Granola 'N' Things

My Mother in law, Dana, sent me this recipe about a year ago and this is only the second time I have made it. My husband grew up eating this chewy granola and I was interested in finding a good/healthy granola recipe without adding lots of sugar. I started eating granola almost daily with my breakfast of yogurt and fruit and it started bugging me - the amount of sugar in granola you buy at the grocery store. Michael suggested his mom's recipe and it turned out lovely. The first time I made it I didn't have enough honey on hand and had to use half brown sugar half honey which resulted in a more crumbly separated granola - unlike the somewhat chewy granola the recipe is supposed yield. This time, I think it all turned out well. I made a full batch instead of a half batch and used the full 1C honey required. It makes tons (which is great because it keeps well) and saves us money not having to use the store bought kind. The recipe is great because it only provides the base granola so you can add whatever makes you happy. I decided to add Pistachios, Almonds, and little shredded Coconut. Other things you can add are Brewers Yeast, seeds, dried fruit etc. I plan to make this more often when we need granola - I just have to make time! Here is the recipe if you want to try it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Thanks Dana! Granola 'N' Things Dana Townsend 4 C whole oats 2C wheat flour 1C all purpose flour 1C soy flour or wheat germ (I use wheat germ) 1 tsp salt 1/2 C oil 1C honey 1/2 C applesauce or 1C water Stir dry ingredients. Add in wet ingredients and stir until well incorporated. Stir in fruit/nuts. Spread onto two large sheet pans. Bake at 250* for 1 1/2 hours stirring every 20-30 minutes. Cool on pans and store in an airtight container. Things to add: seeds, nuts, dried fruit, 1T brewers yeast or nutritional yeast, coconut (sweetened or not) Add as much or as little as you want - it is about consistency, not exact measurements.

The Girl Scout Cookie Challenge

I dreamed up this challenge for myself the day I ordered a box of Samoas from a lady at work (no, not a girl scout, a lady). I used to not like them much - I preferred the Peanut Butter Patties (Tagalongs depending on where you are from) but as I've gotten older I have grown to love the coconut cookies and I bake with coconut more often.

The Challenge was to try and recreate the Samoa (based on a recipe I found online) and then do a side by side taste test to see how mine compared. I asked a few people to contribute their comments after taking the challenge. Here are the results:

Kerry

Cookie test SAM-0309 I'm not a big cookie fan, but when I find a cookie I like I will eat it in large quantities. So is the case with the samoa - maybe it has something to do with it's unavailability most of the year - but I love them and will eat an entire box over the course of a couple hours. So this cookie taste test is very important to me and I congratulate Christina on undertaking such a complex and delicious dessert. Samoa: coconut explosion, crunchy cookie, sweet chocolate not too overpowering - mostly taste caramel and coconut. C-amoa: Delicious rich dark chocolate is the first taste, a buttery crumbly cookie center and a thicker, softer bed of caramel and coconut on top. Christina's cookie is totally delicious but doesn't not have the coconut explosion of the Samoa. The third C-amoa I tried has proven that this cookie has also grown on me and I want to eat large quantities - something I didn't think at first. To make the C-amoa taste more like the Samoa, I would use semi-sweet choco, and less of it - more coconut extract in the cookie and in the caramel. Caramel mixture could be thinned and the cookie could be crunchier. However, this C-amoa is it's own cookie and doesn't need to become a Samoa to taste good or be addictive. Sheryl

i tested your cookie first and first noticed the different chocolaty taste when you then explained it was dark chocolate. it made me realize it was a less processed cookie then the ever so sweet girl scout cookie. so i'm thinking im not a fan of dark chocolate because seriously chocolate isnt really chocolate without all the sugary goodness but i thoroughly enjoyed the not so sweet factor of your overall cookie. the minute i ate the girl scout cookie, my stomach did a little summersault because it was even sweeter compared to what i remembered especially after eating your less sweet cookie. i feel like i could eat more servings of your cookie in one sitting versus me being sick to my stomach after eating just one girl scout version. i think i like the chewy consistency of the GSC and your cookie was more flaky/cookie like and less of a caramel gooeyness. but i like your cookie appearance versus the GSC, there's too much coconut-ty flakes on the GSC version and i liked your melted bottom. hmm and i think that's my first impressions. now my tummy feels all sicky poo from eating that second cookie, the GSC cookie is really too sweet. i have a request for a semi sweet chocolate version of your cookie =). not so dark. =P

Yana

So here's the comparison. The original is crunchier and the coconut taste is much stronger. All I can really taste is "caramely" coconut and the crunchy texture, and it all hits me at once.Yours is softer and I can taste more of the cookie itself, less of the coconut and caramel. The experience is gradual - I taste the cookie dough first, then the chocolate, and then there are distant coconut and caramel flavors, but they are not very strong. These two are somewhat different cookies. Personally - and I am probably cutting myself off your supply of yumminess as I say this - I like the original girl scouts cookie...

