Triple Chocolate Cookies

Sorry, no real post today.  But here’s an awesome cookie recipe if you like chocolate.

Banana Cupcakes w/ Peanut Butter Frosting

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

To celebrate, I bought myself a new Sigg.  Originally it was because mine is getting kind of beat up and Gilt was having a sale, but turns out it was probably a good idea anyway.  Kind of ironic, especially since my mom got me my first one in reaction to the Nalgene-BPA scare a few years ago.

Campus is currently swarming with high school seniors as today marked the beginning of Admit Weekend for prospective freshman (or Pro Fros, as we call them).  It’s hard to believe that just two years ago I was one of the small, nervous, scared-looking kids I’ve been seeing all day going to and from class.  OK, so not all of them are that small, but they do share a sort of bemused air that is only pronounced by the name tags they get upon registration.  And the fact that they all travel in packs.  Or herds, rather, like lost little lambs.  It’s cute, really.

Time really flies, though.  I’m almost done with my second year, meaning that I only have 6 weeks left to declare my second major.  Yikes!  My only hope is that I don’t end up as jaded as the other upperclassmen I know.  But as I’m not pre-med anymore, I’d say the chances of me being able to enjoy my two remaining years are pretty good.

But anyways, in addition to Earth Day, April 22 is also my friend’s birthday.  I always see her munching on bananas with peanut butter in the dining hall, so when I saw this on TasteSpotting I knew it would be perfect.  Thanks to Laura of L. Brooks Cooks for posting!

I’m only including the cupcake recipe because I found the frosting to be a bit disappointing.  It called for cream cheese in addition to butter and peanut butter, which totally overwhelmed the taste of the latter.  Somewhere on here I have a decent recipe for peanut butter  frosting that doesn’t involve cream cheese, which I would recommend.

Banana Cupcakes (credit to Bon Apetit, April 2010):

• 1 1/4 C all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 3 small, ripe bananas, peeled
• 1/2 C sour cream
• 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
• 3/4 C granulated sugar
• 1/2 C unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a muffin tin with liners.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, mash bananas and mix with vanilla and sour cream until smooth.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg and egg yolk and beat until blended.  Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with banana mixture.  (Begin and end with flour mixture).  Beat just until blended each time.

Spoon into prepared muffin tin.  Bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 20 minutes.

Let cool before frosting.

Yields 12 cupcakes.

Benjamin Franklin: Inventor, Writer, Entrepreneur…Animal Rights Activist?

As I was doing some reading for one of my English classes the other day, I stumbled upon this curious passage from Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography:

“When about 16 Years of Age, I happen’d to meet with a book written by one Tryon, recommending a Vegetable Diet.  I determined to go into it…My refusing to eat Flesh occasioned an Inconveniency, and I was frequently chid for my singularity.  I made myself acquainted with Tryon’s Manner of preparing some of his Dishes, such as Boiling Potatoes or Rice, making Hasty Pudding, and a few others…”

Who knew he was a vegetarian?

Within the selections from the autobiography that were required reading, Franklin never explicitly stated why he adopted the so-called Vegetable Diet, but from the context of this particular passage it seems that he was trying to save money in order to buy more books.  Regardless of his reasoning, I was pretty excited when I read this because I often feel as though vegetarianism (or any other alternative diet, for that matter) carries this stigma of being part of some new age, hippy mentality.  I’m not sure who Tryon is, but clearly the Vegetable Diet has a much longer tradition than people realize.

One of my favorite anecdote’s in Franklin’s work, however, was the episode in which he reasons himself into becoming a pescetarian, mostly because I sympathized with his internal struggle.

“I believe I have omitted mentioning that in my first Voyage from Boston, being becalm’d off Block Island, our People set about catching Cod and haul’d up a great many.  Hitherto I had stuck to my Resolution of not eating animal Food; and on this Occasion, I consider’d with my Master Tryon, the taking every Fish as a kind of unprovok’d Murder, since none of them had or ever could do us any Injury that might justify the Slaughter.  All this seem’d very reasonable.  But I had formerly been a great Lover of Fish, and when this came hot out of the Frying Pan, it smelt admirably well.  I balanc’d some time between Principle and Inclination: till I recollected, that when the Fish were opened, I saw smaller Fish taken out of their Stomachs: Then, thought I, if you eat one another, I don’t see why we mayn’t eat you.  So I din’d upon Cod very heartily and continu’d to eat with other People, returning only now and then occasionally to a vegetable Diet.  So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do.”

Poor Ben.  Can’t say I blame him; fish are pretty tasty after all.

Also, if you don’t like cilantro, it’s not your fault.

Strawberry Shortcake

It’s hard out there for a vegetarian – in Texas, that is.

