well...ain't t that a 'sumbitch!

"You should try making some 'Sumbitches..."

I remember agreeing with my husband when we watched the train episode of How I met Your Mother. Since then, I've made a mental note in the back of my brain to try and re-create those little suckers.

Fast forward to now. We've recently been deployed back to the states and living in Georgia means getting ingredients much more easier and much more cheaper. Huzzah! But first things first...I wanted to find a good base for my cookies. In came google search...

I knew that I wanted my base to be a peanut butter cookie. But I also wanted them to be soft and chewy so that it would go along the texture of the caramel. Also, I wanted them to stay soft and chewy for days. Enter this recipe! I loved that it promised all those things that I was looking for AND the fact that I didn't need to flatten them out! These were perfect for just a scoop and drop method that I was looking for!

The next thing to consider was the chocolate and caramel. I rewatched the episode online and, wanting to be close as possible, knew that I didn't want to go the Rolos route. While that may have been easier, I wanted the chocolate and caramel to be evenly distributed and not centralized. So, I opted for tossing in some caramel bits and some semi-sweet chips.

The result?

Oh, my god, the chewiest, nut butteriest, chocolate and caramel cookies in the world! Adapting the recipe, I love that these have two types of nut butters in them: crunchy peanut butter and almond butter. The almond butter is from Costco and was an impulse add-in. Since the only ingredients are roasted almonds, I think it really toned down the sweetness of these cookies (not to mention add to the amazing chew). The caramels were perfectly spread out and every mouthful had that caramelly goodness along with a bite of chocolate. PERFECT!

And guess what? I must have done something right, because I've already made these twice and each time they've disappeared in just a few days. And there's only two of us here, lol. These, by far, are the hubby's newest favorite cookies! Huzzah!

---- o o o o ---- 

'Sumbitches
(adapted from Alaska From Scratch)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup almond butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1 cup caramel bits

 
Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, and almond butter together until smooth and fluffy. Add the sugars until combined, then incorporate the egg, followed by the milk and vanilla. Add in the flour mixture, chocolate chips, and caramel bits until thoroughly combined.

Using a medium cookie scoop or one rounded tablespoon, place dough on baking sheet allowing room for cookies to spread out while baking.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, being careful not to overbake. The cookies will look slightly underdone in the center. Let stand 5 minutes to set on baking sheet before transferring on a sheet of wax paper to cool completely.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

christmas time.

Merry Christmas!

It's weird being on a tropical island where it's always the same temperature all year round. At least when I was living in San Diego, there was *some* climate change. Here, the only way that i can tell that the seasons are changing is by the amount of rain fall that we have. Speaking of San Diego, it dawned on me that this will be the very first time in my entire life that I'm away from my family during the holidays and I have to say that it sucks! And to put the cherry on the cake, this would've been the very first Christmas that the hubby and I would have as a husband and wife except that he has work today...meaning I won't see him until *after* Christmas. *que charlie brown sad song here* Lol.

Well, that won't do. Today's itinerary? Take that cherry and bake it in a bread! :D

I wanted to make something festive and this recipe caught my eye. It's just so nice and *pink*! When I actually started to make the cake, however, I spied the box of dark cocoa on the shelf and thought, "Hn....chocolate cherry bread....". So I decided to experiment and tweaked the recipe a little bit to add the cocoa. Then I saw cream that was going to expire within the next few days, and I threw that into the batter too (I rationalized with myself that cream was needed since i was using skim milk, lol).

So what did I get? A lesson in glazing, first of all. My technique leaves much to be desired. Next time, I think I'll do a little less juice so that i'll have a nice thick glaze. Following the recipe gave me a runny glaze that I had to pour on the bread over and over again. Taste-wise...rich, decadent, and almost cake-y. The glaze adds a nice touch of almond flavor without having the crunch of the almonds. Since I only had one bottle of cherries, I found that I really wanted it to stud the bread a little bit more. Definitely 2 bottles next time. And the chocolate? Who doesn't like chocolate??

Chocolate Cherry Almond Bread
(adapted from Tastes of Lizzy T's)

Bread:
1/2 cup milk*
1/4 cup cream*
1/2 cup oil
1 egg
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder 1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
2 (10 oz) jar maraschino cherries

Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/4 to 1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together the milk, cream, oil and egg. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips (if using). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (little streaks or clumps of flour is okay).

Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving the juice for the glaze. Coarsely chop the cherries in a food processor or with a knife. Gently fold the cherries into the batter.

Pour the bread batter into a greased or parchment lined 9"x5" bread pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes, then remove the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, melted butter, and almond extract in a small bowl. Add just enough cherry juice to make a thick glaze. Mix until it is smooth. Once the bread is cool, spread the glaze on top of the bread. Let stand 15 to 30 minutes to set then slice and serve.

