Almond Joy Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Second #C2CCS

October 22, 2014October 21, 20144 Comments

Hi friends! I’ve been on the DL the past few weeks. I’m in a sort of blogging/life rut, so I had been taking a bit of a break. Luckily, I have some blogger friends to help get me out of the rut.

One of my favorite parts of blogging is getting to know people. I know it sounds silly and cliche, but I’ve made a few real life friends as a result of blogging. Real life friends are amazing (looking at you Allison and Samantha), but it’s also great to make friends online, especially when they motivate you to bake treats and send you some.

You might remember last year, I made some Molasses Ginger Apricot Cookies? Then I sent those cookies to some ladies and they sent me some cookies back and we called it the Coast to Coast Cookie Swap. Well here is the second installment of that! Because isn’t sending your friends cookies a good idea? It is!

Planning what kinds of cookies to send to other foodie/cookie lovers is hard. I brainstormed for a while and these cookies turned up by mistake. I wanted to make some cookies for a coworker who was doing an awesome job. I liked them so much I decided they needed to happen again. I’ve actually made these cookies three times in the past two weeks.

Trust me. They’re worth it.

In exchange for these cookies, I received a few goodies in the mail:

White Chip Cranberry Cookies from Natalie

Delicious Spiced Cookies from Coco

Take 5 Cookies from Jazzy

Additionally, Allison made some Grain Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that I wish I got to try!

Let’s be honest, exchanging cookies (or all baked goods in general) is an amazing idea. You should try it. Start by making these and sharing them with your friends.

Almond Joy Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick of butter
1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 cup roasted coconut chips
1/4-1/2 cup honey roasted sliced almonds

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add 1 egg, then vanilla and continue to be beat for about a minute. Add in flour mixture. Mix until almost combined. Fold in chocolate chips, coconut and almonds until dough is just combined. Be careful not to overmix the dough, if not you’ll get flat cookies!

Place dough in the freezer while oven preheats to 350F.

Once oven has pre-heated, form dough into walnut sized balls. Place on parchment paper-lined pan and bake for 8-12 minutes, or until golden around the edges.

After a few minutes, transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely then share with a friend and enjoy!

What’s your favorite cookie to share with a friend?

P.S. Sharing cookies is awesome, but baking with a friend is even more fun! Check out these Salted Caramel Eclairs I made with Sam at the Little Ferraro Kitchen!

Gluten Free Carrot Cake

September 4, 2014September 4, 20146 Comments

I have a hard time with this whole gluten-free movement that’s been happening the past few years. I get that some people have genuine intolerances, but for the most part I’m a non-believer. When someone tells me they don’t eat gluten, I roll my eyes. Yes. I am that person. I am a jerk.

Karma is a thing. Let me tell you why…

You might have noticed that I fell off the face of the Earth a while (err 2 weeks). Really it’s because I’ve been having major stomach issues and the last thing I want to do is cook and eat food. Don’t worry. This isn’t a blog post to tell you that I suddenly am going gluten-free. No no. But this post is about exploring new ways of eating, because I’ve come to the realization that having stomach issues sucks. Right now, I would eat (or not eat) anything to make the discomfort go away.

Because now I understand how much it sucks, I have a little more sympathy for those with food sensitivities. I have no idea if I have food sensitivities. I’m currently trying to figure out what the heck is causing my stomach to implode on me. I’m starting by avoiding dairy for a while. Jury is still out. We’ll see.

But in the meantime, let me tell you about my first experience with a gluten-free cake.

Isn’t it beautiful? By the looks of it, you wouldn’t even know it’s gluten-free, but it is. And it came about because my good friend Allison (check our her blog Sweet Potato Bites) has a lot of food allergies. I wanted to make a cake that would fit her allergy needs for a surprise birthday gathering. Her husband sent me a list of Allison-approved cake recipes. After a few days of back and forth, we decided he would make a gluten free cake and I would make a cake that everyone else could have. Nice compromise for guests not into the gluten-free thing. So I went ahead and made a chocolate cake with raspberry whipped cream filling and frosting.

