Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies

September 19, 2012September 19, 20125 Comments

This is what happens when you are cheap and you go to the grocery store hungry.

Ok that’s not really what happens. What happens is you buy butterscotch chips that are 50% off, then rack your brain for 2 weeks trying to figure out what to make with them. Don’t worry if this happens to you make cookies. Cookies are generally a good idea.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Butterscotch Cookies

adapted from Food Network

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, cream together brown sugar, butter and peanut butter until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Add whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt until almost combine. Fold in butterscotch chips.

Form dough into golf ball sized balls, place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and flatten slightly. Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden on the bottom. Place on a cooling rack to cool. Then serve!

Makes about 20 cookies.

In other news, these cookies were the first thing I made in my new kitchen.

Then I roasted vegetables, made another avocado pie and make an EPIC birthday cake for a co-worker’s bday tomorrow.

Slowly but surely, I’m catching up. What should I make next?

Avocado Pie

September 3, 2012September 3, 201211 Comments

My boyfriend told me that the first time he heard about me (right before we met over 2 years ago on a random trip to Las Vegas) he thought I was going to be a rich snob. Makes sense. I went to Cornell at the time and when I first meet people I tend to be quiet. I guess that translated to rich-bitch-face for me. But luckily, we moved past that.

2 years later, he’s coming to find that I’m quite the opposite. I might be the cheapest person I’ve ever met (after my mother that is… I had to get it somewhere right?). Yesterday, I had us walk to Costco before going to the movie theater so we could buy the cheaper tickets there. $8 savings! I say yes.

My frugality translated to food as well. For a long time, I would NEVER buy avocados. $1+ for an avocado seemed outrageous. But now, I’m growing up. And guys… I buy avocados. In fact, I just bought 2 right before writing this post. Is my cheapness fizzing away?

I don’t think so (the avocados I just bought were on sale), but if you’re cheap like me but want to use your avocados to your full potential, here’s how:

In pie form.

Yes, it’s sweet. Not savory, and truth be told, I don’t really taste the avocado in it. What I do taste (and trust me I tasted this one a lot, I ate it for breakfast 3 days last week…) is delicious creamy-ness.

Avocado Pie

from Blue Ribbon Pies (mostly)

1 stick of butter, melted
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 large avocado (or 1 1/2 small, which is what I used), lightly mashed
1/4 cup lime juice
2 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 can (15 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar

Prepare crust by mixing together melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and 1/4 powdered sugar. Press into a 9” pie pan. Put in the freezer until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 325.

Our lime juice over avocado slices and set aside. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until thick (few minutes took me about 5?). Add avocado and lime juice and beat, add vanilla and continue to beat. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared graham cracker crust. Bake 20 minutes.

Allow to cool completely. Meanwhile, mix together sour cream, vanilla and 1/4 cup sugar. Once the pie is completely cool, spread sour cream mixture over the pie. Chill for a few hours (I chilled it over night) then serve!

Ok so cheapness aside, I can’t take credit for this recipe. I owe it to my lovely friend, Rhoda. She shares my affinity for pies and cost-effectiveness, which I greatly appreciate.

But take my word for it, make this pie no one will think you’re a cheap-o. They’ll think your awesome for 1. giving them pie, 2. making an amazing pie that looks crazy but tastes great!

Things That Don’t Make It on the Blog

August 23, 20121 Comment

I’m not sure what I did before I had a blog. Did I just prepare food and eat it or give it away? Wait, let me think back a few years…

Oh, yeah. I guess not. I didn’t always try to attractively plate my food and photograph it. (Duh, only crazy people do that)

Truth be told, I don’t always photograph things. But friends, there’s another strange phenomenon that happens behind the Foodologie scenes…

Sometimes I make things, photograph them and DO NOT blog about it.

Gasp. You’re probably thinking, oh man what missed opportunities!

I know. It breaks my heart too.

So obviously this raises the question: are other blogger doing this too? Making things and then having the audacity to NOT share it with readers? I might be the only jerk out there who withholds baked goods from the blog world.

