Deep Dark Pistachio Biscotti

At this point you are probably wondering if I realize how many biscotti recipes have already been posted on this blog. My answer - don't worry about it. At the risk of sounding harsh, I will explain that I have a serious weakness for crunchy Italian treats and that it is very hard to find packaged version that don't taste like stale cookies.

This recipe a lot of things going for it, a slight resemblance to the American classic chocolate chip cookie, grown up elegance of dark chocolate and the salty balance of pistachios. If think you have "been there done that" with biscotti, give these guys a chance.


Deep Dark Pistachio Biscotti 

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil 
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 1/4 cup al purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 lb dark chocolate, chopped
• 2 cups pistachios, chopped

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Prep two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl combine oil, eggs and sugar. In a separate bowl mix flour and baking, then slowly add to the oil, eggs and sugar. Chop chocolate and pistachios. For the chocolate, any dark chocolate bar will work but I prefer Belgium dark chocolate from Trader Joe's that you can buy a wonderfully large 5lb brick. Add chocolate and pistachios. Dough will be a thick and you might have to use your hands to make sure everything is evenly distributed.  

Divide dough in a half, placing one section on each cookie sheet. Mold dough into a log as long and evenly as possible, roughly 1ft by 3in and 1in thick. 

Place both cookie sheets in the oven for 25-30 min. They should be golden brown but be careful not to over bake. 

Let cool for 10-15 min and then cut into sections. I like to cut eat log in half longwise first and then cut to size depending on how many cookies I need. Place cut-side down and then back into the oven they go for another 10 min. 

So there it is - another biscotti recipe! Did I mention that they can be kept in an air-tight container for a whole week and still taste delicious? Your next cup of coffee or tea will thank you. 

Strawberry Swing Cupcakes

Strawberries and cream. A flavor couple that has stood the test of time, evolving but always staying committed to each other. While you can't go wrong with a large bowl of ripe of strawberries and fresh whipped cream, these cupcakes may become a new favorite and since they use strawberry jam, a great way to get your fix even after the weather has turned.

This recipe showed up on my Pinterest feed (yes, I am a Pinterest-er), and I was instantly intrigued by the title. Not too often do I see a recipe that doesn't involve fifteen desserts rolled into one and then baked together and then covered in chocolate and sprinkles. Also they make me think of strawberry ice cream and when in doubt, you can't go wrong with strawberry ice cream.

Strawberry Buttermilk Cupcakes

(adapted from Take a Megabite)

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 3/4 t salt
• 1 cup buttermilk 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 butter
• 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 1/2 t pure vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Whisk together flour, salt baking powder and soda

3) In a separate bowl or mixer beat sugar and butter until smooth. Add eggs, yolk and vanilla. Carefully add in the flour mixture, alternating between mixing to avoid a kitchen full of flour. 

3) Place in muffin tins. Normally fill about 3/4 full but sometimes I like larger cupcakes so I filled almost to the top, especially if using the wax paper shown below. 

4) Bake for 15-18 minutes and then wait patiently until they cool so you can add the frosting, aka the best part. 

Strawberry Jam Frosting
(also adapted from Take a Megabite)

• 8 t butter or 1 stick 
• 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup strawberry jam (I used one from Trader Joe's, inexpensive and all natural!) 
• at least 3 cups powdered sugar 

1) Beat butter until smooth, add vanilla and jam. Slowly add powdered sugar until it looks fluffy and kind of shiny. To be honest, I lost track of the exact amount but I wanted to have plenty of frosting so I added a little more than the original recipe. 

2) Try to exhibit some self control and not eat all it straight out of bowl...Now pipe or just spread onto cupcakes. I didn't add the dried strawberries because they were expensive but next time I will probably splurge just because they would look really pretty. 

 

They were absolutely delicious, the buttermilk made them really moist and added a slightly tangy rather than sickly sweet taste. Not to mention the frosting which tasted like a strawberry patch in heaven. Two cupcake covered thumbs up!

Hand Me the Pie

Hopefully I had your attention at the word pie, after all who can resist another pie recipe? Perhaps it is because cake and cupcakes are seemingly everywhere nowadays that pie has a certain refreshing taste to it. Then again I have always been on team pie. I would have a t-shirt that says so if random-opinion screen print t-shirts weren't the only thing more outdated than using the phrase "team" anything...

Not so convinced? Let me sweeten the pot, you can eat this pie with YOUR HANDS. That's right folks, no fancy silverware or even plates required while still retaining a sense of dignity. Now you can now enjoy some pie while walking the dog or dropping the kids off to school. It might even make waiting at the DMV enjoyable. Maybe. Or you can sneak them into the movie theatre like I did. 

Known as hand pies, these are essentially the cupcake of pie world. I used this recipe from Bon Appetite which always lures me in with there wonderful photography and styling. Mine did not turn out quite as neat as the picture on the website, but the taste was wonderful enough to erase any disappointments. The only real modification I had was to add more lemon juice, which is more of a personal preference than anything else (I always, always add more lemon or more vanilla). 