But after that night, I still had a curiosity for how a gluten-free taste would be like. I’ve never really eaten one, other than flourless chocolate cake. So I went with it and made a cake anyway, because there’s never a wrong time to make a cake. I used a recipe for Carrot Cake from Elana’s Pantry, because having never made a gluten free cake, I couldn’t really wing it on my first try.

But that said, I made a few adjustments to make 1 smaller (6-inch) cake. Here’s my attempt:

Gluten Free Carrot Cake

adapted from Elana’s Pantry

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of mace
2 eggs + 1 egg white
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup whipping cream
2-3 tbsp maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease and line 2 (6-inch) cake pans with parchment paper

I used my vitamix to chop up the carrots instead of grating, but you can grate them if you’d like . Then I throw all the ingredients into the blender and blended until combine. It’s really that easy. Pour batter into 2 prepared cake pans.

Bake about 20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. While your cake is baking, make your frosting. It’s easy. Whip the cream. Once the cream starts forming peaks, stream in maple syrup. Taste it. If you want it sweeter, add more maple syrup. If it’s too sweet, oops! (JK, add a bit at a time, and try to get your desired sweetness. I didn’t want mine too sweet I only added about 2 tbsp).

Allow to cool completely. Then lather with maple whipped cream and serve. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Confession: I actually think it tastes better cold.

2nd Confession: I meant to take Allison a piece of this cake but Jesse dug into. Fail. But really I can’t complain if he liked it. That means it was tasty.

Overall: I thought this was tasty.

Does it taste like cake? Not really.

Does it have the texture of a cake? Not really.

Is it worth trying? Absolutely.

While I don’t have any food allergies or sensitivities that I know of, the point of all this is that I will stop being a hater, because stomach issues suck.

Are you a fan of gluten-free foods?

The Best Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

April 10, 2014April 9, 201411 Comments

I pretty much always wish I had a reason to make a cake. The more I think about it, it’s one of the reasons I love weddings, because I think wedding cakes are amazing. Tonight I had a conversation with some ladies about wedding media. Wedding sites, blogs, shows magazines are all geared at woman. The wedding is portrayed as entirely about the woman, which to me seems a little unfair, given that the woman is only one half of the equation.

But in the conversation, one of the things I pointed out is that part of my fascination with wedding media is the aesthetic. I think weddings are beautiful. I think cakes are beautiful. That’s probably why I love food blogs too, because I think the photography is pretty.

Most of the time when I see a beautiful cake my first thought is I want to make that, then second, I want to eat that. For me, making cakes is fun. I love making them look beautiful, but I also love making them taste good.

Because really, isn’t a layer cake just one of the prettiest things out there?

While I always want to make cakes, there isn’t always an occasion to make a cake. I originally made this cake for a birthday/going away party for friends. But it was so popular and pretty that I wanted to make it again and photograph it.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think it just means I appreciate aesthetics. So if you want to make a cake for a special ocassion or no reason at all other than to please yourself… please do!

And as a bonus, it’s amazingly delicious and the perfect 6-inch cake.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

For Cake (adapted from Hershey’s Chocolate Cake):

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

For Filling:

2 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup whipping cream

For Frosting:

2 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 big pinch of cream of tartar*
1 pinch of salt

For Chocolate Ganache:

3 oz bitter sweet chocolate chips
1/4 heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Make Cake.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line with parchment paper 2 (6-inch) cake pans, set aside. In a stand mixer bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add eggs, oil, milk and vanilla. Beat together. Add boiling water and beat until combined. Pour batter evenly between both 6-inch cake pans. Bake 25-30 minutes (this might vary based on your oven so start checking for readiness after 20 minutes, especially if using a convection oven) or until cooked through (i.e. do the toothpick test: insert toothpick, once it comes out clean, it’s ready).

