Doughnut Seeds

Made some deviously decadent, gluten-free Doughnut Seeds today with cereal toasted in home rendered tallow and tossed with cinnamon sugar. Sweet enough to satisfy but not overwhelmingly so, they're a great lunchbox treat (even when you're a grown up).

I grew up close to a doughnut shop that fried their pastries in house. Walking through that plaza when they were making a fresh batch was nothing short of heaven with the aromas of nutmeg, cinnamon and the hint of "old fashioned something" from the beef tallow they added to the oil. As I got older and the shop changed hands (and methods), the experience became one I only associated with city fairs and expos. However, I never lost the memory of those bites of heaven.

While I don't deep fry anything (a bad grease burn as a kid ixnayed that!) I do have a deep appreciation for using traditional recipes and rendering my own cooking fat when possible. I started making tallow when we had large roasts that I was in charge of trimming, and now I am lucky enough that I have a fantastic butcher nearby who will sell me local, raw beef fat for pennies a pound when my jar runs low. While I usually use it (or schmaltz, or duck fat) for savoury applications, the smell of the tallow always brings me back to the old school doughnuts. I've made some "doughnut flavoured" items with it before - including a coffee cake that always seems to disappear before I can photograph it - but it wasn't until I came across a butter-toasted cereal "snack mix" in a kids' cookbook earlier this year that I figured... "why not make mini-mini doughnuts... doughnut seeds?".

 

Now obviously these are not your cakey, soft deep fried treat. But in all honesty, they're perfect in their own way! They are toasty, caramelized and crisp, crusted in spices and sugar and infused with the butter-tallow richness so that every handful is indescribably moreish. They store really well too (up to a week in an airtight container!) so you can pop a ziploc in your lunch and have a treat all week. While I made these with gluten free cereal, you can absolutely use your favourite (the kids at work voted a tie between Multigrain Cheerios and Apple Cinnamon Cheerios as the "best ever"). Lastly - these are easy to make and a great way to get the kids involved with measuring and tossing the cooked cereal with the sugar. With the school holidays fast approaching, it may be your ace in the hole when all the novelty of freedom has worn off!

 

Mesquite Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are thin, chewy and given a huge flavour boost from mesquite flour. A small amount goes a long way to making every bite extraordinary!

 

Mesquite is a flavour and aroma that usually brings into mind memories of barbecue or slow, smokey camp outs. It's one of my favourite flavours of liquid smoke, and in fact was one of N and my first memories as a couple (he ordered a sandwich with mesquite BBQ sauce on our first date). So with our anniversary rolling around in mid November, I decided to honour (or poke fun at) the occasion and dug into my stash of mesquite flour to make these cookies.

While mesquite is almost always associated with savoury foods, it actually pairs really well with rich, sweet and "dark" flavours like brown sugar and bittersweet chocolate too! I enhanced the flavour of the mesquite by adding both whole wheat flour and flaxseeds, adding a lovely nuttiness to the overall cookie. That said, because of all the "thirsty" ingredients, it is imperative that these cookies rest in the fridge at least an hour to hydrate, otherwise they will have a gritty texture. The chunks of dark chocolate become ever so slightly oozy when they bake, even when cool, and add just the sublest hint of sweet and bitter to the dough. 

These cookies are definitely a great addition to the cookie platter at the holidays, if an unusual one. You can make them big or small, adjusting the bake time as necessary, and while they don't need adornment, there is nothing stopping you from throwing on a dash of sprinkles on top before baking for a little festive flair!

Beetroot and Poppyseed Sourdough

This Beetroot and Poppyseed Sourdough is cooked in a Dutch oven for an unbelievably crisp crust, and the long fermentation makes for the most amazing flavour and texture. You will never have a loaf quite like it!

 

The only (and I repeat: the only) good things about the cold weather coming around here are these: my root vegetables are finally ready to harvest, and I can turn on the oven and not get whined at for heating up the house. I proudly grow a variety of beets and carrots in my little plot every year, and take great pleasure incorporating them into things like chutney, soups, cake, pickles and bread. 

 

Now, beet bread is nothing new to me. I have made beet-enhanced bread on this blog before, and it is always a hit given it's natural sweet earthiness. That said, I never made one of the sourdough or Dutch oven baked variety! I came across this gorgeous idea while scrolling through my feed reader shortly before World Bread Day, and I immediately bookmarked it. Not only did it use up one of my large beets, but I didn't have to pre-roast and puree the vegetable - a simple grate is all that was needed. As a result, the bread baking process draws out the sweet liquid in the shreds, infusing every bite of the crumb and making it impossibly tender. A couple spoons of poppy seeds add crunch while the hot Dutch oven made the crust crisp and relatively thick (read: chewy!).

 

One of the reasons this bread was such a win for our family is that it was a sourdough recipe. This means that the bread takes a while to make, but it is almost completely hands off and while you sleep at night, making for fresh bread in the morning! The slight tang from the fermentation balances the nuttiness of the seeds and the sweetness of the beets as well, so every bite is sheer perfection (trust me: my mom ate a portion of this loaf without even butter). If you have a sourdough starter languishing after the bread boom of the summer, break it out and give it a few feeds before using it so it's lovely and energetic - the dough is rather heavy so the yeast needs to do a lot of work!

Sweet Potato and Apple Braid #BreadBakers

 Now this is Fall on a plate! A rich, slightly sweet whole grain yeast dough (fortified with @nakednutrition Naked Rice protein powder) is braided over creamy sweet potato apple butter custard and diced local Honeycrisps tossed with raw sugar. Enjoyed for breakfast or with ice cream as dessert, its a decadent twist on a classic pie.

