Chocolate Dulce De Leche Thumbprint Cookies

Oh the weather outside is frightful...again. This shouldn't come as a shock to anyone living in Alberta. April and May are bound to have some less than predictable weather. The unpredictability of it is almost predictable. I am working in Northern Alberta under a fly-in, fly-out arrangement and my flight home Thursday evening was grounded for three hours courtesy of a juicy snow storm. Finally Edmonton got hit with the same snow two days later. It'll melt quickly and then reappear sometime in May usually for one last hurrah.

So instead of grumbling about it, I pulled out the wool socks, jogging pants and went to work in the kitchen making strawberry preserves, a few hot meals, salads and these delicious cookies. They are rich, moist and chewy. The kind of 3pm treat you look for with an espresso or other strong brew. I gave a bunch of mine away for fear that I'd have a a moment of weakness and eat them all. Good move on my part as they happen to be great for sharing.

From: https://www.donnahay.com.au

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup berry or caster sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 egg  yolk
• 100g dark chocolate melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup Dutch cocoa powder, sifted
• 3/4 cup dulce de leche

Method

Preheat the oven to 325F. Put the butter and sugar in a standing mixer blend until creamy; about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla, egg yolk and chocolate and process until combined. Finally, add the flour and cocoa and process until the mixture forms a ball. Place the mixture in a bowl or remove the base of the mixer if possible, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll a tablespoon each of the mixture into balls and place on two lined baking sheets. Indent the centre of each cookie by pressing your thumb into each one. Bake for 12-14 minutes and allow to cool a little on the sheets before transferring them to a rack. Spoon a dollop of the dulce de leche onto each cookie.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Frosting

Baking shmaking!! I can put together a basic cake and a few squares, but delicate pastries and other French concoctions take patience, practice and timing. Meh. The cupcake, however, can be pulled off by a more careless and aloof baker. If the cake winds up tasting like sandbox, you can always load on a lethal amount of icing as a cover up.

My stand mixer gathered dust for about 10 months this year. A few weeks ago, I finally pulled it out to try my hand at some Christmas baking and have had some good results so far. This recipe is one of those results and I encourage you to try it out. If peppermint isn't your thing, I made a similar batch of cupcakes with two teaspoons of Bailey's Irish Cream creamer and a teaspoon of espresso (prepared with water, that is) and some instant espresso grounds sprinkled on top.  I found the icing a little wet, which didn't give me the decorative look I was hoping for. If you want a better looking topping for your cupcakes, you'll need to add more icing sugar to get that result.

From: http://www.myrecipes.com/

Makes 12 cupcakes

Cupcakes

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 6 T unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 t vanilla extract

Peppermint Icing

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup light tub-style cream cheese
• 1/8 t peppermint extract
• 12 hard peppermint candies, crushed

*I had to double the icing recipe to get enough icing to pipe on to the cupcakes. If you opt to spread the icing on with a knife, you won't need to double your quantities.

Method

Preheat oven to 350F. Place brown sugar and butter in a stand mixer and mix until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time until combined. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients in stages to the mixer, alternating with the buttermilk. Once all combined, pour the batter into individually lined cupcake tins. Bake for 12 minutes. To test, poke the centre of a cupcake with a toothpick. If done, the toothpick should be clean.

For the icing, blend all ingredients together. Spoon the icing into a plastic bag and cut the tip off of one corner of it. Squeeze the icing onto each cupcake.

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

If you're looking for a guiltless cookie...if such a thing exists, I would nominate this chocolate crinkle variety. When I hunt for EBF recipes, I typically make my selection based on their associated photographs. It's the visual that draws me in and this recipe was no exception. The fact that it didn't have flour or butter in it struck me as a warning, but I made it anyways and am glad I did.

These cookies are little doses of intense chocolate flavour. The ingredient list will tell you that right away. They have a bit of a crunch to them, followed by a gooey, soft centre. This may be too much chocolate for some, but they're perfect for a chocolate lover like me.

The original recipe included a little almond extract, in addition to your choice of other flavours, like espresso, peppermint extract or orange peel. I opted not to include any of these features, but you may want to reconsider.

Adapted from: http://www.homecookingadventure.com

Ingredients

• 7 oz bittersweet chocolate (65-70% cocoa)
• 3 egg whites
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 T corn starch
• 1/4 t salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Cut half of the chocolate into small chunks and set aside. Place the remaining chocolate in a double boiler or, if you don't have one, in a bowl that rests on top of a pot. Fill the pot with water, so that the water doesn't touch the base of the bowl sitting over it. Bring the water to a boil, allowing the chocolate to melt.

Prepare the dry ingredients by whisking a cup of the powdered sugar with the cornstarch, salt and cocoa into a medium-sized bowl.

With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they start to form foam peaks. As the egg whites thicken, gradually add in a half cup of the powdered sugar. With your mixer on low, add in the whisked, dry ingredients with the egg whites. Follow with the melted chocolate and chocolate chunks until well combined.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup of powdered sugar into a bowl. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place equal spoonfuls of the cookie dough into the sugar and coat them evenly. Transfer the cookies to your baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes.

