After Halloween Cookies

It's no secret to my friends and family that I have absolutely no willpower when it comes to sweets and treats. If it's around, I will eat it, and will continue past the point of feeling ill. This year pre-Halloween Brent had to hide the candy twice, and then he gave up and left it out. I'm pretty sure I downed half of it before Halloween. Then, we only got 1 trick or treater. That's right, a single trick or treater, for whom we had purchased a 144 pack of mini chocolate bars. So of course I continued to eat them, and continued until I just couldn't stand it. So I made cookies. I figure it's a bit better than just right out eating the candy, plus I'll bring some to my study group tomorrow night - if I don't eat them all before then. I ended up using about a cup of Smarties (cause really, who eats the Smarties?), and a cup of chopped mini Aero bars.

Quick Coffee Cake

When I was younger I was always confused about coffee cake, thinking it was coffee flavoured, when in fact it's really just cake that goes really well with coffee. I had a group meeting for school Sunday morning, and decided since we were all having to get up early and meet, we should at least enjoy a little treat to kick off the day. I had never made this recipe, and it is pretty simple, and calls for ingredients most people have on hand. As a bonus, it is quick enough to make spur of the moment if you ever have last minute coffee or tea guests.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Coconut Crisp Bars

Two things happened this week that lined up well. One, a friend posted a recipe to what looked to be awesome no bake peanut butter chocolate bars, that happened to be vegan. Two, we were headed over to a friends place for dinner, and I never like showing up empty handed, plus she is vegan. So lo and behold I had an immediate excuse to try out this new recipe. Now I was a little distracted while prepping these. I had measured out all my ingredients before hand (first time making a new recipe didn't want to miss the timing for adding ingredients). As I was stirring the peanut butter, brown rice syrup, and then adding the cocoa I was really confused as to why it was so thick. But it was the first time making this so I kept going. Adding the crisp cereal and I could barely stir everything. I kept thinking, this needs more liquid, which is when I noticed the pre-measured almond milk sitting on the counter. So I quickly added it and kept stirring, and they still turned out. Imagine how much better they would be if I had done everything properly! These aren't too sweet, which is sometimes a nice thing.

Chocolate Dipped Orange Shortbread Rounds

As I mentioned before, I never used to be a big fan of shortbread. Maybe because it wasn't sweet enough for me. In the past few years though, I have started baking it more, and have discovered a few important lessons. The most important being that you really do need to make sure that the butter is softened. The first time I made these cookies I had to make the dough twice, because the first batch crumbled. With butter at the right temperature it was much easier to work with. I love the mix of orange and chocolate in this recipe.

Chocolate Toffee Shortbread Cups

I've only recently started enjoying shortbread, and realizing how versatile it can be. Now that the holiday season is coming quickly upon us I figured what better time to start trying some different recipes. This one comes from Canadian Living's December issue. There are five basic cookie dough recipes (sugar, shortbread, biscotti, chocolate and ginger) and four different variations to try with each dough. Seeing that I absolutely love anything with toffee and chocolate I decided to try out this recipe, and as usual, it did not disappoint. I'm sure my Econ study group will enjoy them too!

Mock Skor Bars Success

My sister Beth came to visit right before I was due, and helped fill my freezer in preparation of taking care of a newborn. One of my favourite things were these mock Skor bars, unfortunately I liked them so much I ate them all before the baby was born! Skor bars have always been one of my favourite chocolate bars, so I recently decided to try my hand at the recipe. It was a complete failure!

First failed attempt

Butter Tart Slice

I'll admit that I've never made butter tarts before, however I have made these many times before. This time they didn't turn out as well as in the past, and I think it may have been the sugar I used. The recipe calls for brown sugar, and I used yellow. The sugar itself is a little finer, and I think using regular brown sugar would have been better. Reviews from classmates and Brent say they are great, so I decided to post the recipe.

Procrastination Cookies

So I've been baking a lot more, and I think it's because it's a new way to procrastinate, most specifically from Economics and Finance homework. Tonight I decided to make oatmeal cookies and I kind of spliced two recipes together (one had raisins, the other had chocolate chips). They were a little spicy, that's because in my tired state I mixed up the measurements for the vanilla and cinnamon. I was looking at the tablespoon of cinnamon and thinking 'wow, that's a lot of cinnamon', and as I dumped it in I re-checked the recipe. Woops. They still turned out great!

Fresh Apple Cookies

This is another great recipe with apples, and what better time of year than the fall to bake some apple cookies? I would recommend laying some wax paper down before glazing the cookies.

I'll be bringing these ones to my economics study group tomorrow, and can only hope my group will forgive me for not understanding the material!

