Tag: cookies

How to warm up

Brrr it got cold here! Saturday I was being stubborn and didn’t want to turn on the heat. So I baked a bunch of oatmeal cookies to warm up the house. Then I broke down and turned on the heat anyway. The animals were really happy about that. There were cats draped over floor registers all over the house. Now I’ve got too many cookies in my house. That’s a terrible problem, I know. These have chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and walnuts in ’em. I don’t hate raisins, but I prefer not to have them in my oatmeal cookies. Not sure why that is.

Cookie Time

Most of yesterday was spent busting out cookies for Danielle Distefano’s art show opening at Youngblood. If you didn’t come down last night you missed the cookies, but the show runs through August 31st. So you can still check out all the lovely ladies. And I dare you to get out of Youngblood without buying something.

So what about those cookies? These cute little guys are Almond and Rosewater cookies. I even made Kevin decorate some of them.

Kevin suggested we do some thumbprint cookies. These are kind of a pecan shortbread filled with strawberry jam. All filled by Kevin!

Sometimes, you just have to make something ridiculously decadent. Chick-O-Stick white chocolate chip cookies are absolutely decadent. Where the heck do you get vegan white chocolate chips? From Cosmo’s of course! Chick-O-Sticks? Your local gas station or convenience store.

These were a last minute decision. How can you make a bunch of cookies without including any chocolate? So I made a batch of cappuccino cookies with chocolate chips.

Gluten Free Coffee Biscuits

It’s always a good idea to have a few gluten free recipes up your sleeve just in case. And gluten free baking fascinates me. So I keep my  eye out for interesting looking recipes. I had the ingredients around for these Coffee Biscuits so I whipped up a half batch. I used the buckwheat flour and potato starch options. Oh, and a couple of other changes. I used guar gum and soy milk. And of course, the vegan options. The texture was really nice. Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. The buckwheat flour taste was a little strong and I can see how it might turn some people off. These don’t have a long shelf life and started getting stale within 3 days. They started getting crumbly too. I’d say these should be eaten within a day of being made for the best texture. 

How to negate a healthy meal

As the weather gets warmer, I enjoy lighter dinners. After two nights of the avocado grapefruit salad and then sushi at Rusan’s I moved on to a lovely Mediterranean Kale Salad from Raw Food Made Easy. I love raw kale and I don’t know why I don’t eat it more.

So how did I negate any possible health benefits I got from eating this lovely plate of greens? I made peanut butter cookies. With chocolate chips in ’em. And ate four. If you haven’t tossed chocolate chips into your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe yet, you’re missing out.

Pomegranate Bars

Last night I got experimental with the POM Wonderful pomegranate juice. Instead of stocking up at the liquor store and mixin’ and drinkin’ until I ended up with my arms wrapped around the toilet, I decided to try something a little safer. Pomegranate Bars. You know, like lemon bars, but pomegranate. I also tossed in some orange zest to make it interesting.

I was a little concerned when I tasted the filling. The pomegranate wasn’t coming through as much as I’d like. Also, the mixture ended up a kind of muddy greyish pink. So I added a little food coloring. The finished bar actually tasted better than I thought it would come out. But it still needs work. The bars would be awesome if some pomegranate seeds were stirred in just before pouring the filling into the bars. It would be pretty and give an interesting texture to them. To get more intense pomegranate flavor, next time I would reduce the pomegranate juice a little over heat to concentrate it. Another possibility is to mix it with lemon or lime juice to give it more of a tart flavor.