Tag Archive: Baking

Lemon Drop Frosting

Written on March 4, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Question: How do you make coconut blondies even better? Answer: You give them an awesome and delicious frosting.

I know I said these are so good that they don’t need any frosting, but really, what doesn’t frosting make better? I was reading in this NY Times article on coconut oil that it makes a great, smooth vegan frosting so I wanted to try it out. If you don’t have coconut oil, room-temperature non-hydrogenated shortening would also work well in this recipe.

The flavor reminds me of a lemon slurpee or an Italian ice. It’s really sweet and refreshing. It goes perfectly with the coconut, but would also work with any vanilla cake. And it takes about a minute to come together! You can’t beat that.

Lemon Drop Frosting

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Start by mixing room-temperature coconut oil and lemon juice. If your coconut oil is too hard to begin with, gently heat it to the point where it’s semi-soft.

Gently sift in the sugar and continue folding until the frosting starts to come together.

Once the mixture’s homogenous and starts sticking to itself, it’s done.

The frosting should be rather soft and easy to spread.

Don’t worry if you eat more than you frost with; that’s completely normal. It’s also completely normal to pick off the frosting with a fork and eat it after you’ve frosted the blondies. These things happen.

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Coconut Blondies

Written on March 3, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

These are about as rich and decadent as a cup of coconut milk can make anything to be. When these first came out of the oven, I weren’t sure if they were technically a cake or a blondie. It turns out the difference(very unscientifically) lies in the ratio of fat and sugar to flour. Since these are full of fat and sugar(and taste delicious in case that’s not a clue), I feel pretty comfortable calling them blondies. Also, a cake needs frosting I feel and these just melt in your mouth all their own.

Coconut Blondies

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup safflower/canola oil
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour(I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour)
1/2 coconut shreds
1/3 cup white chocolate chips(optional)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×8 pan.

Mix together the coconut milk, oil, eggs, sugar, and extract until the eggs are just beaten in.

Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix until it has just come together. The batter should be pretty loose.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the center of the cake has cooked through.

I would definitely make this again in a heartbeat, except I might have to double the recipe next time and add toasted hazelnuts. The coconut flavor is just strong enough to notice but the vanilla keeps it from taking over.

Did I mention I really love them? I think I’ll have another.

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Hasselback Potatoes

Written on March 2, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

Lately there’s been a lot of these hasselback potatoes around the food blog world. As a meat and potatoes person, I knew I had to try these. The recipe is so simple and yet quite different than your regular baked potato. These weren’t quite crispy like potato chips as I was hoping but they were tender and rich.

And, if you’re like me, you’ll be a little disappointed to learn that this isn’t named after a certain View hostess. Next you’ll try to tell me that Whoopi Goldberg didn’t invent the whoopie pie…

Hasselback Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 medium baking potato
2 pats of butter
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Carefully slice the potato ever 1/4-1/2 inch about 90% of the way through, making sure not to cut it completely.

Put a pat of butter over each side of the potato. Bake it for 60 minutes.

Plate and pour the excess melted butter overtop. Season with salt and pepper.

Paula Deen would do good by this recipe, ya’ll. It was definitely a fun and different way to eat a baked potato. Bacon bits on top would have been a great final touch.

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Almond Butter Date Bars

Written on February 14, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Happy Valentine’s Day! I like a good pun, so making date bars for Valentine’s Day was a no-brainer. Dates are nature’s candy(or is that beets?) and their flavor is as sweet as the sweetest valentine. I’ve also been wanting to make these for a while and being out of cocoa powder seemed like a sign. I love the flavor of almonds in the shortbread crust; if I made these again I’d definitely add nuts on top for a more intense flavor.

Almond Butter Date Bars

Ingredient:

1 cup dates, diced
1/4 brown sugar
3/4 cup water
3/4 almond butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour(I used gluten-free)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
coconut flakes(optional)
chopped nuts(optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

To make the filling, combine the dates, brown sugar, and water in a sauce pan. Boil until the water has evaporated and the dates are soft and mushy. Add more water if necessary.

In a separate bowl, combine the almond butter, sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and egg and mix until it makes a coarse and crumbly dough.

Press 2/3rds of the dough into a greased 8×8 baking pan.

Spread on the filling mixture in an even coating.

Sprinkle on the remaining dough in crumbs. Mix in any nuts or coconut if using.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the topping starts to brown.

These were soft and crumbly, and definitely sweet enough with the date filling. The cinnamon added a good earthiness to balance the almond butter. Like I said, if I made these again I’d add coconut and hazelnuts on top. Maybe next Valentine’s Day; nuts are great on Valentine’s Day(I told you I liked puns).

