Rice Cookies

My rice cookies look nothing like Celine's...I think I should have either made them into bars, or possibly press them tightly into my muffin tin. These were a bit crumbly & difficult to work with. I have not tasted them & am unsure what went wrong. :( (The only difference/change to the recipe is that I used butter instead of margarine + coconut flour + blueberries). *Shrug* - I'll let my boyfriend tell me if he wants to eat more of these.

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Rice Cookies
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 ener-g egg (1 1/2 tsp + 2 tblspns warm H20)

1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tblspn coconut flour
2 cups puffed brown rice crispy cereal
1/4 cup dried blueberries

• Preheat oven 350F & prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper (or oil muffin tin).
• Cream together butter, sugar + "egg". Add brown rice flour + coconut flour.
• Fold in rice crispy cereal & blueberries.
• Separate into 12 balls, or divide among muffin tin & flatten to compact cookies.
• Bake fro 12 - 14 minutes.
• Cookies will harden as they cool.

Regular Old Oatmeal

These oatmeal cookies aren't the super duper chewy kind (maybe because I refrigerated the dough, next time I will skip), but they're nice & buttery. And of course they're loaded with oatmeal. I added cinnamon chips, pecans & dried cranberries. Hope my cousin likes these! (The cinnamon flavor is quite strong.)

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Buttery Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tblspn milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup rolled oats (quick cooking)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cinnamon chips (little more)

• Preheat oven 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
• With the mixer on low, cream butter, then add sugar. Beat till texture is light & fluffy.
• Beat in egg, milk & vanilla extract.
• In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Slowly add to butter/sugar mixture.
• Fold in oats & nuts,etc by hand.
• Drop ~32gram balls on cookie sheet. Allow room for spreading. (Refrigerate dough 30 minutes to 1 hour if puffier cookie is desired.)
• Bake 350F for 10 - 14 minutes.
  
• Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing to cooling rack.
• Makes about 24 cookies.
  

In the Spirit of Halloween

A small Halloween token for my beloved co-workers. These chocolate caramel cookies are a little on the thin side, but are chewy thanks to the caramel candy. Note for next time: scoop flour, not spoon, roll out balls (32 grams for ~38 cookies) & refrigerate before baking. Although I refrigerated some dough & my butter was still a bit cold, the cookies spread too much & became to thin for my taste, which makes them too unstrudy to support the heavy candy. The texture of these remind me of the cookies you get at the bakery section of your local supermarket. The dough was moist & sticky...my least favorite kind. After removing them from the oven & allowing them to continue cooking on the cookie sheet, I moved them into the fridge, this made for quick & easy removal from the parchment paper. For removal, I used an offset spatula, which worked like a charm.

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Halloween Caramel Cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (scooped)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup Halloween M&Ms (chocolate chips)
20-25 caramels, such as Kraft (about 1 cup+)

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place 1 tablespoon of the flour into a small bowl. Chop each caramel into 6-8 pieces & lightly coat with the flour.
  
• Whisk together remaining flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt in a medium bowl.
• In a large bowl (stand mixer), cream together butter & sugars until light, about 2 minutes.
• Add in eggs one at a time, then vanilla extract. Don’t worry if the batter separates, just keep beating until it becomes smooth.
  
• Slowly add in flour mixture. Fold in caramels & chocolate candy/chips until batter is uniform & no streaks of flour remain. (This will be an arm workout, the batter is thick & sticky.)
  
• Roll dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (32 grams) onto baking sheet. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
  
• Hopefully cookies will not spread a lot. Bake for 12-13 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges.
  
• Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. If cookies stick to the parchment, allow them to cool longer in the fridge before moving them.
• Makes ~ 38 cookies.

Childhood Memories

Growing up, we didn't do a lot of baking...but I do have memories of me & my sister making peanut butter cookies (Thanks Celine). We used to use a fork to make those criss-cross patterns. Nostalgia...childhood innocence...

These were for my cousin, unfortunately I promised her chewy Mrs. Field-type cookies. I'll have to deliver next time.

Generally speaking, I think there are about 4 main cookie categories:

1. Cake-like/Puffy cookies (Pumpkin Cookies)
   
2. Chewy cookies - crispy edges & soft chewy centers (Chocolate Chip)
   
3. Sandies/Shortbread-like dense cookies (Cranberry-Pecan Cookies)
   
4. Crispy cookies - thin or thick (Biscotti)
   

I would consider these belonging to category 3. I may add a little more liquid next time to allow more spread & cohesion...my dough was a little crumbly (possibly due to increased whole wheat pastry). Overall, these definitely remind me of the classic dense peanut butter cookie, except with peanuts + chocolate chips.

