Samoa Cookie Bars

About .6 seconds after Annie's Eats posted the recipe for Samoa cookie bars, Kenzie was asking for them.  There's just something about Girl Scout cookies, isn't there?  And the problem is that the boxes are shrinking and the price is going up.  As an elementary school teacher, I luckily (or unluckily) have a constant stream of Girl Scouts trying to get me to buy cookies from them (and Boy Scouts selling popcorn... they got the short end of the stick).  To be honest, as you know, I am not much of a sweet tooth, but even I don't mind a Thin Mint every now and then.  Although most of my Girl Scout cookie boxes live in my school cabinets until they are too old to eat anymore.  I'm a freak, I know.

Apparently, Kenzie's love for Samoas is strong, though, so I agreed to make these one day when I was bringing dinner over to her house anyway.  They are pretty fantastic, I have to admit.  A shortbread cookie crust is topped with caramel and coconut, and of course the telltale Samoa chocolate drizzle.  And yes, there is even a thin layer of chocolate underneath.  Besides being delicious, they just look delicious too.  Don't they?

Recipe:

Samoa cookie bars
from Annie's Eats
makes 20 bars

Ingredients:
for shortbread base:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
for the topping:
11 1/2 ounces soft caramels
2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
pinch of coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
2 1/4 cups sweetened shredded coconut, lightly toasted
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9x9" baking pan with parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add in the flour baking powder, and salt, and mix on low until just combined.  Add in the milk and vanilla and blend in briefly.  Transfer the dough mixture to the prepared pan and press down into an even layer.  Bake about 20 - 24 minutes, or until the shortbread is just set and light golden brown.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

2) Add the chocolate for the cookie base to a small bowl and microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and smooth.  Spread the chocolate in a thin later onto a piece of parchment paper over an area measuring around 9x9 inches.  Remove the shortbread from the baking pan and place on top of the melted chocolate to coat the bottom completely.  Using the parchment as a sling, gently return the slab of shortbread to the pan.

3) In a medium bowl, combine the caramels and the milk.  Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until the mixture is fully melted and smooth.  Stir in the salt, coconut extract, and toasted coconut.  Transfer the mixture to the pan with the shortbread and spread or press in an even layer.  Melt the remaining chopped chocolate and drizzle over the top of the bars.  Let set and cool completely before slicing and serving.

North African Date Tagine

I feel kind of like a fraud for posting this recipe for a tagine, because I don't really know what a tagine is.  I am not even 100% sure how to say it.  I checked a very trustworthy website (Wikipedia) and found that a tagine is indeed North African, and is most similar to a stew.  It's also the name of the pot that tagines are cooked in; they sort of look like funnels that get buried under coals to cook.  They're actually kind of beautiful and I want one.

The good news is that you can still make tagines whether you own a tagine pot or not.  The reason this is good news is that tagines are delicious!  Spicy, flavorful, a little sweet, and fragrant, there's nothing not to like in this dish.  Mark and I were both big fans when I made it for dinner, and it reheated wonderfully for lunch.

It has chickpeas to fill you up, lovely spices like curry, cilantro and cinnamon, and chopped dates to give you a little sweet bite every now and then (the recipe said to cut them into quarters but I think they'd be too big and bossy that way).  And you could probably serve anything over couscous and I'd eat it.  Don't skip adding the lemon juice at the end - it somehow ties everything all together.

Recipe:

North African date tagine
from Meatless Monday
serves 6

Instructions:
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 large onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed, or 2 teaspoons powdered or granulated garlic
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups garbanzo beans, dried (or 2 15-ounce cans)
1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 cups whole wheat couscous
3/4 cup dates, pitted and chopped
juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1) To prepare garbanzo beans from scratch, soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.  Drain and rinse beans, then add to a large stockpot and fill with water to cover the beans by at least 6 inches.  Turn heat to medium-high and bring to a low boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.  Drain and rinse.

