve chicken over cooked quinoa. Add extra sauce from the crock pot on top and add sesame seeds for show.
3. Enjoy!

Mmm… tasty!

So are you a crock pot fan? What are some of your favorite recipes?

Lamington Biscuits

It's been tradition for me to make a little something to celebrate Australia day, which is coming up this weekend. Although I don't actually do much on the actual day, it's fun to bake something for it. Last year was the hugely successful Milo and Chocolate Crackle Cheesecakeand this time it is lamington themed.

I love me some lamingtons. They are quintessentially Aussie and taste so good when done well. This year I tried something a little different, making a biscuit version of the lamington. I made small, round versions of ladyfinger biscuits, like the type you use in tiramisu. These soft, spongy biscuits were perfect for my lamington-biscuit hybrid. Dipped in the typical chocolate icing and coconut and sandwiched with jam and cream, you end up with super cute bite-sized biscuit versions of lamingtons.

Originally I had planned to use fresh cream to sandwich the biscuits together, but then I realised that I would have to eat them all on the same day. As tempting as that was, I decided to try a mock cream recipe instead, which is essentially a whipped buttercream. It's a little heavier than a fresh cream mixture, but it means that you can store it at room temperature and it will keep for several days. But you can always switch it back to fresh cream if you are serving it at a party or skip the cream altogether.

Anyway I hope everyone enjoys their Australia Day long weekend. Mine will be extremely busy, as all my weekends have been recently. I really, really need a very long holiday with white sandy beaches and many, many cocktails.

Lamington Biscuits with Raspberry Jam & 'Cream'

(makes about 12-15 sandwiched biscuits)

For the ladyfinger biscuits (adapted from Cordon Bleu At Home):

3 eggs, separated

6 tablespoons (75g) granulated/white/caster sugar

3/4 cup (95g) cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch)

6 tablespoons (50g) icing/confectioner's sugar

To dip: 2.5 cups (about 250g) icing/confectioner's sugar + 4 tbsp cocoa powder sifted together, 1/3 cup milk, 10g butter (about 1 tbsp), 100g dark/semi-sweet chocolate, 1 cup dessicated coconut

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F) degrees and line two baking trays with baking paper. 
2. Beat the egg whites using an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. 
3. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.
4. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. 
5. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter will deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.
6. Fit a pastry bag with a 1cm plain tip (you can also use a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off) and fill with the batter. Pipe 3cm circles, leaving at least 2cm space around each one.
   Sprinkle half the icing/confectioner's sugar over the piped batter and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.
7. Very carefully, hold the baking paper in place in two corners with your thumbsand lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.
8. Bake the biscuits for 5-6 minutes, then rotate the trays and bake for another 3 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.
9. Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the biscuitsfrom the baking tray with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool completely on a wire rack.
10. Place all dipping ingredients except the coconut in a large heatproof bowl and whisk together over a pot of simmering water (or zap it in the microwave in 30 seconds bursts if you're lazy) until smooth. Place coconut in a separate bowl.
11. Dip rounded side of biscuit in the chocolate and allow the excess to drip off. Then dip into coconut to completely coat the chocolate. Return to the wire rack to dry. You can store dried biscuit in an airtight container until ready to fill, I made mine a day before filling.

For the mock cream filling:

(adapted from this recipe, can be substituted with fresh cream whipped with a bit of icing sugar or skipped entirely)

110g (about 1/2 cup) butter, softened

120g (about 3/4 cup) icing/confectioner's sugar, sifted

Boiling water, about 60ml (1/3 cup)

Cold water, about 40ml (about 2 tbsp)

1. In a medium bowl, dissolve icing sugar with 1 tbsp boiling water, so that it forms a paste.
2. Beat butter until soft and creamy, then add icing sugar, a little at a time and beat until white and creamy.
3. Add 1 tbsp of boiling water, beat again, then add 1 tbsp cold water.
4. Continue beating until smooth, then repeat with another 1 tbsp of boiling and cold water alternatively, until icing sugar has dissolved into mixture and it is light and fluffy. You may need to add more water if it is still too thick.

To assemble:

About 1/2 cup raspberry jam, strained to remove seeds

1. Use a spoon or knife to spread a thin, layer of jam on the bottom side of one biscuit.
2. Pipe or use a spoon to spread a dollop of mock cream (or real cream) on the bottom side of another biscuit and sandwich together with the jam side. This step can be skipped if you prefer only jam.
3. Repeat with the remaining biscuits. Can be stored in an air-tight container for several days if using mock cream, must be served immediately if using fresh cream.

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups - Lasagna Noodles rolled with a ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella cheese and spinach filling, topped with spaghetti sauce and sprinkled with some more mozzarella.

I'm having Internet issues.

Big time.
And it's so completely frustrating, as I'm sure you can well imagine or have probably experienced it yourself in the past.
It's taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R to load and sort of reminds me of the days of dial-up.
Many of you are probably too young to even know what that is.
That darn annoying dial tone when we'd want to get on the Internet.
Those were the days, hunh?
Yikes!

So, I'm hoping that it will be kind enough to allow me to post this tonight, or at least not post, then SAVE it, so I can post in the morning before I'm off to work.
Fingers crossed. Here's to hoping!

I made these roll-ups today.
They didn't exactly go as planned as you can see from my pictures, so go off the amended recipe, not from what you see in the pictures.
Too many noodles + not enough filling = a really good dinner that the Mr. and son loved, but it just needed more in the middle.