So I guess it’s time for me to repent. In the spirit of transparency, here are a few things that didn’t make the blog…

Exhibit A: Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

I baked and mailed them to a friend…

I think they were delicious; it was a while ago, but yes, I remember them being tasty. I had this grand idea of a series of blog posts involving friends, sadly this friend did not follow through, neither did another one for whom I made some hazelnut pinwheel cookies. Such is life. I’m not losing sleep over it.

Exhibit B: Bourbon Apple Pie

Haven’t I given you enough pies with bourbon in them? Sometimes I worry you all will tire of my pies. I still make them and feed them to people, but sometimes I just don’t feel the need to repeat a recipe, change one thing then call it something new. Hint: if you make my bourbon peach pie and replace the peaches with apples, you’ll get the pie photographed above.

Exhibit C: Peanut Butter Banana Caramel Bars (renamed by my office: Karmely Yum Bars)

Yes they were that delicious. They even got named for their goodness.

I’m not sure why I never blogged about these. Oh yeah, I completely forgot how I made them. Note to self: write down your ingredients when you create a recipe.

I’ll try my best to remake these, because honestly, they were to die for.

Exhibit D: My quest to make the perfect lemon pound cake.

Really I’ve tried at least 10 times. It’s still not perfect. I’ve gotten close but not quite. I refuse to post a recipe that’s anything less than divine. The last one I tried, this past week, was close. I took it to work and it was gone before noon.

That’s a good sign, but I wasn’t pleased. The quest continues. If I post a lemon pound cake recipe on this blog, be assured that is really is the most amazing thing on Earth.

So there you have it. I’ve let it all out. No secrets here. Isn’t that nice of me?

Truth be told: I can’t promise I won’t do this again… Like with those ceviche spring rolls I made a few weeks ago…

Passion Fruit Cream Pie

August 21, 2012August 21, 20123 Comments

There are a few things I’m certain about.

1. If you are at a party full of latinos and you want them to dance, play this song:

Everyone will be on the dance floor within 30 seconds. Truth.

2. My sister and I have a 20 degree temperature range of comfort. Anything below 65F is too cold, and anything about 85F is far too hot. I have no idea how I lived in central NY for 2 years.

3. This is my new go to summer dessert. Really this has to do with #2 and the fact that my apartment is an oven, therefore I refuse to turn on the oven.

Passion Fruit Cream Pie

For Crust:
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar

For Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 1/4 cup passion fruit curd (recipe follows)
1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 Mango diced, or sliced strawberries, thinly sliced lemon, extra whipped cream or other fruit for topping

Passionfruit Curd
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/3 cup passion fruit pulp (Goya has some frozen, check out the freezer section or a latin grocery store)
4 tbsp butter

First prepare the passion fruit curd, it needs to cool completely before you make this. In a glass bowl that fits over a saucepan, combine eggs, passion fruit pulp and sugar. Place over a sauce pan with boiling water (make sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl). Stir constantly until thick (this will take anywhere from 20-30 minutes). Stir in butter and pass through a fine mesh strainer. Set aside to cool and refrigerate until ready to use. This can be made up to 3 days in advance.

Once you’re ready to make your pie. Melt butter in a bowl. Add graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Press into 9” pie dish. Place in freezer while you prepare the filling.

In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and 1 cup of passionfruit curd.

In a separate bowl, beat heavy whipping cream until it holds firm peaks.

Fold whipped cream into cream cheese/passion fruit mixture. Pour mixture into prepared pie dish. Spread any remaining passion fruit curd (will be about 1/4 cup) on to the top of the pie mixture (that is if you haven’t eaten it already because it’s so deliciously good).

Top with your fruit of choice and refrigerate at least 4 hours or until ready to serve. I topped one with mango and one with thinly sliced lemon pieces.

Note that decorating this with lemons is totally misleading. Half the people at the party I took this to were expecting it to be a lemon dessert.

The good news is you totally can make this into a lemon dessert! All you have to do is replace the passionfruit curd with lemon curd and TA DA! Instant no-bake lemon dessert!

Now, let me be honest, I’ve made both a lemon version and a passion fruit version… The passion fruit version wins.

Topped with mango. To die for.

Either way, I’m thinking that this is my new favorite no bake dessert.

It might even beat the peanut butter banana cream pie… and that’s saying a lot.

