Recipe #11: Orange Almond Biscotti

Biscotti!!! I love making Biscotti because it's so easy and yummy. It's also a fantastic gift, especially for the poor student, like myself. I really like this recipe. They taste great and are relatively less bad for you. So check it out!

My plan in the next week is to bake a whole pile of stuff and gift it as prettily as possible. I'm in full Christmas mode, making presents, tags, decorations, etc. I'll attempt to post them, but probably not until after so I don't spill the beans on any of my presents.

Ingredients

*2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

*1 1/4 cups white sugar

*1 pinch salt

*2 teaspoons baking powder

*1/2 cup sliced almonds

*1 tablespoon orange zest

*3 eggs, beaten

*1 tablespoon vegetable oil

*1 teaspoon almond extract (I quadrupled the amount in the original recipe)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a baking sheet.

2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, almonds, and orange zest. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, oil, and almond extract. Stir or mix by hand until the mixture forms a ball.

3.Separate dough into 2 pieces and roll each one into a log about 8 inches long. Place logs on prepared baking sheet and flatten so they are about 3/4 inch thick. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Cool slightly, and remove from baking sheets. Slice diagonally into 1/2 inch slices with a serrated knife. Set cookies on side back onto the cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 more minutes, turning over after halfway. Finished cookies should be hard and crunchy.

Recipe #10: Vegan Chocolate Almond Cookies

Found these cookies on a favourite baking blog. I thought I would try some vegan baking for a change. However, I forgot how much I dislike molasses. UGH. However, the cookies came out really chewy, which I love in a cookie. I would suggest for those that don't love molasses like me to try out less molasses, more syrup and MORE chocolate. There is definitely not enough chocolate in this recipe for me, but it might be enough for others.

(Shout out to my CBC Calgary mug from the 80's! Heck yes!)

Ingredients

*2 cups all-purpose flour

*2 tsp baking powder

*1 tsp baking soda

*1 tsp sea salt

*1/2 cup granulated sugar

*1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I would up this big time)

*1 tsp ground cinnamon

*2/3 cup maple syrup

*1/2 cup molasses (I would halve this myself)

*1/2 cup vegetable oil

*1/4 cup sliced almonds

Directions

1. Sift together all dry ingredients (minus almonds) into a medium mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until oil no longer separates. Add to dry ingredients; stir in almonds. Mix by hand until completely combined. I recommend chilling the dough for a less sticky rolling experience, because this dough is STICK-EE!)

2. Form dough into 1-inch balls; place onto cookie sheet at least 2 inches apart. Bake at 350 for NO MORE THAN ELEVEN MINUTES. (Any longer, and they’ll burn!) Remove from oven. Cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely (if you don't do this, they will stick to the sheet like the dickens). This recipe makes 20 good sized cookies.

Recipe #9: Tomato Chickpea Soup with Barley

I got this recipe from Mike last week out of his Alberta cookbook (which I of course can't remember the name of). It's pretty good, although I suggest using a lot less rosemary (I guess I'm not a big fan), and up the cayenne (or chili powder) quotient.

Also, I would also think that this recipe would be pretty easy to vegetarianize/veganize.

Ingredients

*1 cup finely chopped lean back bacon or ham
*1 medium onion, chopped
*1 large carrot, chopped
*2 stalks celery, chopped
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*¼ cup of olive oil (I used half olive oil, half canola)
*1 14-ounce can tomatoes, pureed
*1 19-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
*5 cups chicken broth
*½ cup pearl barley or small pasta like orzo
*2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (I used less than 1 teaspoon and thought it was too much)
*Salt and black pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper (I used about a teaspoon of chili powder for the whole batch)
Sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (makes it!!)

Directions

1. Place ham, onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in food processor and chop finely. Heat olive oil in a soup pot and sauté chopped vegetable mixture until tender and fragrant, about 10 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes to pot with chickpeas and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes.

3. Add barley and rosemary, and cook until barley is tender, about 15-20 minutes. Season to taste with salt, black pepper, and cayenne/chili pepper. Sprinkle parmesan and enjoy!

Recipe #8: Cocoa Chews

This is a recipe that I always associate with my mom. The only copy of it I have is handwritten by my mom into the ancient, printed upside down Mary Moore cookbook she bought years ago. It has no directions, it just has the list of ingredients. However, I watched her and have made these chews, so many times, that instructions are pretty much unnecessary. However, for you guys, I shall type 'em out! They are the easiest thing to make, and are so tasty.

