A childhood friend and his father visited us this weekend, and I wanted to make a special dish for them, so I played around with a few recipes. And I came up with (Dairy-Free) Brownie Madeleines! Shell-shaped brownies that puff up splendidly and look extra good if you sprinkle them with icing sugar.
As it happens, I wasn’t able to make the recipe for my friend as the baby decided to have a growth spurt and wanted to eat and be with mummy all the time, so their loss is my waistline’s gain, as I made the recipe the day after they left. You can make the recipe too – it’s delish! While I use a madeleine tray that I borrowed from my mother (I live in a condo. I don’t have room to buy and store All The Baking Things.), you could easily use a well-greased muffin tray to make two-bite brownies instead of madeleines. Actually, that’s a great idea – someone do that and then let us know in the comments how it was!
Want to make the Brownie Madeleines yourself? Let’s!
These cookies are more like a brookie: a brownie-cookie mashup! But they’re 100% delicious!
Servings12cookies
Ingredients
1/2c.flour
1/3c.cocoa (plus 1 tbsp.)
1tsp.instant coffee
1tsp. baking powder
1egg
pinchsalt
1/3c. soft plant-based margarine
1tsp.vanilla extract
1/2c.sugar
Instructions
Mix all ingredients together.
Spoon into a well-greased madeleine pan, and bake in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes or until the top of the brownie madeleines are springy.
Let cool, sprinkle with icing sugar if you desire, and eat!
I used plant-based margarine in the recipe (a soft version) to make these dairy-free, but you could use melted butter if that’s all you have. And I used 1 tsp. of instant coffee powder to add a richness to the chocolatey taste, but I’ve also made them with 2 tsp. of regular coffee and they’re just as good.
Interested in some other variations? Why not dip them in melted white or dark chocolate? Or perhaps drizzle them with a little icing sugar icing? Mmm…want!
Next Post: An AMAZING recipe for preservative-free Vegetable Cream Cheese Spread! Seriously amazing! (Also amazingly easy.)
I know that in my last post I said that I would give you the recipe for my Ultra-Creamy (and Vegan!) Hummus, but I came up with a super-duper new yummy recipe this week and I just have to share it with you! It’s Brownie Brittle Cookies (with Reese’s Pieces), and it makes ONE HUNDRED COOKIES, so you can bake and eat some, keep some dough in the freezer, and still have enough to share!
You’re probably thinking, why would I need to bake one hundred cookies? And unless you’re baking for a family reunion, or a large birthday party (or like me, for your spouse’s workplace), you probably don’t need to bake one hundred cookies. But wouldn’t it be nice to be able to have freshly baked cookies whenever you want them, without having to pull out your baking utensils and spend the time mixing and cleaning and such? That’s why we’re going to…freeze the cookie dough!
And the best part of freezing the cookie dough, beside having the ability to bake fresh cookies whenever you want, is that you can actually eat the dough raw because there’s no egg in it! Now I know you should actually not eat the dough raw since flour can theoretically contain salmonella, but if you’re certain your flour is safe, then it’s cookie dough eatin’ time! You could even add it to homemade ice cream and make your own brownie brittle cookie dough ice cream! Note to self: make this recipe a reality.
I came up with the recipe one evening when the baby wouldn’t go to sleep and I was craving chocolate. I stuck her in my front-wearing baby carrier and got to work. I had seen the one-hundred cookie recipe going around Instagram and decided to try and make it. But I didn’t have all the ingredients so I had to make (them did you know you can actually make your own condensed milk?) and then changed the technique and then changed the amount and type of some ingredients and voila! My Brownie Brittle Cookies were born!
This large-batch recipe makes enough cookie dough to bake some for yourself and others, and still have enough leftover to freeze for those cookie emergencies!
Servings100cookies
Ingredients
5c.flour
2 1/2tsp.salt
7tsp.baking powder
2c.butter, softened
2c.milk
1/2c.honey
3tbsp.butter
1tbsp.vanilla extract
1c.sugar
2c.chocolate chips
1c. Reese's Pieces
Instructions
First we're going to make our own sweetened condensed milk: in a large saucepan over a medium high heat, mix the milk, honey, vanilla extract, and 3 tbsp. butter. Bring to a boil and then simmer until half reduced in volume (about 1/2 hour).