This year has been weird on many levels, but for me the strangest part so far is that the holidays have been a lot easier for me to deal with. I am a total introvert, and the traveling and packing food (cause aren't allergies fun?) and worrying about getting home in the dark on roads in various states cause the joy to be sucked out of the time a little bit. However, I did always pride myself on coming to every holiday event (Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter) with dessert. My dad loves pumpkin pie, for instance - especially this pumpkin apple butter concoction - and since N and I had gone apple picking I had a batch of apple butter hanging out in the fridge in preparation for our holiday.

 

Obviously, 2020 had other plans for us, but N had mentioned a desire for sweet potato pie a few months ago and I had to indulge him! The first one was pretty plain-Jane and stuck to the script I found on One Dish Kitchen with the exceptions of using a pastry (not graham cracker) crust, slow-roasting the sweet potato to draw out the caramel notes and using evaporated 2% milk for the dairy. Since that was a hit (to say the least - it competed and tied with my mom's apple pie) I decided to make another one with a few of my own tricks. I amped up the sweetness with my choice of sweet potato (a purple-skinned, white flesh one, which is candy-sweet with slow roasting) and added in a touch of tang with my homemade apple butter. Naked Collagen added a boost of protein and kept the filling lusciously smooth even with the low-fat dairy and since it's tasteless the maple and spices were allowed to shine.

I used the same formula the next weekend to make a baked custard (having leftovers of pretty much everything on hand) and was wondering what to do with it. At least, I wondered until I was scrolling through Facebook where my friend had shared a caramel-apple braided loaf. I decided I'd take that idea and use what I had - my baked custard and diced apples left over from making mini apple pies for my sister's rats (yes, I spoil them, but they are ADORABLE). The bread dough (of course) became whole wheat and laced with Naked Rice protein (which helped the overall conditioning of the dough and rise imho) and flaxseed, making it a more flavourful and healthy wrapping than the sweet white bread that is traditional. I had to balance out the rich filling somehow! 

Braiding the loaf over the filling is really easy and looks more difficult and impressive than it is. Once it bakes, the plaits separate just slightly allowing the steam to escape and preventing a soggy crust, while adding just a touch of crisp and chew. I had no difficulty slicing the loaf in half to store (it took up my whole cookie sheet) and the baked loaf froze and thawed well without any weeping of the filling. I may try this again for the winter holidays!

 

Welcome to Bread Bakers! This month, our theme is Stuffed Baked Breads and our host is Renu of Cook with Renu.

• Coconut Buns by Magical Ingredients
• Callaloo Loaf by Passion Kneaded
• Double Cheese Fatayers by Ambrosia
• Meatball Stromboli by Palatable Pastime
• Pepperoni Rolls by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Ricotta Calzones with Spinach and Sausage by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Rolled Pepperoni Pizza Loaf by Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Custard buns by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Stuffed Potato Kulcha by Sneha's Recipe
• Sweet Potato and Apple Braid by What Smells So Good?
• Taco Tuesday Calzone by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Whole Wheat Vegetarian Calzones by Cook with Renu

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Cranberry-Pecan Pumpkin Bread #BreadBakers

This yeasted, whole wheat bread is filled with Autumnal spices, pureed pumpkin and handfuls of the fruit and nuts. They are perfect for toast or teatime spread with jam, honey or butter!

Holy creeholy it has been ages since I've been able to participate in a #BreadBakers event! The "Quarantine 15" was definitely felt around here, leading to a break from the bread-filled fridges and freezers we usually have. Thankfully, we are all back on track, and I have been allowed to start baking my beloved yeast breads again! 

This loaf is my first "hurrah to fall" type of bake, leading up to a season of apples, cranberries and pumpkins even though I still have one last zucchini to use up! I was on a "warming spice" kick from the gingersnaps and Chestnut Gingerbread dough I had made earlier in the week, and when I found a can of pumpkin in the pantry (which I believe we bought for the cat and/or rats to eat) I usurped it and decided to use it as my jumping-off point. Unlike most pumpkin loaves you see, this one is yeasted, but it is still full of all the traditional flavours and add-ins like pecans and dried cranberries! I used soy milk (as always) for the yeast development, and while I should have let the loaves rise a bit more (I had to jockey the oven with dinner) the crumb wasn't overly dense or doughy. Rather, the resulting bread became the perfect base for toast with butter, or (as mom discovered) honey-drizzled cream cheese as a snack. 

While not as unique as some of the other bakes you'll see linked below, this one is a classic for a reason, and one I will make again for sure!

• Butternut Squash Sourdough Bread by Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Carrot Sandwich Bread by Ambrosia
• Cauliflower Sourdough Crumpets by Food Lust people Love
• Cranberry-Pecan Pumpkin Bread by What Smells So Good?
• Garden Harvest Vegetable Bread Loaf by Making Miracles
• Potato Rosemary Focaccia by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Purple Pain de Mie by A Messy Kitchen
• Spinach Spiced Sourdough Discard Bread by Cook with Renu
• Tomato Garlic Biscuits by Palatable Pastime
• Vegetable Focaccia by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Zucchini Bread by Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Almond Praline Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are filled with Kamut flakes, luscious chocolate chips and crushed almond praline for a unique twist on the classic!