Allow to cool completely.

In the meantime, make the filling. Beat together cream cheese, condensed milk and peanut butter. In a separate bowl, whip heavy cream into firm peaks. Fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture, refrigerate until ready to use.

Next make your frosting.

Place a glass bowl over a sauce pan that has about 1 inch of water in it, make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl (aka build a double boiler). Add egg whites, sugar, vanilla extract, cream of tartar and salt. Mix together. Heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the egg whites are warm when you touch them.

Transfer egg white mixture to a stand mixer and attach whisk attachment. Stir on low and turn up the speed every 15 seconds or so until it’s on high speed. Beat 5-7 minutes or until glossy, stiff peaks form.

Now assemble the cake. Level your layers and slice in half, so you have 4 layers (you’ll notice in my photo I only had 3 layers, you can accidentally drop one on the floor and have 3 layers as well… that’s allowed, but not advised). Place your first layer on your cake circle or cake dish of choice. Lay some filling on top of the first layer and spread evenly, press on second layer, it’s ok if it overflows a bit. Repeat until all layers are complete.

Next, frost with a generous layer of frosting.

Place in the fridge while you make your ganache. Place chocolate chips in a bowl and set aside. In a small sauce pan, heat heavy cream and vanilla stirring constantly until it comes to a light boil. Pour cream over chocolate chips. Let sit for a minute, then stir until smooth. Pour over cake and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Allow to cool completely, then slice and serve.

I had hopes and dreams of making a beautiful vide to go along with this blog post, but I’m still working on perfect my video making skills… but in case you’re curious… here’s my first attempt:

Not the prettiest video, but I’ll take it for a first try! We can’t expect to make gorgeous creations the first time around, and I’m cool with that.

So tell me, are you a fan of layer cakes, weddings and pretty things? Are you overloaded with wedding stuff? Don’t even see it? Is a cake just a cake for you?

Fancy Pants Rice Crispy Squares

March 11, 2014March 13, 201410 Comments

I got into a Facebook fight today, and I’m only mildly ashamed.

With whom? Another blogger. She posted something about how the Ban Bossy campaign was ridiculous.

If you haven’t heard of Ban Bossy, it’s a campaign by Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In organization and the Girl Scouts. The whole idea is to stop using the word ‘Bossy’ to describe an assertive girl. An assertive little boy is a ‘leader,’ but an assertive little girl is ‘bossy,’ and this affects the way girls develop in leadership roles. The campaign really aims at developing leadership among girls and young women.

I don’t think this campaign is ridiculous. I actually think it’s a great idea.

That said, sure, the choice of marketing for this campaign is a bit silly (I love Beyonce, but she sort of sucks in the video). The word bossy is just dumb, but I recognize its power. Because of that, I was bothered by this bloggers comment and the subsequent comments to her post. Mostly, they were people saying that being called bossy is a good thing, or examples of when their little boys are bossier than their daughters and how the word doesn’t mean anything. Sure, I get all that. To an adult, being called bossy is fine, but when you’re little things are different. By the time we’re grown ass women, we know we’re more awesome than what some jerk says. But let’s not forget that words have power.

So, Facebook “fight” ensued. I argued that words are important and empowering girls is essential. She argued that the campaigns message was clouded by bad marketing.

The feminist in me took over (p.s. I hate that to so many the word feminist is negative). But then I just let it go, because if there’s one thing I hate more than people putting down people’s efforts to empower women, it’s women hating on other women. Can we get a little female solidarity?

Overall, I get it. Criticizing is easier than making a positive change, and as I emphasized in my comments: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If you hate the Ban Bossy campaign, that’s fine. But can you give me another way that we can start empowering girls to be leaders?

Regardless of how you feel about the Ban Bossy campaign, I genuinely hope we can all agree that empowering girls to be leaders is a cause worth talking about. If only our Facebook interactions could be dialogues instead of arguments, we’d all be a tiny bit better off.

