Baking One Handed: Lactation Cookies

Five days after my last post, my husband and I welcomed our little girl into the world! She's the most amazing and beautiful baby and we could not be more proud to be her parents. To anyone who has had the blessing of becoming a parent, you know how quickly your world changes, in the best way imaginable! Now my husband does most of the cooking because I'm busy nursing.
 In the past 11 weeks, I have learned to do many things one handed including laundry, hanging cloth diapers, making grilled cheese and quesadillas, and baking cookies... Lactation cookies to be more exact.  My little love is but a napper. Once she napped for 15 minutes so I quickly whipped up a batch of my regular chocolate chip cookies. They were fabulous! I had missed them! However, I have discovered a great recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies from Simplistically Living.

I follow this recipe exactly from Simplistically Living.

Ingredients:
-2 Tbsp. Flaxseed meal
-4 Tbsp. Water
-1 C. Butter, softened
-1 C sugar
-1 C brown sugar
-2 eggs
-1 tsp. Each of Vanilla, cinnamonsalt, and baking soda
-3 Tbsp Peanut Butter
-4 Tbsp brewer's yeast
-2 C flour
-3 C oatmeal
-2 C chocolate chips

Directions: Combine the flaxseed meal and water. Let it sit while you work on the rest of the dough... Just remember to add it later! I've forgotten 2 of the 3 times I've made them and have had to add it after the chocolate chips.

Then cream butter and sugars. Beat in your eggs. Next, add vanilla, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Then stir in the brewer's yeast and the flaxseed mixture. Continue with the peanut butter and flour. The final step in the mixer (if you're using one) is to mix in the oatmeal. The dough is super thick so I hand stir the chocolate chips.

Scoop tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet. This recipe will yield about 60 cookies.

Then bake at 350° for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool and enjoy!

My thoughts on the recipe?
The cookies are delicious and anyone can eat them. No, they won't make you lactate!
I love the texture of the cookies and would have been pleased with this recipe on my hunt for the best chocolate chip cookie. I keep the cookies in the freezer and eat two during late night feedings. The peanut butter flavor is faint; the cinnamon is more noticeable. The ingredients for these are pricey, but I can make the recipe several times before needing more brewer's yeast.

And in case you're wondering, thanks to Google keyboard, I wrote this whole post one handed...


Please also note, I wrote this post about two months ago, but never added the pictures so I never published the post. Better late than never, right?

Mother's Day Dessert: Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake

I began maternity leave last week and we are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of our daughter!  Last week, I spent a morning searching recipes for a cake to bake for Mother's Day, assuming our baby didn't have other plans.  I came across this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake from Lick the Bowl Good Blog.  The blog shared that the original recipe came from the book Sky High.

I chose this recipe because it sounded nice and refreshing for a hot spring day!  While looking over the recipe, I decided I would use the short cut used on Lick the Bowl Good for the blueberry jam.  So I purchased nice blueberry jam, squeezed in the juice of one lemon and then pureed it.  Remember, I am 40+ weeks pregnant!

Then I knew I would need to change the lemon frosting recipe because the original one uses raw eggs. I've never made a recipe that uses an entire raw egg before- just egg whites.  I am curious to try it, just not while pregnant.  Luckily, I have my own lemon buttercream recipe that I LOVE.  It's the same recipe that I use for my Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes which can be found here.

Blueberry Jam from Lick the Bowl Good

Ingredients:

-1 jar of nice blueberry jam (I used Bonne Maman)

-juice of a lemon

Squeeze the juice from a lemon and puree with the jam.  

Now on to the recipe from Sky High:

The Cake

Ingredients:

-2 sticks of butter, softened

-2 C. sugar

-2 tsp. lemon zest (I zested an entire lemon and didn't measure)

-1 1/2 tsp. lemon extract (oddly, something I always have in my baking supplies)

-7 egg whites

-3 C. cake flour (read below for my substitution)

-4 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. salt

- 1 1/4 C. milk

Cream together the butter, sugar, lemon zest, and extract.  Mix in a few egg whites at a time.  Once well combined, add in the dry ingredients alternating with the milk.  