 

Chocolate chip cookies are a classic, for good reason. There are very few kids (or adults!) who will pass up every type of the combination, so whether you're serving fans of the chewy-crisp (AKA: the "right" cookie), the cakey or - gasp - the crunchy variety, there is a recipe out there that will be a hit. My mom, for example, loves the classic, back of the bag Chipits cookie with the addition of walnuts or pecans - entry level in every aspect, from it's creation (one bowl, all shortening, nothing fancy) to it's flavour and texture (sweet, occasional chocolate, and flat and crisp). I loved it too as a kid (because Mom made them, of course!) but when I started baking myself I definitely fell hard into the chewy, rich cookie camp. Whether they are made with egg yolks, tofu, potato chips or avocado, I did my best to keep that chew factor alive (side note: wow I've made a lot of chocolate chip cookies!).

These cookies arose out of my burst of pre-school year nervous energy, coupled with boredom (I'm busy waiting for my end of term university exams, thanks CV19) and a desire to get the "jump" on holiday baking. I also had a ton of "odds and ends" lying around my pantry and freezer, including Kamut flakes, cream cheese, and ground up almond praline frozen early in the summer (I used it for a crumble over apples). All of these, along with a whole bag of bittersweet chocolate chips, found their way into these cookies. What I really liked was that the almonds added a nutty flavour (boosted by the Kamut) without a crunchy, chunky texture. For some reason, I'm 100% okay with pretzel bits and potato chips in my cookies, but not candy coated chocolate or nuts! Instead, the sweet crumbs just infused the cookies and made every bite decadent. It is 100% worth making that praline again just to do these cookies, in my humble opinion! That said, if you don't want to go to the trouble of making candy and grinding it up just for these cookies, I strongly suggest picking up pre-candied almonds (or pecans!) and grinding them up or chopping finely. You won't regret it!

 

 

Two Bite Gingersnaps

These Two Bite Gingersnaps are gluten free, vegan and surprisingly healthy - using homemade applesauce, @nakednutrition Naked Rice protein powder and just a bit of sugar! Made for teatime or as an after school treat, they're sure to be a hit!

 

There is nothing that sums up "Fall" quite like the warming spices and smells of the season. Think about it - the pies, coffees and cakes you find from September right through to Christmas often come laced with the intoxicating aromatics of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves or a combination of all of them! As a kid, I was never one for spice cookies like gingersnaps, but as I've grown my tastes have really started leaning towards that zingy ginger flavour (for instance, I just made chicken broth with a chunk of ginger in with the carrots and celery this afternoon!). Not only does ginger (and it's usual spice accompaniments) warm you up when it's blustery outside, but they are also great for helping to settle the tummy when you're stressed out or sick with a cold. 

These gingersnaps are crisp, spicy and lightly sweet, and their two-bite size makes them a perfect "cheat" snack any time of the day (especially on the drive home if you commute!). Made with applesauce and only a little bit of oil, they also lean towards the healthier side of the spectrum and by adding a bit of protein from Naked Rice protein powder they help keep you full a bit more than your standard box cookie. The baked cookies keep well in a container for a week or two, but the dough is also great to make ahead and freeze (either pre-portioned or as a block) for later baking. I made a double batch and froze half for the holiday season!

These cookies are a perfect option for the schoolroom or sharing platters, because they are free of gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts! No matter who you bake for, these cookies are a safe, delicious option and a comforting way to embrace the unknown months ahead.

Cranberry-Coconut Granola Bars

These Cranberry-Coconut Granola Bars are a delicious snack for after school and since the recipe serves a crowd its great for playdates or parties too!

While I am the first person to admit we have no clue what September is going to hold in terms of school, I do know that fall is around the corner and in some way shape or form kids will be in need of snacks. Depending on where you are, nuts of any kind are a no-go in the lunchbox, making many store-bought granola bars verboten. Those that are "school safe" can also be astronomically high in sugar, salt and fat - and since we all sit way more than we should (even those live wires you see bouncing off the walls), a healthier alternative is generally preferable.

Interestingly enough (for me at least) this recipe was one our school made for our Thanksgiving lunch's "dessert" last year. We always try to get the kids involved with an aspect of the holiday meals, and being the Home Ec teacher at least one class gets me to incorporate the recipe into the curriculum! Given that we were in a totally different mindset last year, it was so easy to make this with the kids, since there was no boiling the sugars or sharp implements involved. What they (and I) liked the best was pressing the mixture onto the sheet tray - them because they got to show off how strong they were, and me because it minimized my contact with the coconut (ironically, the only "nut" we are allowed at school I am allergic to!). Even though the students were pretty young (grades 1-3), the recipe also allowed us to get lessons on fractions, states of matter, food science and even history in without being forced to sit in front of a blackboard (did I just say blackboard? I must be showing my age!).

The bars were crunchy, but not hard, and if we hadn't been serving them at the lunch I would have wrapped them individually in foil so the students could have a portable snack for after school. With no oil, these are low in fat while being high in fibre, and while there is a good amount of sugar you could probably cut the granulated stuff down a little bit if you like. I wouldn't cut it too much because that sugar's melting and re-crystallizing is what helps the bars hold together and get crisp! The recipe is gluten-free as written as well, and easily veganized with ground flax for the egg and using maple syrup or agave (or more corn syrup) for the honey. Speaking of the corn syrup, this is not the HFCS that was a buzzword many years ago - this is your standard Karo, which while still invert sugar, is not the devil of the food industry. The corn syrup and honey maintain the "chew" of the bars, which was the only kind of granola bar I ever liked! In terms of add-ins, try dried cherries and pumpkin seeds, or dried blueberries and almonds (if allowed wherever you're eating the bars, of course!). The base recipe works for so many variations!

 

(Almost) Doubletree Cookies

I finally got around to making a week batch of the infamous Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies! I made a few variations on the original, namely veganizing them, but I also used chopped chocolate instead of the chips and pecans instead of walnuts because it's what I had on hand. They are a perfect mix of crisp and chewy with great flavour and texture!