Some thoughts about making the cookies....

Starting with a sugar cookie base I cut out O shapes and baked until barely golden. After they cooled, I mixed caramel with toasted coconut, spread it on the tops, and let it set. Then I melted some dark chocolate and dipped the bottoms of each cookie into the chocolate and piped the rest of the chocolate in strips on top. This whole process (including waiting time) took about 4 hours, which is a really long time to make 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

They turned out really pretty, and although they don't taste much like the Girl Scout Samoa, I think they are tasty cookies. In order to make them taste more similar, they need to be more coconut-y which I could solve by adding coconut extract to the cookie dough instead of vanilla and adding a little to the toasted coconut-caramel mixture. Also, based on the reviews the cookie is a little too buttery - so I would reduce the amount of butter and make them a bit crispier. I would also advise making your own caramel sauce. I cheated and used the store bought caramel squares (because they have been taking up space in my baking cabinet for too long). And finally using a mixture of dark and semi-sweet chocolate.

I also believe strongly that the processed food ingredients help give the Samoa a weirdly distinct flavor. Maybe it is the TBHQ or the hydrogenated palm kernel oil that make these cookies unique and irreproducible -- or maybe it's because I don't have an army of girl scouts working for me.... Except for the corn syrup I know resides in those caramel squares, my cookies are a little more whole, maybe even healthy if you use the term loosely, and I may give them another try in the near future. Until then, I will (with the help of my husband) will finish off the rest of the Samoas with a little guilt.

Just in case you were wondering about the extra processed flavoring ingredients...(directly from the Little Brownie Bakers website)

INGREDIENTS: Sugar, vegetable oil (palm, partially hydrogenated palm kernel, soybean and/or cottonseed with TBHQ to preserve freshness), enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin B1], riboflavin [vitamin B2], folic acid), corn syrup, coconut, sweetened condensed milk (condensed milk, sugar), sorbitol, contains two percent or less of cocoa, glycerin, invert sugar, cocoa processed with alkali, cornstarch, salt, caramelized sugar, dextrose, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavor, carrageenan, leavening (baking soda, monocalcium phosphate).

Also, since this recipe is not from any published source I decided to share it here so you can take the Challenge yourself . I'd love to hear your results!

Enjoy

Homemade Samoas

Cookies 1 cup butter, soft (recommend using less butter)

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or coconut extract)

up to 2 tbsp milk (or coconut milk if you have it)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.Roll the dough out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Alternatively, use scant tablespoons of dough and press into an even layer in a mini donut pan to form the rounds.

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set. If using a mini donut pan, bake for only about 10 minutes, until edges are light gold.Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Topping

3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

12-oz good-quality chewy caramels (or about 1 1/2 - 2 cups home made caramel)

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp milk (coconut milk would be better)

8 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (a mixture of dark and semi-sweet chips would be great)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate. Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes about 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

Pizza Night

I know pizza is not necessarily "baking" like my other posts, but I have a fondness for bread baking that I would like to share. Pizza dough is easy - somewhat fast - and able to be made in large enough quantities to feed your friends (or family). It has become something of a tradition to have our friends over for pizza night, and though it is a lot of work, I love to do it because it makes our friends happy. The dough we make is pretty delicious. Michael's family has been making it since his dad got the recipe in college (which is where I learned to make it). Michael and I have been making this recipe for a few years now, and though it was tough to replicate Dana's mastery in the beginning I think we have done a pretty good job. I had been wanting to write about pizza night for a while now and this past Friday was a good opportunity. I think there were only 8-9 of us eating and they are all seasoned pizza making professionals. I only made 2 dough recipes and halved them to make 4 smaller 10" pizzas. I've included a lot a pictures this time to narrate the night. We also made dessert pizza which doesn't happen enough (another dough recipe split in two) thanks to Rebecca and her love for Nutella.

Some tools I recommend are the dough scraper/cutter and the Zyliss brand pizza slicer. The pizza slicer works really well, much better than the traditional wheel cutter and it's easier to hang onto and clean.

We nominated the boys to turn the pizza -Jay's landed on the ground so he and Emily had to eat the "dirt pizza."

