Flourless Nut Butter Cookies

Well, I've been dairy- and gluten-free since Monday and so far I've survived. I'm actually kind of enjoying getting creative with meals. I'll share what I've been eating in an upcoming post.

One thing that has helped me feel much less deprived is... SUN BUTTER! As you know, Parker has a full-on Epi-Pen allergy to peanuts. Therefore, no peanut butter in our house. I kept some peanut butter in my desk at work for a while, but that was a slippery slope from having a schmear of peanut butter on a couple of crackers to eating out of the jar with a spoon. On a daily basis. Not good. This week I discovered the BEST alternative to peanut butter- Sun Butter made from sunflower seeds. It tastes almost exactly like peanut butter. Maybe even better. I'm scraping the bottom of the jar already. Oy. In my defence, it's a small jar and I used an entire cup of it for these nut butter cookies.

I Googled "nut butter cookies" last night and was stirring ingredients for these flourless cookies within 5 minutes. I read through a couple of the recipe reviews to ensure they would turn out ok with the Sun Butter since it's a bit runnier than peanut butter, the reviews seemed promising so I went ahead. Indeed, these are exactly like the real thing. Oh peanut butter cookies, how I missed you in my life.

One of the reviews I read made me laugh out loud. A woman said, "They're sweet and rich. I baked them on the top shelf of the oven rack. I sprinkled them with sugar prior to baking them. I followed the recipe exactly. I gave them four stars rather than five because I like to eat several cookies at a time and these are so rich, you can only eat one, maybe two. But the flavor and texture were perfect."
You're kidding right? You gave a recipe less of a rating because they're so delicious that you want to eat a ton more but the cookies are so rich that you are satisfied with just one or two? I call that a win.

FLOURLESS NUT BUTTER COOKIES

Adapted from Food Network

Makes approx 18 cookies

If your nut butter is not sweetened increase the sugar to 3/4 cup or up to 1 cup. Give a bit of the dough a taste and use your judgement. 

• 1 cup Sun Butter or other nut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg
• coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Heat oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix all ingredients but salt in a mixing bowl until combined. Spoon 1 tbsp of dough onto baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart. Roll into balls then flatten with the tines of a fork. Sprinkle with salt. Bake approx. 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet 5 minutes before carefully transferring to cooling rack.

Superbowl Food

It's Superbowl Sunday. If I was a good blogger, I would have whipped up these recipes, photographed, and posted a week ago. But I just can't bring myself to make recipes in advance of the actual event. That would mean making all this food and then the three of having to eat it, only to make it all over again for the Big Day. Not happening.

And really, do you really need a special occasion to make Soft Pretzel Bites with Buffalo Cheese Sauce? That is a negative. Any random Sunday will do, thank you.

I have been trying to make great soft pretzels forever and the never turned out the way I wanted. I wish I had stolen the recipe from the movie theatre where I had my first job. I worked at Wetzel's Pretzels kiosk. We made the dough on premises (whereas at Pizza Hut the dough came in frozen) but it never occurred to me to make them at home. I've even looked for a copy-cat recipe online, but to no avail. What made these different is usually pretzels are boiled in a baking powder solution, but Wetzel's just baked them. I'd never tried the boiling method until today because it just sounded like too much work. But it was a success, and honestly not much more difficult that straight baking them. 

One tip though- don't boil the pretzel bites for more than 30 seconds. The first batch I made I boiled them too long, more like a minute and a half probably, and they are kinda ugly. Yummy, but ugly, as you can see below. The one on the right is the one that boiled too long, the one on the left was boiled for just 30 seconds.

You can thank Pinterest for the Cookie Brownies. I didn't even repin this, but they were stuck in my head. Brownie Cookies? Crookies? Brookies? Whatever you choose to call them, they are over the top and delicious. Definitely for sharing though. I wouldn't trust myself make these if I were home by myself one night. It's bad enough that whenever I make chocolate chip cookies I save a container of raw dough in the fridge for snaking on. Cookie dough dipped in brownie batter? Game over.

One Year Ago: Crunchy Sesame Cookies

Two Years Ago: Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

Three Years Ago: nada, Feb 2010 was a slow year at Four Seasons Kitchen

SOFT PRETZEL BITES WITH BUFFALO CHEESE SAUCE

• Ballpark Pretzel recipe from Chuck Hughes
• Buffalo Cheese Sauce recipe from Half Baked Harvest

Pretzel Bites:
Follow the recipe for Chuck's pretzels up to and including step 3. Rather than making large pretzels in step 4, rip a handful of dough and roll it out into a rope. Cut (a pizza roller works well) into 1/2-inch pieces and roll each into a ball. Continue with the rest of the recipe, however I omitted brushing the pretzel bites with egg wash.

