From Scratch, With Love

Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for.  After a week and 6 or 7 batches of pumpkin cookies or varying quality, I’ve finally found a method that makes me happy.  The result is a wonderfully soft, pumpkin-y cookie that isn’t too sweet and is perfectly spiced.  Additionally, the dough lends itself both to the sugar-crusted drop cookie method AND to the rolled out and cut with a cookie cutter method.  Reminiscent of a ginger cookie, don’t feel guilty about eating 1 or 2 (or 7) of these because they are also very low in fat and sugar, thanks to the naturally moist nature of pumpkin.

By cooking the pumpkin in the butter, you benefit both from the caramelization of the butter and the intensification of the pumpkin flavor due to evaporation of water.  I also recommend sauteing some fresh ginger to bring out the ginger flavor, but adding 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger in with the dry ingredients works in a pinch.  I found that adding a little more salt to the recipe counteracts the bitter flavor or the pumpkin, and that using whiskey instead of vanilla complements the pumpkin and spice nicely.  Finally, I opted to use only white sugar because brown sugar overpowered the pumpkin too much.  I added a little maple syrup as well.  I hope you like them as much as I do!

Andrea’s Pumpkin Spice Cookies (Makes about 60 cookies)

In a small saucepan, melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) of butter over high heat.  Add 1 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger (see note above) and saute for about a minute, until fragrant.  Add 1 cup of canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix) and 2 tablespoons of whiskey (I used Jack Daniels).  Cook the pumpkin until the butter is absorbed and the puree is less watery.  In the end, you should have about 1 cup of pumpkin mixture.  Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

In a large bowl, stir 3/4 cup of white sugar into the pumpkin mixture.  Add 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup.  Add 1 egg and stir until just combined.  Gradually stir in the flour mixture, in about three additions, stirring until just combined each time.  Wrap the dough with a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350.  Place a sheet of parchment paper on two baking sheets.

You can make these cookies two ways.

Sugar-coated drop cookies

Pour 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl.

A drop a teaspoon’s worth of dough into the bowl of sugar, coating completely.  Using your hands, roll the dough into a ball and place on the baking sheet, then press the ball with your finger to flatten it slightly.  Repeat for the rest of the dough, leaving about an inch between balls of dough.  They will spread, but not too much, so you can fit a lot of cookies on one sheet.  I fit 30 cookies on mine.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, turning the cookie sheet halfway through baking time.  Let cool.  These cookies are actually best the day after they are baked.

Rolled cookies

These cookies are great for parties, or for decorating.

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface.  Take the cookie dough out of the fridge and lightly dust with flour.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is evenly about 1/8 inch thick, being careful not to let it stick to the work surface.  Using your favorite cookie cutters, cut cookies and place them on baking sheet, leaving about 1/2 inch between cookies (they will not spread too much).  Bake for about 10 minutes, less if you like them doughy.  Let cool completely before decorating, if desired.

If you run, bike, swim, or do any exercise that tends to shake up your stomach, you may know that a good pre-run snack is hard to come by.  If you’re like me, you need something that will give you the energy you need without making you feel like puking the whole time you’re running.  I’ve searched and searched for such a snack.  I’ve read that fruits and vegetables, since they’re easy to digest, are a good snack, but they don’t tend to keep me full.  I’ve also learned that nuts, raisins and bread just don’t work for me.  Recently, I found a granola bar that, for the most part, gets the job done.  It’s a homemade one.  It’s also delicious and low calorie and satisfies the peanut butter craving that has been plaguing me lately.  I’d like to thank Nick Malgieri’s Perfect Light Desserts, once again.

I didn’t change much in the recipe.  I’ve made it three times and the latest time I substituted oatmeal for the nuts called for in the recipe (bringing the total amount of oatmeal from 3/4 cup to 1.5 cups) because, as you know, I’m obsessed with oatmeal.  I also, if I have time, tend to toast the oats and nuts before using them by putting them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant but not burned.  Also, if you’re not going to eat them in a few days, I recommend wrapping them individually in plastic wrap or something similar (wasteful, I know), and freezing them, taking them out of the freezer in batches of three of four as you need them.  I’ve also eaten them frozen – yum.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars (From Nick Malgieri’s Perfect Light Desserts)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with parchment paper and grease lightly using vegetable oil or cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup rolled oats, 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or sliced almonds (or bring the total amount of oats to 1.5 cups), and 3/4 cups raisins, dried cranberries, or chopped dried apricots.

In a large heat-proof bowl, stir together 2 large egg whites (or 1/3 cup liquid egg whites from a carton), 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup peanut butter, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Heat, stirring, over lightly simmering water (without letting the water touch the bottom of the bowl) until the brown sugar has melted and the mixture if warm.  Stir in the oatmeal mixture and spread the batter into the prepared plan.