 

While I've never been to a DoubleTree hotel in my life, I am no stranger to the knowledge that they offer fresh baked cookies on arrival. This fact alone would make me want to stay there - not because I could eat them (cookies are, unfortunately, not on my body's "do" list) but because I do the same thing here when we have guests. Whether it is a large family gathering (and I mean large - Italian families are crazy!) or simply my grandma, N or my sister's boyfriend D, there is a large chance that some form of homemade goodie will be waiting for them. It simply seems like the right thing to do!

 

While N definitely prefers peanut butter based cookies (or cinnamon cakes), my grandma is definitely one for the more classic flavours. The original cookie recipe that I found online (then rediscovered in a scaled down format) met the criteria for a classic cookie (yes, like my mom used to make) but with enough of a twist with the lemon juice and cinnamon. I set about making this batch a wee bit healthier, though, since while cookies are a treat there's no reason you can't boost flavour and nutrition - plus I was out of eggs and butter thanks to a batch of bread I whipped up the day before. So veganizing the cookie happened as a result, but I also used a touch of whole wheat flour for a bit of extra depth in the flavour department. Because you can never have enough chocolate, I chopped up a bar of my favourite kind, adding the tiny little shards into the dough as well like chocolate confetti! Pecans were always a natural choice for me, as they are my mom's and grandma's favourite nut, and we always have some on hand. 

While you can certainly bake these cookies right away, time got the best of me and I had to stick the dough in the fridge for an hour while I tended to other things. That said, like most cookies (and all those with whole grains), these definitely benefited from the chill time - the dough was thoroughly hydrated and the chocolate had solidified after the heat of the kitchen. When baked, the cookies were thin, with crisp edges and a chewy middle studded with the pecans. The aroma was pure home, and when my grandma walked in she commented how wonderful it smelled!

Lucifer’s Ginger & Chile Biscuits (copycat)

Lucifer himself won't be able to resist these cookies packed with ginger and a hefty dose of cayenne. Two bite drops are more than enough to satisfy even the most devoted chilehead!

My sister's boyfriend loves all things spicy. He one ate an entire scorpion pepper on a dare - which turned into a series of hilarious text messages which I won't share cut will sum up as a detailed progression of the digestive process. Luckily, he's starting to embrace the fact that spice does not always have to equal heat - it can be a blend of both, and these cookies are definitely testament to that!

I honestly can't remember where I heard about these cookies first - I want to say it was on television but I can't say for sure. At any rate, I was intrigued by their name and decided to look them up, since they did not exist on our Canadian store shelves. A little digging and I was sold. Obviously, I've never had the "real" Lucifer biscuits, but I did find quite the enticing description for them online: "as you munch, the heat builds up slowly and finishes with a warm and well-judged chilli kick. Infernally tempting, it's the biscuit that bites back". Ginger is already spicy and warming, but the added chili definitely brought a different "kick" to the mix. A bit of Googling and I found a recipe on Lost in Food that I used as a basis for my experiments. I only had vegan margarine on hand (being the holidays, I try to make "gift cookies" as neutral as possible) and I bumped up the ginger a little bit while also using a nuttier flour for my base. Next time I may play with adding oatmeal as well, because I love the zing of ginger in oatmeal cookies and I think it could work. It wouldn't be traditional by any means, but that's the fun of baking at home!

I will definitely say that these cookies benefit exponentially from an overnight chill in the fridge (or even in the freezer - you can stash this dough for up to 4 months if wrapped well). The resting allows the spices to permeate the dough and the whole grain flour to hydrate completely, making for way better (and spicier) cookies! If you are really pressed for time, rest the dough at room temperature for 1 hour, then shape and freeze the balls for 15 minutes prior to baking so they don't melt everywhere. It won't be exactly the same, but it will be better than mixing and baking all at once!

Even though it's summertime where we are, I encourage you to give these a try. Just - don't eat them all at once, okay?

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with PBfit

These thick, chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are full of peanut flavour, protein and fibre, making them a perfect snack to hold you over till dinner, or before bed to stave off low blood sugar headaches in the morning!

We are definitely a peanut butter loving household. Between the lot of us, we spread it on toast, make sandwiches, add it to sauces, make candy and eat it by the spoonful straight from the jar. N on the other hand prefers his peanut butter in baked goods, especially cookies. For instance, I affectionately refer to these cookies as the ones that "sealed the deal" with him, and I make them far too regularly. There have been times where there were three jars of peanut butter in the house - two for eating and one for baking. Hey, you can never have enough of it!

So, when the great folks at PBfit sent me a jar of their powdered peanut butter to try out, I was excited. I have "regular" peanut flour at home already, which is just defatted, ground peanuts, but the taste of it is nothing like the jars of Kraft we have in the pantry and when baking it can be hit-or-miss (it works really well in satay and other spicy sauces though). PBfit adds coconut palm sugar and salt to the peanut flour, meaning when it is reconstituted (they suggest a 1 tbsp PBfit + 3/4 tbsp cold water ratio) it has more of the classic flavour and texture. As a bonus, because most of the fat has been removed, I don't have to worry that the large jar will go rancid before I can get through it as long as it's stored in my pantry. A few of the other nifty benefits PBfit offers are a 90% reduction in fat and a 33% reduction in calories over traditional peanut butter, all while being vegan, gluten free and with no artificial ingredients. The concentrated legumes (yes, peanuts are a bean!) pack a decent dose of protein too: just a tablespoon of powder has 4 grams of it for only 1 gram of fat.

