Chocolate Chip Cookies

Not everything can be healthy.  During the holidays, I still ate some cookies, I was just very careful about how many I ate.  These cookies were a winner.  They were so good that J wants me to make some without chocolate chips next time.  (He doesn't like chocolate much.)  I used the recipe from BakerByNature and made a few edits to go with my own tastes.  But I must give credit where it is due because this is the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever eaten. 

Ingredients:
14 Tbsp. salted butter
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 cup 2Tbsp. dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

(The chocolate chips is where I varied the recipe.  I prefer less chocolate and made my own mix of flavors. The original recipe called for 2 1/2 cups of chocolate chips.)

Directions:
Place the butter in a small sauce pan on medium-high heat.  Stir constantly until butter is melted and just starting to brown.  Scrape butter into a bowl and place the bowl in the refrigerator until butter is room temperature. 
After butter is back to room temperature, preheat oven to 375°F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt.  In the stand mixer bowl, add the brown butter and all sugar.  Beat until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and beat until smooth.  Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each egg.  Slowly fold in the flour mixture.  I still used the stand mixer for this but added it in slowly.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Roll the dough into desired size balls, I used 1-2 tablespoon size but I didn't measure.  I just did what felt and looked right.  Place the dough balls on the parchment paper leaving about 2 inches between each ball for spreading.  Back each baking sheet for 8-10 minutes.  The cookies should be golden at the edges but still soft in the center.  Let cookies cool a bit before transferring.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

I know there have been long stretches between posts lately.  My goal is to post several new things and catch up over summer break.  I have a long to-do list before school starts next year.  But I am pretty determined this summer because things are changing this year.  I am not sure exactly how things will be yet, but changes are happening.  For now, here is a new recipe.  This has been a lifesaver for us.  L has had more troubles again.  She has had more break outs on her skin this year along with chronic sinus and ear infections.  This on top of the tummy issues from before which we still believe is from food.  Those issues always improved with diet changes but never completely went away.  She seems to have become more sensitive and reactive lately.  We have scheduled some allergy tests to start at the end of the month.  Now that she is almost four years old, the doctors can actually see the problems she is having.  Now they believe what I have been telling them since she was six weeks old.  So now, we are finally getting some support by a few doctors.  Hopefully, we will be getting some real answers soon.  For now, we do what we can and these cookies have helped.  If she eats these cookies, they seem to help settle her stomach when she is having trouble eating and digesting.  I don't know the source of the original recipe but the original recipe has been changed a lot to suit our needs.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup grapeseed oil *
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  (The original recipe indicates using a mixer but I do all of this recipe by hand.)  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.  Beat in the egg until fully incorporated.  Then add the molasses and stir until combined.

In another bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients.  Stir dry ingredients into the wet and stir just until incorporated.  At this point, the dough gets very thick.  When everything is mostly together, I use my hands to finish mixing the dough.  Portion the dough into three pieces and roll each into approximately one inch logs.  (Beware:  If you have men or children in the house, you will get poop jokes here.  You will see what I mean in the pictures.  Trust me, it smells much better.  Ha!)  Wrap and chill for at least one hour.  These will be okay in the fridge up to overnight but I wouldn't leave them more than 24 hours without getting them finished.  However, the dough does do well in the freezer.  If you can't finish them or if you want to make an extra large batch and freeze some for next time, go for it!  Just put the dough in the freezer.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  On a floured work surface using a floured rolling pin, roll chilled dough out to desired thickness.  This is where you have options.  If you want a crunch ginger snap, roll the dough thin.  If you want a nice, soft molasses cookie, roll the dough thicker.  Use a small round cookie cutter to cut out cookies.  Don't forget to dip the cutter into a little flour too.  Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet, about an inch apart.  Bake for approximately 5-10 minutes.  Again, the time is changing factor.  In my moms oven, ten minutes is perfect.  In my oven, ten minutes is too much.  In my oven, five minutes is perfect for soft molasses cookies and eight minutes is perfect for crunchier ginger snaps.  If you want the crunchier cookies, go ahead and cook them close to the ten minutes.  If you want softer cookies, take them out early.  They will cook some after you take them out of the oven.


*The original recipe used softened butter.  If you are not dairy free, you could use butter.  You could also use a different kind of oil.  We prefer grapeseed oil because it is nearly tasteless.  Coconut and olive oils are good in many baked goods but are stronger tastes so they don't go with all foods.  Feel free to experiment.

And now for the pics:

 Finished Cookies:

Logs of dough, wrapped and ready to chill:

(now you can see what I mean by poop jokes)

Three of the batches went into the freezer:

I know I have mentioned this before, but I am going to mention it again.  If you haven't purchased one of these food savers and you want to do freezer cooking, once a month cooking, meal planning, etc., you should definitely spend the money.  It is worth it.:

Hot Chocolate Mix

NOTE:  I don't think this is corn free as is.  I may look for a different recipe this winter.

