Published by mel on December 18, 2009 in breakfast, dessert, recipe and sides & bites.
My mother-in-law is the cookie queen. Especially at Christmas. Every year, I look forward to the massive tupperwares filled with all kinds of cookies. But my favorites are always, always the Candy Cane Cookies. These are the ones I sneak in the morning before breakfast, after breakfast with my coffee, as a mid-morning snack… You get the picture.
They’re simple shortbread-style cookies flavored with almond extract and covered in crushed candy canes and powdered sugar. They look they’re nestled in a snowdrift. They get all over your nice black pants. They’re simply awesome.
These cookies have been a tradition in Tom’s family for years and I know I’ll be including them with my own traditions.
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Published by mel on October 23, 2009 in breakfast, dessert, recipe and sides & bites.
If you like fall and pumpkins and seasonal food, then these cookies have your name written all over them. As I’ve mentioned many times before, dessert isn’t really my thing. But cookies are. I love cookies. Soft and chewy and filled with chocolate chips – cookies are my weakness.
They’re easy and delicious and they make your house smell like a bakery. These pumpkin cookies also take less butter than regular cookies, though not on purpose. The pumpkin just adds enough moisture, so you only have to use one measly stick of butter. A touch of cinnamon adds that subtle fall flavor without overpowering the cookie or competing with the chocolate.
In a word, they’re awesome. They’re perfect for the season. I love them. And you should love them too!
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Published by mel on August 28, 2009 in recipe.
The Olive Oil Granola recipe made me a convert – I’m now mildly obsessed with adding olive oil to all things sweet. I must admit that this obsession started way before Olive Oil Granola took the food blogosphere by storm. As with many delicious indulgences, it all started with Mario Batali. Years ago, I went to Otto with my then-co-workers for some celebration now long forgotten. Because I have an undying need to order the most odd-sounding thing on the menu, my dessert that day was Olive Oil Gelato with Passion Fruit Granita. It was the creamiest, most luscious gelato. Smooth, sweet with just a hint of olive oil. It was fantastic.
And so was the olive oil granola, and so too is olive oil cake. So, I ask you – what’s stopping me from making olive oil cookies? As of this morning, nothing! Using the same flavors and spices from the granola, I made these Spiced Olive Oil and Pistacho cookies. Just like the gelato, the olive oil flavor comes through, but instead of overpowering the cookies, it adds a lovely richness. The cardamom, cinnamon and ginger add enough of a bite and the pistachios give these cookies some texture.
Overall, I’m happy with the way these turned out. Though next time, I might add some unsweetened coconut or dried cherries, or both. Tonight, these cookies will become ice cream sandwiches with the pint of dule de leche sitting in the freezer. Tomorrow, they may become Passion Fruit Ice Cream sandwiches…
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Published by mel on February 25, 2009 in dessert, recipe and sides & bites.
I’m going to be a terrible blogger today. I’ve got no story to go with my cookies, and even if I did, I have no time to write it! But, I figure a recipe, description and a picture is better than nothing.
These are impulse cookies. It was Sunday night and I just really wanted something warm and chocolatey from the oven, so I used whatever I had on hand. Chocolate and espresso make a perfect cookie in my book. Add some pecans and I’m a happy camper. Make these cookies and you too will be a happy camper!
Continue reading ‘Mocha Pecan Cookies’
Published by mel on November 10, 2008 in dessert, recipe and sides & bites.
Lately, I’ve been in a bit of a cooking funk. I rushed home from work last Thursday, brimming with excitement to finally use the hazelnuts that Oh! Nuts sent me in some banana chocolate hazelnut muffins. Sadly, those didn’t turn out they way I’d hoped and were promptly infested by ants because I left them too loosely covered on the counter top. It’s a sad moment indeed when you have to throw out tons of fancy dark chocolate and hazelnuts. I almost cried. But instead, I pulled myself together and made cookies. Because nothing makes you feel better than warm cookies straight from the oven.
That is, until you realize that you left an entire stick of butter out of your recipe. Sigh. They were still delicious. I mean, how bad can chocolate and hazelnuts be? But they were a little too crumbly and lacked some of the dense, chocolate-y-ness I was looking for. Had I made them the right way, they would have tasted like chewy, fudgy Nutella. And so, I’m posting the recipe below (with the correct amount of butter) because I think everyone needs a little chocolate hazelnut cookie now and again.
