After an exciting fall, I am going home.
You see, I currently (for the next 19 days) live in central Illinois but I am about to make a big change. Almost a year and a half after moving here to Champaign, I am moving back to Chicago. Read more
Tag: ginger
Ginger Apple Crisp with Quinoa Flake Crust
I was home, alone, for the first time since surgery and I was sore. I wanted some easy comfort. You see, when I bake, I don’t feel so alone. It gives me something to do. Read more
Chocolate & spice cookies
I have been having an incredibly busy couple of weeks. Have you missed me? Life has been topsy turvy, I launched 2 website redesigns at my day job, have a third one launching this week. I am probably going to be having surgery on Thursday (if everything goes according to plan). Needless to say, October has been one heck of a crazy month.
I also realized that the month is mostly over, and I haven’t baked much at all this month. There has been so much going on that I hadn’t been able to just stop and take a few hours to create a recipe and bake something. And I really needed to bake something. And I had no idea what to bake. So I did what any baking-obsessed girl would do. I pulled out 2 things from my cabinet and hoped that I could make a dessert that would be delicious. Thank goodness it worked.
Lately, I have been obsessed with ginger. There were brown butter ginger doughnuts, bourbon ginger peach pie, ginger pumpkin doughnuts. I had been buying these awesome ginger chips (chocolate chip sized bits of candied ginger) until they stopped carrying them at Williams-Sonoma. I had to settle for regular crystallized ginger & chopped it myself. and I finally got my hands on some of those new Enjoy Life Mega Chocolate Chunks. So clearly I had to make ginger & chocolate cookies. I am in love with the texture of these. They are soft but not crumbly. They are wonderfully delicate with just a touch of chew. I want to start a campaign to get Enjoy Life to add these cookies to the package. They are that good.
| Iced Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Ginger Chips |
|
Print
|
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author:
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 7 mins
Total time: 27 mins
Serves: 60
Chocolate & ginger make a delightful pair and in these cookies, they dissolve in your mouth.
Ingredients
- 385 grams (3¼ cups) gluten free all purpose flour*
- 1½ teaspoons xantham gum**
- 55 grams (6 tablespoons) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 170 grams (1½ sticks) butter or Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, softened
- 215 grams (1 cup firmly packed) dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg***
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 100 grams crystallized ginger, chopped
- 100 grams (1/3 package) Enjoy Life Mega Chocolate Chunks
- 170 grams (1½ cups) confectioners sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon milk****
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Sift together flour, xantham gum (if using), cocoa, cloves, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (this recipe won’t work with a hand mixer – the dough is too stiff) cream together brown sugar and butter.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg. Beat to combine.
- Pour in the vanilla, scrape down the sides and beat again.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 3 even groups, scraping down the sides between additions.
- Mix in the ginger & chocolate chunks and stir until they are evenly distributed.
- Separate the dough into thirds, put them into seperate ziploc baggies and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease or line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Divide the dough (it will be pretty stiff) into balls the size of ping-pong balls (about 2 tablespoons of dough) and as you put them on the cookie sheet, smoosh them so they are about 3/8 of an inch thick. Leave about an inch of space between the smooshed dough.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes.
- Once your cookies are baked, combine the sifted powdered sugar, milk and lemon juice together. Dip the still warm cookies into the glaze and set on a cooling rack (put news paper or a cookie sheet under the rack to collect drips). If the icing is too thick, add more lemon juice or milk ½ teaspoon at a time to achieve your desired consistencey.
Notes
*I used Williams-Sonoma Cup for Cup flour blend, but I also highly recommend the Jules Nearly Normal flour for people who can’t have dairy (I also use this blend fairly regularly). You can also use this all-purpose blend from No Gluten, No Problem.
**If your blend already has xantham gum (or Expandex, guar gum, etc,) you can omit this.
*** If you can’t have eggs, dissolve 1 tablespoon ground flax with 3 tablespoons warm water.
****Feel free to use any kind of “milk”. I use the So Delicious unsweetened coconut milk, but you can substitute with what you prefer (Soy, almond, hemp, dairy, etc.)
Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe
2.1.7
Ginger Pumpkin Doughnuts
I am back with more doughnuts. And more pumpkin. Two things that I kind of love right now.
After a weekend filled with football in South Bend with Blondie’s family I declare that fall has actually begun. There was a crispness in the air before the tailgate that was decidedly fall. The Illini are ranked and Champaign is filled with a buzz about football that I haven’t seen before. It is time to over-indulge on football watching. Fall is decidedly here.
And since I had some leftover pumpkin, I decided that I could make some doughnuts. And make them taste like fall.
There might also be a video for this recipe. Maybe it will turn out. (Aren’t you glad that I am taking a video class and can make the food come alive on video now too?). And I will probably post it to share with you when it is finished, but I thought that it would be unfair to make you wait any extra time for this delicacy.
| Gluten Free Ginger Pumpkin Doughnuts |
|
Print
|
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Author:
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Serves: 48
These might really just be cakes disguised as doughnuts. But douse them in some butter and toss them with cinnamon sugar and any confusion of them being cakes disguised as donuts goes away. They are also a 1 bowl recipe (yay!) that doesn’t require a mixer (double yay!). If you don’t have a mini-doughnut pan, bake them in a mini-muffin tin and have doughnut holes!
