Triple Chocolate Spice Cookies

This recipe started as ordinary chocolate-chip cookies and evolved over time. First I added the cinnamon because I like cinnamon with chocolate. Later V inspired me to try cardamom, and one night I needed a bigger chocolate fix and added some cocoa powder to the dry ingredients. Many iterations later, we have this:

Ingredients

1 1/8 C all-purpose flour
1/8 C cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/4 C unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C vegetable shortening
3/8 C granulated sugar
3/8 C brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1/4 C semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp butter flavor extract (optional)
1 C semisweet chocolate chips, NOT melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 & position racks close to the center.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
In another bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, sugar, and brown sugar. Blend in the egg, melted chocolate, vanilla, and butter flavor. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or nonstick foil. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, depending on how soft-&-gooey or well-done you like your cookies. Remove from oven and let stand on the tray long enough to firm up for handling, then remove to a cooling rack or directly into your mouth. I won't judge.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies, depending on how much dough you eat straight out of the bowl.

Pizza Puffs

I got the idea for these pizza puffs from Cooking With My Kid, where a broccoli version was featured for Meatless Monday. I wasn't feeling the all-veggie vibe, so I made mine with turkey sausage, spinach, and a little bit of pepperoni for zing. I felt pretty virtuous- the whole wheat, spinach, and turkey sausage seem pretty healthy to me!

These yummy puffs seem pretty versatile- I think you could change the kind of cheese and swap out a wide range of fillings. Just keep the basic proportions the same- 3/4 C Cheese and 1 1/2 C total fillings. I think next I'll try breakfast-y ones with sausage, mushrooms, and cheddar.

Ingredients:

3/4 C whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

3/4 C milk

1 egg, beaten

3/4 C mozzarella cheese

3/4 C frozen chopped spinach, thawed under running water and squeezed mostly dry

1/2 C cooked Italian turkey sausage, diced

1/4 C pepperoni, diced

Steps:

1. Prepare your ingredients: shred the cheese, dice the sausage & pepperoni, and thaw and squeeze dry the spinach.
2. Preheat the oven to 375, and grease a set of 24 mini-muffin tins.
3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, garlic powder, and Italian Seasoning.
4. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg. Beat in the milk.
5. Whisk the milk mixture into the dry mixture.
6. Stir in the cheese, spinach, sausage, and pepperoni.
7. Allow the batter to sit for 10 minutes.
8. Quickly stir the batter once more, then scoop evenly into the greased mini-muffin tins.
9. Bake at 375 until slightly puffed and golden.

Serve warm, with pizza sauce for dipping. Leftovers keep well in the fridge, freeze well, and reheat nicely in the microwave or toaster oven.

Ginger Apricot Softies

This recipe started out as scones, but after I modified it to fit my friend V's food sensitivities, what we got was a batch of big, soft cookies. They were delicious.

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp lemon juice

1/3 C soy milk

1/4 C sugar

1 C flour

2 Tbsp almond meal (can substitute corn meal)

1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground dried ginger

4 Tbsp melted dairy-free margarine

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 C dried apricots, cut into small bits

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or nonstick foil. In a small bowl, stir the lemon juice into the soy milk and set aside to thicken. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, almond meal, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and ginger. Add the melted margarine to the thickened soy milk mixture and whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a large spoon, being careful to scrape the sides and bottom and incorporate everything well. Gently stir in the apricot bits. Scoop the dough out onto the prepared baking sheet to form 12 biscuits and flatten slightly. Bake 15-18 minutes or until the bottom edges are golden brown. Share with friends to prevent eating all 12 by yourself in one sitting.

Chocolate Lava Cakes

This recipe is adapted from a similar one in Cuisine at Home, a magazine I truly love. Ground rule for these decadent little cakes: use really good ingredients. That means quality chocolate, good cocoa powder, and real pure vanilla extract and butter. I will hunt you down and kick your butt if you defile this recipe with generic butter-flavor shortening, imitation vanilla, or store-brand chocolate chips. So don't do it.

