Chocolate Mint Crackle Cookies

I originally made these cookies around Christmas, and I made some tonight. I like that it makes a small batch of cookies. I love how soft they are, almost cake-like and how easy they are to make.Your whole kitchen will smell like chocolate-minty goodness. I didn't chill my dough either time I made these cookies, although I should have, the dough is very sticky and I bake mine at 350 degrees F.  I made mine with regular cocoa and they are still heavenly. And by the way, check out the rest of Isabelle's posts. Wonderful recipes, beautiful photographs.

Chocolate-Mint Crinkle Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, pref Dutch-process
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 cup icing sugar

In a large metal mixing bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Using fingers, rub in the butter until evenly distributed throughout. Add eggs and peppermint extract, and stir until a thick dough comes together. Chill dough in the refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using a spoon or a melon baller, scoop out teaspoon-sized balls of dough. Pour the icing sugar into a small mixing bowl and add the dough balls, 2-3 at a time, rolling around to coat evenly with sugar.
Arrange the icing-sugar coated balls 2" apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are just set and have evenly crackled tops.

Tempeh Bacon from scratch.....

I am a total skeptic when it comes to making this..I love the Lightlife Fakin' Bacon...Crunchy, smoky goodness perfect for the BLT I have been craving, which is pretty special since I make Celine's Pumpkin Bread special for it and I realized that I had forgotten both my tofu and the before mentioned Fakin'Bacon at the store, however I *did* have plain tempeh at the house. This recipe looks good......I added maybe a tablespoon of maple syrup to this recipe. I didn't let the fact that I did not have Ancho chili powder stop me, I just used regular chili powder. I did not get 20 slices, maybe about 14-15 but all very thin, and I marinated it overnight. I actually marinated for about 2 days actually and instead of baking the bacon, I fried mine in a little olive oil. The boy loves it, it tastes close to Lightlife Fakin' Bacon.... The sandwich is Fakin' Bacon, mayonnaise, lettuce of choice, thinly sliced avocado and  thinly sliced tomato. TLAT's as we call them around here.

The "bacon" marinating...

The sammich o' goodness...

Watercress Salad

I picked up some watercress on a whim over the weekend from the Asian grocer (more posts to come from that visit) and came home and found
this wonderful recipe to use some of it on. I say "some" because you get a ton of it. It comes in a small "butcher pack" and it looks like a very small amount but it was enough to fill up my Pho noodle bowl. My earliest memories of watercress was eating some wild out of my grandma's yard. It has a peppery bite to it, spicy and a little heat not unlike horseradish. This salad has romaine, watercress, walnuts and Gorgonzola cheese. The dressing uses Gorgonzola cheese, fresh basil, olive oil, basalmic vinegar....It is supposed to be a clone recipe from California Pizza Kitchen, however I have never been to one. This is one of the best salads I have ever had, and I think that the only thing that would make it better is to have some thinly sliced Granny Smith apple or dried cranberries added to it.

California Pizza Kitchen Romaine-Watercress Salad W/ Balsamic-Basil Vinaigrette

Balsamic-Basil Vinaigrette

* 8 large fresh basil leaves
* 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1/4 lb gorgonzola, crumbled
* 3/4 cup olive oil, mild flavored

Romaine-Watercress Salad

* 1 head romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped
* 1 bunch watercress, cleaned and cut bite-size
* 8 ounces gorgonzola, crumbled
* 2 cups walnuts, shelled halves

In a blender, process basil, gorgonzola and vinegar. Then, on a slower speed, blend in oil briefly. Set aside in refrigerator to chill. Later, in a large mixing bowl, combine the greens. Add dressing and toss to coat all leaves. Transfer the dressed greens to several chilled serving plates. Top each with equal amounts of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese and walnuts.

Banana Cranberry Cereal Muffins

Are your taste buds salivating yet? I found
Cereal Muffins and decided to make these as I have some bananas to use up. Cinnamon, brown sugar, cranberries, Cheerios, bananas....These smell so good cooking, and they were so soft, the cranberries complement the banana-cinnamon flavor. Great for grab and go mornings. As stated in the recipe use whatever cereal you have on hand. I think that these would be also good made as Pumpkin-Cranberry (Pumpkin replacing the banana), Pumpkin-Chocolate Chip, Banana-Chocolate Chip or Apple-Raisin(applesauce instead of the banana).

