Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Ginger Cookies

Here's my favorite new cookie recipe to wish you belated happy holidays. I can't seem to stop making these. They are the perfect winter cookie spiced with warming ginger and cinnamon. They are tender, soft and cakey on the inside with the slightest snap of a crust on the outside.

The original (gluten) recipe comes from Chez Panisse. But I spotted Shauna's gluten-free version on her site, Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef and was inspired, as I am by so many of her posts and recipes, to try them. I love that they don't contain any xanthan or guar gums, commonly found in most gluten-free recipes, each of which have adverse effects on me.

I started with Shauna's version and then began experimenting. First, I traded the butter for coconut oil, and used mostly maple syrup with a little brown sugar instead of the white sugar. And I also tried it with brown rice flour and chia instead of the white rice flour.

These cookies are addictive and the perfect accompaniment for a cup of hot tea, eggnog or horchata. They also make a great whoopie pie, sandwich cookie or ice cream sandwich. I made a whoopie pie for the photo with an eggnog filling (1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons eggnog. If you're going dairy-free, try a nondairy eggnog or rice milk-based horchata). But I most like to eat them on their own. Straight, simple, comforting. And I must mention, if you have an unhappy tummy, the ginger in these will make you feel much better. Rx: cookie!

I've been making double batches of these and keeping the dough in the freezer. I bake up a cookie sheet full at a time for fresh hot cookies on demand. (I have to confess to eating the occasional dough ball straight from the freezer and in the heat of summer, I find them particularly refreshing that way.)

Plan ahead, these need to go into the freezer for several hours or overnight. But you can make them like I do and keep the dough in the freezer for cookies anytime. I use a #40 ice cream scoop from the restaurant supply shop to make even, perfectly round cookies. These scoops are inexpensive and seem to be more sturdy than most others that I've used.

Happy baking to all and to all a good night! And a big thank you to Shauna for turning me on to these incredible cookies!



Ginger Cookies

1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
2 tablespoons ground chia seeds
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger

1 cup coconut oil, room temperature
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup molasses


Measure out the flours and combine them in a medium-sized bowl. Add the chia, soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Whisk together to combine well. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil, maple syrup and brown sugar. With a mixer, (I used a hand mixer), cream together. Add the eggs, vanilla and molasses, and mix again until evenly incorporated.

Add the flour mixture, half at a time and mix until completely incorporated.

Transfer the dough to a covered container and put into the freezer overnight or for several hours.

Before baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the dough from the freezer and using a #40 ice cream scoop, make as many dough balls as you want to bake. Place the dough balls on a silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet and return the sheet to the freezer, while the oven warms up. When the oven is ready, move the cookie sheet from the freezer straight into the oven. Bake for 12 minutes. The cookies will look just slightly underdone when you remove them from the oven, but they will continue cooking on the sheet until they cool. Let cool completely on the sheet to firm up (or they'll stick and fall apart).

I think these have the best texture when eaten the same day or the next day after baking.

Note: once the dough has frozen, you can also scoop out your dough balls and freeze them in a covered container or ziptop bag for faster baking later on. Just remember to bake them straight from the freezer to hold their round shape.

Enjoy!

Adapted from Chez Panisse and Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef.

Austin Bakes for Japan Bake Sale 4/2

Feed your sweet tooth! Austin Bakes for Japan, a fundraising bake sale to help survivors of Japan's earthquake and tsunami, will take place Saturday, April 2nd, from 10am – 2pm. Austin bakers and bloggers are taking part in the bake sale to benefit AmeriCares. Goods will be sold by donation, so buyers can pay what they can. Bake sale locations below.

Austin Bakes for Japan is part of a national movement of bake sales for Japan on April 2 with a goal of raising $10,000. Bake sales will be taking place the same day in 23 other U.S. cities including Boston, Washington, D.C., New York, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle.

Austin bake sale locations:

Downtown: Woof Gang Bakery Austin, 1204 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin

North Central: Foreign & Domestic, 306 E. 53rd Street, Austin

South: Hotel San Jose, 1316 South Congress Avenue, Austin

East: Nomad Bar, 1213 Corona Drive, Austin

West: Shops at Mira Vista, 2785 Bee Cave Road, Suites 336 & 341, Austin (10am-5pm)


If you're interested in providing baked goods or volunteering, contact Kathryn Hutchison at austingastronomist@gmail.com.

P.S. I'll be donating gluten-free goodies to the bake sale. Maybe this chocolate almond toffee?

Gluten-Free Brownies

I love to bake. And I've spent years experimenting with recipes to find the one version of something that stops me in my tracks. The one that means the search is over. The one I will want to continue making forever. Like these chocolate chip cookies. And this shortbread. And this crumble. And these brownies. These are holy grail recipes. I would say that they are the recipes I would grab if the house caught on fire. But I think I know them so well, I wouldn't need to. I've made them so many times I can remember them.