Ingredients:

*1/4 cup butter
*3/4 cup sugar
*1/4 cup milk
*1 1/4-1 1/2 cups oats
*1 cup coconut
*1/4 cup cocoa powder

Directions:

1. Melt butter in large pan on low heat. Add sugar and blend together.

2. Add cocoa, coconut, and oats gradually stir together. Slowly mix in the milk and soon you will get a slightly cohesive mound of chocolate goodness.

3. Spoon dollops of mix onto a cookie pan and put in the fridge until solid. After about 45 minutes, you can shimmy them off the cookie pan and eat away!

I recommend keeping them in the fridge. They just taste better. They stay fresher and together. The coconut is really light and you can barely taste it. I also find getting the unsweetened is great, and I actually use a little less sugar than what the original recipe calls for (1 cup). Makes about 18 chews.

Recipe #7: Peach Cobbler

So... I bought peaches in September with the plan of baking cobbler at a time it would be otherwise impossible. This, the middle of November, is that time. I had previously tried a similar recipe with the batter on the bottom and then bubbling up between the peaches, but it didn't work out very well. The peaches were amazing in themselves, but the batter was gooey and way too heavy. So I tried this one out with much greater success.

Generally for the batter, I used a little bit less of everything than what the recipe called for because I think that cobbler should be all about the peaches. So the amounts in the recipe aren't the same as the link. I also baked it longer and got a really great almost-crust.

I just scarfed a whole bowl in about 30-seconds. Mmmm...

Ingredients:

*3 ounces butter, melted
*2/3 cup sugar
*1 cup all-purpose flour
*2 teaspoons baking powder
*3/4 cup milk
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*3-4 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, thinly sliced
*1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
*3 tablespoons sugar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375°.

2. Pour melted butter into a 8x8 inch baking pan.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the 2/3 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt; stir to blend. Stir in the milk and vanilla until blended. Pour the batter over the melted butter.

4. Toss the peaches with the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Arrange the peach slices over the batter.

5. Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. The top will be browned and the cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Recipe #6: Ridiculous Brownies

These brownies are called "best brownies" on the website I found them, but really they're just ridiculous... ridiculously good! These are NOT healthy at all, but easy and sososososo good! I didn't make the icing because honestly, you don't need it. Annnnd I made a double recipe because I had one of those huge glass brownie dishes. They were moist and addictive. And now I am hungry and want to bake them again!

Ingredients

*1/2 cup butter
*1 cup white sugar
*2 eggs
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
*1/2 cup all-purpose flour
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.

See? Easy!!

Apologies

I have been very busy the last few weeks with work, and while I have been baking here and there, it has not met with the most favourable results/I forget to take pictures... I have a recipe half-typed up, but I just haven't got around to posting it. I will in the next week or so, if I ever have a day off! Love you all! Happy Baking!

Recipe #5: Lemon Cookies

I'm back! I don't know why it's taken me so long to bake anything, but here I am!

I've made these cookies before, and they are a lovely summer treat. Very light and refreshing. The girl whose blog I got the recipe from suggests eating them with a glass of lemonade... Mmm! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of these cookies, but if you click on the title of the entry, you get re-directed to the original blog I got the recipe from!

Ingredients

Dough:

*2 1/2 cups flour
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1/2 teaspoon baking powder
*1 cup butter, softened
*3/4 cup sugar
*1 egg
*1 teaspoon vanilla
*zest of 3 lemons, finely grated

Icing:

*1 tablespoon lemon juice
*zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
*1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Beat butter on highest speed until light and fluffy. Add sugar and egg, mix until smooth. On medium speed, mix in lemon zest and vanilla until just combined.

2. Sift together remaining dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to butter mixture slowly. Keep your mixer on medium to avoid blowing flour all over your kitchen! Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for one hour.

3. While dough is chilling, you can prepare the icing. In a small bowl, stir together remaining lemon zest, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. You’ll probably have to play around with the consistency of the icing – it needs to be thin enough to be piped on to cookies, but thick enough to make stripes. Once icing shows no lumps, pour it into either an icing bag or a Ziploc, depending on what you have in your kitchen. If you use an icing bag and tips, make sure you grab a relatively small round tip. Snip a corner off of your Ziploc bag to ice cookies.

4. Once dough is chilled, drop rounded tablespoons three inches apart onto a cookie sheet. Dip a cup in butter and sugar, then flatten dough balls. The more you flatten, the crispier the cookie.

5. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and centers keep their shape when touched. Remove from cookie sheet immediately. Do not ice until cookies have cooled completely.

Recipe #4: Currant Muffins

So this week I realized the rest of my currants were on the edge of going funky, so they needed to be baked into something immediately. So I looked up a couple recipes and merged a couple to create these muffins.