I hate to get  a second bowl out to mix the dry ingredients. What I always do is mix in the baking powder and salt (or whatever small amounts of dry ingredients are needed).  Then I alternate adding the flour with the milk.  That saves me from having one more dish to wash! (I'd like to insert again, remember I am 40+ weeks pregnant, but I have always done this...)

Then you scoop out 1 C. of the batter.  Evenly distribute the batter between three 8" cake pans that have been greased, floured, and covered with parchment paper.  Using the reserved batter, mix in 2 1/2 Tbsp. of the blueberry jam.  Next, spoon in the blueberry batter and swirl it around to give it the marbled effect.  I used a skewer, which was recommend on the blog to swirl the batter.  I don't think it was the most effective method.  Next time, I think I would use a spoon and fold the blueberry batter in to make the cake more marbled.

Bake the cakes for 20-25 minutes at 350.  Allow the cakes to cool for about ten minutes before flipping them from the pan.  Then allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.

Use the remaining blueberry jam (I thought it was quite runny after pureeing the jam so I put it in the refrigerator it to allow to firm up a bit) to spread in between the layers of cake.

The Buttercream from me!

-1 cup butter, softened
-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 tablespoons heavy cream
-juice of 1 lemon
-1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

With an electric mixer, cream together butter in a bowl. Add a 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time. Mix in one at a time, vanilla, cream, lemon juice and lemon extract. Scrape the sides of the bowl in between adding the ingredients. Beat on high for 10 minutes until frosting is light and fluffy.

This made enough batter for the cake since you use the jam in between the layers of cake. Frost the cake and decorate.

Don't forget the crumb coat when frosting! I think this was one of the most useful cake decorating tips I've ever received!

As always, enjoy!

Garlic Lemon Chicken Kabobs

I've been wanting to write a post with this recipe for awhile now.  This recipe is for our most loved chicken kabob recipe.  We make others when we want a break from this one, but this one just wins big every time.  This recipe for Garlic Lemon Chicken Kabobs comes from Annie's Eats blog.  This is a quick and flavorful meal.  We usually just eat the kabobs with peppers and onions and a side of some sort of fruit.

Ingredients:
-3 Tbsp. EVOO
-Zest of 1 lemon
-juice of half a lemon*
-3 cloves of garlic
-1 Tbsp. parsley (fresh or dried*)
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
-1/2 tsp. pepper

-1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1/2 red bell pepper*
-1/2 green bell pepper*
-1 white onion*

Combine the first seven ingredients into a medium bowl.  Cube the chicken and add to the marinade.  Annie's Eats says to marinade for at least two hours.  I can tell you many times where we completely forgot and let it marinate for about 15 minutes and it still as flavorful.  Then, cut the onions and peppers into large chunks.  Skewer the marinated chicken, along with the onions and peppers.  Grill until done (about 10 minutes).

We do add some freshly squeeze lemon juice to the marinade because you are already zesting a lemon, so why not squeeze in some juice?  We don't always have fresh parsley and have had to substitute dried parsley which also works fine.

This is a recipe you want to be sure to try soon- it'll become a summer regular.  Enjoy!

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

I really did go about the hunt for a new chocolate chip cookie recipe because I thought I was dissatisfied with my go-to recipe.  However, after various taste tests and lots of recipe hunting I realized that I didn't like any of the recipes as much as my go-to.  After testing out many recipes, I did decide to add 1 tsp. of cornstarch to help soften the cookies.

Here is my own recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:

-2 stick of unsalted butter, softened
-1 1/4 C. brown sugar
-1/2 C. sugar
-1 egg
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
-1 tsp. cornstarch
-2 C. flour
-1 C. instant oatmeal
-3/4 C. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugars until well combined.  Mix in the egg.  Once well combined, add in one ingredient at a time, in the order they appear.

Drop tablespoons of cookie dough on the cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.  The cookies will be very light in color; the bottoms should be a golden brown.

I scoop out my cookies using a cookie scoop. This time I tested to see if it was better so slightly flatten them or not.  I think they tasted the same either way.  When I didn't flatten them, they need 2 more minutes to bake.

