Chewy Ginger Rye Cookies

I made these for a holiday cookie swap at my office. I loved them! They were soft and yummmay. Not super gingery though :) This is from Bon Apetit

In this cookie, rye flour pulls double duty, pairing with molasses and ginger in both the deep, toasty batter and the crunchy streusel topping. It adds an earthy-nutty dimension (and absorbs more molasses than all-purpose flour) for a smoky, caramel-y, rye whiskey-esque finish. The result is something like gingerbread, but softer and way more delicious. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (128 g) all-purpose flour
• 1¼ tsp. baking soda
• 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. ground cloves
• ¾ cup (110 g) plus 6 Tbsp. (60 g) rye flour, divided
• 3 tsp. ground ginger, divided
• 1¼ tsp. kosher salt, divided
• ⅓ cup (50 g) finely chopped crystallized ginger
• ⅔ cup robust-flavored (dark) molasses
• ¼ cup (packed; 50 g) dark brown sugar
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large egg yolks
• 6 Tbsp. (90 g) raw sugar

  
  

  RECIPE PREPARATION

  • Whisk all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ¾ cup rye flour, 2 tsp. ground ginger, and 1 tsp. salt in a medium bowl to combine; add crystallized ginger and toss until coated and evenly distributed. Whisk molasses, brown sugar, and ¾ cup melted butter in a medium bowl to combine. Add egg yolks and whisk just until egg yolks are absorbed but mixture is still very dark, about 10 seconds. Add dry ingredients and fold until no streaks of flour remain. Let sit, uncovered, at room temperature 30 minutes (batter will thicken as it sits).
  • Meanwhile, place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk raw sugar, remaining 6 Tbsp. rye flour, remaining 1 tsp. ground ginger, and remaining ¼ tsp. salt in a small bowl to combine. Add remaining room-temperature butter and smash together until mixture resembles clumpy wet sand; this is your streusel topping.

    • 
      

      Using a 1-oz. ice cream scoop, portion out dough (about 2 Tbsp. each) and roll into balls between your palms. Working one at a time, toss balls in streusel mixture to coat and place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 3" apart. Bake 1 sheet of cookies until they have spread and are slightly cracked and just set around the edges and streusel is lightly browned, 8–10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on baking sheet. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Bake remaining sheet of cookies.
    • Do Ahead: Dough can be rolled into balls 2 weeks ahead. Freeze on a baking sheet; transfer to resealable plastic freezer bags. Let sit at room temperature 30 minutes before rolling in streusel and baking.

      
      

Xx

1. I didn’t have robust molasses and through all my googling I determined that blackstrap molasses would not work so I used the regular kind. Could be why I didn’t really feel the “rye whiskey” finish they describe although I’m pretty good with that.
2. I found the dough was quite soft even after letting it rest for 30 minutes and it spread in the oven too. In the future m, is refrigerate it for longer.
3. I rolled them into 1pz by weight balls
3. The streusel didn’t look as cool on my cookies because they spread too much boo.
4. I legit used crystallized ginger from the Whole Foods bulk section this time and not candied ginger. It’s a pain to chop either way.
5. These cookies are soft and yummy and I would make again.

Pecan, Oat, and Dark-Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Made these cookies once before for a friend who is gluten and dairy free. I wanted to make them again to see if I still liked them, and I do!

Notes

My thoughts
1. Nutty. I did pull out the food processor to grind out the pecans
2. I used 72% chocolate. I liked it.
3. I halved the recipe and that’s probably a good thing. It’s hard to eat a full batch of these with just two people.

Pic:

Streusel banana bread

This recipe is from Martha—it was featured in a collection about “Morning Stars”—great breakfast baked goods, and it was described as a marvelous cross between banana bread and coffee cake. I mostly saved the recipe because the pictures were so beautiful (the link should work to see them).

https://www.marthastewart.com/1537880/streusel-banana-bread

Ingredients

Streusel

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed until smooth (1 cup)

Directions

Streusel

• Step 1
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack in lower third. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan; line with parchment, leaving a 1-inch overhang on long sides. In a bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in butter and pecans until small clumps form and mixture is evenly moistened. (Streusel can be made ahead and refrigerated, covered, up to 3 

  Cake

  • Step 1
    In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk; stir in bananas. Make a well in flour mixture and pour banana mixture in. Stir together until just combined (do not overmix). Spoon half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle half of streusel evenly over batter. Add remaining batter, then sprinkle remaining streusel evenly over top.
  • Step 2
    Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour, 20 minutes. (If top is browning too quickly, tent with foil.) Let cool in pan 20 minutes, then transfer using parchment to a wire rack. Let cool completely before serving.