Bake for 30 minutes, until firm when pressed with a fingertip.  Let cool in the pan on a wire rack, then invert to a cutting board and peel off the paper.  Cut with a knife into two-inch squares.

They're also great warm

Keep the bars in an airtight container, separated with wax paper, or wrap individually in plastic wrap, aluminum foil, or wax paper.  Make sure they’re completely cooled before wrapping, or you’ll risk mold.  Store at room temperature for 3 days, or in the freezer pretty much indefinitely.  You can defrost them at room temperature and eat at your leisure.

Here’s to dough, with which you can do a lot. **clink**

A couple weekends ago, when John was at that ridiculous race and I was home alone, happily making four-hour lasagna, I also had the urge to make some dough.  It was 10 pm.  I knew that I would not stay up until 1 am making bread.  I also wasn’t really craving the eating of bread yet, I just wanted to start some dough.  Luckily, you can slow down the rising process of dough by sticking it in the fridge, and it actually improves the results.  So I made some dough (actually, the same dough I used to make those cinnamon raisin baguettes that were so good).  The next morning, I finished the dough.  Part of it went into lovely cinnamon rolls, and the rest were made into dinner rolls.  I was very happy with both results.  Let’s talk about cinnamon rolls today.

As you may guess from my posts, I usually cook for two.  I don’t like to waste.  Many of the things I make a best eaten the day they are made.  As a result, I have gotten very good at division.  Luckily for you, if you have the same issue I have with making small batches of things, this means you don’t have to be very good at division.  You are welcome.  For this dough, I made a half batch of dough (I’m tired of having bread in my freezer forever).  I used a quarter of the dough for the world’s smallest batch of cinnamon rolls.  I got 8 rolls out of the rest of the dough, which went towards snacks, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for John, and finally a lovely tomato, basil, mozzarella, prosciutto dinner.  The rolls last about three days, but you can freeze them and defrost them at room temperature overnight, or in the oven.  But this post is about cinnamon rolls.  Which I made up on the spot.  I actually had trouble sleeping the night before, thinking about the cinnamon rolls.  Sad, I know.

Tips for the dough: it’s a soft, slightly sweet dough, so you don’t want too much gluten to form.  That is, don’t overmix or overknead it.  The kneadings in between risings should be just enough to get the carbon dioxide out of the dough.

Andrea’s (Partially) Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls (AKA the World’s Tiniest Batch of Cinnamon Rolls)

For the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, stir together 1/4 tablespoon active dry yeast with 2 tablespoons of honey and 1 cup of warm milk.  Let sit until frothy, about 5 minutes.  Add 1 egg, and 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour.  Stir vigorously and let sit for another 5 minutes.

Gradually stir in more whole wheat flour to form the dough into a thick “batter-like” consistency.

Gently fold in about 3/4 teaspoons salt and 2 tablespoons of canola oil.  Once the oil is blended in, gradually fold in all-purpose white flour until a dough forms that is solid enough to handle. Turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface and knead it gently until it holds together and ceases to be lumpy.  Remember, do not knead too much.  Wash the bowl and lightly grease it with canola oil.  Place the ball of dough in the bowl, turning once to coat evenly with oil.

At this point, if it’s night time, or you don’t want the dough for a while, cover it and put it in the fridge.  It will actually be improved by the slow rise.  You’ll want to check it in about an hour because the dough will not chill immediately, and as a result it will still rise.  I recommend giving it a knead right before bed, or it might grow too much overnight.  If you are not giving it a refrigerator rise, cover it with a slightly damn paper towel, and allow to rise in a warm place, until doubled in bulk.

Turn the dough onto your floured work surface and gently knead it until the CO2 that has developed is squished out.  Return it to the bowl.  Repeat.  The dough should rise in the bowl a total of three times.  The second and third risings will not take as long as the first (unless it is in the fridge, of course).

Meanwhile, prepare a muffin tin to receive the cinnamon rolls.  Using butter, crisco, lard, vegetable oil, or nonstick cooking spray, grease about 8 of the 12 tins, or you can try using paper cupcake liners.