The rest of this week, I’m going to be trying out some Thanksgiving recipes. Everything from turkey stuffed and wrapped in goodness, to an all-vegetable side that we’re hoping will balance out the Manchego potato gratin, cornbread and chorizo stuffing, banana bread, pumpkin bread, and everything else that comes with Turkey day. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping this goes a little better than my chocolate hazelnut experiments. Wish me luck!
Related: Chunky Oatmeal Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Published by mel on June 25, 2008 in dessert, recipe and sides & bites.
I think people are finally starting to change their minds about what’s considered healthy. At least, I hope they are. For me, it’s not about low-cal and low-fat and no-fat, but more about keeping refined and processed foods to a minimum. This means that I no longer keep white flour or refined sugar in the house. Also, no margarine or other artificial fats. Instead, I’ve got organic butter and olive, walnut, peanut, sesame and canola oils. Whole wheat or grain flours are infinitely more satisfying than their bleached counterparts — there’s just no way you can eat 10 whole wheat cookies. Those 100-calorie packs? Well, I bet you can eat more than 10.
Since white flour’s out, I usually have to tweak cookie recipes. My favorite substitute is oat flour, which I make at home by running some rolled oats through the food processor. It gives cookies that chewy, homey oatmeal flavor that I absolutely love with dark chocolate chips. For this recipe, I also mixed in some grated chocolate which melts nicely throughout, and some chunky almond butter for crunch and, um, nuttiness.
The result is a healthier cookie. Yep, cookies can be healthy even if they’re made with a stick of butter. Since they’re more nutritious, you only need a couple to satisfy your sweet tooth. And I promise no one will know they’re “healthy.” I actually gave these cookies to a big, burly fireman for his birthday and he gobbled them right up. I only told him they were good for him afterward.
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Published by mel on March 24, 2008 in dessert and recipe.
Tom and I were at the supermarket Saturday night because we were running low on milk for our Sunday morning coffee. We had made an early dinner of seafood sausages, burgers and beer, but no dessert. Our sweet tooth got the better of us when we were picking up the milk, and we started foraging for some snacks.
Every package of cookies I picked up was laden with refined flours, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and too many ingredients I couldn’t pronounce. So, instead of buying a box of chemical cookies, I pulled out my iPhone and sought out a recipe I knew I had bookmarked somewhere – Heidi’s Triple Chocolate Espresso Cookies. So much better than anything store-bought, they’re delicious and wholesome, though decidedly not dietetic.
I made the whole batch, but froze 2/3 of the dough because neither of us can stop ourselves around fresh baked cookies. Most of all, I was delighted to discover that the base dough was easy and versatile. I’m already thinking about interesting mix-ins like dried cherries, pinenuts and and pretty much every other nut under the sun.
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Published by mel on December 21, 2007 in recipe.
I came across this recipe on 101cookbooks and knew that this was the only cookie I’d be making this holiday season. With all the construction and moving, I didn’t have time to put up lights or decorate a tree. All in all, it’s been very scrooge-like at my house. But these cookies just begged for me to make them and I needed something for dessert when my family came over for early Christmas (because we’ll be in Michigan for actual Christmas). I’d never made shortbread before, and it may be awhile before I’m brave enough to make it again. It’s a pain. You have to refrigerate the dough. You have to roll it. You have to take a cookie cutter to it. Like I said, a pain.
But the results were tasty enough, and I served the cookies with a pretty little ball of vanilla ice cream. After all, it’s not Christmas if there’s no ice cream according to Tom.
Continue reading ‘Pine nut Rosemary Shortbread’
Published by mel on February 15, 2007 in dessert and recipe.
Last Sunday was dreary…or at least it was dreary by Miami standards. After a most unproductive day, I decided I wanted to give myself a little project. To sate my chocolately craving, I decided to make Chocolate Truffle cookies. Thank God I had just purchased some cocoa powder. And I had some truffles stashed away in the pantry from an over-sized basket a client gave my Dad for Christmas.
Also, ever since I tried salted caramels, I’ve been obsessed with salted sweets. The salt enhances the sweet, and make everything completely addicting. So, I added a mini-pinch of fleur de sel to the top of my truffle cookies…and they were oh-my-God-so-good!
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