eat make read

Sometimes I get an idea in my head and I just can’t shake it. I had some left over cream in the fridge and was thinking about what I could do with it. Of course caramel came to mind, but I’ve had enough of caramel apples and I couldn’t do plain old caramels again. That’s when chocolate cookies with caramel chips came to mind. Sure it’s a bit of work, but I could almost taste the result and I knew it would be worth it.

First things first. I made a batch of these tried and true caramels and let them cool. I cut them into tiny pieces the size of chocolate chips so I could toss them in the cookie batter. Next I whipped up a batch of chocolate dough and added the caramels to it. I used a cookie scoop to make my cookies a uniform size and placed them about 2 inches apart. I was expecting lovely, fluffy cookies, but what came out was flat crispy cookies. My heart sank a little bit, but then I tasted them and realized this was no failure. I quickly sprinkled some sea salt over top to add an extra level of taste and let them cool. I then cut them into quarters, so they were more like crisps rather than full fledged cookies. In fact, I kind of think (although I haven’t tried) you could spread the dough along the bottom of a rectangular cake pan instead of making individual cookies.

Although they’re not exactly what I imagined when I dreamed up this recipe, these puppies are irresistible! The chocolate and caramel team up to make a rich base while the salt adds a touch of contrast to the crispy treat. They are an addictive and unique sweet treat that would be a great party snack.

salted chocolate caramel crisps

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 cups caramels, cut into 1/4 inch squares*

* I used half of this recipe

Preheat oven to 350°

1
Measure flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl.
2
Cream the butter and two sugars in another bowl.
3
Add the vanilla and egg until well mixed.
4
Add egg mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir in the caramels.
5
Scoop teaspoons of the dough onto a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart, or if you’re feeling daring, spread dough in a cake pan.**
6
Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7
Remove from oven and sprinkle sea salt over top. If you make cookies, you may want to cut them into quarters to make them bite sized.

**I haven’t tried this yet, but my cookies spread quite a bit, so I think it might work, it’s up to you.

For the past few weeks I’ve been passing over the carrots at the greenmarket. It’s not that I’m not a fan of carrots, I guess I just wasn’t ready for them. That is until this weekend. I saw them again, almost passed them up, but decided I was ready for a carrot bread/cake of some sort. I looked online and through my cookbooks and didn’t find anything that was quite the perfect match, so I devised a recipe of my own that combines the best of a few recipes. What I came up with was carrot ginger muffins and they’re sure to please.

I think this might be one of the healthiest treats I’ve ever made. My sweet tooth often outweighs health benefits, but this one really creates a nice balance of healthy versus delicious. It’s chock full of carrots, ginger and applesauce; and you even get a work out chopping up all the ingredients. I mean what’s not to like.

The result is really nice, especially if you spread a little butter over top. They have a nice texture that’s not overly coarse but really bursting with flavor. They’re a great way to start the day, and the batter makes so many muffins that you’ll be able to share.

carrot ginger muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups carrots, chopped or shredded
1 Tablespoon ginger
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F and oil 24 muffin cups.

1

Into a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and whisk in sugar.
2
Coarsely chop carrots, ginger and pecans. Add to flour mixture, adding coconut and toss well.
3
In a bowl whisk together eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla.
4
Add egg mixture to flour mixture, stirring until batter is just combined well.
5
Divide batter among muffin cups, filling them three fourths full, and bake in middle of oven until puffed and a tester comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.

I have a soft spot for wheat thins, so when I saw this recipe for homemade wheat thins I kind of had to make them. It didn’t hurt that they were suppose to be “incredibly easy”. Maybe it was because I started the recipe after a long day at work and my brain was a little fried, but I ran into a minor road block on this one, but in the end they came out tasting great.

Here’s what happened. I mixed all my ingredients together and decided to put my own little touch on the recipe by adding some honey. When it came time to roll out the dough, I floured my working surface and got to rolling. When the dough was the proper thickness, I sprinkled some salt over top, cut it up and then got my spatula out and tried to trasnsfer my little squares to a baking sheet. That’s where my problems arose. I’m not sure if it was the honey or if I didn’t flour enough, but my little squares turned into angry little blobs that didn’t want to peel away from the surface. So you know what, I just decided that they weren’t meant to be squares and just squished them with my fingers until they were back the the correct thickness and tossed the on the baking sheet. I forgot to poke holes in them, but when they came out of the oven I quickly grabbed one to taste so I could see if it was worth doing the second half.

