TasteFood

Easy Weekend Baking: Coconut Blondies

Coconut Blondies are the perfect antidote for a rainy weekend day. They are simple to make, kid-friendly and sinfully delicious. Filled with chocolate chips and flecked with coconut, these buttery rich squares will make you want to stay inside and bake. Make a batch on your own or with the kids, curl up on the sofa with a cup of tea and enjoy the sound of the rain outdoors. Bliss.
 

Coconut Blondies

Coconut adds a bright crunch to these chewy bars. Makes 48 1-1/2 inch squares.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened flaked coconut, divided
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.) Butter a rectangular (13 x 9 inch) baking pan. Line bottom with parchment and butter parchment. Combine flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl and whisk together; set aside. Whisk sugar and eggs together in a medium sized bowl. Add butter and vanilla and whisk to combine. Stir in flour until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in 1/2 cup coconut and chocolate chips. Spread batter in pan. Sprinkle 1/4 cup coconut evenly over top. Bake until golden brown on top, 30 minutes. 

If you like this, you might enjoy these TasteFood recipes:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

 

 

 

Ginger Pear Streusel Cake

 

 

 

 

Ginger-Spiced Molasses Cookies

 

 

 

 

or these treats from the foodblog village:
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Bars from Gluten-Free Goddess
Caramel Apple Crumb Bars from Andrea Meyers 
Lemon Bars from Joe Pastry
Peanut Butter Bars from Whiskblog

 

Tweaking a Classic: Chocolate Chip Cookies

 
When I cook I cannot resist the urge to tweak a recipe - even when it's a classic. Yet, I also believe in the motto that if it's not broken, don't fix it. The following recipe for chocolate chip cookies is a compromise. We all know the familiar tollhouse recipe we grew up baking and eating, and there is no denying its perfection. However, over the years I have tweaked and experimented, adding oats, an extra egg, using more brown sugar, less brown sugar, fiddling with light or dark brown sugar. Tiny tweaks, but enough so that I have a recipe that satisfies me.

I combine both semi-sweet and dark chocolate in these cookies. The dark chocolate is grated or finely chopped, so that the small pieces fleck the dough, imparting a hint of chocolate without extra sweetness in every bite. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 36 - 2 inch cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet (60%) chocolate chips
3.5 ounces dark (72%) chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.) Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix well. Place butter and sugars in a bowl of electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Cream until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Stir in flour and mix well. Add chocolate and stir to combine. Place rounded tablespoons of the batter on baking trays lined with parchment paper. Bake in oven until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool on rack.

If you like this, you might enjoy these TasteFood recipes:

 Chocolate Coconut Cookie Bars

Chocolate Oblivion Cookies

Ginger-Spiced Molasses Cookies

 

Lemon Curd and a Lemony Recipe Roundup

When life hands you a crate of lemons what do you make? I reflected on this question recently, since I was handed a crate with 100 lemons. They were leftovers from a middle school outing in which I participated as a kitchen assistant. Aside from spending time with my daughter and her class in beautiful Mendocino, this crate of lemons was a highlight of the trip. For me, 100 lemons are far more than leftovers - they are a gift.

The first recipe I tackled was Lemon Curd, one of my favorite food products. Lemon Curd is delicious as a garnish with fruit, meringues, cakes and breads. It keeps in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, and also freezes beautifully. I like to make my curd especially lemony, and manage to slip in an entire cup of freshly squeezed juice, as well as a heaping tablespoon of zest. I prefer to keep the sugar content on the conservative side so that the citrus can sparkle.

6 lemons down, 94 to go.
 

   

Lemon Curd
Makes about 2 cups

8 large egg yolks, whites reserved for another use
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Combine egg yolks and sugar in a heavy noncorrodible saucepan and whisk together. Add sugar, lemon juice, butter and salt. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. As the butter melts continue stirring until the curd begins to thicken. Do not let the curd boil; if it begins to give off steam, briefly remove pan from heat, stirring constantly. Once the curd thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon, strain the curd through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl and cool. The curd may be refrigerated up to two weeks, or frozen up to 2 months.
 