While the homemade condensed milk is reducing, we make our self-raising flour: mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
Add 2 cups of butter, and the cup of sugar to the flour mixture and mix together thoroughly.
Then stir in the chocolate chips.
Once the condensed milk mixture is ready, pour it into the rest of the cookie batter. The hot condensed milk will melt the chocolate chips, which is what we want; it will also melt the butter which will help the cookies caramelize in the oven. Stir together until the chocolate chips are completely melted.
Let the dough sit for 10 minutes to cool off, then stir in the Reese's Pieces.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. The cookies will be very soft and will need to cool for at least 10 minutes on the cookie sheet before being removed to a cooling tray.
Let cool completely before eating, and enjoy!
I suggest freezing the dough in several small Ziploc type freezer bags, so that you can just pull out one baggie at a time and defrost it. I just stuck it all in one bag for myself, as I knew I’d be baking it all at once for my husband’s workplace.
Oh, and while I added in Reese’s Pieces to the dough, you could easily just put in walnut pieces and chocolate chunks for an even brownie-er brownie brittle cookie. As I always say, you do you, boo!
Next Post: My Ultra-Creamy Hummus recipe! For sure! (Most likely.)
These cookies are special, as they have both a fresh gingery bite, and a chocolate caramel kiss!
Last year I made Gingersnap Cookies, and used both powdered ginger and fresh ginger in the recipe — it had a delicious bite to it! This year I decided to up the ante, and added chocolate kisses. But I used caramel filled chocolate kisses, just to make it that much more special! The result? Chocolate Caramel Ginger Cookies!
The cookies themselves have no refined sugars, as the recipe calls for molasses and maple syrup as sweeteners, so the chocolate caramel kisses add just the perfect amount of sweetness to make the cookies a treat as opposed to an everyday sort of cookie. I used black strap molasses as that is what I had in the house, plus it’s higher in iron than regular molasses, so why not?
These cookies take a spicy gingersnap cookie and up the ante by adding in chocolate caramel kisses to make them even more special!
Servings30cookies
Ingredients
2 1/2c.flour
1 tsp.baking poweder
1tsp.baking soda
1/2tsp.black pepper
1/8tsp. salt
1/8tsp.cayenne pepper
1/4tsp.nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamon, and cloves, each
3/4c. maple syrup
1/2c. oil
1/2c. water
3 tbsp.blackstrap molasses
3 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
30chocolate caramel kisses
Instructions
Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix all wet ingredients together, and then add to dry ingredients and stir until fully mixed.
Roll into small balls and place on a silicone sheet on a baking tray. Press an unwrapped chocolate caramel kiss in the centre of the cookie dough.
Bake in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 12 minutes, or until the bottom of the cookie is lightly golden.
Remove to a cooling rack, let cool, and enjoy!
I baked these cookies to give away in cookie tins as Christmas gifts and/or hostess gifts, but after giving away a few tins…I have to confess I ate the rest, in the wee hours of the morning when the baby was particularly fussy and I wanted some sugar. Actually, as I type this, the baby is sleeping on my chest (and I’m slightly contorted trying to type and keep the baby balanced. New motherhood, eh?). Given that the only refined sugar is in the chocolate kisses, and the rest of the cookie is pretty healthy, I’m ok with eating a few cookies during the witching hour!
When do you crave cookies the most? Let me know in the comments!
Next Post: Shortbread Crumble Apple Pie, or Easy Peasy Chicken Noodle Soup. One or the other!
Gifts from the kitchen…may include cookies-in-a-jar mix!
Hello, dear readers! The holidays are upon us and I’m still in the thick of holiday preparations, lots of which involve gifts from my kitchen. I’ve made Chocolate Walnut Fudge and White Chocolate Candy Cane Bark, but there are still lots of easy (and delicious!) gifts that can be whipped up by you and by me. I’ve previously written about last minute gifts that you can give from your kitchen (and even from your microwave), but here are five more!