2) Sauté onion in oil in medium saucepan, stirring often, until it begins to brown, 6 - 8 minutes.  Add garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, and cilantro.  Sauté for 1 minute longer.  Add tomato, garbanzo beans, and 1/4 cup water.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes longer.

3) In the meantime, prepare the couscous by bringing 4 cups of water to a simmer in medium saucepan.  Add couscous and return to boil, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes.

4) Add dates, salt, and lemon juice to the tagine, stirring thoroughly.  Serve over couscous.

White Chocolate Snickerdoodle Blondies

I have told you before about my strange way of keeping track of the recipes I post on this blog; I take pictures of all of them (hopefully) and then use that as my order.  The problem comes when I can't remember where there recipe itself came from.  If it's not from a usual place or I have forgotten to pin it, I'm out of luck.  I am especially out of luck if I can't even figure out what the name of the recipe was.  I have been sitting here on this rainy day staring at a picture of streusel-topped muffins trying to figure out a) what they are; b) where the recipe came from; c) why I can't even remember making them.  Clearly this vacation was needed to give my brain a rest (and to rest Mark's brain too; he has been asleep on the couch since about 1:30).

So no muffins for you today.  Muffin Monday is canceled!  Don't be too mad: I have blondies as a peace offering.  Not just any blondies, mind you, but snickerdoodle blondies, with white chocolate chips.  Yeah.

I needed a dessert to bring to Mark's family party a few weeks ago, and after getting lost for hours in recipes (I do this all the time), I finally decided to give these a try.  I'm glad I did.  Mark's family went wild for them.  They're almost like what you would imagine would happen if snickerdoodles, blondies, and cakes all had a baby together (if 3 parents can have a baby...).  They're soft and chewy with a swirl of cinnamon and sugar, dotted with white chocolate chips.  And they didn't meet a single soul who didn't rave about them and maybe sometimes eat more than one!

Recipe:

white chocolate snickerdoodle blondies

from Sally's Baking Addiction

yield 20 - 24 blondies

Ingredients:

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup white chocolate chips

cinnamon sugar filling:

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

1/3 cup granulated sugar

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 11x7-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough overhang on the sides to easily pull the blondes out of the pan and cut. 

2) In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powered, and salt.  Set aside.  Using a hand or stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed in a large bowl.  Beat for at least 1 minutes until creamy.  Add sugars and beat for 2 full minutes on high speed until light and fluffy.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.  

3) Beat in the eggs and vanilla on high speed, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.  On low speed, beat in dry ingredients until just combined.  Using a large wooden spoon or rubber spatula, fold in the white chocolate chips.

4) Spoon half of the batter into the pan.  It will be a relatively thin layer, but try to spread it across the pan evenly.  Combine the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top of the bottom layer, reserving 1 tablespoon for the top.  Spread the remaining batter over the top.  Some of the cinnamon-sugar will mix into the top layer as you spread it, which is fine.  Sprinkle to top with remaining cinnamon-sugar.

5) Bake for 30 - 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely for about 1 hour.  Blondies stay fresh covered tightly at room temperature for up to 1 week.  Blondies freeze well up to 3 months.

Honey Ginger Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry

This meal is a crazy flavorful fish of goodness.  Healthy, vegetarian, filling, and with the most flavorful sauce you can imagine, what more could you ask for?  I know, you could ask for no tofu.  And if you're like Mark and refuse to even try to eat tofu, then I suppose if you really wanted, you could substitute meat.  I recommend that you don't, but hey, it's your kitchen.  If you do stick with the tofu, just trust me that the flavor is pretty great.  It gets fried in the sauce I keep waxing poetic about, and that's a pretty fantastic way to prepare something that is basically a flavor sponge.

Now let's talk about the non-negotiables.  Asparagus and carrots are the vegetable stars in this dish, along with scallions.  It all gets mixed with brown rice.  And the sauce!  Oh the sauce.  Fresh ginger and garlic, honey, soy sauce, and rice vinegar - just imagine all those bossy flavors mingling together in a sauce that really packs a flavor punch.  It ties everything together beautifully - yes, even the tofu.

