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.