prepare for an ass-whoopin'

When I bake things for just me and the husband, I don't go to too much work. I like to keep things simple and relatively foolproof. But sometimes, when I'm having guests over, I like to guild the lily to make things a little bit more special. When I spotted these Ginger Gems on one of my new favorite blogs, Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit, I knew they'd be perfect for tonight's activities. What's tonight? Well, tonight, we're getting together with friends to play some board games. Ticket to Ride (Europe) and maybe some Settlers of Catan. Betchya didn't know that I was a totally competitive board game geek? Well, the truth is out. I love almost all board games (Monopoly not included) and I love these cookies. You can make them without the glaze, but why bother? Just look how pretty they are under a dazzling white lemony frosting. And that's the plan. I'm sure everyone will be so enthralled with my baking capabilities that they won't even notice just how much I'm kicking their asses!

ginger gems
(from the Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit)
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c vegan margarine, softened
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 T molasses
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 c water
2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 c finely chopped walnuts

glaze ingredients:
2 1/4 T lemon juice
1.5 c powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, margarine, oil, molasses, and vanilla. Mix well and add in the water and ginger and stir well until absorbed. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add your dry ingredients to your wet and mix until completely combined. Add in the chopped walnuts.

2. Drop batter by tablespoon onto a prepared cookie sheet and flatten tops slightly with your fingers. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes before removing from the pan then place on a cooling rack.

3. For the glaze, whisk the lemon juice into the powdered sugar. Dip the top of each completely-cooled cookie into the glaze and return the cookies to the cooling rack until the glaze hardens.

prepare for an ass-whoopin'

When I bake things for just me and the husband, I don't go to too much work. I like to keep things simple and relatively foolproof. But sometimes, when I'm having guests over, I like to guild the lily to make things a little bit more special. When I spotted these Ginger Gems on one of my new favorite blogs, Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit, I knew they'd be perfect for tonight's activities. What's tonight? Well, tonight, we're getting together with friends to play some board games. Ticket to Ride (Europe) and maybe some Settlers of Catan. Betchya didn't know that I was a totally competitive board game geek? Well, the truth is out. I love almost all board games (Monopoly not included) and I love these cookies. You can make them without the glaze, but why bother? Just look how pretty they are under a dazzling white lemony frosting. And that's the plan. I'm sure everyone will be so enthralled with my baking capabilities that they won't even notice just how much I'm kicking their asses!

ginger gems
(from the Yeah, That "Vegan" Shit)
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c vegan margarine, softened
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1 T molasses
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 c water
2 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 c finely chopped walnuts

glaze ingredients:
2 1/4 T lemon juice
1.5 c powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the sugar, margarine, oil, molasses, and vanilla. Mix well and add in the water and ginger and stir well until absorbed. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add your dry ingredients to your wet and mix until completely combined. Add in the chopped walnuts.

2. Drop batter by tablespoon onto a prepared cookie sheet and flatten tops slightly with your fingers. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool for 3 minutes before removing from the pan then place on a cooling rack.

3. For the glaze, whisk the lemon juice into the powdered sugar. Dip the top of each completely-cooled cookie into the glaze and return the cookies to the cooling rack until the glaze hardens.

model behaviour

Tonight I'm having a psuedo-girl's night. I'm getting together with friends to watch the trashiest of television trash, America's Next Top Model. The reason why I'm calling it a psuedo-girl's night is because half of the people showing up to our apartment are boys. ANTM is not only fun tv to watch with friends of both genders, but it's great television to actively engage in a friendly wager. Yes, you heard it! We bet on who will become America's Next Top Model. At the beginning of the season (or cycle, to those in the know), we each place $10 in the pot and rank our top three picks in order. It's all very scientific, really, and it makes for a good excuse to get together mid-week.

I usually try to make a treat each Wednesday and this week is no exception. And because the models are wafer-thin, tonight I was inspired to make a something model-approved. This oatmeal cookie recipe came from Dawna at Always in the Kitchen. I made a couple of changes to Dawna's original recipe (like the addition of sunflower seeds), but they'd be perfect anyway you bake them. These cookies are surprisingly light in texture, low(ish) in fat and are as pretty as a picture. I'm normally a fan of buttery oatmeal cookies, but I didn't miss the butter in this recipe at all. These cookies are fierce and perfect for any errupting catfights.

coconut oatmeal cookies
1/2 c canola oil
1 c brown sugar (not packed)
1 egg
1 c rolled oats
1/2 c stoneground whole wheat flour
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c sweetened coconut
1/4 c sunflower seeds
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1/2 t kosher salt
1 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium mixing bowl, pour the oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and egg. Beat well until smooth. Add the rolled oats, coconut, and flours in layers without stirring. Add the baking soda, baking powder and salt, and then stir the whole mixture slowly until evenly mixed.