This reheats really well; I brought it for lunch until it was gone.  Mark refused to eat the tofu and picked all of his pieces out of his bowl, but even he had to admit the rice, vegetables and sauce were delicious.  Go ahead, meatify this recipe if you must, but I promise that you won't regret making it.

On a side note, this recipe was from one of my favorite new blogs, Pinch of Yum.  Lots of amazing things going on there!

Recipe:

honey ginger tofu and veggie stir fry
from Pinch of Yum
serves 6

Ingredients:
for the stir fry:
1 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
2 tablespoons canola oil
14 ounces extra firm tofu
2 cups chopped asparagus
2 cups shredded carrots
3 green onions, minced
for the garlic ginger stir fry sauce:
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh ginger
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil

Instructions:

1) Make the sauce: puree all the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.  Set aside.

2) Prepare the tofu: cook the rice according to package directions.  Cut the tofu into slices and press with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.  Wait a few minutes and press again.  Cut the tofu slices into small cubes.  Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  When the oil is shiny, add the tofu and about 1/4 cup of the stir fry sauce; watch out because the sauce and oil will spatter.  Pan fry the tofu until golden brown.  Remove from the pan and drain on paper towel-lined plates.

3) Cook the veggies: return the pan to the heat and add the asparagus with 1/4 cup stir fry sauce.  When the asparagus is bright green and tender crisp, add the carrots and toss together.  Arrange the veggies and tofu over the cooked rice and cover with more sauce to taste.  Sprinkle with the green onions.

Albanian Tea Cookies

Ahhhh, April vacation.  Suffice it to say I have never needed it more in my career than this year.  Once we enjoy this lovely week off, we are down to 30something more days until summer break.  The end is in sight!

But for now, let's rewind back a few weeks to a Cookie Sunday where I decided to whip out my mother-in-law's Albanian Cookbook (yes, that's the title).  I flipped through the dessert section and came upon a recipe for tea cookies.  They're so pretty with their little awareness ribbon shape, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

I decided to give them  try, even though for some weird reason I was out of all-purpose-flour and had to use whole wheat.  This obviously led to a denser, drier cookie, but then again, they're tea cookies.  They're supposed to be hard and crunchy and dunked into coffee or tea to soften!

Unfortunately when I brought a bunch up to Gram's, my relatives weren't super keen on them.  I think they may have been expecting sugar cookies or something.  With only half a cup of sugar, these are not overly sweet, but they are pretty and dainty and have that lovely sesame taste.  Trust me when I say that the tea cookie name is no joke; you want to take these for a swim in your coffee and tea.  Dare I say they could be acceptable breakfast fare?

Recipe:

Albanian tea cookies
from Albanian Cookbook by the Woman's Guild of St. Mary's Albanian Orthodox Church in Worcester, MA, 1977

Ingredients:
3 to 4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
4 eggs (reserve 1 yolk)
1 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
sesame seeds

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add slightly beaten eggs, milk, baking powder, and vanilla.  Add flour until right consistency is attained.

2) Take a small amount of dough, roll out pencil thin, 8 inches long.  Make a U with the dough then flop one end over the other and twist once.  Alternately, make a figure 8.

3) Brush with slightly beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Place on cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Crispy Baked Matchstick Fries

Guys, I have become a real believer in fake meat.  I know you probably all have your doubts, but I have been intrigued by vegetarian meats since I made the no chicken vegan pad thai a year or so ago. It's so meat-like, it's almost too meaty for me.  I like to call the fake chicken ficken, because it's funny and it freaks people out. Besides ficken breasts, I've also seen ficken nuggets, fake tips, fausage, fot dogs, forn dogs... you name it.  And lately I have been trying more and more of these (forn dogs anyone!?) and being happily surprised with the results.

