Baked Apple Cinnamon Cashew Cookies

Yesterday was a big day for us, this little family of mine. We rescued our second dog, sweet little Jack. It was so wonderful. It still is so wonderful. And, obviously, I am still on cloud 9.... so I made cookies.





Baked Apple Cinnamon Cashew Cookies. ... Now, if only I could find a way to make a dog friendly version, because boy, are my pups missing out.




Baked Apple Cinnamon Cashew Cookies
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon + 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chopped granny apples
1 cup chopped cashews
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
3/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl (1), combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Chop up your Granny Apple's into small chunk, as well as your cashews. In a small bowl (2), add apple chunks, then sprinkle with teaspoon cinnamon and tablespoon sugar, and toss. In that same bowl, mix in cashews and white chocolate bits; Set aside. In a large bowl (3), whip butter and sugars (brown and white) until light and fluffy. Add your egg and vanilla, then mix until combined. Gradually add in your flour mixture. Then fold in your apple/cashew/chocolate mixture. On a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet, place about 1 tablespoon size balls of dough about an inch apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Share

a poached egg breakfast

Poached Egg

Now, there are NUMEROUS ways of poaching an egg. What are they? I couldn't begin to list the many methods used in perfecting this little guy, but this one was the easiest and most successful for me! As I hope it is for you! :)

1) Heat a pot with several inches of water in it. Several as in, leaving enough room for the eggs to dive into without sticking to the bottom. 

2) *Optional, but a VERY helpful technique: Put a TINY splash of apple cider vinegar (or any vinegar) in the water as it heats. Vinegar helps tighten the egg up while it is floating around in the water. It doesn't do anything to the taste of the egg, however if you aren't into it, don't add it. 

3) THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP: You will bring your water up to a VERY HIGH temperature WITHOUT BOILING. You DO NOT want boiling water, NOR simmering water. You will want to bring your water to a very high temperature without doing either of those... so, how do you know? (I apologize for the lack of photos, I will add a step-by-step in photos once I remember to upload them to my computer :( ) ... Before any water begins to boil in a pot, the bottom of the pot has a layer of bubble sticking to the bottom, and you can see steam rising up from the water in the pot... THAT is when your water is ready. To keep your water at this temp without boiling, reduce heat to the lowest HIGH you can. 

4) In a small dish, break your egg. It is much easier to slide your egg into the pot from a bowl than cracking it over the pot.

5) With a spatula, make a whirl pool in the middle of your hot water pot. Keep stirring until a point where if you pull the spatula away, the whirl pool continues to spin. 

6) Gently slide your egg right into the middle of that whirl pool. Your egg WILL look a bit insane. It will look like it's separating and moving about your WHOLE pot of water. That is okay. Some pieces will separate and break off. This is why you have the whirl pool to keep the rest of the egg together.

7) Now your egg sits. You can use your spatula to continue to keep your egg together. Gently, as it cooks, press the egg whites up against the yolk. Your egg will begin to float. You can use the spatula, as well, to turn it over, stir it, keep whirl pooling, prepare it into a perfect circle, whatever you would like. The egg needs to stay in this hot water for up to 4 minutes.  

** If your egg sticks to the bottom of your pot when you first start cooking it, it is OKAY. Wait 30 seconds of cook time, then gently with your spatula, scrape it off the bottom and continue to cook. 

8) To know your egg is done, you can gently touch the yolk with your spatula and it should wiggle a bit. :)

9) Gently remove your egg with a strainer/spatula, dab with paper towel, and place on your plate/toast/sandwich/salmon or whatever you pair with the egg, if you pair at all. I like my egg with a little salt and pepper, finishing it off with a couple splashes of Tapatio. 

And, voila. You have yourself a nice poached egg. 

Congratulations. :)

Note: I know that a photo play by play would be extremely convenient for this post, and I apologize. My busy brain has caused me to neglect my camera a little bit. I will get reference photos up as soon as I can. However, this process is VERY easy and VERY fun, if you read the directions thoroughly. Don't be afraid, and enjoy! :)

Share

Cookie Butter Fudge

Can we just talk about this really quick? ... One day, while cruising down the dry foods isle at Trader Joe's, I had an awkward moment. A moment where I felt like someone was staring at me; could feel their eyes on me.