2. Using a tablespoon, drop the cookies onto a baking sheet, leaving enough room for them to expand. Use your fingers to slightly flatten the tops. Bake for about 12 minutes or until just barely golden. Remove promptly to a cooling rack.

model behaviour

Tonight I'm having a psuedo-girl's night. I'm getting together with friends to watch the trashiest of television trash, America's Next Top Model. The reason why I'm calling it a psuedo-girl's night is because half of the people showing up to our apartment are boys. ANTM is not only fun tv to watch with friends of both genders, but it's great television to actively engage in a friendly wager. Yes, you heard it! We bet on who will become America's Next Top Model. At the beginning of the season (or cycle, to those in the know), we each place $10 in the pot and rank our top three picks in order. It's all very scientific, really, and it makes for a good excuse to get together mid-week.

I usually try to make a treat each Wednesday and this week is no exception. And because the models are wafer-thin, tonight I was inspired to make a something model-approved. This oatmeal cookie recipe came from Dawna at Always in the Kitchen. I made a couple of changes to Dawna's original recipe (like the addition of sunflower seeds), but they'd be perfect anyway you bake them. These cookies are surprisingly light in texture, low(ish) in fat and are as pretty as a picture. I'm normally a fan of buttery oatmeal cookies, but I didn't miss the butter in this recipe at all. These cookies are fierce and perfect for any errupting catfights.

coconut oatmeal cookies
1/2 c canola oil
1 c brown sugar (not packed)
1 egg
1 c rolled oats
1/2 c stoneground whole wheat flour
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c sweetened coconut
1/4 c sunflower seeds
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1/2 t kosher salt
1 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium mixing bowl, pour the oil, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and egg. Beat well until smooth. Add the rolled oats, coconut, and flours in layers without stirring. Add the baking soda, baking powder and salt, and then stir the whole mixture slowly until evenly mixed.

2. Using a tablespoon, drop the cookies onto a baking sheet, leaving enough room for them to expand. Use your fingers to slightly flatten the tops. Bake for about 12 minutes or until just barely golden. Remove promptly to a cooling rack.

easy bake oven

Well, I've returned from our trip a little bumped and bruised and with a nasty case of road rash, but it was amazing and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I had a bad spill down a 13% grade hill on Denman Island as I was going a bit too fast and lost control of my bike on a patch of gravel. I ended up skidding for 3 or 4 feet on the gravel and landing head-first into a concrete embankment. Lucky for me, I wore my helmet! An ambulance ride and a trip to the hospital later, I was as good as new (almost). The next morning we continued on with our trip without losing anytime with our original plans. Vancouver Island was beautiful, as were Denman and Hornby Islands. I have to admit I wasn't that keen on the Sunshine Coast but I'm sure that is because it was raining constantly (gah, Sunshine Coast, my ass!) and the roads had little to no shoulders and very poor visibility due to all the mountainous twists and turns along the highway. Touring by bike? I'm definitely doing it again.

When we arrived back to Vancouver, we revelled in all the comforts of home and watched movies and baked cookies. I had just received the Gourmet Cookbook before I left for my trip, so I was anxious to try out a recipe and the simplicity (just 4 ingredients!) of these flourless peanut butter cookies just seemed too good to resist. I'm glad I didn't resist. Light and delicious. Just make sure that you allow them to cool in the pan for a few minutes so that they don't crumble when you remove them to wire racks. Also, for this recipe, I used half processed (Kraft) peanut butter and half of the natural kind. If you go with all natural, the cookie won't be as lightly textured.

flourless peanut butter cookies
(adapted from the Gourmet Cookbook)

1 c peanut butter
1 c white sugar
1 t baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine peanut butter and sugar with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add the baking soda and egg and mix until well combined.

3. Drop by teaspoonfuls on cookie sheet. Use a fork to create a cross-hatch pattern on each cookie, pressing lightly. Bake for 8 - 12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

give a little sweetness

My friend Mel makes pretty things and then sells them at her online shop demoderby. I recently bought a cute little onesie from her as a gift for some friends who just had a baby and was so pleased at how cute it was that I figured I'd bake her some cookies. I decided to make the mexican chocolate cookies that I had bookmarked for ages from Milk & Honey and they turned out wonderfully. As a contrast to the spicy chocolate, I figured something citrusy would go nicely too. I found a recipe for Lemon Cookies from the Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates cookbook and instead of lemons, I used limes to make these cookies. They were perfect....light, buttery and not to sweet and full of lime flavour! Perfect for spring time gift giving...or for just munching outside in the park.

