Chocolate Walnut Fudge Bars (Vegan)

These are chewy, yummy, and mildly sweet.

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1/2 C. quick or rolled oats

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 C. pure maple syrup (1/2 C. if not using coconut sugar)

2 Tbsp. coconut sugar (OR omit and use all maple syrup)

1/4 C. applesauce (or 1/4 C. coconut oil if not oil-free)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 C. chocolate chips (use dairy-free for vegan—we like Lily's brand)

1.2 C. chopped walnuts

Optional: extra chocolate chips and walnuts for topping.

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8x8 square baking pan with parchment paper. (Crumple parchment paper before lining to make it easier.)

2) Combine all ingredients except chocolate chips and walnuts in food processor and blend until smooth. (Don't be afraid to blend well!)

3) Add chocolate chips and walnuts to the mixture and stir well.

4) Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and top with optional additional chocolate chips and chopped walnuts, if desired.

5) Bake for 16-18 minutes, then cool at least 10 minutes before cutting.

This recipe is modified slightly from the original at Chocolate Covered Katie.

Elanore's Classic Cherry Pie

This pie is absolutely delicious, and has even converted the cherry pie skeptics in my family!

I always make it using this Classic Pie Crust recipe (double-crust, of course).

Ingredients:

6 cups pitted cherries (I always use jars of pitted sour cherries in syrup, drained)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup sugar
5 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. cold butter, diced (to dot on top)
Double Pie Crust (see link above for my favorite)

Directions:

*Keep pie crust dough balls refrigerated while making filling to make rolling out easier*

1. Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon.

2. Drain cherries and mix with the lemon juice in large bowl.

3. Sprinkle sugar/cornstarch mixture over cherries and stir until everything is juicy.

4. Roll out your bottom crust and transfer to a deep dish pie pan. Pour the juicy cherry filling mixture into the crust.

5. Dot the filling with little cubes of cold butter; don't mix them in!

6. Cut top crust however you'd like and place on top of filling. (I have done lattice and full top crust, and both worked. I like lattice best, and it's not as hard as it seems!) Seal and crimp edges.

7. Spread softened butter all over top crust, and sprinkle with a generous amount of sugar.

8. Now, while your oven preheats, put the whole, unbaked pie in the freezer for 5-7 minutes! This helps the edges not to burn in the oven.

9. Bake in the lower third of the oven at 425 degrees F for 25 minutes. Then, reduce oven temp. to 350 degrees F, and bake for an additional 30-35 mins. You're looking for a perfectly golden crust and bubbling filling.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream!!! :)

Chai Christmas Cookies

These cookies are adapted from a Taylor Swift recipe we found online. Yummy!

1/2 C. (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1/2 C. oil (we used light olive oil)
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 C. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Chai tea bag

1) Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or grease generously.

2) Beat the butter in a stand mixer on medium speed for about a minute. Add the oil. (It will not fully incorporate into the butter, but that's okay.)

3) Add the sugars, egg, and vanilla, beating on medium speed until each ingredient is completely incorporated.

4) Cut open one Chai tea bag and incorporate contents into batter.

5) Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt all at once, using a wooden spoon or the mixer set on low.

6) Refrigerate the dough for 1 hour (or freeze for 15 minutes) so it's easier to handle.

7) For large cookies, dollop 1 Tbsp. of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet about an inch apart. (For smaller cookies, use a teaspoon.) Press the cookies evenly into a circular shape with your palm or fingers. Bear in mind that the cookies will end up larger than they start out, once they're baked.

8) You may top the cookies at this time with a generous sprinkle of granulated sugar, or frost them after baking with Cinnamon Eggnog Icing (see below).

9) Bake for 12-14 minutes for larger cookies, 8-10 minutes for smaller ones.

10) Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring to racks to cool completely. The cookies will keep for up to 3 days if stored in an airtight container.

Optional Cinnamon Eggnog Icing
1 C. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. group nutmeg
3 Tbsp. eggnog or milk

NOTE: This icing will drip off of the sides of the cookies, so it is best to frost them when they're already on the serving/storage plate instead of on the cooling racks.

Elanore's Black Bean Brownies (Can Be Vegan)

Here are two different gluten-free options for brownies. The first is flourless, while the second uses an all-purpose, gluten-free flour blend. They're different, and both are yummy.

Elanore's Black-Bean Brownies

1 15-oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 eggs (or use flax eggs for vegan)
3 Tbsp. oil (can use applesauce instead)
4 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 C. granulated sugar (I use coconut sugar)
nuts, to taste (opt., but this helps—texturally—if you like them)
chocolate chips, to taste (get DF for vegan)

Combine ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

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Elanore's Gluten-Free Brownies

Makes 16 large or 25 smaller brownies

1  stick butter OR 8 tablespoons coconut oil for vegan

1 1/4 C. sugar

3/4 C. plus 2 Tbsp. cocoa

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2  eggs, cold

1/2 C. GF baking flour (almond flour or brown rice flour work well)

2/3 C. chopped nuts (walnut or pecan)

1)   Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F.

