Merry Holiday Baking

It's been a wild few weeks, folks. But I finally have my voice back (well .. 80% of it anyway), school is finally out until 2014, and I finally found time to bake. And boy oh boy .. I've been baking. I don't have a recipe for you today, but I do have a bunch of awesome links to where you can found awesome baking.

I embarked on an experiment this holiday season -- a little baketivism. In the spirit of veganism and animal-loving, healthyish and healthier baking, I've made an agreement with myself to only bake vegan treats to give as presents this holiday season.

It's been awesome, and not as hard as I expected -- vanilla custard powder and graham cracker crumbs at Bulk Barn are totally vegan! I'd like to thank my good friends Earth Balance (regular, soy-free AND my new favourite -- coconut spread), apple butter, ground flax (flax eggs are totally easy and totally cool!), maple syrup, and nut butter. Let's rock the hippie vegan lifestyle and make wild, unattainable new year's resolutions that we might .. just .. want ... to keep.

So, Merry Holidays everyone, and here we go with the vegan baking!

Lemon Chewies -- I used extra lemon juice and lemon zest to make them extra lemony.

Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles -- I made a great new friend -- cream of tartar -- that gave these cookies the perfect crispy-outside-chewy-inside texture.

Pignoli Almond Cookies -- I totally failed on these cookies -- they melted and fell apart in the oven, but they tasted so good that I squished them back into shape while they were still warm, and presented them as almond, pinenut fudge. Totally worked.

Vegan Nanaimo Bars -- I made these in honour of my visit to out west this summer where we biked over the Lion's Gate bridge into Nanaimo, BC. There weren't any Nanaimo bars to be found, so I made some of my own.

Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookies -- This cookie has the perfect classic texture and flavour, with a little added Christmasy flavour from rosemary.

Fudgy Coconut Milk Brownies, veganized -- The original recipe called for eggs and butter, but thanks to flax eggs and Earth Balance, no animals were harmed or enslaved in the making of these delicious, fudgy, chocolately brownies.

 Nutty Jam Thumbprints -- I made these cookies a little healthier by replacing most of the Earth Balance with apple butter and almond butter. They turned out beautiful -- chewy and moist, with a nice rich, nutty flavour. Find the recipe in "Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar" by Isa Chandra (of Post Punk Kitchen!) and Terry Hope Romero.

Chocolate Bottom Macaroons -- No one will guess that there's tofu in these coconutty balls of goodness, but it's the secret to making perfect macaroons without condensed milk.

Crispy, Nutty Cut Out Sugar Cookies -- I usually don't bother with cut-out cookies, but when it's Christmas Eve and you're spending a cozy day indoors, cut-out cookies are so much fun! Spelt flour, almond butter and apple butter make these cookies a little healthier so you and afford to decorate them with a little icing.

We just finished putting the icing on the last batch of cookies. And oh .. we're bringing smoked tofu and swiss chard casserole to Christmas Eve dinner .. everyone is going to fall in love with tofu and millet!

Merry Holidays everyone!

Starting Early

Last year around December, I remember being totally overwhelmed. The holidays snuck up on me at the very last second, and I barely had time to enjoy my holiday baking and relax before all the hustle and bustle began. This year, I don't want that to happen, so I've started early.

My favourite part of the holidays (besides getting time off work!) is the baking. I've baked many holiday treats over the years, and this year I have bunch of new recipes I'd like to use. But while in the past, I've baked edible presents for those I love with tried and tested recipes, this year, I'm branching out. But you can't bake a present with a recipe you haven't tried yet .. am I right?

So I'm taking the next three weeks to test all the new recipes I plan on baking for family and friends. I know ... hard job, but it's gotta get done! ;)

I've started with these little cut-out gingerbread cookies. And let me tell you, the dough is a dream. I usually save roll-out cookies for the holidays specifically because they take a lot of time to make. The dusting, the chilling, the rolling, the chilling again .. It's a labour of love. With these cookies, you still have to dust and chill and all the jazz, but the dough is so easy to use that it takes half the work out of it. It doesn't crack, you don't have to take it out of the fridge 30 minutes before rolling and it doesn't even stick that much to counter, provided you give it just a small dusting of flour when rolling out. They also don't need to be chilled right before baking in order to keep their shape, which makes them perfect for using your cute holiday cookie cutters.

And the dough is delicious -- spicy and deep but not too sweet (making them perfect for decorating with icing and sprinkles!) and since it's vegan, you can snack on it without worrying about eating raw egg. It's also perfect if you have left over pumpkin puree that you're dying to use up.