Ingredients:
For 4 to 6 individual cakes:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, or about 1 1/3 C chocolate chips
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
4 eggs
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C flour
1 Tbsp cocoa
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp kosher salt

For 1 single, decadent cake for your private chocolate indulgence:
2 oz chocolate, or 1/3 C choc chips
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 scant tsp cocoa
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp kosher salt

Steps:

1. Find the needed number of ramekins, small oven-safe bowls, or single-serving baking dishes. They should hold between 6 oz and a cup. You can use bigger ones, but the baking time will become more experimental; it's up to you. Spray your baking vessels well with non-stick spray. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. If using block chocolate, chop it into small pieces. Place the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and melt in the microwave, checking and stirring in 30 second increments until melted and blended smooth. Don't scorch!
3. Meanwhile, beat the egg and sugar together in a bowl. I highly recommend an electric hand mixer for this. Keep beating until the color turns from bright to pale yellow and the consistency starts to thicken like lightly whipped cream. By hand this will take 5 minutes or longer. The beaten egg is the only leavening in this recipe, so don't wimp out on this step!
   
4. Add flour, salt, cocoa, and vanilla to the egg mixture, and beat even more until it's well combined.
5. Add the chocolate/butter mixture and beat again for several more minutes. The batter will be rather thick.
6. Divide batter evenly among your baking vessels, place the vessels on a baking sheet, and bake 15-20 minutes (small sizes less, larger sizes longer). Check frequently after the first 15 minutes. Don't overbake! The cakes will be done when they are puffed and the edges are mostly dry, but the centers will still appear sunken and somewhat wet. They should still jiggle slightly in the middle when shaken.
7. Let the cakes rest several minutes in their baking dishes after removing from the oven. Then, while they are still warm, run a dull knife around the inside of the dishes to loosen the cakes. Place a plate over the top of each baking dish and quickly invert. The cakes should unmold easily onto the plates. No topping is needed, but whipped cream, good vanilla ice cream, or macerated berries make a delicious extra. Break into one cake with a fork; if you find warm gooey fudge puddling out of the center, you will know the cakes are just right.

Sneaky make-ahead tip: The batter may be made several hours in advance, portioned into the baking dishes, tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to bake. Add an extra minute or so to the baking time, and put the cakes in the oven as you sit down to dinner. You'll have warm-from-the oven dessert ready 20 minutes later.

Nana's Anise Cookies

A guest post from my friend V, who continues the family tradition of making these Italian Christmas treats each year. They have a very strong licorice flavor!

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp anise extract
1 TBSP baking powder
2 1/2 c flour

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and extract. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Roll cookies into shapes with hands. Bake at 350 for approximately 10 minutes until light brown.


Glaze:
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp anise extract
water if needed
nonpareil sprinkles :)

Dip the cookies into the icing and then into nonpareil sprinkles.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes (4 Ingredients!)

Ingredients
1 box of spice cake mix
eggs, the number specified by the directions on the box (mine called for 3)
1 can of pumpkin (just pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling)
1 C chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 muffin cups with cupcake liners. Combine the cake mix, pumpkin, and eggs in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Batter will be quite thick. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into cupcake cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake 25-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool slightly before removing. Enjoy warm. No icing is needed.

Biscuit Mix

Think of this as a home-made version of Bisquick- use it as you would any other biscuit or pancake mix. I sometimes substitute powdered soymilk for the nonfat dry milk, when making recipes for my friend V, who is allergic to dairy. A stand blender with the flat paddle is the perfect equipment for mixing this stuff up.

Ingredients
4 1/4 C flour (up to half can be whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 C nonfat dry milk (or substitute soy milk powder)
1 1/8 C vegetable shortening

Directions:

Place the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand blender fitted with the flat paddle attachment, and mix on low until thoroughly combined and sifted. Add the shortening gradually in large dollops, mixing between each addition, then turn the mixer up to medium until all of the shortening is cut in. No visible shortening bits should remain larger than a sesame seed, and the mixture's texture should resemble cornmeal. Store in an airtight container, and use as you would any commercial biscuit or pancake mix.

Without a stand blender: sift the dry ingredients together and combine them thoroughly, then cut in the shortening with forks or a pastry blender until the mixture is uniform, and resembles cornmeal in texture.