Peanut Butter Coconut Honey Cookies

Not very good-looking, but very delicious- especially with a glass of milk. The flavour of coconut and peanut go extremely well together, plus the classic pairing of peanut butter and honey, makes for a soft, chewy, moist, very sweet cookie. The generous amount of peanut butter ensures that they really do taste mostly like peanut, and if you fear that using shortening instead of butter will make them less tasty, keep in mind that the shortening is what allows them to be so soft and tender. With all the other stuff going on, you won't miss the butter.

If you use extra-fine shredded coconut and smooth peanut butter, you can make your cookies prettier, as they'll better hold the criss-cross pattern on after baking. Nonetheless, they'll taste good even if you don't bother. The dough is really easy to work with and freeze for later, as are the finished cookies. 

Peanut Butter Coconut Honey Cookies
Makes 24-30 cookies
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

1/3 C. Vegetable shortening
1/2 C. White sugar
1/4 C. Brown sugar
1/4 C. Honey
1 Egg, lightly beaten with a fork
3/4 C. Peanut butter, American style (made with roasted peanuts, not raw) (I used 'Earth Balance coconut and peanut spread')
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1 1/2 C. All purpose flour
1 Tsp. Baking soda
1/2 C. Shredded dessicated coconut

Preheat oven to 180℃. Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment.

Beat together the shortening, both sugars and honey with a stand mixer or a wooden spoon. Mix the egg and salt separately, then mix in. Add the peanut butter and mix until smooth and homogeneous. Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix well. Stir in the dessicated coconut at the end.

Refrigerate for around 20 minutes if the dough is too soft. Roll into 24-30 balls by hand and spread evenly on the baking pan. push them down with your palm until they are about 1 cm thick and use a fork to score the tops both vertically and horizontally to create a cross-hatch pattern. Sprinkle with additional sugar if desired.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until just the edges begin to brown. Let cool for about 15 minutes before removing from the trays.

Whole-ey Grains, Batman- Vanilla-Bean Honey Kamut Shortbread

This recipe was adapted from one of the prettiest cookbooks I own- an extensive compilation of delicious-looking breads and pastries made with unique flavour combinations, techniques and rarely appreciated grains. Though I didn't have the time yet to try any of the breads, I wanted to make something using the Kamut flour I recently bought- it's a high-protein, ancestral grain with an interesting taste that I've had in breads, but never sweets.

More on Kamut, a.k.a. Khorasan- nowadays it's sold under a trademarked brand, but it was first grown thousands of years ago in the region of the fertile crescent. It's a type of wheat, though the grains are much larger than regular wheat. It's known to be very nutritious and have a pleasant nutty flavour that works well in many kinds of recipe.

I didn't add any flavourings besides the honey and vanilla to focus more on the flavour of the Kamut, and I have to say, it's really good! They're softer and more fragile than other shortbreads I've had, but very tender as a consequence. I'm going to be working on a lot more grainy projects in the near future, as I go through my cabinets full of half-finished flours and experiment with novel uses for them. Stay tuned for more Kamut in the future- I've developed a thing for it with this recipe.

Vanilla-Bean Honey Kamut Shortbread
Adapted from Tartine Book No. 3 by Chad Robertson

1 Vanilla bean, split lengthwise
225 g. Very soft butter (1 C. + 2 TBSP)
60 g. Sugar, divided into 2 halves (1/2 C.)
55 g. Honey (1/4 C.)
80 g. Cornstarch (1/2 C. + 2 TBSP)
225 g. Kamut flour (1 3/4 C.)
1/2 Tsp. Salt

Sift together flour, salt and cornstarch and set aside.

Cream the butter, half the sugar, honey and all the vanilla bean. Let infuse for about 30 minutes, then remove the vanilla pod and add the flour mixture, blending until just combined.

