Flourless Chocolate Coconut Cookies

When my sisters and I were little, we'd beg my mother to make boiled chocolate cookies, which were more like candy than cookies and made with cocoa and oats.  They were the perfect way to satisfy a sweet tooth when we didn't want to wait for cookies to bake.  These flourless chocolate coconut cookies remind me a bit of them--though these are baked and not boiled.  They're rather candy-like in a chewy way and they come together very quickly.  I did have to wait 10 minutes for them to bake, but it was worth it!  I'd make one tweak to the recipe:  the cookies were a bit too big and they'll be smaller the next time I make them.

I found this recipe on a blog called Healthful Pursuit, which is the creation of Leanne Vogel, a holistic nutritionist.  Though I wouldn't make a meal of these, the basic ingredients--cocoa, honey, coconut, eggs and vanilla extract--make them at least seem like they're good for you. Make up a batch for your Easter basket!

Flourless Chocolate Coconut Cookies

1 cup coconut (I used unsweetened, but you could use sweetened if that's all you have)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine.  Using a teaspoon, drop cookies onto a cookie sheet, forming cookies that are about the size of a walnut.  Bake for about 8-10 minutes until the cookies are firm to the touch and can be easily lifted from the sheet.  Makes about 12-15 cookies and the recipe is easily doubled.

BONUS RECIPE!  MOM'S BOILED COOKIES!

Well, I couldn't mention Mom's Boiled Cookies and not give you the recipe. These cookies don't have a lick of honey in them, but they're very good!  (Mom's secret ingredient is peanut butter.)

2 cups sugar

4 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cut into chunks

3 tablespoons peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

In a sauce pan, mix sugar, cocoa and milk until well combined. Add butter.  Place pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a rapid boil, stirring to mix in butter as it melts.  Boil rapidly for one minute.  Remove from heat.  Add peanut butter and vanilla and stir.  Add oats and mix until well combined.  

Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper. Cool.  Makes enough for three sisters and a mom! :)

Spinach Orange Salad with Honey-Sesame Dressing

This is another great recipe from the Vegetarian Times.  The dressing also makes a nice dipping sauce for spring rolls or Asian dumplings or pot sticklers.  Though it seems as if spring really has sprung in these parts, this is a nice winter salad that can help to chase the winter blues away.

Spinach Orange Salad with Honey-Sesame Dressing
1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped
6 cups baby spinach
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned
1 or 2 very thin slices of red onion, cut in half and broken apart
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Arrange the spinach, orange slices and red onion on a platter.  Sprinkle with almonds on top.  Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the dressing and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Honey-Sesame Dressing
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
Blend honey, vinegar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes in a food processor.  With the processor running, drizzle in the oils and keep the processor running a minute or so more to emulsify.  Unused dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for about two weeks.

Sourdough Honey Whole-Wheat English Muffins

This recipe is not a lot of work, but it does require a bit of a commitment, so if you're a commitment-phobe, you might just want to buy a package of whole wheat English muffins and be done with it.

Ah, but where's the fun in that, especially when you can make your own sour dough starter and then cook up a fresh batch of whole wheat English muffins that will have your family and friends saying, "You made these?"

So, bear with me here (or, if you prefer, just go ahead and laugh at me and move on!).  The biggest commitment comes with creating the sour dough starter, which takes three days.  Once you have the starter established, you can keep it going in your fridge and, with a little thinking ahead, can whip up a lovely plate of English muffins that are so much better (and likely better for you) than store bought.

The recipe for the sourdough starter and the English muffins both come from Vegetarian Times.  You'll find more sourdough recipes there, too!

Sourdough Starter

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon quick-rise (not regular) yeast

Use a quart glass jar with a wide mouth.  Stir the flour and yeast together and then add 1 cup of warm water (about 110 degrees).  Place the lid loosely on the jar and let sit a warmish (70+) spot for 12 hours.

Stir the starter and discard half (or, if you're ambitious, use the half you'd toss out to start another jar).  To the remaining starter, add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup lukewarm water and stir to combine.  Repeat this step every 12 hours for the next three days (72 hours).  (Hey! I said it was a commitment!)

The starter is now ready to use for the English muffin recipe.  Any remaining starter can be put in the refrigerator.  It should be fed and/or used within a week.  To feed the starter, stir it down and then remove half (use this starter in a recipe or discard).  If you have 1 cup of starter left, then stir in 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of warm water and put it back in the fridge.  (If you have 1/2 cup starter left, stir in 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water.)

Sourdough Honey Whole-Wheat English Muffins

The dough for this recipe needs to sit overnight to develop, so it takes a little planning ahead (that is, once you've made the sourdough starter).
1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt.
cornmeal for dusting (the finer the cornmeal, the better, but use what you have)

In a large bowl, stir the starter, whole-wheat flour, honey and water until well combined.  Cover loosely and let sit overnight.  This mixture will get very bubbly!

The next day, stir together 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt.  Add this to the whole-wheat dough.  Stir until well combined.  Add more of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour and knead until the dough is no longer sticky.

Roll dough out on a lightly floured board to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut out muffins using about a 3-inch round cutter (I used the top of a large, wide glass).  Depending upon the size of your cutter, you should get between 6 and 8 muffins.  Dust tops and bottoms with cornmeal, cover loosely and let sit for about an hour until the muffins are a bit puffy.

Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over high heat for about a minute.  Lightly spray with cooking oil and turn heat down to medium.  Cook muffins about 3 to 5 minutes per side, until they're nicely browned on both sides.  You'll be surprised by how much they rise while they're cooking!  Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.  Makes between 6 and 8 muffins.