When boiling the pretzel bites, work in small batches. I gather up and many as I can hold (gently!) in one hand and drop them quickly in one at a time, timing once the last one goes in.

Serve pretzels same day as they are made. If not serving immediately after baking, put them on a plate or in a container but don't cover or else they will get soft on the outside instead of staying crisp.

Cheese Sauce:
Make the buffalo cheese sauce following Half Baked Harvest's recipe. Keep warm in a small Crockpot if serving as a snack at a party. Or just eat it really fast, which shouldn't be too hard to do.

BROWNIE COOKIES

Method from Pin Cookie

You can use my favourite recipes that are linked below, or your go-to brownie and chocolate chip cookie recipes.

• Lentil Brownies
• Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix up a batch of cookie batter and brownie batter. Tyler helped me and made the brownie batter for me, but if you are making both yourself I would suggest making the brownie batter first as it doesn't contain any leavener.

Butter a muffin min, either a standard sized tin or a mini muffin tin (I prefer how the cookies made in the standard tin turned out). Drop a tablespoon of brownie batter in each muffin well and spread to cover the bottom. Take about a tablespoon of cookie dough and press it flat in your palm to about the size of the muffin tin and put that on top of the brownie batter. Bake 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have been on the library waiting list seemingly forever for the book Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce. So decided to Google it. I had wanted to read, and perhaps buy, this book from all the reviews that I've seen online so I figured there must be other bloggers out there who have (ahem) "borrowed" some recipes. Right I was. I am still going to wait for the book from the library, but I think I have already concluded from all the recipe reviews on other blogs that I want to buy it. Apparently blogging is now the highest form of flattery, with a close second from imitation.

These whole wheat chocolate chip cookies were the recipe that I came across the most, so obviously this was the recipe I had to try first. When I went to save it in my favorites I realized that I'd already saved the recipe almost a year ago. Molly of Orangette had written about these cookies and as is usually the case with her writing, I knew I had to try them. And promptly forgot about the recipe of course.

The recipe differs from a lot of other whole wheat baked goods in that it is all whole wheat flour used- usually it is half white and half wheat. All whole wheat flour makes the cookies taste almost like an oatmeal cookie. They are really good. This recipe will not replace my go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but I will make it again for sure. Whole wheat chocolate chip cookies sound so healthy and virtuous, don't they. Ha. What if I told you there was a cup each of butter and sugar? Not so healthy now, are you little cookie?

One Year Ago: Dog Biscuits and Tex-Mex Shredded Cheese

Two Years Ago: Aloha Pork Kebabs

Get the recipe HERE from Orangette

NOTE: I always spinkle a little fleur de sel on the top of each cookie before baking whenever I make chocolate chip cookies. I'm really into the salty-sweet thing. If you happen to have some fleur de sel (foodies- I'm looking at you) try it out.

Crunchy Sesame Cookies

I like to try new things, and not just in the kitchen. In fact, I am currently sitting on an exercise ball instead of a chair. There is a happy medium, however, between new things enriching your life and being ridiculous and unnecessary. Such as today's Groupon deal. Half off Brazilian Vajazzling! Can you guess what "vajazzeling" is? Yeah... Be-Dazzling is not just for your jean jacket anymore.

Back to the happy medium. These cookies fit that mold. Sesame oil in a cookie? It's so crazy that it just might work. And it does. These sesame cookies are new and exciting, but familiar as they remind me of a peanut butter cookie. Except that peanuts are not allowed in my house due to Parker being allergic.

Did I also mention that the recipe is from Cooking Light? Yep, not only are they delicious, but they are low fat. I also read recently that 1 1/2 tablespoons of sesame seeds has more calcium than a glass of milk. Amazing.

Excuse me while I get off this dang ball to get me a real chair and a cookie.

 One Year Ago: Cranberry Coffee Cake + Cranberry Recipes

Get the recipe: Crunchy Sesame Cookies from Cooking Light December 2007

Shortbread

Have you noticed I enjoy lists? I have shared my recipe organization method (lists inside lists), and I have had lots of posts with lists of recipes featuring specific ingredients. Outside of the regular lists- grocery, to do- I have a few ongoing not-so-common lists. Currently in my Blackberry I have ready for a list of my lists?):

Kareoke You never know when you might find yourself at a kareoke bar needing that perfect song. Featuring Bon Jovi, Bonnie Raitt, Shania Twain.

