Peanut Butter Teff Cookies

-peeeeeeeanutbuttttttter mmmmmmmm-

who ever invented peanutbutter cookie deserve a noble peace prize. seriouslyeverything about peanutbutter cookies says: fun childhood stuff, make love not war - that kind of jargon. just the name makes me happy - how can you go wrong with a cookie made out of creamy lovely goodness, its on the same level as chocolate chocolate cookies, no? but there is something about peanutbutter cookies that is so humble and simple that makes them so perfect. they stand out, just enough, from other cookies; they aren't of the "spiced" variety or the "fill-in-the-blank chunk" variety. nope, they are simple, unassuming and just waiting to be loved. so does anyone know how or why the fork print stamps got on these treats? i suppose it has to do with cooking them evenly??? i don't think anyone really cares. so i'll move on.

so i got some teff flour in hopes that i would be successful in making injera and when that end in a stinky failure i turned the bag over and discovered a simple, and brief, recipe for teff peanutbutter cookies. i made a few changes as per, well just per me and making them heart healthy-er. the earthy-ness of the tiny teff grain paired really well with the peanutty-ness and since teff has no gluten the crumb is pretty close to perfect. whip up a batch and before you throw em in the oven add a tsp of banana jam to the center - oh my god.

PEANUTBUTTER TEFF COOKIES

1 1/2c teff flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 c coconut oil

1/2 maple syrup

1 tbs vanilla

1c peanut butter (smooth, unsalted)

*preheat oven to 350F

*combine the teff and salt

*in a seperate bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients until completely smooth

*add the teff mixture and stir to completely combine

*drop by tbs full, roll into a ball, place on cookie sheet and flatten a little (with a fork if you please)

*bake for 12-14 minutes

Chocolate Banana Chocolate Cookies

-if you like chocolate...-

alright - full disclosure here: i have not actually tasted these cookies myself. BUT the entire batch was easily eaten up, given a full thumbs-up by the taster and well, smelled absolutely amazing both before and after the oven. a friend of mine house / dog sat for me during my latest weekend trip down south for a quick visit . i promised her cookies and like always i had a leftover, extra extra - ok, totally shriveled and black - banana sitting on the counter. it was somewhere around midnight and i had an early morning flight but, ugh i promised! so um, throw in some chocolate, some more chocolate, a bit of sugar, an egg and some flour. at this point i didn't have time to let butter get to room temp so uhhh - oil? perfect! throw it in the oven, pack (yes i only "pack" for about 10 minutes: short attention spam), take out, let cool while i take a shower, put em away and head to bed happy with myself for delivering my promise (deliciously) in under 30 minutes. nice!

CHOCOLATE BANANA CHOCOLATE COOKIES

1/2c chopped bittersweet chocolate

1 1/4c AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 very ripe banana

1/4c canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/2c sugar

1 egg

1/2c chopped white chocolate

3/4c chopped walnuts (optional)

*preheat oven to 400F, line baking pan w/ parchment

*over a double boiler, melt chopped bittersweet chocolate. take off heat & allow to cool slightly

* in bowl sift together flour, baking powder, soda & salt

*in a separate bowl mash the banana to very smooth. whisk in the oil, vanilla, sugar and egg

*add the flour mixture to the banana mixture, mix just to combine

*stir in the melted chocolate

*fold in the white chocolate and nuts if using

*bake for 12 minutes (makes about 12-14 cookies)

GF_Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

where do you draw the line when on what can and can't be a chocolate chip cookie? there are some recipes out there that have dried fruit, mashed fruit, dried fruit purees, chopped nuts, nut butters, ground nuts, various extracts and spices that all label themselves as "chocolate chip cookies" with an addition of "with xyz" - for example: "chocolate chip cookies with walnuts, banana, oatmeal and raisins".

don't get me wrong; i love cookies made V8 style - everything crammed into one serving. as a matter of fact i love to sneak a good prune into my chocolate cookies. but alas sometimes you have to just make "plain" old chocolate chip cookies. no walnuts, no fruit, no espresso powder - just sugar, flour and chocolate. but you know me and you know i can't just leave it at that. although these are "just" chocolate chip cookies - they are special: vegan and gluten free. so anyone and everyone can indulge themselves and that they will; indulge!

