miso chocolate chip cookies

miso chocolate chip cookies

4.24.2020

My new favorite thing is freezing cookie dough. In the last couple years, I've grown a little bit more of a sweet tooth... and the concept of having ready made frozen cookie dough is a very alluring concept. The first time that I did this was with the gluten free chocolate chip cookies.

I was scrolling away on Instagram and saw these miso chocolate chip cookies from A Cozy Kitchen. One, I loved them because they looked warm and chewy. Two, I loved them because they used up the rest of the miso in my fridge. Apparently miso has no real expiration date? I googled it last year. Thankfully when Google told me that miso didn't expire as fast as bananas, I got to take a break from putting miso in everything.

These chocolate chip cookies come together rather like many other varieties - just with a bonus dash of miso paste. Why miso paste? It is hard to describe the flavor profile that it adds. It's like asking me to describe what matcha tastes like :-) But, I've read it described as "savory and deep" which seems accurate. One thing? I needed to add a full stick of butter to my dough as opposed to just 5 tablespoons. The dough just was not coming together without that. Another thing? I only had red miso paste and semi-sweet chocolate chips on hand.... cookies are still delicious.

1. Add the unsalted butter, miso, sugars and vanilla extract to the bowl. Beat the ingredients together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Crack in the egg and beat just until it’s combined. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until well combined. and mix once more just until you no flour speckles appear. Add the chopped chocolate and mix one last time.
3. You can either use a large cookie scoop (that holds 3 tablespoons of cookie dough) or a medium cookie scoop (that holds 1 1/2 tablespoons cookie dough).
4. Scoop out balls of cookie dough onto a baking sheet and transfer to the fridge to chill for 1 hour. 
5. Preheat oven to 350. Bake cookies on parchment paper for about 10-14 minutes. Cookies will be done when the edges are lightly golden brown. 
6. Sprinkle with sea salt for maximum enjoyment

Shopping List
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons miso paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup chocolate chips

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gluten free chocolate chip cookies

gluten free chocolate chip cookies

4.14.2020

In the last couple years, I've become more of a dessert person - but not just any dessert. I'm still not choosing a piece of pie after my dinner but I'll rarely push away a piece of chocolate or cookie.

Given my lack of self-control, I have removed all of the Reese cups from my house for the last couple months. The seasonal shapes are my weak spot for sure.

With the recent shift to a quarantined lifestyle, I have been doing a fair amount of baking. A friend of mine dropped off some of the most amazing chocolate chip cookies of my life. These are not that :-) but they are still quite great and gluten free. So, if you are like myself and accidentally bought gluten free flour from Whole Foods delivery.... you can also make these cookies tonight. 

When I made these, I did freeze nearly 75% of the dough for another night. This worked quite swimmingly. I just put a ice cream scoops of cookie dough on a sheet and set them in the freezer to harden a bit before transferring to a plastic bag for storage.

Next time? I feel like this is a great base and you could easily add in other fun stuff like nuts, reese chips, heath chips... or whatever the spirit moves you to do. 

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking soda and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted start to whisk constantly. First the butter will begin to foam, then after a couple of minutes it will begin to brown on the bottom of the saucepan. Turn off the heat as soon as the solids turn brown and the butter gives off a nutty aroma. Pour into a glass mixing bowl to prevent burning.
3. Add the milk, brown sugar and white sugar. Whisk to combine. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy.
4. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the dry ingredients until well combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
5. Cover the bowl and let sit for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F. Scoop the cookie dough (about 2 Tablespoons of dough per cookie) and place a few inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden and the center is set.
6. Let cool 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Enjoy!

Shopping List

1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon milk (regular or almond is fine)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/3 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour 
1/4 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Sea salt for sprinkling

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very easy tuna cakes

very easy tuna cakes

4.08.2020

How many posts in a row can I reference quarantine cooking? The answer is probably a lot - and probably more for the next two months or so.

As we prepared to eat more out of our houses and with less trips to the grocery store, I impulse bought a couple cans of tuna fish one day at the local grocery store. It had probably been at least three years and maybe five since I last bought a can of tuna fish. Since then, I have probably crushed a can of tuna each week either in the form of a tuna melt... or these very tasty tuna cakes.

I actually got the idea for these from watching an episode of British Home Chef on Hulu. The essential idea of the show is XYZ. In one of the final episodes of season 2, the "rustle up challenge" was to create a meal based on a can of tuna fish. Nearly everyone failed but thankfully the hosts commentary gave good ideas ... and tuna cakes was one of them.

Tuna cakes will come together in probably 15 minutes max - including all prep and cooking. It's a simple case of opening a can of tuna, mixing some stuff into it, making little patties and then eating them. My preferred method was over some chopped romaine with a lemon champagne vinaigrette - but I did also mix one into some pasta with red sauce. Like I said, I've eaten these almost weekly recently. 

Here's my favorite way to eat them. 