But in the meantime, before society progresses to that point, when someone tells you what you support is ridiculous, it’s my belief that you should kill them with kindness… the marshmallowy kind. So ladies keep your bossy pants on and make yourself some fancy pants rice crispy squares.

Fancy Pants Rice Crispy Squares

1/4 cup butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
3 cups puffed rice cereal
2 cups puffed millet
2 cups puffed quinoa
3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1-2 tsp canola oil

Grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside. In a large pot, met together butter and mini marshmallows. Stir until well combined. Add rice cereal, millet, quinoa and coconut. Stir to combine. Press mixture into 9×13 dish and allow to cool for an hour or two (you can put it in the fridge to speed up the process). Once cooled, cut into squares using a large chef knife.

Place chocolate chips in a bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave another 30 seconds. Repeat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 1-2 tsp of oil or enough for the chocolate to be runny. Drizzle chocolate over squares and allow to harden. Once chocolate is firm, serve and enjoy!

Why are they fancy pants? Millet is fancy. Quinoa is like the black diamond of grains. Coconut makes everything a little more exotic. Also because I said so.

What are your thoughts on #BanBossy? Feel free to give your actual opinion (even if you disagree with me, that’s cool!).

Lemon-Rosemary Cut Out Cookies

February 8, 2014February 8, 20148 Comments

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find holidays exhausting, and I can’t deal with the over-the-top decorations. Pinterest is currently reeking of Valentine’s Day. Everything is red and pink, dipped in chocolate and covered in bright sprinkles. That’s fun, but sometimes it’s overwhelming.

For me, Valentine’s Day should be unique to you and your special someone. This Valentine’s Day, skip the red velvet dark chocolate dipped strawberries covered in pink, red and white (<— not an actual thing), and give these a try.

They’re different, interesting and tasty. I don’t know about you but I love rosemary and lemon together. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, in my opinion.

And let me just go ahead and say… If you have a tea party, because every once in a while we need to relive our childhood and have full blown tea parties, I’m going to request that you make these cookies.

Lemon-Rosemary Cut Out Cookies

adapted from AllRecipes

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
white chocolate chip, sprinkles, royal icing, etc. for decorating

Beat together butter and shortening until fluffy, about a minute. Add sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Add egg and beat another minute. Add lemon zest and rosemary and beat for 1 minute. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 1-2 hours).

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Roll out dough on a clean floured surface. Cut to desired shapes. I used small hearts and medium sized hearts, to keep with the Valentine’s day theme, but you can use whatever shape you like. Lay on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden on edges. The baking time will vary depending on the size of the cookie. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Once the cookies have cooled, you can serve them as is, or decorate them. I chose to dip mine in white chocolate and cover them in white sparkling sprinkles. If you do, just microwave some white chocolate chips, add a bit of oil to get it runnier, then dip and place on parchment paper to harden for a few hours. Alternatively, you can get your royal icing skillz on and decorate that way. I gave that a whirl too, but still not pleased with my decorating skills so no pictures of that.

You might be thinking: Rosemary in a cookie? Are you nuts? But it works. I promise. Go ahead, take a chance and make these for Valentine’s Day or a tea party.

How do you feel about putting herbs in your sweets? I’m a big fan of raspberry and sage together!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the Dark Chocolate Dreams Giveaway. Head over to Facebook and enter by clicking the “Giveaway” tab on my page.

Salted Almond Joy Bark

December 21, 20135 Comments

With Christmas and the New Year on the horizon, I have two goals for today:

1. Clean out my closet/dresser of unwanted garments

I have too much stuff. I have clothing I don’t wear and even more that doesn’t fit. One of the fantastic things about lifting weights is that my body shrank. It’s great! But it means that I don’t own any pants that fit me. So I want to clear out the stuff that doesn’t fit me any more, because there’s no room in my shoebox of an apartment for clothing that is too big or old.
2. Bake Christmas Cookies for gifts

I love baking and Christmas is the perfect time to bake treats and give them away. So today and tomorrow will consist of Christmas baking. I had my recipes all planned out, but then yesterday when I arrived to Crossfit, Allison told me she had something for me. She handed me a lovely tin filled with homemade salted chocolate coconut almond bark.