FIVE MORE LAST MINUTES GIFTS FROM THE KITCHEN
Marshmallow Snowman Pops – In case you missed it, I made these tasty snowman pops out of marshmallows, white chocolate, and a few trimmings. You can too!
Easy Pickled Vegetables – Want to give something that’s not pure sugar? What about these easy pickled vegetables? Bonus, they’ll also use up whatever veggies you have in your fridge or pantry!
Chocolate-Covered Honeycomb Candy – Like the candy bar, but homemade so no preservatives! Also makes a nice large batch so that you can make several gifts at once! Or eat some yourself. Either or.
Wine BonBons – Because sometimes you just want to sit and eat bonbons by the light of the Christmas tree.
Christmas Peppermint Patties – These delicious treats are easy, tasty, and can be made using whatever cookie cutters you have on hand. Great for party platters, after dinner treats, or just to package up in cellophane and gift to lucky recipients!
Do you have any gifts that you still need to get? If yes, I strongly suggest making some of the above delicious things! Who doesn’t love a food gift, made with love, and fresh from the kitchen?
I think I have most of the gifts I need ready to give to people, but I have one more gift to make and that’s for A Very Special Person, my own DH. Want to know what I’m going to make him? Well, he doesn’t like actual chocolate (I know, egads!) but he does like white chocolate and macadamia nuts, so I thought I’d make him a container of white chocolate macadamia nut cookie mix! That way he doesn’t have to eat them now during this season of delicious, delicious holiday excess, but can keep them to make a month or so down the road when a cookie emergency arises. (What, you don’t have cookie emergencies? No midnight cravings? Ok, so maybe just me.)
Layer 1 – 3/4 c. all-purpose flour + 1/2 tsp. baking soda
Layer 2 – 1/2 c. large flake rolled oats + 1/2 tsp. salt
Layer 3 – 1/2 c. brown sugar (not packed down)
Layer 4 – 1/2 c. white sugar + 1 tsp. vanilla
Layer 5 – 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
Layer 6 – 1/2 chopped macadamia nuts
Layer 7 – 1/2 c. white chocolate chunks
Layer 8 – 1/2 c. fine-milled oats
Mix the vanilla extract with the white sugar. Using a funnel, drop the ingredients in the layers as mentioned above. Write out the following instructions, and attach to the jar, so the recipient knows how to make up these yummy cookies!
When you’re ready to make the cookies, beat 1/2 c. softened butter with an egg. Stir in the entire jar of cookie mix. Bake in a 350 degree oven on a greased baking sheet for 8 minutes if you like softer cookies and 10 minutes if you like crunchier cookies. And, enjoy!
This recipe is easily customizable! Replace white chocolate with dark chocolate; switch out the macadamia nuts for walnuts; add in raisins or other dried fruit; and so on and so forth. Make it your own! By the way, if you don’t have fine-milled oats, just regular ones will do, or you can briefly (v. briefly) blend the large-flake ones in a blender. If you make this recipe, let me know in the comments if you subbed out any ingredients!
Next Post: Probably the Cappuccino Cupcakes I mentioned previously. Mmm…cappuccino goodness! Just the thing to keep my awake to wrap all of my presents!
Pretty, painted meringue roses that melt in your mouth!
I generally don’t sell my baking, preferring to a) eat it (best part of baking, amirite?), b) bring it to work, or c) have the DH bring it to his work (our colleagues are most appreciative). Recently, however, when someone I didn’t know asked me to do some baking for a themed baby shower, I thought, why not? And baked up these yummy ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed treats!
What treats did I make? Chessboard Nanaimo Bar Squares, Painted Rose Meringues, and Spotted Mushroom Cupcakes! And honestly, they were so easy to make. Want to make some yourself? Let’s!