Plum Cakes and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Baking on a Sunday morning isn't for everyone, but the payoff is pretty sweet when you make the effort. My rewards include a kitchen that smells like goodies and a large inventory of baking. 

Now baking was just part of the day's cooking bonanza, but let's focus on one item at a time. First, the plum cakes. In an effort to sway those health nuts out there, I should refer to the cakes as muffins instead. They are lower in fat and nutritious enough that I'm in the process of making a second batch for the week's afternoon snacks. The butter amount is reduced thanks to the addition of avocado and they aren't loaded with sugar. My favourite touch is of course the plum wedges that top them. If plums aren't in season, top them with another pitted fruit. 

The cookies, on the other hand are my answer to an ongoing household debate: what constitutes a good cookie? Ruedi is a wholesome treat eater. His favourite cookies contain items like orange zest, ground almonds, seeds of some kind, squirrels' teeth, you know, nature's little gems.

My favourite cookies include of a lot of processed crap. Cream cheese, candies and artificial fillings really do it for me. I can't help it. I dig that shizzle. The recipe below is one my mom first introduced me to as a kid. It's just a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, using milk chocolate chips and vanilla pudding. Even though Ruedi has his principles, I did spot him scarfing a few down between naps. What a trooper. 

Plum Cakes

From: http://dailyburn.com

Makes 12 cakes muffins 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/4 t kosher salt
• 3 T butter
• 2 T avocado
• 1 t lemon zest
• 1/3 sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup of low fat milk
• 1T raw sugar (optional-I opted out)

Method

Preheat oven to 350F. Apply cooking spray to a 12-portion muffin tin. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, flax, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. In the bowl of your kitchen mixer, combine the butter and avocado, mixing until blended, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon zest and blend for another minute. Pour in the sugar and egg, continuing to mix until combined. Finally, add the milk and flour mixture in 3 phases with the wet ingredients.  Once well blended, spoon the batter evenly into the muffin tin. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tin and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

From: http://allrecipes.com  

Makes 3 dozen

• 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 cup butter (room temp)
• 3/4 cup of golden sugar
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1 package (100g) of instant vanilla pudding
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2 cups milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional-I opted out)

Method

Preheat your oven to 350F. 

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. In the bowl of your kitchen mixer, combine the butter and both sugars until smooth. Incorporate the pudding mix in with the wet ingredients until well blended. Add the eggs, vanilla until combined. Finally, fold in the chocolate and nuts using them, into the dough. Spoon 12 tablespoon-sized portions of the dough onto your cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool before storing.  

The Baking Wannabe

Burning Baking cookies on a Sunday morning was on today's agenda and while I was motivated to get it done, I have no interest in the general process. I don't know what it is about baking versus cooking, but it would appear that most kitchen enthusiasts have a preference. Mine is definitely cooking. This should be obvious considering my reputation as a somewhat careless cook. One just doesn't get away with that when baking. 

Take today's escapade for example. I burnt the bottoms of the first two dozen cookies I baked and overheated the chocolate I was to use for dipping another batch. Instead of dipping the cookies, I placed turd-like dollops of chocolate in the centre of each one. It's difficult to really inspire confidence in my baking when the outcome resembles poop.

Despite the visible shortcomings of my cookies, they taste great and I would bet that you could manage to not burn the bottoms and keep the chocolate dipable long enough to produce something that looks like a cookie. This is my Sunday challenge to you.

Turd Cookies (Formerly named Peanut Butter Brownie Gooey Butter Cookies)

From: http://www.sprinklewithflour.com

Makes two dozen

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1 1/4 sugar
• 1/4 t salt
• 250 g of cream cheese
• 1/2 unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 t vanilla extract

Method

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl combine the flour, cocoa, sugar and salt and set aside. Using a standing mixer or similar device, cream the butter and cream cheese. Add the vanilla, peanut butter and egg and mix until all combined. Slowly mix in the flour, letting it blend with the batter before adding more.

Roll the dough into spoon size balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for approximately 10 minutes. 

Chocolate Dipped Potato Chip Cookies

Adapted from: http://onsugarmountain.com

Makes a dozen

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 granulated sugar
• 1/4 icing sugar
• 1/2 cup ground potato chips
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 t vanilla
• 10 oz dark chocolate for dipping
• coarse sea salt for garnish

Method

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, potato chips and salt in a bowl. Cream both sugars with the butter using a mixer and beat in the egg yolk and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture to the dough. Spoon about a tablespoon's worth of dough for each cookie on the parchment-lined sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden around the edges. Once the cookies have cooled, melt the chocolate on a double boiler and dip the cookies in the chocolate. As the chocolate is cooling, sprinkle the surface with a little sea salt. 

