Tag Archives: walnuts

Chocolate Chip Nut Cookies

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Do you know what these are? They may very well be the best cookie you’ve ever had. No joke.

Almonds, pecans and walnuts are ground using a coffee grinder. I substituted a cup of this nut flour for some of the all-purpose flour, adding protein and tons of flavor to the traditional chocolate chip cookie.

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The usual characters are used here. The sugar, the butter, the chocolate chips, but the stars of the show are the nuts.

This idea of adding ground or mashed nuts in recipes is not new here people, but it’s still amazing. I’ve done it in pancakes, in macaroni and cheese and french toast.

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Chocolate Chip Nut Cookies

Print Recipe for Chocolate Chip Nut Cookies

  • 1 cup ground nuts
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 stick unsalted butter (I plan to use less next time as the dough was a bit wet)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 4 Tbs. granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.

Cream room temperature butter and sugars in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add the nut and flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until fully incorporated.

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake for approximately 10
minutes

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Enjoy :0)

 

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Carrot Cupcakes

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deliciousness

Deliciousness. That is all.

Carrot Cupcakes are made tastier with a marshmallow frosting.

ingredients

You can’t go wrong with carrots in a dessert.

in the oven

This oven shot means a lot to me.  The ancient stove that came with our house when we bought it was finally laid to rest. It has been replaced with one that has a window in the door and a light that actually works!

sapling

Isn’t this sapling adorable? Ethan came home on Earth day with this gem.

carrot cupcakes

Carrot Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Print Recipe for Carrot Cupcakes with Marshmallow Frosting

Recipe slightly adapted from Williams-Sonoma Cooking Essentials

  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 1/2 cups grated carrots
  • 1/2 can crushed pineapple
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Marshmallow Frosting

  • 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1/8 cup shortening
  • 1/8 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbs. milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with paper cups.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix eggs and sugars with a handheld mixer for 2 minutes. Add vanilla and oil and mix another minute. Add the flour mixture and mix until well combined. Add carrots, pineapple and walnuts. Mix until incorporated. Bake for 20 minutes.

While cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. Combine all the ingredients and mix until combined with the hand mixer.

Let cupcakes cool on wire rack. Once cooled, frost them and enjoy :)

Oatmeal PB Sandwich Cookies

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Sometimes you just need to bake something, well I do anyway.

Last night I made a deliciously satisfying cookie.

It has all my favorites in it…

Oatmeal.

Walnuts.

Cinnamon.

Brown Sugar.

Peanut Butter.

The original recipe can be found here.

For the cookies:

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the filling:

  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 3 Tbs. softened butter
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • 3 Tbs milk

Cream sugar and butter in a bowl with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and mix for another minute.

In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients. Add to the creamed mixture.

Using a 1 tsp spoon, scoop dough onto cookie sheet lined with parchment (for easy clean up).

Bake for about 7 minutes in a 350F oven.

To make the filling: Beat peanut butter, butter and sugar with a handheld mixer. Add milk 1 Tbs at a time until it is spreading consistency.

Sandwich like sized cookies together with peanut butter filling and try not to eat too many at once :)

Orange Cranberry Muffins with Walnut Streusel topping

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To make up for last week’s TWD recipe, I made some amazing muffins that you just can’t stop eating. These are the kind of muffins that are extremely addicting and unless you are trying to gain weight, you should share!

Start with the recipe for Blueberry Streusel Topped Muffins, and substitute orange juice for the milk and cranberries for the blueberries. Add 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts to the streusel topping and enjoy.

I got rave reviews from everyone that tried these babies out. So, what are you waiting for? Go bake some yourself :)

Ginger Walnut Chocolate Skillet Cookie

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Candied ginger or crystallized ginger is sliced ginger root that has been preserved in a sugar syrup and then coated with granulated sugar. There are many uses for ginger. Some swear by it for reducing hot flashes, preventing nausea, helping with sea sickness, alleviating indigestion and even curing the common cold.