Use my nanaimo bar recipe, but use a lasagna pan instead of a square pan. And, before you add the final chocolate layer, cut the giant block of nanaimo bar in half. Then ice one half in chocolate and ice the other half in white chocolate (that’s what the white chocolate wafers & oil is for). When set, cut into squares and arrange in a chessboard pattern. Et voila! Wasn’t that easy?
What a delicious Nanaimo bar chessboard!
As you all know, I like to use real ingredients to create delicious treats…and then consume them when they’re fresh, because why wait to eat yumminess? Which means that when I made the Spotted Mushroom Cupcakes, I didn’t use a cake mix or canned frosting, but mixed up the batter from scratch, along with some vanilla buttercream! I actually used coconut oil instead of shortening in my vanilla buttercream recipe, and that gave the buttercream a coconutty taste — extra yummy! The DH came by the kitchen as I was baking, and tasted the buttercream. His reaction? “MMMMMMMM!” I think that says it all.
Spotted Mushroom Cupcakes
1 batch chocolate cupcake batter (I HIGHLY recommend this recipe)
1 batch of my vanilla buttercream, but using (room temperature) coconut oil instead of shortening
green cupcake wrappers
1 1/2 c. of red candy wafers
1 tsp. vegetable oil
Using the green cupcake wrappers, bake the cupcakes according to the directions. Whip up the buttercream according to the recipe, except use coconut oil in place of the shortening. Using a butter knife, spread icing over the top of each cupcake to create a smooth dome. Place 2 or 3 red wafers on each iced cupcake. Then, place the remaining red wafers in a cup along with the oil and microwave in 30 s. bursts until melted, stirring every 30 s. Once melted, pour into a Ziploc bag, and cut a very small bit off of one corner. Pipe small red dots onto a sheet of waxed paper. Set the waxed paper in the fridge to set. Once the red dots are solid, place two or three red dots on each cupcake. Et voila, your Spotted Mushroom Cupcakes are done!
Coconutty buttercream goodness!
Do you remember the part in ‘Alice in Wonderland’, where the Queen orders her white roses to be painted red? Well, we can do the same, only with roses made out of meringue!
Painted Rose Meringues
1 batch of meringue (I like this recipe, as it creates a very pipeable meringue)
2 cups red candy wafers
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 Wilton 1M piping tip
a piping bag
Mix up the batch of meringue batter. Cut the tip off the piping bag, and attach the piping tip. (If you don’t have a piping attachment, don’t worry, just place the piping tip inside the bag and it will work just fine.) Scoop the meringue batter into the piping bag and twist the top closed. Pipe roses onto a baking sheet. How to pipe a rose? Start in the centre, and pipe a swirl. The 1M piping tip makes the swirl look like a rose! Bake according to meringue batter instructions, or until the meringues are lightly golden on the bottom, and thoroughly dry throughout (I usually break one in half to check the done-ness. And then eat it. Hazard/benefit of the job, right?) When done, remove to a cooling rack and let cool thoroughly.
Mix wafers with vegetable oil, and melt in microwave, in 30 s. bursts, stirring in between each 30 s. When thoroughly melted, pour into a shallow bowl. Dip 1/3 of the roses top down, so that the tops become completely covered in red. Then set these back on the cooling tray (I suggest placing a piece of wax paper underneath to catch all the drips). Take 1/2 of the remaining meringues and dip half of the cookie in the melted red wafers, so that it looks as though someone half-painted a white rose. Set back on cooling tray. Let the candy coating set. If you’re in a hurry, you can place the cooling racks in the fridge to set faster. Once done, arrange the roses on a platter, with some red roses, some white roses, and some half-painted roses. Deliciousness, thy name is meringue!
Wasn’t it easy to make those ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed desserts? They’re just basic recipes, but with the design slightly tweaked so that they fit with an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ theme. Do you have an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed party coming up? Why not try these out? Not only are they delicious, but they’re fun to look at too! If you do bake these treats, be sure to email me some photos! I’d love to post them on my social media channels!
Next Post: Baked Falafel Croutons! Say what? That’s right! An easy way to add vegetarian protein to your salad!