1/2c coconut oil - melted

1/4c unsweetened apple sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs vanilla extract

1/2c packed light brown sugar

2 tbs flax meal

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

1c gluten free flour (bob's red mill)

1/2c chocolate chips

*preheat oven to 325F

*mix together oil, applesauce, salt, vanilla and sugar

*in separate bowl sift together flax, soda, xanthan and flour

*stir dry ingredients into wet

*fold in chocolate

*drop by tbs full onto lined baking sheet

*flatten a bit and cook 13 -15 minutes

Snappy Gingersnaps

i find there are two breed of people when it comes to gingersnaps - chewy snap or snappy snap. the ladder of which i belong to. as a matter of fact i like everything snappy, i like to think i am a rather snappy person. SNAPPY.

ok- sorry about that. back to what i was saying: there seems to be two kinds of gingersnaps. in england they are called "ginger nuts" and in Scandinavia they are lovingly named "brunkage" - or "brown biscuit" to us english speaking savages.

is it just me or does "brunkage" lend itself more towards the snappy group than the chewy group? i'm so european.

this cookie dough is great because you can roll it into a log, freeze it and as you feel the urge for something snappy and delish just slice off a few rounds and bake. what more can you ask for?

SNAPPY GINGERSNAPS

8 oz butter, softened

1c sugar

1c molasses

1 tsp baking soda (generous)

2vtbs hot water

3 1/2c AP flour

1 1/4 tsp ginger

1 tbs cinnamon

pinch salt

*cream butter, sugar and molasses until smooth

*mix soda w/ hot water and then beat into butter mix

*in separate bowl sift together flour, spice and salt

*stir in flour mix into butter mix

*shape into (2) 2"-3" dia. logs, wrap in plastic and chill a few hours or overnight (or freeze as mentioned above)

*preheat oven to 350F, place parchment on your baking sheet

*slice into 1/8" - 1/4" disks, bake 10 minutes until edges are golden -- do not burn them (although i will still eat them).

Chocolate Balsamic Prune Cookies

evidently i'm becoming increasingly negative. or so my love says. i like to think of myself as humorously wry - i find stupid things funny and just so happen to think there are a lot of stupid things out in the world. hmmm ok well i suppose i should try and get myself to be more positive to counter-act this negative force.

here's something friggin possitive: these fudgy dense, yet fat-free, cookies. there are a few "secret ingredients" that i like to throw in when baking w/ chocolate that just seems to make life more positive (that's 1). those secrets include, but not limited to: coffee, cinnamon, prunes and balsamic vinegar. really they are positively (2) wonderful when paired with the dark silky goodness of chocolate. they are all ingredients that you would never really know are there but know you miss when they aren't - they are like a positive (3) outlook, or a silver lining of sorts.

so i included 2 of these above mentioned secret positives (4) in these healthy little treats. the result is a positively (5) chewy, rich and finely textured cookie that's super high in fiber and low in calories. don't worry you won't even know there is vinegar in these - yes i am positive (6) about that, trust me - think red wine and chocolate truffles.

i used sugar-in-the-raw so that that there is a little bit of a sugary crunch, i find this to be a positive (7) attribute; if you're not positive (8) you would agree just use regular brown sugar instead.

CHOCOLATE BALSAMIC PRUNE COOKIES

1/4c AP flour

1/2c whole wheat flour

1/4c buckwheat flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1/2c + 1tbs cocoa powder

2/3c sugar in the raw / brown sugar - unpacked

1/2c prune puree *see note below*

1/3c yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

*preheat oven to 350F, line baking pan w/ parchment

*sift together fours, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder

*in separate bowl whisk together sugar, prune puree, yogurt, vanilla and vinegar

*stir in the flour mixture to the prune mixture

*place tbs fulls on prepared pan, smashing down with your fingers

*bake 10-12 minutes

**Prune Puree: soak 1c dried prune in near boiling water for 1-2 hours. Drain the prunes and puree in food processor until uniform and as smooth as you cab get it