Bake up a batch and don't forget to share. 'Tis the season!

Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
adapted from That's So Vegan
makes about 3 dozen smallish cookies

1/3 cup of Earth Balance
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon of ground flax
3 tablespoons of molasses
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 cup of spelt flour
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
2-3 tablespoons of soy milk as needed

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the earth balance and sugar until well combined. Add the flax, pumpkin puree and molasses and mix well.

2. Add the baking powder, spices and flour and stir gently. Add soy milk one tablespoon at a time, stirring gently in between, until you get a nice firm dough.

3. Chill your dough for at least an hour, or over night.

4. On a lightly floured surface, working in batches (I divided my dough into 4 batches), roll out the dough to your desired thickness, dusting with flour as needed. Cut out using your favourite cookie cutters and place on a non-stick or parchment-lined baking tray. If you're using sprinkles, press them into the cookies.

5. Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes (depending on the thickness). Let them cool completely before adorning with icing.

Next Time: Strathcona

Let's chat one more time this summer about cafes. Just one more time. Anyway, it's that time for lamenting when we're all trying to hang on to the last breeze of summer and psyche up for all the pumpkins and apples and squash.

I'm going to lament in this post about a neighbourhood that we casually strolled through in Vancouver, one that I promised myself I would visit again the next time around. It's the beautiful neighbourhood of Strathcona. Beautiful houses, quiet streets, a huge park, cute corner stores that double as cafes, not to mention a beautiful young lady bicycling down the street selling gourmet, Popsicles. It's like a neighbourhood that I dream of living in "when I grow up" whenever that may be. We spent our last day in Vancouver camped out on a bench, napping, re-living our two week adventure that seemed to pass by way too quickly.

We only managed to visit a few places in Strathcona, and sampled only one coffee -- from The Wilder Snail. Our perfect bench was right across from this grocery store/cafe. It kept us caffeinated and satisfied with gourmet, locally-made energy bars and hot drinks, as we waited patiently, our backpacks stuff to the brim, for time to pass so that we could make our way up to the airport and say good-bye to Vancouver. 

We also strolled by Union Market which I've heard so much about -- namely their treats. I had read about addictive chocolate macaroon bars and irresistible cinnamon buns, but seeing as our stroll was later in the day, the only treats to be found were a few sugar-dusted orange cookies. At 75 cents for two, they made for a perfect strolling snack. Cakey and light, with a big hit of orange and slight almond flavour, these treats didn't last too long, and I was wishing that we had bought more. They'll always be next time .. right?

To curb my Strathcona cravings until the next time I visit Vancouver, I made a batch of orange scented, almond cookies. I kicked it up with some ground cinnamon and nutmeg and instead of dusting with powdered sugar, which I didn't have, went for a sprinkling of crunching demerara sugar. If you're in the mood, adorn each cookie with some flaked almonds and powdered sugar like the original recipe. I think I'll try it like that next time.  Perfect way to console a summer longing that will have to wait until next year.

Spiced Orange Almond Cookies
adapted from Shutterbean
makes about 20 smallish cookies

3/4 cup of ground almonds
2/3 cup of brown sugar
zest of an orange
1 cup of spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of orange juice
demerara sugar, for sprinkling

1. In a large bowl, combine the ground almonds, brown sugar and orange zest. With your fingers, rub the zest into the almonds and sugar to bring out the oils.

2. Add the flour, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. Add the egg, olive oil and orange juice and mix to combine. You should get a fairly sticky dough.

3. On a parchment-lined sheet, drop spoonfuls of dough making sure that you leave about 2 inches between each cookie -- they expand quite a bit. Wet your fingers and flatten each cookie. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (or flaked almonds)

4. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies get golden brown and your house spells like oranges. Enjoy with your coffee.

Superfood, Buttery Hearts and More..

Yikes! I've let two semi-major celebrations pass without a hit of a recipe. What's happening to my blog brain? I have no clue -- none at all, except to say that I've got lots of pictures for you and not one but two recipes to share. Yeah, I know it's a little late, but treats are good at anytime of the year, especially when there's no celebration except friendship or love. How sappy is that.

Well, let's get on with it then!

Last weekend was the Lunar New Year -- hello year of the Snake! Our festivities were small and condensed to spending time at home this year -- no dim sum or loud restaurants, but I was totally fine with that. I did make a few treats to share including these coconut sesame peanut cookies .. I used peanut butter and tahini this time and skipped the canola oil since I was all out. Totally snackable and delicious...

