Snickerdoodles

 A few weeks ago, and after nearly 17 years of marriage, I learned that these cookies are my husband's absolute favorite cookie ever. 

Ingredients for the snickerdoodle dough

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C coconut oil at room temperature
• 1 C sugar
• 1/4 C unsweetened unflavored almond milk
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt

Ingredients for rolling

• 3 T sugar
• 1 t cinnamon powder

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Mix sugar and butter together in a bowl large enough to hold all ingredients. Add milk and vanilla extract, and mix again.
3. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients for the dough (NOT the rolling ingredients). 
4. Add to the wet ingredients and stir until well mixed. If the mixture is too dry, add more almond milk. It won't take much though. make a dough.
5. Using a spoon or a very small ice cream scoop, scoop the dough, then roll between your palms to form smooth balls. 
6. Mix the cinnamon powder and sugar in a small bowl, and roll each dough ball in this cinnamon-sugar mixture.
7. Place on a baking sheet (I put mine on my Silpat).
8. Bake for around 14 minutes.
9. Once done, remove from the oven and cool on a baking rack.
10. Enjoy!

Flourless Almond Torte

Ben and Jen gave us the Run Fast, Eat Slow cookbook for Christmas this year. We happened to be driving down and back to Tulsa to see Kent’s mother right after we’d opened presents so I took the cookbook along and read him recipes. This one in particular intrigued me, although I knew I wouldn’t make it as is. While I understand the health impacts of sugar, maple syrup isn’t the flavor profile I like in most baked goods. So I knew I’d change things up. 

Ingredients

• 6 eggs
• ¾ C brown sugar
• ¼ C olive oil (I use one of my less flavorful oils in this recipe)
• 2 t almond extract
• ¼ C Amaretto
• ½ t sea salt
• ½ C almond slices
• 5 C almond flour (not meal), sifted 
• ½ C small dark chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter.
3. Toast the almond slices—watch them because they will go from no color to burned pretty quickly.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, brown sugar, oil, almond extract, Amaretto and salt.
5. Add the sifted almond flour and chocolate chips to the bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.
6. Pour into the springform pan (you may need to sort of smooth out the batter a bit).
7. Top with the toasted almond slices and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Cool the cake on a wire rack for about five minutes, then carefully loosen the edges of the cake with a knife. Gently remove the pan’s sides and remove. Use the same knife to loosen under the cake and transfer to a serving dish.
9. Cut into 12 slices and enjoy!

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

Last week, I told Kent I thought he should see about finding a black bean burger recipe that would mimic Smashbuger’s jalapeno black bean burger. And he did; this recipe is a combination of a few he found online and I will say, it was really tasty.

As made, he got about 12 patties. You want them thin so they resemble the original. The key to cooking them successfully (so they don’t fall apart) is fairly high heat, and about two to four minutes per side.

Note: We froze about half of the cooked patties. We layered them between sheets of waxed paper and then put them in a freezer bag. They thawed and reheated just fine.

Ingredients

Burgers

• One 30-ounce can black beans (or make your own—we were out)
• 1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
• 1 fresh jalapenos, half roughly chopped, half minced fine for topping
• 2 t Cholula hot sauce
• 1/4 C fresh cilantro, chopped 
• 4 ounces chopped green chilis
• 1 egg
• 2 ounces grated cheddar cheese
• 1 t ground cumin 
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 ounces blue corn tortilla chips
• 5 ounces cheese and garlic croutons, crushed (easy enough to make your own if you prefer)
• Sliced avocado (for serving)
• Buns
• Canola or olive oil for cooking

Chipotle mayonnaise

• 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 T mayonnaise

Directions

Burgers

1. Drain black beans. Do not rinse. 
2. Place remaining ingredients except egg in food processor and mix until it forms a course paste. Add egg and pulse gently until the egg is fully blended into the paste.
3. Transfer beans and paste to mixing bowl. Mix until you have a solid mass with beans visible throughout.  Mixture should be firm enough to hold shape. Add more crushed chips or croutons if the mixture is still too runny to hold shape.
4. Heat a pan or griddle until very hot. 
5. Put about a teaspoon of canola or olive oil on the pan and then immediately place a generous spoonful of mixture on top of the oil. 
6. Gently flatten the mixture until it is the desired shape and size of a burger patty.  After 2-4 minutes, it will be ready to flip (check that the patty moves as a whole when you start to slide a spatula under it).  
7. Cook for another 2-4 minutes on the other side.  If you want to sear the burger, wait until after you've flipped the first time.

Chipotle mayonnaise

1. Finely chop chipotle peppers
2. Add to mayonnaise and mix thorough.

Assemble the burgers

1. You can grill your buns on the same griddle used for the burgers. 
2. Assemble the burgers, top with the chipotle mayonnaise, finely diced jalapenos, avocado slices and if desired, lettuce, onions, and sliced tomatoes.
3. Enjoy! 

Bruschetta with Fig Jam and Goat Cheese

This version is toasted (I like my toast very dark)

I love bruschetta and I love the endless possibilities for creating these yummy bite-sized appetizers. This version uses the fig jam recipe, goat cheese, a baguette and some olive oil. In fact, I liked this so much that the day after we served this to friends, I had it for dinner too. It’s that good.