What else can I make with lemons? Here is an inspiring recipe round-up from the foodblogs showcasing many possiblities: 

Greek Lemon Chicken from Kalyn's Kitchen
Pan-Fried Lemon Chicken Nuggets from Just Bento
Chinese Lemon Chicken from A Year of Slow Cooking
Chicken Pasta with Lemon Parmesan Sauce from Dianasaur Dishes

Baked Salmon with Lemon Caper Vinaigrette from Life's Ambrosia
Shrimp Linguine with Lemon Basil Sauce from Dine and Dish
Tilapia with Lemon and Dill from For the Love of Cooking 
Pan-Fried Sea Bass with Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce from Greedy Gourmet
 
Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Lemon Pasta from Smitten Kitchen
Indian Lemon Brown Rice from Lisa's Kitchen
Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Garlic from A Veggie Venture
Potato, Green Bean Salad with Lemon and Basil from FatFree Vegan Kitchen 

Popcorn with Brown Butter, Rosemary and Lemon from Andrea's Recipes
Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette from Herbivoracious
Lemon Aioli from Panini Happy
Limoncello from Local Lemons

Lemon Lavender Cookies from Elana's Pantry
Vegan Lemon Bars from Wasabimon
Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes from Two Peas and Their Pod
Rosemary Lemon Cookies from Pete Bakes!
Lemon Granita from Pinch My Salt
Triple Layer Lemon Cake from Use Real Butter

And more from the TasteFood archives:
Asparagus with Lemon and Olive Oil
Pearl Couscous Salad
Blueberry Lemon Crostata
Lemon Cheesecake with Strawberries
Lemon Crème Brûlée
Grilled Lamb Loin Chops with Lemon Mint Salsa Verde
Lemon Curd Tart
Smoked Salmon Tartare
Seared Sea Scallops with Cilantro Gremolata and Pea Purée
Spring Pea and Ricotta Torta with Lemon and Mint
Moroccan Spiced Chicken under a Brick
Bruschetta with Mixed Spring Greens, Lemon and Ricotta Salata

Bake Sale #4: Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

 

(from the TasteFood archives, because it's time for another bake sale)

It's time for bake sale #4, or is it #5?  If you have school-age children, you know what I am talking about. Every year a rite of school-year passage involves a bake sale, or two, or ten.  I find myself baking throughout the school year to raise money for field trips, dances, class parties and charities.  Over the years I have learned a few lessons.  For instance, 5 year-olds are not as fond of rich dark chocolate as adults.  Or that the term "healthy" really isn't appropriate or welcome at a bake sale, despite maternal instict.  Or that there is an alarming number of peanut allergies in the U.S. (interestingly, far more so than in Europe), with these allergies resulting in schoolwide nut-free policies as locked down as a demilitarized zone.  And, finally, if not most importantly: Size does matter.  So, after my earlier laughable attempts at flourless-triple-dark-chocolate-truffles, carrot cakes packed with dried fruit, grains, flax and wheat bran, or (even worse) anything containing peanut-butter, I am now a seasoned, if not broken, bake sale contributor.  

My latest contribution is a batch of Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.  Catering to the discerning audience of my children's primary and middle school, I took a basic chcolate chip cookie and ramped it up a bit, adding white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  After all, as the bake sale motto goes, less is not more - and if you inadvertently dump an entire container of psychedelic candy sprinkles over your creation, all the better. 

 
 

Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 16 if size matters

1/2 lb. (225 g.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (170 g.) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (150 g.) dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cup (140 g.) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (60 g.) oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (6 oz./180 g.) dark chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz./180 g.) white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.)
Cream butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until pale in color, light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add egg; mix well.  Stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Sift flour, salt and baking soda together in a mixing bowl.  Add to batter and stir to combine well. Mix in oats.  Stir in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  Drop spoonfuls of dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Bake in oven until golden brown, 12-15 minutes.  Remove and cool on rack.

You might enjoy these other bake sale contenders from TasteFood:

 Chocolate Coconut Cookie Bars

Ginger-Spiced Molasses Cookies




      

Chocolate Oblivion Cookies

More Easy Weekend Baking: Ginger Spiced Molasses Cookies

 

Bring on the rain. Winter in northern California often means rain, which is a good thing. Yes, it's a nuisance, but in a climate that sees no rain from spring until fall, it's important that the water tables are replenished in the winter.  An added plus is it's a good excuse to stay inside and bake.