They turned out very nice, but because of the sourness of the currants, I think that adding a little more sugar and some lemon juice would also have tied things together even better. I like the brown sugar and cinnamon though, which wasn't in the other recipes, but really compliments everything. Mmm!



Ingredients

* 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cups fresh currants
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup milk
* cinnamon and sugar for topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line muffin tins with paper or foil liners.

2. Mix together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Wash currants, toss with a small amount of flour (about 1 teaspoon) and set aside.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time; beat. Mix in vanilla extract.

4. Add flour mixture to butter and sugar, then mix until just combined. Add milk and mix again until just combined. Fold in currants, making sure not to overmix – overmixing will result in tough muffins.

5. Divide batter evenly among muffin tins. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar if desired. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Remove from tins, place on wire racks and cool completely. Makes 18 muffins.

Recipe #3: Currant Butter Tarts

Back at baking! Finally had some time and supplies, so I tried a variation on some classic butter tarts. I make these tarts every Christmas and occasional times when Kal and Steph ask me. However, Mike and I went to the Farmer's Market and picked up some currants and other goodies (see below). We had an amazing butter tart that had crushed cranberries baked on top, and I thought I'd try something similar with the currants. They came out beautifully and combine nice sweet and tart flavours.

Ingredients

* 3 1/2 tablespoons soft butter (or margarine)
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup (I didn't have any this time, but I do usually)
* 1 egg
* a few drops of lemon juice (added for this batch)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* pinch salt
* 12 tart shells (I know, I buy them. Bad me)
* 6 currant stalks, crushed (I did this with a spoon)

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cream butter, brown sugar, egg, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla together in bowl.

3. Spoon into butter tart shells.

4. Bake for 8 minutes. While the tarts are baking, crush the currants.

5. After you bake the tarts for the 8 minutes, take them out and spoon the crushed currants on top. Then turn the oven down to 375 degrees and bake for another 12 minutes. Voila! Pretty and tasty tarts.


In other food news, here's a picture of Mike's perfectly grilled bison steak! They were so delicious, and bison is so much better for you than beef.

Recipe #2: Malpua

Mike and I were watching a show on the Food Network a couple weeks ago, I think it was called Restaurant Makeover. They were re-doing an indian restaurant and the one chef taught the indian chef how to make Malpua. It looked really simple and freaking delicious (honestly, I dreamt about it!), so I thought I would try it out.

I changed the recipe a little. Instead of doing the cardamom, I put in a little vanilla and sprinkle of sugar instead. Doing a little research online (thanks Google!), looks like you could use cinnamon, nutmeg or even ginger as substitutes as well! The recipe also says that you can do something like pomegrante seeds on top, instead of the lemon.

It's really pretty and light. Enjoy!!

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup whole milk
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup flour
* 6 tbsp unsalted butter
* 1/4 tsp vanilla
* Icing sugar
* 1 fresh lemon

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine the milk, eggs, and flour and cardamom in a medium mixing bowl. It will look like pancake batter and should be a little lumpy – don't mix till smooth.

3. Melt the butter in the oven proof pan (in the oven) and when it’s bubbling hot pour in the milk/egg/flour batter.

4. Bake for about 20 minutes until it's set, puffed up and golden brown. Cover the top with a generous amount of icing sugar (using a sifter) and place back in the oven for 5 more minutes. Remove from the oven and give it another good dose of icing sugar and a generous squeeze of fresh lemon.

5. Place in the middle of a table and devour.

Recipe # 1: Banana Bread

I was bored this afternoon, and boredom tends to lead to baking for me. Mike and I had a couple scary-ripe bananas, so I thought about banana bread. It took a little bit of hunting for recipe that only needed 2 bananas, but I tracked one down.

Originally this recipe had no vanilla or cinnamon, but I added a little of each after reading some comments. Other suggestions included a tablespoon of buttermilk or canola oil for more moisture, but I found that leaving both out still left me with a great, moist loaf.

The comments also suggested only 50 minutes in the oven, but I upped it to just over an hour. I'm not sure if that's because of the high altitude or just my oven, but keep an open mind on timing. It could vary.

So this is my first official post! I hope you all enjoy! It's really easy and delicious!

Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup margarine
* 1 egg
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 cup mashed bananas
* 5 tablespoons milk
* 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and margarine. Beat the egg slightly, and mix into the creamed mixture with the vanilla and bananas. Mix in sifted ingredients until just combined. Stir in milk and nuts. Spread batter into one greased and floured 9x5 inch loaf pan.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until top is brown and cracks along the top, about 60 minutes.

Intro

Hello all!

So I've decided to turn this into a food blog! I love baking and cooking, so I'm going to take pictures of what I make, post the recipes and chat about it! I look forward to comments and discussion!