Chewy Granola Bars

I've been meaning to make my own granola bars for years now, and whenever the urge strikes I seem to be missing one or two key ingredients. I finally decided to go out and buy what I needed, and see how hard it really was. These were super easy to make, and so good! The recipe I printed out a couple of years ago, and says they store for a week in an airtight container. I highly doubt these will last a week at the rate I keep snacking on them.

Banana Spice Cupcakes

I decided to see how the cupcakes would be with banana instead of apples. For the recipe I used the same one here, except I substituted one cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium bananas) for the one cup shredded apple.

Brent says that these cupcakes are just like muffins, however, he also says muffins are just cupcakes without icing. Because I usually put chocolate chips in my banana muffins, I decided to make a chocolate cream cheese icing.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa

In stand mixer or bowl, beat butter and cream cheese together, add vanilla and icing sugar and cocoa. Beat until well blended and smooth.

These turned out pretty good, I think I'll be bringing some of them to study group tonight because I cannot be eating cupcakes every day!

Apple Spice Cupcakes

Molly and I are headed to a friends place for lunch tomorrow. I hate showing up empty handed, plus I've been looking for an excuse to bake, so I said I would bring dessert. This recipe is adapted from the September issue of Canadian Living.

Apple Spice Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup almond milk (the recipe called for buttermilk but the almond milk worked well)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp each cinnamon, ground ginger and ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pinch ground cloves
- 1 cup grated and peeled apple (about 2 apples)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
- 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups icing sugar

In bowl of stand mixer, or large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Beat in brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat. Stir in almond milk until combined. In separate bowl whisk together dry ingredients. Stir into butter mixture along with apple until just combined. Spoon into 12 paper-lined muffin cups.

Bake in 375F oven until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean, 17 - 20 minutes. Transfer to rack and let cool. At this point you could pretend they're muffins.

For icing, beat cream cheese with butter until smooth; beat in cinnamon and vanilla. Beat in sugar until smooth. Pipe or spread over cupcakes.

You could probably substitute a cup of mashed banana for the apple and they would still be pretty good. Either way, Brent and I taste tested them and they are a great fall dessert.

Toffee Cookie Brittle

I love baking, however I really don't like having it at home. The problem being most recipes make quite a bit, there's only two of us here, and Brent doesn't have as much of a sweet tooth or self-control problem like me. So when I get the opportunity to bake for a birthday, or a holiday, I take full advantage and try out new recipes. Brent's office was having a bake sale for Valentine's day, so I got to work and found a new recipe that seemed simple enough. Turns out there wasn't enough interest for the bake sale, but I sent him to work with the goods anyways, because these little pieces are addictive!!

Toffee Cookie Brittle

- 1 1/4 cups butter, softened

- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 3 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 cup chocolate chips

- 6 Skor bars (39g), chopped

Set out 17 x 11 inch rimmed baking sheet; leave ungreased.

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy; beat in vanilla and salt. Stir in flour, 1 cup at a time. Stir in chocolate chips and chopped chocolate bars.

Gently squeeze handfuls of dough just until mixture holds together; pat evenly into baking sheet. Bake in centre of 325F oven until just firm to the touch, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack; break into pieces.

I tried to use a cookie cutter to make heart shapes when they come right out of the oven, before they harden to break. Idea works in theory, however the cookie cutter gets super hot, so I only got through about 6 of them. No need to have pretty shapes though, just break up the pieces and try not to eat too many of them at once!

Multigrain Loaf

I've made my own bread a few times before, mostly buns and french loafs. While this recipe takes some time, what with preparing the starter the night before, and the two rises, it is definitely worth it! It is great for sandwiches, toast and just plain warm out of the oven with a little butter. This recipe is from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book, a great resource for a ton of awesome recipes!

Multigrain Loaf

- 4 cups multigrain bread flour

- 1 cup warm water

- 2 tbsp buckwheat honey (I couldn't find this so used a dark grade honey)

- 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

Starter:

- 1 tsp granulated sugar

- 1 cup warm water

- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

- 1 cup multigrain bread flour

Starter: In large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour, stirring until mixture is consistency of thick pancake batter, about 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand in warm place until bubbly and puffy, 8 to 12 hours.

Stir in 3 1/4 cups of the flour, warm water, honey and salt to make sticky dough. Turn out onto generously floured surface. Knead, dusting with as much of the remaining flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic; about 8 minutes. Form into ball and place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough (one of my favourite parts!). Shape into ball; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Press into 11 x 8 inch rectangle. Starting at short end, roll up into cylinder; pinch along bottom and ends to seal. Fit, seam side down, into greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Cover with clean tea towel and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Dust loaf with 1/2 more of flour. Slash top lengthwise down centre, starting and ending about 1 inch from edges of pan. Bake in centre of 375F oven until instant-read thermometer registers 215F and loaf is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, 50 - 60 minutes. Transfer to rack and let cool.