Chocolate Mocha Shortbread

i can say that before i whipped these together last night - pre-house guest arrival, post dinner - that i didn't really knew what shortbread was. yeah weird for a "baker" but it just wasn't something that i found even sounded appetizing. short-bread? hmmm not nearly as appealing as say - gingersnap. (mmm gingersnap - yum).

so back to the shortbread i made: i found this recipe in my "cookies" cookbook by martha stewart. to be totally honest the main reason i picked this one was because we have no eggs in the frig. and well - this is chocolate (always gets points) and very simple (check plus plus). i have to say that i really like this treat. josh and i decided to rename it dehydrated brownies cus that's really what it seems like your eating. don't take that name the wrong way - they are totally delicious, just reminds you of a brownie in smell and basic taste, but the texture is obviously lacking the gooey fudgeness of a real brownie. these would be perfect for a christmas gift.

CHOCOLATE MOCHA SHORTBREAD (aka: dehydrated brownies)

1/2c + 2tbs flour

1/4c dutch processed cocoa powder

pinch salt

2 tsp instant coffee granules

4oz butter at room temp

1/2c powdered sugar

*preheat oven to 350F, grease a 8" round cake pan

*sift together flour, cocoa, salt and coffee

*in separate bowl cream butter to light and fluffy

*beat in the powdered sugar

*beat in the cocoa mixture to fully combined

*evenly spread the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes

*cook in pan 5 minutes then cut into 8 wedges, cook on wire rack

*when fully cooled sprinkle with powdered sugar

Pumpkin White Chocolate & Pecans Cookies

so come sunday josh and i were reminiscing about how fabulous our thanksgiving dinner was last year - and how we can't wait to be at the end of November (and over with this NYC moving/working hell). and what says thanksgiving more than the disgustedly delicious low country sweet potato casserole!? yeah you know what i'm talking about - with the mini marshmallows and pecans on top. oh my!

so being the visually obsessive person i am; i went ahead and used pantry "leftovers" and concocted this cookie that looks like the infamous dish. i have to say it may not be a casserole, but it definitely screams autumn. the cookie itself is like a mix between a muffin and a cookie - maybe muffin top-ish? well anyways they are delish (josh ate 5 yesterday) and dare i say actually healthier for you than the marshmallow coated, buttered casserole it was modeled after. enjoy your autumn days!

PUMPKIN WHITE CHOCOLATE & PECAN COOKIES

1 1/2c + 2 tbs AP flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp clove

1/4 tsp salt

3oz butter, softened

1/2c sugar

1/2c brown sugar, lightly packed

2/3c pumpkin puree

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2c chopped white chocolate

1/2c toasted chopped pecans

*preheat oven to 350F

*sift together the flour, baking powder, soda, spices and salt

*in separate bowl cream together butter and sugar to light and fluffy

*beat in egg and vanilla to combine

*beat in pumpkin to combine

*add flour mix, beat to just combine

*fold in chocolate and pecans

*drop by heaping tbs full onto sheet, flatten a bit

*cook for 10-12 minutes

Chocolate Banana Nut Cookies

like usual we can never finish off the last banana in the bunch so it just sits on the counter, taking up space, growing more and more spotted and unappetizing in appearance. perfect - make cookies. these are fun - next time i will switch out the butter with coconut oil and put in additional chocolate chips just to amp them up a bit. but they are a simple little snack as they are.

CHOCOLATE BANANA NUT COOKIES

1/2c semi-sweet chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled for 10 minutes

1/2 sugar

1/4c butter

1 medium banana, mashed

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1c + 2 tbs flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4c chopped walnuts or pecans

*preheat oven to 375F

*cream together the butter and sugar to light and fluffy

*beat in egg, then vanilla and melted chocolate

*in separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients

*stir in the dry ingredients into the egg mixture

*fold in the nuts

*drop heaping tsp of batter onto cookie sheet

*cook 8-10 minutes

Cigarettes Russes

there isn't too much that i can say about these. all i think of when i see these cookies are trips to sam's club. oh yes. sam's club is a wholesale store in the south - owned by wal-mart, yada yada. basically its a place you can buy a pack of 144 super sized snicker bars or if you felt adventurous a "gold" and "diamond" tennis bracelet. right. anyways my family loves sam's club. we're in the club.

why the heck would cigarette russes remind me of a wholesale store? well its the best place to stock up on your much needed 5lb canister of these guys. what's strange is that even though you are literally getting these treats out of a humongous can printed with an oh so sexy picture of the cookies flying around in the garden of eden and sparkles you feel like that there is something european about them. and european means delicious. right? you know you agree. sam's club wholesale european delish cookies. yum.