Ingredients

• Fig jam
• Goat cheese
• Baguette, sliced diagonally (my slices were about a half inch wide)
• Olive oil

Directions

• Heat the oil in a large skillet on the stove, and sauté the bread to desired doneness or
• Brush each side with olive oil and broil lightly
• Top with some goat cheese and fig jam
• Enjoy!

Fig Jam

I like having some sort of appetizer when we have friends over for dinner. The best kinds are the ones that aren’t too heavy or messy, or require a fork to eat. Last night, I thought that bruschetta with goat cheese with some sort of savory jam would be perfect. This fig jam is what I made—it’s a simple recipe and the only complicated requirement (if you want to call it complicated) is that you puree the jam in a food processor at the end. I guess you could use a blender if that’s what you have on hand, or a Vitamix. But the jam does need to be pureed somehow.

Ingredients

• Six ounces dried figs
• 1 C sugar
• 1 C water
• Juice from one lemon
• ½ t vanilla extract

Directions

• In a saucepan, combine the sugar, water and lemon juice
• Remove the stems from the figs, dice them, place in the saucepan and stir well
• Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about seven or eight minutes, until the liquid thickens slightly
• Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract
• Let cool for about 10 minutes
• Transfer jam to a food processor and puree until smooth
• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to a week
• Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup

In my ongoing quest to have more than one favorite soup for my work lunches, I looked around for another butternut squash soup. I have a couple of requirements for my lunches: they need to be mostly vegetables, full of flavor, and stick with me through the rest of the work day. I found this recipe and asked Kent to make it up this weekend. It's a big hit, especially the chickpeas on top. And it's a slow cooker recipe. Although we usually use dried beans rather than canned, in this case the canned chickpeas were cheaper than dried. Isn't that odd?

The chickpeas stayed crispy when stored in a covered container; don't combine them in the soup ahead of time. You'll miss out on a great texture combination.S

Soup ingredients

• 2 small butternut squash (about four pounds), peeled, seeds and fibers removed, and diced (about an inch cube)
• 4 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 C chicken or vegetable broth 
• 1 T ground cumin

Chickpeas

• 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 t smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Soup

1. Place the squash, bell pepper, carrots, and onion in a large slow cooker. 
2. Add the broth and cumin.
3. Cover and cook on high until the vegetables are soft and beginning to dissolve into the liquid (for us, it took about six hours). 
4. While the soup cooks, follow the directions below for the chickpeas.
5. When the vegetables are soft, use an immersion blender to puree the soup until mostly smooth (leave it lumpier if you prefer it that way).
6. Top with the chickpeas and serve immediately.
7. Enjoy!

Chickpeas

1. Place the drained chickpeas in a colander and let sit for about an hour.
2. Line a baking sheet with a double layer of paper towels and place the chickpeas on the paper towel for about another hour.
3. An hour before the soup is done, preheat the oven to 400°F. 
4. Place the chickpeas in a bowl and drizzle with the olive oil.
5. Add spices and shake until the chickpeas are evenly coated.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the chickpeas in a single layer on the parchment paper.
7. Place the pan in the oven and bake until the chickpeas are crispy, about 40 to 50 minutes. Shake the baking sheet every 10 minutes to ensure even baking.
8. Remove from the oven when done.

Chickpeas after baking

Carrot Cake Baked Steel Cut Oats

I read a couple of recipes for this—some were made on the stove, some in the oven but all gave a nod to carrot cake. Now I love carrot cake, except so often it’s crazy sweet. So I looked for a recipe that used steel cut oats, cooked in the oven and didn’t rely on lots of refined sugar. And when I couldn’t find my unicorn recipe, I cobbled together my own.This is a savory breakfast, with just a hint of sweet. If you like things sweeter, add more sugar or maple syrup.

Updated to reflect using the julienne slicer on the food processor (worked just fine) and the lower oven temp. These changes were real winners.

Ingredients

• 1 C steel cut oats
• 1 t cinnamon
• ¼ t ground ginger
• ½ t freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and put through a food process with a julienne blade (or use a mandolin) 
• 1 medium apple, cored and diced (I left the peel on for more color)
• ½ C unsweetened shredded coconut 
• ½ C golden raisins
• 2 C almond milk (or milk or coconut milk)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 T butter, melted
• 2 T packed brown sugar (some recipes called for maple syrup but that combo didn’t appeal to me)
• 1 t vanilla
• ½ C chopped walnuts

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350° F  
• Butter a square baking pan (approximately 9" x 9")
• Combine all dry ingredients (except the walnuts) and the carrots and apple in a large bowl and stir well. Place in the baking pan and make sure everything is evenly distributed.
• Combine the wet ingredients, including the sugar, and mix well
• Gently pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients in the baking pan. You want to make sure everything stays nice and mixed up and that all the dry ingredients are covered.
• Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. 
• Sprinkle the chopped walnuts evenly all over the mixture and return to the oven. 
• Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes, until done. For me, this has only needed another 20 minutes.
• Let sit for about 10 minutes, then cut into six pieces.
• Enjoy!