At this point it was nearly 6am and not an appropriate time to eat chocolate. So I put it in my car, got my butt kicked during the WOD and went to work. I have this rule during the holidays (since there are so many treats floating around) that I’m allowed to have a sweet treat AFTER lunch.

This means waiting til I have a nutritious (or semi-nutritious because yesterday my boss took us to Umami Burger for lunch and that’s clearly NOT nutritious) before enjoying goodies and also cutting down on how much I eat. I have a hard time stopping once I start, so I found it’s better for me to just start later. But anyway…

So I waited until after lunch and had a piece of Allison’s delicious bark.

OMG

OMG

OMG

It was awesome. Let me just tell you, I gave some to co-workers and to Jesse, but the reality is I ate it mostly myself. Today, as of 2pm… the bark is gone. As in, I finished it all after lunch today.

Because this bark was so amazing I wanted to try to make it on my own and give it to my loved ones. I’ve decided to rename it Salted Almond Joy Bark, because that’s sort of what it reminded me of.

Salted Almond Joy Bark

from Sweet Potato Bites

10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks)
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
1/2 cup Roasted Coconut Chips*
Coarse Sea Salt

First, prepare your pan by lining a cookie sheet with parchment. Set aside.

Next, pour chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave 30 seconds then stir. Microwave another 30 seconds and stir, repeat until chocolate is melted and smooth. You can also do this in a pan or double boiler, but I’ll be honest, the microwave is a million times easier. It’s also idiot-proof. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had my chocolate seize when using a double boiler, because water in chocolate (steam included!) might cause it to seize.

Because of this, I take the easy route and use the microwave. Once your chocolate is melted and smooth, pour about 3/4 of the chocolate into the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Using a spatula, smooth until it’s a tiny bit thick (if you like your bark thicker, leave it thicker, if you want it thinner, spread it more). It doesn’t have to be perfect because you’re going to cover it with stuff anyway…

Sprinkle chocolate with coconut and almonds. Take the remaining chocolate and drizzle it overs the coconut and almonds.

Sprinkle with sea salt (be generous! That’s seriously the best part!) and refrigerate or freeze until firm.

Once the chocolate is completely hardened (it took about an hour for me, if not it’ll start to melt when you touch it), break the bark into pieces.

Store in an air tight container in a cool spot for up to a week.

*I used Trader Joe’s Roasted Coconut Chips, but if there’s no Trader Joe’s near you, you can just use toasted coconut.

This stuff was seriously amazing. The salt really takes this from normal tasty chocolate bark to something out of this world. Everyone that tried it loved it. I’m really excited to share this with others along with Orange-Pistachio Biscotti, Molasses Cookies, Chocolate Mint Cookies and maybe another cookie or two. Any suggestions?

Are you giving Christmas Cookies this season? If so, what are your top cookies or treats to gift?

Molasses Cranberry Cookies

December 12, 2013December 12, 20139 Comments

Christmas season is in full swing! Normally, I’m not that into holidays. But I’m not sure what’s wrong with me this year, all I want is a living room with a Christmas tree. If you remember back when I told you about where Foodologie happens, you’ll remember that I live in a studio that is teeny-tiny. That means I have zero room for a Christmas tree. So because I can’t be festive in my living space, I have to find other ways to make the most of the holiday season.

First, I bought a Christmas dress. A new dress for Christmas is a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember. Anyone else do that?

I’m thoroughly excited about it. I also bought myself another dress, because… well…

Christmas present to myself? (P.S. When will I get over sending my friends pics of outfits I’m thinking of buying?)

