Warm Me Up, Peanut Butter Cup!

Okay, okay, cheesy title I know. But I'm stuck home sick with a stomach bug (while it blizzards outside) while Andrew gets to go out for sushi with all his college buds before his last day tomorrow, so gimme this bit of leeway. I'll make it up to you in yumminess, I promise. Well, if you're like me and love the combination of smooth peanut butter and scrumptious chocolate, you will. If you don't, well... this might not be the post for you.

Yesterday my mom and I got to play Santa Claus (or the Devil incarnate, depending on who was dieting!) around her office by giving out shortbreads and chocolate chip cookies (recipe coming!) to her fellow co-workers. Other goodies I managed to bring in, though have no idea how well they were recieved, were these peanut butter cookies with (if you couldn't tell by the colours) yummy yummy bits of Smarties in them! Note that these are the Canadian chocolate from Nestle... not the American candy!! I really hope her co-workers (hi everyone!) did my mom a favour and took these off her hands for her, though, since she moaned that these were her favourites and that she'd be forced to eat them, making her gain some sort of tonnage (yeah right, Mom). All I know is that my chocolate chippers (and the chocolate chip - smartie cookies too) were almost all gone by the time I left that day. These are great and chewy, whole-grain nibbles with a bite from the candies throughout.

The Nuttiest Rainbow Cookies
Serves 24
1/3 cup shortening
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup honey
¾ cup smooth, low-fat peanut butter
1 egg
3 tablespoons non- or low-fat plain yogurt
1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup M&M or Smarties candies, slightly crushed

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together shortening, sugar, honey and peanut butter until smooth.
3. Beat in egg, yogurt, and vanilla.
4. In another bowl, blend flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended. Fold in M&Ms.
5. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto un-greased cookie sheets.
6. Bake 10 minutes, cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 154.4
Total Fat: 7.2 g
Cholesterol: 11.1 mg
Sodium: 71.6 mg
Total Carbs: 20.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.3 g
Protein: 3.6 g

Of course, being the cookie monster that I am, I would be out-of-place not to be submitted to something as wonderful as Susan's Eat Christmas Cookies event! The round-up is always being updated, too, so check out the worldwide goodies!

And... what goes better with cookies than something warm to drink?

Since it was so freaking cold and nasty today (both outside and in my Yoga studio... which for some inexplicable reason refuses to warm up beyond freezing temperature) my mind turned to all things warming and hearty... warm fireplaces, hearty stews, and hot chocolate. But not just any hot chocolate, ohhh no. Peanut butter and honey hot chocolate. I'm a convert of the flavour combo, what can I say?? This is an awesome blend... creamy peanut butter, thick golden honey and creamy milk... what could only make this better but rich, dark cocoa? The only note I will say on this recipe (besides make it, and enjoy!) is use no less than 2% milk for this (yes, I know... no 1%, no skim!), and whisk it well. You need the full creaminess for this.

Duo of Decadence Hot Chocolate
Serves 2
2 tbsp unsweeteened cocoa powder
3 tbsp cold water
1 1/2 cups milk (4% is best, use no less than 2%)
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp smooth peanut butter

1. In a small bowl, combine cocoa and cold water, mixing until thoroughly combined into a paste. Set aside.
2. In a saucepan, pour milk and honey and stir. Set over medium-low heat.
3. When milk is warmed through, stir in peanut butter and cocoa paste, whisking to froth slightly and combine fully.
4. Keep over heat until it reaches desired temperature, but do not let boil.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 233.4
Total Fat: 10.8 g
Cholesterol: 18.3 mg
Sodium: 112.5 mg
Total Carbs: 30.1 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.3 g
Protein: 9.0 g

Mushy Nanners... Mushy Mushy Nanners!

Who doesn't love a good banana split when the summer sun's shining onto a nice warm patio at your local ice-cream shop? The sweet creaminess of the ice-cream (French Vanilla or Chocolate Peanut Butter, please!) with the similarly sweet creaminess of the ripe banana is perfect when topped with a cherry and drizzled with fudge sauce. Forget the whipped cream, though. I hate that stuff. Cool Whip, I like, but only frozen (yeah, I know it's sull of bad-for-you stuff, but it tastes like ice cream! Plus I can't eat the regular, good stuff).

Have I made you hungry yet? Or has the blistering cold of the Northern wind tamed your ice-cream tongue for the year? No matter, I have something that will bring back those summer days for you and your family (and may just sneak off the cookie trays, down to sunnier weather). These are slightly cakey and puffy-looking, but have a great chewiness from the eggs and miniature marshmallows (on a side note, only egg whites are not good in this recipe). It's a great texture for an after-dinner nibble, or for the party trays!