This stuff is better than Swiss Miss ever thought of being!  I made this recipe and it made four pint jars.  I gave some away for Christmas gifts.  Bonus points...  No crazy ingredients!

Ingredients:
3 cups nonfat dry milk powder
2 cups powdered sugar
1½ cups cocoa powder
1½ cups white chocolate chips
¼ tsp. salt

Directions:  Whisk together all ingredients and put through the food processor in batches.  I used my smaller processor and it took three batches to get it all processed.  It will depend on the size and capabilities of your food processor.  The dry mix can be stored in an airtight container for up to three months.

To make hot chocolate, pour 1/3 cup of the cocoa mix in one cup of hot milk or water.  Top with your preferred toppings.  I usually don't top it with anything and it's really good.

Note:  This is not my recipe.  I found it at melskitchencafe.

Vanilla Shortbread Cookies

These were very good.  The first bite was a little weird but they quickly became addicting.  And the toddler LOVED them.  She even started saying "cookie".  Well, it actually comes out "kie" but it's still a new word.  One note though, make sure the butter is soft enough.  It makes a huge difference in the taste and texture of the cookies.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
½ tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. corn-free vanilla extract

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the flour and salt.  In a mixer, add butter and sugar and beat until fluffy and light.  Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly throughout the mixing process.  Add in vanilla extract and mix until combined.  Add flour mix and carefully mix until combined, without over-mixing   The dough should stick together when clumped with fingers.  Put dough on a sheet of wax paper and roll out until about ¼ inch thick.  (I actually liked it better just a little thicker than this.)  Line baking sheets with wax paper and preheat oven to 325°F.  Cut out cookies with a cookie cutter or just using a pizza cutter/knife to make small squares/rectangles.  I used some Christmas cookie cutters this time.  Place cookies onto pan with about and inch of space between.  Bake until firm and edges are starting to turn golden, about 10 minutes.  Be careful not to overcook.  Let cool then serve.

Note:  This recipe was modified from HERE.

Christmas Crack

NOTE:  This is not corn-free as is.  I may work on a corn free version later.

This is a great candy for the holidays.  Everyone who tried it liked it.  It didn't stay as hard as most toffee type candies so I left it in the fridge most of the time.  My mom left hers in a bag on the counter though and loved it just like that.

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 sleeve saltines
1½-2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (the original recipe was for 2 cups but I prefer a little less chocolate) 

Directions:
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and combine with brown sugar.  Bring to a boil.
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cover a cookie sheet with foil.  Line the pan with saltines.  Pour the butter and brown sugar syrup over the saltines.  Some of the crackers will float so you will have to line them back up and make sure they are covered by the syrup.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and pour chocolate chips over the top.  When chips are softened, use a spatula to spread it evenly across the candy.  If you need this to harden very fast, you can put it in the freezer.  I put it in the fridge over night.  Freezing might actually help with the hardening problem I had.  When it is hard enough, dump out of the pan and remove the foil.  Break into pieces and enjoy.

This was eaten up before I could get a picture of the broken pieces.  Obviously everyone liked this stuff.  Next time I will make sure and get a picture of it broken into pieces.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins

I have a bunch of chocolate chips left over after Christmas.  Yes, they keep well in the freezer, but I thought I would go ahead and use some.  I get sugar cravings sometimes, as most women do, but I've tried to start making something semi-healthy to satisfy the cravings.  Even if there is sugar in it, the recipe is mostly unprocessed.  All of my guinea pigs raved about this recipe.  It was our New Year's Eve treat.  We taste tested these muffins, various teas my sister bought to try and a bottle of Yellow Tail Moscato.  It was a great night!  

Ingredients:

1½ cups old fashioned oats

2 and 2/3 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

4 tsp. baking powder (corn free)

½ tsp. salt 

1-2 Tbsp. cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

1½ cups canned coconut milk

1 stick (½ cup) butter, melted

1 cup chocolate chips (I am still looking for chocolate chips with acceptable ingredients)

Directions:

Combine the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix in the eggs, milk, and butter.  Stir until the flour is moistened. Mix the chocolate chips in.  Fix greased or paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until tops are light golden.  Makes approximately 18 muffins.

Note:  I have a picture of the muffins but it is on my phone at the moment.  I will update with the picture when I can.

Brownie in a Mug

I know I haven't posted much lately.  Life is hectic.  And now the holidays are upon us so things are even more crazy.  I will have many posts after Christmas since I am making so much stuff for Christmas.  This year is all about saving money since it has been so rough economically at our house just as it is in many other houses now.  But I can't post anything until the gifts are all distributed.  But for now, I have a simple recipe post.