Cigarettes Russes

(via Martha Stewart)

2c powdered sugar

1 1/4 c flour

pinch salt

5.25 oz butter, melted

6 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1 tbs heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

*sift together the sugar, flour & salt

*add butter, egg whites, heavy cream and vanilla

*stir to combine, cover and chill for 2 hours

*preheat oven to 425F, put silicone mat down on cookie sheet

*spoon out (4) 1tbs full scoops of the batter onto the prepared sheet

*with a knife spread the batter out to 6 x 3 1/2" paper thin ovals

*cook 6 minutes until the edges begin to brown

*lift the cookies off one at a time with a spatula and roll around a chopstick, repeat with remaining cookies / batter

GLAZE

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 tsp vegetable oil

*melt chocolate over double broiler

*take off heat and stir in oil

*dip the rolled cookies in the chocolate

Strawberry and White Chocolate Ganache French Macarons

strawberries are everywhere in NYC these days - or at least the places i go. namely fruit carts, grocery and wine stores, oh and the occasional clothing boutique. oh what the life. hm. anyways as you know weekends are when i shake all of the baking off my brain. so last weekend i ended up with an extra egg white just sitting in the frig. and it sat there all week. aging and aging as the days went by. so i knew i had to turn that ripe old egg white in to macarons.

it rained all day long on yesterday. it was london over here: no sun, chilly, all drizzle and fog. so being idiotic and stubborn i got my mind set on making them yesterday. i was going to do it damnit! yeah, i think i have warned you about this before but just don't even think about making these when the humidity is anything above 60% definitely not 100% like i chose to do. its a waste of your time. to my defense; it was late and i didn't notice that i had started raining again. non-the-less it didn't happen.

as mention above i may sometimes be a bit stubborn. in other words i now have to produce macarons this weekend in order to correct this wrong i have done. so i woke up, monitored the humidity and went to work.

back to strawberries. they are everywhere so they are on my mind, but i just finished my two boxes for the week and i definitely didn't feel like forking over any more $$$. i remembered that i had some dried shriveled strawberries in the cupboard (i had a thing about them over a year ago). enter the coffee grinder! grind them into a powder and there you go - a way to infuse flavor into this supersensitive batter. then i remembered i have a block of white chocolate that i should try and use. i say try because i hate hate hate white chocolate, but i does go with strawberries and everyone else i know adores it. so we get white chocolate ganache. i have to say i tasted one and it was pretty darned good, white chocolate and all.

STRAWBERRY & WHITE CHOCOLATE GANCHE MACARONS

STRAWBERRY MACARONS

1/2c almond flour

1c powdered sugar

1 tbs strawberry powder

2 egg whites (at room temp)

1/4 tbs sugar

*preheat oven to 375F, line pan w/ parchment

*sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar and strawberry powder

*in a separate bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks form

*add in sugar and beat until stiff and shiny

*gentle fold in the egg white with the powdered sugar mixture

*pipe into 1 1/2" rounds onto prepared pan and cook for 15 minutes

*let cool before removing from pan

WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE

3 1/2 oz white chocolate, finely chopped

1/4c whipping cream

1/2 oz butter, cubed

*heat the cream in a sauce pan until bubbles form

*take off heat and add the chocolate, let sit for a minute then stir to smooth

*add the butter and stir to combine

*let cool to thicken before using

Orange Curd French Macarons

its finally warming up in frigid nyc. ahhhhh it was so nice today! so nice. i can finally release my shoulders from the confines of those darned out of fashion sweaters and jackets i sport all winter and get back into my native tank-top, flip-flops and cute dress. my neck will see sunlight again. my toes with get some fresh air and wiggle when they want to. i can grad object with my hands, not scratchy wool gloves. yes i love the heat - bring on the heat!