I also made these traditional barbecue pork buns (char siew bao) to bring over to my parents on New Year's Day. My dad made the filling and I made the dough. My favourite part is the sticky sweet glaze that goes on top.

And so that my New Year week would be filled with health and all things red (lucky colour of Asians!), I made these superfood quinoa muffins to take to work. They are packed with red quinoa, dried unsweetened sour cherries, brain-healthy walnuts and spelt. Recipe included below!

And what about Valentine's Day? A bit of a bust since it was the same day as parent-teacher interviews, but I managed to make this to-die-for chocolate silk tart with almond and date crust. It's got a secret ingredient that, when you find out, will just make you go back for another piece. My adoring Valentine enjoyed a piece while I was running after students outside their homerooms, and I had chocolicious bite right before bedtime when I got home.

Usually, I get it together and bake treats for my colleagues for Valentine's day, but this year I was too exhausted. Better late then never, right? I made these brown sugar chai-spiced butter cookies yesterday to take to my friends at work tomorrow. They're not too sweet, tender and buttery, with a crunchy, sparkly sprinkling of spicy raw sugar on top. They are perfect with a nice chai tea or latte or of course, coffee.

Enjoy!

Red Quinoa Superfood Muffins
adapted from Hungry Gnomes
makes 24 mini muffins

The original recipe for these super healthy babies, calls for fresh or frozen blueberries. Since we're in the dead of winter, I opted to sub in some unsweetened dried sour cherries. I also warmed it up with a healthy dose of cinnamon and cardamom. If I were making this during blueberry season, you can bet I would throw in a big handful of fresh berries, and I might also skip the spices and orange juice in favour of some lemon zest and juice. 

2 tablespoons of almond milk
1/4 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of cane sugar
2 tablespoon of tahini
1/4 cup of spelt flakes
1 cup of spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of cooked red quinoa
1/4 cup of dried unsweetened sour cherries, chopped
1/4 cup of walnuts ,chopped

1. In a large bowl, combine the milk, juice, maple syrup, tahini and sugar. Whisk to combine.  Add the spelt flakes and let stand for 10 minutes.

2. Sift in the flour, spices and baking powder and soda. Stir gently. Add in the cooked quinoa, nuts and cherries. Stir until just combined.

3. Spoon the batter in prepared muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

Brown Sugar Chai-Spiced Butter Cookie Hearts
makes about 3 dozen little hearts

This little buttery hearts can be flavoured any which way you like if you're not into chai. A simple cinnamon sugar would be lovely, as would the combination of orange and cardamom, or just straight-up vanilla. 

Cookies
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1/3 cup of dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of cardamom
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 good few grinds of black pepper
1 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of spelt flour

Sugar Topping
2 tablespoons of organic cane sugar, or turbinado sugar
a pinch each of ground cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom and ginger

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy and well-combined. Add the egg and mix well.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until a stiff dough forms. Refrigerate for an hour or so, just so the dough firms up.

3. Take the chilled dough and divide into four balls. Take one of the balls, roll out on a flour surface, using a pastry scraper to turn after each roll to make sure it's not sticking. Roll the dough to about 1/4 -1/3 inch. Cut out your cookies with whatever shape your heart desires.

4. Place you cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Gather up the scraps, roll out the dough and repeat until you've worked through all your dough balls.

5. Sprinkle your cookies with the sugar-topping and pop them back in the fridge for about 10 minutes before they go in the oven. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until the sides get a little golden brown.

Warm and Spicy

I've taken a break that's more than a little one. It feels like it's been a long time. I went from sunny, still-warm weekend afternoons to frosty Monday mornings, hectic marking on Fridays and bone-chilling Sundays that, although expected this time of the year, leave us feeling more than a little under the weather.

While I haven't been cooking too much during my time away from the blog world, I have discovered a few new-to-me and delicious things: the winter squash world beyond pie pumpkins and butternut, quinoa's little sister, amaranth, a re-kindled love for pasta, stunningly black beluga lentils and a brief introduction to tempeh.  I confess that, although the thought crossed my mind, I did not photograph all of these discoveries. However, each and everyone of them is worthy of a repeat in the kitchen, and so those recipes will follow (hopefully) soon enough.

This is the first time in about a month and a half that I've felt more or less caught up with marking and planning, that I've not brought home a pile of folders and books only to leave them in the bag near the door untouched again until Monday, that I've not woken up and instantly planned out the hours that I would need to catch up on work and feel ok again when the work week starts in two short days.