Yum! While they weren’t exactly the prettiest wheat thins, they were certainly delicious. I’m a big fan of sweet and savory, so the honey/salt combo really hit the spot. Needless to say, I worked through the second batch and snacked on them throughout the weekend.

homemade wheat thins
from pete bakes!

1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter (at room temperature)
2/3 cup milk
salt (or other dried herbs and seasoning) for sprinkling
1 Tablespoon honey

1
In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar and salt. cut in the butter and mix until you have a coarse meal.
2
Slowly blend in the milk just until you have a dough that will hold together. divide the dough into 2 pieces for rolling.
3
Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1/8 inch thickness. sprinkle with salt and roll over lightly with the rolling pin again. cut the dough into 2×2 inch squares. poke each square several times with a fork.
4
Transfer squares to an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 325 F for 20-25 minutes, until crackers are golden brown.

I made a trip to one of my favorite stores in Brooklyn, Sahadi’s last week and stocked up on all sorts of bulk ingredients. One of my favorite finds was this amazing cocoa powder that’s dark and rich and really puts the canned cocoa powder I’ve been using to shame. With over a pound sitting on the counter, I couldn’t resist the urge to make something with it, so I looked through a few books until I found the perfect recipe, no bake cookies.

No bake cookies are one of my favorites sweet treast because they’re so easy to make. It doesn’t hurt that they not only have chocolate, but peanut butter as well. In less than a half hour my cocoa had been tranformed into a little cookie that really hit the spot.

No-Bake Cookies
makes about 2 dozen

2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
3 cups oatmeal

1
Combine sugar, cocoa, milk and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2
Cook until the mixture starts to boil and cook for 1 minute.
3
Add vanilla, salt, peanut butter and oatmeal and quickly stir until combined.
4
Drop teaspoons onto parchment paper and let cool.

I’m such a fan of caramel apples that I just couldn’t let last week’s failure stop me from enjoying one this year. So I went back to the drawing board, searched for a new recipe and found one that fit the bill on chow. Once again, I patiently stood over the stove, watching the temperature rise on my candy thermometer until the caramel was golden and bubbly and just the right temperature. I hopped into action carefully spooning the caramel over my apples, thinking good thoughts the whole time.

And guess what? The good thoughts worked (or maybe is was just a better recipe), but my caramel apples were perfectly delicious. No more sprained jaws in this household. The caramel stuck to the apples nicely and cooled off without completely hardening. I can breathe easy now that I’ve had my caramel apple for the season.

basic caramel apple
from chow.com

8 large apples
8 chopsticks or craft sticks
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
2 teaspoons kosher salt

1
Wash the apples under hot water to get off any wax coating, then dry thoroughly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside. Set the apples stem side up, and push the sticks down into the apple cores; set aside. Prepare an ice water bath by filling a bowl halfway with ice and water.
2
Combine the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the mixture registers 250°F on a candy thermometer, about 10 minutes. Immediately dip the bottom of the saucepan in the ice water bath and let it chill until the bubbles have subsided, about 1 minute. Stir until stiff caramel from the bottom is incorporated into the warm caramel on top. Remove from the water bath.
3
Dip the apples one at a time into the caramel, rotating once to coat 3/4 of the way up the sides. Lift the apple straight up from the caramel, letting the excess drip back into the pot until the drips have slowed, about 10 to 15 seconds. Flip the apple so the stem is facing downward and let the caramel set, about 10 to 15 seconds more. Place on the prepared baking sheet, stem side up, and repeat with the remaining apples. (If the caramel gets too hard to coat the apples well, set the pan over low heat and rewarm, stirring constantly, until the caramel is loose and pourable.)
4
Refrigerate the apples until set, at least 10 minutes. The apples can be made and stored in the refrigerator up to 1 day in advance.

I saw this recipe Sunday morning when I was reading through the times and I just had to try it. I’ve made no knead bread a few times, but I’m a sucker for a new recipe, especially when it involves carbs and has “speedy” in the name. I mixed a few ingredients together and got on with my day as the dough rose.

Once I was ready to bake the bread I heated the oven up along with my dutch oven as the directions suggest. Soon after I put the empty pot in the oven I heard a big pop. Let me tell you, I love martha stewart, but she makes really poor quality dutch ovens. The interior enamel exploded and crumbled to pieces, leaving me without a pot to bake my bread. But you know, I rolled with the punches and put my loaf of bread in a regular loaf pan and devised a lid out of tin foil. After 30 minutes in the oven I removed the foil, melted a little butter over the crust and let it get all golden and crusty for a bit.