I recently returned from a weeklong trip to San Antonio for the women’s NCAA Final Four tournament, where we lost to UConn in the championship game.  But as I’m not a huge sports fan, I’ll just stick to what I know – food.

It was quite the inauspicious start when, on the flight from San Jose, we were served sack lunches containing two sandwiches: roast beef and ham.  Really, chartered service?  You disappoint me.  I tried going for the garnishes, first the sliced tomato and then the cheese, but sadly the latter was tainted with the flavor of animal flesh.  And even though we stayed in a hotel right on the River Walk, which seemed to be quite the gastronomical hub, pickings were rather slim.  While I probably could have ordered salad at all the restaurants we dined at, I’m not a rabbit; I need some variety here and there.  Good thing I’m not vegan anymore.  I’m fairly certain I ate more seafood while I was there than I have in the past six months.

I’d have to attribute the most memorable dining experience to Dicks, and not just because everything on the menu contained some kind of animal.  You see, I initially thought it was somehow a branch of the fast food joint from my hometown, but no, the restaurant is so named because the servers are mean to you.  Well not mean, per se, but just…dicks.  Our server wasn’t actually that bad but the bouncer who carded everyone before they were seated was pretty douchey.  Instead of stamping under-21-year-olds, he wrote and drew pictures on their hands.  I got a large “19,” with one numeral per hand.  In permanent marker.  Vestiges still remain.

On a happier note, we returned to some nice Nor Cal sunshine, which inspired today’s recipe.  It’s basically a giant scone made in a round cake pan, layered with strawberries and whipped cream.  Yum.

Beth’s Very Berry Shortcake (credit to Birthday Cakes by Kathryn Kleinman):

For the shortcake:

• 2 C all purpose flour
• 4 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cold
• 1 C heavy cream or milk

For the whipped cream:

• 2 C heavy cream
• 3 T sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract

• 2 pounds strawberries, sliced

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line the bottoms of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Stir to blend.  Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.  Add the cream or milk all at once and stir to blend.  Knead gently in the bowl for less than a minute to form a soft dough.  Divide dough in half and lightly press into cake pans.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  Let cool slightly before removing to wire racks.

Toss berries with sugar so that syrup forms.  Arrange half the berries over the bottom layer.  Place second shortcake layer on top.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the whipped cream and beat until soft peaks form.  Spoon the whipped cream over the shortcake.  Garnish with remaining berries.

Nanaimo Bars

Caution: the following recipe is only for those with a serious sweet tooth, and an equally serious disregard for nutrition in the face of pure buttery, chocolatey, sugary, and coconutty deliciousness.  Sound good?  Read on.

My friend Cady turned 20 today, and when it came time to pick a recipe I couldn’t help but feel that I always make the same kinds of things.  Blame it on the overall dearth of special baking equipment and ingredients in the pantry that is my dorm room, my laziness, or perhaps a combination of both, but I wanted to branch out a little to something a bit more exotic.  OK, so admittedly these no-bake bars aren’t that exciting, but they are incredibly easy to make and quite tasty.

So what is a Nanaimo Bar, you ask.  It consists of three layers: a chocolate, graham cracker, and coconut crust on the bottom, with a somewhat custardy filling, topped with a thin layer of chocolate.  Oh, and it’s served chilled.  The origins of the Nanaimo Bar are slightly ambiguous, but according to Cake Spy it all began with a Nanaimo woman in Canada some fifty years ago who developed the recipe for a magazine contest.  My mom used to make these quite a bit when I was a younger, and to this day I am quite partial to them.  Pretty sure this is the first time I’ve made the bars myself though, which surprises me because the recipe is so simple.

Apparently now there are different variations, but below is the original and “official” one, courtesy of Cake Spy.

Nanaimo Bars:

For the crust:

• 1/2 C unsalted butter (European style – I actually splurged on this but my tastebuds aren’t discerning enough to detect any difference)
• 1/4 C granulated sugar
• 5 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 3/4 C graham cracker crumbs
• 1 C shredded coconut

For the filling:

• 1/2 C unsalted butter
• 2 T and 2 t cream (I used coconut creamer since that’s the only thing I had)
• 2 T vanilla pudding powder
• 2 C confectioners’ sugar

For the top layer:

• 4 oz semi sweet chocolate
• 2 T unsalted butter

To make the crust, melt together the first three ingredients in a double boiler.  Add the egg and stir to cook and thicken.  Mix coconut and graham cracker crumbs in.  Press into the bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 inch pan.

For the filling, cream together all ingredients until light and fluffy.  Spread evenly over crust.

To make the topping, melt chocolate and butter together on stovetop or in the microwave.  Let cool before spreading over filling.  Chill until top layer is set.