lime cookies
Recipe from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates

topping:
1 1/2 t freshly grated lime peel
1 1/2 T sugar

dough:
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 T freshly grated lime peel
1 t vanilla
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 T fresh lime juice

1. Stir together the topping ingredients in a shallow bowl and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar and mix well to combine. Add the butter and lime peel and mix with your hands until you get the texture of coarse meal. Add the vanilla, egg and lime juice and blend with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together to form a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 350. Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll the dough between your hands to make 12 small balls. Press each ball into the lime sugar topping, flattening into a 2 inch circle. Place on a cookie sheet, sugar side up. Bake until golden at the edges, about 7 to 8 minutes. Place on rack to cool.

button up.

Last night at 12:30a.m. I remembered that I'd be meeting my old collegues for a xmas lunch the next day and thought that I should bring something special. I had seen in the latest issue of MS Kids the cutest sugar cookies shaped into buttons and figured that I could at least get the dough mixed before heading to bed. I followed the sugar cookie recipe in the magazine and divided the dough into 3, dying 1 part red, 1 part green and keeping the other part au naturale. Into the fridge it went and off to bed me and Cornelius went. The next morning, I rolled out the dough, used my lovely circle cutters to full effect and poked the button holes with a bamboo skewer. They turned out so pretty and colourful and I wrapped them up in waxed paper and tied the little bundles up with ribbon and a pin, popped them into my pink handbag and off I walked towards downtown and a delicious lunch at Brioche.

minty goodness

I've always been a huge fan of chocolate and mint. When I was little, I would only eat green mint chocolate chip ice cream and After Eight mints were always a holiday staple in our house and I'd always manage to find my dad's secret hiding spot for them.

When I saw the mint chocolate chip cookie recipe on Crystal's blog (she makes them at the Austin Folk House) I kept them in mind for future holiday baking. This afternoon when I headed out to refill my coffee supply from the local Italian market, I noticed a lonely bag of mint chocolate chips for only a dollar. I immediately popped them into my basket. It was destiny! I practically ran home to whip up a batch. These cookies were beyond fantastic and I'll definitely be making them again during the holidays.

Crystal notes that the cookie dough is a bit stiff. Luckily, I've got my hearty Kitchen Aid mixer working for me...but if you don't, be prepared for a bit of a workout.

Chocolate Andes Mint Cookies (I didn't use name brand chocolate chips!)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 bag (12 ounces) Andes mint chips (my bag was only 10.5 oz but the resulting cookies were still minty good!)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips. Drop by well-rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 5 dozen cookies.

c is for cookie

After a week of eating lots of salads, I decided it was time for a treat. I made the "killer chocolate chip cookie" recipe from Entertaining for a Veggie Planet by Didi Emmons. Not only is this a great cookbook but these cookies were delicious. They're definitely the more traditional kind of cookie that I remember eating as a kid (no sunflower seeds, no oats, etc.) and the cookie batter was so delicious that I had to apply serious restraint to keep digging in with a spoon. Toasting the nuts gave the cookies a great flavour and I think I'll try to do that with other desserts I bake. Yum! As for the picture, that is Cornelius' hand just waiting to bite in!

killer chocolate chip cookies
Recipe from Entertaining for a Veggie Planet

1 c walnuts of pecans, chopped
9 T butter, softened
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t salt
1 large egg
1 c plus 2 T flour
1/2 t baking soda
8 oz semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread nuts on a single layer baking sheet for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Gradually add the brown sugar and sugar, beating well until mixture is very light in texture. Add the vanilla and salt, and then the egg, beating just to incorporate. With a rubber spatula, fold in the flour, baking soda, chocolate chips and nuts.

3. Spoon rounded tablespoons of dough 2 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until the cookies are just a tiny bit golden around the edges but are still white in the centres. Let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before serving.

short and sweet

Tonight's dinner was left over bbq pork/vegetable stirfry that I made last night to rave reviews from Cornelius. Dessert? Gingerbread chocolate chip cookies from a Martha Stewart recipe. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, as I didn't flatten the dough, nor did I wait 2 hours for the cookie dough to chill. I let it chill exactly 15 minutes and just scooped the batter out with a spoon and skipped the added sugar bit too. It made 30 yummy cookies that are crispy out the outside and chewy good on the inside. So good.

