Healthy Blueberry Malt

My next-door neighbor Hannah  had her wisdom teeth pulled-all four at one time.  She is brave.  Or a glutton for punishment.  Not sure!  I asked her if she would like to try one of my blueberry malts.  She mumbled yes so I got the dusty blender out.  Blueberries are inexpensive right now so I've been purchasing fresh and then flash freezing them. I think I learned the technique from Alton Brown.   I used to put the fresh blueberries in a bag and throw them in the freezer.  I would end up with a big blue rock of frozen blueberries. Now I wash them, dry them, pick the stems off, throw the mushy and fuzzy blueberries out, put them on a cookie sheet, and throw them in the freezer (It is not as labor intensive as it sounds-really!) When frozen, I measure them and put them into baggies labeled with the date and amount of blueberries inside.  Then they are ready to be blended frozen with low-fat vanilla ice cream or vanilla frozen yogurt, vanilla soy milk or regular milk, and malt powder into a delicious, mostly guilt free, thirst quenching, sweet-tooth satisfying malt.   The picture below was taken after the malt had been sitting out for a while-and then mostly slurped up.  I'm still not in the habit of thinking about taking pictures of everything I make before I eat it!

I love the purple color and bits of blueberry. 

Here is the simple recipe:
1 cup frozen blueberries (or four chunks frozen banana, or five big frozen strawberries)
2 packed cups of frozen low-fat vanilla yogurt or low-fat vanilla ice cream.
1/2 cup malt powder ( I LOVE malt flavor.)
3/4 cup vanilla soy milk or regular milk (you may need a little more if the malt is too thick to blend).

Put it all in the blender in the order listed above and blend until smooth.  Sometimes I need to stir it up a little bit during blending. Remember to turn the blender off when doing this!

Almost one bowl brownies and Brownie cutting tip!

I was searching for an easy brownie to make with cocoa. I've been stuck on banana brownies with melted chocolate for so long, I thought it was time for change.  I contacted Anna at Cookie Madness and she suggested the one-bowl brownies.  I made them, but, as usual, with a few changes because A.: I'm lazy and B.: I've got other ingredients to use up!  I added chocolate chips, but next time I think I would add nuts instead since the chocolate chips seemed like overkill to me-if there is such a thing as chocolate overkill!  Anyways, I would say they came out perfect with the exception that they didn't have the shiny crinkly crust I want :(  That crust is still a mystery to me. There are many theories. Whenever I make banana brownies and use semi sweet chocolate I get the shiny, crackly crust. When I use bittersweet chocolate, I get more of a cake looking crust.   I thought maybe it had something to do with the sugar to fat ratio-the more heavy on the sugar and less heavy on the fat, the better chance for a crackly shiny crust.   Cocoa brownies disproved that theory since there is a lot less fat in them and I didn't get the shiny crust.   Boxed brownies have the "crust".  It can't be the melting theory because I melted the semi-sweet and the bitter sweet the same way. It can't be the stirring theory because I stirred them the same way.  Let me know if you have a theory! 

Brownie cutting tip:  Use a plastic knife. Works every time and brownies avoid sticking to it like it is the plague (not sure what a brownie considers a plague-maybe those fake baking chips?, but you get the idea!) Sometimes the knives break so have a few on hand!

My "flashy" picture.

My not so flashy picture.

Here is my modified version:
Almost One Bowl Brownies
Modified to fit an 8 x 8 baking pan.

8 tablespoons salted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup +1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (used 1/3 cup all-purpose and 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour to make them a bit more healthy!)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup +1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (I love Ghirardelli)
1/2 cup lightly toasted nuts of your choice (my favorites are pecans.)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Lightly grease the bottom only of an 8 x 8 metal pan.   I use PAM spray.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Set-aside.
Melt butter in a microwave safe medium large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
When that mixture is smooth, whisk in the dry ingredients. Then stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Bake on center rack of your oven for approximately 22 to 25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out with moist crumbs.    Cool completely before slicing. I use a plastic knife which works perfectly every time! Bon appétit!

Toasted Banana Bread slices!

I was in the mood for toast this morning, but I didn't have any bread.  Then I realized that wasn't completely true-I had delicious banana bread made for my retirement pot luck by a coworker's wife. I wondered what a slice of banana bread would taste like toasted and slathered with butter.   I found out.  I may have discovered banana bread gold!   The edges were crispy from the high sugar content.  The rest of the slice was a little bit crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.  With the butter slathered on, need I say more?
There may be some of you out there who have tried this.  It may be old news to you.  It was a new banana bread frontier to me! If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it!  Directions:
Slice a piece of banana bread into at least a 1/2 inch thick piece and pop it in the toaster. To remove it, unplug the toaster and take a couple of knives to lift it out.