Mini Lemon Scones

I needed to taste test some jam at work, and I figured it would be more fun to do it as a group with some homemade scones instead of just crackers. Now, I'd never made scones before so I was a little nervous. Friends had told me before that scones were super easy to make, but I was still kind of nervous. To add a little pressure, my boss has been making scones since she was first taught how in grade school in Ireland.

Of course I turned to Canadian Living to see if I could find a recipe that would complement the Peach Jam we were tasting. These mini lemon scones were great, and so super easy to make. I brought a jar of my Strawberry Rhubarb Jam as well, hoping to redeem myself just in case the scones weren't really as good as I thought (but everyone loved them and the jam!).

Mini Lemon Scones

- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- 2 tbsp granulated sugar

- 1 tbsp grated lemon rind

- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed

- 1 cup buttermilk

- 1 egg

Topping:

- 1 egg, lightly beaten

- 2 tsp granulated sugar

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, lemon rind, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until in coarse crumbs. Whisk buttermilk with egg; add to flour mixture, stirring with fork to make soft dough.

With lightly floured hands, press dough into ball. On floured surface, knead gently 10 times. Pat out into scant 3/4 inch thick round. Using 1-3/4 inch floured round or fluted cookie cutter, cut out rounds, patting out scraps and cutting more rounds twice. Place on parchment lined rimmed baking sheet.

Brush biscuits with egg; sprinkle with sugar. Bake in center of 400F oven for about 12 minutes or until golden. Let cool on pan on racks.

Flax Cookies

Cookies, that are good for you? Well, I was convincing myself of that until Brent pointed out that they are still full of butter and sugar. However, they are better for you than most, and still taste awesome. Now I also learned when I brought these in to work that it's best not to tell people a cookie is healthy-ish, because cookies and healthy just don't go hand in hand, and it creates skepticism before people have tried the cookies. Verdict all around though, was that these cookies are pretty darn good.

Flax Cookies (do I even need to say they're from Canadian Living??)

- 1/2 cup butter, softened

- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

- 1/3 cup granulated sugar

- 1 egg

- 1/2 tsp vanilla

- 1 cup all-purpose flour

- 3/4 cup quick-cooking rolled oats

- 2/3 cup flaxseeds

- 1 tsp baking soda

Prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper or greasing and set aside.

In bowl or stand mixer, beat together butter and brown and granulated sugars until fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, oats, flaxseeds and baking soda; stir into butter mixture to make soft dough.

Drop by level tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets. Bake in top and bottom thirds of 350 F oven, rotating and switching pans halfway through, until golden - about 12 minutes. Let cool on pans on racks for 2 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool.

Brownies

Following a fabulous Sushi date last Saturday night I wanted something sweet, just a little bit of chocolate or ice cream. Walking home we stopped in to a little convenience store, and we were going to buy some type of chocolate bar, kit kat or coffee crisp or something. Well, we didn't have any change on us, and they wanted us to spend $5 to use the Interac. So we walked away, and I thought, that's okay, I don't really need something sweet. Fast forward to about an hour later, the craving has not gone away, so I decide to whip up a batch of brownies. This is a pretty simple recipe, nothing fancy, no icing or anything. But they hit the spot. Someday I'll make and post the brownies with the Caramilk bars in them...so decadent!

This recipe comes from a great little cookbook I have called Clueless in the Kitchen. This is actually my second copy as the first one went up in the Great Kitchen Fire of '03.

Antidepressant Brownies

- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 2/3 cup oil

-1/2 cup boiling water

- 2 cups sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 1/3 cup flour

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

In large bowl or stand mixer, stir together the cocoa and baking soda. Blend in 1/3 cup of the oil, and mix until smooth. Pour in the boiling water, stirring until the mixture thickens. Stir in the rest of the oil, sugar, and eggs. Mix until smooth.

Add the flour and vanilla. Blend completely until there are no lumps.

Mix in nuts (if using) and pour into greased baking pan. Spread the batter evenly. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, until just set in the middle. Be careful not to overcook.

Let cool and cut into squares. I would only cut the ones you are going to eat right away. I cut them all into squares and portioned them out for the lunches for the week, and they dried out by the end. Oh, and always eat one that's still super warm!