These cookies have the right amount of saltiness.  I think the oatmeal adds a nice texture and flavor without feeling like an oatmeal raisin cookie.  The dough is fabulous (not that I've eaten any for about 9 months)!  They cookies remain soft, while slightly crunchy around the edges.  Let me know what you think!

As always, happy baking!

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

Our local paper does a cupcake contest each spring.  I have entered a recipe the last two years and have been a finalist each time.  Apparently, I haven't ever blogged either recipe...

The first year, I entered Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes.  This recipe was an original, but I severely adapted the frosting. Here's the write-up from the Herald Mail.

Last year, I entered our favorite cupcakes- Chocolate Peanut Butter and Carrot Cake.  For the chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes, I included an Oreo truffle filling.  For the carrot cake, I had a pineapple cream cheese filling.  My Loaded Carrot Cake was a finalist.  Here is the write-up from the Herald Mail.

Each year, my mom has said she thinks a Mexican Chocolate cupcake would be great. I have never made or eaten a Mexican chocolate cupcake (or Mexican chocolate for that matter).  Anyway, over spring break, I experimented and today, I submitted them to the Herald Mail's cupcake contest.  We shall see!

Here's the recipe for my original Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes.
I used my favorite chocolate cake recipe- King Arthur Flour's Favorite Fudge Cake.  I adapted it with some spices to make in Mexican chocolate.  Then I created a Mexican chocolate ganache.  Finally, I made a cinnamon buttercream.

Cupcake Ingredients:                                    

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/4 C. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 C. hot water

1 C. all-purpose flour

2 C. sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/4 C. buttermilk

1 egg

Ganache Ingredients:

3/4 C. semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

1/2 C. heavy cream

1/8 tsp. instant coffee granules

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Cinnamon Frosting:

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 C. powdered sugar

3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. heavy cream

For cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 and line 12 cupcake tins with liners.  Then mix together butter and cocoa powder until smooth.  Pour in the water and mix until well combined.  Mix in the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, chili powder, cinnamon.  Next add the vanilla and buttermilk.  Last, beat in the egg.  Your batter should be very smooth.  Distribute into 12 muffin tins and bake for about 18 minutes.

For Ganache: Melt chocolate chips and heavy cream over a double broiler.  Once melted, stir in coffee, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and chili powder.  Allow to cool.  This will be used for the cupcake filling and to drizzle over the icing.

For Frosting:  Whip the butter in your stand mixer.  Mix in the powdered sugar and beat on high speed for several minutes.  Next, add the remaining ingredients.  Mix until well combined.

Assembly:  Core the center of the cooled cupcakes.  Scoop in about a teaspoon of the ganache.  Place the top of the cupcake back on.  Pipe on the frosting.  Drizzle ganache on top.  Enjoy!

I didn't place in the cupcake contest this year, but the recipe was well-loved and I was asked if it could be used to start off a month of home cooking recipes in the paper. Here's the link to the Herald Mail article.

Another Favorite: General Tso's Chicken

As I've mentioned before, we love Chinese food!  We make Asian style food weekly in our house.  This recipe for Skinny General Tso's Chicken comes from Carlsbad Cravings. Of course I found this recipe on Pinterest awhile make.  It is on our dinner menu regularly- well about as frequently as we would eat any of our favorites (no more than once a month).  Looking at the ingredients, yes the chicken is baked, but I do wonder is this really a "skinny" recipe?

This recipe is so full of flavor you'll be thrilled you tried it.  What you won't be so thrilled about is how many ingredients and dishes get used to make this.  Our kitchen always looks like a bomb exploded when we have finished making this.

Time after time, we forget that the original recipe has you marinade the chicken. So we usually don't do that step.  We make 1/2 of the marinade/ sauce recipe and use what we've made for the sauce.

For the Sauce:
1/4 C. soy sauce
1/4 C. rice wine vinegar
1/4 C. water
1. Tbl. sesame oil
1 tsp. Sriracha
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cloves of minced garlic
2 Tbl. freshly grated ginger (We keep ours in the freezer and use it whenever it's needed)
Sprinkle of pepper
1 Tbl. cornstarch

Whisk together all of these ingredients and wait.



For the Breading:
1 C. flour
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 Tbl. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder





Egg Wash:
1 egg
1 Tbl. water

Mix the flour breading ingredients together.  Whisk together the egg and water in a separate bowl.