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Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies w/ Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup + 2 tblspn peanut butter, unsweetened
3 tblspn coconut oil
3 tblspn rice/oat milk (more if necessary to bind)
3 tblspn whiskey
2 tblspn maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup AP flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry
1/4 cup sugar, scant
1/4 cup brown sugar, scant
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ener-g egg replacer (powder only, no H2O)

1/4 cup roasted peanuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips

• Preheat oven 325F. Prepare cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine & mix wet ingredients (this may be easiest using a stand-mixer).
• In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients & thoroughly mix together.
• Slowly pour dry ingredients into wet & stir to combine. If dough is crumbly, add more "milk".
• Add & stir in peanuts & chips.
  
• Divide into 12 balls (44.5 grams) & evenly space on lined cookie sheet. Flatten cookies.
• Bake for 15-17 minutes, till edges are light golden brown.
• Remove & allow to cool a few minutes on cookie sheet. Move to cooling rack.
• Makes 12 medium cookies.**"Peanut is actually a bean/legume vine plant...it is related to other beans, such as peas, beans & lentils..."

Minus the Trans-Fat

Reading through Celine's post, I was directed to Where's the Revolution. Wow, vegan Samoas eh? Growing up, I was never a big fan of coconut, but Samoas were the exception. I probably had my first Samoa in high school when my sister couldn't turn down a friendly young solicitor. This of course was way before I knew anything about nutrition, other than limit junk food - chocolate, fried foods, sugar/cookies, etc. This was also probably before the short-lived Oreo trans-fat scare. Thinking back, I am surprised to remember a brief snippet regarding this included in mainstream media. But Nabisco probably run more of their commercials on Nickelodean. Back to the cookies...although Samoas do seem to be without eggs, they are loaded with trans-fat! How do I know?? Check out what's listed second on the ingredient listing. Also, the FDA does not require food manufacturers to specify "natural & artificial flavors". Although these girl scout cookies tasted great, they contributed very little nutritional value to my body.
Long story short, I've been looking for a decent Samoa recipe for quite some time & this definitely hit the sweet spot.
After baking up a batch, I'd have to say these taste pretty good. Not only that, they're pretty high on our list of nutritional ingredients. Although not gluten-free wheat-free, they'll have to do until we find the "perfect-ideal" mostly brown rice cookie. When putting these cookies together, I did find it odd that the recipe didn't include vanilla extract, so I added an extra teaspoon. I have very little to complain about these cookies other than mine were a little lacking in flavor. (**Celine made a good point - I omitted the pecans & I believe pecans would add an extra layer of flavor complexity.) With the remaining batch, I added some cinnamon & dried cranberries. The cookies were chewy & had a natural peanut-buttery flavor. They remind me of a chewy granola bar. Next time, I would like to substitute 1/4 cup brown rice flour.

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Trans-Fat Free Samoas
1 cup brown rice syrup (brown rice syrup, maple syrup, agave nectar, 2 tblspn molasses)
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup chocolate chips (white & carob)
dried cranberries, handful

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Mix together wet sweetners + coconut oil + vanilla on low speed on stand-mixer.
• In large bowl, combine flours, salt, cinnamon & baking powder. Mix around to completely combine. Add & stir in rolled oats, coconut, chips & cranberries.
• Slowly poor dry ingredients into wet ingredients with mixer on low. Mix until just combined, do not overmix.
• Bake for 14 - 17 minutes, depending on size of cookies. Underbake for chewy cookies.
  
• Makes 18 - 20 large cookies.

**Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature, as coco oil with solidify below 78F. Do not overbake & do not overmix. My cookies didn't spread too much, so I rolled them into balls and flattened them a bit before baking.
**DAY 2: These are sooo yummy & chewy, no lack in flavor today, super plus with rice/almond milk. These vaguely remind me of Uncle Eddie's.

Pumpkin Eater

Inspired by the quickly changing fall weather & Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, I attempted to make gingerbread pumpkin bars. A few ingredient changes made my results look nothing like her bars & probably tasting completely different from the original recipe. Having said that, my results tasted like pumpkin cheesecake pie, sandwiched between two crusts. My boyfriend wasn't a big fan, but after some chilling time in the fridge, I thought they tasted like eating pumpkin pie. It wasn't a chewy cookie he bit into, but still, a mouth full of fall aroma in every bite? Who can complain? Side note: So, expectations were shattered, at least I'm trying out more brown rice flour baking. Come on, pretend to enjoy it even if you didn't want pie! Just kidding, honesty isn't bad, but I am externally motivated. *Hint, hint.*

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Gingerbread Pumpkin Pie Bars
For the bars:
1 cup brown rice flour
1/8 cup tapioca flour
1/4 tsp xanthum gum
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/16 tsp ground cloves

8 tblspns unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup molasses

3 tblspns rolled quick oats

For the filling:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
7 ounces pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1/16 tsp allspice
1 Ener-g egg replacer (1 1/2 tsp, no water) (or cornstarch)

• Preheat oven to 350 & oil 8X8 (or 9X9) glass pan, set aside.
• To make the bars: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, gum, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg & cloves.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar & molasses until creamy.
  