Here are some bonus pix of my male bunny, Stitch. He is a Netherland Dwarf and his color is otter.

Spinach-Feta Fatayer

I used this recipe Spinach Fatayer and I made mine with a half of a (large) bag of frozen chopped spinach, 1.5 small chopped onion, sauteed on medium low until soft, then cook the spinach in with this, add salt and pepper and I threw in about 1/2 tbsp. of sumac and I also doubled the recipe. After I let this cool I added maybe 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (or you can leave it out). You can make them small like the recipe states or make them larger. They were really good, I will try them with a different dough recipe next time and maybe some vinegar instead of the lemon juice, but overall the filling is great. They are really good, but not like the ones I am used to buying at the Mediterranean Deli, the dough is more like pastry dough in this recipe, stay tuned as I try out different recipes :)

Ingredients:

• For the Dough:
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup water
• For the Spinach Filling:
• 1/2 pound fresh spinach, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon ground sumac

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Add oil and begin to knead dough. Once oil is absorbed, add warm water. Knead into an elastic dough.

Shape dough into 2 inch diameter balls. Cover and set aside.

Preheat over to 425 degrees.

Wash spinach and soak spinach in salted water while you chop vegetables. Rinse spinach and dry thoroughly with paper towel.

Combine and toss filling ingredients.

Place 2 teaspoons of filling in the center of each ball of dough. Cover filling with dough and form into triangular shape.

Bake for 10-15 on greased baking sheet, until golden brown.

Allow to cool 5 minutes and serve immediately.

Olivia's "To Die For" Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Olivia's "To Die For" Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup Smart Balance Light (or regular Earth Balance will work fine too)
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. flax meal
1 heaping Tbsp. Ener-G egg replacer powder
1/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups vegan chocolate chips (Guittard is my favorite)

1.) Preheat oven to 375 F.

2.) In a small bowl, mix soy milk VERY WELL (until creamy) with Ener-G egg replacer and flax meal using an electric mixer or hand (immersion) blender. Set aside.

3.) In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Set Aside.

4.) In a large bowl, cream together coconut oil, Smart Balance and sugars. Add soy/flax mixture and vanilla. Beat with electric mixer until smooth.

5.) Gradually add flour mixture to liquids. Stir in chocolate chips.

6.) Drop by well rounded teaspoonfulls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 8 - 10 min. until lightly golden. (Can also be made into bar cookies in 9 X 12 pan)

I found this from an old post on www.veggieboards.com from Tofu and Sprouts, her daughter made these up for her with ingredients they had on hand! They are some of the best vegan cookies I have ever tasted, not oily at all and soft, they don't stick to the pan and the dough is the right consistency, they are perfect and I am thinking about trying these made into PB cookies also. I made mine with 1/2 tbsp. milled flax seed, I made mine with 1 cup chocolate chips and baked at 350 degrees F but those are the only things I did different. Olivia, you rock! The family all loved these, BTW.

Maple Wheat Rolls

Made these for the family, we are having a get together tomorrow evening, here is the recipe, but I make mine with 1/4 maple syrup and I used olive oil instead of canola and I cook them at 350 degrees F. Don't put them in a small pan, roll up and place on a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan with plenty of room to rise. They are not completely whole wheat, but they are the softest, best bread I have ever tasted and I always make these for special occasions.

Maple Wheat Rolls

1 1/2 cups warm water
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 pkg. dry yeast
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups white flour
Oil for brushing
• Combine the water and maple syrup in a large bowl. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Cover with a towel and let sit until bubbly.
• Add the canola oil, whole wheat flour, and salt, mixing well. Knead on a well-floured surface and gradually incorporate the white flour. The dough will be slightly sticky.
• Cover with a bowl until doubled in size, about 30 to 60 minutes. Roll into 12 to 16 biscuits. Place on an oiled pan and brush the tops with oil. Let rise.
• Bake at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.