this little heat wave we are having makes people crazy with activity and drives that unyielding urge to show skin (see picture below). in lieu of all of this i am going fruity with my macarons. dark chocolate is just a wee heavy for 86 degree weather, no?. but so is red wine and believe me i don't let the heat stop me from polishing off a bottle with dinner. who me? well, to be completely truthful there is also the fact that there were two oranges sitting in my frig waiting to be put out of their misery. i recently discovered that my daily orange indulgence is beginning to reek havoc on my sensitive

mouth. so no more afternoon orange at my desk for this working gal. they will have to be put to use as delicious pastry items. and so these treats were born. fear not; i also made the old stand-by chocolate on chocolate macarons that have been tested and proven a high success.

its just that they are old news to me so i'm opting to write about the much more interesting orange concoction. right.

so we'll see how these fair tomorrow night when josh the great taste tester makes his trek back home for a quick

two day stay. i think they rock, but i also think cold seaweed salads rock.

**warning: if it is humid outside - do not try to do this - you will not be successful. its just a meringue thing, trust me **

FRENCH MACARON

1c powdered sugar

1/2c almond powder / meal

2 large egg whites (aged at room temp for as long as you can, up to 24hr)

5 tbs sugar

*preheat oven to 375F, line pan with parchment

*combine the powdered sugar and almond powder in a food processor. pulsing get get a consistent texture throughout

*in a separate bowl beat the whites until they begin to hold soft peaks.

*add in the 5tbs of sugar and continue to beat until you have stiff, shiny peaks

*fold in the powdered sugar and almonds

*pipe out into 1 1/2" rounds onto prepared pan, let the batter sit for 15 minutes the put in oven and cook for 15-18 minutes.

ORANGE "CURD" FILLING

juice of 1 1/2 navel oranges

zest of 1/2 of one orange

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1.5 oz butter

1 1/8oz sugar

1/4 oz cornstarch

*in a saucepan combine the juice, zest, butter & half of the sugar. bring to a boil

* whisk together the egg, yolk, remaining sugar and cornstarch

*continue to whisk and slowly pour in the boiling juice (you are tempering the eggs so be careful)

*pour the entire mixture back into the pan and bring to a simmer for a few minutes whisking continuously to thick and smooth.

*cover and chill for a few hours

Snickerdoodles

when i was about 10 years old i "invented" a cookie that had cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top. they were my brother's favorite. but his preferred action to take when i was baking them was to hover around the kitchen when i was baking and right as i took a sheet of hot cookies out of the oven and placed them on the counter he would lean over - just as close as if he was going to inhale a nice big cloud of the delicious smell- and let out a supernatural, teenage male burp. he would burp all over my hot cookies. would you like to eat those cookies? yeah i'm still not sure where he came up with that little number, but it was executed in perfect elder brother style.

so anyways, he liked these cinnamon cookies i would make; and being a teenage boy he would eat somewhere around a dozen in one sitting (along with the infamous 32 oz "big gulp" of milk) while watching a new episode of the simpsons or beavis and butt-head. unfortunately a few years later i figured out that i was most definitely not the inventor of cookies with cinnamon and sugar. yes it is true- i did not invent snickerdoodles.

i am personally not a huge fan of these cookies, but i seem to be the only one. these are the first thing i ever baked for josh, and like my big bro he ate a ton of them. they are always welcome when i bring myself to make them. so here's to it!

