Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies

Cookies...cookies....more cookies!! It all started with trying out Katie's Peanut Butter Secrets which led to cookie baking weekend. Of course, this is the season for candy cane, so I bought a box of candy canes to try out few recipes. The idea behind making my flourless chocolate cookies was to make the chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies. Although, I enjoyed the soft and chewy texture, I wanted to make them slightly firmer to hold the filling. I made these bite-size, so you don't feel guilty about having them. These cookies were not too minty but just the right flavor to set you in the holiday mood.

Adapted from Katie's Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Ingredients:

For the chocolate cookies:

1/2 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp oil
2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

1/2 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
2 peppermint candy canes, crushed 
3 tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 tsp oil (preferably, flavorless)

Method:

In a bowl, add the spelt flour, cocoa powder,salt, baking soda, baking powder and brown sugar and mix well. 

In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients (oil, applesauce and vanilla extract). Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir well to combine. 

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Make small balls using the dough and place them on the sheet and flatten the cookies. Bake for 8 mins. Allow to cool for 5-10 mins.

Place the candy canes in a plastic bag and crush them using a rolling pin. Set aside.

Using a double boiler (set a bowl over a saucepan with hot water over low heat), melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips. When the chocolate begins to melt, add the oil and stir well. Now, add half of the crushed candy cane into the melted chocolate and mix well. If you are using peppermint extract, add it to the melted chocolate and stir well.

Using a spatula, spread the above filling on the back of a cookie and sprinkle little crushed candy cane on top of the filling, use another cookie to seal the top by slightly pressing it to make them stick together. I spread a little of the melted chocolate on the side of the sandwich cookie and rolled it on the crushed candy cane to make it look a bit more festive but its totally optional. Repeat the process for the remaining cookies.

For a variation, you can try using white chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolates. I am not a fan of white chocolate (since its technically not chocolate), so I used semi-sweet chocolates chips.

Makes 18-19 cookies (approx. 9 sandwich cookies).

Chocolate Cookies

Cookies are probably one of my most favorite baked treats. Recently, I was craving cookies (most of my cravings occur during late nights) and needed a quick fix recipe. I have been making a list of  a whole bunch of recipes to make before the end of the year with the holidays in mind. Before I could go ahead with the other recipes, I wanted to try making cookies without any of the usual baking flours. Browsing through my pantry, I came across a packet of almond meal, so I decided to bake a small batch of chocolate cookies (started out more like a trial and error kinda thing).Who can go wrong with chocolate anyways??  It ended up being delicious. Occasionally, I enjoy eating soft cookies but these ended up being chewy too (usually, not a fan of chocolate but surprisingly, hubby enjoyed them the most). 

Ingredients:

1 cup almond meal 

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda 

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tbsp vegan butter (like earth balance), optional

3 tbsp light brown sugar (reduce to 2 tbsp, if you like it less sweeter)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2  - 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce (I added 2 tbsp)

Method:

In a bowl, add the almond meal, baking powder, salt, baking soda, brown sugar and mix well. 

In a small pan, melt the butter and add the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Stir well and mix till the chocolate melts completely. Set aside.

Now, add the chocolate sauce to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the vanilla extract and unsweetened applesauce and stir well. The dough will be slightly wet and sticky but if you prefer your cookies to be less chewy, use 3 tbsp of semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1 1/2 tbsp applesauce.  Let the dough rest for about 10 mins or so (although I couldn't wait that long). 

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop the dough using a cookie scoop or a spoon (for medium cookies, use a teaspoon measure).  Bake for 10-12 mins. 

The cookies might seem underdone but cool for 5-10 mins until they firm up. Enjoy!!

Note: The 2nd batch I made, I forgot to add the brown sugar and it tasted just fine. So, you can omit the sugar and enjoy your soft cookies.

Makes 10 cookies.

Fruit Cake

Fruit cake is one of the most popular cakes during the christmas season. Back home, all through my growing up years, every christmas, someone or the other used to bring home fruit cakes (also known as plum cakes in India) which kinda got boring after a while and probably that's why I wasn't fond of fruit cakes. I suppose one of the other reasons was the distinct flavor, bakeries tend to go heavy on the rum, which was a turn off for me.

A couple weeks ago, one of my good friend asked if I could make a plum cake for her. I had to be modest and ended up telling her that I have never made a plum cake before but will surely bake her one. So, I took it up as an assignment to find a recipe to bake the perfect cake. Trying to find a good recipe is a challenge by itself and eventually I came across one that I liked. Although the original recipe uses eggs, I made some tweaks and was very happy with the outcome. I agree that the cake didn't turn out as dark as it needs to be, but the taste was spot on. The cake that I actually baked for my friend was half-gone couple hours after I baked it and so ended up making another one exclusively for her.

So, here's a delicious fruit cake perfect for the holiday season...

Adapted from Kitchen Secrets 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup organic spelt flour + 1 tbsp (or whole wheat pastry flour or all-purpose flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice powder
1/2 cup fruit cake mix (I used SR brand fruit mix) 
2 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp dried cranberries
2 tbsp walnuts, chopped
2 tbsp cashewnuts, chopped
2 tbsp almonds, blanched and chopped
1/2 tsp rum extract (for darker rum flavor, use 1 to 1 1/2 tsp rum extract or 1-2 tbsp rum)
1/2 cup orange juice, no pulp (you can reduce it to 1/4 cup for a firmer texture)
5 tbsp vegan butter (I used earth balance)
2 tsp flaxmeal
1/4 cup light brown sugar (or raw sugar)
1/2 tbsp powdered sugar, for decoration (optional)
1/2 cup red cherries, halved, for decoration (optional)

For caramel:

1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup water + 1 tbsp

Method:

To prepare the caramel sauce:

In a deep pan, add the raw sugar and 1 tbsp water and allow to boil on medium heat. When the sugar starts boiling it, it will turn gooey, remove from heat and add 1/4 cup water while slowly stirring the sauce. Place the pan back on medium-low heat and keep stirring occasionally till the sugar dissolves completely and the caramel starts turning from golden brown to dark brown. The entire process takes about 10-12 mins. Make sure the caramel doesn't turn too dark otherwise it will give a bitter taste. After it cools down a bit, add the rum extract, mix well and set aside.

In a small bowl, add the fruit cake mix (or you can also use a mix of cherries, dates, apricots, dried pineapples, candied orange peels or the zest of 1/2 orange), walnuts, almonds, cashewnuts (or any nuts of your choice). Add 1 tbsp of the flour and mix well to coat the fruits and nut mix.

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

In a bowl, sieve the spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, allspice powder, flaxmeal and salt. Mix well to combine evenly.

In a bowl, add the butter and light brown sugar and beat well (if you are in a hurry like me, melt the butter in the microwave for 10-12 secs, cool for a min and use) until fluffy. Add the orange juice and whisk well. 

Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well until combined. 

Now, add the fruits and nut mix and caramel to the batter and mix well.

Grease a baking pan with cooking spray (or 1 tbsp butter) and pour the batter. Bake for 36-38 mins. Insert a toothpick to check if the cake is done otherwise bake it for another 5-10 mins (mine took about 36 mins). 

Cool the cake completely (unlike me, I was too tempted to wait and hence a slight crack when overturning it) and sprinkle the powdered sugar on top and decorate with red cherries (or serve as-is). Cut into slices and serve. Enjoy!!

Makes one 8" round cake.