You can usually find it in the produce section of your grocery store. The package boasts, “Great for snacking and baking”. It was much to gingery for me to eat plain. I wanted to find a tasty recipe for baking with it. Of course, Joy the Baker had one. Ginger Walnut Chocolate Blondies. I decided to just pile everything into my trusty ole cast iron skillet. It came out so good. It’s almost gone already. Last night I had a slice with coffee ice cream and whipped cream. Wowza.

You start by melting butter on the stove top. Add brown sugar and stir. It will look a little grainy. Let it sit and cool before adding an egg. That egg will make it all come together. Eggs are the ever faithful binding agent.

See? What’d I tell you. Look how beautifully smooth it is.

Now add your other ingredients. First the vanilla. Then the flour, salt, leaveners and sugary bits.

Ginger Walnut Chocolate Skillet Cookie

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350F oven.

Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves {TWD}

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When I first read the directions for these loaves, I was surprised by the amount of wait time involved. The weekend that I chose to make these was perfect because we didn’t have anything planned.

Saturday, I spent the entire day in the kitchen. A whole seasoned chicken went into the oven in the morning, which became chicken sandwiches for lunch. Then I made a chicken pot pie for dinner and there’s still enough for chicken and broccoli pizza and chicken soup with rice. One chicken became four meals with plenty of leftovers for three people.

While I was constructing these meals for my family, I was prepping the dough for these loaves. It came together quite easily even without a mixer.

I decided to use half pureed butternut squash and half canned pumpkin.

I used dried cranberries and walnuts, omitting the golden raisins. I fell in love with the color of the dough, just like the book says, “the color of fall’s golden leaves.”

When the dough had risen and rested in the fridge over night, it was split into three loaves, covered and left to rest again.

The recipe can be found on Rebecca’s blog at This Bountiful Backyard. You can also see how the other TWD bloggers did.

It looks beautiful but I wasn’t a fan of this bread. I think it was too savory for me. Maybe the dried cranberries were too sweet in contrast to the yeast in the bread. I’m not sure why but it wasn’t a winner in this house.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Skillet Cake

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Skillet Cake

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I have gratefully stumbled upon Joy the Baker. She has an awesome baking blog that is chock full of fantastic recipes and gorgeous photography. She also has a book, Joy the Baker Cookbook. I haven’t had a chance to get it yet, but it is on my wish list.

One of her recipes I recently indulged in was a Banana, Walnut and Chocolate Cookie Cake. How genius is it to prepare and bake something in one dish, a cast-iron skillet! I love it.  I love it so much that I created this healthier version, cutting the butter and sugar in half. It contains whole wheat flour, banana, pumpkin, walnuts and of course you gotta have the chocolate chips :)

It’s very good, but it becomes a supastah with a scoop of freshly made whipped cream…

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Skillet Cake

  • 4 Tbs. unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 ripe banana
  • 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

First things first, the butter needs to melt in a hot skillet. Remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar. Let that cool before whisking in the egg. Once cooled and egg is whisked in, add the vanilla. Add the banana and pumpkin to the mix and stir until incorporated.

Add the whole wheat flour, baking soda, spices and salt.

Finally stir in those chopped nuts and chocolate chips. Smooth the top and place in a preheated 350F oven for 15-20 minutes.

If you want this cake to really shine, you’ve got to have the whipped cream.

Start with heavy cream, add 2 Tbs sugar and 1 Tbs vanilla extract. Using an electric mixer, beat for about 5 minutes until it is the consistancy you want…and enjoy!

Ready to enjoy :0)

Carrot Cake Muffins

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Family, friends, church, camping, fishing, swimming…the past week has been full of fun. Summer is in full swing. We are trying to pack in as much merriment into each day as possible. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for baking and experimenting with various recipes. But, I have been craving a carrot cake lately…one WITHOUT cream cheese frosting. I’m aware there are many fans of cream cheese frostings out there. I am not one such fan and fortunately neither is my immediate family.

The carrot cake recipe I am going to share today is from the book, CAKE SIMPLE by Christie Matheson. My Gram gave me this book for Christmas last year. It’s full of recipes for bundt-style cakes. I have tweaked it slightly and this one in particular calls for mini-bundt pans. I’m using a muffin tin instead. I am also omitting the Maple Cream Cheese icing that is paired with them in the book.