SNICKERDOODLES

8oz butter

1 1/2c sugar

2 eggs

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 3/4c flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbs sugar

1 tbs cinnamon

*cream the butter and sugar together to smooth and fluffy

* add in egg one at a time beating well between each

* sift together the flour, baking powder and salt

* add to the flour mixture to the butter mixture, combine

* cover in plastic and chill for 2 hours

* preheat oven to 350F

*combine the cinnamon and sugar in a plate

* roll chilled dough into 1" balls and then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture

* place on your prepared cookie sheet and cook for 10-13 minutes

Linzer Poker Cookies

a good friend of mine, alexis, loves linzer cookies. really, he is the only person i know who actually gets excited about these little guys. usually offered as a complementary mini desert at fancy lunch cafes, these cookies don't get enough face time - other than at christmas and with old ladies. but alexis has shown me the way, not consciously, but nonetheless his excitement put them back on my radar. i love it; a grown man who is very, very choosey about just about everything - but especially food - reenacts the same scene every time they are presented. "ooh! i love these!" then he would proceed to finger dive toward the cookies, bring back one between his pointer finger and thumb. bite by bite the cookie would evaporate and never left a distance greater than 6" from his face. mind you, alexis is much to classy to let the conversation go astray during this whole process, so my observations were always done under the radar. but i noticed it and was always taken back by it. i mean, wouldn't you rather a dark chocolate truffle or something?

but i get it now! i realize where my misunderstanding was: i was shortchanging this cookie by assuming it was just a pair of sugar cookies housing some sticky-sweet jam. yeah, no. linzer cookies are more a pastry dough than a cookie dough. it's divinely simple; no chemicals, no eggs and no added flavorings. just the basics and some technique - well, and some jam. cinnamon is the secret weapon here; it brings just enough complexity to keep you interested. the cookies themselves are slightly flakey and melt once in your mouth - similar to a tart shell - while the jam gives that quick punch of bright fruit flavor everyone loves.

it's coming back around for poker night tomorrow, so i decided to get festive this time around - hence the funny cut outs.

LINZER COOKIES

5oz butter, soft

1/3c sugar

1 1/4c flour

1/4c almond flour

pinch salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

*cream butter and sugar together

*in a separate bowl sift together the flours, salt and cinnamon

*gradually mix in the dry ingredients into the creamed butter

*separate the dough in two

*sandwich each piece between two sheets of wax paper and roll out to 1/8" thick

*lay flat and chill for at least an hour or until very firm

*preheat oven to 350 F

*cut 1 1/2" rounds with a biscuit cutter, cut out the centers of half

*bake for 10-15 minutes

*let cool completely before sprinkling the cut out cookies with powdered sugar then spreading your jam of choice - i used strawberry - onto one side of solid round.

* you know what to do next!

Ginger Snaps

if you look up ginger in the thesaurus you are given the synonym "sparkle". oh sparkle! of-course who wouldn't put the two together?

synesthesia is a condition in humans where our senses are literally crossed. so you can hear colors or smell words. strange yes, but it is believed that when we are born our senses are all crossed. over time we learn to separate and classify our experiences into the 5 basics we learn. psychedelic, yes but that alone proves to me that this crossing is possible in all of us and that we all subconsciously understand this mishmash of senses.

eat a slice of ginger, fresh or crystalized, and tell me what you feel. i bet its sparkly. who doesn't want to be sparkly? i do.

think about fireworks, just about as sparkly as you can get. the burst of twinkly perfectly engineered symmetrical balls of colored flame shoot through the sky. all your attention is focused on what is unfolding before you and you ease into it just in time to see the glittery leftovers fall.

yeah, ginger is sparkly - not sparkle, that's completely different. since i can't leave anything well enough alone, i dipped these guys in a pool of turbinado before putting them in the oven to give it some extra jazz, aka make them sparkly! i like my snaps extra snappy so i cook then a tad long and cut a bit thin.

GINGER SNAPS

2c flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground clove

5.5 oz unsalted butter, soft

2/3c sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4c cain syrup (i only use STEEN'S)

1 egg

* combine all dry ingredient, whisk to make sure evenly mixed

* in separate bowl cream the butter to light and fluffy

* add sugar to the butter, beat until smooth and creamy

* beat in egg, cain syrup and vanilla

* gradually mix in the flour mixture. mix to combine.

*roll into a log and chill for 2 hours.

* preheat oven to 350 F

* cut the chilled, stiff log of dough into 1/8" to 1/4" thick rounds.

* smash one face of the round into a plate filled with turbinado, put cookie sugar side down on a lined baking sheet.

* cook for 10-13 minutes, depending on your required snappyness level.