• Add dry ingredients & mix just until combined. Reserve 3/8 cup of this mixture & place in a small bowl. Add the oats to the reserved mixture & mix until combined - set aside.
• Scoop the remaining mixture into prepared pan to create bottom layer.

• To make the filling: In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice & "egg" - mix until combined.
  
• Scoop the mixture over the uncooked base & spread evenly.
  
• Crumble reserved oat mixture over filling.
  
• Bake until the topping is a golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
  
• Remove from oven & place on a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cutting & serving.
  

**Eat within 2 days, will become soggy with long storage.

Bananas & Dried Fruits Galore

On a splurge, we decided to bake up some snacks tonight. We had some ripe bananas to use up & had a craving for some chewy cookies! So I put my recipes to work. Although I ran into some obstacles with the cookies, the end result still yielded the chewy cookie we wanted, albeit a little sweeter than anticipated, they were still a success (in my mind). I had added two tablespoons of oat milk to the wet ingredients since my batter was too dry the last time I made it. For some odd reason it made the cookies completely wet this time, I may have mis-measured this time or previously or it may be related to using only half spelt flour. So I just ended up leaving them in the oven a tad bit longer.

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Dried Fruit Cookies
1/2 cup whole spelt flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tblspn blackstrap molasses
3/4 cup dried fruits (cherries, raisins, blueberries & cranberries)
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• In a medium sized bowl, combine & mix the dry ingredients.
  
• In a small bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.
  
• Add the wet mixture to dry ingredients & stir till combined.
  
• Fold in dried fruit & chocolate chips. If the batter is too dry, add more rice/oat milk, a little at a time.
  
• Lay onto cookie sheet and flatten down slightly with fingers.
• Bake for 11 minutes.
• Makes 9 large cookies (54 grams each).

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Banana Nut Muffins
2-3 ripe bananas, 1 cup smashed
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup rice/oat milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp molasses
1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup barley flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

• Preheat oven 350F. Line or oil muffin tin.
• In a small bowl, smash bananas. Leave some chunks.
• Add in oil, syrup, milk, vinegar, extract, molasses & sugar - stir to combine.
• In a separate larger bowl, sift flour, soda, powder, ground cinnamon & salt. Whisk to combine.
• Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Do not overmix or overwork batter. Fold in walnuts till well incorporated, batter will be wet.
• Divide batter evenly among muffin tins.
• Bake for 20 - 23 minutes, till toothpick comes out clean.
  
• Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing & cooling completely on wire rack.
• Makes 12 muffins.
  

Does Texture Really Matter?

I'm always in search of a really chewy cookie recipe. But my question is...does it even freakin' matter? Most likely not, because I'm not the one eating all these cookies & everyone I talk to seems to have a different opinion or variation of their favorite cookie. So in my case, I'm just gonna assume everyone likes chewy cookies & work from there. Unfortunately this mindset does have its limitations...what about shortbread, sandies & crispy cookies? Well, who wants to be so narrow-minded? Not me, so I'm gonna try those too, but I ain't gonna like it! I baked up these really chewy cookies last night & presented them as a gift to my manager. After all, today is National Boss Day. I have no idea if they're still chewy today, but I'm trusting Nicole on this one. She seems to be a big fan of chewy cookies herself. This is my take on her chewy cookies.

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Really Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies
1 1/4 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (plus some)

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1/2 cup light brown sugar (all dark brown sugar)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 roasted peanuts (plus some)
1/4 cup chocolate chips (plus some)

• Preheat oven to 325F & line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda & salt in a medium bowl.
• In a large bowl/electric mixer, cream together butter & sugar.
• Beat in egg, followed by the peanut butter until thoroughly combined.
  
• Add in dry ingredients with the mixer on low speed, mixing until just combined. Fold in nuts & chips.
• Shape into balls (40 grams each) & flatten slightly onto cookie sheet, leaving some room for them to spread.
  
• Bake for 15-17 minutes, until just turning brown around the edges.
• Remove from oven, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Makes about 20 medium sized cookies.