Ginger Spiced Molasses Cookies are an easy cookie that's quick to make and fun to do with children. A few more baking weekends like this, and our freezer will be packed with cookies for the dry season.
 

Ginger Spiced Molasses Cookies
 
Candied ginger adds extra spice and texture to these cookies. Makes about 30.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup finely diced candied ginger, optional

Sugar for rolling

Combine flour, baking soda, ground ginger, allspice, cloves, salt in a bowl and mix well.
Beat butter and sugar together in bowl of electric mixer until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.
Add egg and molasses. Mix to combine well.  Add dry ingredients and stir to combine well. Stir in candied ginger.   Refrigerate batter 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 F.  Pour some granulated sugar into a small bowl. Roll dough into 1" balls.  Roll in granulated sugar and arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake in oven until set and crinkled on top, 12-15 minutes. Remove and cool.

Easy Weekend Baking: Chocolate Coconut Cookie Bars

 

It's a foggy day today. The weather is gray, and everyone in our house is moving slowly. Perhaps it's because we just finished the first week back at school and work following the holidays, but by the time we made it to Friday, we were all ready for another vacation.

So, today has been lazy and a perfect baking day.  This recipe for Chocolate Coconut Cookie Bars is sweet and easy, something you can easily make with children.  The only taxing requirement is waiting until the bars have cooled before eating - and trying not to eat too many at once.

 

Chocolate Coconut Cookie Bars

These are rich and sweet, so cut in small squares.  Makes 30.

1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.)  
Butter an 8" x 8" baking pan. Line with parchment.  Butter parchment.
Combine 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 cup flour, salt and butter in a bowl.  Mix well to combine. Press batter into pan, smoothing to even out.  Bake in oven 10 minutes.

Combine remaining sugar and flour, 1 1/4 cups coconut, chocolate chips, eggs, vanilla and salt in bowl. Mix well to combine. Pour evenly over the baked cookie base.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake in oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes.  Remove and cool completely in pan on rack. Cut in squares and serve.  
 

You might like these other easy sweets from TasteFood:

Banana Cake

Chocolate Brownies

Lemon Tart

BlogHer, Rocco DiSpirito, Wine and Chocolate Oblivion Cookies

I am off to the BlogHer Food Conference this weekend in San Francisco, but first I have been invited to share a dinner with a group of foodbloggers at the St. Supery Vineyards in Napa, hosted by Rocco DiSpirito and Bertolli.  What a way to kick off the weekend!  However, this leaves little time to write a new post, so I will tide things over with one of my favorite posts from the TasteFood archives on Chocolate.  I can't think of a better food product to tide anything over, can you?

As we tighten our purse strings, eat out less, purchase fewer perceived must-haves, it is important that we take a moment to focus on the simpler things in our lives that bring us pleasure.  Family and friends: yes, absolutely.  Good health and happy children: mais bien sûr.  Beautiful sunsets and autumn foliage: thank you so much.  However, what I specifically have in mind is chocolate. 

For those of you who have read my previous post on Swiss Chocolate, I apologize if I repeat myself.  Perhaps the increased frequency in my chocolate references is another barometer of the state of the world as we know it.  Whatever the case, it would be a shame not to share this recipe, because it is sinfully good in an intensely chocolate way.  Not only that, and more importantly, it promises to bring a smile to the faces of those who taste it.  And, right now, generating smiles on the faces of people we know and touch is a very good thing. 

Chocolate Oblivion Cookies
Makes approximately 30

14 oz. (400 grams) dark chocolate (70%)
1/4 cup (55 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups (340 grams) granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup (60 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
7 oz. (200 grams) coarsely chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips

Melt 14 oz. chocolate and butter in top of double boiler over simmering water, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Beat sugar and eggs in bowl of electric mixer until thick and very pale in color, 3 minutes.  Add chocolate and vanilla to eggs.  Mix well. 
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  Stir into chocolate mixture.  Add chopped chocolate.  Stir to combine.  Refrigerate batter 30 minutes, to allow to thicken.  (Do not refrigerate longer, or the batter will begin to harden.  If this happens, allow batter to soften slightly at room temperature before proceeding.)
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto parchment.  Bake in pre-heated 350 F.(180 C.) oven until tops crack, about 12 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely on parchment. 
Cookies can be stored refrigerated in an airtight container up to 4 days. (They also freeze well.) Allow to come to room temperature before serving. 