In addition to my Christmas dress, I’ve also been thoroughly excited about cookies. So cookie making has been happening, starting with these:

I don’t know about you, but I love chewy molasses cookies with lots of ginger. They’re pretty much the best, as are these cookies.

Molasses Cranberry Cookies

adapted from Blue Ribbon Cookies

1 stick of butter + 2 tbsp (10 tbsp total)1 cup sugar (plus extra for rolling)
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp mace
1 cup dried cranberries

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg until fluffy. In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Just before ingredients are combine, fold in cranberries.

Chill dough for a few hours.

Once you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350F.

Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool and serve! Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

I took these to work, shared with friends and a boyfriend. They were gone pretty quickly. I’ll definitely be including these in my Christmas Cookie Gift Tins. I have a few other awesome cookie recipes coming up, because seriously… I’m obsessed with cookies right now.

What about you? How are you preparing for Christmas? Do you have a Christmas dress yet?

Persimmon Crumb Cake

November 19, 2013November 13, 20132 Comments

Hi Everyone! I’m in Peru probably avoiding altitude sickness is Cusco and on my way to Machu Picchu, but before I left, I made something to share with you.

I have some pretty awesome co-workers. Once brought me a bag with 15 persimmons. Isn’t that amazing? I love persimmons but $$$ and let’s be honest… the rent is too damn high to be eating persimmons all the time.

First, I used the persimmons for pancake topping.

But sadly, he gave me persimmons just before I left for Peru so I figured a great way to give back (and use up the persimmons) was to make a delicious treat with them. If you’re looking for a wonderful afternoon tea fall crumb cake… this is the one.

Simple and delicious. And I have to confess, that I ate two pieces of this when I brought it to work. It was great with a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

Persimmon Crumb Cake

adapted from Real Simple Sandi Rose’s Blackberry Crumb Cake

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp molasses
1/4 cup (heaping) sugar
2 tbsp butter

For Cake:

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
4-5 persimmons, chopped

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Make crumble topping by combining all ingredients. Use your fingers to work it together til it becomes the texture of coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Next make the cake batter. Beat together oil and sugar. Continue to beat and add eggs one at a time, beating 1 minute after each egg. Add dry ingredients as you’re beating in the dry ingredients, stir in the milk.

Pour batter into a 9inch square pan (I actually used a 9inch deep pie dish, because that’s all I had). Sprinkle with chopped persimmons then the crumble topping. Note: some of the persimmons might sink because the batter is pretty watery, but that’s ok!

Bake 50-60 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Allow to cool completely, dust with powdered sugar (optional). Slice and serve!

Definitely a winner. Perfect for afternoon tea or when you have guests. And the best part, if you don’t have persimmons you can pretty much sub out any fruit: apples, pears, peaches, berries, even probably bananas?

Either way, make this and have it with a large cup of coffee or tea. I did. It was amazing. Do it.

So while I’m in Peru, I don’t have time to share all this goodness with the social media world. Do me a favor. Tweet it. Pin it. Facebook it. Tell the world about the magic of persimmon cake! In the meantime, I’m going to hike a mountain and eat some guinea pig (well… we’ll see)…

Also don’t forget The Refugee Auction is ending soon! Don’t miss out on your chance to bid on some Foodologie treats just for you! Check it out here!

Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodle Bars

July 18, 2013July 19, 20133 Comments

I somehow had the bright idea of joining the company softball team. If you knew me in real life, you’d be surprised that I would make such a choice. I’m not really a “team sports” kind of girl. Not because I don’t like exercise. No no. I love Crossfit. Running is fun. Spinning is amazing.

At first you might think, oh so you’re a solo rider. Well not really. What softball has that running, Crossfit and spinning don’t is that softball involves a hard object flying at your face. I’m not good at that. You see, I’m what we like to call “accident-prone.”

The truth is, if there’s an opportunity to get hurt, chances are I will. I’m set to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in November and my sister is already researching altitude sickeness and ways to prevent it. She’s not even going on the trip with me and she knows it’ll be an issue for me.