I know it's holiday season so some people will already have way too many sweets but at my house, we really don't do much sweet stuff, even at the holidays.  But there are times when I want just a little something sweet but don't want a whole plate of cookies or pan of brownies laying around.  So I make this brownie in a mug. There are tons of recipes for these all over the internet, especially on Pinterest.  But I've tried most of them and most of them are awful.  But this one I can actually handle.

Ingredients:
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
2 Tbsp. cocoa
Pinch of salt
2 Tbsp. oil (I use olive for everything and it's good in this too)
3 Tbsp. water

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a mug or bowl.  I use a very large coffee mug because it is difficult to cook through in a regular coffee mug.  Make sure all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.  Cook in microwave for 1 minute 40 seconds.  Let cool and enjoy.  Or better yet, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Strawberry Muffins

I believe this is the third muffin recipe I've tried and blogged.  Obviously, I LOVE MUFFINS!!!  Anyway, these are delicious and, as with the others, versatile.  You can use any fruit in them.  I love strawberries and always have a bag of frozen ones on hand.  Of course, you can use fresh also.  It is just hard to find good, fresh strawberries for more than maybe a month out of the year.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
½ cup and 6 tsp. sugar, divided
2 tsp. baking powder (corn-free)
½ tsp. salt
1 cup canned coconut milk (I ended up using just a splash more than this because my batter was too dry)
1 egg
¼ cup butter, melted
sliced strawberries (I used about 2½ cups of thawed strawberries)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grease or line 12 muffin cups.  Combine flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk in the milk, egg and butter.  Fold in the strawberry slices.  Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle each muffin with ½ tsp. sugar.  Bake approximately 15 minutes, until golden.

This recipe was modified from HERE.

Easy Cocoa Frosting

I've been experimenting with homemade icing because L's second birthday is coming up and she can't have store bought cakes and icings.  This is a really easy and really good chocolate icing.  And that says a lot because I am picky about chocolate.  I have never been able to get icing to come out right.  I have always gone to my mom to make it for me.  But I made this one on my own.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. canned coconut milk
½ tsp. corn-free vanilla extract

Directions:
In a small bowl combine all ingredients together.  Beat to your preferred texture.  Add more milk if necessary.  I actually used a whisk by hand to mix this.  I tend to experiment after the family has gone to bed so I don't use electronics.

This is enough frosting for an 8" or 9" cake/brownie.  Double this recipe for a 9x13 cake/brownie.

I don't have a picture of this one but I will when I make a cake/brownie with it.

Creamy Lime Squares

This is really good but nobody else in my family liked it.  I will try it again when L is older and more willing to try new things.

Note:  Make sure you grease the pan REALLY well.  I just sprayed a light layer of my olive oil spray and it wasn't enough because you have to press the crust into the bottom.

This is not my own recipe.  Where did I find it?  Pinterest of course.  And HERE is the original blog where I found the recipe.

Ingredients:
For crust:
1 cup corn-free flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1stick butter, cold and cut up
For creamy lime filling:
Juice from 5-6 limes (I used 6 like the recipe but it was almost too strong)
1¼ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
4 eggs
Zest of 1 lime
Green food coloring (optional but without the color it is a clear yellow; so far I have not found a trustworth corn-free food coloring)
Corn-free powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
To make the crust, combine the sugar, flour and sea salt in a large bowl.  Cut the cold butter and work with your fingers until the mixture resembles cornmeal.  Press into a greased nine inch pan and bake for 20 minutes, until golden.
To make the filling, whisk together the granulated sugar and flour in a bowl.  Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking well after each addition.  Add the zest, lime juice and food coloring and mix well.
Pour filling over hot crust and return to oven to bake for another 20 minutes.  When done, the filling will not jiggle.
Chill.


NOTE:  Make sure you chill this.  The original recipe did not say to chill but it was way too strong before it was chilled.  Somehow being cold made the bars taste better.

My picture isn't even close to as pretty as the one on the original recipe blog.  But here it is anyway.  Can we say St. Patrick's Day treat?

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

This was one of those recipes I put together one night when I was craving muffins but had to make them with what I had in my pantry. I threw the blueberries in at the end but this can be just lemon muffins if you prefer.  Or you could put a different fruit in them.  I'm thinking Lemon Strawberry Muffins, Lemon Raspberry Muffins...  The possibilities are endless when you start getting creative in the kitchen.  This is actually a mix of a couple of different recipes but they came out great the first time.