My pictures and thoughts:

My thoughts:

1. I used very sour kefir in the place of buttermilk. I used large eggs, I measured everything out by volume. I used two frozen bananas (that were superripe when I froze them) that I defrosted and mashed and one not frozen banana. I immersion blended the bananas to get rid of all the lumps. I had leftover streusel from the ginger cookies recipe (which I haven’t yet posted, whoops) and even though it was different-ish (spelt flour, turbinado sugar) I just added some unsalted butter and chopped pecans into it and used it anyway. I actually really like the subtle crunch imparted by the turbinado sugar in the streusel and would consider repeating that. Because I used leftover streusel, there wasn’t a ton so I skimped on the middle layer so that the top would be covered—which was a shame because the internal layer that was there was delicious. 

2. Probably because my streusel was not made with a recipe, it sort of sank into the cake and flattened, but it was still fabulous. The cake itself is plush and yummy. 

3. In my oven at 350, it was done after about an hour (I took it out at an hour and six minutes just to be safe.
4. I would totally make again, as it is still pretty good four days later. I would consider trying to replace some flour with whole wheat, but certainly not all.

Celeriest celery and potato soup

Made this recipe from Food52 because we had so much celery in the fridge and no firm plans on how to use it up. Same story with some potatoes on the counter.



Ingredients:

Ingredients 

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 7 to 8 ribs celery, roughly chopped
• 1 pound (usually 1 or 2) russet potatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 3 cups water, plus more as needed
• 1 tablespoon chicken broth concentrate (such as Better Than Bouillon)*
• 1 teaspoon celery seed, crushed in the palm of your hand
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Sauté the celery, potato, and onion until slightly softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the water and chicken concentrate (*or 3 cups of your favorite stock), bring to a boil, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Sprinkle in celery seed. In a blender or with a stick blender, puree soup until smooth, adding more water or stock as needed for desired thickness. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

So my thoughts: 

1. Came together easily. I used Dutch baby potatoes because that’s what I had. 

2. I added the full teaspoon of celery seed but I think I should’ve been more conservative, because it really had a bitter taste that came through. 
3. So the bitterness is there a day later. I would make this soup again but adjust the seasoning. Add garlic, less celery seed, maybe some paprika, etc. 

Chocolate Chip cookies with rye flour and dairy free

Made these cookies because I’m trying to reduce the amount of dairy I consume (it’s going ehh) and I had the recipe saved for a while.

I was intrigued by the rye flour in there and the walnuts (I love cookies with nuts!)

Recipe from Real Simple magazine

Meet a better for you chocolate chip cookie that we might even prefer to the back of the bag recipe. Thanks to coconut oil, these cookies are moist and chewy on the inside and crispy around the edges—the best of both worlds! The recipe uses white whole wheat flour, which has the texture and flavor of all-purpose flour but four times the fiber. Chopping your own chocolate (versus using chips) is worth the extra couple of minutes: that way you'll have bits and pieces of chocolate in every bite, with molten pockets throughout.

Ingredients:

1¼ cups white whole-wheat flour 

½ cup rye flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup extra-virgin coconut oil, in solid form

¾ cup granulated sugar 

½ cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg 

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped dark chocolate (about 6 oz.)

¼ cup chopped walnuts, toasted 

How to Make It

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the whole-wheat flour, rye flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat the coconut oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Fold in the chocolate pieces and walnuts. Using damp hands, shape the mixture into 28 balls and place on the prepared sheets. Bake until the edges are lightly brown, 12 to 14 minutes.

Mmm

My notes: 

1. I toasted the walnuts and chopped them up. I also used 72% dark chocolate that I chopped 

2. I half liquefied the coconut oil so that I could measure it better and then let us solidify in the measuring cup before making the recipe. I tried to avoid using the electric better but eventually pulled  it out because I just couldn’t get the coconut oil to cream with the butter by hand (it was just clumpy). 

3. Baked it in our oven for 12 minutes, but next time would pull out even sooner because the bottoms of these cookies over darkened. 

