The Heart-Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm always looking for healthier cookie recipes, since I make some every week for Gabriel to take in his lunches. These definitely fit the bill. As an added bonus, they're vegan.

This scrumptious recipe is from The Vegetarian Times February 2009 issue.

2 cups walnuts

3 Tbsp canola oil

1 cup brown sugar (I use sucanat)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups oat flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I use Sunspire vegan choc. chips)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or coat with cooking spray.

2. Blend walnuts in food processor 30 seconds, or until ground into a fine meal. Add canola oil, and blend 2 to 3 minutes more or until mixture has the consistency of natural peanut butter, scraping down the sides of food processor occasionally. Transfer to bowl.

3. Whisk together brown sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and bring mixture to a boil. Pour brown sugar mixture over ground walnut butter, add vanilla extract, and stir until no lumps remain.

4. Whisk together oat flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in separate bowl. Stir oat flour mixture into walnut mixture. Cool 10 minutes. Fold in oats, then chocolate chips.

5. Shape cookies into 2-inch balls, and place 2-inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake 8-10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown and tops look dry. Cool 3 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 30 cookies.

Better than delivery. Better than Digiorno.

Friday is pizza night at our house, and nothing is better than homemade - although I must confess that we ate a number of Digiorno and Freschetta pizzas while I was pregnant...

But the kind we make now is way better. The secret: 5 minute artisan bread dough.

Here is how I make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone on the middle shelf. I know that's really hot, but the pizzas turn out so much better crisp and caramelized but still light and fluffy, and they take only 10 minutes to bake!

2. Prepare your toppings:

some of our favorites

the classic

pizza sauce, mozzarella, sliced olives, and choppped onion

make it Greek

pizza sauce, mozzarella, feta cheese, chopped red onion, sliced olives, and sliced pepperoncinis

pesto perfected

prepared pesto, goat cheese sliced thinly, a sprinkle of olive oil, garlic, and roasted red bell peppers

3. Scoop out about 1 pound (about the size of a grapefruit) of the 5 minute artisan bread dough from the container. For a smaller pizza, scoop less. For a bigger pizza, scoop more.

4. On a piece of parchment paper, roll out the dough. Brush all over with olive oil and sprinkle crust with garlic salt, italian seasoning, or kosher salt. Or just leave it plain. Scatter on the toppings.

5. Transfer pizza (still on the parchment) to the hot stone. I use a large cutting board to get it from the counter and then a quick slide into the oven.

6. Bake for 8 -10 minutes, or until crust is golden, cheese is bubbly and lightly browned, and toppings are beginning to caramelize.

7. Wait a few minutes before slicing, if you can.

That's it! Start to finish, it only takes 25 minutes. Now, that's fast food.

Gabriel and Liam can hardly wait to dig in.

5-minute artisan bread

I know that making homemade bread intimidates a lot of people: all of the kneading, various rising times, etc... It all gets a little overwhelming. The looming fear is that after investing all that time, the loaf just might not turn out.

This bread recipe is for you.

I found this recipe in a recent issue of Mother Earth News, which they reprinted from a book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking (Thomas Dunn Books, 2007).

The whole concept is to produce an artisan-style loaf of bread with a minimal amount of effort - only 5 minutes of hands-on time.

There is no kneading required. It only needs to rise 40 minutes before baking, and the recipe makes enough for 4 loaves, and the dough keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge!

It seems like a miracle.

So, here is what you need:

A large glass container to keep the dough in

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1 tablespoon salt

6 1/2 cups flour

(the recipe calls for all-purpose, but I succesfully use whole wheat instead, or you could use a combo of the two...whatever your preference)

That's it!

Here's what to do with it:

1. Combine all ingredients in the container, just until combined. I use a rubber spatula. The dough is really thick, but it only needs to be stirred until combined - around 30 seconds.

2. Cover loosely (I use a plastic tupperware lid), and allow it to sit at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or until the dough rises and then sags at the top.

3. Put it in the refrigerator, still loosely covered. Technically, you could bake a loaf now, but it is a lot better if you wait until the next day.

4. Scoop out a 1 pound size portion (1/4 of the dough). Shape it into a round ball and place it on a piece of parchment paper (or a baking sheet). Allow it to rise at room temperature for 40 minutes (no need to cover the loaf).

While it is rising, preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone on the middle rack (if you don't have a baking stone, it is okay to cook the bread without one.) Place a cast iron pan on the floor of the oven (or a metal baking sheet/pan).