Even with a non-recommended baking dish, my bread came out perfect. The crust was perfect and the interior was a nice combination of fluffy and dense. We’ve enjoyed as toast in the morning with a little butter and jam and we’ve enjoyed it as a way to sop up sauce at dinner, and I have to tell you, it’s awesome no matter which meal you eat it with. Delicious and easy, what more could you want?

Speedy No Knead Bread

Oh boy! Not long ago I whipped up an amazing batch of pancakes that I blogged about here. Last weekend seemed like a good time to make another batch, that is until Aaron and I started talking about cinnamon pancakes. He’s a major cinnamon fan, so he’s always looking for a way to get more of it. After a little thinking I came up with the idea of adding little cinnamon/butter chunks in the batter. I actually used the same recipe as before, but just reallocated my use of butter and cinnamon.

The result was so dang delicious! Oh, my mouth is watering just thinking about them. The batter was just slightly fluffy, with hints of vanilla and cinnamon, and little bursts of concentrated cinnamon. Really, seriously these are delicious, don’t miss out!

Cinnamon pancakes
makes 12-16 4-inch pancakes
1 1/2 cup flour
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 3/4 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons cold butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1
In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

2
In a separate medium bowl, combine milk, eggs, honey and vanilla.
3
Cut the cold butter into small 1/4 inch pieces and add cinnamon. Mix it together with your fingers until well incorporated, but not overmixed.
4
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just combined. Lightly fold cinnamon chunks in. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.
5
Heat a skillet on the stovetop and add 1/4 cup batter. Once the pancake begins to bubble, flip and cook the other side. Repeat until all the batter is used.
6
Top with a little maple syrup and enjoy!

I had great hopes of making the most delicious caramel apples. You know, all golden and a little chewy, like the ones I used to get at the apple orchard, but mine would be made from scratch. I got really close. I mean really close. I made caramel from scratch, patiently stirring it on the stovetop until it turned the perfect shade of golden. I dipped the apples in it, spooning as much as I could over each one, even taking it up a notch by adding crushed walnuts.

It was all going splendidly until it was time to eat them. One try and I realized they were hard as a rock. I mean, I still managed to eat mine, but I had to use the aid of a knife and even then it was a little tough to get through. The caramel did taste pretty good, but after a while my jaw started to hurt and it just wasn’t worth it. Bummer.

Don’t think I’m giving up though. Next weekend I’ll be on a mission to get it right. At least they look pretty I guess.

I love popcorn. It’s just so delicious, and while I’ll never turn down a handful of plain old salted popcorn, I love to jazz it up a bit too. I tried making a recipe last week that included peanut butter, honey, sugar and vanilla, but it was way, way too sweet for my taste, but it got me thinking. In fact, I couldn’t get it out of my head and had to get in the kitchen to try my own version.

Instead of going the sweet route, because I feel like peanut butter naturally has a little sweetness, I decided to give it a little spice with some cayenne pepper. I love peanut sauce over noodles and even spicy peanut brittle, so I thought that same idea would work brilliantly over popcorn. And oh did it. It took me a few tries, but when I tasted this batch I knew I had a winner. It’s got a nice sweetness similar to caramel corn but then it hits you with a little punch just to keep things interesting. It’s a super tasty way to jazz up your popcorn.

Spicy Peanut Butter Popcorn

1/4 cup popcorn kernels
1 T vegetable oil
1/4 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1
Heat oil and drop 3 popcorn kernels in it. Once they pop, add the remaining popcorn and cover. When popping slows, remove from heat and empty into bowl, being careful not to add any unpopped kernels.
2
Meanwhile heat honey, cayenne and salt into a small saucepan over low heat. Heat for a few minutes until the honey gets more fluid.
3
Remove from heat and add peanut butter immediately. Stir until fully incorporated and pour over popcorn.
4
Gently fold the peanut butter mixture into the popcorn, making sure to coat it all.
5
Eat up!

Aaron sent me a link to Kitchen Caravan recently and I’m kind of in love. The web site is full of great recipes, interesting articles and informative videos. I especially like this one with Senator Tom Harkin explaining the farm bill and this one about how to make and freeze tomato sauce. Check it out and see for yourself!