1. make tuna cakes
2. cut up your preferred greens. I have been opted for romaine recently. It lasts a really long time in the fridge.
3. Plate tuna cakes on top of the greens. Sprinkle with cheese of choice (feta, goat cheese, etc).
4. Drizzle a combo of champagne vinegar, olive oil, smidge of honey, and kosher salt.

How to make tuna cakes? It's very easy. 

1. mix all the ingredients in a bowl except the bread crumbs.
2. Add the bread crumbs in small increments until you get the mixture to the right consistency. you want to be able to form a ball. But not too many breadcrumbs because then you won't taste all the other good stuff you added.
3. heat a skillet to medium high with a drizzle of olive oil. gently press your patty into the pan. 
4. cook for maybe 2-3 minutes on each side. adjust the heat as needed. remember you don't need to cook any of these ingredients, so you are just heating them to get color on the patties and secure the shape.
5. All done!

Shopping List

1 can of tuna fish

2 tbsp of mayo

1 egg

1/4 cup diced onion

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 to 1/2 cup bread crumbs (or panko flakes)

bonus ingredients?

capers

red onion

chopped parsley

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sourdough pancakes

sourdough pancakes

4.05.2020

I've been making pancakes on Sunday evenings for probably 2 months now... or perhaps more honestly.

Sometimes figuring out what to eat for dinner every night can be a lot, so knowing that Sunday is for pancakes makes life a bit easier. Plus it normally means bacon is also on the menu. 

Given that I recently adopted a sourdough starter, I've been looking for ways to use it that aren't bread. I love the bread, it's delicious. But it's also addicting. One slice always leads to three slices. 

A quick google search lead to a sourdough pancake recipe from Tastes of Lizzy that used all my extra sourdough starter. I tweaked the recipe a bit to be a little sweeter and saltier - my favorite things. I have never seen such fluffy tall pancakes in all my life. They are perfect for your favorite mix-ins: chocolate chips, blueberries, sprinkles... whatever makes you happy.

Here's how it goes.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and soda, sugar and salt.
2. Add the sourdough starter, milk, egg and butter. Mix well just until combined.
3. Make pancakes like normal!

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3.5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups milk
1 large egg beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter

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buttermilk cinnamon peanut butter donuts

buttermilk cinnamon peanut butter donuts

Yes, that is a really loaded name for these small donuts... but it is all the truth.

Donuts were not on my list of things to make during this quarantine but I had some fresh buttermilk... and I'm trying very hard to reduce my waste.

Why the fresh buttermilk? Well, I obviously had to make fresh butter because the store was out of butter and toast without butter is lunacy. Last week I made my mom a batch of butter and split it between three flavors: cinnamon sugar, salted honey, garlic thyme. She has not complained about any of them.

The original call for this recipe (from Nourished Endeavors) was just a simple dip in cinnamon sugar. That was nice. It tasted fine - but then I had a flash of brilliance to do a simple glaze of peanut butter... and then sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. HOME RUN. The creamy peanut butter gives the otherwise cake donut a silkiness and amps up the heavenly level. I'm really pleased with it. 

For the peanut butter topping, here are some special notes:

• This is all about you and what you prefer. You can't mess up peanut butter and the donuts are already cooked :-)
• Start with the melted butter and add the peanut butter to it. Just a tablespoon at a time. Mix it up. Work up to the consistency that you like. I went with just a little more loose than normal peanut butter.
• Give it a little taste. Do you like it sweeter? Add a tiny bit of powdered sugar (1 tsp) to sweeten it up.
• If the mixture gets too firm for you, just add a DROP or two of liquid. Yes, I meant to use the capitals. You will only need a very little bit.

Here's how it goes.

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Generously grease a standard donut pan.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, add and whisk together the egg, brown sugar, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and soda into a medium mixing bowl. Whisk to combine and then fold into the wet bowl. Take care not to over mix batter. (Honestly, I used only one bowl... I just put everything in one and it came out fine... but if you are a perfectionist... use two)
4. Transfer donut batter into a large pastry bag or Ziplock bag, cut off about a 1/4” of the tip of bag and pipe batter into prepared donut pan.
5. Bake donuts for 5-10 minutes. Donuts are ready when a toothpick inserted into one comes out clean. My mini donuts were done in 4-5 minutes and the bigger ones about 10.
6. Allow donuts to rest in pan for 5 minutes before taking out of the pan.

For the coating and topping

1. Place melted butter in a small dish. Set aside. 
2. Add tablespoons of peanut butter one by one to the butter to get the consistency you like. See above for notes.
3. In a separate small mixing bowl/container, add sugar and cinnamon and whisk to combine. 
4. Just spread the peanut butter on the donut and then sprinkle with the sugar... done!

Shopping List
1 Cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1/4 Teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Large Egg, Room Temperature
1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons Buttermilk, Room Temperature
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar, Light or Dark
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Coating
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 Tablespoon Melted Butter

3 Tablespoon peanut butter

1 Tablespoon powdered sugar

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