homemade graham crackers

these homemade graham crackers were the perfect next step in my battle against perfection. i mentioned in my quiche post about how tempting it can be to only post professional-grade cakes & cookies, but to me that takes away from the heart of baking and i'm determined to show you all everything - the gorgeous, the yummy, and everything in between. 

instead of using a cookie cutter i just free-handed the cutting process and i am kind of in love with how unique they each are. i may have to eventually cave and buy a scalloping tool to give the edges a little pizazz, but they are equally adorable cut with a sharp knife.

this dough came together quickly and with almost zero effort. i was careful not to over-mix, which would make the dough tough, and combined dry with wet until it was 90% mixed and then did the rest by hand. 

the heat of your hands will help smooth out the dough before you stick it between two pieces of floured parchment. sandwiching dough between parchment is something i do for every roll-out cookie i make, i wouldn't tackle the process without it! 

one of my favorite parts of this whole process was poking the traditional graham cracker holes in these suckers. the surprise was finding out that this step happens post-freezing. who knew! 

i ended up using these cookies as a make-shift spoon for my coffee ice cream a few nights ago. do i own spoons? yup. are they as delicious as cookies? nope. what i learned, but was too lazy and impatient to actually do, was that these would make an absolutely perfect cookie for ice cream sandwiches. summertime, here i come!

homemade graham crackers

pretty seriously modified from martha's recipe

yields approximately 30

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup cake flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon all spice

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon honey

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. whisk flours, salt, baking soda, and spices in a medium bowl, set aside.

2. in the bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar, and honey. add flour mixture and beat until just combined.

3. using your hands, shape dough into a smooth-ish ball, and place between two sheets of floured parchment. roll out to about 1/8 inch thick. (note: mine are obviously thicker and i sort of like them like that, it's this cracker-shortbread-biscuit hybrid, but you can choose your own adventure with this one.)

4. cut out desired shapes and place on another sheet of parchment. chill in freezer until firm, about 20 minutes.

5. remove dough from freezer and pierce crackers using a fork. transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment and bake, rotating halfway through, until dark golden brown (8-9 minutes, depending on thickness). let cool on wire racks.

nutritional information*

calories: 63, fat: 2.9g, cholesterol: 8mg, sodium: 41mg, carbs: 8.3g, sugars: 3.27g, protein: 0.64g

*this information is totally dependent on how many you yield. if it helps, the total caloric amount for the entire batch is 1890 cals, which you then can divide by how many cookies you end up getting for a more accurate number.

thank you for reading & happy baking!

amanda

vegan oatmeal raisin lace cookies

let me take you all on a quick trip down memory lane. since what i understand as being the beginning of time, my favorite cookie in the world has been a super-thin-but-still-chewy cookie my little sister has made. the recipe is completely in her head and obviously top secret, but if i'm really lucky she will whip up a batch for me and they will be gone in less than a day. 

let's fast forward on this journey a bit to a few months ago when my lovely boss brought me back a cookie from a local coffee shop. it didn't look like anything special in its little cellophane baggy, and it was my first experience with a vegan baked good, but as soon as i took my first bite i was in love. 

these oatmeal raisin lace cookies are gorgeous, golden-y brown, and vegan-tastic. they are the perfect combination of my two favorite cookies and, i can now officially say, my cookie trifecta is complete. 

these cookies have two kinds of fat (earth balance and vegetable oil) and three different sugars (raw, brown, and a little bit of granulated). these all get creamed together until they're light and fluffy before the next surprise ingredient gets added. 

flax! yup, my favorite ground meal makes a return as a substitute for eggs. all it takes is a 3:1 tablespoons water to flax meal ratio and around two minutes of time for the magic to happen. 

here's what the batter looks like after the fats and sugars have been creamed and the flax meal has been added and beaten in. the batter will get a little fluffier at this point, just like if you had used actual eggs. cool, huh?

while you dream about how good these cookies are going to make your kitchen smell, here are some quick tips on how to maximize the deliciousness of this particular recipe. 

tip #1: soak your raisins in tap water for about an hour before you start baking. this will bring them back to life and make their flavor more pronounced. 

tip #2: these cookies spread a lot. like, a lot. my standard two teaspoon portion spread to cookies with about a four inch diameter, which fit around six to a cookie sheet. you could do tablespoon-sized cookies for a jumbo version, just make sure that you give these babies a little room to breathe. 

tip #3: i always find my vegan cookies to get soggy, a problem i'm still trying to figure out, but my solution to keep these crunchy was to leave them out in a single layer overnight. i actually never ended up bagging these at all because i was afraid their thinness would lead to quick breakage. if you have any ideas on how to prevent this minor issue i would love your advice!

vegan oatmeal raisin lace cookies

yields 30 cookies

ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup raw sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon flax meal

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon allspice 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup oats

3/4 cup raisins

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper. 