Maple Beef Tenderloin with Chocolate Red Wine Jus & Leek & Potato Mash

Yes it tastes as good as it looks; even better actually. The recipe was a finalist in the San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef's Competition in Toronto. That I learned from the blog I pilfered this bad boy from. The recipe intimidated me at first, but it looked so good I figured that even if I didn't get it just right, it would be delicious.  As expected, I didn't reach the pinnacle of perfection here: the potatoes were a bit lumpy, I didn't have juniper berries for the beef marinade and my wine wasn't exactly a Meritage variety. I'll get there. At least I'd like try getting there and I'm going to enjoy the journey of making this again with all the right ingredients and a potato ricer, my father's secret for perfect mashed potatoes. At this stage in my culinary journey, I just felt fulfilled attempting it. Now I also feel fulfilled having eaten it!

Adapted: http://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/

Serves 8 

Beef Tenderloin

• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 T chopped fresh thyme
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 kg of beef tenderloin
• Pinch of salt and freshly ground red pepper

Chocolate Red Wine Jus

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 leek, white and light green part, thinly sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup of dry red wine
• 2 cups of beef stock
• 90g of dark chocolate (90% cocoa)
• 1 T red wine vinegar

Leek & Potato Mash

• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1 leek, white and light green part, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 T chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 t salt
• 625 g of Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup warm milk

Beef Tenderloin

In a large dish, combine the maple syrup, thyme and garlic. Add the loin, turning to coat evenly and let marinate for fifteen minutes. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper on all sides. Place the loin on a rack in a roasting pan, and roast the meat at 450F for ten minutes. Reduce the heat to 275F and continue cooking for one hour. Let stand for about five minutes before slicing. 

Chocolate Red Wine Jus

In a saucepan heat the butter on medium-high heat and saute the carrot, onion, leek and bay leaves, stirring occasionally for about ten minutes, or until softened. Add the wine and simmer for about five minutes or until reduced by half. Add beef stock and simmer for about ten minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve or cheese cloth into a clean sauce pan. With the sauce pan on medium heat, whisk in the chocolate and melted butter. Once blended, add the red wine vinegar and set aside. 


Leek & Potato Mash

In a non-stick skillet, heat a tablespoon of butter on medium heat until melted. Add the leeks, stirring occasionally and let cook for ten minutes. Stir in the parsley and salt and set aside. Bring the potatoes and thyme to a boil in a large pot of water. This should take about twenty minutes. Drain well and mash until smooth. Add the remaining butter and milk stirring well to combine. Finally, fold in the leek and parsley mixture so that it's all combined. Set aside and keep warm.

To assemble, spoon a few tablespoonfuls of the leek and potato mix onto a plate. Place the tenderloin slices on top and drizzle the jus on the side or overtop of the beef.

This Week's Snack Stash

With the exception of my father's peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches, our house was a nut free one while I was growing up. Both my sister and mother suffered from severe nut allergies, and avoided all contact and consumption of them. I didn't miss them. Seeds and other substitutes were used in dishes that called for nuts and my mother's love of great food made for great meals. As I learned to cook, my assimilation with the nut world grew gradually. Nuts were a cheaper protein and incredibly versatile. Today I throw them into virtually any type of dish. I can't help but wonder though, what would make a useful substitute when I am cooking with nuts. In the back of my head, I'm always attempting to adjust the recipe in the event I end up serving the dish to someone with allergies.


The next time I make these no-bake energy bites, I'll be using tahini instead of peanut butter. I can bet that the combination of honey with the crushed sesame seeds will make a terrific combination. I'll also be able to share these with my nut-sensitive hiking buddies, which I'm sure they'll get a kick out of. 

No-Bake Energy Bites

Adapted from: http://gimmesomeoven.com

Makes about 16 balls

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I'm using the kind without sugar, so if you're thinking of using sweetened stuff...don't)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup of wheat germ or ground flax
• 2 T honey
• 1 t vanilla

Method

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Throw the mixture into the fridge for at least a half hour, giving the mixture time to bind. Once chilled, form the mixture into balls the size of your choosing and refrigerate until ready to eat. These snacks should keep for a week.

S'mores Chocolates

Would you like a s'more's chocolate cup? Let me help you with this answer: yes you would! These chocolate cups are courtesy of Kerstin's Chocolates and appear to be a blend of marshmallow, chocolate cream and other delectable features. 

We also found Vosges-brand bacon-chocolate bars at Kerstin's. My first taste of the bacon-chocolate bar was at one of Vosges' Las Vegas locations. The quality matched that of Kerstin's so we felt like we had found another treasure. 

Raspberry Sorbet with Chocolate Chips

The twist on this sorbet is the cup of sour cream. Sour cream has become my answer to everything. I use a bit less than a cup of sugar, as per my mom's suggestion. It doesn't need a lot as the raspberries are in syrup.

Sorbet

• 10 oz package of raspberries in syrup, mashed
• 1/2 cup berry sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ t vanilla

Combine all ingredients using a hand mixer, pour into a loaf pan and freeze for a minimum of four hours.

Chocolate Chips

• 12 or more thick cut plain ripple chips
• 10 oz of dark, semi-sweet baking chocolate

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, mixing frequently. Use tongs to dip the chips into the chocolate, coating the whole chip. Let them cool on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Store in the fridge once all of the chips have been coated.