What a year. And the action has just started. But I think I'm on way back to my usual grove, on my way back to looking forward to Mondays just as much as Fridays, and back to just feeling ok. But before I delve back into the work week, I'll leave you with a quick little cookie recipe that uses two of my new found favourite ingredients: winter squash and amaranth. I know these ingredients don't sound very cookie-like, but they definitely produce a unique cookie. It's great for using up that tiny bit of pumpkin puree you have left after making a pie, and it's got the warmth and comfort of spiciness and molasses: almost a holiday-type flavour if you ignore the fact that it's low-fat. What you don't want to skip is the amaranth; it gives these cookies a unique crunch, especially if you toast them first. But be careful! If your pan is too hot (like mine was!) you'll end up with popped amaranth-- totally cool, like tiny little popcorns! -- which is better eaten as is, or with a splash of milk, like cereal. So just toast the amaranth lightly and add it to the batter and when it makes, you'll get a interesting crunch, like no other crunch you've experienced.

I'm on my way back to routines and schedules and deadlines and marking, but I think it will be ok.  I think I feel ok.  And I'm hoping that regular blogging will resume. Hoping.  Thanks for your patience.


Spicy Squash Cookies with Toasted Amaranth
makes about 20 smallish cookies


inspired by Everybody Likes Sandwiches

1/4 cup of amaranth seeds (toasted for about 1 minute on a dry pan)
1/3 cup of pureed squash (I used kobacha squash .. it's so tasty!)
2 tablespoons of apple butter
2 tablespoons of molasses
2 tablespoons of canola oil
1 teaspoon of garam masala spice blend
a few good grinds of black pepper (yes, black pepper!!)
1 cup of spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
a pinch of salt
a few slices of candied ginger, chopped fine

1. Heat a small pan over medium heat.  Add the amaranth seeds and toast for about 1-2 minutes, or until the seeds get toasty brown or a few of them start to pop!  Remove from the heat and cool.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the squash, apple butter, molasses and canola oil until smooth. Add in the spice powder, pepper, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir until a thick batter forms.

3. Add in the cooled, toasted amaranth and candied ginger and mix until thoroughly combined.

4. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto a prepared cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with your fingers, and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

5. Enjoy with a chai tea latte!

Traditions in Cookies and Muffins

In the past week, I've baked 7 different types of cookies! Whew! They were all deliciously fun to make. I among the most interesting were these brown sugar chocolate cookies, and these maple nutmeg sugar cookies -- I even used freshly grated nutmeg for the first time! Score! I made some old favourites : peanut butter cookies made with all natural crunchy peanut butter, oatmeal cranberry cookies for our school's healthy holiday bake sale (as if I it wasn't enough to be up to my elbows all morning in gingerbread, icing sugar and sprinkles!) and these salty-sweet additively delicious oatmeal butterscotch cookies -- thanks goodness the majority went into a jar to be given as a gift!



I also found these -- rosemary maple pecan cookies with chocolate chunks. If you've ever made this popcorn, or these spiced nuts, you'll love these cookies. And they're vegan! The recipe is via a blog I found through Tastespotting: Bittersweet. You have GOT to make these cookies, stat!

I know I'm a little late in posting cookie recipes, but when I was little and living at home, I'd always bake at least one batch of cookies on Christmas day. While they were in the oven, we'd sing Christmas carols or watch The Sound of Music again. A lovely tradition, that we've kind of kept up with. I now usually bake up a batch of something breakfasty to take to my parents' on Christmas morning. So I thought I'd leave you with 2 recipes: cookies and muffins, and you can make your own tradition on Christmas morning.


Orange-Scented Sugar Cookies
makes lots!

These cookies are lightly sweet, crisp, buttery and fragrant from the orange zest. Lemon or lime zest would be perfect as well .. even grapefruit. Why not? If you refrigerate the cookies for a bit once they're cut out before you put them in the oven, they'll hold their shape nicely. A sprinkle of coarse sugar on top would make these sparkly and extra special.

1/2 cup of butter, softened
1/3 cup of sugar
1 egg
zest of one small orange
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1.5 cups of all purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until well-combined. Add the egg and mix vigorously until everything is incorporated.

2. Add in the orange zest, baking powder and flour. Mix well.

3. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

4. Working in batches, roll out the dough on a floured surface to about 1/8 of an inch. Use as many fun cookie cutters as you can to cut out your cookies. Place them on a baking sheet and chill briefly in the fridge -- chill them while your oven is pre-heating.

5. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges get brown. Cool and enjoy!



Clementine and Spice Christmas Muffins
makes 24 mini-muffins or 12 regular muffins

These muffins are the perfect wholesome breakfast treat to wake up to on Christmas morning. They have a beautiful tender crumb and an almost crunchy exterior. Made with oats, whole wheat flour and honey so there's no need to feel guilty at all! They're also egg-free so it's easily veganized.

1/3 cup of milk (I used soy)
1/4 cup of yogurt
2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 cup of rolled oats
zest of three clementines
3 tablespoons of canola oil
1/3 cup of brown sugar
a little grating of fresh nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
a pinch of cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of chopped fresh cranberries

1. In a large bowl mix together the yogurt, milk, honey and oats. Let stand for ten minutes.

2. Add the oil, sugar and zest. Mix well. Sift in the spices, baking soda and flour. Stir until just combined. Add the cranberries and mix once last time.

3. Spoon into muffin tins and bake in a 350 oven. Mini muffins should only take about 15 minutes, and regular muffins about 20.

4. Enjoy with coffee. Happy Holidays!

Dream Cookies and Snackable Gifts

We've talked more than once about homemade gifts being the best kind. I haven't stopped believing that for a second -- especially when it was my best friend's milestone birthday. But not just any ol' batch of cookies would do for this birthday -- it had to be special.

And these cookies definitely were! After some fruitless internet searches and a quick and painless phone call to one of our favourite coffee adventure shops, I was able to make a re-creation of this moist, rich, vegan, gluten free cashew cookie that we couldn't stop talking about since the summer. Sweets from the Earth -- you rock! A cookie recipe with on 5 ingredients that's vegan and gluten free?! Awesome. I even found a website useful measurements. Score! They were delicious and fleeting!

Cashew Dream Cookies
inspired by Sweets from the Earth; recipe via Madcap Cupcake makes about 20 cookies

1 cup of smooth cashew butter
1/4 cup of silken tofu (about a third of a package of mori-nu)
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
pinch of salt

1. In blender, mini-chopper or food processor, blend the tofu until very smooth. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The mixture will be really thick and a bit hard to mix at first, but will eventually become smooth and cookie-dough-like.

3. Drop spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

4. Cool completely on the cookie sheet before removing -- this is important or the cookies will fall apart!

Oh yeah! I also included as part of the birthday package, some maple rosemary glazed nuts. There are tons of recipes out there, but I didn't really follow any specific one. These are totally addictive and beautiful when packed in a jam or mason jar. Edible gifts are the best!



Maple Rosemary Glazed Nuts

2 cups of mixed nuts of your choice (I used cashews and almonds)
1 teaspoon of crushed, dried rosemary
1 big pinch of salt
a few good grinds of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
1 tablespoon of canola oil
3 tablespoons of maple syrup

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the rosemary, salt, pepper, chili powder, canola oil and maple syrup until well-combined.

2. Add in your nuts and mix until everything is coated.

3. Pour the nuts out onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350, turning frequently, for about 20-30 minutes, or until the nuts are deep brown.

4. Cool completely before packaging.

Anzac Cookies + Happy Blog Birthday

Just a quick little post to say HAPPY (belated) BLOG BIRTHDAY to ursula over at Apples and Almonds, one of my favourite blogs. In honour of ursula's blog birthday, I made a batch of Anzac bicuits, one of my favourite posts on her site. They're super tasty and really easy to whip up. It's also easily veganized since there are no eggs involved. I was going to make something with almonds and apples in it ... but I thought that would be a bit too weird and cheesy! :)

Let me tell you more about these biscuits. First, they make your house smell like a bakery. The combination of oats and coconut give these cookies a toasty, hearty flavour, absolutely perfect with coffee or tea. They're slightly crunchy on the outside and magically chewy on the inside. I made a few tiny tweakings, because that's what ursula always does and I felt that she would have approved! First, I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of self-rising flour (you could add a bit of baking powder to make up for it, and I meant to, but forgot. The cookies were still fabulous), honey instead of gold syrup (which I'm sure what it is exactly .. ) and I added a splash of almond extract. Likes I said, these cookies are pretty toasty perfection.