5. Cut 3 slash marks in the top of the dough, about 1/2 inch deep. Dust the surface with flour.

6. Transfer the loaf (still on the parchment paper) to the hot baking stone. Put a 1/2 cup of ice cubes into the cast iron pan (to create steam, which helps keep the crust soft while the loaf expands). Bake for 30 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Resist the urge to cut into the hot bread if you can. It continues to bake as it cools.

8. Keep the remaining dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

And that's all there is to it!

Of course, it still can't compare with the bread that does require more time and effort, but it is still better than anything you could get at the grocery store.

I always have a container of it in my fridge for those lazy days when we're needing more bread, and because it makes the BEST pizza dough ever.

Check back tomorrow for that recipe...

Shower Caps in the Kitchen

In trying to rid our house of unnecessary plastic and disposable items, we no longer buy plastic wrap. Most of the time, this is no big deal. I use a lot of unbleached recycled waxed paper and parchment paper, both of which I reuse until they basically disintegrate before I put them in the compost pile.

But sometimes you just need something a bit more airtight.

Shower caps are the perfect solution.

They are a bit sturdier than plastic wrap without that irritating static cling factor, making them easily hand-washable, and the elastic band helps them seal against a number of sizes and shapes.
They are my favorite for popping over a bowl of rising bread.

My husband goes on a number of business trips a year, and I always remind him to bring home the complimentary shower caps for me to use in the kitchen...

So save some disposable plastic and cover things the old fashioned way.

For more Thrifty Green Thursday ideas, check out the Green Baby Guide by clicking here.

Yeasted Carrot Sandwich Bread

Molly asked me to send her some bread recipes for her to try out with her shiny red Kitchen Aid mixer. I decided to go ahead and post them here in case anyone else is interested.

This recipe is from my ancient copy of Jane Brody's Good Food Book. (Obviously, it is older than the carbs-are-bad-craze.) I have found a number of fantastic recipes in it, including her Orange-Carrot Bread (p.571)

Orange-Carrot Bread

I prefer to leave out the orange-flavored ingredients, choosing instead for the subtle carrot flavor stand alone.

2 cups orange juice or warm water (105-115 degrees)

2 tsp sugar

1 package yeast (1 scant tbsp)

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup oil

2 tsp grated orange rind (omit)

2 tsp salt

4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups finely grated carrots (4 medium-large)

2 eggs

3 cups whole-wheat flour

1. In a small bowl, stir together orange juice/water, yeast, and sugar. Set aside while mixing the next ingredients.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the honey, oil, orange rind (if desired), salt, and 1 cup of the white flour. Add the yeast mixture, carrots, and eggs, and mix the ingredients thoroughly.

3. Switch to the dough hook and mix in the whole-wheat flour and 3 cups of the white flour. Knead on medium speed (# 4 on a Kitchen Aid - watch carefully to be sure it doesn't walk off the counter top) for 6 minutes.

4. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning the dough to coat all sides. Cover with plastic wrap, and set the dough in a warm place until it has doubled in bulk (1 to 1 1/2 hours).

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the middle position. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the rack.

6. Gently punch down the dough and divide it in half. Form each half into a loaf, and place the loaves in prepared loaf pans (either greased-well or lined with a parchment paper sling, my preference). Cover the pans loosely with plastic wrap, and place them in a warm place for another 30 -40 minutes, or until the dough reaches the top of the pans.

7. Put the loaf pans directly on the pizza stone or rack and bake for 45 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle reads 190 degrees.

Resist the urge to cut into it until it has completely cooled. The bread continues to cook when you pull it out of the oven, and cutting into it prematurely affects the texture.

But, the recipe does make 2 loaves if you just can't wait :-)

Stud Muffin

Yes, this time I am talking about Gabriel.

My amazing husband is planning to go to work extra early this week in order to put in some overtime without having to cut in to our evenings together. This means he's waking up before 5 am, and leaving for work shortly afterward. He really is a stud muffin.

To make his morning routine as quick as possible and never one to forgo breakfast, he decided that we should make a week's worth of oatmeal to have in the fridge so all he needs to do is scoop and microwave.

So last night I made all 5 morning's worth of oatmeal (he usually eats 2 servings...) in a giant stockpot:

That's 5 cups of rolled oats, 11 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 6 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 1/2 a cup of raisins.

When it was all finished and we poured it into a crock to keep in the fridge (and also a backup storage bowl because the crock was too small), we were both shocked to see just how much oatmeal he eats a week. Pretty amazing.