February 13th 138

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Coconut-Crusted Tempeh

Written on February 4, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

Tempeh is one of those foods I never thought I’d be eating just two years ago. Just the thought of fermented soy isn’t exactly appetizing. Thoughts aside, it’s nutritionally great and easy to prepare and eat. You don’t even have to cook it, but this recipe adds some sweet and saltiness to it. The coconut coating reminds me of coconut shrimp. And it couldn’t be easier to make.

Coconut-Crusted Tempeh

Ingredients(For 2 servings):

1 block of tempeh
1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons agave nectar
a pinch of salt

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Cube a block of tempeh into bite-sized pieces and combine in a bowl with the coconut, salt, and agave nectar.

Toss the tempeh to coat it in coconut. Next, line a baking pan and lay out the tempeh in a single layer.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the coconut begins to toast.

The flavor is really nutty and a little sweet. The texture doesn’t really change from raw tempeh which is good because it has a “meaty” bite to it. It goes good on its own or with a salad.

And don’t forget today’s the last day to enter the giveaway!

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Better-Than-Boxed Brownies and a CSN Store Giveaway

Written on February 1, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert, Giveaway

Today is the first day of February, the time to (hopefully) start enjoying the outside more by cleaning off the swing set, taking out bicycles, and ignoring that little thing called Valentine’s Day. What better way to celebrate a new month than with brownies?

When I ran yearbook bake sales in high school, the one food that went without exception were brownies made from a box. People just like them. Once you get to a certain level of cooking/baking, serving a box mix feels like a stab through the heart. Instead, we make recipes that rival boxed brownies. These are just as sugary and fudgy as the ones you get from a Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker mix. They’re also the same that I used in my grasshopper brownies but the recipe is good enough that it needs its own post. I mean, don’t they just look that good?

Better-Than-Boxed Brownies

Ingredients(Makes 16 2’-inch brownies):

1 1/4 cup flour(I used gluten-free all-purpose flour)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4oz(1/2 cup) semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup water
1 egg

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Melt the chocolate and mixing it with the cooking oil. Next mix in the water, sugar, extract, salt, and cocoa powder. Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until just combined.

Grease an 8×8 baking pan and pour in the batter. Cook for 25 minutes until the center is just cooked. Wait until they have cooled to cut.

Giveaway

The people at CSN Stores have offered one US/Canadian reader a $35 gift certificate to any of their online stores. There are 3 simple ways to enter; please leave a separate comment for each one.

1. What’s your favorite childhood dessert? or what dessert are you looking forward to eating this month?

2. Follow me on Twitter(or just say if you already do)

3. Like me on Facebook(or just say if you already do)

This giveaway ended February 5th

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Honey Butter Blondies

Written on January 31, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

There is so much right about these it’s hard to know where to begin. Honey butter is a sweet and rich condiment made of 1 part honey to 1 part butter. It’s a great thing to spread on toast, in sandwiches—wherever! It only seemed natural that this would make an excellent blondie, and with chocolate chips(because what do those not make better?). The flavor of honey butter shines through more as an aftertaste. I would have liked these to be a little fudgier but if you like your brownies more cakey then these are for you.

Honey Butter Blondies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup(1 stick) butter(or Earth Balance) at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour(I used Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free)
1/3 cup chocolate or white chocolate chips.

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Start by creaming together your butter, sugar, and honey until it’s nice and smooth without any clumps. Add in the egg, extract, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and beat lightly.

Sift in the flour and mix again until the batter is even. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips gently.

Press the batter into a greased 8×8 baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the center has set. Cool completely before cutting in and serving.

The top looked burnt but it wasn’t at all; I can only assume the ingredients cook to be that deep brown color. It actually smelled a lot like graham crackers baking!

I ate mine hot out of the oven and it was amazing. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a pat of honey butter on top. Technically, these were honey margarine blondies since I made mine with Earth Balance, but that doesn’t sound nearly as appealing so we’ll just stick with honey butter.

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Grasshopper Brownies

Written on January 26, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

These are my new favorite brownies. They’re also probably the most fattening/sugary brownies I’ve ever made. Coincidence? I think not.

I’ve been wanting to make grasshopper brownies for the past few months. If you don’t know what those are, they’re a layer of brownies topped with a peppermint filling and a chocolate top. Delicious, no? These are so sweet and rich and they absolutely melt in your mouth. I couldn’t praise these enough. It’s like a peppermint patty in brownie form. Just don’t think about how many calories in them and enjoy.