After the third rising, do not knead.  Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, divide the dough into fourths.  One of these fourths will become your cinnamon rolls.  The others you can do what you want with (mini baguettes, rolls… you can even try deep-frying them for doughnuts, which I wanted to try but I’m not sure how it would work out).  Roll out the dough for the cinnamon rolls into a rectangle, probably about 4 inches by 8 inches.  Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon and brown sugar, to your liking.  Add some raisins, walnuts, and/or dried cranberries.  Slice about two tablespoons of butter into thin slices, like for toast, and distribute evenly over the dough.  Starting at one of the shorter ends, roll the dough up tightly, like a sleeping bag.  Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, slice the rolled-up dough evenly into 8 rolls.  Place each roll in its own muffin tin.  Let rise once more until the dough is no longer springy to the touch.  Preheat the oven to 375.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool for 5 minutes and serve with fresh fruit.  Oh, and freshly made coffee.  You can ice them if you want, but I didn’t.

Oh, while you wait you should probably get the over dough formed in whatever you want them to be and let them rise while the cinnamon rolls are in the oven.  I will try to give you more detailed dough options in the future.

So you know how I’m into oatmeal?  Really, you don’t?  How about now?  Or now?  Or now?  Ok, so I’m into oatmeal.  I eat it almost every day, at least once.

Let’s backtrack.  On Saturday, I got this amazing book, Perfect Light Desserts, in the mail.  I immediately made Nick Malgieri’s oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate chip cookie, and granola bars, all of which turned out delicious.  The chocolate chip cookies, however, were a little flat and not quite up to par with Kim Boyce’s whole wheat chocolate chip cookies, though they were lower in calories.  So I thought to myself, using my brain, what can I do to give these cookies a little more volume?  And of course I thought of oatmeal.

See, I still wanted to keep them healthy, so I didn’t want to raise the caloric density of the cookies.  Adding oatmeal, actually, lowered the calories per cookie, since it made more cookies without raising the amount of calories dramatically.  Why do you care about calories, Andrea, you might ask.  Aren’t you always tweeting about running?  Well yes, dear reader, I exercise (a lot).  But you may have noticed, I also write a food blog.  As a result, I also eat a lot.  That’s why this new book is perfect – it allows me to bake real cookies and cakes with real techniques and ingredients, without completely negating all the running I’m doing.  Genius.

Anyway, here’s my experiment.  I took Nick Malgieri’s basic chocolate chip cookie recipe (which he attributes to David Joachim, the co-author, by the way), with my own basic alterations (I had to add whole wheat flour, of course, and hand-chop the chocolate instead of using chocolate chips.  Thanks again Kim Boyce.  I also used about half the chocolate called for in the recipe and (John agrees) it was the perfect amount – any more would have been way too much.), and added oatmeal.  However, I also wanted to see what the effect would be of adding cooked oatmeal to the dough, since I never see that in cookie recipes, but it works very well in muffins.  So I decided to make two half-batches of the dough by dividing the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in half and trying two different methods of oatmeal integration.

The results? Well… dry oatmeal works better.  After I added the wet oatmeal (made with 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup oats, in an attempt to make it less wet), the dough was far too moist:

Looks like it would be delicious eaten with a spoon though, doesn't it?

I ended up adding an extra 1/2 cup of dry oats to the dough to try to dry it out a little, but wasn’t too successful.  The cookies ended up very wet and with a weird texture:

They’re in the freezer right now because I want to try them out as ice cream sandwich cookies.  The cookies made with dry oatmeal, however, are amazing.  They are definitely more 3-D than the original chocolate chip cookies I made and they also have a nicer texture.  I’m really happy with them and will definitely be making them like that in the future, perhaps even with more oats!

Low Fat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Adapted from Nick Malgieri’s Perfect Light Desserts) – Makes about 36 cookies

Preheat oven to 350, with the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Roughly chop 4 oz of top-quality bittersweet chocolate and place in the fridge if the room is warm (my kitchen is always warm).

In a medium bowl, sift together

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)

Stir with a fork to mix and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together 1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 4 tablespoons) softened unsalted butter and 6 tablespoons granulated sugar.  Add 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (recipe calls for light, I used dark) and stir until creamy.  Stir in 1 egg and 2 tablespoons whole milk.  Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Gradually stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture, in three batches, stirring until just combined.  This is important, since it’s a low fat recipe.  You don’t want to over stir the batter or the cookies won’t be soft and chewy.

Once the flour is stirred in, add 1 cup of old fashioned rolled oats.  Stir until just combined, then add the 4 oz of chopped chocolate.  Let the dough rest in the fridge for about 15 minutes so that the cookies don’t spread too much.

See how much better that dough looks?

Once chilled, spoon slightly heaping teaspoon-sized portions of dough onto the parchment-lines cookie sheets, about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 8-12 minutes, turning and switching shelves halfway through, or until the cookies are slightly dull in color, but still quite soft.  They should be just beginning to brown on top.  Let them cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then slide the parchment paper onto the cooling rack to cool completely.  They should be good for about a week in an airtight container, or indefinitely in the freezer (they will stay pretty soft!).  Try making ice cream sandwiches with them!