Homemade Hot Cocoa

When I decided to no longer buy anything that contains high fructose corn syrup [HFCS], I knew it was an easy decision. Compelling evidence points to HFCS as a major contributor to our nation's sugar addiction and subsequent weight problems, not to mention the corporate tie-ins concerning our dependence on corn for basically everything (for more on that, read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma). It's amazing where I have found HFCS lurking in the ingredient list: everything from hot dog buns to canned kidney beans.

Shopping at Ozark Natural Foods takes care of this detective work: they don't stock anything containing HFCS, or artificial coloring or preservatives for that matter. However, that ease of mind and shopping comes with a hefty price tag on certain items, especially hot chocolate mix. Making my own hot cocoa mix significantly cuts down on the cocoa bill, especially during these cold months.

Hot Cocoa Mix

I make this with either Organic Valley's nonfat dry milk powder or the soy beverage mix powder I can get in the bulk section, Equal Exchange's fair trade cocoa powder, and sucanat sugar (dehydrated cane juice).

1 cup dry milk or soy beverage mix

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup sugar

To use, just add 3-4 tablespoons per mug of hot water. Stir well and savor.

Here's another green tip: wash and reuse your mug throughout the day. It's such an obvious thing, but if I'm honest I'll admit that there have been days I've gone through 3 or 4 by evening.

Here's my favorite mug. Somehow every drink tastes better in it - I've already begun to try and mentally prepare myself for the day Liam breaks it. It will happen. I just know it.

For more Thrifty Green Thursday tips, visit the Green Baby Guide here.

Stud Muffin

No, I'm not talking about Gabriel.

It's this fabulous loaf of bread, so named because it is "studded" with bits of gorgonzola cheese and infused with pecorino romano cheese. Yes, it was delicious, and, yes, it's already gone.

The recipe came from my new cookbook, The Bread Bible (a Christmas present). It took a ridiculous amount of time to make. First, you make a sponge (soft dough), which sits on the counter overnight to develop the yeast and thus the flavor; the next morning, you make the dough by adding the remaining ingredients to the sponge, which then goes into the fridge for another 24 hours; finally, you shape it into a ball, put it in the souffle dish, and allow it to rise for 4 hours. It took another hour to bake. But, every scrumptious bite was worth all that work.

Sloppy Lentils

Last night I made sloppy lentils on homemade hamburger buns for dinner, along with a side of oven-baked sweet potato fries.

Lately, Liam has been particular about his foods. Not that he is picky about what he does and doesn't like to eat. He likes just about everything. No, the problem is that he has a particular food in mind, and when I give him something different he gets angry. Often, this turns into a guessing game of which food my 9-month old is thinking of at the moment. I know, I know, I shouldn't give into his demands. He should eat what's served. Right? Well, at the same time I want him to learn that food is good, and I don't want to turn him off to trying new things by forcing him when he is unwilling.

So, enter the lentils and sweet potato fries. He has had the fries before. The last time, he threw them on the floor and handed my second try to Dahlia, who knows where to patiently wait beside his high chair. This time, however, he gladly snatched the fry from my hand and shoved it into his mouth. I could hardly keep them coming fast enough.

Then it was time to try the lentils. I scooped some onto his little bamboo spoon (I thought about letting him try a bite of the sandwich, like Mama and Daddy, but then opted for the less messy option...). When I moved it toward his mouth, he began waving his arms excitedly and his mouth popped open. I gave him the lentils. He tested them in his mouth for a few seconds, and then chomped ferociously, demanding more, and then more and more again. He ate a good serving of it.

Apparently, Liam loves sloppy lentils. Maybe you will, too.

The original recipe is from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, but I often make it on the stove top when I forget to get it going in the morning...
I actually prefer the red lentils for this recipe, but you could also use the small French puy lentils or make it with the brown as the recipe directs.

Sloppy Lentils
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium-sized yellow (or red) onion, chopped
1 small red or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (my addition)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 1/2 cups dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
One 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes (I use Muir Glen's Fire Roasted, mmm...)
3 cups water
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp sweetener (honey, brown sugar, sucanat, agave... your choice)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1.Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper; cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and chili powder, stirring to coat. Cook 1 minute longer.

2.Transfer the onion mixture to a 3.5 - 4 quart slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Stove top variation:
1. Follow step one as above, but do so in a large saucepan, or, better yet, in a dutch oven.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, or until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.

Serve on hamburger buns for a yummy and messy meal, which we often eat with a fork in hand. Serve with sweet potato oven fries.