Ok but we’re all friends here, turn on some music (or maybe the song I linked above), dance in the kitchen and make both the passion fruit cream pie and the peanut butter banana cream pie. I’m certain you (and whoever you decide to share them with) will love them.

Almond Joy Biscotti: Almond-Coconut Biscotti Dipped in Chocolate

August 6, 2012August 6, 201213 Comments

Sometimes I have random cravings like a pregnant woman. No, I’m not pregnant. Trust me. I’m not, but my sister is pregnant so this is my point of comparison. At times, I think I crave things as often as she does.

Tonight, I really wanted crunchy, raw cabbage with ~~lemon~~ lime and salt. It was wonderful (and pretty random, right?).

Last week, I wanted biscotti.

Also totally random right? Except for that fact that biscotti is delicious, and really I can’t think of a time I wouldn’t want to enjoy some biscotti with a cup of coffee.

But this biscotti:

This biscotti is crazy-delicious. Hard to believe but true. So go ahead. Write down the recipe and get in the kitchen….

Almond Joy Biscotti

adapted from All Recipes

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar, divided
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 cups chocolate chips
1-2 tbsp oil

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in one egg at a time then vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt, until not quite combined. Fold in almonds and coconut.

Line two baking sheets (or 1 large one) with parchment paper. Flour your hands then take half the dough and drop it onto a baking sheet and try to mold it into a log-shape, more or less 3 inches wide and 12 inches long. I say more or less because the dough will be very sticky and hard to handle but don’t worry it’ll all turn out fine once baked. Do the same with the other half. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Once the logs have cooled, using a serrated bread cut slightly slanted into 1/2-3/4 inch thick cookies.

Turn oven down to 275F. Lay on another parchment paper-lined baking sheets, bake for 5-10 minutes or until golden on the bottom. Flip each cookie and bake another 5-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them you don’t want to burn them!

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Once the cookies have cooled. Place chocolate chips in a bowl, microwave 30 seconds, then stir. Microwave another 30 seconds, then stir. Repeat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 1-2 tbsp oil until the chocolate is slightly runny.

Dip one side of each cookie (Note: this makes about 40 cookies) in chocolate and lay on parchment paper. Drizzle any remaining chocolate on top of cookies. Refrigerate half an hour until chocolate sets.

Make a pot of coffee, serve and enjoy!

The good thing is if you’re not craving biscotti at this very moment, they stay good for about a week in an air-tight container.

So go ahead and preemptively give in to your cravings.

Make these, then snap a photo and send it to me! No really, do it!

Banana Coconut Bars

July 25, 2012July 25, 20128 Comments

I’ve been on a bar kick recently. Not the party kind of bar, like the cookie-that-you-cut type bar. Like this:

As for the other type of bar, I’m not cool enough to hang out in bars. You’re more likely to find me in a park.

A few weeks ago I had decided I wanted to open a bar. Not just any bar, I wanted it to be an outdoor bar (think park meets bar, see where I’m going with this?). I think it’s ridiculous that Southern California has awesome weather but very few places where you can enjoy the weather with a beer/wine in your hand.

Sure, there are bars with patios, but those are usually small and there’s no grass involved. Grass is really essential to the full outdoor enjoyment. I still want to open that bar. Would you come?

But enough about those types of bars. Let’s talk about this sort…

I’m a fan. You will be too. Unless you’re like my friend Emily who hates cooked fruit, in which case you should make this instead… or this.

But if you love cooked fruit (I do!) and more importantly bananas and coconut and sweet goodness, then you should probably give these a try!

Banana Coconut Bars

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour (or just 2 cups all purpose)
3 ripe bananas, sliced
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
5 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Cream together 3/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Beat in egg. Add flour and mix until just combined. The texture will be pretty crumbly, press into a 9 x 13 baking dish (I used a jelly roll pan and pressed it into about 2/3 of it) lined with parchment paper.

Lay banana sliced on dough. Next spread shredded coconut on top and chocolate chips if desired. Drizzle with 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk.

In a bowl combine 1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup oats, 2 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp brown sugar. Use your hands to work it into coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture over the bars. Drizzle with remaining sweetened condensed milk. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow to cool complete. Cut into bars and serve!