Grasshopper Brownies

Ingredients(Makes 16 servings):

1 1/4 cup flour(I used gluten-free all-purpose flour)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4oz(1/2 cup) chocolate chips
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup water
1 egg

2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter(or Earth Balance)
1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1 tablespoon butter(or Earth Balance)
8oz(1 cup) chocolate chips

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Start by sifting together the first 6 ingredients. Melt down the 4 ounces of chocolate and mix this with the cooking oil. Add that to the flour mixture along with the water and egg and mix to form the batter. Grease an 8×8 cooking pan and spread the batter in. Bake for 25 minutes and let this cool completely.

To make the filling, melt a stick of butter, pour in the peppermint extract and sift in the powdered sugar. This will form a loose filling. Spread it over the cooled brownies in as even a layer as you can.

Tip: If you’re having trouble with the peppermint mixture sticking when spreading, put a piece of saran wrap between your hands and the filling and use that to press the filling down.

Lastly, melt 8 ounces of chocolate with a tablespoon of butter and spread this out evenly on top of the peppermint layer. Take care to move quickly and gently so that the peppermint layer and the chocolate don’t get mixed together. Let the top harden completely before cutting into these with a sharp knife.

You can really use any brownie recipe for the bottom; I just included that one for convenience sake(it also makes incredibly moist brownies which is never a bad thing). I wasn’t crazy about the filling as I was making it, but combined with the chocolate and brownies it’s just rich enough not to get lost in the experience. Yes, experience, because these brownies are better than any trip to Disney World.

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Mocha Buttercream

Written on January 25, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Remember when I made cupcakes and was too lazy to frost them? Well, 6 days later it snowed again and I had nothing but time.

At first I was going to try a chocolate buttercream but to get chocolate to be the right temperature seemed like more work than reward. Also, I was on a coffee kick and decided to split the difference and settle on mocha. Who doesn’t love mocha lattes and mocha cappuccinos? It’s an excuse to have chocolate in the morning. This frosting is just as rich and pairs perfectly with any chocolate cake recipe.

Mocha Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter(or Earth Balance) at room temperature
3 cups of powdered sugar, divided
2 tablespoons warm water + 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules(you could substitute with 2 tablespoons of strongly brewed coffee)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Cream together the stick of butter with 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Once the mixture is homogenous, mix in the coffee, cocoa powder, and 1 more cup of powdered sugar and beat again.

After that has come together, sift in the last bit of powdered sugar and beat until the buttercream is smooth and there are no lumps.

Let’s address some elephants in the room:

1) I’m completely aware of what color the frosting is and what it looks like. You don’t have to tell me because I’m not blind. In fact, I was the one licking it off my fingers, so clearly the flavor trumps the appearance.

2) I know I can’t pipe frosting to save my life. My favorite Charmed one was Piper; I loved Billie Piper as Rose in Doctor Who; I, on the other hand, am no piper. You can hire me to bake your birthday cake but God help us all if you want me to decorate it.

I will, however, garnish with some espresso chocolate bark because that’s how I roll.

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Have Snow Day, Will Bake

Written on January 14, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Miscellaneous

In case you weren’t aware, it snowed in the North East on Wednesday. I’m just kidding; I’m aware that this is all the news stations talked about. I mean, they cancelled Days of Our Lives on Wednesday to talk about the weather for Christ’s sake. That means the storm was a big f*cking deal.

I don’t remember when snow in New England became front page news. It seems like when I was in Elementary school, it snowed, they cancelled school, and that was that. There weren’t any news stations coining “Snowmageddon” or “Snowpocalypse”. We simply stayed home and ate. And ate, and ate, and ate.

I had leftover coconut milk from something I made a few weeks ago(is it bad that I have no recollection of what this was?). I smelled it and it didn’t seem rotten, so I figured I’d better use it before I have to toss it. I made a 1/2 batch of my favorite cake recipe from the Sweet Utopia cookbook called “Chocolate Midnight Cake”. I love this because it’s rich, moist, and the perfect texture; you’d never guess this was vegan or gluten-free!

While those were baking I cleaned the dishes and watched the snowfall. I’d say we got at least 16 inches, probably more. I, for one, find that exciting. But I’m also the one who didn’t shovel at all and had nowhere to go on a Wednesday, so take my enthusiasm and think of it what you may.

And then the cupcakes came out perfectly! They need frosting, don’t they? There might be another storm this weekend, so I’ll save that for then.

In other news, the winning comment of the Goji Gourmet giveaway is:

Congratulations, Nourhan, who like most of you thought chocolate chip sounded the best. I’ll contact you and we’ll get you your cookies immediately. If you didn’t win, you can check out my copycat recipe for a similar taste. Happy Friday!

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