2)   Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides.

3)   Combine the butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt in a double boiler pot or a medium heatproof bowl and set the bowl in a wide skillet of barely simmering water. Stir from time to time until the butter is melted and the mixture is smooth and hot enough that you want to remove your finger fairly quickly after dipping it in to test. Remove the bowl from the skillet and set aside briefly until the mixture is only warm, not hot.

4)   Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one.

5)   When the batter looks thick, shiny, and well-blended, add the flour and stir until you cannot see it any longer, then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with the wooden spoon or a rubber spatula.

6)   Stir in the nuts (if using). Spread evenly in the lined pan.

7)   Bake until a toothpick plunged into the center emerges slightly moist with batter, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack.

8)   Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 16 or 25 squares.      

Grandma Peterson's Saltine Cracker Toffee

Elanore has become a big fan of—and an expert at making—this recipe from our friend Laurie Jones.

1 sleeve saltine crackers (or enough to line your pan)
1 C. butter
1 C. brown sugar
2 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 C. chopped pecans

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.

3) Line saltine crackers in a single layer on the foil-covered cookie sheet.

4) In a small saucepan, combine sugar and butter and bring to a boil.

5) Once mixture is at a boil, continue boiling for 3 minutes. (It should be a deep caramel color.)

6) Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely.

7) Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. (It will get all bubbly.)

8) Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top. Let sit a couple of minutes to melt.

9) Spread melted chocolate into an even layer, then top with chopped nuts.

10) Cool completely (we put it in the freezer) and break into pieces to serve.

Brioche

This is the recipe for brioche loaves that we use to make yummy Chocolate Star Bread. We modified the original brioche recipe, which appeared on the Martha Stewart website, as it was unnecessarily complicated, in our opinion. Here is what we do, which works just great:

1 scant Tbsp. yeast
1/3 C. warm milk
4 C. all-purpose flour
1 T. salt
1/4 C. confectionery sugar
6 eggs (reserve 1 yolk for brioche loaves, or 1 egg white for Chocolate Star Bread)
3 sticks butter, softened (I used 2 sticks and added some extra milk to make the dough smooth.)

1) Proof yeast in warm milk in bowl of KitchenAid mixer. (Dissolve yeast and add a pinch of sugar, making sure yeast is activated by looking for the tell-tale foamy bubbles. These will be slight.)

2) With the dough hook fitted on the KitchenAid and the speed set on low, alternately add some of the combined dry ingredients and some of the softened butter to the yeast/milk liquid mixture, blending well with each addition.

3) Once all ingredients have been incorporated, increase the speed to medium-low and continue mixing until it is smooth, shiny, and elastic, and it comes away from the sides of the bowl clean. This will take a few minutes. (Fluctuations in the atmosphere of your room and in your measuring methods can make a difference in how wet or dry your dough turns out on a given day. Watch carefully to see if you need to add either a little extra flour or a little extra liquid to make the dough smooth—you don't want it too sticky and wet, but you don't want it too dry and stiff, either.)

4) Butter a large metal bowl and transfer your dough into it. Cover dough lightly with buttered plastic wrap and wait until dough is doubled in size (about two hours).

5) If you have the time, repeat this process one or two more times by lifting the dough and dropping it back into the bowl to deflate it, then letting it rise again. (We did not do this.)

6) Cover the dough one last time and put it in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.

7) The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and return it to room temperature. It will be stiff and cold, and this will take a while. Leave it covered with the buttered plastic wrap for this step.

8) Divide the dough into two equal parts and proceed with your recipe, either turning it into two brioche loaves, or turning it into two Chocolate Star Breads. Instructions for the latter can be found here. For brioche loaves, proceed as indicated below.

9) For the first loaf, divide the first lump of dough into 8 equal parts, rolling each into a ball and placing it into a buttered loaf pan, side by side. Repeat for the second loaf.

10) Brush each loaf lightly with a mixture of one egg yolk mixed with a teeny splash of milk. Reserve this mixture. Cover loaves again with buttered plastic wrap, letting them rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about two hours.

11) Brush lightly again with egg yolk mixture, then place in oven preheated to 425 degrees. Bake until loaves just begin to turn golden (about 15 minutes), then reduce heat to 375 degrees and  continue baking until loaves are a deep golden brown, around 20-25 more minutes.

12) Remove from oven and let brioche loaves cool in the loaf pans for five minutes. After five minutes, remove from loaf pans and cool completely on wire rack.