4. Cookies have a nice domed shape to them, and taste best when cool. They are crispy— perhaps if I’d pulled them out a wee bit earlier they’d have been chewier on the inside. 

5. I would totally make these again, as they are delicious! I’d consider just using chocolate chips next time to see if eliminating the chocolate shreds, there’s less browning on the bottom of the cookie. 

Pics

Mashed Parsnips

Made this for the baby! Trying to expand his repertoire of food...

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• 2 lb. medium parsnips, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-1/2- to 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
• Finely grated zest of 1 small lemon, plus 1 Tbs. juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh chives, mint, parsley, dill, or a mixture

Preparation

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the parsnips and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain the parsnips in a colander and let them steam under a clean kitchen towel for about 5 minutes.
  Return the parsnips to the pot and mash them with a potato masher, keeping them rather rough. Stir in the crème fraîche, butter, lemon zest, and juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a warm serving bowl and sprinkle with the chopped herbs.

My notes:
Yup, you do have to core the woody center part of the parsnip, who knew?!
I used sour cream instead of creme fraiche
Omitted the lemon zest, but did squeeze a bit of juice.
I used a mix of parsley and mint.
The baby was a fan!

Nectarine Cobbler

Made this recipe from Family Circle:

https://www.familycircle.com/recipe/cobbler/nectarine-cobbler/

Ingredients

• 6 nectarines, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Pinch of nutmeg

Biscuits:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

Directions

1. 1Heat oven to 375 degrees . Coat a 2-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In bowl, combine nectarines, sugar, cornstarch and nutmeg. Pour into dish.

Prepare Biscuits:

1. 1In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg, butter and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Stir sour cream mixture into the flour mixture until a dough is formed.
2. 2On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll out dough to 1/3-inch thickness. Using a 1-3/4-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out 6 biscuits. Gather dough together and repeat for a total of 12 biscuits.
3. 3Place biscuits on top of fruit mixture, spacing evenly over fruit filling, and brush with milk. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes, until biscuits are browned and fruit is bubbly. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

My changes: 

1. I didn't use the entire 1/2 cup of white sugar in the filling-- I probably used closer to 1/3 cup, because the fruit was pretty ripe. 

2. I used 5 nectarines/peaches (and left the skins on) and then added some blueberries, a few very, cherry plums. I cut the nectarines into thin slices. 

3. I added spices -- cardamom and cloves to the filling as well as a nice squeeze of lemon juice. 

4. I used full fat sour cream instead of reduced fat sour cream

5. The biscuit dough came out quite sticky for me. I attribute this to one of several reasons: I did my best to measure out a 3/4 cup of it, but I may have been off.  I also used full-fat, not low-fat sour cream. I didn't do the best job of rolling out the dough to the thickness they recommended (mostly because it was so sticky, and I was wary of adding too much flour to be able to roll it out. I used an 8x8 pan (which worked volume-wise) which didn't have a lot of top surface area, so I couldn't place the biscuits down in a single layer. So long story, but the dough was tricky to handle and the underside of the biscuits didn't cook where they overlapped. Next time, I'd be sure to not overlap the biscuits, OR partially cook them separately and then transfer them on top midbake. 

6. I would consider making again, though, because it tasted great! 

Gluten free (and dairy free) banana almond butter muffins

Gluten-Free Banana-Almond Butter Muffins

For additional crunch, top each muffin with about 1 tablespoon of granola before baking.

1 hour 15 mins15 minsMakes one dozen

TOTAL TIMEPREPYIELD

Ingredients

• Safflower oil, for brushing (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups almond butter
• 3 bananas, mashed (1 1/4 cups), plus 1 banana, thinly sliced
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple-cider vinegar

Directions

1. 
   

   1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with baking cups, or lightly brush with oil. In a medium bowl, whisk together almond butter, mashed bananas, eggs, sugar, salt, baking soda, and vinegar until just combined.
2. 
   

   2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups; top each with 2 to 3 banana slices. Bake until golden and tops spring back when lightly touched, about 18 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes in tin, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

My thoughts:
1. I used a mix of raw almond butter and TJ's mixed nut butter. I did not top the muffins with sliced banana, though in order to make them more visually appealing, I would consider it next time.
2. Made a dozen muffins, took about 15ish minutes in my oven
3. I threw in some cinnamon because I felt like it needed a little more flavor.
4. Yummy hot out of the oven!