Then dip the chicken (we use about a pound of chicken, diced) in the egg wash.  Next coat it in the flour breading mixture.  Place the breaded chicken on a foil-lined cookie sheet and spray with EVOO.  Bake at 375 for about ten minutes.  Then flip the chicken, spray the tops with EVOO and broil for about 3 minutes on each side to make the chicken crisp.

Caramel Sauce:
1 C. sugar
1/4 C. water

In a medium sized sauce pan, bring the sugar and water to a boil for one minute.  Stir in the sauce.  At this point we usually toss in diced peppers and onions.  Once the chicken is cooked, mix the chicken into the sauce. Enjoy!


We usually have edamame and rice with this, but during the pregnancy we've been substituting the rice for couscous.

This recipe really is worth emptying out your fridge and spice cabinet.  I'll even go as far as saying it is worth all of the dishes!

Chocolate Banana Cake and Dog Treats

I am sure it happens to you too.  You buy a bunch of bananas (Did you know a bunch of bananas is called a hand?!?)  and they become overly ripe before you eat them.  We always seem to have at least one banana that this happens to, but last week it happened to the whole hand!  I did what any baker would do- I baked with them.  

The first thing that I made was Double Chocolate Banana Cake from Friday is Cake Night.

I followed the recipe exactly, except for I didn't have mini chocolate chips so I used regular ones.

Here's what you need:
-3 ripe bananas
-3/4 C. brown sugar
-1/2 C. applesauce (I used my mom's homemade applesauce which has just a hint of cinnamon in it)
-1 tsp. vanilla
-1 egg
-1 C. flour
-1/2 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1 C. semi- sweet chocolate chips

I placed the peeled bananas right in my stand mixer bowl.  I figured I could let the mixer mash up the bananas.  Then I mixed in the brown sugar.  Once that was well combined, I added the applesauce, vanilla, and egg.  I kept my mixer on a low speed while I added each ingredient.  Next, came the flour, the cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda.  I scraped the sides of the bowl once and added the best part- the chocolate chips.

I baked this in a greased pan at 350 for 25 minutes.  The result?  An extremely moist, chocolaty-rich banana cake.  When I read the blog post, I thought, "This is banana bread and I would never count it as cake in my house."  Then I ate it.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely ate it as a breakfast food (after all I had it baked before 7:30 am on Saturday), but it is extremely rich and could certainly count as dessert.

Up next on my too many ripe banana extravaganza? Dog treats for my Lilybug, of course!

I have baked a lot of different types of homemade dog treats for Lily.  She's no picky eater so there haven't been any she doesn't like!  I have made peanut butter ones, ones that use beef broth, the following recipe seems to be very healthy and a huge hit of Lily's.

This recipe is for Banana Carrot Dog Treats from Homemade Dog Treats Now.  I first tried this recipe after a friend sent me the pin because carrots are by far Lily's favorite snack.  When she was a puppy, she would even take bananas out of the grocery bag and peel them herself.  I knew she would love this recipe.

The first time I made this, I followed the recipe precisely.  This time I made a few changes.
Here's what you need:
-1 C. whole wheat flour
-1 C. of oatmeal (I only had about a 1/3 of a cup so I mixed in some prepackaged instant oatmeal).*
-2 bananas*
-2 Tbsp. coconut oil
-1 1/2 C. chopped carrots*
-1 Tbsp. parsley
-1 egg

Because I switched out the plain oatmeal for packaged instant oatmeal, I omitted the tablespoon of brown sugar that the recipe calls for.  I figured the packaged oatmeal had plenty of sugar added already.  Also, since I had so many ripe bananas, I added an extra banana to this batch.  You can tell too because the banana scent is even more intense (that or it could be my pregnancy nose!).  The original recipe calls for two carrots.  I only had baby carrots on hand- I finely chopped about 1.5 cups of carrots instead.

Once again, I started by placing the bananas right in the mixer bowl and let the paddle mash the bananas.  Then I added the flour and oatmeal.   Once that was well combined, I added the remaining ingredients.

Then you can roll out the dough, I always use a heart shaped cookie cutter for Lily.  They bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.