Gingersnaps

 

Have you ever had a go-to recipe that suddenly flopped?

These are my most famous cookies. I've had the recipe for years and they always came out great, and then suddenly a few years ago they just didn't. The greatness of this cookie is that they're not really snaps, or ginger, but more like chewy spice cookies. Not chewy like a certain Wookie, but 'crisp on the edges, firm in the middle like a proper cookie should be' chewy. Not that I have Opinions on cookies or anything, ahem.

Awesome!

So, my beloved cookies were weird. Flat, spread-y, weird. I tried a few more times, and they seemed to have gone loco. Then I abandoned the recipe. Last week, though, I decided to apply a little research to the problem. Preliminary findings seemed to indicate that the proportion of molasses was too high. I tweaked the recipe everysogently and tada! Back in the glory zone.

Weird.

Princess Cookies

I'm pretty picky about spelling, and I'm not afraid to correct misspelled words. I don't understand people who don't employ spell-check. In college part of my job was to read my boss's papers with a red pen in hand. Besides all the free marshmallows and gummy bears I could eat, that was my favorite part of the job -- the power of that red pen. (Can you guess where I worked?)

A caveat: I'm not, per se, the best speller. I'm pretty good, but there are certain words that trip me up. It's gotten to the point where I have psyched myself out over these words, and so I'm never quite sure what the real spelling is. Calender. Independence. Lavender. 

That semi-interesting tidbit brings us to the title recipe. They're actually Coconut Lavender Macaroons. I associate coconut macaroons with two things: Christmas, and teatime. Christmas because my mom always made them this time of year, and teatime because they just seem like such a girly cookie. I also had a Disney princess bandaid on today, and it was the color of lavender. These cookies have lavender. So, Princess Cookies. (My brain wants so hard to talk about Kate Middleton right now. She might like these cookies! She is going to marry a prince! Her hair -- how does she do it!!!)

Week of Loaves: Cinnamon Roll Bread

Fun fact: I have four brothers. Sometimes when I'm getting to know people I'll mention this, and they're like "Oh my gosh, four brothers, that's so many siblings, crazy crazy crazy." And I'll be like, "I know!" And so sometimes I don't tell them I also have four sisters. One of my friends didn't find that out for months after first meeting me. Whoops, sorry. 

So, I'm the oldest, and I was 15 when the youngest was born. A 15-year span is rather long. Family traditions that were totally followed and amazing when I was a kid are not things that my youngest siblings have grown up with, and vice versa. Sometimes I'll wax nostalgic about a fond childhood memory, and some of the "little kids" have no idea what I'm talking about. 

A few things have stuck around, which makes me very happy. One that's been a tradition since I was a kid is having cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. Sometimes they've been from a can (so fun to pop!) and sometimes they're homemade. That tradition inspired me to make this bread.

It's not as gooey as a normal cinnamon roll, but the bread is very soft and delicate, and it does fall apart a bit around the filling. It tastes amazing, like a cinnamon roll machine started up in your mouth, and it is a little tidier to eat than a sticky bun. 

It can be made the night before, right up to the second rise, and then put in the fridge overnight. The directions for overnight are included below.


Cinnamon Roll Bread

dough adapted from Overnight Rolls, Joy of Cooking, p. 612

Dough:

1 cup milk

1/2 cup shortening

2 tablespoons warm water (105˚ to 115˚; warm tap water)*

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

1/2 cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

5 cups all-purpose flour

* If the water or milk mix is too hot, it will kill the yeast and your bread will not rise.

In a small pan, heat the milk and shortening together over low heat until the shortening melts. Remove from the heat and put in the fridge to cool slightly*.

In a large bowl, stir together the warm water, the yeast, and 2 teaspoons of the sugar. Let this stand for 5 to 10 minutes, until the yeast is dissolved. (If the yeast does not make small bubbles and/or "puff" up, it is probably dead.)

Stir the milk mixture into the yeast. Stir in the additional 1/2 cup sugar, and the eggs, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and cardamom. Gradually stir in the flour. Using your Hulk muscles or an electric mixer, beat the dough for about 5 minutes. The dough is very soft and sticky, so I recommend the beater blade instead of the dough hook. 

Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking spray, or coat with oil. Scrape the dough into the bowl and cover the bowl tightly. Put in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume. This will take about an hour, but the increase in volume is more important than the time. If you have a very cold or drafty apartment, turn on your oven for one minute, then turn it off. Use this as a "proofing box" to rise your dough in. I use an 8-cup measuring cup for this step, which makes it really easy to see when the dough has doubled in volume.

Once the dough has doubled, follow the instructions below.