Chocolate Chip & Ginger Cookies

7 oz chocolate chips
1 1/2 c plus 1 T flour
1 1/4 t ground ginger
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t ground nutmeg
1 T cocoa powder
8 T softened butter
1 T ginger
1/2 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c molasses
1 t baking soda

1. In a medium bowl, mix flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cocoa.

2. In another bowl, beat butter and ginger until fluffy. Add brown sugar and molasses and mix until combined.

3. In a small bowl, dissolve baking soda in 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water. Mix half of flour mixture into the butter mixture, then add the baking-soda mixture and the rest of the flour mixture. Mix in chocolate chips.

4. Heat oven to 325°. Roll dough into balls and chill for 15 minutes. Bake until the surfaces crack slightly, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes; transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: The next day, these cookies were hard as delicious little stones. Still tasty, but they lost that soft/crisp edge.

pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

The great thing about working from home is that I've got cookies in the oven and I'm finishing up an ad for a client all at the very same time. Nice! These cookies are actually Cornelius' favorite cookies and he talks about them all the time. Since fall is here and I'm enamoured with everything pumpkin, I figured now would be the perfect time to share these beauties!

2 c flour
1 c quick or old-fashioned oats
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 c (2 sticks) butter
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 c cooked and pureed pumpkin (I use canned)
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips (I usually use more)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine dry ingredients (flour through salt). Set aside.
3. Cream butter. Gradually add both sugars and cream until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.
4. Alternate additions of dry ingredients and pumpkin, mixing well after each addition.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheet, leaving room for cookies to spread. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until tops of cookies are dry and spring back when touched lightly. Remove from baking sheet and cool on racks.

c is for cookie.

I love this recipe! It was originally printed years ago in the Georgia Straight, our local free weekly and I've made some additions and I think it's a near-perfect cookie recipe. I like to keep the cookies in tins to keep them soft. I made them last night in a fit of procrastination. It was much easier making these cookies than gathering work for my portfolio!

These can also be easily made into vegan cookies since there are no eggs in this recipe. Just replace the butter for vegan margerine or Natural Balance. Yum!

chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
1 c butter
1 c brown sugar, lightly packed
1 t baking soda
1/4 c boiling water
1 t vanilla
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
2 c oats
1/2 c dried coconut
2 c semi sweet chocolate chips (this is where I play: I mix walnuts, raisins and chocolate chips to equal to 2 cups)

Cream the butter with the sugar until well mixed. Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water and add it to the butter/sugar mix, followed by vanilla. Stir together the dry ingredients and add it slowly to the creamed mixture. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate chip (or mixture) and combine. Form small balls, flatten a little, and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

cookies au naturale

For quite a while now, I've been jonesing for some peanut butter cookies. It all started a couple of weeks ago when I had a fantastic peanut butter and chocolate cookie at the "Our Town Cafe" on E. Broadway. For the past week, I started looking for recipes but seeing that we only use natural peanut butter in this household, finding an exact recipe where I wouldn't have to make modifications became quite the chore. Tonight I settled on one that specifically called for natural peanut butter (a real rarity in peanut butter cookie land).

The cookies are in the oven as I type and they smell pretty damn delicious! The batter is pretty stiff and greasy. Depending on how these come out, I may half the amount of butter if I decided to make these again.

Natural Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 c butter
6 T brown sugar
6 T white sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla extract
1 c natural peanut butter
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream butter with brown and white sugars. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in peanut butter, baking soda, and salt. Make sure it is well blended. Add flour and chocolate chips and mix to combine. Drop teaspoons of cookie dough then flatten with fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until it looks done. Don't overcook. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 -10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

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Update: Well, the cookies turned out pretty good. They're quite filling and heavy but they are tasty. I'm interested to know of any great tried, tested and true natural peanut butter cookie recipes (or any other natural peanut butter baking recipes), so if you've got a favorite, please let me know!

vegan cookies. no really.

Kristen gave me this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe over the phone a couple of years ago. I haven't transcribed it and I've always kept it in a safe place but when I pulled out the recipe today I realized that it's a pretty easy and tasty recipe and I better keep it somewhere safe.

This is the easiest cookie recipe ever and it tastes great too.

Kristen's vegan chocolate chip cookies
¾ c sugar
½ c oil
½ c margerine
3 t water
2 t vanilla
Mix together.

2¼ c flour
1 t soda
½ t salt
Mix together.

Add 1½ c chocolate chips.

Mix it all together, roll into balls, plop onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 12-15 minutes.

Kristen always uses white sugar and all vegan ingredients. Me, I'm not vegan so I'm not so strict and will sometimes use butter instead of margerine. I also like brown sugar over brown. Instead of all chocolate chips, I'll add a handfull of sunflower seeds (really, seeds taste great in cookies!), a handfull of raisins, a handfull of walnuts and a handful of chocolate chips. Today I misread the 3 t of water as 3 tablespoons and they still turned out great.