Gifts I hate it when I think of a good gift for somebody and then forget what it was when Christmas/birthdays roll around. Problem solved.

Books Books I wants to read. Obviously.

Downloads Songs to download. I also hate when I hear a song on the radio then forget what it was when I get home. It took me weeks to finally remember to get "How Do you Like Me Now" by The Heavy. I then declared it the song of the summer last year.

LBCO Wines and drinks I want to check out at the liquor store.

Wines I Like I swear I don't have a problem.

I have had this cookie recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini saved in my browser favourites since April last year. I saved it to try because a) she called them Squeeze Cookies b) they are made with roasted flour. I have never heard of roasting flour. Clotilde writes, "Grilled notes of chocolate and hazelnut come through in every bite, the consistency is a fine crumbliness unlike that of any sablé I know, and all that comes from a simple twenty-minute roasting step." Sold? Me too. It is quite amazing what roasting the flour does. The flour doesn't take on any colour in the oven, but the cookies come out tasting caramelized, nutty, and vanilla-y. Yet none of these things are in the cookies. 

To save time, rather than squeezing the dough into cookies (read the post on Chocolate and Zucchini to find out why you would do this), I pressed the dough into a square baking pan and made shortbread. I also love these cookies because there is only 6 tablespoons of butter in the recipe- usually shortbread calls for about a cup. Get thee to the kitchen and make these cookies today- I bet you have everything you need already, so no excuses.

Recipe: SQUEEZE COOKIES via Chocolate and Zucchini 

 

One Year Ago: Cheddar, Chorizo, Leek Bread Pudding + a week of budget meals

Two Years Ago: Easy Drop Biscuits

Gifts from the Kitchen

My team at work held a dog wash to raise money for the Humane Society last weekend (we called it Bark and Bubbles- how cute is that?). I couldn't attend to help wash the doggies, so I donated some gifts from the kitchen for the raffle we held.

I had an idea in mind that I wanted to make a couple of jar cookie mixes- you know the kind where the dry ingredients are layered in a jar and you just dump in it into a bowl and add a few other things? The logistics of this, however, were easier said than done. I wanted it to be simple, so my idea for a lemon and lavender shortbread mix went out the window as that requires rolling the dough, cutting, so on. Plus I burned the lemon zest when I was drying it out in the oven for the test recipe. Anything that required sugar to be creamed with butter, eggs, etc was out as well as I wanted it all to be in one jar, rather than having to separate the sugar from the rest of the dry ingredients.

I ended up adapting my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe to work with the jar concept. The unmodified recipe is below, but if you want to give it as a gift in a jar you would half the recipe. Layer dry ingredients in your jar and include the measurements of wet ingredients plus instructions to mix the melted butter, vanilla, 1 egg and add to the dry mix.

The other two jars are Olive Oil Hand Scrub and my Olive Oil Granola (which I made this time with dried mixed berries from President's Choice instead of cranberries).

THICK AND CHEWY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

America's Test Kitchen

Makes 18 large cookies

This recipe not only makes the best cookies ever, but I also love it as it calls for melted butter which means I don't have to plan in advance to soften butter. Cookies on demand!

• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup  plus 2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled until just warm
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Adjust oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with cooking spray.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Mix butter and sugars in a large bowl until thoroughly blended. Beat in egg, yolk, vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Roll a scant 1/4 cup of dough into a ball and place on baking sheet, keeping dough balls 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies are light golden brown, the outer edges start to harden, and the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets between upper and lower racks halfway through baking. 

Cool cookies on the baking sheets. These are best eaten warm from the oven, or microwave 15-20 seconds before eating.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

These cookies scream holidays. They taste like Christmas. Probably due to the crushed candy canes and chocolate. Make these now! My co-workers ate half a batch today (I had to keep some for myself) and a couple of people asked for the recipe, which in my books equals success.

I used a chopped up dark chocolate bar for the chocolate layer, but chocolate chips would probably work just as well and would be faster. For the crushed peppermint candy I put unwrapped mini candy canes in a freezer bag and smashed them with a rolling pin. If you can find candy canes that are unwrapped or those round peppermint candies go with those- unwrapping all the candy canes was tedious to say the least. Also, they are really crumbly when you cut them, so I saved the crumbs to jazz up some vanilla ice cream. Tell me that's not awesome.

Next time I make these (and there will be a next time), I'd like to try spreading the dough on a larger baking sheet- I have a sheet that is the size of my oven- to get a thinner cookie layer and then double the chocolate for this recipe to really stand up to it's name.

Get the recipe from Bon Appetit HERE

PS I may or may not have had one of these cookies for breakfast this morning...