Grease a small baking pan with butter and sprinkle with one tablespoon of the remaining sugar. Press the dough in and sprinkle the remaining sugar evenly on top. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Bake at 180℃ for 15-20 minutes. Cut into desired shapes with a sharp knife while still warm, and remove only when completely cool.

Sour Cream Easter Bread With Honey-Walnut Filling

This year I decided to combine the shape of a babka and the taste of a twisted, nut-filled Hefezopf for easter by making a huge round Easter bread rolled up with a walnut-honey-cinnamon filling. It straddles the line between a cake and a bread, but in any case it's incredibly good and definitely making a comeback during future holidays.

The nut filling is mildly sweet and spiced, and complements the aromatic, yeasty dough well. It's very moist when fresh thanks to the sour cream and oil, but tastes fantastic even when dried out.

You don't need to use the nut filling- or any filling at all. This dough would also probably taste good with an almond, chocolate or poppy swirl, or you could just add some raisins and/or nuts to the dough. You could even make it plain, perhaps adding a bit of lemon or orange zest in that case.

No matter what else is used, this is a champion amongst sweet yeast doughs!

Sour Cream Easter Bread
From Angellovescooking

For Dough:
3 Eggs and 1 yolk
200 g. Sour cream
150 g. Sugar
60 g. Butter, melted
40 g. Neutral or walnut oil
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1/2 Tsp. Rum extract or 1 TBSP rum, optional
1/2 TBSP Lemon juice
30 g. Fresh yeast, or 10 g. Active dry yeast
650 g. Bread flour, sifted

Butter and sugar, for the mold

Find a mold for the bread- a large kugelhopf mold, bundt mold or other loaf pan. Grease with butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Mix sour cream and yeast to dissolve. Add eggs and yolk, sugar, vanilla, rum and lemon juice.

Whisk together the salt and flour. Add the above wet mixture and knead until smooth. Add salt, oil and butter and knead until well incorporated.

Let rise for 1 hour to 90 minutes, or until doubled, in an oiled covered bowl.

Divide dough into 3 pieces. Spread each with filling and roll up, then twist and the whole twist in half. Place each piece into the kugelhopf or other bread mold to fill it up, then cover and let rise another 1 hour-90 minutes.

Bake at 180℃ for 45-50 minutes, covering with aluminium foil if it browns too quickly.

For the Filling:
200 g. Walnuts
150 g. Honey, liquid
1-2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 TBSP Rum
1 Egg white, lightly beaten

Grind nuts in a food processor until some coarse bits remain, but most are smooth. Add honey, cinnamon, rum and egg white and mix well.

Flaxseed and Honey Buns

If you like buns with a sweet, nutty flavour and a soft, dense texture, look no further. These bad boys are made with as much flaxseed as I could pack in for some delicious omega-3s as well as taste, and have the mild sweetness of honey. They're also made with a large portion of whole wheat flour for a relatively wholesome breakfast.

 

You can use more or less ground flaxseed, to taste. You can also try to add some different seeds on top, or some walnut pieces to the dough. In any case, these are the best toasted with butter and honey.

Flaxseed and Honey Buns
Adapted from Moje Wypieki

2 1/4 C. Bread flour
1 1/4 C. Whole wheat flour
3 TBSP Honey
3/4 C. Milk, warm
21 g. Fresh yeast, or 7 g. Active dry yeast
1 Egg
1/2 C. Water
1 1/2 TBSP Nut oil or melted butter
1/2-1 C. Ground flaxseed
Whole flaxseed, to sprinkle on

Mix yeast, milk and honey. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Whisk together the flours, salt and ground flaxseed. Add the yeast mixture, egg, water and oil and knead until smooth. Let rise covered 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled.

Separate into about 16 pieces and shape into balls. sprinkle with flaxseed and let rise covered for 30 minutes.

Bake at 180℃ for 20 minutes, or until golden.

Gingerbread Trifecta- Croatian Medenjaci, German Lebkuchen and American Gingerbread

Medenjaci(top) and Lebkuchen (bottom) with royal icing.