So, yeah, I bought some ficken nuggets.  And they are so good.  I know you probably don't believe me, but it's true.  Back in my meat eating days, I usually liked chicken nuggets.  I say usually, because half of the time, you bite into a chicken nugget and your teeth bounce off something like a tendon or something, and then you're disgusted and can't finish your meal.  I swear this is the worst part about meat.  But ficken nuggets?  No tendons.  Nothing gross.  And no one died for your nugget. They're quite chicken-like, but you can chomp right into them without fear!

Okay so get to the recipe, right?  What better lunch than ficken nuggets and french fries!?  I had the ficken, but I was on my own for french fries.  I found this recipe and decided to try it out.  There was no soaking or frying involved, and they promised to be crispy and delicious.  Sold.

The hardest part about the recipe was cutting the potatoes into matchsticks.  I don't want to tell you how long it took, or how much my arm ached when I was done.  But the good thing is, every other step in this recipe is quick and simple.  Fresh, salt fries coming your way fast.

What I do want to tell you about is the fries.  They really were crispy and delicious.  Salty, crispy, and wonderful, these guys were the perfect addition to a ficken nugget for lunch.  Or, I suppose, they'd be fine with real meat too.

The original recipe suggests flavoring them with freshly sautéed garlic, but I wanted my fries to taste like salt and potatoes, so I left them out.  If you want to give it a try, visit the original recipe and enjoy your garlic breath!

Recipe:

crispy baked matchstick fries
from Minimalist Baker
serves 4

Ingredients:
3 - 4 russet potatoes, scrubbed clean and dried
1/4 cup olive or canola oil
sea salt and black pepper

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2) Chop potatoes into matchsticks by halving, halving once more, then cutting into wedges, then strips.

3) Line two baking sheets with foil and generously spray with nonstick spray.  Add fries plus a generous drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.

4) Arrange fries in a single layer, making sure they aren't touching too much.  This will help them crisp up and cook evenly.

5) Bake for 25 - 35 minutes, tossing/flipping at least once to ensure even baking.  When fries are finished, remove from oven and sprinkle again with sea salt.

Quick and Homey Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

Muffin Monday time!

Thank God today is NOT Monday, by the way.  I am so tired.  This is going to be the most needed April vacation ever (5 work days to go!).  Last night, Mark and I had grand plans to watch Dateline after we went out to dinner, but I was asleep before it started at 9:00, and I have a feeling he was too. We went to bed at 1:00 and I was up at 9:00 this morning - so, yeah that's about 12 hours of sleep.  And I would be lying if I didn't admit to contemplating a nap after I make some lunch.  This year is draining me!

Now, back to the muffins.  When you're drained and exhausted, you need something to get you through the day, something tasty and delicious and healthy.  And, as the name of the recipe suggests, something quick and homey!  Oatmeal raisin cookies are delicious, so why not turn them into muffins?

I think these muffins are fabulous.  They have oats and only a quarter cup of oil, so they're not terrible for you, and they're soft and moist and sweet.  Definitely a good way to start another exhausting work day.  Oh, and they are so quick to throw together that you'd be able to do it even on a Monday night when you're feeling tired :)

One note: the recipe called for olive oil to be used.  I just can't allow myself to put a quarter cup of olive oil into a muffin, so I used vegetable oil, but if you're not as psychotic about your oils as I am, then go for it!  I just feel like olive oil is expensive enough that if I don't believe it's going to add much of its flavor to something, it's not needed.

Recipe:

quick and homey oatmeal raisin muffins
from The Kitchn
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
cinnamon topping:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon oil

Instructions:

1) Heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Grease a muffin pan or line the wells with paper muffin cups.

2) Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl.  Stir in the oats and raisins.

3) In a large measuring cup, whisk the oil with the egg and milk.  Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients just until combined.  Fill the prepared muffin cups 2/3 full with the batter.

4) Mix all the ingredients for the cinnamon topping together in a small bowl until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over the muffin batter.

5) Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a rack until they are cool enough to be handled.  Remove from the pan and eat while warm, or let cool completely and then store in an airtight container.