Now, if you know me well, I'm pretty outgoing. I love to talk (too much) and am comfortable around people I know (meaning, more talking). When around people in a crowd or hardly know, ha, that "outgoing-ness" flies right out the window. So, granted, when I feel someone staring at me, I freeze, get nervous. Why? Because it's obviously someone who doesn't know me very well otherwise they would have come right up to me, jumped on me, high-fived me. That was definitely not happening. And, when you are fresh coming off of a run, it's not my first priority to run up to someone I may recognize in the grocery.

What did I do? I sat there frozen, pretending to be more interested in the raw agave label than I actually was.  It's not that I was trying to avoid the person, I was just ..nervous. (it's weird, I know) Anyway, being that I have absolutely no patience, I decided to just go for it. Turn right and head straight for the....

and there it was.

That Speculoos Cookie Butter sittin' there all pretty, with it's own backlight, just glowing on the shelf. And, it immediately clicked (that little shit)....

It was that Speculoos Cookie Butter I felt staring at me, just waiting for me to buy it. It was that damn cookie butter making me feel all awkward and act like a loony. It was that.... cookie butter? Hell yeah, I will take two. And, I happily marched right out with 2 jars of it.

Morale of the story? Well, there isn't one because there is hardly a plot here. However, it won the war, obviously... and, did end up as an incredible fudge.






You only need 5 ingredients and about 30 minutes of patience (which I didn't have, and threw it in the freezer for 15). And, being the chocolate fudge fan that I am, I thought there was going to be some tough competition with this little fudge and I.

Proved me wrong.

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 cup Speculoos Cookie Butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

In a small sauce pan, boil milk and sugar. In a medium bowl, mix cookie butter and vanilla. Once the milk mixture has boiled and is smooth, pour over the cookie butter mixture until thick. Pour batter into 8 by 8 greased baking dish, and set in refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. Cut into small squares, these are rich little suckers.

you can either toss those chocolate chips in with the mix before putting the batter into the dish, or melt the chocolate and drizzle on top. I didn't do either... I forgot.

Share

Berry Tart Bars

One thing that I love the most about Spring time is not only the 'sunshine and brisk air' pair, but that fruits are bright and beautiful, and taste better than ever. During this time of year you can find me, mostly, riding my bike, walking my dog, or sitting around a bbq with friends. Most of the time, it's the latter.

From creamy broccoli salads, hearty salsas and dips, grilled vegetables, smoked meats and fish, all the way down to colorful fruit salads and tarts for dessert, it's my favorite way to spend a warm day. 95% of the time, you will always find this fruit dish planted in the middle of that deliciously-filled picnic table.

To me, there is nothing better than a picnic table filled with beautifully colored food and the company of great friends. And, with the way life is going right now, this Spring and Summer is going to be packed with incredible amounts of both.

Berry Tart Bars

1/2 cup Earth Balance (or just butter), room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup preserves of your choice

1 - 1 1/2 full cups of chopped fruit

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x8 baking dish; set aside. 

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder; set aside. In a large bowl, mix butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Then add your egg yolk. Slowly add your flour mixture to the wet mixture, stirring until fully combined. (** here I normally start to use my hands. You don't want the mixture to be too soft or too wet that it turns into a ball or cookie dough-like. This dough should look a bit crumbly, like cornmeal, in order for the "tart-like" crust to develop. **) Press 3/4 of your dough mixture into the baking dish.

In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup preserves to loosen up. Spread on top of the dough in baking dish, leaving about 1/4 - 1/8 inch room from edges. Cover the entire top of your dough with chopped fruit of your choice, in this case Strawberries and Blueberries. Sprinkle the remaining amount of dough on top of your fruit. 

Place in the oven and bake for 28-30 minutes, or until a lightly gold brown. 

Serve with ice cream on a warm Spring day.

Share