I've said enough. You should head over to Apples and Almonds and find the recipe. You'll find a whole bunch of other cool and funky things as well. I love it for many reasons:

- Ursula lives on the other side of the world, so it's sooooooooo cool to see her cooking wintery soups in May and summery fresh pastas in January
- There's a video, often featuring funky music at the end of each post
- There's so much more than food! Crafts, sewing, fashion ...
- Ursula makes crazy classics likes Julia Child recipes, french pastries, multiple layer (and coloured!) cakes, and lots .. of .. treats!

There's more, but I won't spoil it for you. Head on over and take a peak. And make the Anzac biscuits!

Almost Autumn Cookies

I woke up yesterday and it was ... kind .. of ... chilly. There. I said it. It was kind of chilly and I had to put on a sweater. Although summer hasn't officially said good-bye (there are still watermelons and peaches and cherries and sweet corn galore!), we know that it's coming. Autumn is around the corner, whether we like it or not. And why shouldn't we? Fall means pumpkins and sweaters and leaves changing colour .. and it also means apples.

When I felt the chill yesterday morning, I thought it appropriate to bake up something with apples. I mentioned in an earlier post that I just discovered the ginger gold apple: a tart and slightly sweet, firm apple that's available in August -- possibly the first apples of the season. I bought a bunch the other day just because they reminded me of the Quebec pomme blanche, and today, I put a few of them to good use in this apple cranberry multi-grain cookie. It's delicious. It's totally addictive, and that's coming from a person with a good amount of will power. But addictive is good in this case because these little apple-y bits of love are packed with whole wheat flour, oatmeal and spelt flakes.


This is spelt. Ever used it? It's nutty and toasty and great in granola. You can also cook it up in porridge like oatmeal, but be careful because it turns mushy really quickly. And I discovered today that it's great in cookies. This cookie is kind of a combination of two oatmeal cookie recipes that I've tried. I liked one because it had fresh apples which you never find in cookies, and I like the other one because it was healthy and had cranberries and nuts. I smooshed the two recipes together and put them in the oven. 15 minutes later, I was in cookie heaven. The grated apples kept this cookie moist, which also let me reduce the amount of oil, and the walnuts and cranberries were the perfect match. But the spelt was really the star. It worked so well in these cookies, making them hearty and healthy enough for breakfast. Yup! Cookies for breakfast!



I can already see myself playing with different flavours. Cinnamon would have been an obvious addition, and I think I probably meant to add it but forgot (my migrain-wracked head was not on it's "A " game .. perhaps I shouldn't have exceeded the recommended maximum dosage of ibuprofen pills..). You can use maple syrup to replace some of all of the sugar -- I bet that would be awesome with the walnuts! You could even replace the oil with something like tahini or almond butter. My mouth is watering already...

See? Fall isn't all that bad.. you just need cookies.

Multigrain Apple Cranberry Walnut Cookies
inspired by Joy the Baker and kickpleat's post on Poppytalk
makes about 2 dozen

2 small apples, grated
1 egg
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of canola oil
2/3 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of spelt flakes
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/3 cup of dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

1. In a large bowl, beat the egg with the sugar and canola oil. Add the apples and mix well.

2. Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix. Add the spelt and oats, cranberries and walnuts and mix well.

3. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a prepared cookie sheet. These cookies don't hold together too well before baking, so do your best to shape them up on the cookie sheet. Once they come out of the oven, they'll be fine.

4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the tops get nice and brown.

5. Enjoy a few with your morning coffee. I dare you!

A Series in Thyme

I'm over-run with thyme. This happened last year too. We go nuts with the herbs on the balcony ledge, and they grow faster than we can eat them. But I'm not complaining. I love looking at those big fat basil leaves, almost begging to be plucked and placed on top of tomato slices, and my new friend, Thai basil, seems to grow overnight in large quantities. And the thyme. Oh the thyme. Their tender springs are starting to lean away from their box and it seems like every time I cut a sprig, it grows back the next day.

I love thyme. There's something about it that just says "fresh." And it's taste lends well to both savoury and sweet things, a total plus in my book. Last year, we were content to add sprigs of thyme into our veggie broths and chicken dishes, use tons of it in summer salads and throw it in a biscuit or two. This year, I wanted to branch out and experiment more with it. I wanted to bake with it. Sweet treats with thyme?! Oh yes please!


Before I got any further, I'd like to give a big shout out to Lisa over at Sweet as Sugar Cookies. She has this wonderful thing going on at her blog: a sweet treats link party. People share their sweet treats recipes via a link on Lisa's blog. There are so .. many.. yummy..treats! I just linked my rhubarb orange madeleines, but I'm sure Lisa would also love these lemon thyme shortbread crisps.