Better Than Lots of Things - Banana Bread Toast

Rhubarb Crisp Crunch Time!

I've got so much rhubarb I don't know what to do with it! I know you can make sauces out of it, crisps out of it, pies out of it, chop it up and freeze it, or eat it raw dipped in sugar, but I'm basically lazy. Thank goodness I have a husband who likes rhubarb sauce on ice cream. He goes out and pulls the stocks, chops them,  and voilà! All I have to do is cook them up or bake them up!  My neighbor Lynda brought this wonderful rhubarb crunch over to my house last summer.  It was the best rhubarb crunch or crisp I've ever tasted. She found the recipe on Allrecipes.com .  I noticed many reviewers changed the recipe. Not being one to make anything exactly as the recipe states (excluding bread-never mess with that!) I made some changes too. I can't understand how the original recipe called for only 3 cups of rhubarb for a 9 x 13 pan!  If you make it I bet people will tell you it's the best they've ever tasted! They will probably mean it too!!!

  I've got five of these plants!

I stole this picture off of the web-I made this for a party and forgot to bring my camera.

The recipe is simple and delicious!

You can see the reviews of the original recipe here  Rhubarb Crunch

Here is my version:

Rhubarb portion:

6 cups of rhubarb (about 12 medium to large stalks)

1 3/4 cup white sugar 

7 generous tablespoons all-purpose flour 

Topping:

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 generous teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup lightly toasted pecans

3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) salted butter softened, but not melted. 

Directions:

Metal pan: Preheat oven to ***375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Glass pan:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease a 9x13 inch metal or glass baking dish. 

In a large mixing bowl combine 8 cups rhubarb, 1 ¾ cup white sugar, and 7 tablespoons flour. Stir well and spread evenly into baking dish with a little more towards the edges. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 cup oats, 1/4 generous teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1.5 cups flour. Stir well then cut in ¾ cups butter until mixture is crumbly. Mix in ½ cup lightly toasted nuts.  Sprinkle mixture over rhubarb layer.

Bake 40 – 50 minutes or until bubbly around the edges.

In my glass pan it was done at 45 min on 350

You can leave this on your counter for a couple of days with no risk of spoiling.  Be sure to cover it though or critters may beat you to it!

Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Pecan cookies, Spring is here, and cat foot bite!!!

Last night, Saturday, May 14 at about 11:00 p.m.  I realized it was National Chocolate Chip Cookie day on Sunday, May 15, 2011.   I was scanning Cookie Madness and other sites for CCC recipes
(CCC=chocolate chip cookies for those unfamiliar with food blog acronyms) and decided to make some batter at about 12:30 a.m.  I was experiencing my own cookie madness!   I needed them to be baked and travel-ready on Sunday morning so I could have my brother's family try them.   I had a "happy accident" that turned into sea salt sprinkled cookies.  I added a little extra flour and refrigerated the dough to prevent what so many others have complained about:  flat, greasy cookies.
I think they are the best I've made so far...you be the judge!!!

Off the subject of cookies,  I included some pictures taken today.  I was thrilled by what a beautiful day it was here in Minnesota. Yesterday the temps were in the 40s, it was windy, and rainy-I was freezing all day.   Below you will see the contrast!!!!

Tulips and Daffodils

                            What CCC looked like after just going into the oven.

Cooled and almost ready to eat off my thrift-store plate which I love!

Now ready to eat with a delicious glass of cold milk.

Recipe follows Spring/Oriole pictures

5 Orioles in this pic-a couple sitting on my viburnums.  Grape jelly is the draw.

My talented husband made the cup holder.

Rescued cat Bozo chewing his big foot...now on to the recipe!

The recipe (for a small batch of two dozen cookies):  Loosely adapted from the Cookie Madness site, Ghirardelli bag, and my own spin...

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour (I used 1 cup all-purpose and a quarter cup of whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (or a 1/2 teaspoon salt if you are not going to sprinkle with sea salt)
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened salted butter  (I usually put my cold stick of butter in the microwave for 25 seconds at 50% power)
1/4 cup +1/8 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup +1/8 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 large egg (I've heard it's good to have it at room temp when baking. Not sure why...)
Generous 1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup lightly toasted pecans or walnuts
Sea Salt or kosher salt

Directions:
In a small bowl mix the flours, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium-size mixing bowl add the sugars and the butter. Beat with an electric mixer for about 4 to 5 minutes until light and a bit fluffy.
Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat on medium speed until incorporated, or for about a minute or two.
Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients mixing on low. Then pour in the chocolate chips and nuts. Mix on low or by hand until evenly distributed in the batter.   If you don't want to refrigerate them, you can go directly to the Baking step (I highly recommend refrigerating them.)
Press the dough into the bottom of the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. 
**Refrigerate at least four hours-this will help turn the cookies from flat to voluptuous!