My family has never made gingerbread cookies for Christmas traditionally, so I took it upon myself to try some recipes out and evade having to buy them for relatively high prices from local bakeries (or in the case of honey-based gingerbread, not being able to buy them at all). These cookies are great because they last ages without losing their flavour or texture, are easy to roll out and cut (provided you use enough flour and some baking parchment) and are great fun to decorate. We used two types of frosting, the regular decorative royal icing and also the more "American" icing made with shortening. Both work well for gluing sprinkles, candies, and other tidbits.

American gingerbread with the thicker, soft frosting.

Each kind has its distinct advantages. The medenjaci had a milder gingerbread flavour while still being well-spiced, and could easily be made any time of year (then again, there's no law against off-season Christmas baking...). Its ingredients are also more accessible than many other honey-gingerbreads for Canada. 

While the lebkuchen requires natron (hard to come by in Canada), lebkuchen spices (which one can make themselves using an online recipe- I used some from my grandmother) and white rye flour (available in Eastern European stores and some health foods stores), it's well worth the effort to gather the ingredients if you can- it's got a unique flavour and makes great ornamental cookies- and it's eggless, and can even be made vegan if shortening is used. 

The American gingerbread is also as good as any I've ever bought, and is different from the other two due to both the higher fat content and use of molasses. I would say that every one of the recipes was a keeper.

Medenjaci- Croatian Gingerbread
Adapted from Tara's Multicultural Table

3 C. All-purpose flour
1/4 Tsp. Salt
1/8 Tsp. Baking soda
2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Ginger
1/4 Tsp. Cloves
1/4 Tsp. Nutmeg
1/8 Tsp. Mace
Pinch each of coriander, white pepper and cardamom
1/2 C. Butter
1/2 C. Sugar
2/3 C. Honey, preferably wildflower
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
1 Egg

Sift together the flour, spices, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add honey, vanilla and egg. Incorporate the dry ingredients in spoonfuls until all is added. Once smooth, wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 180℃. Roll out between sheets of baking parchment or plastic clingfilm until thin and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 10 minutes on parchment. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Lebkuchen
From Chefkoch.de

400 g. Honey, preferably wildflower
100 g. Water
100 g. Light brown sugar
60 g. Clarified butter, or shortening
300 g. All purpose or type 550 flour
300 g. White rye flour
6 g. Baking powder
1 Packet Lebkuchen spices
16 g. Natron

In a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl, heat together the honey, water and brown sugar until homogenous. Add butter/shortening and allow to dissolve. Let cool to room temperature.

Sift together dry ingredients and add the wet ones. Knead until a homogenous mass forms and refrigerate 6 hours, or overnight.

On a well-floured surface, roll out dough and cut into shapes. Bake at 180℃ about 15 minutes, or until just beginning to brown at the edges.

American Molasses Gingerbread
Adapted from Moje Wypieki

750 g. All purpose flour
15 g. Baking powder
5 g. Ginger
3 g. Nutmeg
2 g. Cloves
2 g. Cinnamon
2 g. Allspice
1 g. White pepper
113 g. Butter
113 g. Shortening
235 ml. Molasses
180 g. Brown sugar
120 ml. Water
1 Egg
2 Tsp. Vanilla
1/2 Tsp. Salt

Mix dry ingredients. Heat together the sugar, water, and molasses until dissolved in a small saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Add the butter and shortening and allow to dissolve. Let cool.

Add to dry ingredients along with egg and vanilla, and mix until homogenous. Refrigerate 6 hours, or overnight.

Roll out on a well-floured surface and cut into shapes. Bake at 180℃ for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool and harden on sheets before removal.

Royal Icing:
1 Egg white
2/3 C. Powder sugar
Pinch of salt
1 Tsp. Lemon juice

Beat all at high speed until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Soft Piped Icing:
1 1/3 C. Powdered sugar
3 TBSP Shortening
1 Tsp. Vanilla
About 1 TBSP milk

Beat all at high speed until smooth, adding just enough milk to achieve a pipable consistency.

