A New Way to Make Cookies

Great idea, right? Baking cookies in a waffle iron! I have already decided that this is going to be my new favorite thing... I'll be trying to cook everything in the waffle iron. But I'm definitely going to need some practice, because in a whole batch of cookie dough only four of my cookies looked like the ones in that picture. The rest totally spread out in the waffle iron and got all crunchy. Maybe it was too hot or I left them in too long. Not sure, but I'm definitely willing to try again, because hey... even if they were crunchy and shaped funny they still tasted delicious!

Cupcakes!

Step 1: make chocolate chip cookie dough.
Step 2: roll dough into balls and place on wax paper lined cookie sheet.
Step 3: freeze.
Step 4: prepare and pour a box of chocolate cake mix into cupcake liners.
Step 5: place a frozen ball of cookie dough into each cupcake.
Step 6: bake.
Step 7: cool.
Step 8: frost.
Step 9: share and enjoy.

When Worlds Collide

"How Not to Measure" and "Call Me 'Yo Miss'" are vastly different -- one is full of adventures in the kitchen that just get thrown together and the other analyzes aspects of the world of education. But... somehow... they combined forces last night.

For my Human Growth & Development I, and my classmate Abby, presented to our class about the importance of nutrition. We actually had to fight other groups to be able to present on this topic, so we knew we had to make it good... Which was easy, because it's something we're both very interested in.

Only last month, the USDA passed new regulations for school lunches -- including the first financial increase in 30 years!! (An extra 6 cents per lunch.) But in the next 3 years school lunches will begin to include more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and decrease the amounts of sodium, trans fat, and sugar. All great changes. During our presentation, our main point was that students need to be educated about nutrition in order for changes to be really effective. They need to know what to choose and why they should choose it.

And, of course, we had to bring some treats in for the class! We both chose to make desserts using healthier ingredients just to prove that small changes can be made and they're not drastic or gross! Abby made delicious, fudgy, dense, chocolatey brownies using black beans instead of flour. (Once I get the recipe from her, I'll definitely post it.) And my treat was just regular chocolate chip cookies -- the same recipe from the back of the bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. The only difference was all whole wheat flour instead of white flour and brown sugar instead of white sugar. (Oh, and my secret ingredient: a big drizzle of honey during the last few stirs.)

So yes to nutrition education and yes to healthy changes!

This should tide you over...

Since I'm still AWOL, I've added a new site on the side, under More Food: Food Gawker. Everything on here looks amazing, especially this...

Red Velvet Cheesecake Ball

Pears & Gruyere from The Piemaker

One of my favorite shows is Pushing Daisies.
It only made it to two seasons, of course. (That always happens with favorites, right?) This show had a personal, hidden danger though: It made me want to bake. Pies. All the time. For a while I was convinced that I could even open a pie shop (like the Pie Hole, as in shut your) and bake pies and delicious treats all the time. Maybe some day...

One of my favorite pies I've baked was inspired by this show: a pear & apple pie with Gruyere baked into the crust. (Apple pie with cheddar in the crust is also great.) And yesterday that particular mood struck again, but I wasn't really into the idea of a buttery crust, so I created something new...

The Facts Were These:

• 6 Anjou Pears (peeled & thinly sliced)
• Flour (as usual, I used white whole wheat)
• cinnamon
• ginger
• cloves
• oats
• brown sugar
• chopped & toasted almonds
• butter (only about 2 tablespoons & cubed)
• applesauce (au naturale)
• salt (a pinch)
• honey
• Gruyere cheese, shredded

1. Mix the pears with flour, cinnamon, cloves & ginger and a little brown sugar. (And some chopped candied ginger if you have it!) I really didn't measure at all... I was in a creative/experimental mood and was just kind of throwing stuff in. But if you've ever made a pie before, you'll have a good feeling for typical ratios. (And if not, just look a pie recipe or two and make your best judgement.)
2. In a separate bowl, prepare the crumbly topping: flour (about 3/4 of a cup?), oats (maybe closer to 1 cup?), brown sugar*, butter, applesauce (maybe about 1/2 cup, if not more), cloves, ginger & salt. It will get a mold-able (malleable?) kind of consistency.
3. In a greased baking dish or a pie dish, spread pear mixture over bottom. Sprinkle cheese over pears and drizzle with honey. Add almonds (however much you want) and top with oat crumble. 
4. Bake at 325 for about a half hour. 

*I ended up using a lot more sugar than I initially intended. But I think in order to get the right consistency for that crumble topping it needs it. I probably ended up using at least a half a cup. I'll measure next time -- this one is definitely a recipe to come back to and work on!

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Healthy Brownies Turned Naughty

My following brownie recipe (yes, it includes measurements!) is adapted from this clone recipe of No Pudge brownies (which I've actually never tried). I originally wanted to make s'mores brownies, but I had a strange adventure with graham cracker products and somehow ended up leaving the store with a box of crackers I mistook for grahams. So the grahams got substituted for peanuts and the rocky road brownie was born in my kitchen:

What You'll Need:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
• 2-3 tablespoons fat free half & half (this I didn't measure -- just splashed it in because the batter was wwaayyy too thick)
• 1 block of unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped/shaved
• Fluff (about half a jar)
• Peanuts (I dipped into the cocktail peanuts jar, but toasted or dry roasted would be great)
• 1 bar of chocolate of your choice -- this was my choice

Put it All Together:

• Mix dry ingredients.
• Stir in yogurt, half & half and baking chocolate.
• Spread half the batter into small greased baking dish.
• Spread Fluff over batter and sprinkle peanuts over it.
• Spread the last of the batter on top. (It's okay if Fluff and peanuts show through!! Better, actually.)
• Break up your chocolate bar and place sporadically on top.
• Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. 
• Try to let them cool for at least 10 minutes before you dig in. 

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Amazingly Dangerous Cookies

This website has some crazy stuff: picky-palate.com. Go to it. 

But I'm warning you, it looks incredibly dangerous.

...Seriously.

Not a Lonely Heart in the Bunch

You'll never find yourself like Miss Lonely-Heart on Valentine's Day with these treats -- no one can resist them. And they're so easy, they make do for a perfect last minute Valentine... or... since it's past Valentine's Day, they serve just as well as an impressive any time treat.

This was my edition of "Nutella Pop-Tarts." Last weekend Rachael made some s'mores pastry desserts that were just puff pastry wrapped around a graham cracker and a piece of chocolate with Fluff on top. (Genius, right?) I kind of combined the two ideas; instead of going through making my own dough and all that, like the pop-tart recipe called for, I decided to go with ready-to-go dough as well and added a few extra flavor touches. :D

What You'll Need:

• 1 package of pie crusts
• Nutella
• Raspberry jam or preserves 
• Egg
• Fluff
• Heart-shaped cookie cutter

Put it All Together:

• Spread out one of the pie crusts and cut out lots of hearts. Repeat with second sheet. (You can roll out the extras and get some more hearts out of it if you need to... They just might be a little thicker.)
• Place hearts on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. 

• Blob some Nutella on a heart and then a blob of Raspberry. Take another heart and put it on top, pinch sides down with a fork. Repeat until all your hearts are full.

• Brush the tops of the hearts with an egg wash.
• Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until their browned nicely on top.

They might leak a little bit if you leave them in a smidgen too long, but don't worry about it. The time between looking perfect and looking delicious is minuscule, but there's no taste difference. They'll be just as delicious. Top them with some Fluff for a super quick frosting. (I thought about doing a nice raspberry glaze, but was feel pretty lazy.)

Go make them! They're fantastic!

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Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Skillet

How amazingly delicious does this look?!

 

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