Normally I reserve all my leftover, over-ripe bananas for my famous banana breads, but for these, I'll make an exception.

Chipper Banana-Split Cookies
42 Servings
2/3 c shortening
1/3 c unsalted butter, softened
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c flour
1 c whole-wheat flour
2 large bananas, mashed
1 c halved mini marshmallows
1 1/2 c mini bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Cream shortening, butter and sugars.
3. Add eggs and vanilla.
4. Combine salt, soda and flours.
5. Add alternately with mashed bananas to creamed mixture.
6. Fold in marshmallows and chocolate chips.
7. Drop by tablespoons on non-stick or lined cookie sheets.
8. Bake 9-11 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing to wire rack.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 123.4
Total Fat: 7.1 g
Cholesterol: 12.9 mg
Sodium: 5.9 mg
Total Carbs: 14.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g
Protein: 1.3 g

Can you believe it? I'm back on the cookie-making bandwagon created by Susan of FoodBlogga, and it preaches only one thing this holiday: Eat Christmas Cookies!

ARF / 5-A-Day: Sushi Cravings!

Wow... another week's flown right by! Only last week I was prepping to go out to lunch with some bakery clients, and now... well, I'm prepping to go out to lunch with a bunch of my bakery clients and friends while hocking my wares at my mom's office! The only difference is that there is now only 14 days to go until Christmas morning (where the heck did that time go?). The place we're heading is wonderful, albeit tiny, and has the freshest sushi of anywhere in Toronto I've had (Gonoe Sushi's the name of the place). I always get the same things when I go for sushi, and without a doubt theyre my faves: Tekka Maki (tuna roll), Kappa Maki (cucumber roll) and salad. I always gorge myself on the pickled ginger too (both mine and Andrew's, if he's with me haha). Those Japanese are definitely up to a lot of good with their ginger addition to cuisine, and especially my cuisine, since some days I feel so ill that all I crave is a plate of pickled ginger!

Pickled ginger (AKA gari) is usually served as a palate cleanser with sushi. Gari made from young ginger roots has a pinkish color to it, which results from the vinegar soak. Older, white ginger is fine to use too (it's pretty much all I can find short of heading out to the Asian market), but be warned... it is spicy!

There are a host of benefits to eating ginger, aside from the fact it tastes good, and they make it a great inclusion in Sweetnick's ARF / 5-A-Day event. For example, it works wonderfully as a nausea suppressant, and is one of the top antioxidant suppliers in any food group. Compounds in ginger have anti-inflammatory properties and are also known to have a stimulating effect on the muscles in the digestive tract.

Gari
Makes about 2 cups
2 lb fresh ginger root, peeled
2 tsp salt
3 cups rice-wine vinegar
2 cups sugar

1. With a very sharp knife (or a mandoline slicer if you have one) slice the ginger thinly and salt the pieces.
2. Leave one hour in a cool place.
3. Rinse and dry the ginger and put into a large jar.
4. Mix rice vinegar and sugar in a pan, bring to a boil.
5. Boil 2 minutes, then pour over ginger slices.
6. Cover the jar and store it in the refrigerator at least 5 days before use.

Fragrant Snow over SHF!

Well, it's turned into quite the winter wonderland around this place, and frankly I'm not reaaallly enjoying it. I mean, snow is pretty and all, but the de-icing and salting and sanding and shivering and blue fingers just dont do it for me. However, our Christmas tree is up, my stepfather has unboxed the 4 nativity scenes he's carried around for some odd reason (I mean, really... who needs FOUR?) and I've already made several batches of cookies, not to mention that Andrew's coming home in less than a week, so I am definitely into the Happy Holiday spirit. What better excuse to delve into one of the most comforting and (dare I say) naughty blogging events out there, the Domestic Goddess' Sugar High Friday?

The theme this go around, being hosted by Kochtopf, is pudding, so I'm serving up a deliciously sweet and seasonal-sounding rice pudding with sweet white chocolate, creamy Neufchatel cheese and fragrant jasmine rice forming a silky smooth custard-like dessert. Can I hear comfort food calling my name?