If you don't mind taking the extra time to make your own pie crust I would strongly recommend it. Homemade dough going to be easier to roll out into a rectangle which is key for making uniform, clean pies. Or you could just get the store-bought dough and stuff them like calzones. 

 Either way, these hand pies can make nearly any time pie time!

Ciabatta Chicken Salad Sandwich

Sometimes all the elements come together and you have sitting before you an absolutely perfect meal. Ever since college lunch as a meal kind of ceased to exist for me, replaced by random snacks throughout the day anchored by a strong breakfast and dinner. Since I have to yet to work a normal 9-5ish job, lunch and I are still not very close. When I do eat lunch though, I want it in the traditional sandwich and chips combo. In a world dominated by fast food and boring sandwiches there is something satisfyingly old fashioned about a solid sandwich.

If really want to treat yourself with a sandwich, chicken salad is the way to go. Please be warned, the following is in no way low calorie but it is worth every work out you must do to justify eating it.

Pictured above is store bough chicken from the one and only wonderland that is Costco on their ciabatta roll. I added freshly sliced tomatoes but other options include sliced grapes, almonds, cranberries or honey. If you are making it from scratch, focus on simple ingredients and quality chicken (leftover rotisserie chicken is perfect). This recipe here is a good base that you can modify to suit your tastes. 

Now just pour yourself a classy glass of sparkling water and enjoy a relaxing break wherever you are. 

Do You Know the Muffin Man? Part 1

Oh muffins, the love child of coffee cake and cupcakes. As I attempt to detox from the sugar overload of the holidays, the search has been on for recipes are delicious but still healthy. Oranges are always great but they are especially fantastic this time of year, the citrus is a great winter pick up me up.

So my mom and sister could partake in the muffin-y goodness I made these gluten-free. Since we have the cup for cup flour, all this really meant was using that in place of the regular flour. As with most g-free baking the batter was a little thicker so I added 1/4 cup water and a just a bit more oil (stay tuned for a future post dedicated to g-free baking/substitutions!).

In the photo above I added a topping of whipped cream and extra grated rind, inching closer to the desert genre without adding a ton of extra sugar or calories since I am trying to be "healthy." Plus it just looks cool.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

   adapted from Food.com

• 2 cups gluten free flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cranberries
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 3 teaspoons orange rind 
• 1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. 

2. Stir in cranberries

3. In a medium bowl beat egg, oil, orange juice, and orange rind. 

4. Add to dry ingredients all at once. 

5. Stir until just combined

6.  Add water and extra oil as needed so that batter is moist but not runny

7. Spoon into muffin cups or greased muffin pan, 3/4 full. 

8. Bake 15-20min

9. (optional) Once cooled, top with whipped cream and grated orange rind. 

10. EAT 

Treat Yo Self

Mondays have always been a dark spot on the seven day week, and in the winter that darkness seems even more difficult to overcome. Can we all just agree that everything should just start an hour or two later in as long as it is pitch black and 10 degrees outside in the morning?

So when you have that Monday that involves that involves missing your alarm, unruly hair, spilled coffee, a car that also gives up in the winter AND assuming you don't have a doting significant other; sometimes you just gotta go out and buy yourself a bottle of wine, some fresh flowers and a box of licorice.  In the ever wise words of Parks and Recreation - treat yo self.

Salted Chocolate Pistachio Brownies

When it comes to a crowd pleasing party dessert it is hard to beat brownies. They have all the necessary characteristics such as easy to prepare, transportable, and able to consume without silverware. Not the mention the fact that are made with CHOCOLATE. I for one have a hard time trusting people who say they don't like chocolate, but that's for another time. 

While brownies can get saturated on the potluck gathering scene, they are incredibly easy to modify and turn into something more. So the next time you want to make sure your brownies get picked over all the other desserts in the crowd, give this recipe a try. They are like wearing a glittering black dress over a plain one - classy but memorable. 

To accommodate my mom and sister I used to a gluten-free brownie box as my base, but you could use any box or your favorite recipe. My regular flour choice of the boxed variety is Ghiradelli double chocolate, always amazing especially for the price. 

And now for the pistachio topping, the glitter on the black dress if you will. I used a generous handful of pistachios, shelled and then finely chopped. If you aren't super skilled with a knife, just chop them as small as you can without risking the tips of your fingers (you could even leave them whole). Once the batter has been poured into the dish, place pistachios evenly on top. For the final touch, add a sprinkle of sea salt on top of the nuts. 

One mistake commonly made in any kind of brownie is over-baking them. Everybody just needs to calm down on their baking times and stop being afraid of anything that isn't "golden brown" when you take it out of the oven. I would suggest cutting the recommended baking time by about 5 min and then checking the brownies with a toothpick: if they are firm on top with some batter on the toothpick, they are done. If the toothpick comes out with a runny liquid or if the top is not solid then put them back in the oven for the extra 5 min. Also, as with almost all desserts, make sure your pan is in the center of the oven for the most even bake.    

The result is a salty-sweet chocolate delight that will be sure to get a second glances and satisfied taste buds. All those all other brownies have no idea what they are up against.