*You could probably substitute half and half or all milk. I haven't tried it so I don't know how that'll come out. More experimenting! :D

almonds and figs.

just a quick breakfast using figs and marzipan. had bought some green figs from trader joes and had marzipan laying around. what to do? pancakes, of course! used this recipe as a base but added vanilla bean paste, almond extract, seven grain cereal and subbed whole wheat instead of plain. while the pancakes was cooking in the pan, i added sliced fresh figs to it and they caramelized nicely when they got flipped over. for the topping, i used light sour cream and mixed in some avocado honey in it to boot. so it turned into "seven grain whole wheat pancakes with honey cointreau sour cream sauce"...or something along those lines. heck, all i know is that it was delicious! XD here's the original recipe:

 
Marzipan Pancakes
(from Tea, Cake, and Sandwiches)

1 1/3 cups Plain flour
1 cup Ground Almonds
11/2 tsp Baking powder
3/4 cup Marzipan, coarsely grated
3 Eggs, separated
1/3 cup Sugar
2 cups Buttermilk
1 pinch Salt

Beat the egg-whites until you have soft peaks forming, then put them aside until later. Mix the flour, almonds, baking powder, egg-yolks, sugar, buttermilk, and salt. Then mix in 1/4 of the egg-whites and once they're properly mixed in, fold in the rest of the egg-whites and the marzipan. Heat some butter in a pan and watch them turn into sheer amazingness while they're frying away :)

 
Orange Yoghurt Cream
(from Tea, Cake, and Sandwiches)

Zest of 1 orange
4 tbsp Yoghurt
2 tsp Cointreau
2 tsp Agave syrup
Some whipped cream (I didn't add any but I think that might just do the job so add about 3 tbsp)

Mix everything together. If you're using the whipped cream I would fold it into the mix at the end.

scones part deux: taste it and make it!

on my way to work in the mornings, i always pass by peet's coffee and teas. i've never actually stopped at this particular franchise as i'm more of the local mom and pop coffee shop kind of gal. this morning tho was different. and glad i was when i did because i found the most tastiest scone i've ever had: the multigrain scone.

i don't know why this was such a revelation to me as i've always been a fan of multigrain anything. i guess i just never had it in a scone form. after i inhaled the last of the crumbs from the bottom of the bag, i thought: man! i want some more of that! *ding!* wait, i can make that!!

well the idea was born and off the internets i searched. First was finding out what was in the scone. I did come across the ingredients list and here's what it listed:

Multigrain Scone:
Enriched Unbleached Wheat Flour, Butter, Sugar, Water, Cream, Dates, Coconut, Lemon Peel, Flax Seed, Cracked Wheat, Oats, Rye Meal, Yellow Polenta, Rolled Barley, Millet, Rice Bran, Wheat Germ, Sunflower Seeds, Rolled Rye, Milk, Baking Powder, Salt, Artificial Color.

Afterwards, searched and rifled through a bunch of recipes and settled on this one since it sounded like it would have right texture i was looking for.

wow, was this recipe awesome! it was the perfect base for the scone. i added 3/4 cup of shredded coconut and it was pretty damn close to what i had at peet's coffee and tea.
things i would do differently:

- i would definitely add more coconut flakes, cranberries, and probably add another type of nut into the mix. also, some vanilla extract. it's missing something but i can't quite put my taste buds on it. cornmeal maybe? gotta buy another scone and dissect it more thoroughly.

-my scone was slightly burned so definitely less cooking time and closer to what the recipe called for. about 20 minutes tops.

-handle the dough less and maybe just round balls? i wanted a more bakery scone look rather than the ones i did. we'll see.

-i did the oat flour route and instead of grinding it to a fine meal, i'd probably grind it coarsely instead to help with the consistency.

-this was lightly sweet. while i'm all for less sugary intake, i really enjoyed the balance of sweet and nutty that the peet's scone had. next time, i'll add a full cup of sugar and see what that tastes like.

all in all, this was a very satisfying experiment (better than the fist attempt i did) and was surprised at how easy it all was. and this try actually produced an actual scone-like, erm, scone? lol. with that being said, next stop: maybe make my own corned beef?? :O

Mixed Flour Buttermilk Scones with Cranberries and Almonds
(from Seven Spoons)

For the scones
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour or oat flour, see note
¼ cup flaxseed meal
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Finely grated zest from one lemon
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small dice
1 cup dried sweetened cranberries, see note
3/4 cup flaked almonds, toasted and then chopped
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk, plus more if needed
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

For glaze (optional)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

To make the glaze, stir together the sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Use parchment paper to line a standard baking sheet and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. On the machine's lowest setting, cut in the chilled butter until the mixture resembles course meal. The butter should be in small pieces approximately the size of peas. Mix in the cranberries and almonds.

With the machine still on low, slowly pour the buttermilk into the flour and butter mixture in a thin stream, stirring until just combined. Use only as much buttermilk as needed to bring the dough together - don’t worry if you don’t use it all, or if you need to add a tablespoon or more. Small bits of butter should still be visible, but almost all the flour should be incorporated. (skipped this and did mine by hand. i coarsley grated the butter into the dry ingredients, adding the coconut as well, and followed the rest as directed. :D)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Working quickly, gently knead the dough, folding and pressing gently until it just holds together. Divide the dough into two, and shape each ball of dough into a 6-inch round about 1-inch thick. Cut each round into six wedges, and place on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake scones in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, then carefully pull them out and brush the top of each lightly with the glaze, if using. Return the scones to the oven and continue to bake until the the tops are lightly golden and the cut sides look flaky and dry, around 5-8 minutes more. When fully cooked, the scones should feel light for their size and sound almost hollow when tapped underneath.

Cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes. Best served warm the day they are made, but can be toasted or rewarmed in a low oven. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Makes 12 medium scones.

Author's Notes:
• In lieu of whole wheat flour, toasted oat flour also works quite well. To make your own, spread 3/4 cup of rolled oats on a baking sheet and bake in a 375°F oven until lightly golden, stirring occassionaly, around 7 minutes. Allow to cool, then grind in a food processor into fine meal.

• Our dried cranberries were markedly less sweet than the raisin-like ones sold in many grocery stores. Using the latter style might warrant reducing the granulated sugar to a 1/3 cup.