Michael makes perfect rounds. He has had a lot of practice though. We have found it easier to pre-bake the crusts before adding toppings because they cook faster - and since the dough is fairly thick they don't end up doughy in the center if there is too much sauce etc.

Michael and Christina make mashed potato pizza and Ryan and Katelyn make pepperoni with half mozz. and half soy cheese.

Sarah is really artistic when she makes pizza - and although she uses more sauce than most of us her pizzas are really tasty (and pretty).

Waiting for pizza to cook.

The pizzas: pepperoni, and mashed potato with bacon and broccoli.

The "dirt pizza" turned out well with salami, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese. Also pretty.

Rebecca wanted to make dessert pizza like I said before. I usually make the dessert pizza with a sugar cookie base and cream cheese/fluff sauce with fruit, but Rebecca wanted to use Nutella and I didn't want to make a sugar cookie base (it was easier just to make another dough). So we came up with two - one with fruit and one with chocolate chips, white chocolate chips and orange zest. They were both delicious though the one with chocolate chips was so sugary it made me feel sick after eating a slice.

We all had a good time. Thanks friends for always making delicious pizzas! If you want to see the rest of the pictures from pizza night you can go to my picasa page. If you are interested in knowing the secret dough recipe email me.

Blondies

I really wanted to make grapefruit sandwich cookies for our trip to the wineries on Presidents Day, but my pink grapefruit started molding secretly on the bottom.... Instead I made blondies because I thought they would be fast and simple (after making Focaccia that same day). I had most of the ingredients on hand and substituted white chocolate chips for butterscotch chips. The batter was delicious so I had high expectations for the bars. Who knew I would have so many problems between mixing and baking.

I realized as I was about to stick the pan into the oven that the oven was only about 200* after preheating it for at least 15 minutes. I waited a little longer and tried to re-ignite it since it is an old gas stove/oven combo, but nothing happened, it just wasn't working. At this point I got kind of upset - because it was getting late and I didn't think the cookie bars would do well waiting overnight to be cooked. My husband suggested taking it to our friend's house to make them but it was raining and I didn't want to walk 7 blocks in the rain to make cookies. He must have thought my sad puppy face was worth looking into and decided to investigate. He is not usually mister fix it unless it involves the computer, but crouched down on the kitchen floor with a flashlight to see if he could find a problem. No ideas. Now I was even more sad that I could not bake my cookies and the oven might be broken, but decided to deal with, not bake anything and watch some episodes of 30 Rock. Somehow during this time Michael figured out that if the electric ignitor doesn't have enough power it won't light -- and it so happened that the crazy space heater was sucking up so much power that this was the case. (The space heater also blows a fuse if we try and use the microwave at the same time as the tv or computer are on). So we turned off the heater, tried the oven, and heard that wonderful whoosh of gas + ignition.

I ended up baking the bars between midnight and 1am. They did something funny in the pan though. I think the baking soda reacted (after sitting in the pan for 2 hrs) and caused the cookies to be overly fluffy and bake unevenly to form a top and bottom crust with a gooey center. They didn't look very pretty but tasted fine - people at work seemed to like them anyways. I'll have to try it again now that I know about the oven's struggle for power on cold rainy nights. I also didn't have the heart to take a picture of the bars because they were ugly, so the only pics you get are of mixing and waiting period.

Tip: Check your oven soon after you preheat it - and don't use space heaters...

Focaccia

Focaccia is one of my favorite breads. I spent a semester abroad studying in Italy and we visited the region, Liguria, a few times where I fell in love with focaccia. Liguria is located in Northern Italy along the coast and is one of the most interesting collection of cities. There are five cities nestled in the valleys of mountains all of which you can hike to.(This is also where my husband and I got engaged). Anyways, Vernazza is the town with the best Focaccia - no disagreeing. We used to get a few different slabs of the oily, salty bread with toppings like rosemary, olive or mushroom. My favorites were plain and olive. Since living there I have only tried to create a focaccia once and it was not even close to what I remembered. I live in San Francisco and lucky for me have found Liguria Bakery in Washington Square. It is as close as you can get to the real thing. So, rather than spend money on a slab of focaccia every now and then I decided it was time to make my own. I have a cookbook by John Ash who specializes in local food and wine pairing - and decided to try his recipe since it sounded fairly authentic. The dough is a basic dough to which I added chopped fresh Rosemary. The only difference between this dough and a traditional bread dough is the addition of a good olive oil. The recipe suggested using a fruity oil but since I didn't have any I used my regular old everyday olive oil. The dough requires a lot of rising/resting time so if you plan on making it do allow about 3 hours total. Another difference from this flatbread and basic bread dough is more olive oil on the top of the slab before baking. This is the key to really moist bread. I was really pleased with the outcome - and I think my friends and husband appreciated it too. I only wish it stayed fresh longer - it turned hard rather quick but was still tasty. This was an easy recipe I'll definitely add to the collection.