In fact, the last time I tried to play a team sport was a summer softball league the summer before 9th grade. I broke my finger mid way through the summer. Lesson learned.

But now I’m older, and conquering fears and trying new (ish) things is totally my thing. So why not. I’ll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, let’s talk about these guys.

I know you’re drooling because any mention of the word “snickerdoodle” makes babies smile and men squeal in joy.

Ok I can’t take credit for these. I got this recipe from my favorite cookie cookbook given to me by my friend Rhoda (who also published an awesome cookbook!).

I want everyone to buy this book because I think it’s so awesome. What I didn’t think was awesome was the name of the recipe. Buttermilk Cinnamon Bars. Boring. So since I made some changes (like adding chocolate chips, among a few other changes, I decided to rename these to more accurately describe the taste.

Chocolate Chip Snickerdoodle Bars

Adapted from Blue Ribbon Cookies

2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350F. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour and butter. Using your fingers, combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Take two cups of that mixture and combine it with coconut and chocolate chips.

Press into a 9×13 baking dish lined with parchment paper. With the remaining sugar/flour/butter mixture, add egg, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, buttermilk and vanilla. Blend together. Pour mixture oven base and bake for about 45 minutes, or until fully cooked in the center.

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. (I let it sit out overnight) Once cooled, remove bars from pan by lifting parchment paper. Cut bars into about 40 squares (or fewer large pieces…).

I promise these will be a hit. They’re like snickerdoodles and chocolate chip coconut cookies on a date, because that makes sense.

Either way, enjoy them, pin them and wish me luck on this softball endeavor.

How are you at team sports? Play any? Tell me!

P.S. Have you entered the Peanut Butter & Co Giveaway? You can earn entries daily! Get to it here: http://bit.ly/147k7k8

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

April 8, 2013April 10, 201312 Comments

Until about 5 days ago, I thought “brown butter” was a crock of shit.

I hate to be crass, but let’s be honest, food bloggers are some of the best bullshitters I know. Don’t worry, I’m include myself in that sweeping comment.

I mean really, we love to make basic things and give them a fancy name that hipsters will repin like crazy and drive traffic to our sites.

Examples:

Chocolate Pudding with Peanut Butter Mousse and Maple Candied Bacon = Chocolate Pudding with stuff sprinkled on it

Spinach-Quinoa-Peach Salad with Honey-Sage Vinaigrette= a salad with fruit and grains

You’re welcome.

I’m just calling it like it is. And you know what hipsters love?

Butter. Especially brown butter.

So for a long time, I avoided anything with brown butter, because it just sounded sort of silly, but then on Friday I was bored and I needed to make dessert for the next day. So I thought to myself, why not give it a shot?

At worst it, it’s still just a damn cookie. At best, it’s an amazing cookie.

I won’t lie. It’s a pretty amazing cookie.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Food and Wine

1 stick of butter
1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips

In a pan, melt butter over medium heat. Allow to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. In the meantime, combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

Once the butter has cooled, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add 1 egg at a time, then vanilla and continue to be beat for about a minute. Add in flour mixture. Mix until almost combined. Fold in chocolate chips until dough is just combined.

Place dough in the freezer while oven preheats to 350F.

Once oven has pre-heated, form dough into walnut sized balls. Place on parchment paper-lined pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden around the edges.

Remove from oven, leave on pan for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack until cool. Then serve! This recipe makes about 20-24 small ish cookies. If you want larger cookies, bake longer and you’ll probably get about 10.

So I’m going to go ahead and tell you that these are great.

I’m going to swallow my pride and admit I was wrong. Brown butter is pretty tasty. They weren’t lying when they said it gives it a nice nutty flavor.

Ok now be a hipster and…

Foodologie

A Blog about Balancing Health with a Constant Desire to Eat Cake

Tag: Sweets

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