Chocolate, Need I Say More?

Hello Sweets,

Well it has been a long weekend of moving but it's finally complete, and again I am sleepy lol.  However, Nathan was in Canadia to help me with everything, he actually went above and beyond anything you'd expect!  He not only put up every shelf, and picture, he also assembled furniture and bought me a new tv :D  Seriously I am one lucky girl, well except he is now on his way home :(  The hardest part of our relationship has to be the "see you soon" goodbyes, it never gets any easier.  He was a HUGE help in making my new apartment a home, and even though it's almost done it just isn't the same.  I now consider this apartment "our" apartment because we did so much together, he'll be back sooner than later and until then I'll complete the look and it will be a home!

Even though I had lots of help on Saturday, it still was quite difficult for me.  On the bright side, this whole ordeal is almost over.  This process has been wreaking havoc on my body :(  Since I had family and some friends helping me move, I decided to give them food as thanks :)  Nathan and I marinaded a roast Friday night to serve Saturday, and I will threw it in the oven while all the moving hoopla took place so it wouldn't be long before we could eat.  Of course there were plenty of sweet treats as well.  The pumpkin pie bars made their debut appearance, the oh so delicious pumpkin spice cupcakes (happy accident not intentional for there to be a pumpkin theme), and of course today's recipe.  No today is not a pumpkin recipe, although with the left over pumpkin from the cupcakes I could have made something.  Nathan requested I bake these though, so I thought I would make sure there was something sweet for him when he got here.

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2C flour

1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp salt

3/4C butter, melted

1C brown sugar, packed

1/2C sugar

1Tbs vanilla

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2C semi sweet chocolate chips

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

 

2)  In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until well blended.

 

3)  Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy.

 

4)  Mix in sifter ingredients until just blended.

 

5)  Sift in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.

 

6)  Drop cookie dough 1/4C at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Cookies should be about 3" apart.

 

7)  Bake for 15-17 minutes in the oven, or until edges are lightly toasted.  Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

 

  

These little bad boys are perfectly soft, not so soft it crumbles apart in your hand but that perfect way that I remember my high school cafeteria serving.  Normally this is not my first choice of cookie, but this recipe is so yummy even I can't stop from eating a couple.  The dough even reminds me of the cookies my mom used to make, and I love me some cookie dough.  It was hard to not eat all of them before Saturday lol.

Well I've got a few more things to try and tackle tonight, but to be honest I really just want to have a nap lol.  If Nathan was here he would tell me to take one, maybe I will since everything isn't going anywhere :p  Hopefully afterwards I will be more energetic and can tackle yet another good chunk organization done.  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Another Little Addition to the Pumpkin Patch!

Hello Sweets,

Fall is in full swing in Ontario, which means bright and beautiful colored leaves.  I should probably take a picture so y'all can really understand my favorite part of colder weather.  The other thing I love about fall is all the fruits and veggies that become a staple on our dinner table, and we all know I have a not so secret love affair with pumpkin!

Do you know how many batches of pumpkin cupcakes I've made in the last two months?  I've made three batches, which is 72 cupcakes!  Crazy right?  Needless to say I felt the need to go outside of the box when I was left with extra pumpkin purée.  Last year I experimented with pumpkin pancakes, and they are the epitome of a fall breakfast food.  They are full of flavor, heavier than traditional pancakes so they're filling, and the spiciness is warm and reflection of fall.  However, that is not what I wanted to do, I wanted to bring y'all something new :)  I've been seeing a lot of pumpkin cookies popping up all over Facebook and Pinterest, but I hadn't seen one that really peaked my interest.  That is until last night, thank you insomnia lol finally a plus side!!

Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

Cookie:

2C flour

1 1/3C rolled oats (not quick!)

1 1/4tsp baking powder

1 1/2tsp cinnamon

1tsp ginger

1tsp salt

1/2tsp nutmeg

1/2tsp allspice, heaping

1C butter, room temperature

1C packed dark brown sugar

1C sugar 

1 large egg, room temperature 

1tsp vanilla

1 3/4C pumpkin purée

 

Icing:

1 1/2C icing sugar

3Tbs + 1tsp milk

2Tbs maple syrup

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F, arrange oven racks so it's split into thirds.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside. 

2)  Whisk flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and allspice in a medium bowl to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside. 

 

3)  Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, fit with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about five minutes. 

 

4)  Add the egg and vanilla, beating until fully incorporated about thirty seconds. 

 

5)  On low speed, add half of the flour mixture and mix well. Add 1/2 the pumpkin purée and mix until just incorporated.  Repeat with the remain in flour and pumpkin.

 

6)  Drop 8 dough rounds per baking sheet 2" apart on prepared sheets.  Put remaining dough in the refrigerator. 

 

7)  Bake for 12 minutes, rotate the pans from top to bottom and front to back until the cookies are golden brown on the bottom and sides, about 12 more minutes. 

8)  Cool on baking sheets for three minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Let baking sheets cool to room temperature before repeating with remaining cookie dough. Set cookies on parchment paper once cooled.