Shortcakes with Berries and Whipped Cream

So many birthdays early in February. My friend Leslie just turned 37. She is really fun and silly and isn't afraid to pursue her dreams (lessons I'm learning). Leslie doesn't really eat sugar either -so baking for her is somewhat of a challenge. I have big ambitions of creating the perfect dessert with some kind of natural sugar but this requires trian and error and I am not a big fan of this method as it usually means you waste a good dessert! Anyways, rather than using splenda as a substitute like I tried last year (Elvis Cake) I chose something she loves, Fruit. I think Leslie is part monkey as she could probably sustain herself on bananas for quite a while, but she seems to love all fruits and berries. I chose a shortcake with a teensie bit of sugar (I know I'm bad) and served it with fresh berries and whipped cream. The recipe I used is from my cookbook, Baking From My Home to Yours, and it seemed perfect. We (Joey, Alberto, and myself) celebrated Leslie's day of birth with a lunch pot luck on the roof garden at our office. It was blazing hot (strange for this time of year in SF) but refreshing. Alberto made spectacular enchiladas, Joey made a tasty bay shrimp salad and I finished off with the dessert. I can not say that I ever made the type of shortcake the cookbook called for - which is more like a biscuit but I really liked the idea of individual portions, especially since it had to travel. The recipe is also glorious because you can freeze the dough in little blobs and toss them into the oven whenever (this will come in handy in the summer). The dough resembled a sweet biscuit dough with a crumbly texture. I believe they are best served warm with a gigantic pile of fruit and mound of whipped cream. While we are on the topic of whipped cream, please please please never buy cool whip or any other fake whipped processed goop. True whipped cream is lovely. You have the ability to control the sweetness and weight of the cream - for the shortbread I let the cream form soft peaks - and added vanilla at the end with a whisk. We had this discussion during our lunch and Alberto confessed to loving whipped cream from a box of some sort and Joey said she would never eat cool whip again after reading the ingredients on the carton. I am truly disgusted by the fake stuff and sometimes refuse to make things from boxes.... anyways, please no more fake whipped cream people. I don't have a secret recipe here to share with you for whipped cream, but I can tell you my method. I don't measure - I use the rule that the cream will double in volume when whipped so I put a little into the mixer and mix on slow speed for a minute or two, then crank it up to med-high until it begins to hold soft peaks. At this point I add one teaspoon of powdered sugar at a time until I think it is sweet enough (test using the finger dip method) and finish beating to the desired consistency. When it is done in the mixer I whisk in about a 1/4 tsp or so of vanilla. It comes out perfect every time and I really appreciate not having to measure sometimes. To make the berry filling, I just sliced up some of my favorites and sprinkled sugar over the top so the berries would release their juice and set aside for at least 10 minutes. I cut the biscuits in half and top with as many berries as fit followed by a dollop of cream. The top of the biscuit fits snugly off to the side of the whipped cream dollop. It is beautiful and tasty and a great way to finish a birthday lunch.

Gingerbread Cake - Beats the Allergies

Our friend Ryan is allergic to almost everything - even celery and carrots. Anyways, today is his birthday which he shares with Groundhog Day, so we celebrated with cake yesterday during the Superbowl.

Since Ryan has so many allergies (and they seem to be always changing) I gave him some options of which he chose Gingerbread Cake. I made this cake last year for Michael's birthday, I think it was the first attempt at a cake from this cookbook, and it was just ok. I made some adjustments this time around including changing the suggested raspberry jam filling to none and rather than chocolate buttercream (chocolate allergy) as the recipe suggests I made a much lighter lemon buttercream. I also shortened the baking time as last year's cake was a little dry and used heaping tabelspoons of ginger.

The cake turned out well. It was moist and the light frosting paired with a more dense cake was much better than the first time I made it (sorry love). Anyways, Ryan really liked it and that was the goal - to feed the birthday man something he wasn't allergic to that he enjoyed. Our other friends Emily and Jay made some strawberry sorbet - and emily really liked the combination. This may be a better combination than using a raspberry jam filling. Next time I might try lemon curd filling and frost the whole cake with lemon buttercream rather than just the two layers.

The second time around is always a little better, thanks Katelyn for taking me up on my offer to bake. I'm glad that gingerbread is accepted after the holidays, it's just too good to wait one whole year for.