Honey Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Bread

Winter weather warnings today found me hunkered down at home grading papers and baking.   It's nice to take a break from grading to punch down a dough and form it into a loaf.  This recipe is adapted from a February/March 2010 Taste of Home magazine. It's remarkably tender given that it uses almost 100% whole wheat flour.  It also has a nice, nutty taste that is enhanced when it's toasted.  The original recipe makes three loaves, way too much for our little family!  I did my best to halve the recipe and am pretty happy with the results, but note that the amounts are approximate!  

Honey Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Bread

1 1/2 cups hot (not boiling) water

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup honey

1 package (1/4 oz) rapid rise active dry yeast

1/8 cup bread flour

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3 - 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1 or 2 teaspoons butter

Stir the oil and honey into the hot water to dissolve the honey.  In the bowl of a mixer, whisk the yeast, bread flour, 2 cups of wheat flour and salt.  With the mixer running, add the water/honey mixture and mix until well combined. (You might need to stop the mixture and stir it by hand to be sure all of the flour is incorporated.) Using the dough hook of the mixer, turn the mixer on again and begin beating the dough, adding up to another cup of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides and becomes elastic.  Knead the dough for at least five minutes, adding more flour to prevent it from sticking it to the sides--but add as little as possible. Add the sunflower seeds and either knead a few minutes more in the mixer or by hand.  Place the dough in a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free spot  for about an hour.  (I heat 2 cups of water to boiling in the microwave and then put the dough in the microwave with the hot water for the rise.)  After the dough doubles in bulk, turn it out onto a lightly floured board and form into a loaf.  Place in an oiled loaf pan (5x8) and let it rise again--about 30 to 45 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Once the dough has again doubled in bulk, put it into the preheated oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes, until well-browned.  Remove from the oven and rub the top with butter while it's still very hot.  Take it out of the pan and let the bread cool until it's warm to the touch before slicing and serving.  Enjoy!

Signs of Spring Blog

Bill Hamilton, the biology professor (and one of my dearest colleagues) at Penn State New Kensington has a blog entitled Ecologist's Notebook, where he writes about his observations of nature on his forays in the area.  Bill and his wife, Deborah, are responsible for the campus's Nature Trail, one of the crowning jewels of the New Kensington campus!

For a few years, Bill has been posting notes under the title "Signs of Spring." In the past, the Signs of Spring have been welcome indications as winter wanes that spring is indeed nigh.  This year is a bit different and Bill's been noting "signs of spring" even in January. He recently posted about unusual honey bee behavior during the 60+ degree weather we've had recently.  Check out his "Signs of Spring 2: Honeybees" post.  Robert is quoted! :)

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Broccoli

I had every intention of being a regular (and reliable!) honey recipe blogger in 2013, which was my New Year's resolution.  My father blogs about the joys and challenges of faith almost every Wednesday on Rodge Wood blog, and one day maybe I'll get it together enough to follow his example. (Story of my life, Dad!)  I haven't given up on my resolution--I'm telling myself I'm just getting a bit of a slow start.

In any event, this delicious (and spicy) noodle dish comes together quickly if you have all of the ingredients. Great for a snowy day.  It's also easily adaptable to what you might have on hand.  Even though the dish is called Spicy Peanut Noodles with Broccoli, the "must-haves," it seems to me, are peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, honey and some kind of long noodle.  Other veggies--bok choy, a sweet red pepper, and/or spinach would be great additions or substitutions. If you don't use broccoli, though, change the name so you don't confuse your diners. :-)   This dish got a thumbs up from Robert, who is the chief recipe taste tester here.

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Broccoli
1 pound linguine or spaghetti (or, any kind of long noodle that you'd prefer like rice noodles)
1 bunch (about 1 lb) broccoli florets and (peeled) stems, cut into about 1 inch pieces
NOODLE SAUCE:
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (preferably unsweetened and unsalted)
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon white vinegar (or slightly more rice vinegar if you have it)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sesame seeds (slightly toasted if you'd like)


Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water, according to package directions, until al dente.  Drain and place in a large bowl.  In another large pot, bring water to a boil and blanch the broccoli florets for about 4 or 5 minutes, until they are brightly colored but still have a bit of a crunch.  Drain the broccoli and run under cold water to stop the cooking and help them retain their color.

While pasta and broccoli are cooking, slowly stir the water into the peanut butter and stir to combine thoroughly.  Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir into a smooth paste.  Pour over the hot noodles and toss to mix well.  Add the cooked broccoli and toss again to distribute. Sprinkle about 1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds on each serving.   Makes four servings.

Savory Cheese Muffins

Savory Cheese Muffins

These muffins mix up in a snap and make a wonderful accompaniment to soup. (Need some soup ideas?  Try Butternut Squash Lentil Soup or Creamy Cauliflower Soup from 2012 posts or Honey Corn Chowder from a 2011 post.)  The original recipe, Fig's Cheese Muffins, was a finalist in a contest on the Pioneer Woman blog. I played around with some of the ingredients--swapping honey for the sugar, for starters.  These muffins are amazing when eaten hot right out of the oven.  They're respectable cold--but the cheesy goodness shines when they're warm! 

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray a 12-cup muffin tin, being sure to spray the top of the tin, too, as these muffins have a tendency to stick.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (can substitute 1/2 cup whole wheat for a firmer crumb)

1 tablespoon (yes! tablespoon!) baking powder1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Toss in the grated cheese and mix to coat. Melt the butter and stir the honey into it to combine well.  Stir in the milk  and beaten egg and combine well.  Pour the milk mixture over the flour mixture and stir quickly to combine--don't over mix.  Spoon the batter in to the prepared muffin tin, filling about 3/4ths full.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until muffins are nicely browned.  Eat soon!