2. place raisins in small bowl and soak in room temperature water for the duration of the preparation process. in another small bowl stir together 1 tablespoon flax meal with 3 tablespoons water and let sit for 2 minutes. 

3. cream margarine, oil, and sugars with a stand mixer until light and fluffy. add flax mixture and continue to beat until fully incorporated. add vanilla.

4. in a medium bowl whisk together flour, spices, baking soda and salt. 

5. gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well blended. stir in oats and raisins. 

6. drop dough onto lined baking sheets with enough room for spreading and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges brown and centers are set. 

7. remove from oven and let stand on baking sheets for 4-5 minutes. using an off set spatula, run blade between cookie and sheet to loosen and transfer to wire baking rack to cool. 

nutritional information:

calories: 100, fat: 3.77g, sodium: 54mg, carbs: 16g, fiber: 1.14g, sugars: 8.35g, protein: 1.74g. 

thanks for reading & happy baking!

amanda

oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies (with flax!)

after an extremely long week, i wanted to make a comforting-yet-healthy treat to compensate for the half dozen mini-cupcakes, white wine, and pizza i've consumed recently. i went straight to a crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside cookie with dark chocolate chips (delicious & healthier than the milk version), oatmeal and my secret ingredient - flax.

now that i have you hooked, let's talk about flax. this stuff is one of those hippy foods that i never thought i would have in my kitchen, much less try to somehow pack into everything i eat. seriously - a substitute for bread crumbs, sprinkled in oatmeal and yogurt, it can even be used as an egg substitute! its got omega 3s (lowers cholesterol & blood pressure), works as an antioxidant and has tons of fiber. it's win-win - promise. you can get a big bag at trader joe's for a few dollars. you won't regret it!

these cookies came together super quickly in just a few steps. you can totally adjust the spices to your liking with these, which makes the recipe a great and healthy base that you should keep in your back pocket. a crucial part of this recipe is using sea salt, which i think adds oomph to anything with chocolate - especially cookies.

i used brown sugar in these because, well, i think it's like sugar - but better. i went light brown, but you could totally use dark brown and up the molasses-factor. (side note: this is a half batch that made around 15, so if you do a full batch prepare for about double this size!).

whenever trying a new cookie recipe i like to bake them at different times and with different strategies (i.e. chilling, flattening, etc.) to see what works best with the dough. these i baked in rounded 2 teaspoon portions and in 9 minutes they turned into this gorgeous golden brown. i like mine a little crispier, so i would probably go 10 minutes next time.

these cookies are delicious, wholesome, and for around 90 calories a pop they are a caloric bargain.

onto the recipe!

oatmeal dark chocolate chip cookies (with flax meal!)

makes about 30 cookies
adapted from the nourish network

ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 ounces butter, softened
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

2. in a medium bowl whisk together flour, flax, oats, baking soda, spices and salt.

3. cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. add egg and vanilla and combine.

4. add dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time until incorporated but not over-mixed. stir in chocolate chips.

5. drop rounded scoops onto a lined cookie sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes.

nutritional information:


calories: 90, fat: 5g, cholesterol: 12mg, sodium: 39mg, carbs: 11.24g, fiber: 1g, sugar: 7.8g, protein: 1.15g.


thank you for reading & happy baking!


amanda

lemon ricotta cookies

after a week spent with the entirety of southeast michigan freaking out about blizzards and whiteouts, i innocently thought i could have a weekend to relax and run errands and avoid scraping off my car multiple times a day. boy, was i wrong.

i decided i needed a reminder that summer will eventually come, so i grabbed some lemons and leftover low-fat ricotta cheese and went to work on a giada delaurentiis recipe i had bookmarked.

 no offense to giada, but i bumped up the lemon-factor in both the cookie and the glaze - about double what the recipe called for. i also made them a bit smaller, which lowered the calories and made them way cuter.

giada, with all the brains in her giant forehead, says to ladle the glaze on and spread it over the cookie. i decided to take a different route and just dip these suckers in the glaze and wiggle off the excess.

just make sure to put something underneath your drying racks before you start the glazing process or prepare yourself for a messy table.

