Kettle Korn Cookies

I never used to like the taste of Kettle Korn. The sugar, the butter, the strange combination of salt and sweet with a poufy, crunchy chew that too often melted into stale gumminess by the time you got to the bottom of the bowl - it just didn't appeal to my younger palate. Times changed, I grew up and fell in love with the flavour of the Scouts' microwave variety - nowhere near a nutritious choice, but the rich, balanced flavour made it worth every calorie. Eventually I found mini bags of it which sated my cravings, but those disappeared from our stores quickly, leaving me with only one bag left. Thankfully (in a way) the high oil content in the snack meant I couldn't eat it anymore anyways, but that still left me with the problem of this extra bag.

Then I saw this post on SugarHero for Kettle Corn Cookies a la Trader Joe's. Never having been in one of those superstores myself, I didn't have a point of reference, but I did know what I wanted in my cookies. Or rather, what I didn't want. The economics of our house right now meant butter and eggs are reserved for meals, rather than baked goods - especially considered that the end product wasn't going to be around for family nosh (not that it would matter, nobody here is willing to eat baked goodies anymore). I also wanted to minimize or eliminate the amount of white flour and sugar that went into the batch, since kettle corn is by nature sweet!

After a few Googles, I came across the Amazon blog Al Dente's recipe for Popcorn Cookies, which were not only completely whole grain but vegan! I had a few problems getting the mixture originally posted to come together into anything other than sandy crumbs, so I modified along the way until I was rewarded with a sticky batter ready for the pan. I also got far fewer cookies than Sidra Forman's original recipe dictated, but that wasn't too big of a deal. Because the originals also only used plain popcorn (and weren't really designed to be sweet from what I could see) I played around by using a mixture of raw sugar, Krisda's stevia baking blend and Nature's Agave delicious, rich amber agave syrup and doing away with white sugar altogether. I actually really loved the caramelly flavour the agave gave to the fine-grained mixture, especially around the edges where it added a little bit of toffee crunch. I can only imagine how delicious it would be in a smoothie or pudding where it's not cooked out at all!

Dental Soft Doggy Bites

Those of you who work in the healthcare industry will know what I mean by the term "dental soft". Actually, if you've ever had your teeth pulled, braces tightened or other oral procedures done, you'll likely be familiar with the feeling of being unable to chew much of anything! Most of my experience with the phrase came from working in a retirement facility coding and modifying menu charts, and it was a more or less running joke in our family since the home would simply overcook or food-processor chop the whole menu together and spoon feed the rather unappetizing result to the seniors. But lo and behold, that short co-op of mine came calling, just not in the human form I expected.

We have an old dog.

Cinnamon - Raisin Bread for Dad

When my dad (another die-hard cinnamon raisin bread fan) found out I was making the sister a loaf of his preferred breakfast carb, he sent me a twitter message asking if I could make him one too! Of course, I had to say yes. Even if it wasn't family, the thought of making bread again was a thrill I haven't really had the pleasure of since my mom decided to lose her post-marriage weight and I jumped at the chance to do it.

With my dad, unlike my sister, I wanted to pay a closer attention to the nutrition I was incorporating into the dough and filling. My dad's a Type II diabetic and fairly health conscious these days, knowing his numbers and trying his best to lose the weight that undoubtedly contributed to the condition. He's doing well, and I want to keep him going that way for a long time! He works some strange hours some times and as a result snacks more so than meals are a staple of his menu, so when I crafted this version of yesterday's bread, I made it higher in fibre and protein for more "staying power" and an impact on the carb count. Instead of sugar in the dough, I used the low-glycemic maple syrup and a stevia baking blend, and cut down the sugar in the filling with help from a caramel-flavoured packet of stevia and nixing the cinnamon chips.

This bread doesn't rise as high or need as much bake time as yesterday's loaf did, mostly because the use of the gluten free chickpea flour, psyllium fibre husks and oat bran don't "spring" and I remembered to do the filling properly this time! It is still all the things a good cinnamon raisin bread should be, sweet and spicy with pops of juicy raisins, but with a nice nutty undertone.

I'm sending this loaf off to Susan's Friday round up at YeastSpotting.