I say shortbread crisps because they aren't like traditional shortbread that's thick and almost cake-like. They're still crumbly and buttery, but are thinner and crispier. I made them this way mostly because I wanted to roll out the dough and cut out little hearts, but it worked out perfectly. I used a modified recipe from epicurious via sevenspoons, which called for honey and rosemary added to a traditional shortbread recipe. I used thyme instead, and added a little grating of lemon zest that made all the difference. If you had lemon-thyme, that would be perfect as well, but regular thyme works very nicely. The flavour of the herb stands up well to all that buttery goodness and pairs nicely with the freshness of the lemon zest. They are a perfect treat to give to someone special (like a sister!) or just to have with a cup of coffee. They'll even fancy up a store-bought ice cream that you can serve as dessert to guests.


Baking with thyme? Totally awesome, totally summery and totally fun. I've got more coming!
And don't forget to visit Lisa for more sweet treats inspiration!

Lemon Thyme Shortbread Crisps
makes about 20 little heart-shaped crisps
adapted from epicurious

1 cup of all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature
zest of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup of sifted confectioners sugar
2 tablespoon of honey

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until smooth. Add the thyme and stir well. Sift in the flour, salt and baking powder. Mix to form a loose dough.

2. On a floured surface, turn out the dough and give it a few little kneads. Flour up your rolling pin and roll out to about 1/4 inch. Use your favourite cookie cutter and go nuts! Place the cut cookies on a cookie sheet.

3. Gather up the remaining dough, roll out and repeat until all the dough is used up. Bake your cookies in a 300 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges get lightly brown. Remove and cool.

Hey .. speaking of experimenting with shortbread .. remember last summer? Blackcurrent, where have you gone?

Falling in Love

I remember the first time I fell in love with cardamom. It was during my summer vacation and I had just watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with my best friend downtown. It was hot and kind of dusty. We had seen an early show and were still restless. We wandered into Kensington market and inside this tiny ice cream shop (that sadly, does not exist anymore). A tall, sandy blond guy with an Australian accent served us. I remember asking him what was in the flavour labelled "Emotional Rescue." He told me that it was vanilla and cardamom. I savoured every lick. At the time, I had no idea that "Emotional Rescue" was actually the title of a song, and so in my mind, I thought that cardamom must have some sort of soothing, calming effect that would likely rescue someone from an emotionally eruptive state. The romance faded when I learned that it was a Rolling Stones song, but I never forgot the taste of cardamom -- floral, sweet, warm and cool at the same time. But summer came and went, and as fall rolled around, that cardamom taste faded on my tongue and became a memory.



Fast forward to last December when I was having brunch at Lady Marmalade, a newly opened spot in my brand new neighbourhood. I couldn't resist ordering the multigrain porridge that came topped with cardamom apples. One bite and my ice cream memory came flooding back to me, that hazy summer wind floating past me in the thick of winter. This time, I acted quickly. I bought cardamom pods and ground cardamom and I started adding it to my curries, my oatmeal breakfasts and even to my cookies. But it wasn't until this week that I perfected a cookie recipe worth naming the Cardamom Cookie. During my experiments, I was always careful when using it. Just a teaspoon or half a teaspoon. I didn't want to overpower whatever I was making. Not this time. This cookie is cardamom all the way, and it's pretty delicious.

The texture reminds me of a package of cookies I once bought from the Indo Canada Bakery on the Danforth. Crumbly, and light, but unlike the packaged cookies that were crispy and fell apart as soon as you took a bite, these home made ones are tender and almost chewy when you bite into them and crumble as you chew. It's got whole wheat flour, and semolina flour, giving it a unique crumb and toasty flavour. And oh, the cardamom. Smelling them in the oven is enough to soothe you, but for total relaxation, enjoy a couple with a cup of afternoon tea or coffee.

Cardamom, you are my emotional rescue.

Vegan Cardamom Cookies
makes about 2 dozen

1/4 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
2/3 cup of whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups of semolina flour
2 rounded teaspoons of ground cardamom

1. In a large bowl, whisk together oil, orange juice, brown sugar and tapioca flour until well blended.

2. Sift in the tapioca flour, flour, cardamom and baking soda and give it a good mix. Add the semolina flour and give it another good mix.

3. Drop teaspoon fulls (you might have to give them an extra squeeze to hold them together) of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the tops of cracked and the edges are slightly golden.