Filling: 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins (optional)

In a small pan, melt the butter and brown sugar over medium-low heat while stirring. Once the butter has melted, let cook for two to three more minutes, until the sauce begin to thicken and the spoon can make tracks in the sauce that take a moment to fill in. Add the cinnamon and cook for 30 more seconds.

Flour well a clean counter or a board. Punch down the dough, turn it out of the bowl, and roll into a 9" by 18" rectangle. You'll probably need extra flour to help roll, as the dough is rather sticky. Spread the sugar-butter mixture over the dough, leaving a 1/2" gap around the edges. Sprinkle the raisins evenly over the butter. Starting from one of the 9" edges, roll the dough into a roll. To get started, fold the dough immediately over to make a little lip. Use a dough scraper or flat long knife to help the dough along if it sticks to the counter

Grease a 9" x 5" pan thoroughly. (Use a pan with a lip if you can, as the dough rises a lot and the lip will help prevent spillover.) Transfer the dough roll to the pan, making sure the top seam is tucked into the side of the pan. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap. Let rise four about 45 minutes, or cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Optional fancy-topping: Right before baking, spread 1 tablespoon very soft butter over the top of the dough. Mix 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 teaspoons sugar together and sprinkle over the bread.

If baking the same day: Preheat the oven to 350˚/180˚. Bake the bread until golden brown, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before serving.

You can also use a thermometer stuck in the middle to see when the bread is done. Pull it out when it hits around 200˚/93˚. Just makes sure that the probe isn't sitting in a raisin pocket. 

 

If refrigerating overnight: In the morning, remove the pan from the fridge. Make your coffee, and preheat the oven to 350˚/180˚. Bake the bread until golden brown, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes one 9 x 5 loaf.

Week of Loaves: Lemon Cranberry Gingerbread

It's not midnight yet! I'm still making my self-imposed deadline of a loaf a day! I'm so very tired!

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This is a gingerbready loaf with whole cranberries and lemony delicious flavors. I really wanted to make a lemon glaze to drizzle over the top, but we were out of powdered/confectioner's sugar and I'd already been to the store three! times! today.  If you want the glaze to soak into the loaf, drizzle it over while it's hot. If you want it to sit on top like icing, let the loaf cool completely.

Lemon Cranberry Gingerbread (with Lemon Glaze)

adapted from Guy Fawkes Day Cake, The Joy of Cooking, p. 724

Gingerbread:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces

2/3 cup molasses

juice of one medium lemon (zest is also used; see below)

1 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup rolled oats

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

zest of one medium lemon

2/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

2/3 cup milk or egg nog

Glaze:
1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar
juice of one lemon
dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350˚/180˚. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan or 8" square baking pan.

In a small pan, melt together the butter, molasses, and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth and melted. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, spices, baking soda, and lemon zest. Toss in the cranberries, coating them with flour mixture.

Add half the butter mixture and half the milk, give it a quick stir, then add the rest of the butter and the milk. Stir quickly a few times, until just combined. The batter is rather thin, like a waffle batter.

Pour into the greased pan and bake until the cake begins to pull away from the pan sides and a skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean, about 45 minutes for the loaf pan or 35 minutes for the cake pan. Let cool in the pan on a rack.

To make the glaze, put the powdered sugar in a large bowl and slowly stir in the lemon juice until it's thin enough to drizzle. Dip a spoon in and hold it over the bowl to test drizzle-ability, then lick the spoon to test for flavor. (Using an un-licked spoon), drizzle the icing over the loaf in pretty swirls. Dot with dried cranberries, if desired.

Mug shot

The bag my lemons came in.

Recommended accompaniment: A rousing chorus of "Here We Come a Wassailing", because this could count as Christmas loaf. Moudy cheese optional.

Week of Loaves: Cheesy Spinach Bread

Sometimes when something that looks to be high-calorie is near me, I'll ask others who've already eaten it if it's "worth it", meaning is the taste greater than the calories, making it worth putting in my mouth and body. This bread is "worth it".

I should warn you, the spinach in the loaf is decorative only. This is a luxurious bread, which means it's perfect to make four mini loaves and give three away to people who are not on a diet. I first made a version of this two summers ago, when I decided to dive in head-first and multiplied it by eight. Luckily it turned out great, and we all enjoyed it with our soup. The sour cream keeps it moist for a day or two, and for a really really horribly good snack, sprinkle a little more shredded cheese on a slice and broil it. Then do four hundred situps.

Use any not-too-soft cheese you have on hand. The original recipe calls for Parmesan instead of the shredded white cheese; I used a Finland cheese called Lappi. Use Jack, or Pepper Jack, or Beecher's Flagship... whatever you want. Change up the spices too -- try rosemary, or a little mustard powder, or cayenne pepper.