Makowiec- Poppyseed Roll

Now that Christmas is long over, and I've had plenty of time to consider the champions of the recipes I've tested, I can safely say that this is one of my favourites. It's not as pretty as a store-bought makowiec, but admittedly that's mostly due to my sloppiness. But- the dough! Definitely my favourite dough for a poppyseed cake. It's soft, moist, and tender. It's got a nice yellow colour, and holds up well against the poppyseed filling. With my favourite poppyseed mixture inside and a bit of powdered sugar on top, this is probably tied for my favourite holiday baked good, along with my new champion-of-all-stollens.

Makowiec
For the Dough:
Adapted from About.com

30 g. Fresh yeast
1/4 C. Warm water
2 1/4 C. Type 550 or all-purpose flour
1.4 C. (55 g.) Butter
1/4 C. Sugar
1 Egg and 1 Yolk
1/4 C. Sour Cream
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
Zest of 1/2 a lemon

Dissolve yeast in water. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Mix egg, yolk, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and sour cream. Add yeast mixture and flour and mix with a dough hook until smooth.

Add the butter, in small pieces, until all is incorporated. Mix the dough until smooth.

Let the dough rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled.

For Filling:
200 g. Ground poppyseed
About 1/2 C. Milk
1/4 C. Sugar
2 TBSP Honey
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 TBSP Rum
 Zest of 1/2 a lemon
2 TBSP Butter
1/4 C. Sultanas
1/4 C. Walnut pieces
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon (optional)

To Finish:
1 Egg white, beaten
Powder sugar, to dust

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until steaming, then remove from heat and let cool. Add enough liquid so that it has the consistency of a thick paste.

Once dough has risen, punch down and roll out into a large rectangle. Brush the rectangle with beaten egg white. Spread the centre with the poppyseed filling, avoiding the edges.

Roll up the dough and tuck the edges under the loaf. Proof, covered, for about 20 minutes.

Brush with the remainder of the egg white. Bake for about 45-55 minutes at 180℃, covering with foil if it browns too quickly.

Let cool and dust with powder sugar.

Honey Custard French Toast with Chocolate Honey Sauce and Pecans

I normally don't use so many eggs in my French toast, but I wondered if I could get a better result if I was more extravagant. Indeed- this is the richest, custardiest, pillowiest french toast I've ever had. It's soft but not soggy, not too eggy, and does my nice brioche loaf justice. The cinnamon compliments the mild sweetness of the honey, and it practically doesn't need any toppings.

Of course, it's better if you do. I made a simple sauce of chocolate and honey, puddinglike and bittersweet, creamy and perfectly balanced with the gentle flavour of the toasts. A topping of crunchy nutty pecans seals the deal- definitely a worthy weekend breakfast. 

Honey Custard French Toast
From Mr. Breakfast

10-12 Slices of brioche or challah
1 3/4 C. Whole milk
1/2 C. Honey
1 1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 TBSP Rum
1 Tsp. Vanilla extract
6 Eggs, beaten
About 2 TBSP Butter
Oil, to fry

Whisk together the salt, cornstarch and cinnamon. Set aside.

Mix the eggs, milk, honey, vanilla and rum. Whisk in the cinnamon mixture. Pour the mix into a shallow pan to a depth of about 2 cm.

Soak the bread slices for about 30 seconds per side. Heat a skillet pan with oil on medium and fry until golden brown, about a minute on each side. 

Pat the excess oil off the finished pieces with a paper towel. Overlap the slices with a small sliver of the butter on top of each. Keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.


Chocolate Honey Sauce

1 C. Whole milk
2 Tsp. Cornstarch
1 Tsp. Vanilla sugar
1/4 C. Honey
40 g. Semisweet chocolate

About 1/2 C. Toasted pecan pieces, to serve

Heat 3/4 of the milk until steaming. Mix the cornstarch, honey, remaining milk and sugar in a small bowl. Pour into the hot milk and whisk thoroughly, cooking on medium-low until thickened. Stir in pieces of the chocolate until all are dissolved. Serve warm with the french toast. Serve pecans on the side.