Sister's Sweet Cinnamon - Swirl Bread

French toast just isn't French toast without cinnamon-raisin bread. At least, that's how my family sees it. Our weekend breakfasts would fill the house with the spicy, sweet scent of blooming cinnamon and slowly cooking egg, culminating in a grand finale of maple syrup-drenched slabs of custardy bread with a glass of OJ on the side. That's still our favourite way to enjoy the beautifully rolled, swirly loaves, and my sister even sometimes gilds the lily by simply toasting a few pieces of our standard storebought thick-cut cinnamon-raisin bread and smearing them with Nutella. Yes... I said Nutella. It's not my taste preference (I have a personal bias against melted peanut butter or Nutella on bread, not to mention I generally don't like fruit and chocolate together [notable exceptions being strawberries and cherries dipped in bittersweet goodness :-)]) but who am I to judge?

My sister's coming home from her second year of university today, and like most post-secondary students her diet underwent a bit of an overhaul while she was away. Ironically though, instead of the junk food, ramen-noodle and booze eating patterns you hear about new students developing, she went the opposite way. She came home on breaks asking for brown rice vermicelli, green peas, salad and whole wheat bread! Since her beloved loaf is not of the whole wheat variety, I wanted to make her one that she could take with her to her new job away in Guelph this Summer.

Her loaf uses the same basic principles of my favourite cinnamon-raisin bread, incorporating cinnamon chips into the "swirl" and making an enriched yeast dough to hold it together, but she's not a fan of coconut milk or "grainy" bread so I just switched up those ingredients for regular dairy and plain whole wheat flour. I also messed up the filling portion somewhat (which is why you read the recipe first, kids!) and mixed everything with the egg instead of using the egg to brush the dough pre-sugar sprinkle. It made rolling it a bit touch-and-go, and very messy, but eventually it all turned out. It rose beautifully and smelled decadent as it baked - even my stepfamily said so - and while the more "liquid" filling meant a slightly longer baking time (and greater crust burning risk) it was nothing that a tent of foil couldn't solve.

I'm submitting this to Susan's Friday round up at YeastSpotting

Gluten Free Lemon Poppy - Seed Cookies

I'm a huge lemon eater, and lately it seems like citrus as a whole have wrestled their way into the string of things I've been baking! I love lemon-poppyseed EVERYTHING, and always have. The other day, for example, my mom and I were talking about seeing her old office cronies and memories of their cafeteria came to our minds. Looking back, the food there was anything but fine, fresh (or even particularly flavourful) dining. One "hot" serving station, cling-wrapped sandwiches with suspect ingredients, stale bagels, and possibly some ice-cold, pre-made salads, made up the bulk of the space (I doubt it's changed much) and usually people were only dropping in for a coffee or a between-meeting snack. It wasn't one of the most inviting spaces in the building, but when you're a 10 year old kid with a day off school and you're hanging out at your parent's workplace before a doctor's appointment, the prospect of going down there mid morning for a drink and a snack was manna. On those trips with mom, my (food) order would remain constant - one of their to-die-for gigantic lemon poppyseed muffins. I'm sure they came from some warehouse supplier (like the bagels and maybe the sandwiches did), but they were moist, just dense enough to fill you up and most importantly, HUGE and sugar laden!

I've only posted a single lemon-poppyseed muffin recipe on this blog, and truth be told I wasn't a fan of it. It didn't feel right somehow, and I've yet to figure out the key to those long ago confections. Even my lemon poppyseed loaves over the years have been hit and miss - while I once tried (and failed spectacularly) to make one of Anna Olson's cakes (which was a tragedy, since it looked so delicious on screen), there have been successes. I think, if I was to try again, a combination of my Sticky Lemon-Poppy Loaf and my favourite Poppyseed - Layered Lemon Loaves recipes would be close, if not dead on.

But I haven't done that here. Instead, I made cookies. And not only are these little shortbread-like two biters very lemony and seedy, they're gluten free, egg free, dairy free and easily made vegan by swapping out the honey for brown rice syrup or agave nectar. I saw the original in a copy of Parenting Magazine, who in turn took it from Elana's Pantry, but of course I had to make some changes along the way too!

I'm submittng this to Ricki's  Wellness Weekend event! What's your favourite lemon poppyseed treat?