4. Serve warms with coffee, tea and your favourite relaxing music.

Another New Year .. a little late

I've crawled out of my report card hole, thank goodness! I'm a little late, but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year! It's the year of the Rabbit, which only means to me, that the students at my school are all making cute little origami rabbits.. I have like ten of them on my desk right now.

Lunar New Year means lots of little traditions in my family -- cleaning the house (did that .. kind of), getting a haircut (yeah .. not this year), lots of family time spent eating (yup.. dinner.. and then dim sum!) and of course, New Year treats. I love baking for family occasions. The holiday season, I did tons of baking for my family: gift-cookies, orange crumb cake on Christmas eve, cranberry walnut bread for Christmas morning, rosemary chocolate chip olive oil cake for New Year's day .. yup! I totally baked up a storm. But for Lunar New year, it's a bit tricky. I never delved into the world of Chinese desserts, mainly because they either included difficult-to-make fillings (like lotus paste, black bean paste, and melon/coconut filling) or they were deep fried (yuck).


One of my favourite new year flavours is included in a deep fried, oily dumpling-type snack. Basically, it's a deep-fried pastry pocket filled with sesame seeds, sugar, peanuts and coconut. I gave those up several years ago, but this year, I thought I'd try to re-make it in my kitchen. I'm so glad I did! Instead of rolling up all those goodies into a deep-fried package, I baked it into a healthy-ish cookie (oats, whole wheat flour, canola oil ..). I made one batch with peanut butter and another with tahini -- both were delicious. The secret is toasting the coconut, peanuts and sesame seeds in the oven before mixing them in the cookie. It's crumbly and crunchy with just a little bit of chewiness when you get to the middle -- perfect with a cup of jasmine tea.


Now that I've officially tried baking Chinese-inspired desserts, my next plan is to play around with azuki beans. It's often made into a sweet paste, or cooked into a sweet dessert porridge (yeah I know it sounds kinda .. well... ya know..), but who knows? Azuki muffins? Bars? Squares? We'll see ...

New Year Cookies
makes about 3oish mini cookies

1/2 cup of peanuts, chopped
1/2 cup of unsweetened, shredded coconut
2 tablespoon of white sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of black sesame seeds
1/4 cup of peanut butter or tahini
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
1 egg
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the peanuts, coconut and sesame seeds out on a baking tray and place in the oven. Toss after about 5 minutes and let it toast for another 5. They should be nice and golden. Set aside.

2. Mix the peanut butter, oil and sugars together until smooth. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour, oats and baking powder and mix.

3. Add the coconut mixture to the cookie dough. With your hands, knead the dough so that all the coconut, peanuts and sesame seeds get incorporated. Form the dough into little balls and place on a cookie sheet. Flatten (or not!) with wet fingers and bake into the oven for about 15 minutes, or until they get golden brown.

4. Serve with Chinese tea. Gong Hai Fat Choy!

Holiday Baking!

I love baking any time of the year, but baking around the holidays gives me an excuse to 1: do lots of it! 2: make special things that take more time then usual and 3: give them away. If you need last minute host/hostess gifts, or even an extra something special to give to your friends and loved ones, baking something yummy to give away never fails to please. Home made treats show that you've put your love and time into the gift -- something you cannot get at the mall (btw: I'm pleased announce that this holiday season, I haven't set foot once inside a mall!).


I did some experiment with my baked goods and branched out from my usual brownies and chocolate chip cookies. I tried my hand at making biscotti, guided by Joy the Baker. I made this one, but included cranberries, nixed the nuts and tried to flavour it with this awesome spicy, cocoa black tea. The tea flavour got lost a bit, but the cookies were perfect in every other way. I also made the cinnamon sugar biscotti which were also a great hit. These get extra points because the first recipes is butter-free but still delicious!

I also found an awesome cardamom(!!!) cookie over at Rhymes with Vegan. This cookie is chewy and spicy, and best served warm. The hit of orange juice and zest really makes it special. These get extra points for being vegan and extra delicious.

Last but not least, I made chocolate lavender shortbread as a yummy reminder of my lavender experiment this summer. I used a fully tablespoon of dried lavender and good quality cocoa powder. I totally wish I could send some to Blackcurrent. These get extra points for being chocolately and decadent.

Ok! enough talk! Go bake something!!


Coffee Update:

Crafted by Te Aro: two moccacinos and a double americano enjoyed with a lemon ginger scone and a vegan peanut butter square

Ground Level Cafe: two cappucinos and a double americano -- huge space and they sell used books too!