When picking a recipe to use, I scouted around for one that was relatively easy to "healthify", finding one that used applesauce along with the oats. I swapped the applesauce for PBfit and water, which not only bound the cookie together but make the resulting cookie less "cakey" while adding great flavour, protein and fibre. Chilling logs of the dough and slicing them thick while semi-frozen lent to the finished cookies' chew and tenderness, without letting them fall apart. You could also drop these by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheets, but bear in mind you'll need to flatten them with your fingers or a glass because they don't spread. Because I had hard workers in mind (N has a fairly active job in the essential sector, and doesn't always get a chance to eat), I tossed in a few scoops of protein powder as well.

With the addition of the PBfit and my favourite protein powder, each cookie gets a 2 gram boost of extra protein on top of the naturally occurring protein in the oats and whole wheat flour. Combined with the fibre, one of these cookies will definitely keep you satisfied without being weighed down!

Sourdough Snacking Cake

If you are craving a rich, dense and decadently chocolatey dessert, this vegan snack cake is for you! While it is definitely sweet, the addition of sourdough starter (which I know a lot of you have lying around!) adds a hint of tang and lightens up the recipe, enticing you back for more!

While I didn't hop on the sourdough bandwagon as much as some people did during the last few months, I was definitely inspired to break out my (often neglected) starter to get some use out of it after all the articles cropped up online. I had made sourdough chocolate cake once before so I knew it was a sure-fire winner, but never recorded the recipe I used. Thankfully, many other people had the same idea I did, and not only that but some of the vegan community did as well!

This recipe was a combination of a few recipes I had saved, with my own twists for good measure. I only had oat-based creamer at home (I don't drink "milk" so I rarely buy any) and I had the end of a bag of spelt flour to use up, so those went into the mix. I knew I wanted to add coffee to heighten the chocolate flavour (especially since natural cocoa isn't as "deep" as Dutch process) but I only had French Vanilla flavoured instant - in that went! After all, I figured, all those things work with chocolate, and it was worth a try.

All in all, these changes served to make (in my opinion) a richer, nuttier flavoured cake with a solid "mocha" note, almost like those cappuccino mixes you used to find in the 90's. The tang from the sourdough was present but not overwhelming, almost like a red velvet cake, and I think you could definitely make red velvet cake out of this recipe by adding food colouring and frosting! For weeknights (or, lets face it, Blursday afternoons), this cake, unadorned, is perfect as is. I would suggest adding the chocolate chips halfway through the baking process or right after, as when I added them before (as written in the recipe), they settled into a layer in the middle. Not a bad thing - just not a layer of gooey goodness on top. Or you could do both - there are no rules!

Tiny Batch Chocoholic Cookies

Craving chocolate but your diet can't stand a dozen cookies lying around? This recipe makes 3 palm-sized cookies packed with chocolate and studded with Smarties (or M&Ms if you arent fortunate enough to have Smarties). Baked until just set and still soft, it is a sweet pick me up perfect any day.

The women in my family are a collection of chocoholics. Even days like today, where it's 37°C (98.6°F) outside, I can be found sipping a hot chocolate in the evenings. My mom adds spoonfuls of cocoa and a sprinkle of dark chocolate to her yogurt in the morning, while my sister is partial to chocolate baked goods (especially brownies). However, we are picky about the cocoa we use in uncooked form - the milder Dutch processed type, while still bitter, doesn't have the same sour note as the natural kind, making it more palatable.

Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men disappeared when the pandemic hit - along with flour, yeast, eggs and - yes - our beloved cocoa powder. Desperate, we bought a small tin of the natural kind, but we lasted a whopping two days before we gave up and bulk purchased our usual kind. The tin was given to me to play with, so I looked up a handful of treats to make with it (including these cookies and these croissants). That said, even my relatively active family isn't immune to the "quarantine 15", so baked goods must be minimal in quantity (well, at least until N or D come by, then anything is fair game).

Enter these beauties. Now, I am not going to classify these as "healthy" in any way, but they are just what the doctor ordered in terms of comfort food. Yes, these are sheer decadence in the palm of your hand, and while the cookies may be large - as in palm-sized - there are only three of them so even if you feel the need to polish off an entire batch, you've still only eaten three! The batch size, coupled with the touch of antioxidants from the cocoa and fibre from the white whole wheat and chia seeds, definitely makes these an "okay for summer" treat in my books. If you really feel the summer heat, I'm not not saying that you could make 6 smaller ones and sandwich ice cream (or frozen yogurt) in between.... nope, not my idea at all!

Cinnamon Spice Cookies with Goldschläger Icing

It's never out of season for gingerbread when it is this perfect! These cookies are packed with spices and laced with Goldschläger for an extra cinnamony kick. Topped with a simple powdered sugar icing and some silver sparkles its enough to make you feel like royalty, even if its just Wednesday night in your PJs!

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian readers! Like pretty much every holiday this year, my country's 153rd birthday is passing with relatively little fanfare - even our neighbours who usually go all out with fireworks aren't planning anything. In addition to Canada Day, today also marks my blog's birthday - a whopping 13 years old! I still can't believe I've been documenting my cooking adventures for that long, and this blog has followed me through a whole mess of life journeys - five rounds of schooling, multiple jobs, relationships, losses of family and pets and multiple medical segues.

I want to just take a moment, before diving into my celebratory recipe (from our provincial liquor store) to thank everyone who has supported me over these years, including all the sponsors who gave me a chance, the various publishers who collaborated with me, my family, friends and the blogger community at large. You have all helped me become the cook I am today, and while I may not be the most regular writer, being part of this community of like-minded foodies showed me I could belong somewhere. I plan to keep this bad boy (or girl) going for as long as I can, especially now that my team of taste-testers has grown to include both N and my sister's boyfriend D.