Ingredients
- 240 grams (about 2 cups) all-purpose gluten-free flour* (100 grams (1/2 cup) sweet white rice flour, 50 grams (scant 1/2 cup)tapioca starch, 50 grams (1/3 cup) brown rice flour, 40 grams (scant 1/3 cup) sorghum flour
- 180 grams (3/4 cup) sugar
- 7 grams (1½) teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 100 grams(a generous ½ cup) pumpkin puree
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) heavy cream or yogurt (not greek!)
- 50 grams (2½ tablespoons) grade b maple syrup
- 20 grams (1½ tablespoons) vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs + 1 yolk
- 1/4 cup chopped crystalized ginger (optional)
- 300 grams (1½ cups) sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease your doughnut pan well.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
- In a large measuring cup combine (while you weigh) the pumpkin puree, cream, maple syrup, oil, eggs and yolk. Whisk to thoroughly combine.
- Add the liquids to the flour and mix with a wooden spoon.
- Fill your mini doughnut pan only half full, (About 2 teaspoons of batter per well in the doughnut pan) otherwise they will bake over the top! Bake for 10-12 minutes. They are cooked when a toothpick comes out clean.
- Mix together sugar, cinnamon & ginger. Dip warm doughnuts into the sugar mixture and toss sugar over them to enrobe the donuts in spiced sugar. If the sugar doesn’t stick, brush them with melted butter and re-dip. There is plenty of extra (it just needs to be deep for the dipping/tossing)
Notes
You really want to use good maple syrup (grade B has the most maple-y flavor).
If you are going to use pre-blended flour, please use a good one. I like Jules’ Nearly Normal Flour and Cup4Cup from Williams-Sonoma. Bean based flours will not do well here.
Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe
2.1.7
Ginger Brown Butter Doughnuts
No, this is not a macro shot of Cheerios. They are mini ginger brown butter doughnuts.
Things around here have been incredibly stressful. I keep telling people that I can feel the grey hairs coming in. And that I can see the wrinkles forming. The dentist kept thinking he was hurting me because my eyebrows are always pulled in tight. It actually is starting to feel unnatural to have a relaxed face.
Why? Because I am working on a couple of major secret projects at work. Ok, they are not so secret any more, but they are a little overwhelming at the moment. Blondie didn’t visit me this weekend, so I had plenty of time to do things like laundry and mopping (ick!). Well, when the washers in the building were in use nearly all day Saturday & Sunday, I had to do something. Since it was oppressively hot, I dared not go outside. And I couldn’t look at work or the vacuum for one more minute.
So, I made up a recipe for doughnuts. (Really! It is less stressful than my job some days!). The basic recipe is based on recipes for over 100 cake doughnuts and doughnut muffins.
I had fresh ginger for making some chai tea concentrate, and decided on a ginger doughnut. You won’t be disappointed by these!
| Gluten Free Ginger Brown Butter Doughnuts |
|
Print
|
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Author:
Serves: 12
Baked doughnuts that you can’t stop eating? Here ya go. Make sure you have somewhere to take these or a crowd to eat them because they are quite addictive. The ginger is not over powering and is backed by the nutty brown butter for a delicately flavored treat. The recipe makes 36 mini doughnuts – although it is better to under-fill than over-fill your pan, so you might even end up with 40…
Ingredients
- 50 grams (6 tablespoons) sorghum flour
- 35 grams (3 tablespoons)sweet white rice flour
- 20 grams (1/6 cup) tapioca starch
- 15 grams (3 tablespoons) flax
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt (not greek)
- 1 ½ tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cream
- 115 grams (1 cup) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the doughnut pan or mini muffin tin.
- Brown the butter in a small skillet. This takes about 5 minutes. The butter will start to smell nutty, that’s when you know it is ready. Remove from heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes before moving on. Hot butter will cook the eggs, and that is not what we want to happen
- For the batter: Whisk together dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine wet ingredients and beat together lightly (mixer on medium for about 30 seconds). Add in dry ingredients and mix to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple times.
- If using a mini doughnut pan, scoop the batter into a pastry bag or a gallon size ziplock bag and snip off the tip/corner. This will save you from a giant mess.
- Fill the wells slightly less than half full, or your doughnuts won’t have holes. Bake for 8-12 minutes for minis or 12-15 for full size doughnuts. They are done when a toothpick comes out almost clean. Let sit in the pan for 5 minutes before removing the doughnuts.
- Once you remove the doughnuts, wipe out the wells with a paper towel, and re-grease them. This recipe makes 36 mini doughnuts or 10 full size.
- To make the glaze:Simmer cream and ginger over medium-low heat to infuse the cream with the ginger flavor. Pour the infused cream through a strainer and measure out 1/4 cup. Add this to the bowl of your stand mixer and add the powdered sugar. Make sure your cooling rack is sitting on top of a cookie sheet. Pour this over the doughnuts on the cooling rack. Enjoy!