I planted carrots in my first ever garden this year. Ethan has been hounding me to pick them because he is so sure that they are ready. Well, they aren’t and I don’t think they ever will be. I’ve been told carrots are especially hard to grow your first time around. Here is my attempt…

It’s a good thing that we always have a bag from the grocery store on hand. Carrots contain vitamin A, giving you 200% of the daily recommended allowance. They are also high in vitamins C, K and B6; and contain potassium, manganese and calcium.

Carrot Cake Muffins

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp allspice
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups peeled grated carrots
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Cream the sugar with the oil. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and whisk until just blended. Fold in the carrots and walnuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before enjoying :-)

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Layer Bars

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As part of the training I did for work last week, I received a tour of a helicopter manufacturing facility. Have you ever really thought about all the life saving uses of the helicopter? It was engineered and made viable by Igor Sikorsky. He was born in what is now the Ukraine in the late 1800′s. He had no formal aerospace training. He became fascinated with the idea of flying machines after reading the science fiction works of Jules Verne and after his mother showed him a book about Leonardo DiVinci. When he failed, he could always try again and that is what he loved about being a free man in America.

He knew that the helicopter would never be faster or more efficient than the airplane but he knew that it would accomplish tasks that no airplane could ever achieve.

Helicopters are used in reconnaissance and surveillance, search and rescue, as air ambulances; police use them in the pursuit of suspects, using heat sensing technology. They are used in aerial firefighting, as skycranes, used in tourism and aerial photography. The Black Hawk is the US Army’s tactical transport helicopter. The Seahawk is utilized by the US Navy. It hunts submarines with its dipping sonar and carries sonobuoys, torpedoes, radar detectors, missile launchers and the list goes on.

In appreciation for the remarkable helicopter, I made these layer bars that are sure to fly off any table. They are made in the typical Seven-Layer or Magic Bar fashion with few minor tweaks to accomodate what I had in the kitchen.

Start with a sleeve of graham crackers (9 whole crackers) Crush them and mix in 6 Tbs of butter. Press this mixture into a greased 9×13 baking dish.

On top of this layer spread 1 cup of your choice, chopped nuts (I used equal parts walnuts, peanuts and almonds)

Over this layer, spread 1 cup of chocolate chips. Layer 1 cup of sweetened flaked coconut over top.

I added marshmellows this time but they didn’t add much so I will omit them the next time I make these. I then combined 1 can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk with 1 Tbs peanut butter and 1 Tbs nutella.

Pour this over the layers. Bake in a 350F oven for 20-25 minutes.

The first piece

For the love of apples

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I admit it, I have a weakness for apples. To me, apples are not just a seasonal treat. With the huge assortment of exotic and delectable fruits to be had, I love the simple, ordinary apple. You are likely to see many dishes with apple as the featured fruit here. I hope you enjoy this one. The recipe was originally for pineapple and a banana cake with pecans. I used apples, applesauce cake and walnuts instead. Apples are rich in dietary fiber and contain good quantities of vitamin C and beta-carotene. Apples also contain important flavonoids: quercetin, epicatechin, and procyanidin B2.  These compounds help protect the body from the effects of free radicals and they are a good source of B-complex vitamins. You just can’t go wrong with apples.

Apple Upside-down and Right-side-up Cake

Adapted from The American Heart Association Low-fat & Luscious Desserts

Upside-down ingrediants

1 Tbs light corn syrup

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 peeled, cored and sliced apples

The Cake

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg

1 Tbs. canola oil

Right-side-up ingredients

1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal, uncooked

2 Tbs chopped walnuts

2 Tbs light brown sugar

2 Tbs butter or margarine

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. For the upside down layer, drizzle corn syrup over bottom of pan; sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange apple slices on brown sugar.

 Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add remaining cake ingredients and stir until combined. Pour this over the apples.

To minimize clean up, I combined the right-side-up ingredients in the same bowl as the cake. Use a fork to incorporate the butter or margarine into the oatmeal mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert cake onto a plate and let cool for 30 minutes. Serve either side up!

Serves 10. Each slice contains 248 calories, 3 grams of protein, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber and 2 grams of fat.