Moving on to why most of you are here - these cookies! While I admit they are not your traditional "summer" fare, around here cookies are always welcome - and with gatherings beginning to open up again, we always have some sort of treat on hand. Keeping in the celebratory theme, I dipped into the (often forgotten) liquor cabinet to make these, based on a Courvoisier gingerbread recipe I had clipped out of the LCBO magazine at Christmastime and never got around to making it. Instead of the brandy, I opted for the opulent, spicy Goldschläger, which infused the cookies with a heady dose of cinnamon and helped the cookies crisp (as the alcohol evaporates faster than water). Mixing the dough brought back memories of both the holidays as well as my whole debacle building that castle three years ago (never again) - though if you wanted to build a structure with this dough you most certainly could.

The cookies smelled fantastic and were a breeze to whip up (hello, no waiting for butter to soften!) but looked a little plain and brown - not bad for an everyday tea or snack break, but not nearly enough for a celebration! So, while the cookies cooled, I set about making a simple icing with one important twist - another dose of Goldschläger. The alcohol served two purposes here - one, it allowed the icing to harden faster, given the evaporation of alcohol, and two, the little gold flakes in the liquid added an extra touch of sparkle to the icing. To gild  the lily, I topped the iced cookies with gold and silver sparkle sprinkles, though it's 100% optional. After the icing set, the cookies could be stacked and stored in an airtight container, although they lasted about three days here due to some hungry ghosts sneaking into the cookie jar!

Happy Canada Day, Happy (almost) 4th of July, and happy end to the first half of 2020. Fingers crossed that everyone stays safe, happy, and well this summer, and thanks again for the support all this time!

Studded Golden Cornbread #BreadBakers

A little comfort food is in order these days! This cornbread uses honey to sweeten and is packed with frozen corn kernels, staying moist (sorry) thanks to yogurt and heavy cream. The result is a perfectly balanced side for any meal!
 

I have been making cornbread for what seems like forever. As a kid, my Home Economics teacher used to make cornbread muffins with us that were almost crunchy with the amount of oil they had. Trips to the southern States introduced me to johnnycakes and skillet cornbread, which I devoured with honey and butter. But up in Canada where I live, cornbread is essentially cake or muffin like. My mom has had this recipe for decades, hand-written on a card from an old coworker complete with commentary (including strike-outs with notes like "this is BS, do this instead") and it was always a special-occasion bake due to the indulgent ingredients it called for. When I inherited the recipe, I tweaked it a little bit to use what we usually have in the house - whole wheat and Kamut flour (because, let's face it, I have a huge pantry of random flours I need to get baking with), flaxseed to replace the eggs (which I rarely have at home) and vanilla-flavoured Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream and sugar. The bread is still plenty sweet with a heady dose of honey, and it does not lack in tenderness and moisture thanks to a whole cup of heavy cream. While the recipe was originally for a square pan, I have 100% made it into muffins (jumbo sized ones are so good!) and froze them for later.

While it has been a good while since I made this cornbread, writing about it still fills me with a little bit of sadness. You see, I broke out this cornbread recipe not just for #breadbakers, but because it was going to be N's breakfast the day of our vacation. Due to the pandemic, we obviously had to put those plans on hold, but I still decided to boost the sunshine of our lives with a batch of the bright yellow quickbread. Lo and behold, N fell in love with it (and honestly, why wouldn't he - it's delicious) and I've made it several times since then. He has asked me to emphasize that adding the corn kernels is not optional - they add a perfect "pop" to the bread and those on the top get nice and toasty.

While I may not be jetting off to paradise, this bread will be made again. And again. It's an heirloom for a reason, and as with most things it develops and modifies over time with each new baker. Who knows, the next time this happens in the kitchen it may be with my blue cornmeal, since I'm out of yellow and it seems to still be missing on the shelf!

Here are the #BreadBakers of the week, bringing you breads with corn:

• Bacon Country Bread with Corn from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Corn Bread from Sneha's Recipe
• Grits Sandwich Bread from Pastry Chef Online
• Honey Skillet Cornbread from Making Miracles
• Hot Water Cornbread from Palatable Pastime
• Iowa "Corn" Pancakes from A Messy Kitchen
• Polenta Rosemary Garlic Sourdough Bread from Spiceroots
• Polenta-Crusted, Kernel-Dotted Sourdough from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sourdough Cornmeal Dinner Rolls from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Southwestern Chicken Skillet with Cornbread Topping from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Studded Golden Cornbread from What Smells So Good?
• Sweet Peach Cornbread from Food Lust People Love
• Yeast Corn Breakfast Bread from Ambrosia

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Whole Wheat Mocha Croissants

You can never go wrong with the combination of chocolate and coffee, especially when it is laminated into a flaky (vegan) pastry! These whole wheat croissants are also stuffed with a baton of dark chocolate for good measure, and the lamination features a scoop of @nakednutrition Naked Rice protein powder which keeps it from oozing everywhere. The result is a decadent treat for whenever your craving strikes!

I cannot think of croissants without thinking of Walt Disney World. As a kid, I was lucky enough to go to the theme parks several times, where I not only fell in love with the magic (I am a total DisNerd) and the ability to travel the world through EPCOT, but with the food. Now, I'm not going to say Disney World is a Michelin paradise - by and large, you will find your stereotypical American fast food above anything else - but in EPCOT, tucked away in the France pavillion,is a little bakery they named Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie. This bakery is the source of arguably some of the best chocolate croissants I have ever had in my life.

