Digestives (Aka, Fancy Graham Crackers)

Bran: the ingredient frequently associated with flavorless, healthy muck.  But did you know it's one of the main ingredients in what was probably a childhood favorite?  The humble graham cracker.

Now, not that I don't like graham crackers as much as the next person, but they're messy and not really all that attractive.  Plus, I tend to like a slightly softer texture.  This is where the British alternative, the digestive biscuit, steps in.

Behold!  A soft, sweet-ish cookie with that graham cracker flavor!  I like the bottoms of mine with a thin layer of chocolate.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat bran (Check your whole or organic food section)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
10 tbsp butter
3 tbsp whole milk
3 tbsp heavy cream

Directions:
In a medium bowl, use a pastry cutter or food processor  to mix together all dry ingredients.  Cut in butter until butter pieces are small.  Add in milk and cream and continue to mix with cutter.  Mixture will be dry and crumbly.   Press together with your hands and refrigerate 20 minutes.  Roll out to 1/2 inch between 2 pieces of wax paper and cut into rounds.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, turning the pan halfway through.  Cool on a rack.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

So you think you hate Brussels Sprouts.  Have you ever tried them?  (in my best "mom" voice)

Really, though, I think a lot of people have only ever had the majorly over-cooked stewed kind which are nasty.  Try these and I think you'll change your mind.

Ingredients:
About 15-20 Brussels Sprouts, bottoms trimmed and any ugly leaves pulled off
3 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350.

In a bowl, toss sprouts with olive oil until totally coated.  Sprinkle in brown sugar and pepper and toss.  Pepper and brown sugar will not evenly coat the sprouts: don't worry. (As they cook and you turn them, they picked up a "glaze" off the bottom of the pan)

Pour sprouts into a high-sided glass pan just large enough for them all to fit (I used an 8x8 brownie pan), scraping the bottom of the bowl to get the last of the olive oil/sugar mixture on top of them.

Cook, turning every 10 minutes, for 40 minutes, or until soft.

Serve warm or cold.  Equally delicious.

Everyday sweet/spicy chickpeas

Chickpeas are ridiculously tasty in my opinion.  Every so often I'll crack open a can and just start nibbling on the little guys, not paying any mind to the fact that I can't (and shouldn't) finish off the can in one sitting.

Here is something relatively quick and easy you can do for snack food for yourself or for a party.  They're also good on top of ice cream or yogurt.

Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and well drained
1 tbsp butter or olive oil*
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cayene pepper

Directions:
Mix brown sugar and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl.  Set aside.

Line a cookie pan with wax or parchment paper.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat.  Toss in chickpeas and stir the pan frequently until butter dissolves and chickpeas begin to brown.   Immediately toss warm chickpeas into the brown sugar mixture and toss until chickpeas are evenly coated.  Spread in an even layer on cookie sheet and let cool.

*Main difference here is flavor.  Some people don't mind olive oil flavor in with their sweet stuff, personally I think it's pretty nasty.

Apple Tasty

I'm a huge fan of apple anything and baked apples are one of my favorites.  Make it quicker and easier by just slicing off the outside and throwing away your core.

This is a serve-one size (fairly large), but can be multiplied for however many people you want.  Great with a glass of milk.

Ingredients:
1 apple, roughly diced
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp pecans (or walnuts, really your choice)
1/4 cup crumble mix (see below)
1 tbsp butter



Directions:
Lightly coat a small baking dish (like a custard cup) with butter.  Toss apple with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts, and pour into dish.  Melt butter and stir in with crumble mix, then pour over apples.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or microwave on high for 5 (crust will not get crisp)


Crumble mix

1 cup instant oats
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp brown sugar

National Brownie Day (belated)

National Brownie Day was this last Saturday, December 8th.  I had the best of intentions of posting this recipe then, but life got in the way.

This is a mildly altered version of Alton Brown's Cocoa Brownie's recipe (follow the link for the original) for increased chocolate-y goodness

Ingredients:

4 large eggs
1 cup sugar, sifted
1 cup brown sugar, sifted
8 ounces (2 sticks) melted butter
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour, sifted
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup chocolate chips or chunks of chocolate
1/2 cup of pecans (optional)
1/4 cup flour

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan. Make sure you get into the corners!


Unless you're feeling super strong and long-lasting, grab a hand mixer with a whisk attachment or your stand mixer and whisk attachment and whisk the daylights out of your eggs until they increase in volume and get lighter in color.  Took me about 5 minutes with a hand mixer on medium speed.

Add both sugars. Add butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, 1/2 cup of flour and salt and mix to combine.  In a small bowl, toss chocolate chips and pecans (if using) with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour before mixing into the brownie batter.*

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

*Wondering why?  The flour keeps these ingredients from sinking to the bottom of the batter.