But going gluten-free means redefining those old favorites so that I can still enjoy them. This will take time and experimentation. But I'm working on it. These brownies are the first to go gluten-free. They seemed like a good candidate. They are so easy to make, you don't even need a mixer. They are mostly eggs and chocolate and butter with a little flour to keep it all together. As a gluten-free flour, I used equal parts brown rice flour and tapioca flour. A lot of gluten-free recipes you see have combinations of a long list of alternative flours and even gums to hold things together. You don't have to fuss with all of that here. Just the two flours. One note, though: rice flours can be gritty if they are not very finely milled. I tried several brands. I kept seeing recommendations for Authentic Foods brand rice flours because they are milled superfine. I know, it's an extra step to have to mail order your rice flour, but it's truly worth it to avoid the grittiness. Other alternative gluten-free flours would probably work here as well, but this one works for me. Experiment and let me know what works for you.

These can be made in a square baking pan or as mini or full-size cupcakes. I've made them for several parties as cupcakes. If you're using a square baking pan, be sure to spray it and then line it with a strip of parchment hanging over the sides (seen here) for easy removal from the pan after baking and cooling.

The recipe below is for straight up, traditional brownies. For a spicy Mexican version, you can add 1/8 teaspoon chipotle powder, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder and 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the flour and give it some heat. These are my husband's favorite.

Substitutions note: I've also experimented with making these dairy-free, using Earth Balance baking sticks (trans fat free!). I'm hard pressed to tell you which I like better. The margarine gives them a little more chewiness in the texture which I love. But the butter is a little richer. I made batches of each and asked friends to give me a favorite. Even my 13-year-old buddy, Jackson, had a hard time picking a favorite, although he put in a good effort tasting one, then the other, then the first one again... Either way, you'll have fudgy brownies with chewy edges and big chocolate flavor.

Most important note: these are best made the day before serving. They'll be good after cooling from the oven, but the flavors develop overnight. They will be spectacular the next day. So make them a day ahead.


Gluten-Free Brownies

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon Authentic Foods Superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon tapioca flour (or tapioca starch, same thing)
8 ounces 60-70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup or 228 grams)
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, measure out your brown rice flour and tapioca flour and stir well to combine. (If you're making the Mexican spicy version, add the spices to the flour and stir together.) Set aside.

With softened butter or cooking spray, grease a square baking pan (mine is 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches when measured across the top). Now cut a strip of parchment paper or foil a little narrower than the width of the pan and long enough to hang over on both sides. Place the foil/parchment in the pan and press it against the sides. It will stick to the pan. Now grease the paper as well. This seems fussy, but will insure that you get these babies out of the pan in one piece. The overhanging sides will act as a sling to lift out the brownies -- only when they are completely cool! You hear me!

In a cereal or soup-sized bowl, put the chopped chocolate and the butter. Microwave on 50% power in 30-second increments until the butter is completely melted. The chocolate won't look melted, but stir them together and it will melt completely. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk or stir together the eggs, salt, sugars and vanilla. (I use a giant whisk for this. Seen here.)

Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and whisk/stir together. Add the flour and gently whisk together completely.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is crackly and shiny. (You want fudginess, so the toothpick test doesn't really work here.) If you make these as mini-cupcakes, bake approximately 20 minutes. For full-size cupcakes, 30-40 minutes, depending on how fudgy you want them.

Let cool completely. COMPLETELY. Then, if you can't stand it, using the sling you made with foil/parchment, lift the brownies out in one piece, slice and eat. But if you are made of stronger stuff than most, cover the cooled brownies in the pan and refrigerate or let sit on a cool counter overnight. The next day, use the sling to remove them, peel off the parchment/foil, slice and enjoy.

From the square pan, these can be cut into 9 giant brownies or 12-16 smaller ones. They are very rich so a little goes a long way. (Yields 12 full-size cupcakes or 24 minis.)

Adapted from David Lebovitz and Nick Malgieri.

Chocolate Cups

Here's the follow-up recipe to the last post on dark chocolate peanut butter cups. Since these are solid chocolate, not filled, they are much faster and easier to make. You melt the chocolate, flavor it, top it, and refrigerate to set. Easy. There are two flavor options below, coffee chocolate cups and mint chocolate cups. There are endless flavor possibilities. Let me know if you come up with one you like. I'm thinking Nutella-filled chocolate cups would be tasty. These make great gifts presented in candy boxes or little cellophane gift bags. Be sure to make extra for yourself. These disappeared from our house pretty quickly.

Since these were solid chocolate, I went with a smaller candy paper cup than for the peanut butter-filled chocolate cups. Make them however you like, just know that you're quantity will be less with larger cups.

I use mini-muffin pans for structure until the chocolate cups have set. Otherwise, the floppy paper cups full of melted chocolate would be a big mess.

Coffee Chocolate Cups:
24 ounces Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips
2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa nibs (or chocolate-covered cocoa nibs), finely chopped
#4 candy paper cups with 1-inch base
mini-muffin pans

Mint Chocolate Cups:
24 ounces Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chips
2-3 teaspoons mint extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 ounce peppermint candy or candy cane, finely chopped
#4 candy paper cups with 1-inch base
mini-muffin pans

Prepare your pans: separate candy papers and place them in the mini-muffin pans. You'll need approximately 24.

Choose the flavor you want to make from the ingredient options above and then proceed...
Melt your chocolate in a double boiler or a saucepan about 1/3 full with simmering water with a large bowl placed over top. Make sure that your bowl is larger than the saucepan and that the bowl is completely dry on the inside (any water droplets will cause the chocolate to seize).

Melt the chocolate in the bowl or double boiler until it melts. Take your time here and stir it occasionally to melt it evenly. When the chocolate is completely melted, remove the bowl from the simmering water. (You can also melt the chocolate in a microwave. I often do this with small quantities of chocolate. But sometimes larger quantities can be harder to get melted all the way through, so you might try it in two batches.)

Stir or whisk in your flavoring (coffee or mint extract) and salt. Stir well to make sure your flavoring is completely incorporated.

Pour the flavored, melted chocolate into the candy papers in mini-muffin pans. I found this easiest to do with a tablespoon.

Sprinkle the tops of your filled chocolate cups with either the cocoa nibs or peppermint candies, depending on which flavor your making.

Place the mini-muffin pan in the fridge for at least an hour to set. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. You can remove them from the fridge 15 minutes before serving to let them soften just a bit before eating.

Yield: approximately 24 candies per recipe.

Adapted from David Lebovitz.

Menu for Hope Six

The Menu for Hope annual fundraiser has begun. The campaign was started five years ago by Chez Pim in response to the tsunami in Southeast Asia. She wanted to do something to help and has since hosted Menu for Hope every year with other food bloggers. In just the past three years, they've raised nearly $250,000, $10 at a time.

The idea is simple, but brilliant. Food bloggers from around the world offer amazing food-related items in a raffle that you bid on. The money goes to the UN World Food Program, the largest food aid agency in the world, feeding hungry people and helping them become more self-reliant. Money is collected by a third-party site, First Giving, who handle the collections and send the money to the World Food Program. For more information about Menu for Hope and the World Food Program and the kinds of programs this campaign supports, check out Chez Pim's site.

Prizes are donated by bloggers and come from all over the world. This year, I bid on everything from photo equipment (a camera bag and a light set), to food treats (a spectacular vanilla basket, Japanese delicacies, a giant chocolate sampler), to a couple of food photography classes and even this groovy sculpture made by Food Woolf (I can see that one hanging in my kitchen). Truly, the prizes were so tempting, it was hard to rein myself in. Tickets are $10 each and with each ticket you get a chance to win one item.



Check it out and place your bid today. It's such a fun way to do some good in the world.

Chocolate Almond Toffee

A few years ago, I took a baking class from David Lebovitz when he visited Austin. As expected, everything he made was to die for.

Lebovitz, once the pastry chef at Chez Panisse, now lives and blogs in Paris. He is also hilarious. If you ever get an opportunity to take a class from him, don't miss it. He has written all kinds of books to satisfy your sweet tooth. You know how with some cookbooks, you pick out a recipe here and there to try? But with David's books, you can count on every single recipe being a knock-your-socks off hit. If you only have one book on chocolate or one book on ice cream, they should be his.

I've wanted to make this recipe ever since I took the class. I can't believe it took me this long to try it myself. I love toffee and the combination of buttery toffee with just the right amount of salt to set it off, paired with toasted almonds and chocolate is so simple yet each element enhances the others. The sweet, buttery toffee, the crunch of the salted, roasted almond nuttiness and then the chocolate to bring it all home. Oh yeah.

And even better, this is incredibly easy to make. Just don't get intimated by the need for a candy thermometer. It's only a few ingredients and you can whip up a batch in minutes. Huge return on investment. And this time of year, who am I kidding... ANY time of year, it makes a great gift. Just be sure to package it up quick before you eat it all yourself.

I still had some vanilla sea salt from Boulette's Larder in my baking cabinet, so I sprinkled some on top. You could also use fleur de sel.

This recipe appears in David's ice cream book, The Perfect Scoop, in half this quantity. But if you're going to make it, especially this time of year when you can share it as a gift and be the most popular Santa around, why not make the bigger batch?

Chocolate Almond Toffee

2 cups toasted, salted almonds, chopped
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
a nice, big pinch of salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips
vanilla sea salt or fleur de sel
cooking spray or silpat
candy thermometer

Line a baking sheet with your silpat nonstick mat, parchment paper or spray it with vegetable oil.

Put 1 cup of the almonds on your prepared baking sheet in a single layer forming a rectangle about 8x10 inches. Set aside.

Measure out the baking soda and vanilla and have them sitting next to the stove.

Put the water, butter, salt and sugars into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir together. Heat over medium flame until the candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees. Stir as little as possible during heating. When you reach the magic 300 degree mark, remove pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda immediately.

Move quickly here... then pour the hot toffee evenly over the almonds on your baking sheet.

Then sprinkle your chocolate evenly over the top of the hot toffee in the pan. Let sit for several minutes to melt.

While you're waiting for the chocolate to melt, you're going to spy the toffee pan with it's bits of toffee turning into concrete and thinking what fun that's going to be to clean up. But take this tip from David: fill the pan with water and put it back on the heat and bring it to a boil. Turn off the heat and let sit until the candy bits melt and then clean up is a breeze.

When the chocolate has melted, spread it evenly over the toffee with an offset icing spatula. Then sprinkle the top with fleur de sel and the remaining almonds — pressing lightly so they'll stay put in the chocolate.

Let cool completely until the toffee becomes solid and the chocolate sets up. Then you can chop it or break it into shards.

Wrap it up in cellophane bags with some pretty ribbon to give as gifts or serve it yourself crumbled over ice cream. To die for!!!

Adapted from David Lebovitz.

Check out David Lebovitz blog here.
Check out his schedule here to find out when you can take a class from him.
Check out his books here.

Gifts Ideas, 2009

It's that time again. Time to stuff the stockings. Here are a few treats to consider when making your list to Santa...


Handmade and handcrafted
The explosion of online and local sites for finding one-of-a-kind handmade and lovingly crafted items is truly a gift. I could spend all day on Etsy. I also look forward to checking out Austin's Blue Genie Art Bazaar every year. Last year, I picked up some great napkins.



Natural birch wood coasters.

"Folded" hand thrown porcelain bowl.

Heart-shaped measuring spoons in pewter.





Floral tea towels.

Picking Daisies cotton napkins.

Amenity organic cotton and hemp table runner.


For serving...


Wasara biodegradable and compostable tableware for picnics. From Japan, now available in the U.S. from Branch.

La Chamba handmade earthenware pottery. Beautiful black unglazed, lead-free cookware traditionally made by the women of a village in Columbia. Great for cooking beans and other casseroles. Once fired, the volcanic clay used to make this cookware is great at resisting thermal shock. Learn more about La Chamba and order here.

Tiny basket bowls from Branch.




White porcelain spouted bowls from Gleenashop on Etsy.

Oribe square bowl for serving sweets during Japanese moon-viewing celebrations. From DharmaCrafts.

Modern salad bowl with servers. In green, white or black. From A+R.


Cookbooks...



Vij's Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine cookbook from Vij's restaurant in Vancouver.

Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More cookbook. Can't wait to get cooking from this one.

Takahashi's Noodles cookbook. Who doesn't crave a hot bowl of noodles this time of year?

Coming soon: tasty gifts to make yourself and share.

'wichcraft

What's better than opening the mailbox to find a surprise package with a new cookbook inside? I have my buddy, Kelley, to thank for that experience recently. She sent us Tom Colicchio's cookbook, 'wichcraft, with recipes from his high-end sandwich shops. Woohoo! Thanks, Kelley!

Colicchio -- you may recognize him from Top Chef – owns a series of restaurants all across the country: Craft, CraftBar, Craftsteak, and 'wichcraft. He credits one of his sous-chefs, Sisha Ortuzar, with truly understanding his way of crafting food, and wanting to open a sandwich shop. Colicchio says he uses the day-after Thanksgiving sandwich as his marker – it's really good because it's made from such well-crafted ingredients. So that became the 'wichcraft mission – using really good food, artisanal ingredients with no fillers, to make amazing sandwiches.

The book also contains a section on "sandwich architecture" with pointers on how to construct the perfect sandwich. A few tips...

1. You need to understand the context of your sandwich. Will you be eating it over the kitchen sink or serving it at a cocktail party?

2. The "wow" factor, the aesthetics of the sandwich, refer to the visual as well as the taste and texture.

3. Consider the "durability" of the sandwich. Will you be serving it immediately or hours later? How will the ingredients get along with each other over time? Will the texture change?

4. Who are you serving? A child? A business executive?

5. Bread texture: the bread must keep the sandwich intact, but the primary texture of the sandwich should come from the ingredients inside.

6. Toast bread on one side only and place the toasted side on the inside of the sandwich so that the bread can absorb moisture from the ingredients and create a barrier that keeps the softer side from going soggy. Also, the toasty side won't scratch your palate if it's on the inside.

7. You can cut a roll thicker on the bottom to absorb juicier ingredients and retain flavor better.

8. A BLT should be assembled in this order: mayo, tomato, bacon, lettuce. You don't want lettuce next to the tomato or a liquid.

9. Keep mustard and mayo apart or the mustard flavor will get too diluted.

10. Place cheese near the bread to reinforce structure, unless the cheese is melted with meat.

11. Dress greens before placing them in a sandwich.

The book contains everything from breakfast sandwiches to dessert sandwiches. A few I can't wait to try:

• Goat cheese with avocado, celery, walnut pesto and watercress
• Steak with cucumber salad and black chile mayo
• Cheddar with smoked ham, poached pear and mustard
• Roasted turkey with avocado, bacon, balsamic onion marmalade and mayo
• Chocolate cream'wich

The book also includes accompaniments you'll need like homemade mayo, vinaigrettes, roasted onions, tomato relish, pickles, pestos, and sauces. I also love that the contents shows a photo of each sandwich with its listing.

Stay tuned. Next up, I have the first sandwich we've tried from the book. It uses one of my favorite goat cheeses, boucheron. It's a boucheron open-faced sandwich with grapefruit and crispy olives.

Food Find: Kallari Chocolate Bars

I listen to KCRW's Good Food podcast every week. Evan Kleinman's show is always informative, intriguing, entertaining, and educational. I am tortured by the Santa Monica Farmers' Market reports. I wish we had that range of produce locally. Recently, they did a story on Kallari Chocolate. I had seen this new brand, but hadn't tried it. I brought some home recently and we discovered our favorite new chocolate.

Most cacao growers produce their beans for shipment all over the world for processing into the chocolate bars and confections we eat. As every chocolate-lover knows, good quality chocolate is an expensive indulgence/addiction. But the growers don't usually see much of that money. There are middlemen and processors. Everyone takes a bite.

Kallari is a cooperative of growers who grow, process and produce their own organic chocolate bars in Ecuador. It is sold in the U.S. exclusively at Whole Foods. Judy Logback, an American volunteering with a foundation promoting biodiversity in Ecuador, met with the farmers in 1997. They said they wanted to find a way to succeed on their farms while facing the pressure to log, drill or mine their lands to survive. Logback helped them find their way down a long road to becoming possibly the only cacao farmers making and marketing their own chocolate. Read their whole story in this piece in the New York Times or listen to Good Food's interview with Judy Logback.

The bars at being distributed in the U.S. exclusively through Whole Foods. They come in 70%, 75% and 85% cacao for $4.99 each.

We've tasted the 70% and the 75% and really like them both. Try them and see what you think.

Heath Ceramics

I received a gift recently. The best birthday gift I think I've ever received. A box of color. Astonishingly pure color. This color comes in the form of Heath Ceramics.

If you're not familiar with Heath, here's a little background. Edith Heath began producing stoneware ceramics in the 1940s in Northern California with the idea of making "simple, good things for good people." She produced ceramics with an exquisite level of craftsmanship that continues today. The company maintains that level of quality and craft, with particular attention paid to responsibility in production from the environment to their workers. They produce something that we should be proud to call American and in a way that we could learn from, especially in today's economy. Heath produces tableware and tile ceramics in Sausalito. They have retail stores in Sausalito and Los Angeles. Learn more about their history and offerings on their web site.



I've long admired the company and their products, but thought them a bit out of my reach, at this point in my life. These plates and bowls and serving pieces are the kind of thing I would want to build a shrine to house and admire them in, when not in use. But without so much as a dining room in our little house, they seemed a bit impractical for us now. Maybe one day.



But my husband surprised me with some pieces as the start of a collection for my birthday recently. Yes, best hubby of the year candidate, right here. I have been so blown away by them, I don't even know how to write about them. They have a special, knowing relationship with light that clearly goes way back. It will be a long, long time before I am able to adequately capture them with a camera, but oh how I will try. Here are just a few pieces to start, simple plates.



Their balance of aqua faces and chocolate brown undersides is delicious. So delicious that I think I could take nourishment from them just by looking, forget the food. I am awed. Thank you, thank you, thank you, G.

Here's a taste so you can see what I'm talking about.

Brownies

Looking for something to make your sweetie for Valentine's Day or maybe just looking to be sweet to yourself? These brownies are the thing. I used to have a favorite cappucino brownie recipe. They were quite tasty and gorgeous when cut on a diagonal and spinkled half and half with powdered sugar and cocoa powder. But then I found these brownies and forgot all about those other ones. Haven't made them since, in fact.

These brownies have a lot going for them. They're incredibly easy to make...for kids, nonbakers, even folks with almost no kitchen tools. You only need a big spoon or a whisk, one large bowl, one small bowl and a baking pan. Now understand that these brownies would be worth it even if you had to dirty up every bowl in the kitchen and had flour in your hair. But you don't. They can be stirred together in minutes.

The only fussiness comes from putting foil or parchment across the baking pan to make a sling. You're certainly welcome to make them without this step, but it makes them so much easier to remove in one piece. Then you can cut them however you like, if you get a chance to cut them at all.



One more thing, and I know this will probably go unheard in most cases. But just know, these brownies are really, really good when you make them and just let them cool a little. But if you wait until the next day...they are ohhhhmygawwwwwd good. So try making them the night before. Let them cool completely after baking, cover them and refrigerate or let sit out on the counter overnight. The next day they will be to die for. I have yet to find anyone (not one single person) who hasn't been blown away by these brownies. People who don't like sweets, even people who don't like chocolate. Heck, I'm not even that much of a brownie fan myself. But these elevate the genre.

Be sure to use good quality chocolate. By that I mean not the cheapo chocolate chips. Get 60-70% bittersweet chocolate, like Ghiradelli or Scharrfen Berger. You will be rewarded. You can also add nuts to these, if you like, about 1/2 - 2/3 cup. I've made them with chopped, salted macadamias and they were lovely. But I prefer them straight up. Nuts or no nuts in your brownies is kind of a religious thing, like beans or no beans in your chili. It's your call.

I ran across this recipe on my favorite baking blog by David Lebovitz. He shared the recipe from the book Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers by Nick Malgieri. I hestitated about sharing this one because it's fully presented on David's funny and informative blog. But these brownies are so good, everyone needs to know about them. I can only imagine the other recipes that might be found in Malgieri's book. So I hope this turns you on to not only the brownies, but a great baking blog and an award-winning baking book. Thank you Mr. Lebovitz and Mr. Malgieri for sharing the love with these brownies.

By the way, David lives in Paris, but often teaches in the U.S. He's got a new book coming out this spring called The Sweet Life in Paris. Check it out. He also teaches classes and does a chocolate tour of Paris. Check out his schedule for more infomation. I've taken one of his classes and can tell you to run, not walk, to sign up. His desserts are reliably spectacular and he is wet-your-pants hilarious. His ice cream book, The Perfect Scoop, is my bible on making ice cream.

Brownies

8 ounces 60-70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup or 228 grams)
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

With softened butter or cooking spray, grease a square baking pan (mine is 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches when measured across the top). Now cut a strip of parchment paper or foil a little narrower than the width of the pan and long enough to hang over on both sides. Place the foil/parchment in the pan and press it against the sides. It will stick to the pan. Now grease the paper as well. This seems fussy, but will insure that you get these babies out of the pan in one piece. The overhanging sides will act as a sling to lift out the brownies -- only when they are completely cool! You hear me!

In a cereal or soup-sized bowl, put the chopped chocolate and the butter. Microwave on 50% power in 30-second increments until the butter is completely melted. The chocolate won't look melted, but stir them together and it will melt completely. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk or stir together the eggs, salt, sugars and vanilla. (I like to use a giant version of my favorite whisk to do this. See photo. I have several mini-versions of this whisk for eggs, etc. But this big daddy version is reserved for heavy batters and mostly, these brownies. It is the perfect tool to mix these together.)



Add the melted chocolate to the egg mixture and whisk/stir together. Add the flour and gently whisk together completely.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until the top is crackly and shiny. (You want fudginess, so the toothpick test doesn't really work here.)

Let cool completely. COMPLETELY. Then, if you can't stand it, using the sling you made with foil/parchment, lift the brownies out in one piece, slice and eat. But if you are made of stronger stuff than most, cover the cooled brownies in the pan and refrigerate or let sit on a cool counter overnight. The next day, use the sling to remove them, peel off the parchment/foil, slice and enjoy.

I like to say that these will serve 9, if cut into 9 squares, or my husband. (He's in the kitchen circling around the cooling brownies as I type this.)

Adapted from David Lebovitz and Nick Malgieri. Bless you both.

Happy Valentine's!

Jam Happiness

I'm off today for the holiday and so am lollygagging around the house. The dog and I both heard a delivery truck pull up moments ago and it got me wondering what I might have ordered recently. Then I remembered...June Taylor Jams! Eureka! I peeked out the window and saw the FedEx truck at the house next door. Hopes dashed.

Not three minutes later, I heard another delivery truck. The dog and I both looked out to see UPS in front of our house. That's more like it.

And so now, I am able to give you... June Taylor Jams. June Taylor's pear and vanilla fruit butter is one of the finest things I have ever tasted. The combination of smooth, grainy pearness delicately flavored with just the right amount of vanilla. On toast or biscuits, even just on a spoon, it is sublime. It is one of my top 10 desert island foods of all time.

June Taylor makes her conserves, marmalades, fruit butters and syrups by hand the old-fashioned way in Berkeley. She supports small, organic, family farms and use traditional preserving methods by hand to make small batches. She uses no commercial pectin -- instead utilizing citrus seeds and membranes to make pectin -- and only a minimal amount of sugar. This level of craftsmanship shines in the flavor of her products.

With pairings like silver lime and ginger, Meyer lemon and rosemary, apricot and almond, Santa Rosa plum and Provencal lavender, Seckel pear and ginger, strawberry and rose geranium... you see how this is not your supermarket Smuckers. This is pure fruit essence preserved in a jar, complimented with herbs and flowers.

I ordered my favorite pear and vanilla fruit butter, but also decided to experiment with blackberry and lemon verbena conserve, Astrachan apple and vanilla butter, and strawberry spearmint syrup. Blackberry is always my favorite jam flavor so that was easy, the apple made me think of apple bombolonis and the strawberry spearmint syrup sounded like the base of a great salad dressing.

June Taylor Jams are available in her shop in Berkeley or at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. You can also order online from her site. She also teaches classes. The next classes are later this month and next month in marmalade making.

Now, to make some toast...

Cheese Straws

Looking for a tasty party snack for New Year's? These are easy, they come together in the food processor and can be prepped ahead of time. Just wrap the dough and refrigerate it until you're ready to roll them out and bake them.

This is Mark Bittman's recipe and I like that he adds Parmesan to the cheddar for a more complex flavor. These are like a deluxe version of the Cheese Nip crackers of your childhood, but much better.

These make a great party snack with a beer, but would also be good with fruit, or on the side of a bowl of soup or beans.

Keep in mind that the cheeses are fairly salty. I didn't add any salt to the dough, but did sprinkle a tiny bit of coarse sea salt over the top of them for a little crunch. If you do that, use a very light hand.



Cheese Straws

1/2 pound sharp Cheddar
1/3 pound Parmesan
2 cups (9 ounces) flour
pinch of cayenne
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold, cut into chunks
1 cup ice water

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Grate cheese and set aside in a bowl.

Put flour and cayenne into a food processor and pulse briefly to combine.

Add butter chunks and process until combined.

Add cheeses and process in pulses until combined.

Dough will be fairly dry. Add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough just begins to come together.

Dump out the dough on to a clean counter (a silpat or some parchment makes for easier clean-up).

Knead dough by hand, adding more ice water as needed to bring it together into a dough. (I ended up using over 1/2 cup of ice water.)

At this point, you can wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate until the day of serving.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface (using a floured pin) or between two pieces of plastic wrap. Roll out evenly until it's 1/4-inch thick. Using a pizza cutter or a wavy pastry cutter, cut into strips. You can then cut the strips into pieces (or diamonds if you make the second cut on an angle) as big as you'd like. I found bite-sized pieces were easier to handle for me and for eaters later.

Sprinkle tops very lightly with coarse sea salt, if you like.

Bake on a greased or silpat/parchment-lined baking sheet for 6-8 minutes until golden.

Best served slightly warm.

Serves as least 8-10 depending on size.

Adapted from Mark Bittman in the New York Times.

Meyer Lemon Cranberry Bread

The Meyer Lemons have appeared again and I couldn't take it anymore. I had to bake something with them. This cranberry lemon loaf was just the thing. The tartness of the dried cranberries plays off the sweetness of the Meyer Lemons. This is a beautiful treat for the holidays either for breakfast or with a cup of tea. The cranberries make a festive confetti throughout the batter. And the glaze adds an extra little kick of that Meyer Lemon flavor I love so much.

You can make these as muffins or a loaf. I'm including directions for both. Thought I noted that the muffins didn't brown as beautifully on top as the loaf. They were a bit pale on top, but still very tasty.

I started with Rebecca Rather's Lemon Cranberry Loaf Cake recipe from The Pastry Queen cookbook. She uses regular lemons, fresh cranberries and milk in her batter. I switched to Meyer Lemons, dried cranberries and buttermilk. I also reduced the sugar since Meyer Lemons are so much sweeter than regular lemons. Plan ahead, you'll need to take your butter out ahead of time to bring it to room temp.



Meyer Lemon Cranberry Bread/Muffins

batter:
1 cup dried cranberries
1 2/3 cups flour (all-purpose)
1 tablespoon flour (for cranberries)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon organic Meyer Lemon zest (1-2 Meyer Lemons)

glaze:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Meyer Lemon juice (from 2 Meyer Lemons)


Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray. (Or if you're making muffins, line a cupcake pan with 12 cups with cupcake papers.)

In a small bowl, stir the dried cranberries with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside. (This will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the dough.)

With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for one minute until fluffy.

Add the eggs and beat on medium-high for another minute.

Add half the flour, the baking powder and the salt. Mix together on low until just combined.

Add half the buttermilk. Mix on low until just combined.

Add the remaining flour. Mix again until just combined.

Add the remaining buttermilk and mix until combined.

With your fingers, sprinkle the zest over the top of the batter to distribute it evenly. Add the dried cranberries and fold together until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan (or muffin cups) and bake for one hour (or 20-25 minutes for muffins). Test for doneness with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it's ready to come out of the oven.

Make the glaze:
Combine the juice and sugar in a bowl and stir in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Alternatively, microwave for 30 seconds, then stir, then another 30 seconds. Stir again until sugar is dissolved.

Let loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from pan. (Remove muffins from cupcake pan immediately and let cool on a cooling rack.)

With a toothpick, pierce the top of the loaf (or muffins) gently. Using a pastry brush, brush the top with the glaze. It will penetrate into the holes providing little bursts of sunshiny Meyer Lemon flavor.

Makes one loaf or 12 muffins.

Adapted from The Pastry Queen cookbook by Rebecca Rather.

Gift Ideas, part 2

Here's the second part of my gift ideas list. These are all food-related products. Hope they give you fun inspiration for your gift-giving.



Mod Salad Servers. These are so much fun. They come in 10 different colors and patterns to brighten up your holiday table.

Il Buddino buddha molds. These were available in Italy over a year ago, but you couldn't get them here. I waited and waited and looked and looked, then finally found them in the U.S. I haven't had a chance to try them out yet, but I'm looking forward to brushing them with melted chocolate, then filling them with ice cream. They look fun in your kitchen too.

Silicone number, letter and symbol ice cube trays. I'm just enough of a type geek to wish you could get these in different typefaces, but they look like great fun to play with.




Tikoli Dish Towels. Our kitchen is still stuck in the "before" stage with the original linoleum and orange pine cabinets common in our neighborhood. One day we'll give it a facelift, but until then, I've found that something as simple as a fun dishtowel can brighten things up. These are bright and funky and come in gorgeous colors and patterns.

Roots & Shoots plates. These come from the Savannah College of Art and Design shop. There are four plates, each with it's own integrated tree design. They're made of melamine so they're great for outdoor use. These are so beautiful I'm thinking of ordering more.

Side-swipe beater for KitchenAid mixers. I'm intrigued by these silicone beater blades that thoroughly wipe the sides of the mixer bowl for better mixing. Would love to hear if someone has tried them and what they thought.



Flexible measuring cups. These silicone measuring cups make for easy pouring and they nest together for efficient storage.

Spoon scale. How ingenious! If you're a baker and like to measure precisely by weight, these would be great for small amounts. Measures down to 1/10 of a gram. This source is in the U.K., haven't located it in the U.S. yet.

Stainless scoop. The perfect scoop to keep in the sugar bin or flour bin.



Modern Potter teapot. I don't even use a teapot, but the shape of this modern, German model has me pining for this one just to look at proudly on my stove.

Japanese soup pots. I'm still working on perfecting my favorite Japanese soup, nabeyaki udon, to be able to make it at home. When I do, my reward may be a set of these cast iron Yamaga Nabe pots to serve it in.

Honeycomb plates. These would be beautiful for serving cookies and desserts, especially anything flavored with honey.




Dog cookie cutters. Whether you want this cute puppy shape or you'd rather have one to match your favorite breed, they've got them all here.

Vintage design dish towels. These are more old school design but the purple stripe has an unexpected zing.

Large pastry tip set. These large tips are great for fat icing designs or for cookies but seem to be hard to find. This set even comes with a cleaning brush.

Gift Ideas

The holiday season is upon us. Whether you're looking for ideas for gifts so you can play Santa or you're writing your own list to Santa, here are some items that have caught my eye. This post will include books and food treats. My next post will have food products.

Books


Baked, New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Recipes from their bakery in Brooklyn. This one is at the top of my list.

Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with 200 Magnificent Recipes by Shirley Corriher. Learn the science behind baking from the James Beard award-winning author of Cookwise and former chemist. You may have seen her on Alton Brown's Good Eats. This is a must-have for any baker.

The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet (and Sur La Table). I heard an informative interview with Mushet recently on the KCRW's podcast Good Food discussing ways to freeze doughs and batters for holiday baking. Includes step-by-step photos. Another baking must-have.

Heirloom Beans from Rancho Gordo's Steve Sando and Vanessa Barrington. Descriptions of the variety of heirloom beans available and what to do with them.

For more cookbook ideas, check out the newly updated list of my favorite cookbooks in the column on the right.


Food Treats


Kakawa chocolate candies. These are our favorite chocolate candy to turn people on to and we especially love that they are locally produced in Austin. A whole roasted cocoa bean is coated in layers of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate and then dusted with cocoa. We try new chocolates all the time and while we find new favorites, these are always at the top of the list. You can buy them direct at the Kakawa booth at the Austin Farmers' Market downtown on Saturday mornings. You can also find them at Central Market, Whole Foods or you can order them online. Be sure to get an extra bag for yourself.

Recchiuti's chocolate-covered key lime pears. I discovered these while visiting the Recchiuti store in the Ferry Market in San Francisco. Pears and chocolate seem an odd combination, but these thin candied slices are out of this world. They make an excellent accompaniment to David Lebovitz's pear caramel ice cream recipe. I have the recipe for these in the Recchiuti coookbook. Haven't tried making them myself yet, but I will.

Petrossian hot chocolate on a stick. I haven't tried these yet, but I'm intrigued. Cubes of Belgian chocolate (in dark or hazelnut flavors) that you swirl into your hot milk to make hot chocolate. Yum.




Vosges chocolate bars. These are another long-time favorite. I like the Black Pearl bar - dark chocolate with wasabi, ginger and sesame seeds. My husband's favorite is the Red Fire - dark chocolate with ancho and chipotle peppers and cinnamon. They have these and many more exotic flavors in truffles and large and small bars. They make great gifts. Find them online or some of their flavors can be found at Whole Foods.

Vosges hot drinking chocolate. This is not your usual powdered cocoa mix. Vosges couture cocoas contain chunks of real shaved chocolate and spices. You have to strain it after infusing your warm milk or cream, it's so thick! Our favorite is the Aztec - the same flavors as the Red Fire bar above but in hot chocolate form. It will warm you right up. A little of this goes a long, long way, so it's truly a treat to receive.

Vosges bombalina candies. These are new and I can't wait to try them. Smoked almonds, dried mango, cashews and espresso beans coated in flavored chocolate. The almonds and hazelnuts are calling my name.




479° gourmet popcorn. 479° is apparently the perfect temperature for popping corn. And their popcorn, with flavors like smoked sea salt, black truffle and white cheddar, chipotle caramel, fleur de sel caramel, Vietnamese cinnamon sugar, and smoky Spanish paprika with tomato and onion, make the perfect fancy treat. Order online.

Baked Ideas' gingerbread yoga people. For the yogi in your life. These are just too cute. Wish I could find cookie cutters like this! Order online.

Vanilla sea salt. I haven't gotten my hands on any of this yet, but I want to try making cookies and caramels and finish them with this salt. Order it online here or here (in varying sizes).