Before all of you traditionalists start jumping down my throat, I will admit - I have never been to France and had a "real" croissant. No, my experiences with the pastry were from a local bakery-cafe when I was in school and the occasional store-bought treat. However, the croissants from EPCOT were the perfect mix of buttery and sweet, and the filling was a luxurious chocolate that was almost a fudge-like ganache. When I was looking for ways to use up a canister of natural cocoa we bought by mistake (it's too sour / bitter for hot chocolate), I thought of those pastries. I toyed with the idea of making a rich cocoa and almond butter filling, but as I was looking at the recipe calling to add flour
to the lamination butter, I thought: why not make the whole croissant chocolate?

This became doubly intriguing when I discovered I was out of butter. I had shortening, which I have used before in puff pastry and croissants back in my baking school days, but it's flavourless and needs oomph to really be a part of this recipe. In lieu of the flour, I sifted in some of the cocoa, sugar, a dash of espresso powder for good measure, and a few scoops of my latest favourite protein powder with a pinch of salt. After folding and turning the whole wheat dough, the medley took on a lovely coffee-brown shade. I opted for whole wheat not only for health, but because the slightly nutty flavour of the whole grain played beautifully with chocolate. 

I still wasn't 100% satisfied, though. A pain au chocolat needs a filling. So, reaching into my bittersweet chocolate stash, I melted down and piped the chocolate sticks for the centre, which I stuck in the fridge to set (it was 30 degrees Celsius here). Rolled into the middle of the pastry, it melted ever so slightly, making the centre like a truffle. It's a good thing these are dainty-sized croissants, because they are so good it's hard to stop at one!

Call me sacrilegious, but I actually like the texture of these vegan croissants better than their buttery brethren. They were light, impossibly flaky, and the neutral flavour of the shortening allowed the cocoa and coffee to shine through. If I was making plain ones that needed the flavour boost, I would stick to butter - but when the flavours get fancy there's no need to muddle the pot!

Double Chocolate Protein Cookies with @nakednutrition

Need to add a protein boost to your day? Try these vegan, gluten free double chocolate cookies - full of decadent flavour with two scoops of @nakednutrition Naked Rice protein powder. 

One of the biggest things I miss about my pre-social distancing life was going to the gym. Now I'm no body-building, rock-hard-abs kind of girl, but I love my Zumba and the energy it gives me. At home, I keep up as best I can with classes - an interesting experiment when your "workout room" is also your office!

One of the things I do have to be mindful of in my day-to-day life is my protein intake. For me, this is not because I'm active (I have many friends who put me to shame in that respect) but because my autoimmune condition can make it difficult to get enough in every day. When I know I haven't been eating well, I opt to add a little protein powder to my food. I've never been one for drinking smoothies or milkshakes (of which protein powder always seems to become), but if the right powder came along I wouldn't mind giving it a shot! When Naked Nutrition approached me about a collaboration, I was intrigued - they were a new brand to me, and their transparent, no-nonsense labeling was a gigantic plus. So often I am stuck scanning label after label for gluten, dairy or my arch nemesis, coconut, but the website (and the bottles of powder) have clear, easy to read wording and nutrition facts.

Naked Nutrition is best known for their whey powders, and again it is easy to see why they're unique in a sea of various blends and flavours typically lining the shelves. For the longest time, whey in general has dominated the protein market, but since it's not an option for me I keep looking for alternates. Along the way, I've encountered powders that were gritty, slimy or that turned my drink or food into concrete - not a recipe for success - but when I saw that Naked Nutrition offered a rice protein I was intrigued. Rice has a tendency to be on the sweeter side naturally, but can also be gritty - how would this stack up?

Well, the first test was right when the 2.27kg bottle arrived - digging for the scoop (which always happens, I don't know why companies don't attach it like they do those ice-cream spoons) I took a little bit of the powder between my fingers. It was smooth - not baby-powder smooth, but smoother than most powders I've tried before. Taking that as a sign, I added a scoop to my mug of hot cocoa. The texture of the drink got a tiny bit thicker, but not like I was drinking a hot milkshake, and most importantly there was no grit or "off" flavour. It made the drink a little creamier though, as if I made it with whole milk instead of water. It has become my go-to treat on dance days!

Bolstered by those findings, I turned to my area of expertise - baking. I have several people in my life that (for whatever reason) could use a little boost of nutrition but who are also not big eaters. One thing they all have in common, though, is a love for chocolate and cookies. Taking that knowledge and my newfound protein powder, I set about tweaking a recipe I make with the kids in Home Economics class to make double chocolate, chewy, protein rich and lower-sugar cookies.

The cookies got a boost of flavour and fibre from the inclusion of oat flour and rolled oats, which I pulled from my gluten-free stash. Whenever I work with an oat-based cookie dough, or any gluten free batters in general (excepting my angel food cake), I always let it sit at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour at room temperature, which allows the dry ingredients to hydrate and the whole mixture to bake smoothly. My patience was rewarded with these thick, chewy discs - and now that I know they're a hit (they disappeared within a few days) I've made a double batch to hang out in my freezer, pre-scooped, for when the cookie hunger strikes again!

Many, many thanks to Naked Nutrition for this opportunity! Remember, Naked Rice is an all natural, nothing added protein that is gluten free and vegan, with a slightly sweet flavour and NO grit - perfect for adding to your smoothies as well as in culinary applications. Whether it is a mug of hot cocoa, a bowl of oatmeal or a chocolate-packed cookie, you'll never believe how smooth and tasty (or taste-free) this is!