Comforting Rice Pudding

Known in the cookbook I picked up the original from as Skansk Grot (yum...), this stuff is the perfect tasty breakfast food for the holidays since it makes a massive batch.  It's good hot, cold, and reheated.

Ingredients:
1 large apple (I like golden grimes or delicious, but pick what you like best) diced
1 tbsp butter
1 cup white rice (do not use brown  DO NOT USE BROWN!!!!!)
1 cup water
3 inch cinnamon stick OR 2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 cups milk
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup raisins (I like gold because they're prettier)
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Rub butter all over the bottom and sides of a LARGE saucepan (I use a spaghetti pot).  Let any leftovers melt onto the bottom.  Add rice, water, and cinnamon to the pan and heat over medium.

When the mixture boils, drop to a simmer and cover for 10-15 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.

Pour milk into saucepan, turn up the heat and stir until it begins to simmer.  Turn back down to low and add everything else except the vanilla.  Stir gently.

Cover the pan and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.

(Mostly)Barbeque Spice Rub

This spice rub is something I use to "kick it up a notch" with pre-made barbeque things and my own barbeque recipes.  Keep an eye out next week for the recipe I most commonly use it in or sprinkle it on top of the next barbeque sandwich you have.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp black pepper (freshly ground is better)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried onions
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

Mix it all together.  Package whatever you're not using right away in an airtight container or ziplock with extra air squeezed out.

Pizza Crust for the Fluffies

There are two camps of pizza crust eaters: the crispies and the fluffies.  I'm a fluffy.  I like big, fluffy crusts with chewy centers and crispy outsides.  This is my favorite crust recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 packet)
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Directions:
 In a small bowl (or measuring cup, if you're like me and hate extra dishes) mix together the warm water, brown sugar, and yeast.  In another, larger, bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups flour with salt.  As soon as the yeast blooms*, mix the olive oil into the water mixture, then dump everything in on top of the flour and salt.  Mix together as thoroughly as possible, adding more flour if necessary to get the dough to the point where it's thick enough (and not sticky) to knead.  Knead it for 5 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, then coat lightly with olive oil, drop back in the bowl, and cover with a towel or plate.  Let it sit for 1 hour.

 Preheat oven to 425.

VERY lightly oil only the bottom of your pizza pan.  Do not oil the lip of the pan.  Plop your pizza dough down in the middle of the pan and squish and push the dough towards the lip.  Here comes the reason I  told you not to oil the lip of the pan: if you've oiled everything, your dough is going to shrink back towards the middle as soon as you stop pushing it.  Therefore, you want to push the dough up over the lip and curl it slightly down on the sides of the pan so it will stick.  Jab at the parts of the crust that are touching the bottom of the pan with a fork a few times so steam can escape.  Bake for 5 minutes.

Add toppings and cook until cheese/crust/toppings achieve desired brown-ness (for me, about 12 minutes)

*Instead of being  merely murky, you'll see the water/sugar/yeast mixture start to have light "blobs" of color that push out from the center of the bowl.  Fun to watch.

Quick and Easy: Squish

Sometimes I just want some cookie dough. But... we don't have any and I don't really have any desire to cook any.

Thereby I began making Squish (Which is what I told my then 4 year old sister it was when she asked) which tastes not at all unlike spicy cookie dough and also does not contain raw egg which I hear is allegedly bad for you.

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter softened (best option) or melted (also acceptable)
1 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Cloves
Allspice
Ginger

Directions:
Squish the butter and sugars together. Add two shakes each of the spices (or to taste), then enough of the flour to form what appears to be cookie dough. Eat!

Granola

Having stumbled upon a pretty good recipe in Frontier Heritage Cookbook, I then proceeded to change almost everything about it because...well, I hate walnuts. The result lasted less than 24 hours as my husband, myself, and my dear friend Cathy munched blissfully away.

This recipe can be edited to suit your particular tastes: consider it a general guideline of delicious.

Homemade Granola Cereal
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups quick-cook oats (such as Quaker)
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds, unsalted
1/4 cup flax seeds
3/4 cup butter (that's 1 1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup honey
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp (or 4 tsp) vanilla extract

Directions

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and butter the foil well. Add oats, coconut, almonds, and flax seeds and spread evenly. Bake at 300 for 20 minutes, stirring several times. (if you have an oven that is hotter at the back than the front, you should turn the pan halfway through)

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, and honey over medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until bubbling. (Be careful! The bubbles come up quickly and will make an awful mess if they hit your stove). Remove from heat.

Turn up oven to 350. Add the butter mixture to the oat mixture and stir until thoroughly combine. Bake 10 minutes or until bubbly. (again, turning halfway through for hot ovens)

Let cool, then put into a plastic bag and seal tightly to last for up to a month.