ROSE SCENTED & CHOCOLATE CARAMEL MACARONS

i spend a year of college at the virginia tech satellite architecture school in D.C.. which is where i met my friend wayne. he was unfortunate enough to share a tiny little room with me, a phish following guy (you see where i'm pointing to) and four large drafting tables. unfortunate because, well i tend to be a little "crafty" sometimes. by crafty i mean i come up with a half baked idea to create something, proceed to do zero research on how to make it happen, use my limited knowledge on material and just get to work - and usually when things go haywire i seem to think that if you just let it sit for a few hours by itself, when you come back it will be exactly how i planned it to be. hm. yeah that doesn't work - ever, unless its a relationship - then it works.

poor wayne constantly had precious desk space taken up by collaged chipboard models that were held together by much to delicate threads, or soaked in paint thinner, or covered in loose graphite - you name it i've tried it. he would come in at 3am to find me kneeling on my drafting table hovering over my drawings trying to figure out what line i just drew, messed up or needed to erase. not to mention i ate sardines for dinner almost every night at that time (it was college!) so inedibly i would come back to our little one room sweat shop smelling like dead fish. he was too well behaved to ever said anything, but i know he smelled me and my rotten sea.

his favorite recollection is when i emptied a gallon of elmer's glue that i found laying around the building (don't ask, its architecture) onto about 50 plastic coke rings ( yet another story) then laid a large sheet of cracked plexi on top of that. lets just pause for a moment and think about that - a gallon of elemer's glue on a drafting table - ok. so, like usual i left the premises and went to have a few drinks and maybe some dinner.

enter wayne after his lovely dinner, ready to get back to work on his thesis. the glue as you would image has spilled over the edges of the table onto the carpeted floor of our room. the plexi has slide off to some other location and the plastic coke rings, i don't know what they were doing but there were 50 of them. yeah, mind you my desk is in the doorway of this tiny room. one has to deal with whatever situation is happening on my desk to get to your own, there is no way around it.

enter the cleaning lady (who disliked me for obvious reasons). needles to say, wayne got the brunt of some serious spanish cursings. so being the good friend he is, he calls me, leaves a remarkably calm message - and what was my reply? i believe my exact words were "don't touch it, ill take care of it when i get back - it should be fine in a few hours" ha!! not fine, but he gave it an ok and somehow got to work next to the elemer's eruption.

i threw the whole thing in the trash when i finally did get back. surely the cleaning lady enjoyed emptying that bag.

so wayne's 30th birthday party is tonight and i figured i own him. so i made these macarons to bring to the party. i am a bit unhappy about the rose scented filling - it was way too thin. but i hate white chocolate - laothe it - so it doesn't surprise me that this little rondevou didn't work out exactly as i want it to. but otherwise these guys are delish.

ROSE SCENTED MACARONS

1c powdered sugar

1/2c almond flour

2 egg white - at room temp, aged a day or to in the frig

5 tbs sugar

* preheat oven to 375 F

* in a food processor pulse the powdered sugar and the almond flour a few times to make sure the texture is consistent

* with an electric mixer beat the egg white until they begin to hold shape.

* add the 5tbs sugar and continue to beat until shiny and stiff

* gently but thoroughly fold in the sugar/almond flour mixture

* put into your piper of choice and pipe out a 1" round only a parchment lined baking sheet.

* let the batter rest for about 30 minutes, then place in the oven.

* cook for 15-18 minutes.

ROSE SCENTED FILLING

4oz white chocolate, chopped

1/4c heavy cream

2 tsp rose syrup

1/2 tsp rose water

*heat the cream on stove until it begins to boil

* take off heat and add chocolate, let sit for a minute then stir to combine

* add the rose syrup and water, stiring to combine.

* keep in frig to set and use to fill the cookies

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL MACARONS

1c powdered sugar

1/2c almond flour

3 tbs dutch cocoa powder

2 egg whites, aged for a day or two in the frig

5 tbs sugar

*the process is the same as above but when you pulse the sugar and almond flour add in the cocoa

CARAMEL FILLING

2 tbs corn syrup

1 1/2c sugar

1/4c water

1/2c heavy cream

3 tbs unsalted butter

1/2 tsp ground sea salt

* add corn syrup, sugar and water to saucepan. stir to combine and turn the heat to medium-high.