In case it wasn’t obvious, everyone is cool enough for this bar.

Milk Chocolate Brownie Pie with Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Crust

July 16, 20128 Comments

Remember when I told you to look forward to pies? Well I didn’t make you wait long. Here it is.

And let’s be honest about this. Not all pies are pretty, but even if they’re not pretty they can still be tasty. Let’s call it functional, not beautiful. I’m pretty certain this pie won’t get as many pins as other ones.

You know what makes this even more functional: it’s easy. Not that other pies are hard to make but with this one, you don’t have to deal with rolling a crust, peeling or chopping fruit, making a topping or even pulling out the hand mixer.

This pie is essentially chocolate chess pie. However, no one seems to know what that is (not even me really…). So my original intention was to call this Chocolate Milk Pie, because to me, it tastes like chocolate milk in a pie form. But when I took it to work everyone kept calling it brownie pie. I guess that might be a more accurate descriptions.

Hence…

Milk Chocolate Brownie Pie with Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Crust

adapted from Chocolate Chess Pie

For Crust:

4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp peanut butter
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup powdered sugar

For Filling:

4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
5 oz evaporated milk (you can buy 5 oz cans)

Pre-heat oven to 325F. Prepare the crust. Melt butter and peanut butter together in a bowl. Add sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Combine and press into a 9inch pie dish. Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Mix all the ingredients. Pour filling into the pie dish. Place use a pie shield or line the edges with aluminum foil (this really is crucial). Bake 45 minutes to an hour or until the top is cracked but the inside still looks gooey.

Allow to cool completely and serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional).

The inside will be ooey, gooey and lovely. I can guarantee you’ll love it, even if it’s not the most visually appealing.

But you know what is totally appealing (aside from this pie of course)? Birthday countdowns.

Boyfriend’s birthday in 1 week. My birthday in 2 weeks. That means lots of pie/cake-making is on the way.

FYI, I’m totally okay with making a birthday cake/pie for myself. Is that weird?

Something to Look Forward To…

July 11, 2012July 11, 20124 Comments

I’ve been out of school for over a year; it certainly doesn’t feel that long. When you’re in school, your life is broken up in quarters or semesters. You have clear goals and timelines to accomplish things. While I sort of have that at work, it’s not the same. I like having schedules and things to strive for. Let’s paint that in a positive light and say I’m goal-oriented…

Having things to look forward to makes life more fun, and honestly, makes the unpleasant stuff go by a little bit faster.

So in the spirit of reaching milestones and breaking up life to be a bit more manageable, here are a few things we can all look forward to:

1. Pies

We all know I’m into pie-making. I have a few pie recipes I’ve been itching to share with you. I’ve made both of these pies at least twice (remember when I burnt one? Moral of the Story: Don’t read a book and get totally sucked in a forget you put something in the oven), and both times photography didn’t happen.

So I’m making them again. Actually I made this one last night:

Chocolate Chess Pie with a Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Crust, but really I’m going to call it Chocolate Milk Pie with a Peanut Butter Graham Cracker Crust because that’s what it tastes like to me. Like ooey gooey chocolate milk. Get excited.

I also made this one twice. Passion Fruit Cream Pie.

My brother-in-law claimed it was the best thing I’ve ever made. He tried to whisper this so I wouldn’t hear (not sure why). But I heard. That probably means I need to make it again and tell you how to do it so you can impress. You definitely won’t want to miss that.

2. TEDx SoCal in Long Beach on Saturday 7/14

I went to this event last year and am going again this year. If you love TED Talks (or if you don’t know what TED is, check it out at the very least watch this 3 minute video on How to Start a Movement), then you’ll get an idea of why going to an independently organized event (hence, TEDx) is pretty awesome.

You get the same time of TED-like inspiration without having to shell out thousands ($25 with an old student ID, in case you’re not a student, not bad).

You should come too! We can meet up! So Cal Food Blogger (and reader!) meet up at TEDx So Cal! Who’s in? I might even bring you a blog treat to sample 🙂 Let me know!

3. My birthday

In 19 days, I will be 25 years old. Fact.

I don’t usually do much for my birthday.

In an ideal world, I would spend the day grilling and having fun drinks outside, then music would come on and we would all dance for a little bit (or a while). But I don’t have a backyard. So instead, I’ll probably just make a cake. I’m alright with that.

