Emergency Peanut Butter Cookies

I hate having people over and not having something to offer them. Other than my charming

personality, obviously but you can't eat that. So what do you do when you have a guest coming over who doesn't drink tea or coffee and is allergic to chocolate? Find new friends. No, I'm kidding, sort of. It's good to have people in our lives who challenge us and to be fair, if he wasn't such a weirdo I never would've discovered this amazing peanut butter cookie recipe. So even if he turns out to be a complete dud in the end at least I can drown my sorrows in a chewy, nutty gem that, come to think of it would be delicious with a slab of dark chocolate in the middle. 

                                                                       Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes about 20 small cookies

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c packed dark brown sugar

1/2 c crunchy natural peanut butter

1 egg 

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

-Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF - gas mark 4).

-In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a bowl with a wooden spoon and a little elbow grease) cream butter and sugars.

-Add the peanut butter, egg and vanilla and mix until blended.

-Blend in the flour and baking soda until just combined. 

-Scoop in small balls and place on parchment lined baking trays.

-Bake for about 10-12 minutes, keeping an eye on them until they're evenly golden brown and the tops are starting to crackle. 

- Store in an airtight container for the all of two days they will last before being gobbled up. These lasted three until Carl came home but we were also using them as a main source of fuel as I've been too lazy to grocery shop this week. 

You can make substitutions here if you need to, any peanut butter can be used but your cookies will be a bit sweeter if you use a peanut butter that contains sugar. If you only have unsalted butter then just add between 1/4 and a 1/2 tsp of salt depending on personal preference and dietary needs. If you don't have dark brown sugar any brown sugar is fine I just prefer to use dark whenever I can as I like the darker molasses flavour that it gives things. Whatever floats your boat though! 

Happy Baking (and socializing!)
-Holly

Toffee Sandies

          
      When I left for London last time I left my Dad with nine bags of cookies in the freezer to keep him going until I got back. I was trying to ease the withdrawal pains of not having me around. He loved these whole wheat Toffee Sandies so much that the label from one of the bags has been stuck to the backsplash in our kitchen since he finished the bag as a subtle reminder that he really likes them and would be really happy if I made them again. 

Not so subtle hint

   

    As I'm off to London again shortly for twice as long    I'm  restocking him to keep him going until Christmas.  Obviously I knew the first kind of cookie I was going to  have to make would be these ones and I understand  why; they are delicious. 

   Usually I'm a chewy cookie kind of girl. In my world the cookie doesn't crumble unless it was overbaked but these guys are the exception to my rule. They are the ultimate crumbly cookie but in a soft, silky way. Like eating a white sand beach if it were delicious and tasted like almonds. Hence the name "Sandies". 

They're also incredibly easy to make. 

Toffee Sandies

Makes 2 dozen

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c icing sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c canola oil

1 egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

1-3/4 c all purpose flour

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c chopped toasted almonds

1/2 package toffee bits (aka Skor bits in Canada)

Preheat your oven to 350ºF (180ºC)

In a large bowl cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy (or you know, just well mixed)

Add canola oil, egg and almond extract and mix until combined. 

In a separate bowl combine flours, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. 

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the sugar and butter mixture and mix well. 

Stir in almonds and toffee pieces. 

Fill a small dish with a few tablespoons of granulated sugar.

Make 1 inch balls and roll in the sugar. 

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and press down with a fork to flatten.

 Bake for about 15 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. 

Remove and allow to cool before stuffing your face. 

Happy eating!

  -Holly

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Hummingbird Cake

        Being broke and more or less unemployed (I took a job waiting tables at 6:30 in the morning for $40 a day so according to my bank account I'm still unemployed) I've found myself with plenty of time and unable to leave the house. Basically I'm bored of out my tree and just about ready to hang myself from one! I've done the whole binge watching Netflix thing (check out Broadchurch, so good!), yoga videos, reading, working on acting stuff, I even knit a tea cosy and of course, I've baked. It's tricky being right after the holidays because no one in my family wants much sweet stuff around, well we want it we just know we ought not to have it, so I've been aiming for lighter, less rich items like this fruity Hummingbird Cake.

   Two summers ago I bought a Taste of Home cookbook at a silent auction and I've tried quite a few recipes from it. So far, I've been very impressed and some of the recipes have even managed to become favourites. There are quite a few items in it that call for pre made or packaged ingredients such as cake mix, store bought dough or pudding mix. These are a huge pet peeve of mine and I don't consider them recipes. I'm sorry but store bought mixes taste awful and any "recipe" or "baker" using them loses all credibility in my opinion, if you couldn't sell it in a bakery you didn't bake it. Enough of my rant, onto the cake!

 I halved the recipe for my family of three and we are post holiday so huge slices of cake aren't the best way to fit back into one's jeans. The recipe posted is for the full cake, so if you want to cut it in half just use smaller pans. I used two 3inch rounds so I could still stack with the yummy icing in the middle which worked perfectly, but you could also stick it all in one 9x13 if you wanted to do it as a sheet cake.

For the cake:

2 cups mashed ripe banana

1 1/2 cups canola oil

3 eggs

8 oz crushed pineapple, undrained (or pineapple chunks in a food processor!)

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Beat the bananas with the oil, eggs, pineapple and vanilla until well blended.

  2. In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.
    Add the flour mixture to the banana and beat until well blended. Add the walnuts.

3. Pour into three 9 inch round baking tins. Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

The original recipe (found here) called for a pineapple icing with shortening, but I was feeling the carrot cake style cream cheese goodness. I used the recipe from the classic carrot cake but added a bit of extra butter and less cream cheese to make it more of a cream cheese/buttercream hybrid.

For MY icing (or what I can remember, I was winging it):

1 package cream cheese

1/2 - 2/3 cup butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 -2 cups icing sugar

1. Beat the cream cheese and the butter until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and then gradually add in the confectioners sugar. Adjust the amount of sugar according to the consistency of your icing. Ice your cake as you desire to do.

Ta Da!

I have absolutely no idea why it's called a hummingbird cake but regardless of the name it's delicious and moist and perfect for an afternoon cup of tea.

-Holly