Baking:
Preheat oven to 375°

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper-I've tried this with and without parchment paper.  It is easy to remove the cookies from the parchment paper or directly from the cookie sheet, but cleanup is easier using parchment paper.   No need to grease the paper or cookie sheet.

Scoop stiff dough out with an ice cream scoop or tablespoon.  I rolled dough in my hands quickly into golf ball size blobs and set them approximately 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet. 

Put a tiny pinch of sea salt on top of each cookie.

Bake anywhere from 9 to 12 minutes depending on how long your dough has been refrigerated and how large your cookies are.  Remove tray from oven and let cookies set a spell- 2 minutes. Then remove to cooling racks
I like my CCC browned around the edges and a little bit lighter in the middle. I left my dough in the refrigerator overnight, made golf ball size blobs, and baked them about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!      

Chocolate caramel matzo "crack"

Since it is still Passover, I thought I would get in one batch of chocolate caramel matzo "crack".  This is a versatile bar and can be made with or without nuts and can be made any time during the year. I have never tried Holyland Matzos before, but I bought them this year because they were the only brand I could find in single boxes.   I was happily surprised with a crispy, well done matzo.
My cousin Lori gave this recipe to me and I have tweaked just a little bit over the years.

If you like a mixed marriage of caramel and chocolate, you will love this bar! It might turn out to be your favorite all time treat.  It is crispy, but not crunchy, chocolately, caramely, and not too sweet because you use salted butter and add nuts.  You can leave the nuts on or off. I have heard this recipe is also made with saltines, but saltines definitely have a different flavor and texture than matzo.  Let me know what you think!

  The few, delicious ingredients:

The matzo set up:

The caramel stuff:

 

The spread:

Post baked, ready for chocolate:

Chocolate!

The chocolate spread:

The final nuts:

The final cut:

The ingredients:

(4) plain, no salt added matzos

(1) cup salted butter (two sticks)

(1) cup packed light brown sugar

(1) cup chopped nuts (I use pecans - if you have time toast them)

(1.5 -2 ) cups semi sweet chocolate chips

(1) 2-ounce package of toasted sliced almonds

The directions:  Preheat oven to 350°

Line the bottom of a Pam-sprayed cookie sheet with the matzos (the sheet should have sides and be about 11"x17").  Break them to fit.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat melt butter and then add brown sugar and pecans.

Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil stirring constantly.

Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and let boil for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and pour quickly over matzos.  Spread quickly to cover matzos because the caramel wants to start setting up.

Bake matzos in the pre heated oven for 9 or 10 minutes or until the caramel is bubbly and a little darker..

Remove them from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips.   Turn oven off.

Return to the oven for 2 minutes so chocolate melts.

Spread melted chocolate to cover matzos..my chocolate doesn't always cover completely-I like a little bit of the caramel showing through-it is a pretty dark gold and shiny.

Sprinkle immediately with sliced almonds and pat them down.

I usually slice them at this point because once they are completely cool, it is more difficult to slice them. I take a sharp large knife and press down hard.  

Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.   They can be stored on the counter top for a week, or longer if you refrigerate them.   Please let me know what you think if you try this recipe!



Chocolate covered PB pretzel snacks

I've been making this easy, quick,  no cooking involved "candy" for many years using Ritz PB mini sandwhich crackers. Now I use Snyders of Hanover's mini PB pretzel sandwiches. 

All you need are the sandwich pretzels, semi sweet chocolate chips (I think milk chocolate or a combo of semi and milk would work too),  a little bit of vegetable oil, and optional sprinkles.-- Oh yes, and wax paper.

Chocolate and peanut butter pretzels posing with Northern Gannetts

I made these in a hurry so they were a bit messy this time.

Here is the recipe:

One bag of peanut butter pretzel sandwiches

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips ( I used Nestles minis because I wanted to use them up-Ghirardelli or Hershey's are better in my opinion.)

1 teaspoon canola oil or other vegetable oil

optional sprinkles

wax paper
cookie sheet

Directions:
Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper and set aside.
Put the chocolate chips in a microwavable measuring cup-preferably a 1 cup or larger size.

Microwave the chips for 30 seconds-stir-then add 1 t oil.  Continue microwaving another 30 seconds and continue doing this until they are just about melted.  Stir until they are melted.  Mix in a few of the pretzels at a time and carefully stir to coat them.  You can use a fork or a spoon to take them out and drop them onto the wax paper.  While they are still wet add optional sprinkles.  Put into the refrigerator for about 15 to 30 minutes until the chocolate is not glossy. Store in a covered container on the counter.

**Note:  I don't know how many pretzels a 1/2 cup of chips can cover since I don't count...when you run out of chocolate, just melt up more!