On another note I also made Nick’s (we’re on a first name basis now) chocolate spice cookies – amazing!  They’re soft and spiced and super chocolate-y!  I heartily recommend this book.

I’m really into muffins.  I think it has something to do with my obsession with breakfast.  Also, with muffins, you just need a good base recipe, then you can add whatever you want to it.  Finally, muffins are very forgiving and unlike cupcakes and many other baked goods, you don’t need to measure too carefully.

There are a couple things I like to do with muffins that might sound a little different.  First of all, I always use buttermilk.  I like the tang and the moisture it adds.  Second of all, I always separate my egg whites and yolks and beat the egg whites.  It adds a nice fluffines.  Finally, I always use melted butter, not oil.  It gives it a wonderfully buttery flavor.

After making oatmeal pancakes a couple months ago, I decided that the same idea could be applied to muffins.  See, muffins and buttermilk pancakes have a lot of similarities.  Have you noticed?  A base muffin recipe is basically a base pancake recipe with a little more sugar and a little less liquid.  I tried to adjust this recipe twice.  The first time they came out a little too dense, indicating I used a little too much liquid.  They were also too sweet and oily.

The second time (yesterday) they came out perfectly.  I brought them to my running club and I was inundated with praise.  The oatmeal gives them a nice texture, and the molasses gave it a rich flavor.  In addition, they are pretty healthy, as muffins go, since I didn’t have to use a lot of butter and sugar (in case you are wondering they’re about 180 calories each).

Having just gotten Perfect Light Desserts (by Nick Malgieri) after trying the chewy oatmeal raisin cookies that David Lebovitz posted on his blog, I was also inspired to add a little applesauce to replace some of the oil, so the muffins would be less greasy but still moist.  Here’s the base recipe I created, along with some ideas for variations.  I made them into oatmeal raisin muffins, which I think would be great around the holidays.  As a side note, those oatmeal raisin cookies from Perfect Light Desserts are amazing – they stay chewy for days and are really good as ice cream sandwich cookies AND they’re only 55 calories each.  I recommend trying them.

Andrea’s New Muffin Base Recipe (Inspired by Kim Boyce’s Oatmeal Pancake Recipe from Good to the Grain)

Preheat oven to 400 and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, or grease each cup individually.

Prepare 1 cup of oatmeal and let cool.  To do so, boil 1 cup of water and add 1/2 cup of old fashioned or quick cooking oats.  Cook according to package directions.

Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter in the microwave or a double-boiler and let cool.

In a large bowl, sift together:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Set aside.

Separate 2 eggs, putting the whites in a clean medium bowl, and the yolks in a small bowl.  To the yolks, add 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon molasses, and 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce.

Beat the egg whites with a whisk or hand-held mixer until soft peaks begin to form (not until stiff).

Now it’s time to mix it all together.  Make sure your oven is preheated, so that the muffins can go right into the oven before the baking powder is fully activated.

First, pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture.  Gently stir until the flour is just moistened.  It will still be quite solid and dry.  Next, add the cooked oatmeal and gently fold it until just incorporated.  It will be lumpy.  That’s okay.  Next, fold in the melted butter (again, until just incorporated).  Add the beaten egg whites and fold gently.  Don’t worry about mixing it in too thoroughly.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.  You want them basically all the way full, unlike with cupcakes, to get a nice mushroom top.  If you don’t get all 12 muffin cups full, add about 2 tablespoons of water to the empty cups to keep the pan from getting ruined and to add some moisture to the oven.

Bake for about 17 minutes, or until the top begins to brown.  You might want to bake it a little longer if you like the muffin tops crunchy.

Variations

For Blueberry Muffins: Add a fresh grating of nutmeg to the dry ingredients. Toss 2 cups of rinsed fresh blueberries with a couple of tablespoons of the dry ingredients (so they don’t sink) and fold them into the batter after the egg whites.

For Oatmeal Raisin Muffins: add a sprinkling of cinnamon to the dry ingredients and 1/2 cup of raisins (or dried cranberries) to the batter after the dry ingredients.

Honestly, the possibilities are endless.  Try adding chocolate chips, orange zest, chopped toasted nuts, mushed bananas, or grated apples.  You can substitute brown sugar for the white sugar and molasses (added to the buttermilk instead of the dry ingredients).  Let me know what you come up with!

Storage: Let cool completely and store in an airtight container for a couple of days or indefinitely in the freezer.  Defrost at room temperature overnight or in the oven at 400 for 7-10 minutes.  Enjoy the nice crunch the oven gives the muffin.