Notes
To use an AP blend, use 100 grams (1 scant cup) of flour plus the flax, or 1 cup of a flour like Jules Nearly Normal and skip the flax.
If you don’t have a mini muffin pan, you can make donut holes in a mini muffin tin. If all you have is a regular muffin tin, you will have to increase the baking time and add an extra 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.
Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe
1.2.4
Blueberry Ginger Syrup
I have been doing delayed spring cleaning around here this weekend. Blondie didn’t come to visit (last minute Cubs tickets or some nonsense 🙂 ), so I have been spending some time doing the cleaning and organizing that I neglect the weekends that I visit him or he visits me (which is almost every weekend). And I am writing up this recipe so that I can put off the pile of laundry that is calling my name.
A couple of weeks ago, Blondie and I went blueberry picking. Aside from the biting flies, we had a great time. And there were just enough extra blueberries from that pie (which I have been dreaming about having again) to make syrup.
I actually made this syrup that same weekend, but I hadn’t had it on anything other than on a spoon. I didn’t want the berries to go to waste, but there weren’t enough to make preserves.
How to use it:
- Use it on crepes or pancakes.
- It makes a great cocktail – add 2 T to a 12 ounce sorghum beer.
- Add it to sparkling water or club soda for a sweet & spicy soda
| Blueberry Ginger Syrup |
|
Print
|
Recipe Type: Sauce
Author:
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 8
Home made syrups are a great way to spice up your pancakes, ice cream or beverages.
Ingredients
- 4 cups (560 grams) blueberries rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup finely chopped ginger
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
Instructions
- Bring the blueberries, ginger and water to a boil in a medium saucepan and then reduce heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth lined colander, pressing the liquid from the fruit with a wooden spoon.
- Return the juice to the saucepan and add the sugar. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a bottle or jar and cool to room temperature before refrigerating. The syrup will keep for several weeks (but it might not last!) in the fridge.
Notes
Add about 1/4 cup of the syrup to club soda for a fizzy berry pop or to a cold beer for a great summer cocktail.
Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe
1.2.4
Pie party!
There is an internet pie party today. There are nearly 1500 people participating. So, here’s my first ever attempt at pie.
There were peaches at the farmer’s market. I had to wait 20 minutes in line for peaches, now that there is variety (and fruit) there are three times the number of people shopping at the market, and they were the first peaches of the season.
I give you Sweet Champaign Pie. (Have you seen the movie Waitress? It came out 4 years ago. The main character makes pie and names them after what is going on in her life.) It is made with bourbon soaked peaches and ginger chips. I found the magic in making pies this weekend. The meditation that comes with making the crust by hand and the satisfaction that comes from eating it while it is still warm enough to be a gooey mess.
Now, of crust is scary, go get a pre-made crust (whole foods sells a decent pre-made one), and make this pie.
| Ginger Bourbon Peach Pie |
|
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author:
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 45 mins
Total time: 1 hour 15 mins
Serves: 8
Peaches, bourbon, ginger. This is pie for the soul.
Ingredients
- 15 grams ground flax seeds
- 45 grams brown rice flour
- 45 grams sweet white sorghum flour
- 30 grams sweet rice flour
- 20 grams tapioca starch
- 20 grams corn starch
- 1 stick butter, frozen
- 1 tablespoon vodka, ice cold
- 1/4 cup ice water
- 4 cups sliced peaches
- 1/2 cup crystallized ginger chips
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch
Instructions
- Make the crust: Whisk together your flours for the crust in a large mixing bowl. Grate the frozen butter into the flours using a cheese grater or microplane. Using a pastry blender, make sure your flours and butter are well mixed. It should look like mildly clumpy sand. Add the vodka. Pour in the water a little at a time, mixing with a spatula. As soon as the dough starts to come together, stop mixing. Pat into a disk about 4″ in diameter, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 mins.Once chilled, roll out your dough to about 1/4″ thick.Place in pie pan and smooth to corners. Trim over hang and crimp edges. Pop in the freezer while you do the next steps.
- Make the filling: While your crust is chilling, pace a cookie sheet on the middle rack of your oven and to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. This will help keep your bottom crust from getting soggy. Mix together peaches, ginger chips, sugars, bourbon and tapioca starch. Let stand for 15 minutes while your oven heats.
- Assemble the pie: When your oven is hot, remove the crust from the freezer and scoop filling into the shell. If your peaches have let off a lot of juice, it is ok to leave it in the bowl, you don’t want a soupy mess.
- Bake: Place pie on the hot cookie pan in the oven. Bake for 40-50 mins. You know it is done when the filling is boiling. Let stand for 2 hours.
- Scoop the filling into your cold pie shell
Notes
These directions are for making the dough by hand, if you have a food processor the dough comes together quite a bit quicker.
Don’t have a scale? Use 1 1/4 cups of a commercial all purpose blend.
Can’t do bourbon? Substitute 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract for the bourbon.
Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe
1.2.4