I had this saved in my cooking folder, and decided to make it on a day when I had so much ripe fruit I had to do something with it all.

Peach-and-Raspberry Oat Cobbler

Rolled oats add texture and richness to the sweet biscuit topping for this easy-to-make cobbler.

3 hours 40 mins25 mins8

TOTAL TIMEPREPSERVINGS

Ingredients

Filling

• 2 1/2 pounds peaches, cut into 1/2-inch wedges (8 cups)
• 1 1/4 cups (6 ounces) raspberries
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Topping

• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup rolled oats, plus more for sprinkling
• 3/4 cup cold heavy cream, plus more for brushing and serving (optional)
• Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. 
   

   1. Filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir together peaches, raspberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt. Transfer to a 2 1/2-quart baking dish.
2. 
   

   2. Topping: Whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter; using your fingers, work it into dry ingredients until largest pieces are the size of small peas. Add oats and cream; stir with a fork until combined and a soft, sticky dough forms. Use two spoons to divide into 9 pieces, distributing evenly over fruit in baking dish. Brush tops with cream. Sprinkle with more oats, then sanding sugar.
3. 
   

   3. Bake until bubbling in center and biscuits are golden brown, 1 hour to 1 hour, 15 minutes (if browning too quickly, tent with foil after about 45 minutes). Let cool at least 2 hours before serving, topped with more cream.

Variations

Cherry: In step 1, stir together 2 pounds sour cherries, pitted (5 cups); 3/4 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Plum-Nectarine: In step 1, stir together 2 pounds plums (preferably Italian prune; about 9 small), cut into 1/2-inch wedges (5 1/4 cups); 1 pound nectarines (about 3), cut into 1/2-inch wedges (2 1/2 cups); 3/4 to 1 cup sugar (depending on sweetness of plums); 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Mixed Berry: In step 1, stir together 5 cups mixed raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries; 3/4 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 2 teaspoons lemon juice; and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Apricot-Strawberry: In step 1, stir together 2 1/4 pounds apricots, cut into 1/2-inch wedges (6 cups); 6 ounces strawberries, coarsely chopped (1 cup); 1 cup sugar; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 1 teaspoon lemon juice; and 1/4 teaspoon salt. In step 3, bake 1 hour.

Cook's Notes

The trick to pillowy biscuits is to leave pea-size bits of butter intact, and mix only until the dough forms. It'll be sticky, so use two spoons to drop it onto the fruit.

My thoughts:
1. I used an 8x8 pan (which is closer to 2 quarts)-- should’ve had a cookie sheet underneath for the juice drippings, though
2. I used a mix of peaches, nectarines, pears, blueberries, and mangoes. It was mostly nectarines (1lbs, 12 oz of nectarines/peaches), with two pears and 1/2 a mango cut into chunks. I didn't really measure these exactly, but tried to get it close to what I thought the total volume of fruit was in the original recipe. I liked my fruit mix just fine, but maybe could've added a little more lemon juice?
3. I would add spices next time-- allspice, or cinnamon.
4. Biscuits were yummy. I used salted butter in the dough, and tried to adjust it but mine came out undersalted a bit, but still yummy.
5. Took closer to 50 minutes in my oven. But I might consider letting it go a little bit longer because I thought that the undersides of the biscuits-- the parts touching the fruit--were not 100% done (they were 99% done).
6. I also made it pretty piecemeal. I had the fruit mixed and sitting the fridge, the dough mixed and sitting in the fridge and sort of did the rest throughout the day.
7. I'd absolutely 100% make it or one of the variations again. TK approved it.


My notes from second attempt on 7/10/20
1. I brushed the tops with cream before sprinkling with turbinado and rolled oats and I feel like I got a much better color for the biscuits. I also used the grist and toll Sonora flour for these.
2. I followed the recipe and used 2.5 lbs (7 peaches) and 6oz raspberries this time
3. I did the last 10 minutes or so with a foil tent so the biscuits wouldn’t over brown. Last time the bottom of the biscuits were slightly not done, so I wanted these to be in the oven closer to the full hour.
4. I did a much better job of getting the biscuits even. I used a scale and measured each biscuit to be 2 oz or so.
5. Fits much better in the 9x9 pan than the 8x8