9)  Place all the glaze ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk until evenly combined.

 

 

10)  Dip fork in glaze and drizzle over cookies in a zigzag pattern. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes to allow the glaze to set before storing. 

 

These cookies are so delicious, full body flavor, spiciness, and soft chewy goodness.  I think from now on I'll make cupcakes and cookies, that should be a nice balance.  Might I dare even say these may be my new favorite cookie ;)  Ah who am I kidding, I'm a shortbread girl all the way lol!

 

 

Over the next few days I will be making some of my favorite cookies, so my posts will be shorter and random while recreating tried and true recipes.  I'll even be making a must have snack for Nathan ;)

I forgot to mention Nathan is coming to Canada this weekend!!!!!!!!!!  Can you tell I'm excited lol, I cannot wait to see him and be in his arms.  We have a jam packed couple of days, typical dinner/lunch with the grandparents.  Then on Sunday I am being baptized :) and I am very excited for all the important people in my life to be sharing that day with me, after we will all be heading out to one of my favorite restaurants, The Bungalow.  Ooooohhhh I am going to do a foodie review =)  Then we're hoping to spend some time with my mom and her husband before we jet off Monday back to my home in Texas!  I am a happy girl right now and nothing will take that away from me ;)  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Not Your Avergae Cookie

Hello Sweets,

I hope y'all had a wonderful Wednesday :), and just think only two more sleeps until the weekend lol.  My day was very very bed ridden today :(, which really bummed me out because I really wanted to get into the kitchen today.  So no matter what happens tonight I am getting my little butt in the kitchen tomorrow no matter how I feel!  Take that crappy health, I'm going to do what I want :p

Today is gluten-free Wednesday!  Well not normally but for the sake of today's post it is lol.  Recently my mom found out she had a gluten intolerance, which is interesting because they think my sister might have one as well.  Thank you lord for allowing me to consume flour *woot woot*.  Any who, my mom is into homeopathic medicine such as Reiki, healing touch, and angels.  If you are interested in learning more please feel free to visit her web page Universal Healing Energies, I know she would love new visitors and would be happy to answer any questions you may have.  Many many moons ago my mom decided to try something else in the homeopathic field called ear candling.  Everyone is told that q-tips are not good to use for cleaning ears and you shouldn't put anything bigger than your elbow in your ear, but seriously lol what can you put in your ear that is that big!?!  Let me give you a quick little run down as to what and how it works, basically it is a special form of candle that sits in your ear canal and once it's lit it will draw the wax out of the ear canal.  It is widely disputed but most doctors (as you can read in this article), but I have had it done more than once, I've seen the results and believe it works.

As a trade off she asked me to bake her some gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.  I haven't baked anything gluten free besides the paleo bars I made last year, so I had to do some research to see the different types of ingredient combinations there are.  There are tons lol and the ingredients used are very unique for cookies, which made for a hard choice lol.  I cam across this cute little blog Nicole Joy Health and Wellness , she is in to health and wellness and provides all sorts of great healthy recipes.  So check out her website, and now her version of a chocolate chip cookie :)

Processed Sugar-Free and Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

1/4C butter, softened

1 heaped tbs of coconut oil

1/4C + 2Tbs raw sugar

1Tsp vanilla

1 large egg

1/4Tsp baking soda

1/4Tsp baking powder

1/4Tsp salt

1 1/2C almond meal

1/2C carob chips

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 340F and line baking trays with parchment paper.  In a large bowl cream together; butter, coconut oil, and raw sugar for about four minutes.

 

2)  Add the egg and vanilla, mixing thoroughly.

 

3)  Mix in the baking soda, baking powder, and almond flour until well incorporated.

 

4)  Fold the carob chips in with a wooden spoon.

 

looks like real cookie dough

5)  Drop tablespoons of the mixture onto the baking tray (you want be able to roll them into balls as the dough is tacky).

 

6)  Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.

 

As you can tell by the pictures, the cookies have a different texture to them then a regular cookie.  I did try a small bite of the cookie and it wasn't bad, just different lol.  My mom however who had taken them home said they were delicious, and you can't beat feedback from the people who are eating them :)

As good as they were, I think I'll still stick with my flour based cookies ;)  After all, it is what I know best lol, but I tried something new and it worked so I know I could make more of them if anyone would like them.  Tomorrow I am sharing a three generation strong recipe from a friend of mine.  I promise you it's both worth the wait and delicious, there is a reason why it's three generations strong after all.  Until next time...........................................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Strawberry Fields

Hello Sweets,

Spring is finally here, to anyone other than a Canadian you've probably already been experiencing warmer weather but we just got ours.  I love spring time (but not as much as summer), the smell of rain and fresh cut grass to fresh fruit and veggie stands from local farmers.  Although nothing is better than going berry picking, and here in south western Ontario we have some wonderful berry farms!  I know it's a little early in the season to be picking (actually WAY too early), but I couldn't help but start dreaming about all the wonderful treats that can be made with farm fresh produce :)

My roommate bought too many strawberries and told me to help myself to them, and you know what happens when I've been day dreaming of creative treats and a present like that is drop on me?  You guessed it, I wanted to bake with them!  I recently came across this really cook foodie website where they share all sorts of recipes and tips called Mr.Food.  So I started looking at the different strawberry recipes and came across one that I thought sounded pretty interesting.  I add a few extra ingredients of course, but they were my inspiration!

