homemade nutella and greek yogurt biscuits

Sunny days have to be taken advantage of around here. I got up early to bake before my short work shift—so early that the lighting was that dramatic.

HOMEMADE NUTELLA Adapted from Miss Moss.
1 bar of chocolate (I used Lindt)
6 oz whole hazelnuts
1/2 cup chopped raw, unsalted almonds
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
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1/ Roast hazelnuts in a 350ºF oven until browned. Meanwhile, melt chocolate bar in a double boiler over low heat.
2/ Using a food processor, grind hazelnuts until slightly buttery. Then, add dry ingredients and melted chocolate. Continue to mix ingredients, adding the vegetable oil along the way, until it reaches a close consistency to the real deal (Nutella).
3/ Refrigerate for at least a half an hour, and then . . . devour. 

YOGURT BISCUITS Adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day.
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut into tiny cubes
1 1/3 cups Greek yogurt
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1/ Preheat oven and ungreased baking sheet to 450ºF.
2/ Using a food processor, mix dry ingredients until combined. Add tiny cubes of butter and pulse until "mixture resembles tiny pebbles on a sandy beach." Add the yogurt and pulse a few times until incorporated. (Don't overmix; it's fine if there are some dry spots.)
3/ Place dough ball on a lightly floured surface and knead five times. Press into an inch-thick square, cut in half, and stack on other half. Repeat this process—flatten, stack, and cut—two more times. On the third time, press into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle and cut into twelve even biscuit squares.
4/ Arrange biscuits on the preheated baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly browned on bottom. Like I did today, eat them halved with butter and jam for breakfast, and cheddar and apple for lunch.

bill's big carrot cake

Another day, another co-worker's birthday, another cake. I keep going back to recipes from my new Dorie Greenspan cookbook—she has yet to disappoint. And even lovelier than finishing off the workday with cake and wine, is finishing it off with the sun still peaking in the windows. Daylight saving time has changed my life.

blueberry & almond butter smoothie

Good mornin'! All in a blender, now:

1 banana
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoons flaxseeds
2 cups water

(You can find more recipes here.)

leap year

Baking is complete magic (and chemistry, I suppose). I used mis-matched freckled eggs, butter, and sugar, and built a four layer cake for Molly's birthday. The ingredients were measured in one apartment, baked in another, and then finally eaten—with several glasses of champagne—at work, where it's perfectly fine to serve alcohol after 4 p.m.

sea salt brownies

These are the best brownies I've ever made. (In fact, I . . . uh . . . baked two batches within three days.)

I have to run to a concert, but I'll post the recipe soon. For now, you can find it at its source.

coconut bread

Mmm, coconut bread with my early—before the sun's even up— morning tea. I ran into the Streetwise man as I was buying all of the ingredients at the grocery store last night, and promised to give him a slice this morning. (We chat every day as I wait for my bus.)

I love his toothless grin and the way he says "You have a good day." (His intonation reminds me a lot of hearing this as a child, after waking up to Paul Harvey on my alarm clock radio.)

COCONUT BREAD Adapted from Bills cookbook, via Janis. Makes about 10 slices.
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup sugar
7 ounces coconut flakes
1 1/4 sticks melted butter
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1/ Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a bread tin and set aside.
2/ In small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. In large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Then, stir in sugar and coconut.
3/ Dig well in the center of dry mixture, pour in egg mixture, and stir until just combined. Add melted butter and stir until smooth, being careful not to overdo it.
4/ Bake for about an hour, until the loaf is golden brown on the outside. Let cool, and then—share!

homemade yogurt and granola

Hello. I've been bad, I know. Instead of blogging, I've been seeing wonderful movies, lazing around in bed, and making friends at my new job. Let me get to the point: this is only my second batch of homemade yogurt. It's easy to make, but gets tricky with incubation.  Some people use the pilot light of their stoves, a cooler wrapped in blankets, or fancy yogurt makers. I, on the other hand, found the perfect solution for my little kitchen: this lovely thermos. And with that comes a plethora of other "thermos recipes"—I had no idea there were such things (but I'm getting excited for summer camping).

THERMOS YOGURT
3 cups whole milk
1 tbsp yogurt starter (plain store bought yogurt, or from a previous batch)
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1/ Using a candy thermometer, heat milk in small saucepan until it reaches 180ºF. Make sure to stir constantly to avoid scalding.
2/ Turn off heat and let cool to 120ºF. (If the milk is too hot it will kill the yogurt bacteria.) Stir in the live culture and then transfer to thermos container. Let incubate for at least eight hours.
3/ Transfer to glass jar or other container and refrigerate for at least two hours before eating.

"Now then"—as my grandmother always says with a sigh—this granola recipe has been my go-to for a couple of years. It's quick enough to bake up a batch right when you get up, and then have a warm snack on your cold morning commute.

NUTTY GRANOLA Adapted from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave. Makes about 9 half-cup servings
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped raw, unsalted walnuts
1/2 cup chopped raw, unsalted almonds
1/2 cup chopped raw, unsalted pecans
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
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1/ Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Combine all ingredients in medium bowl, making sure the salt and cinnamon are distributed evenly.
2/ Spread mixture on baking sheet and place in oven for about 30 minutes, until golden brown. (Stir occasionally during this process to avoid burning. Although not very apparent in color, a few minutes too long leaves this recipe with a strong burnt flavor.) Ellie suggest letting it cool completely, but I think it tastes perfect warm and right out of the oven.

gingerbread in clothes

Hello there. I purchased these cookie cutters in Glacier National Park, when I went on that trip to Montana over the summer. Although the cookies were so cute and quaint, they had a rough bus ride today, lost many appendages, and were then gobbled up by my co-workers.

The best advice on how to be a baker without looking like a baker: take it all to work, man.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES makes about 2 dozen large cookies
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 egg
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1/ Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper into a medium bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat the butter and vegetable shortening until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours.
2/  Position the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick, cut out the cookies, and transfer to nonstick cookie sheets. Knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies.
3/ Bake, switching the positions of the cookies from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.
4/ Decorate as you will. I used this recipe for the icing.

[recipe by Rick Rodgers, via Food Network]

roasted chestnut cookies

Hello there. Want to see what I baked yesterday? I never thought I'd actually roast chestnuts around Christmas (or at all), but then I saw Deb's handsome recipe and conveniently had the next day off from work. Although lovely, these guys took a bit of time. (You might be able to catch the day . . . to night . . . to next workday transition in the lighting.) Roasting was pretty simple, but most of the labor was in the peeling; however, this was quickened, or so it seemed, by a couple of Friends re-runs. (I'm not embarrassed to admit that they can still make me giggle. And after my stint in England, I have a newfound affinity for Ross—they love him there.)

Well, that's enough of that. Here's this!:

ROASTED CHESTNUT COOKIES makes about 4 dozen
1 pound chestnuts
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon + additional for coating
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
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1/ Preheat oven to 450°F. Cut a small X on the top of each chestnut with a sharp knife. Roast chestnuts on a baking sheet for about 20 to 30 minutes, until a darker shade of brown and the X peels back to reveal the inner nut.
2/ Cool on tray, peel, and chop coarsely on a cutting board. Grind 1 cup of chopped nuts in a food processor until they are very well chopped. Then, transfer nuts to a large mixing bowl and add the softened butter. Mix with an electric mixer until combined. Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour and mix until all ingredients are integrated.
3/ Divide dough in half and wrap each in plastic, chilling for one hour or until firm. Once chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk remaining 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and a few pinches of cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. Working with one half of the chilled dough at at time, roll it into 2 teaspoon-sized balls with the palms of your hands. Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheet.
4/ Bake until golden brown on bottom and just pale golden on top (about 14 to 17 minutes). Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, and then gently toss in cinnamon sugar to coat completely. Transfer coated cookies to rack and cool completely. Repeat procedure with remaining half of dough.

[recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Epicurious]

sunday breakfast

I feel like I'm always plugging Martha, but this one actually came as a recommendation from my friend Molly—mmm, pumpkin pancakes. I always wake up in the morning for work and think about how lovely it would be to sleep in. Now, I finally have a day off and I've been up and at it since 7 a.m. I pretend like this frustrates me, but I'm actually a very happy Sunday girl. Hope you all feel as cozy and motivated as I do.

PUMPKIN PANCAKES makes 8 to 10
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves
1 cup milk
6 tbsp canned pumpkin puree
2 tbsp melted butter
1 egg
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1/ Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together milk, pumpkin puree, melted butter, and egg; fold mixture into dry ingredients.
2/ Using a skillet over medium heat, pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side; serve with butter and syrup.

P.S. Sorry for my recent infatuation with the morning. I feel winter approaching and know that my mood often correlates with the sun. So, I'm going to soak in as much as I can!

P.S.S. "Winter approaching" also means the holidays are approaching. I'm getting so excited for family, friends, good (the best) food, and handmade gifts. And if you haven't seen it already—and are a "Christmas person"—have a look at Gifted Magazine.

oktoberfest

As I sit here tonight, planning my upcoming Cat Party (more details to come), I'm thinking back to an Oktoberfest meal I made a couple weeks ago. Mmm. It was complete with pretzels, salad, spaetzle with a delicious mushroom gravy, a German apple cake, and seasonal beer. In fact, I think the lack of photos of the finished product is a testament to how long the food lasted. And, my rooftop view wasn't so bad either.

Despite the deliciousness of each course (c'mon, who can go wrong with one of Deb's recipes?), the simplicity and balance of the dressing was impressive in its own right. Hailing from the October issue of Martha Stewart Living, it can be prepared quickly, stores well in a little glass jar, and is so so tasty.

ROMAINE SALAD WITH ANCHOVY DRESSING
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar (I was out, and used apple cider vinegar with a splash of red wine)
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1 large head romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick shreds
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1/ Heat oil in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook shallot and garlic until just turning translucent, about 2 minutes.
2/ Toss lettuce with dressing just before serving.

Easy.

muffins

 

I'm feeling quite guilty for leaving my blog alone for (over!) a week. So, in an effort to make it up to you, dear blog, I promise to start giving you the attention you deserve. Through thick and thin, whether brilliant or mundane, you will be a means of documentation.

So, that leaves me here—exhausted, at 2:30 a.m.—leaving you with a photo of the muffins I just baked. Yes, muffins. They are Low-Fat Blueberry Bran Muffins, and admittedly taste like healthy muffins. But they're hearty, easy to grab in the morning, and the blueberries are delightful. (The brilliant or mundane, remember?)

xx