Bake Sale #7 - Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Or is it #8?  If you have school-age children, you know what I am talking about. Every year a rite of school year passage involves a bake sale, or two, or ten.  I find myself baking throughout the school year to raise money for field trips, dances, class parties and charities.  Over the years I have learned a few lessons.  For instance, 5 year-olds are not as fond of rich dark chocolate as adults.  Or that the term "healthy" really isn't appropriate or welcome at a bake sale, despite maternal instict.  Or that there is an alarming number of peanut allergies in the U.S. (interestingly, far more so than in Europe), with these allergies resulting in schoolwide nut-free policies as locked down as a demilitarized zone.  And, finally, if not most importantly: Size does matter.  So, after my earlier laughable attempts at flourless-triple-dark-chocolate-truffles, carrot cakes packed with grains, dried fruit, flax and wheat bran, or (even worse) anything containing peanut-butter, I am now a seasoned, if not broken, bake sale contributor.  

My latest contribution is a batch of Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.  Catering to the discerning audience of my children's primary and middle school, I took a basic chcolate chip cookie and ramped it up a bit, adding white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  After all, as the bake sale motto goes,  less is not more - and if you inadvertently dump an entire container of psychedelic candy sprinkles over your creation, all the better. 


 

Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 16 if size matters

8 oz. (1/2 lb. or 225 g.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.)
Cream butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until pale in color, light and fluffy.
Add egg and mix well to combine.  Stir in vanilla and cinnamon.
Sift flour, salt and baking soda together in a mixing bowl.  Add to batter and stir to combine well. Mix in oats.  Stir in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  Drop spoonfuls of dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Bake in oven until golden brown, 12-15 minutes.  Remove and cool on rack.

 

Betty Crocker and Russian Teacakes

 

I just received a shipment of cookbooks I ordered.  It was my birthday and one of my presents was a gift certificate from Amazon, which I spent on cookbooks.  They included the exotic Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon by Claudia Roden, a fascinating tome of essays on the mere subject of Food: The History of Taste edited by Paul Freedman, and Ma Gastronomie by Fernand Point, a timeless compilation from the French perspective. I planned to sink my teeth into these books, and get cooking.  But first I had a dinner to go to with a group of friends, including Leslie.  

Earlier this week, I was in Leslie's home and spied a platter of cookies artfully displayed on her kitchen counter.  I looked and admired, and she held up a cookbook.  It was a well used, read, and dog-eared edition of Betty Crocker's Cooky Cookbook. I gasped. I felt as though I had bumped into a friend from my past.  This was the book I grew up with.  My mother baked from it.  I baked from it.  As I leafed throught the pages I saw pictures and recipes of cookies from my childhood.  I could taste each of them and perfectly picture and smell the kitchen from my childhood home. It was a reunion of sorts, but this time I remembered the names.   

A few nights later (the day my shipment of books arrivied) it was a girls' night out, pre-Christmas, and Leslie generously brought all of us a gift.  And mine was a new (no dog-ears, yet) edition of the Betty Crocker Cooky Book. I actually squealed when I opened it. I brought it home, sat down and read the book cover to cover.  There are already several post-its tabbing the pages (21st century dog-ears.)  My daughter has picked out her own recipes that she wants to make - or at least eat. Betty is quickly becoming a member of our family.  As for the Amazon shipment?  I am glad those wonderful books arrived, but I am going to get busy baking some cookies first.

This is my favorite cookie:

Russian Teacake Cookies 

adapted from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

Makes about 36

 

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup finely chopped toasted almonds

Additional confectioner's sugar for rolling

In bowl of electric mixer, mix butter and sugar until lightened in color and fluffy.  Stir in vanilla to combine.  In a medium bowl mix flour and salt together.  Add flour to butter mixture.  Mix to combine.  Add nuts.  Mix to combine.  Chill dough at least 30 minutes. 
Heat oven to 400 F.  Roll dough in 1" balls or oval shapes.  Place on parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake 10-12 minutes until firm, but not brown.  Remove from oven.  Cool slightly.  Roll in additional confectioner's sugar.  Cool.  Roll in sugar again.