Fast Strawberry Cobbler

Ingredients

1/2C butter, melted

1C self rising flour

1/2C white sugar, divided

1/4C brown sugar, divided

3/4C milk

2C fresh strawberries, quartered

1/2C water

1Tsp cinnamon

as you can see the additional ingredients were an in progress thought :)

Directions:
1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Pour melted butter into a 1 1/2 quart glass baking dish.

2)  In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4C sugar (half of each), and milk pouring evenly over the butter.

3)  In a separate bowl combine strawberries, remaining sugar, and water; spoon evenly over the flour/milk layer.  DO NOT STIR.

4)  Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until golden.  Serve warm or cold.
*side note*  I ended up with more liquid than I would have liked once it was done baking.  I simply drained it off and simmered in on the stove top to make a simple syrup to go with the dessert, it turned out perfectly!

I think the next time I make this I will try a different berry and possibly use brown sugar only, but who knows what else I'll have dreamed up by then right?  Either way remember to have fun, and if something has gone not according to plan think of a way to make it work for you instead of against you.

So I have now began the cookie research phase and I think I'll be trying a batch tomorrow of one of the first three cookie, after all I need the first three chosen before creating the third!  So be prepared for cookies, cookies, and more cookies!  I am both looking forward to and dreading this all at the same time, since I like things like this to be perfect it will take some time.  I know this has been a fairly short post but I started with a mild migraine and now it is full force, so it is time for this girl to relax.  Until next time............................


Stay sweet,



Jennifer xoxo

One Of The Best Gingers I Know!

Hello Sweets,

How has your Tuesday been so far?  Mine has been absolutely wonderful :D, why you ask?  Well this morning I landed in the great state of Texas, which means Nathan and I have been reunited (and it feels so good lol). 

Not great quality, but you can feel the love <3

Even though I am EXTREMELY tired, feel sore, and a little sick, no of that matters as soon as I saw him as I was coming down the escalator.  Knowing that the hand I love to hold is now always in my reach is undeniably the best feeling you can have when everything seems to be going haywire.  Needless to say there will definitely be baking going on, although you may see some old recipes, I will make small changes to keep things fresh.  Not to mention that Nathan will be cooking too, so you will be privy to his delicious bites as well :)

As I promised yesterday, I have a longer post, and tonight you are going to get a yummy treat for your taste buds :)  So yesterday I made candied ginger so my tummy would have a tasty way to be settled which then got me thinking, could I make an even tastier treat that could possibly settle the tummy as well?  Then I came across an idea for the candied ginger, and giant soft and chewy ginger cookies.  When I was growing up, the mother of a childhood friend of mine would make ginger snaps, but they weren't your traditional ginger snaps because they were crisp on the outer edge but the center was chewy.  Now this recipe is not a ginger snap in any shape or form, but the soft and chewy centers of the childhood cookies are the entire embodiment in every sense of the word :)  So let's get to the deliciousness shall we?

Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies (via The Baker Chic)

Ingredients

 2 1/4C all-purpose flour

2Tsp ground ginger

1 Tsp baking soda

3/4Tsp cinnamon

1/2Tsp cloves (I used allspice as a substitute)

1/4Tsp salt

 3/4C butter, softened

1/2C white sugar

1/2C brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tbs water

1/4C molasses

1/2C ginger, candied (see previous post)

2Tbs raw sugar (for rolling, I used white and it worked just as well)

candied ginger not pictured

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F, positioning the racks in the center of your oven.  Mix together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a medium bow.  Set aside.

 

2)   In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

3)  Beat in the egg, then mix in the water and molasses.

4)  Gradually mix in the sifted mixture to the molasses mix.  Stir in the candied ginger.

 

5)  Chill the dough for 15 minuted to allow for easier handling.  Shape dough into 1" sized balls, and roll them into the raw sugar.  Place the cookies 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet (lol I made mine a little bit too big as you will see), and flatten slightly.  Baking for 8-10 minutes.

6)  Allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an air tight container.

Don't they look delicious :)

There are a couple different things that make these cookies unique; the fact that they have the candied ginger in them gives them a spicy depth that most ginger cookies don't have, and they stay soft and chewy as long as you can keep them in the house (lol which isn't long).

So now I am almost caught up with my back up recipes, although I do have one more up my sleeve which is something of a traditional, old fashion treat but with a sweet little surprise to it ;)  Now that I've got you intrigued you'll be coming back tomorrow for yet another one of Canuckette's creations.  Until next time...........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo