You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'baked goods' tag.
A few ideas from throughout the blogosphere for healthy Valentine’s Day treats you can make your loved one:
I’ve been wanting to make gluten-free cookies for a while, but uncertain of how to really go about it. Most gluten-free recipes involve multiple flours–chickpea, garbanzo bean, brown rice, white rice, tapioca starch… the list goes on. But, if I’m going to succeed living a gluten-free lifestyle, at some point I have to brave this new world of baking.
I browsed through the blog gluten-free girl blog, which is a storehouse of great recipes and know-how about cooking. She has to many great recipes for cookies and cupcakes and brownies… but in the end, I decided I would pick one with only two flours: lemon olive oil cookies. It looked easy enough, so I was ready to try it. The recipe calls for white rice flour; however, I couldn’t find that, so I used brown rice flour instead. They tasted fine, but I imagine the brown rice flour made it abit more grainy. I loved the lemon-y goodness of these cookies! They’re very refreshing and light.
LEMON OLIVE OIL COOKIES
Gluten-Free Girl
1/4 c plain, nonfat yogurt
1/4 lemon olive oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
1 egg
zest and juice of one lemon
1/2 white rice flour (I used brown rice flour)
1/4 c tapioca flour
1/2 almond meal*
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350°.
First, combine the yogurt and olive oil well. Stir in the egg, then the lemon juice and zest, to make a coherent mixture.
Next, combine all the dry ingredients together. Slowly, fold the wet ingredients into the dry. The dough will be sticky. In fact, you might have dough all over your fingers by the time this process is done. Oh darn.
Form small balls with the sticky dough and roll each ball into sugar. This will make the finished cookies crunchy and shimmery. Place on a baking sheet covered with a silpat, or a layer of parchment paper.
Cook for twelve minutes, approximately. The cookies will be soft at this point, but they will feel fully formed. Let them sit on the baking sheet, on the top of the oven, for about five minutes.
Carefully, move the cookies to a cooling rack. Let them sit there for another five minutes, during which time they will harden in the air.
*Almond meal is simply almonds ground very finely. You can buy it (I like Trader Joe’s brand) or you can make your own by putting almonds into a food processor and blending until very fine (but stop before it becomes almond butter).
One of my favorite restaurants in New York City is Angelica Kitchen in the East Village. I ate there last night and, as always, ordered their special cornbread, which is wheat-free and deeeelish. It’s super moist and dense… and not necessarily what you would expect a cornbread to be.
I received a copy of their cookbook, The Angelica Home Kitchen, for Christmas and decided to try out the cornbread. I was surprised that it was made primarily from brown rice, oats, corn, and apple juice… I never would have guessed!
This is perfect for the winter, as it’s hearty and dense. It’s the perfect accompaniment to a soup or even toasted in the morning for breakfast. It’s packed with fiber, which will leave you satisfied for hours
ANGELICA CORNBREAD
The Angelica Home Kitchen
Makes 6 to 8 generous pieces, or 1 small loaf.
Ingredients
3 c cooked brown rice
1 1/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
3 cups apple cider or apple juice [Note: I used 100% apple juice]
1/4 cup unrefined corn oil plus more for brushing the pan [note: I used extra virgin olive oil]
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked rice, rolled oats, cornmeal, apple cider (or juice), sea salt, and corn oil. Mix well using a wooden spoon or whisk.
Lightly oil a 9×5x3-inch loaf pan and sprinkle with sesame seeds. This prevents the bread from sticking to the pan and adds a delicious toasty sesame flavor.
Fill the pan with batter, smoothing the top with a spatula.
Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool before serving.
For those of you who know me, you probably know that I try to avoid recipes that require rolling out dough. For some reason, all my life, I’ve hated making anything that required rolling from christmas cookies to pie crusts. For my New Year’s Eve dinner, however, I decided to test my under-used skills and make crackers from scratch.
I ended up deciding on Patricia Well’s recipe from Vegetable Harvest for spicy polenta-cheese crackers. Turns out, they were quite easy to make. The polenta soaks up the buttermilk nicely, making the dough very easy to work with. Best of all, the dough only has to sit for 15 minutes; a far cry from the several hours usually required for roll out confections.
Spicy Polenta-Cheese Crackers
1 cup bread flour [I used whole wheat pastry flour]
1 cup instant polenta
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper [I used a bit more, for an extra kick]
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 1/2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
3/4 cup buttermilk, shaken to blend
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a food processor or a blender, combine the flour, polenta, sea salt, baking soda, cayenne pepper, and cheese. Process to blend. Add the butter and process just until the mixture resemble coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and process until the dough just forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for a few seconds. Wrap in plastic and set aside at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Cut the dough into quarters. Set one quarter on a lightly floured surface; cover the remaining pieces with plastic. Roll out the dough 1/16 inch thick. Using a 1 3/4-inch biscuit cutter or a glass, cut out rounds of dough and arrange them on a nonstick baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake until the crackers are golden and crisp, 12 to 15 minutes. Once cool, transfer to airtight containers. The crackers can be stored in an airtight container for up to two weeks. [Note: watch crackers carefully to make sure they don't burn!]
I’m currently obsessed with Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I got it a while ago and have been slowly plodding through. There are some great recipes included, written by Barbara’s daughter, Camille. (You can find them online here).
I decided to make her Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies this weekend. I’m not a big proponent of hiding vegetables in food a la Jessica Seinfeld, especially if it’s designed to trick kids to eat more vegetables. It seems to me that this method only reinforces that vegetables are icky… because otherwise why would they have to be hidden?
BUT I decided that zucchini would enhance the cookies–much like they do in zucchini bread. And I was right. The cookies are great–a nice moist texture, flavorful, and chocolate-y.
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
Camille Kingsolver
makes approx. 2 dozen
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c honey [I substituted agave nectar]
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg [I didn't have any, so put in extra cinnamon
1 c finely shredded zucchini
12 oz chocolate chips
Combine flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the egg, butter, sugar, honey, and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients with the mixture. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful onto a greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. [I baked them 10 minutes].
Tired of oatmeal? Looking to splurge on a delicious breakfast treat? Check out Restaurant Girl’s list of the places to get a donut, croissant, foccacia–whatever your preference might be.
(My favorite–a tie between Levain Bakery and Bouchon Bakery)
About three months ago, I determined I was sensitive to gluten. One day I realized that it’s probably not normal to always feel a little tired and a little congested–our bodies aren’t built like that. I suspected it was either wheat or gluten, so I removed both from my diet for two weeks. I felt great: more energy, more mental clarity, less congestion. Since then, I’ve been leading a (mostly; I’ve had some slip ups) gluten-free lifestyle.
This recipe is adapted from Ania Catalano’s book, Baking With Agave Nectar. It’s adapted because I bought chickpea flour and then, after making them, realized it actually called for quinoa flour. I had never actually cooked with chickpea flour, but figured the gritty texture would work well with the cornmeal–corn muffins aren’t meant to have a fine, fluffy texture, so it was a safe bet.
The texture came out really well. They burned a bit on the top, so I’d reduce the cooking time next time. I’ll also try it again and add a bit more agave nectar (recipe adjusted accordingly below).
Blueberry Corn Muffins
1 c cornmeal
1 c quinoa flour [I used chickpea flour]
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 – 1/2 c agave nectar, depending on how sweet you’d like them
1/4 c light agave nectar
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
7 oz 2% greek yogurt + 1 oz water
Freshly grated zest of one lemon
1 1/2 c fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 350. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, agave, olive oil, vanilla, yogurt, water, and lemon zest. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir into incorporated. Gently stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