Unstuffed Farro Cabbage Rolls

When your cabbage crop is ready but not looking perfect (holes in the leaves and not a perfect tight head to be seen) you switch gears from traditional to unstuffed cabbage rolls! This vegan dish gets meaty flavour and texture from red and green lentils, mushrooms and caramelized onions, while the standard rice gets a switchup to nutty, chewy farro. Each bite is packed with flavour and texture, perfect for Fall eating!

Yes, yes - this is yet another one from the archives of Instagram, or as I like to call it "where good food goes to die". I can't help it, these days all the hours blend into one another - between late nights writing essays (help me, English classes are worse than I remember), running Zoom classes for my grade 4-8 kids, trying to workout with virtual classes and actually cooking, sometimes getting around to writing about it all falls to the bottom of the pile. I do have a decent chunk of recipes in the pipe though, so thanks for bearing with me!

At any rate, this type of meal is exactly what I would go for in times of stress like now. Not only is is full of comforting, warming flavours (I'm looking now at the polar vortex supposed to smack us on the weekend) but it uses tons of cheap, hearty ingredients that also happen to be full of nutrition! After all, we have been stuck inside for what feels like an eon and while we do our best the stress is not good at all for our immune system - cue the sulfur compounds in the cabbage and the antioxidants is the tomatoes, lentils, garlic and paprika. The mushrooms give a boost of vitamin D which we all need after living indoors for so long, and adding in the farro boosts up the B vitamins and our friend fibre for a healthy digestive tract all over.

On the off chance that any of that science-y mumbo jumbo isn't your cup of tea, all you need to know is this recipe is hearty, healthy and absolutely delicious warm or cold - just make sure you have a large pot to put it all together, because the cabbage is a beast until it cooks down! It is well worth it, though, especially if you love the flavours of cabbage rolls and Mediterranian cuisine blended with classic Eastern European basics. If you're only cooking for one, take heart - this freezes very well and if you portion pre-freezing you can be set for over a week!

Whole Wheat English Muffin Bread

Whole Wheat English Muffin Bread is perfect for the toaster, with a fine but spongy crumb and soft crust. I used oat milk creamer in the batter-like dough for a subtle sweetness and softness, and the whole thing can be ready in under 2 hours!

Growing up, I was all about the peanut butter and honey sandwiches. After Christmas, when we were faced with a glut of (delicious) Challah that was quickly going stale, we became masters of the sandwich, from PB&H at breakfast to hot turkey and gravy at lunch. The spongier and drier the bread, the better it was as all the fillings seeped in. The rest of the year we made so with "regular" bread - until Easter when the English muffins started proliferating the stores. English muffins are a weird beast - they really are boring until they are toasted and slathered with something - but they are also tiny! I have never been full off of one English muffin (except maybe when I was little) so I just opted out of them.

Enter, the English muffin bread. Yes, a whole loaf of nooks and crannies, begging to be popped into the toaster and slathered with whatever you please. Loaf form also prevents the whole wheat from becoming too gritty or prominent, and it stays fresh longer than the little guys too. Best of all is that you can control the size of your sandwich or toast - so a peanut butter sandwich has heft and staying power, even if you're grabbing it on the go. This loaf barely - barely cooled before it was cut into and tasted with a smear of butter, and for ease of storage and to maintain freshness Mom sliced and froze the rest. That way, you can pull out the number of slices you need, toast and go!

You will notice that the dough for this bread is way different from any other bread dough. It is a batter - no kneading, no rolling, no shaping. It's simply beat, scrape and bake. The high moisture content ensures maximum bubble and tenderness, leaving a spongy crumb just like the original muffins, and as a bonus you don't need to skip arm day at the gym (or bust out the dough hook). Just keep on going with the recipe and as long as your yeast isn't dead (or expired) you'll have bread on your table in less time than it takes to watch a Marvel movie.

Super Seedy Multigrain Sandwich Bread

These high rising loaves are packed with multigrain cereal, oats and a "super seed" mix of flax, chia and hemp seeds. Sweetened with honey, a slice or two is perfect toasted for breakfast with jam or your favourite nut butter!

I may have mentioned before that my mom (and I, back in the day) love "bits" in our bread. While there are (obviously) commercial loaves in the stores with various grains, nothing quite beats the homemade, real McCoy baked fresh. These loaves came about after my mom discovered a half-loaf of artisan multigrain bread from the market in the freezer, which was unfortunately freezer burned beyond use for anything but croutons or stuffing. I had also just come into possession of a beautiful jar of honey from my friend who has a backyard apiary, and upon tasting it I knew it would be perfect on toast, so why not in toast?

Turns out I had the base recipe from Restless Chipotle saved in my archives for a while... as in since 2016. Now, her recipe has changed and evolved over the years, and my version is different still. That said, it is an incredible medley of flavours and textures, rising high to the perfect "sandwich" height and ideal both fresh from the oven (if you don't care about tearing it) and toasted later on. I also love that the "add ins" are pretty variable. If you don't have the seed mix, pick your favourite (sunflower, pumpkin, chia and whole flax are all excellent choices) or use more oats instead. Vegan and avoiding honey? Use apple juice concentrate, pineapple juice (or pineapple honey), or agave. You can even cut down on the oil and use milk in it's place (though the loaf won't stay as soft for as long).

One thing I will say, is that as long as you have a bowl or a mixer that can handle the volume, make the full recipe. It is 100% worth it and it that way if things come up (which they inevitably do just as the bread runs out) you can pull out the second one from the freezer and save the day! As I'm writing this, my mom happened to look over my shoulder and ask when I'll be making this one again because it would be perfect for tomato sandwiches in Summer. I guess I have my marching orders!