Happy New Year and Gingerbread Biscotti

Happy new year everyone! I cannot believe the Holidays are over! I will be sad to see the Christmas decorations come down, but I am ready to get back into the normal swing of things. I took my last day of Christmas Holidays (Jan 2nd) to relax, do some cooking, and get organized to start the year off right.

I made some nutrient rich vegetable broth with a bunch of veggie scraps I had in the freezer. It never ceases to amaze me how scraps that were headed for the compost can end up creating something so great!

All I did was fill the biggest pot I have, half way with veggie scraps and then add 3 garlic cloves, 2 bay leafs, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp rosemary, 2 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper. Then I fill it almost to the top with cold water, bring to a boil, and then simmer uncovered for 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the broth has good colour. This batch yielded about 18-20 cups of broth which will mostly be frozen to be later used in soups and stews. 

I also made some crackers, which is something I have wanted to do for a while. They turned out rather nice  considering I had low expectations.

Now I know it is the new year now and the sweets are being left behind while we all make new years resolutions to eat better, but I have to share some of the Holiday recipes that I last posted about. Save the recipe for next Christmas, you will thank me for it. I will be sharing the recipe for gingerbread biscotti today as I know there are many people who would like their hands on the recipe.

Gingerbread Biscotti slightly adapted from Annie's Eats

Makes 2 dozen

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cup loosely packed dark brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 bag white chocolate chips

1/4 cup molasses

2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Mix dry ingredients together, including the chocolate chips. I used a stand mixer on low.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and molasses together. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients while stirring. Mix until just combined.

4. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, form two logs which have a few inches between them so they do not expand into each other. Bake for 30 to 32 minutes.

5. Allow logs to cool for 10 minutes before slicing diagonally with a serrated knife. Cut pieces about 1.5 inches wide. Be careful at this step as the logs crumble relatively easily.

6. Arrange the biscotti on their sides on the baking sheet (another baking sheet will most likely be needed) and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the side of the biscotti on the pan has browned a bit. Flip and bake for another 5 minutes. The biscotti will continue to harden so do not over cook. If they are too hard, simply dip into coffee or tea before eating :)

After baking the logs

After the third bake

These biscotti are seriously addictive and it is hard to resist popping all the crumbly bits in your mouth as you slice the log. The white chocolate chips give a nice touch, which was not in the original recipe. The original recipe calls for cinnamon chips which I have not been able to find. I am glad the white chocolate chips came to save the day.

Good luck with all your new years resolutions! I will try not to tempt you for much longer with Holiday sweets.

Pumpkin Muffins

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had a really busy thanksgiving weekend, but it was great! I really geared up for Thanksgiving this year. I was very much in the mood for it and was loving the cooler weather. Although it wasn't a nice cool fall weekend, it was still beautiful. I managed to spend some time outside and catch the changing colours of all the greenery in Hamilton.

Last weekend (before thanksgiving) I purchased a can of pumpkin puree. Pumpkin puree comes in an unneccessarily large can. I have to make diligent plans as to what I am going to make with it once the can is open. Last week I made pumpkin muffins, pumpkin granola, pumpkin oats, and more pumpkin muffins. All with one can of pumpkin. By far, the pumpkin muffins were the best of the three, and were quite the hit at my family's thanksgiving dinner (especially with my Mom).

Pumpkin Muffins very slightly adapted from Ellie Krieger on the Food Network

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup oat flour*
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 cup of *not packed* brown sugar
3 tbsp unsulphered molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil, and 1 egg until combined.
4. Whisk in the 2nd egg.
5. Whisk in pumpkin and vanilla.
6. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with the milk. (order of addition: dry, milk, dry milk)
7. Spoon into the muffin pan. Bake for 20-23 minutes.

These muffins are devine. They have the right amount of spice, softness, and sweetness. I think next time I could even cut down the sugar to 1/2 cup. I wanted to make a note about the flour, since I deviated from the original recipe. I used oat flour instead of whole-grain pastry flour, simply because that is all I had on hand. These leads me to believe you could get away with a few different flour combinations, maybe substituting all the all purpose for whole wheat, pairing with some oat flour. I will definitely be experimenting in the future.

Now, I am not the biggest pumpkin fan in the world, but these were my favourite use for pumpkin so far this season. I am sure I will go through another can or two before the season is over, and hopefully I find another winner like this one.

Strawberry Banana Soft Serve

I have talked about banana soft serve before, more than once, quite a while ago. It is quite ingenious as a method to make a vegan "ice cream" treat. Not only is it dairy-free, but it has no added sugar. It is just fruit, with a hint of vanilla. Lent is almost over, but this is a dessert I will gladly enjoy anytime of the year, even with no dietary restrictions.

Strawberry Banana Soft Serve

1 frozen peeled banana
handful of frozen strawberries
splash of soy milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Add banana and strawberries to food processor and pulse for a few minutes, scraping down the sides when necessary.
2. Add vanilla and a bit of soy milk. The soy milk helps to smooth out the consistency when using frozen fruit other than bananas. Add as much as is neccessary. Process for 3 or so minutes until smooth and "creamy."

This treat is so good on its own, but is awesome on top of pancakes or cold overnight oats. You can always make just plain banana soft serve, and omit the soy milk. Banana's really might be my favourite fruit. Not only are they delicious, very good for you, and peanut butters perfect partner, but they are practically magic for being able to turn into soft serve like this.

I have so many recipes and food adventures to post about, as I have not been able to blog the past week and a bit. I was really busy with some course work. Now I am finished and officially done required courses for my degree! I didn't think this would be such a big deal for until the day actually come. I think the fact that it ended on a Thursday before a long weekend, Easter long weekend, where the anticipation for summer has begun . Oh, and I can eat cookies in a couple days. That may also have something to do with it.

Have a great good Friday. OH and Happy Earth Day! Get yourself a free Starbucks coffee by taking in a reusable mug to use!

Apple Cinnamon Rice Pudding

After almost 4 weeks with no treats, I have been in need for something sweet. This is a perfect time for me to experiment with modifying some traditional desserts to contain no added sugar (or very little) and I have yet to do this. Until today!  Rice pudding is something I have not really had before. I have definitely tried a spoonful or something, but never really eaten a serving myself. That being said, I am no rice pudding expert. I imagine that it is usually quite sweet and creamy, after taking a look at some traditional recipes out there. This recipe contains no butter, no dairy, and no added sugar, and while it uses white Arborio rice and not brown rice, I'd say it is a fairly healthy alternative to the traditional.

Apple Cinnamon Rice Pudding

2 cups water
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
3 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
3 tbsp chopped walnuts

1. Bring water to a boil, and add arborio rice. Once a simmer is reached, add applesauce. Reduce to low-medium heat and continue to stir.
2. In a separate pan, warm soy milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
3. As the rice mixture thickens, add the milk mixture 1/3 cup at a time. After each addition, continue to stir until no longer liquidy, then add the next milk portion. Continue until all the milk mixture has been added and the rice is thick and soft. Stir in walnuts.
4. Remove from stovetop, allow to cool (will thicken more), and refrigerate.

 
I am going to be straight with you, this isn't the sweetest dessert out there. If it wasn't for Lent, you bet I'd be drizzling it with a bit of maple syrup, or adding a couple tsp of brown sugar to the milk mixture. Even using some sweetened vanilla soy milk would have made it a little better. Come to think of it, in it's current state, this recipe would make a pretty good breakfast on a weekend. Next time I would also add more of the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger; dare I say double it.

I am not sure if this satisfied my craving for something sweet but I have a few other tricks up my sleeve.