Fragrant Chocolate Snow
Serves 8
4 ½ cups 1% milk
2/3 cup jasmine rice
1 ½ tbsp sugar
2 tbsp vanilla
1 egg yolk
8 ounces Neufchatel (or light cream) cheese, very soft
8 ounces white chocolate chips

1. Combine first four ingredients in a large heavy saucepan.
2. Cook over medium-low heat until mixture thickens and rice is very tender, stirring occasionally, about one hour.
3. Reduce heat to low.
4. Whisk egg yolk and cheese in a small bowl; gradually whisk in a small amount of rice mixture.
5. Return all to the original pan and cook one minute, stirring constantly; do not let the mixture boil.
6. Add the white chocolate and stir until melted.
7. Spoon into individual bowls. Cover and chill until cold before serving.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 349.0
Total Fat: 16.3 g
Cholesterol: 53.3 mg
Sodium: 176.2 mg
Total Carbs: 40.2 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.5 g
Protein: 10.7 g

Sugar Cookies... Healthy?

Forgive me Santa, for trying to prevent your coronary this year...

Is this a yuletide sin? I made these for both my wonderful hairdresser Christina, my favourite teacher V, and the Exxon group's Christmas (or holiday, to be politically correct, *cough*) gifts this year. The Exxon "party" is on Wednesday (yay, more sushi lunch!) and since I'm always bringing them so many "not-so-healthy" treats I figured I could redeem myself a bit. Maybe? Ah well, I know I won't score any points with the Holiday purists who would rather scarf batches of shortbreads (not that it's a bad thing, come on, butter IS better!) but these are some good, flavourful eats anyway.

First up are some crispy, delicious whole-wheat brown sugar cookies. Ever-so-slightly crisp, they're deliciously caramel-flavoured and extraordinarily beautiful. If you are going with the DIY Christmas gift thing this year (as many people are, and I love that idea!), a decorated bag of these is such an excellent touch! If you (or those around you) have a major sweet tooth though, you may want to liberally frost these with royal icing or dip them in chocolate - these aren't incredibly sweet alone.

Caramelized Christmas Cookies
Makes 12
1/4 cup margarine (you can use soft, but not light), softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp almond or maple extract
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tbsp water
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat or spelt flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the margarine and brown sugar.
2. Beat in extracts and water.
3. Separately, whisk together flours, baking powder and cornstarch.
4. Slowly blend flour into the creamed mixture. Mix until well blended.
5. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 1 week.
6. Preheat oven to 375F.
7. Roll out dough fairly thin (about 1/8") on a floured surface.
8. Cut with cookie cutters and place 1" apart on cookie sheets (tip: flip sided sheets upside down for more even browning).
9. Bake 10 minutes, and cool completely on sheets.

Calories: 84.2
Total Fat: 3.4 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 34.8 mg
Total Carbs: 12.6 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.8 g
Protein: 1.2 g

This second recipe is a veganized, semi-healthified and scaled-down version of an old Crisco recipe (aren't back of the box recipes great?). It's great for making cut-outs that are rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking like snickerdoodles, or icing afterwards with royal icing (like I did). They are tender and crumbly due to the rice flour (which I discovered while trying to shift cookies from sheets to racks... losing 2 to the floor and being forced to repair 3 others with gratuitous icing), but my dad said they were delicious, perfectly sweet and toothsome, with a nutty backnote from both the oat flour and the almond extract. These may need more flour, depending on the humidity in your kitchen, I have made batches before that were super-soggy and others that were perfect. Go with the flow!

Tri - Flour Sugar Cookies

Makes 25-30

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 tbsp water
2 tbsp golden, corn or maple syrup
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Cream sugar and shortening.
3. Add water, syrup and extracts and beat until well blended.
4. Combine remaining ingredients in another bowl, gradually beat them into the creamed mixture.
5. Roll out dough on a floured board to a little thicker than 1/8" and cut out desired shapes.
6. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets about 6 minutes. Do not overbake!
7. Cool 2 minutes on sheets, then remove carefully to a wire rack.

Calories: 108.6

Total Fat: 5.5 g

Cholesterol: 2.9 mg

Sodium: 3.1 mg

Total Carbs: 14.3 g

Dietary Fiber: 0.4 g

Protein: 0.9 g

My favourite part about cookie-baking is decorating them. I went hog-wild with these ones, taking over 3 hours to ice just under 30 cookies with royal icing. Some were Jackson Pollock-y, others were closer to reality, but all look gorgeous to me!

So, I humbly proceed to submit these two little creations of mine to FoodBlogga's aforementioned event that I am so thoroughly enjoying, Eat Christmas Cookies!! Really, go check it out, there is something for everyone!