Salted Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Every Thursday I have lunch with some friends from high school. Last week my friend Amanda said, "Liz, you should bring us cookies every Thursday."

It was a joke, but I never pass up an opportunity to pass my baking adventures onto my friends. Besides, I get to sample a few myself which totally makes it all worthwhile. So, this morning I ventured into my kitchen and set out to make some cookies.

But not just any cookies, my friends.

These are double chocolate chunk cookies with not a bit of cocoa powder in them. You know that means? Twenty ounces of semi-sweet chocolate.

I blanched at the grocery bill for this one-luckily the results are pretty fan-freaking-tastic.

Salted Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ingredients:

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped coarsely

4 tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp sea salt (plus more for sprinkling)

2 large eggs at room temperature

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped coarsely

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a microwave safe bowl, combine 8 oz of chocolate and the butter. Microwave at 30 seconds increments until the chocolate and butter are completely melted. Make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the brown sugar and eggs with a handheld mixer until the sugar is completely dissolved, roughly 4-5 minutes. With the mixer on low, add the chocolate and mix until well-combined. Using a spatula, mix in the flour. Make sure to scrape down the sides. Fold in the remaining 12 oz chocolate with a spatula.

Either spray your cookie sheets with cooking spray or use parchment paper. Scoop heaping tablespoons of the batter onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. The cookies should have crackly tops and be slightly soft in the center when done.

Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the cookie sheets for ten minutes. Sprinkle the cookies with extra salt.

Source: Annie's Eats

Vegan Pumpkin-Banana Bread

I think the definition of Monday should just read: blah. I don't even have class until late afternoon on Mondays but it still gets me every week.

And this morning I had to do my laundry, which just put me in a splendid mood. The funny thing is, I put off laundry all weekend so I knew I had to do it this morning, yet when I looked at my full hamper I still went: Really?!

That is why this pumpkin-banana bread is necessary. It is necessary because laundry is stupid. And Mondays are icky. And my vocabulary has become that of a five year old.

Vegan Pumpkin-Banana Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (which I never seem to have)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup canola oil

4 very ripe bananas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the first set of ingredients (flour to pumpkin pie spice) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine the second set of ingredients (brown sugar to the canola oil) and then add to the flour mixture. Combine with an electric mixer until the batter is smooth. Next, add the bananas and mix. Make sure not to overcombine because you want to see some chunks of banana.

Bake for one hour, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Or if you are like me and lack proper baking items like toothpicks, take out after an hour, wish for the best, and be very (extremely) happy that the lack of eggs means no possible salmonella.

Source: The Weekly Bite

Curry Along

As you probably know, I bought some curry powder and now have been dreaming up all sorts of different ways to use it. I threw it in with some tempeh. I've been dreaming about shannalikebanana's idea to toss it with some pumpkin. But with a whole block of tofu and spinach in my fridge, I decided to attempt to recreate one of my favorite Indian dishes.

I used tofu instead of cheese in this version, purely because it was what I had on hand, but the texture paired really well with the spinach. Added bonus of not using cheese? It makes this vegan!

Saag Paneer

Spinach

Extra-firm Tofu

Olive Oil

Curry Powder

Salt

Start by preheating the oven at 400 degrees. Wrap the tofu in a paper towel (I used coffee filters due to my lack of papertowels-bad choice, lol) and press between two plates. Put something heavy on the top plate and let the tofu sit for 5-10 minutes. Next, unwrap the tofu and chop it into small squares. Spread on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkle on salt. Bake for 25 minutes, turning it over halfway through.

For the spinach, heat up about 1 tbsp of olive oil on the stovetop and then add the spinach and roughly 1 tsp of curry powder. Depending on how hot you like your food you can add more or less of the curry powder. Cook down the spinach and then add the tofu and mix together.

Happy Days Are Here Again

It's been a long day, but this song never fails to make me smile. I hope it can brighten your night, too.

HI!

Hi all!

Jen here! Yes, Jen. I figured I would say a quick hi and apologize for my absence but would like to applaud Liz for keeping up with the blog. She is amazing.

So thanks Liz :)

So where have I been?

I have been super involved with school as of late. I am in my very first studio class so I am devoting a lot of my time to that as well with my sorority. Shockingly enough I have been extremely healthy despite my busy schedule. I am sad to say, my workout schedule has been suffering so I have been trying to make up for it by walking to class a lot.

That's all I have for now.

But goodbye, see you soon!!!!

Oh wait!

I have a recipe for Skinny Pumpkin Muffins! :)

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin
1/4 cup milk

1. Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat the butter until creamy,then beat in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in the pumpkin and the milk. Beat in the flour mixture.
3. Put batter into 12 greased muffin cups. Bake about 25 minutes at 400 degrees until toothpick comes out clean

Curried Tempeh Salad

Hello!

The weather has been crazy in Chicago lately. One day it is freezing cold. The next suddenly 70 degrees. Usually I wouldn't really mind except for the fact that I have consistently been choosing the wrong type of coat each day. Weather, make up yo' mind!

Clearly, I want it to be cold because all of my food choices are leaning toward the warm and cozy types. I've been slurping on soup and making pumpkin oats like they're going out of style. Last night's dinner was no different.

I bought a block of tempeh from Trader Joes a while back (hopefully not too long of a while back) and gaining inspiration from Une Vie Saine's Mexi-tempeh dish I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I didn't have any of the Mexican ingredients that was used in Gabrielle's recipe but I did have an unopened jar of curry powder. And some random carrots.

Hence, a recipe was born!

Curried Tempeh Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 block multigrain tempeh

1/2 tsp curry powder

baby carrots

spinach

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the carrots. Boil until crisp-tender, 4-5 minutes.

Meanwhile, crumble the tempeh into a microwave safe bowl and add the curry powder. Mix with a fork until well-combined and then microwave for one minute.

Plate the spinach and add the heated tempeh and carrots.

Pumpkin-Butterscotch Cookies

I've never met a cookie that I didn't like. Really, from basic chocolate chip to the more exotic Lemon Ricotta -I love them all. Well, this weekend I met a cookie that might just make me exclusive.

Enter the pumpkin-butterscotch cookie.

It's not a looker but it tastes so good it'll make you a believer, too. It turned me into a one-cookie sort of woman. Yup, it's that good.

On a different note, I feel the need to show off my apron. I feel all Julia Child when I wear it.

Now, back to our scheduled program.

Pumpkin-Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups of flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and set aside.

Using a hand-held mixer combine the sugar and eggs until pale yellow, roughly one minute. Add the pumpkin, vegetable oil, and vanilla and mix together until combined. Add the flour in two batches, combining with a rubber spatula.

Spoon cookies out onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 14-16 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. The cookies are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or the bottoms turn golden.

Source: Annie's Eats