Honey and Green Walnut Gelato

Recently I bought a jar of green walnut jam at my local Starsky- more like green walnuts in syrup, but still. I'd never tasted green walnuts, since I don't have access to a tree, so it piqued my curiosity. 

This is the brand I used- mind you, it wasn't empty before.

Green walnuts are simply unripe walnuts, and can be preserved in syrup, pickled, or even made into liqueurs such as nocino and liqueur de noix. The whole immature walnut is used, fleshy outside and all, cut into pieces if it's big. I'd love to try preserving my own, but I somehow suspect that the walnut trees in my neighbourhood are the more strongly flavoured black walnuts, so I'll have to do further research as to whether it's a good idea to use them (furthermore, I'd have to find a tree in a secluded enough place that nobody is questioning me picking the unripe nuts...).

'Till then, this jam made a lovely introduction to their flavour. They've got none of the taste you'd expect from walnuts, nor the texture- they seem more like giant raisins, only with a more floral, subtly nutty taste and some sourness from the syrup (which contains citric acid). The note of acidity helps keep the sweetness from becoming too cloying as well. It's kind of odd, but they kind of remind me of a sweet version of capers in that they make an interesting, hard to describe addition in terms of both texture and flavour. Seriously, I have no idea how else to explain these things. You've got to try them for yourself.

Anyways, I wanted to do something with the jam that'd take full advantage of its uniqueness and also allow me to stretch it a bit further (it ain't cheap!). I've been meaning to try making gelato for quite some time- the idea of a frozen desert that has a smooth texture without requiring eggs or vast quantities of cream is and was very appealing. I can't say this is a purist's recipe, given the powdered and evaporated milk, but it gives a very impressive result in terms of smooth, non-icy texture and rich taste. The ease of preparation and lack of a need to buy a new box of eggs is also a plus. I still kind of consider eggs and cream luxury products, since if I'm going to get them I'll only get the organic, free-range, top-notch ones, and those can get pricey. I've already gone through nearly two dozen eggs and a litre of cream (really) so I had to temper my ice-cream-making enthusiasm with something else.

I used a manuka honey from New Zealand that has a flavour just as unique as the green walnuts- it's kind of musty, but in a good way, and almost smokey along with the floral aroma. Honey goes with green walnuts just as well as it does with ripe ones, with the sweetness contrasting the tanginess of the green walnut jam and the subtler flavours complimenting one another. You can use any nice, light honey, but I wouldn't recommend anything too strong as it would compete too much with the green walnuts.

This is definitely not going to be the last gelato I make along this formula, since it works so beautifully. I'll want to make my own evaporated milk for next time, though... But that's an experiment for another day. 

Honey and Green Walnut Gelato
Adapted from Kochtopf

200 g. Whole milk
50 g. Evaporated milk
50 g. Powdered whole milk
1 TBSP Cornstarch
110 g. Light honey, preferably manuka
210 g. Whipping cream (35%)
150 g. Green walnut jam

Whisk together all but the whipping cream and green walnut jam. Pass through a strainer into a small saucepan, pushing through any clumps with a spatula to crush them. Bring to a rolling boil, then cook for about 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Take off the heat and keep stirring for another minute.

Pour into a cool bowl and refrigerate overnight. The next day, whip the cream and fold half of it into the cooked mixture. Fold in the other half. Spoon the mixture into an ice cream maker and operate according to the manufacturer's instructions.

In a freezer-safe tupperware container, spoon in about 1/3 of the gelato. Drizzle on 1/3 of the green walnut jam. Repeat this until all the gelato and jam is used. Put in the freezer immediately to firm up, and leave at least 6 hours (preferably overnight) before consuming.