Chocolate Star Bread

Their dad is working from home today, so the girls decided to make this special treat for our breakfast this morning. It is beautiful and absolutely delicious! They took pictures of each stage so you could make it without having to watch the video over and over. (We will say that it is worth one watch, however, even if just to hear to speaker's cool accent and to cement in your head how you must forevermore pronounce "Chocolate Star Bread.")

Elanore started with a pretty involved brioche recipe. It was a bit of a pain, but very worth it. Click the link to make that recipe, which will take a while. (She started it one day ahead of the planned "CHOC oh lut STAH bread" baking day.)

Here are the steps, illustrated for you in order:

1) Divide the brioche recipe into two even lumps. (This will make two CHOC oh lut STAH breads.)

2) Divide one of the lumps into four even sections.

3) Roll out the first quarter of the dough into a round a bit larger than the size of a large dinner plate. Cut around the edge of your dinner plate with a knife to create a perfect circle.

4) Cover the first round with a thin layer of Nutella.

5) Repeat with the next three quarters of dough, so that you have four rounds and three layers of Nutella by the end.

NOTE: At this point, you are supposed to move the entire thing to the parchment paper on the cookie sheet before cutting. The girls forgot to move it at this point, and didn't move it until the very end, which worked fine, too.

6) Place a small juice glass in the center of your stack of rounds, and cut the outer portion into sixteen even, pie-shaped wedges.

(Cut into fourths, then cut those in half again, then repeat, to make it easier.)

7) Take two of the wedges that are next to one another and twist them over twice to reveal the lovely inside pattern. At this point, just lay them down once they're twisted.

8) Repeat for all of the sections.

9) Pinch each of the two "star points" together.

10) Transfer the whole thing to parchment paper using a large spatula.

11) Brush with egg white.

12) Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.










Once the star bread is baked, each pinched point of the star will just pull out and be its own individual piece. It makes eight identical pieces, plus the small, gooey center piece left at the end. You can see it in all its video glory here.

Elanore's Meyer Lemon Bars (Including Gluten- and Dairy-Free Options)

1/2 C. powdered sugar
1 C. butter (2 sticks), softened (or 12 Tbsp. vegetable shortening, for dairy-free)
2 C. + 1/2 C. flour
4 eggs
2 C. sugar
1/3 C. Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 heaping Tbsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9x13 pan by lining it with criss-crossed pieces of aluminum foil that have an overhang of an inch or two. Spray with cooking spray unless using non-stick aluminum foil.

2. Cream powdered sugar and butter in a stand mixer until light and fluffy.

3. Add 2 C. of the flour and beat on medium until well-blended. Press into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. (Gluten-free will not turn golden! See NOTE, below.)

4. Beat the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a large bowl.

5. Sift the reserved 1/2 C. flour and the baking powder into the liquid mixture. Blend well.

6. Pour over the hot crust and return to oven to bake for another 20-25 minutes.

7. Check for doneness at 15 minutes and add on time as needed until filling is set. (A toothpick should come out mostly clean when stuck in the middle of the custard filling.)

8. Cool completely before cutting. (Truly! They're demanding that way.) Then dust with powdered sugar and serve.

NOTE: You can make these gluten-free by substituting a gluten-free, all-purpose flour blend for the flour. They can be made dairy-free, as well, but using vegetable shortening instead of butter. The crust will appear to not be crisping up, and you will be tempted to overcook it at the first stage, but just remember that it will cook for an additional 20 minutes. Don't cook longer than about 30 minutes in the first, crust-alone baking.

The original recipe appeared on FoodieCrush.com as Meyer Lemon Bars, by Heidi.

Her recipe notes:

* These lemon bars are a little more crackly on the top than some recipes I've seen. After doing some research, I think it is due to the amount of sugar used in a recipe. Personally, I like this hint of crispness on top and bottom to balance out the sweet yellow custard in the middle, so I'm keeping it.

* While some recipes call for the shortbread crust to go up the side of the pan (1/2 inch seems pretty standard), I prefer less crust, so I just press it into the bottom of the pan, but you can certainly do either to your liking.

* If you can't find Meyer lemons, sub half of the lemon juice with fresh orange juice, or go ahead and use regular lemons for extra tartness.

EL's Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies

EL was supposed to make some cookies for a service project at Awana last night. So yesterday afternoon, while I taught piano lessons, she got online, found this recipe, and made some of the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted! Here's the recipe, originally from AllRecipes.com.

I will experiment later with using freshly ground whole wheat flour and adding some oats and nuts, but here's what she made yesterday. Delicious!

(NOTE: I am sad to report that there is a big difference if you use whole-wheat flour in these cookies.  They're lots better with all white flour.)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.