4. More Recipes

Maybe I’ll branch out from pies. I accidentally bought some collard greens today. Let’s see what I do with that.

Remember when I used to cook vegetables?

Maybe I’ll take that up again (or at least blogging about it).

5. China

In November, I’m going to China for 12 days.

Sometimes I feel like I should be the spokesperson for Travel Zoo. I am always amazed at their deals and tell everyone about them (have you checked it out?). I got a super great deal on airfare to China. That should be fun and is more definitely something I’m looking forward to.

So that’s how I’m breaking up the rest of the year… with a few surprises, holidays, gatherings and other fun things interspersed.

What are you looking forward to?

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (…with a touch of Bourbon)

July 7, 2012July 7, 20129 Comments

Some people have 4th of July traditions. Not me. Every 4th of July is different over here. Last year, I went to Morro Bay with my sister and her friends and hung out on a boat. That was awesome.

The year before, I went to Burlington, VT with some friends and hung out on a boat on Lake Champlain.

Also awesome… boats were becoming a trend, no complaints there. This year was much more low-key, but equally fun. I’ll spare you the rant about how unfortunate it was that 4th of July fell on a Wednesday this year. Instead, let’s talk pies.

Pies feel super American to me.

You know what else feels super American? Rhubarb.

It’s probably not, but I wasn’t introduced to rhubarb until I lived in Central NY, now it feels like a hidden secret that the middle of America let me in on. It randomly came in one of my CSA shares, and I had no idea what to do with it. But after an apple-rhubarb crisp making adventure, I was hooked. Ever since I pretty much think it’s the most amazing, tangy tasting vegetable on Earth.

The best part: It’s a vegetable that gets turned into dessert. I can get behind that.

So randomly one day last week I saw rhubarb at the grocery store. It sparked an idea in my brain as I had coffee on Wednesday morning… Like all good baking ideas, it was to impress a boy. I bet he’s never tried rhubarb. But let’s be honest, rhubarb can be intense so I went the traditional route and paired it with strawberry.

I was right. He had never had rhubarb. But for someone who shares my affinity for putting lemon on everything, I knew the tangy-ness was going to be a hit.

So the next time you want to feel patriotic and/or impress someone, make this pie. It won’t disappoint… I should also warn you that like all other things, I put bourbon in this too. Bet you didn’t think those would go together, right?

Yeah they totally do.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with a Touch of Bourbon

Single Pie Crust:

175g All Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
pinch of Salt
1 stick of Butter, cold
2 tbsp (maybe more) Ice Water

Filling:

2 heaping cups fresh chopped rhubarb (about 1/2 pound)
3-4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp bourbon/whiskey
1/4 cup flour

Crumble Topping:

1/2 cup Flour
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tbsp White Sugar
pinch of Salt
3 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp bourbon

Prepare pie crust by combing flour, sugar and salt. Using your fingers, break the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles very coarse crumbs (even pea sized is fine). Add ice water and bring it all together into a ball using your hands. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate a few hours. You can make this up to two days in advance. I actually had one freezer, already in the pie dish, stored in a ziploc bag, for about a month or so (making this whole pie making business wayyy easier).

Pre-heat your oven to 350F. Prepare the filling. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside while you make the crumble topping, by combining all the ingredients and breaking up the butter with your fingers until you get a coarse texture.

Pour filling into prepared pie pan (note: if you have an enormous pie dish, you might want to do more of the filling, the pie dish I used is way smaller than other glass pie dishes I own, so be warned), top with crumble topping, place pan on a baking sheet and put it in the oven. Bake for about an hour (mine took about 1 hr and 10 minutes) or until juices are bubbling like woah (that’s really the best way to describe it).

Once the pie is golden, gooey and ready. Allow it to cool completely. Then serve.

This one was a winner. Not to mention the crumble topping gives it a nice crunch and you don’t have to worry about rolling most crust for the top or taking on the lattice.

I might have to make it again, it might just happen, because in addition to July being the month for Independence Day, it’s also birthday month. You know what the mean? Pie and cake-making must happen.

Any suggestions for pie/cake flavors I should try out?