Cheesy Cheese Bread with Decorative Spinach

adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Revised Edition, p. 487


4 ounces mozarella or white cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
dash turmeric
dash smoked paprika
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cut into mousetrap-sized chunks (about 1 cup)
1 large egg
1 1/4 cups milk
3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess moisture


Heat the oven to 350˚/180˚. Grease one 9" x 5" or four 6" x 3.2" loaf pans. 

In the microwave or a small pot, melt the butter. Stir in the dried basil. Set aside to cool to room temperature.


In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder, turmeric, and smoked paprika. Toss in the chunks of sharp cheddar and half (1/2 cup) of the shredded cheese. 

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until beaten. Whisk in the milk, sour cream, and basil-butter mixture. Stir in the spinach.

Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just moistened. Work quickly, but do not overmix.

Scrap the batter into the pan, diving evenly if using four mini pans, and spread evenly in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese over top the batter. Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick stuck in the middle comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes for a large loaf pan or 35 to 40 minutes for small pans. 

 

Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges, then remove from pan and let cool completely on a cooling rack. 

Recommended accompaniment: Tomato soup (and maybe a Lactaid pill)

Week of Loaves: Cornmeal Ginger Loaf

By request, here's a loaf with fresh ginger in it. This is a mildly sweet, slightly crumbly loaf with some crunch thanks to the cornbread. The ginger flavor is evident but not very strong, and you certainly could use one and a half tablespoons instead of just one.

Yesterday I showed you a handy link for converting loaf sizes. I should have used that chart myself for this recipe. It indicated to use an 8" x 4" pan, but I decided that a 9" x 5" pan would be fine (that's what we have). Technically it did work, but apparently the volume of the smaller pan is HALF that of the size I used. What that means is that I made a very flat loaf. It still tasted mighty fine.

Cornmeal Ginger Loaf

Clothed

adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd, pp. 428-429

1/4 pound (1 stick or 1/2 cup) butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (peeled first)

1/2 teaspoon orange flower water (optional)

1/2 c milk or soymilk

Naked

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350˚/180˚. Grease an 8" x 4" (20 cm x 10 cm) loaf pan. Dust flour on the sides and bottom. I do this by throwing a little flour in the bottom of the greased pan, then turning the pan sideways and using my other hand to rap the pan and shake the flour all over. Shake out any extra that doesn't stick.

 


 

Cream the butter and ginger until they're nicely mingled, about two minutes. Pour in the sugar and beat until smooth, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until mixed, scraping down after each egg. Mix in the milk and orange flower water and scrape again.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, and baking powder.

Scrape into the prepared pan and spread evenly over the bottom (giggle). Bake for about 1 hour, until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Use a table knife to loosen the loaf from the sides of the pan before removing. 

Serve sliced thick, with whipped cream and plum jam, or unadorned. 

Recommended accompaniment: Church, by Lyle Lovett



Week of Loaves: Apple Banana Bread

In two days it's December. Already, since last Friday, the "holiday push" has begun. I hope that you sincerely think about what's important to you this time of year, and that anything that doesn't make the list doesn't bother you. 

If you like to show love through food, but time is not always on your side, loaves are great to make ahead and have on hand. They freeze well, travel well, and make great gifts. You can bake small loaves or enormous loaves, and they're pretty adaptable. 

An innie loaf

This week, I'll be blogging about a new loaf recipe every day. Please share your favorites with me, too! 

~

Tips for Gifting Loaves

To make smaller or larger loaves than a recipe indicates, consult this handy chart to consider various pan's volumes. Change the baking time as needed, paying attention to how a loaf should look when it's done. (Many will be done when "a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean".)

To store loaves for freezing, let them cool completely! This is very important, because if you wrap them up while any heat is left in them, the heat will be trapped and turn to moisture on the inside of the wrapping, making your product soggy. Once cool, wrap the loaf well in several layers of plastic wrap or foil. If you use foil, you might want to consider putting the loaf in a plastic freezer bag, to ensure that no air can get it and give your loaf freezer burn.

To thaw, remove from the freezer and let thaw at room temperature for several hours. If you will be mailing loaves, try to put them in the box straight from the freezer.

~

Today's loaf is a moist apple banana bread which has apples two ways. If you like cooked apples, I recommend cooking up slices in the oven on a baking sheet (350˚, til soft, about 35 minutes) and keeping the cooked slices in the fridge to dice up and add to things * last-minute. I just used 8 slices from my stash (since I had originally sliced each apple into 8) for this recipe, but I'll give alternate directions below.