 

if you're a cakey-cookie person, these are for you. the only trick to these is to make sure you don't over-bake them. i kept an eye on the bottoms and when they were golden brown i took them out of the oven, despite the fact that they looked completely under-done on top.

lemon ricotta cookies

yields about 3 1/2 dozen

adapted from giada de laurentiis

cookies:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 

1 cups sugar

1 egg

8 ounches low-fat ricotta cheese

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

glaze:

3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

(note for glaze: you can adjust the consistency of the glaze by adding more sugar if it's too runny & more juice if it's too thick!)

preheat oven to 375 degrees f.

1. in a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. in a large bowl, cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light & fluffy. add the egg and beat until incorporated. add the cheese, lemon juice, and zest. beat until combined.

3. add the dry ingredients until just combined - don't overmix!

4. line baking sheet(s) with parchment and spoon dough, about two teaspoons for each cookie, onto the sheets. bake for ten minutes, until slightly golden at edges. remove from the oven and let the cookies rest for fifteen minutes.

5. while cookies cool, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. dip cooled cookie tops into glaze and let glaze cool and harden for about two hours.

nutrition information:

calories: 67, fat: 1.7g, cholesterol: 5mg, sodium: 49mg, carbs: 11.71g, fiber: 0.13g, sugars: 7.8g, protein: 1.27g.

thank you for reading & happy baking!

amanda

healthy & easy popovers!

when i was going to grad school in boston my local coffee shop had these popovers people would freak over. seriously. i studied there with regularity and only saw the actual popovers for sale a handful of times, mostly because people would snatch them up as soon as they came out of the oven. as a learned today, that's the absolute best way to eat them.

i was convinced these pillowy babies would be complicated to make and full of butter and guilt, but they were surprisingly easy and this recipe cuts the fat in half!

i'll confess to you, i think there is a learning curve with popovers and mine didn't pop as much as i'd like, but the taste is all there and hopefully you can benefit from my mistakes! plus, how convincing would it be if every recipe i posted was perfect?

i made mine in muffin tins because i hate buying anything that serves only one purpose, unless it's a really good purpose (i.e. ice cream machine!), so i cut the baking time down by five minutes. if you have a popover pan, feel free to tack on an extra five to your baking time.

 

these are all the ingredients! dry ingredients and wet ingredients. the only catch is that the eggs and milk should sit out for about thirty minutes before you mix everything together - it helps the popovers "pop"!

the pans are oil and pre-heated in a hot oven before the batter goes in.

these are just too cute! my edges started popping, but i know they are supposed to get taller. when i make these next, i'm going to bake them at 425°f for the first 10 minutes and then lower it to 375°f degrees for the last 25.

seriously, i might go sneak one of the leftovers right now.

the great thing about this recipe is that you can totally build on it. add herbs, cheese, ice cream, whatever! if you come up with a delicious concoction, let me know!

onto the recipe!

popovers

yields 6
adapted from cooking light

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
cooking spray

1. combine flour & salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

2. combine milk & eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until well blended. let mixture stand for 30 minutes.

3. while you're waiting for your wet ingredients to come to room temperature, preheat your oven to 425°f and coat a half-dozen muffin tin with cooking spray.

4. after 30 minutes, gradually add flour mixture to egg minutes and combine well with a whisk. stir in melted butter.

5. place pan in the oven for 5 minutes, then divide the batter evenly among prepared and heated pan and bake for 35 minutes - 10 minutes at 425°f and the last 25 minutes at 375°f - or until golden brown and popped!


nutritional information


calories: 90, fat: 3.3g, protein: 3.9g carbs: 12.2g, fiber: 0.4g, cholesterol: 51mg, sodium: 172mg


thanks for reading & happy baking!


amanda