Make Ahead - Mushroom Crescents

Here is yet another great make-ahead recipe. The dough for this recipe is super easy - flour, cream cheese and butter, and I'm sure you can adapt the filling to suit your needs. When I can I try and take into account any food issues or dietary concerns of friends and family. While I admit that coming to our place as a vegan you should probably eat first (butter and cheese are key ingredients in most of my holiday recipes) I do what I can.

So for a friend who has a gluten intolerance I have begun experimenting with gluten free baking. I've tried different flours as well as cake and pie crust mixes. They have mostly turned out pretty good. For this recipe I used Kinnikinnik All Purpose Flour Blend. I like this stuff because it can be substituted cup for cup in place of regular flour. When I was working with the dough it did crumble a bit when folded, however since I've never made this recipe with traditional flour I'm not sure whether it was the recipe or the flour. Either way the crescents turned out great!

Mushroom Crescents (adapted from Canadian Living)

- 2 tbsp butter

- 1 small onion, chopped

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/4 tsp each dried thyme and sage

- 1/2 tsp pepper

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped portobello mushrooms

- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped button mushrooms

- 1/3 cup white wine or water

Pastry

- 4 oz cream cheese, softened

- 1/3 cup butter, softened

- 1 cup flour

- 1 egg, beaten

In large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat; fry onion, garlic, thyme, sage, pepper and salt, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Add portobello and button mushrooms; fry, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping up brown bits from bottom of pan. Cook until liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. (This can be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 day).

Pastry: In large bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until fluffy. Stir in flour until dough begins to form; knead in bowl until smooth. Divide dough in half; flatten into 2 discs. Wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

On lightly floured surface, roll out each disc into 10-inch circle. With 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut out circles, rerolling scraps.

Brush edges lightly with egg. Place 1 tsp of filling in centre of each; fold dough over filling, pinching edges to seal. Place, 1 inch apart on baking sheet. (At this point you can layer between waxed paper in airtight container and freeze for up to 3 weeks, bake from frozen).

Brush tops with egg and bake in centre of 400F oven until light golden, 12 - 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Make Ahead - Sesame Crackers

Some people might say that making your own crackers is showing off a little. And while I do agree to a certain extent, after having tried many different types of crackers, I've found a few that are actually really easy, and worth the extra work. These are great because they can be made and stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week, leaving ample time to do all the other last minute preparations for whatever party you might be hosting. Or, just eat them once they're done, and see if they last a whole week!

Sesame Crackers

- 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

- 1/2 cup rye flour

- 1 3/4 tsp salt, divided

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

- 1 cup sour cream

- 1 large egg yolk

- 1 cup toasted sesame seeds, divided

- 1 egg, beaten

- 1 tbsp sugar

- 1 tbsp soy sauce

- Kosher salt for sprinkling

In a food processor or the bowl of a stand mixer, place the flours, 1 1/2 tsp of the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and black pepper. Pulse or stir. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the sour cream, egg yolk, and 3/4 cup sesame seeds and process or stir just until mixture comes together. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it on a work surface until well mixed. Divide the dough into 16 pieces and form each into a log. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each log into a 12-inch strip about 1/16 inch thick (roll the dough thinly enough so the crackers bake up nice and crisp). Transfer the crackers to parchment-lined baking sheets and poke all over with a fork.

In a small bowl, beat the egg, sugar, soy sauce and remaining 1/4 tsp of salt. Brush generously over crackers and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sesame seeds and kosher salt.

Bake in 375F oven until golden brown and crisp, 15 - 20 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.

Sunday Night Dinner - Lentil Soup and Mom's Cheese Biscuits

I've said it before and I'll say it again. A really great meal can be found in a good soup. Add a salad one day, sandwhich or a wrap another, and you have a few days of lunches and dinners. The best way to have soup though, is with cheese biscuits. I remember loving the biscuits at Red Lobster. They were so good you would go for the lunch special (unlimited soup and garden salad) because you also got cheese biscuits. Unlimited! We may have left with a few in our purses...

As good as those may have been, hands down nothing beats my mom's cheese biscuits. I remember making these for the first time, that was when I learned about cutting butter into a dough recipe. I have no idea where my mom got this recipe from, and I should really have it written down in more than one place, because it's awesome!!!

Mommy Cavanagh's Cheese Biscuits

- 2 cups flour

- 4 tsp baking powder

- 3/4 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup cold butter, cubed

- 1 cup water

- 1 1/2 cups grated old cheddar cheese

Mix together dry ingredients in bowl. Using 2 knives or a pastry blender, cut in butter until crumbly. Add water and cheese and stir just to moisten.

Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake in 425 F oven for 15 minutes, checking at 10 minutes. These will disappear quickly as soon as they cool.