Ingredients:
2 cups corn-free all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
5 Tbsp. butter, melted (I have had good luck baking with grapeseed or coconut oil for dairy free)
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 egg
Zest of one large lemon
Blueberries
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Toss the first measure of sugar, baking powder and flour together in one bowl.  In a separate bowl mix together butter, milk and egg with a fork.  Add the lemon zest and stir.  Combine the dry and liquid ingredients.  Mix together but don't over mix.  Add blueberries now.  Spray 12 muffin tins with olive oil or line with muffin cups.  Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cups.  Bake for 10-15 minutes.  While the muffins bake, stir together the second measure of sugar and lemon juice.  Do not mix until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over hot muffins as soon as they come out of the oven.  Let set for 5 minutes.  Then dump out the muffins.

Snickerdoodles from Scratch

I am catching up on my blogs so there may be several posts at one time sometimes.  I have a babysitter today so this is what I am doing.  Since L is allergic to corn (and corn is in everything store bought) and I have been trying to eat healthier, I have been cooking everything.  I don't want to deprive us of sweets now and then or for special occasions so I make sweets from scratch too.  So far I have lost over 30 pounds doing this cooking thing and I still eat the sweets I make.  I don't make dessert everyday or even once a week but if I am craving something sweet and fruit doesn't cut it, I make something.  Usually, I already have ingredients on hand to make a batch of cookies or muffins.

Here is a from scratch recipe for snickerdoodles.  Why snickerdoodles?  It is the only cookie J will eat.  Picky husband.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter or grapeseed oil
1½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 ¾ cups flour
2 tsp. corn free baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix butter, 1½ cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in large bowl. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.  Chill dough.  The original recipe said to chill the cookie sheet instead of greasing it but I didn't do that.  I just greased the pan with a bit of grapeseed oil.  While your dough is chilling, mix the 3 Tbsp. sugar and 3 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl.  Roll the dough in your hands to make 1 inch balls.  Coat by gently rolling the balls of dough in the sugar mixture.  Place on cookie sheet and bake approximately 10 minutes.  (I never cook them the full amount because I like the cookies soft)  Remove cookies from the pan immediately.

Strawberry Banana Ice Cream

Since we have a corn allergy in the house, we cannot eat store bought ice cream or popsicles.  So I've been experimenting a little.  This is my first successful homemade ice cream.  L loved it.

Ingredients:
1 sliced and frozen banana
1 handful frozen strawberries
2 Tbsp coconut milk (you could use any milk here but this makes it dairy/nut-free)
1 tsp corn-free vanilla extract (I'm still working on corn-free substitutions here; It can be left out)

Blend all ingredients until smooth.  Serve.  This only makes about 1 serving but was plenty for me and L to share.

I always have frozen strawberries on hand because they are easy to buy that way.  I didn't have a frozen banana so the ice cream wasn't quite frozen when it came out of the blender.  I poured it in a bowl and put it in the freezer and by the time dinner was done, it was close to normal ice cream texture.  If you have a frozen banana though, it should come out of the blender like ice cream.

Note:  For those of you with a real sweet tooth who need sugar on your fruit, you may need to add a tiny bit of sugar to this.  I liked it as is but fruit is plenty sweet to me.  But remember, more sugar = less healthy.

Safe Cookie Dough

If you are like me, you don't really care to eat an actual cookie.  The dough is what I want.  I don't eat sweets much but when a craving strikes I like to eat a spoonful or two of cookie dough.  I'm not too worried about getting salmonella from raw egg.  The statistics show that salmonella from an egg is actually pretty rare. But of course, it gets blown out of proportion every time it happens.  I have NEVER been sick from eating cookie dough.  However, when I was pregnant, I didn't risk it.  I also don't risk it with my young daughter.  So, I started looking for a recipe I could make without egg.  I'm sorry I don't have a picture of this one.  When I made it, I just made a little bowl of it.  Well, actually a couple of little bowls to get it right.  None of the recipes I followed got it exactly so I modified until I liked what I had.

And here it is:

Ingredients:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup butter, softened (Note:  Do not melt!  It makes the texture all wrong.  Just let it soften or just starting to melt)
3/4 cup white sugar (you can use raw/organic too as long as it is a finer grain)
2 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (using an extract is not corn-free so use one you make yourself; I have yet to find an alcohol that is for sure corn-free so I am experimenting with vanilla beans instead; hopefully I'll have a better update for this ingredient soon)

Directions:
In a bowl (Recipes always say this but I don't know why. What else are you going to put it in?), cream together butter and sugar.  Mix in flour and vanilla.  It will be a little dry and crumbly at this point.  Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing until you get the right texture.  I found the right amount is usually about 2 tablespoons but this may vary with weather changes.  The weather always affects my baking.

Now, chill and enjoy.  I like it but it is really rich.  Don't expect to eat this entire amount by yourself in one day.  A spoonful or two is perfect to curb that sugar craving though.