*let the sugar mixture bowl - do not stir - until it reached a nice amber color. occasionally swirl the pot to make sure the coloring is even.

* meanwhile heat the cream and salt to almost boiling.

*once the sugar has reached the color you desire - take off heat and carefully pour in the cream.

* whisk to combine over low heat to make sure it is an even consistency.

* take off heat and whisk in the butter.

*set aside to cool completely before using as your filling.

Oatmeal Crème Pies

oatmeal creme pies, i found out thru an impromptu pole at work (don't worry it was first thing in the morning and then we all diligently got back to our work and didn't speak recreationally for the remainder of the day) that these little guys seem to be a "southern thang". can this be true? then what about moon pies? sno balls? fudge rounds? oh my! i mean what would childhood be without reaching your little hand down into that flimsy, disproportionately rectangular box and pulling out a cellophane wrapped "pie cookies"? people really!

ok enough. so being the ridiculous person that i am i set out a while back to make homemade crème pies, mostly because i just can not bare to buy snacks in a box - i won't name any names here, but we all know. and honestly, as a woman who's father is diabetic i think it is considered a sin. so i pretend that by making them at home i can somehow make them "healthier". right. so i put an accent mark on the E and suddenly its also french and fancy.

OATMEAL CRÈME PIES

1c unsalted butter, softened

3/4c packed brown sugar

1/2c sugar

1 tbs molasses

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/2c all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2c quick cooking oats

1 recipe crème filling (see below)

* preheat oven to 350 F and line cookie sheet with parchment paper

* cream together the butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy

* beat in molasses, vanilla and eggs

* in a separate bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon

* add the flour mixture to the butter mixture beat just to combine

* fold in the oats

* drop the batter by heaping tablespoonfuls on the prepared cookie sheet

* cook for 12 minutes to golden

CRÈME FILLING

2 tsp hot water

1/4 tsp salt

7 oz marshmallow fluff

1/2c shortening, softened

1/3c powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

* dissolve the salt in the hot water, set aside to cool

* cream together the fluff, shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla -- it will seem unmanageable at first, just hang in there it will come together

* add the cooled sated water and beat to combine

* spread the filling on one side of a cookie and mash another one on top.

Carob Chip and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

according to josh, and every other man i've ever met: under no circumstances should raisins be included in any desert of any kind. ok

since my wonderfully pregnant neighbor moved out a few months ago josh is my main consumer. so here we are with oatmeal cookies that plea for a nice plump dark fruity dose of raisins - what do i do? i pulled out my ridiculous list of specialty health food items and the perfect answer was carob chips. they are perfect! if you aren't familiar with carob:

the carob tree sits within the legume family and creates pods that hold about 5 little beans. Those beans are what we nosh on (after some processing of-course) and they taste oddly like chocolate, but with a fruity undertone - like the offspring of chocolate and raisin. so people who are allergic to chocolate or vegan or attracted to novelty food items like me dig on this tasty little bean. evidently ancient egyptians loved it too.

add in a healthy dose of walnuts and you can tell yourself these are "a health indulgence" and eat them for breakfast.

CAROB CHIP & WALNUT OATMEAL COOKIES

3/4c + 2 tbs all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (it has to be fresh - has. to. be.)

4 oz unsalted butter, softened

2 tbs sugar (optional)

3/4c packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2c carob chips

1 3/4c rolled oats (old fashioned)

1/2 c chopped walnuts

*preheat oven to 350 F

*shift together all the dry ingredients, then whisk to combine

*in a separate bowl cream the butter to a light color

*add sugar(s) and cream to light and fluffy

*beat in egg then vanilla

*gradually add in the flour mixture

*fold in the carob chips, walnuts and oats - make sure all is well combined, but do not over work the dough

* taking a heaping tablespoon full, roll into a ball and place on prepared cookie sheet

* lightly smash down the balls to about 1/2" thick

*bake 12-14 minutes to lightly browned