Happy Birthday Cookies (aka Frosted Animal Cookies)

My girl calls these Happy Birthday cookies because of the sprinkles. They are easy to make and dress up boring animal crackers.

Be sure to look at the white chocolate label! Some manufacturers add hydrogenated fat to white chocolate. Yucky is all I have to say about that.

Happy Birthday Cookies
10 ounces white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
Natural food coloring, optional
sprinkles
Store bought animal crackers

Melt chocolate and shortening in the microwave. Stir every 10-15 seconds. Do not overheat the chocolate. Let the residual heat do the last bit of melting.

Add desired food coloring, if you want. Take a cookie and submerge it in the chocolate. Scoop it out with a fork and tap it hard to get excess off. Place on a wire rack and sprinkle. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. If the chocolate gets a little too thick, microwave it for a couple of seconds.

Let the coat set and then refrigerate the cookies (the coat holds well at room temperature).

Triple Berry Smoothie

I love Jamba Juice smoothies, but I don't like paying $5 for one. I looked up recipes online for my favorite smoothie. I made few changes and this smoothie is as good if not better than the real thing. Wait, this one is the real thing.

My girl loves it and I don't mind because it is so good for you.

Triple Berry Smoothie
1/2 cup water
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 banana
1/4 cup raspberry sorbet
1/4 cup ice cream (vanilla, strawberry, or some type of berry ice cream)
1 cup ice (optional, but ice makes smoothie a little thicker)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. If it is too thick, add a little water. Pour into a glass, stick a straw in and drink up right away.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

I adore pancakes, but the pancakes that I tried before were either too gummy, thick, chewy or just plain fussy. These pancakes are easy because you mix them until the batter is smooth. No need to worry about overmixing the batter and leaving just the right amount of chunkiness. The pancakes turn out soft and crispy around the edges.

You will need a stick of cold unsalted butter to brush the skillet. I normally like to replace butter with olive oil, but I think the butter adds that nice crispy edge. You also just got to use a cast iron skillet. It keeps it heat and really crisps up the pancakes. Be sure to start to preheat as before you start making the batter.

I grind my own soft wheat, but I would think that any soft whole wheat flour would give the same results.

My girl loves these and runs over when I tell her that pancakes are ready. She then sits down and says 'helpy', which means 'help me eat the pancakes mom'.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 1/4 cups soft whole wheat flour

1 cup plain yogurt, any fat

1/2 cup water

1 large egg

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Set a cast iron skillet on the stove and start it preheating over low heat.

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients until smooth. When the skillet is ready, take a stick of butter and rub it over the bottom of the skillet (just enough to lightly coat it in fat). Place 2 to 3 mounds (1/4 cup big) of batter and cover with a lid. When one side is ready (sides will be a little set), flip it over and cook on the other side.

Stick a dollop of butter and pour honey over the stack. Enjoy these right away.

makes enough for 2-3 people

Olive Oil Blueberry Muffins

The muffins are very easy to make and are good for you because of the blueberries, whole grains and olive oil. I used as little sugar as possible in these and that makes the olive oil noticeable, so make sure that you like that before making them.

Olive Oil Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup orange or grapefruit juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large egg
5 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups soft whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, fresh or frozen (see note)

Note: if using frozen berries, put them in a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. Once the water is clear, shake to drain and add them to the batter.

Crumb Topping
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup soft whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons unsalted or salted butter, cold and cubed
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To make the muffins, combine juice and oats in a bowl. Add olive oil, egg and sugar. Stir to combine. Add the flours, leavening and salt. Fold the dry ingredients in and then gently fold in the blueberries. Divide between 12 muffin cups. and sprinkle the topping over the tops of muffins.

To make the crumb topping, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and using your fingertips rub the butter and dry stuff together. You want the butter to stay the size of peas or so. Sprinkle the topping over the tops of the muffins.

Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 F. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.
 
makes 12 muffins

Hazelnut Sandwiches

This is a Linzer cookie sandwiched between hazelnut spread. The recipe makes many sandwiches. I bake off half the dough and freeze the rest for later.

The nut can be changed to pecans, walnuts, almonds or even pistachios. The spread can be any jam that you like.

Hazelnut Sandwiches

8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup raw hazelnuts, ground fine

1 cup soft whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg

Nutella spread

Beat together butter, sugars, baking powder, salt and vanilla in a stand mixer until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Scrape the bowl, add the egg and mix until well combined. Add the hazelnuts and both flours. Mix until combined.

Divide the dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm to touch. Roll pieces of dough between wax paper. It helps to flour both sides of the dough well. Roll to 1/8 inch and cut out shapes of choice. In half of the shapes cut out a hole.

Bake in the center of the oven at 375 F. Remove when the edges are golden. Cool and spread Nutella on one side of the cookie. The side with the hole can be dusted with confectioner sugar before sticking the two cookies together.

Store sandwiches at room temperature in an airtight container between sheets of wax paper or freeze the unfilled cookies and make a sandwich any time you like.

Chewy Chocolate Malt Sandwiches

These sandwiches are really easy to make and have a unique flavor due to the addition of malted milk powder. The cookies have a very chewy and dense texture without being overly sweet.

Chewy Chocolate Malt Sandwiches

Cookies
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 tablespoons plain malted milk powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons water

Filling
5 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plain malted milk powder
1 1/2 ounces mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons milk, any fat
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make the cookies, beat butter and sugar for 3 minutes. Add the egg, mascarpone cheese and water. Mix to combine and add the dry ingredients and mix again until well combined.

Place 2 teaspoon size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350F (center of the oven) until puffy but soft to touch. Let cool on the baking sheet.

To make the filling, melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave. In another bowl, combine malted milk powder with mascarpone cheese and mix to combine with a hand held mixer. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix to combine with a hand held mixer. Add this to the chocolate mixture and mix with a hand held mixer until well combined. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes and then beat with electric mixer until light in color and fluffy.

To make the sandwiches, plop some of the filling on the center and sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with the rest of the cookies. Place on a flat surface and let the cookies firm up. Store at room temperature for 1 day or freeze for up to 1 month. Bring to room temperature before eating.

Deep Dish Pizza

This is one of my favorite ways to make pizza. Instead of baking the pizza on a baking stone, it is baked in a cake pan. The really nice part is that the cake pan bottom is covered in olive oil. As the pizza bakes, the oil fries the bottom of the crust. The result is a crispy and very tasty crust.

If you are not going to be able to eat the two pizzas shortly after baking, you can freeze half the dough for later. Pizza sauce and cheese freeze very well too.

To make the pizza sauce, I just take a can of crushed tomatoes and cook them in a saucepan with a little olive oil, garlic and herbs of my choice (oregano, thyme, basil). Season with salt and pepper.

Deep Dish Pizza
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk, any fat
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/3 cups pizza sauce, see notes above
3 cups mozzarella cheese

To make the dough, combine all the ingredients in a stand mixer and mix with a dough hook for 5 minutes. Oil the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size.

Place 3 tablespoons olive oil on the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan and swirl it around so all of it stays on the bottom and does not go up the sides. Repeat with another cake pan if making two pizzas.

Divide the dough in half and work it into a 9 ½ inch circle Place it into the pan, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until puffy. Repeat with the other half or freeze it. Preheat the oven to 400 F with the bottom rack all the way on the bottom.

Ladle 2/3 cup of sauce on the center of the pizza and spread it to ½ inch from the border. Cover with 1 ½ cups cheese and slide the pizzas into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese has browned a little.

Remove and let cool for a couple of minutes. This pizza is best eaten fresh when the crust is still crispy from being fried in olive oil.