The noodles.

 The spinach filling. Put 3-4 tablespoons on each noodle.

Ready to be rolled.
See, not enough filling on each noodle. Use the 10 noodles and you'll have enough filling and cheese.
Besides, if I'd used the 4 cups of Ricotta as I was originally planning, they would have been tough to roll because they would have been TOO thick and I would have had to use TWO 9 X 13-inch baking dishes instead of the one because as it was, they all just barely fit.
Follow the recipe, not my lead. haha
I'm only human.

Lotsa noodle, needs more UMPH in the middle.

Ready to be baked on Day 8.

This is what happens when you are baking every single day and you're attempting to make up your own recipe (even though I know there are plenty of spinach lasagna roll-up recipes out there. I didn't want to reference one, so made some errors and of course, was not able to revise because the post has to go up today.
I do believe that what I'll write in the recipe will work just fine though.
If not, here's my disclaimer...If you make it and it doesn't turn out or feed 4 people as I think it should, I take no responsibility. hee hee

Oh, and when you serve this, make sure you have a salad and some bread to eat with it, and make sure you tell your guests to save room for dessert (just to make sure there really is enough for 4 people should you have some very hungry eaters)!

Oh, and my video editor fell asleep this afternoon and when I went to wake her for dinner she wanted to sleep some more and she still isn't up, so we'll see about getting the video up tomorrow after we all get home from work.


Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups - serves 4
Ingredients
10 lasagna noodles (are about 20 in the package - save for another dinner)
2 cups part-skim Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 tablespoon parsley
1 9 ounce package chopped spinach, thawed
2 cups Mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup reserved for topping
1 26 ounce jar spaghetti sauce

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 9 X 13-inch baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
Cook 10 lasagna noodles according to directions in salted boiling water.
Drain and place flat on wax paper sprayed with cooking spray until ready to roll.
In a medium bowl, beat egg and add Ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, and parsley. Mix until well combined.
Add spinach and thoroughly mix.
Pour half of the spaghetti sauce into the prepared baking dish and spread to evenly coat the bottom.
Place 3-4 tablespoons of filling on each noodle and spread evenly to coat.
Sprinkle the 1 1/2 cups of Mozzarella cheese over the noodles, dividing it evenly among them.
Beginning at a short end, roll the noodle up and place into prepared baking dish.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and uncover. Sprinkle remaining Mozzarella cheese and bake uncovered for 5 minutes more,  or until cheese has melted.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and these Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups earned 3 1/2 rolling pins.
The men in my life thought they were truly delicious, and I even screwed them up.
I had boiled the WHOLE package of lasagna noodles and therefore there wasn't enough filling, so as you saw from the picture above, it looked like there was much more noodle than there was filling.
True that.
So, I amended the recipe to reflect what I thought should be fixed.
I do believe I already told you this though.
I'm tired and now I'm starting to lose it. haha
Also, when I baked them, I didn't cover them with tin foil.
Do that.
My noodles got a little hard and the cheese in the middles hadn't completely melted as I thought it should.
I just stuck the pan with the Mozz. on top and baked it for 30 minutes.
Follow the recipe.
Don't do as I did. I'll save you the trouble.
It's not that they weren't edible or really good. They just needed some minor adjustments.

I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!

Garlic And Goats Cheese Tart

This is one of my favourite recipes. It’s a wonderful vegetarian option that even the keenest meat eater will enjoy.

It’s based on a Ottelenghi recipe, I have found it best to use a deep tart dish of about an inch to an inch and a half, therefore you need a bit more filling, I have also found that if your in rush, absent the boiling of the garlic and just jump to the caramelisation.

Ottelenghi says that it feeds eight but I must have very hungry friends because I would be lucky to feed five of them with one tart! I have been known to eat a third of one so no judgement!

Garlic and Goats Cheese Tart

• 375g All Butter Puff Pastry
• 3 medium bulbs of Garlic, peeled
• 1 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 220 ml Water
• 3/4 tbsp Caster Sugar
• 1 tsp chopped Thyme, plus a few sprigs to garnish
• 1tsp chopped Rosemary
• 400g of Soft Goats Cheese (the logs are perfect)
• 3 Eggs
• 150 ml Double Cream
• 150ml Creme Fraiche
• Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Roll out the Puff Pastry and line the tart tin (around 28cm) with it, cover with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Place in the fridge for 20mins to cool.
3. Bake blind the tart case for 20mins of until the pastry is golden. Set aside.
4. Place the Garlic cloves in a pan with water to cover them and simmer then for 3 mins, drain and pat dry.
5. Return the saucepan to the hob and add the Olive Oil and Garlic, fry at a high heat for 2 mins while they colour, then add the Vinegar and Water and bring to the boil, simmer for 10 mins. Then add the Sugar,  Chopped Herbs, and some seasoning and reduce until a caramel like sauce covers the cloves.
6. Make the custard by beating the Eggs, Cream and Creme Fraiche with seasoning by hand.
7. Take your blind baked tart case and sprinkle the Goats Cheese across it in large lumps, you want it evenly distributed but for some parts to poke out of the custard so make them taller. Then sprinkle the Garlic in the same manner. Finally pour the custard over, making sure to fill it all over rather than just form the centre.
8. Bake for at 160ºC for 35 to 45 mins or until the filling is set and golden.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.