Apple Banana Bread

adapted from The Bon Appetit Cookbook, edited by Barbara Fairchild, p. 493

1 medium apple, cut into 8 slices, cored (peeled if you want) and diced

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ground almonds

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), room temperature

1/4 cup apple butter

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup buttermilk

3 cups mashed ripe bananas

Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add the diced apple and cook, stirring frequently, until the apple is soft. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350˚/180˚. Grease two large (9"x5"x3") metal loaf pans.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, ground almonds, and spices, until thouroughly combined.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together the sugar and butter until creamy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl and beater with a spatula, then stir in the apple butter and vanilla. Beat in the eggs, scraping well after each one. Mix in half the flour mixture, then half the buttermilk, then the remaining portions of each, then scrape again. Stir in the mashed bananas and cooked diced apples. 

Scrape the batter evenly into the two prepared pans. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a wooden skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cook loaves completely in pans on a rack. Remove from pans and eat, or wrap up tightly.

Yummy for breakfast

*Oatmeal, muffins, warm up and smush for rustic applesauce, layering in parfaits.

Recommended accompaniment: French-press coffee, however you take it

Weekend Eats

 This weekend I was DETERMINED to make Smitten Kitchen's mushroom lasagna. I'd even bought the pound-and-half of mushrooms and they were in my fridge, probably creating more mushrooms. Can mushrooms do that? 

Two things that made me think of:

     1. Benoit Mandelbrot has died. He is responsible for, of course, the Mandelbrot set, and for fractals. Fractals are incredible, and the videos in that link will give you a nice mind-break. Also, there's this fractal-broccoli that I never buy when I see it. What's wrong with me? Mathematical gorgeousness + cruciferous vegetables = I should be all over that.

     2. The little girl I babysit thinks mushrooms are icky, so when we find some in her yard she stomps on them. One day she was really going to town on all the offending fungi (band name!) with a stick. I looked over and noticed a greenish-yellow dust floating up from her target. I told her to stop (just in case she inhaled the spores of whatever-the-crap-that was) but wasn't too concerned. Upon hearing this anecdote, my mother told us about a time in her youth at Girl Scout camp, when some others scouts had eaten some mushrooms and become so ill they had to be taken to the hospital. This sounds awful when I write it out, but it struck me as really funny too. This is probably related to all the other "at Girl Scout camp" stories my mom has. Like losing a chicken underground.

Transitions

Right now in Seattle it's been glorious. The sun has been present most of the last few days, the clouds are puffy and reveal a bright blue behind them, and the temperatures have nearly reached the seventies. The trees are putting on crimson robes and the night air has a bite to it. This time of year, the (hopefully) long and lazy to grey days, pulls me in two food directions. In one direction is the overflowing cornucopia of harvest, the sweet fruits and vegetables that hardly need cooking or adornment. In the other direction is the food of Carbohydrates and Fats. I think my inner European awakens, notices the slight chill, and demands to put on a "winter layer". 

In order to appease this craving, today I made up a cookie recipe I've dubbed Scandinavian Shortbread. Shortbread is a cookie made with the typical sugar, butter, and flour, but without any leaveners like baking soda or powder and typically also without egg. Shortbread at it's best is crunchy at the edges, tender in the middle, and slightly crumbly throughout. This shortbread has flavors of anise, cardamom, and honey. There's also a nice grain flavor from the whole wheat and rye flours.

Scandinavian Shortbread

1/3 c sugar

2 T honey

2/3 c unsalted butter, softened

1/2 t anise seeds

1/3 t ground cardamom

1 c all purpose flour

1/3 c whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 c rye flour

1/2 t salt

Preheat the oven to 350˚. In a bowl, cream together the sugar, honey, and butter until fluffy and smooth, about five minutes with an electric mixer, scraping the bowl every few minutes. Beat in the spices, about 1 minutes. Add the flours gradually and mix the dough until smooth and uniform, a minute or two more.

Using a cookie scoop or two spoons, scoop 1" diameter balls onto a parchment-lined or greased cookie sheet. Use a fork to make cross-hatch marks on each ball, pressing down slightly as you do so. Bake for 12-14 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through, until golden brown. Let cool on the sheet.

Makes about 24. Keep in a sealed container up to two weeks.

Accompaniment: Eat these with a jar of lingonberry jam in an IKEA parking lot, or with a cup of chamomile tea in the evening.

All-Day Muffins

I firmly believe that muffins are the greatest snack you can have. I know this is highly debatable, but I stand by my opinion. Here's why:

• They have sweetness. All the best snacks are sweet.
• They have fiber. Fiber keeps you full.
• They are infinitely variable. Variety is the... you know.
• They are appropriate to eat at any time, day or night.  

I was once the head cook at a camp, and we baked our muffins in sheet pans. Easier to prepare, easier to serve, easier to clean up after. (Who wants to spend their morning scrubbing out 100 holes? Not me. And not my dish crew.) Any leftover slabs of muffin got piled on a plate, and though they might languish in the morning, the kids would fight over them come 2 o'clock.