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The Peanut Butter Cookie

Hey guys, it has been yet another month since I posted anything here.

This whole Veganism has changed some things in terms of cooking.

I don’t have as much options as I did before and I’ve been lacking the motivation to cook new things.

In the mean time, I leave you with this famous cookie amongst my friends, they go crazy for these!

One of my colleagues has been pleading me to bring these cookies to school for about a year now – I still haven’t, poor guy!

After chocolate chip cookies, THESE are # 2 in my top cookies list and you can even make them Vegan!

Just use a Vegan friendly margarine like Earth Balance (Sold in the U.S.A) or Olé (Sold in Mozambique/South Africa) and

apple sauce or banana puré to substitute the eggs. Of course you can always use egg replacers.

Like most cookies, this is a VERY easy recipe, anyone can make this. The only thing you need to know is working with your oven.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup unsalted butter/margarine

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup lightly crushed peanuts

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375ºF/190ºC

Cream together butter, peanut butter and sugars. Beat in eggs

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, peanuts, baking soda, and salt. Stir into batter.

Put batter in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Roll into 1 inch balls and put on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork, making a criss-cross pattern.

Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes or until cookies begin to brown. Do not over-bake.

Sausage Quiche Lorraine

Here it is!

After a long wait, full of purely sweet induced recipes, the savory is back.

I give you the Quiche.

An egg custard with savory additions like bacon or cheese, baked in an

open pastry shell. The quiche is a favorite and traditional brunch dish, as it is usually served at

room temperature or chilled so the custard has time to set up.

I like mine served either in room temperature or hot. This is great for picnics, as it can be made into

mini pie shells, making each mini quiche an individual serving.

The variations are endless, combine anything you may have in your kitchen, I usally make quiche when

there are a lot of leftovers. Of course there is also the sweet version of quiche, the flan.

One of my favorite flans has got to be the cherry praline flan. Yum!

This is a Sausage Quiche Loraine, a small variation to the classic Quiche Loraine, I just substituted the bacon

with sausage. Anyone that knows what a quiche is, knows the Quiche Loraine, its like the pizza’s cheese pizza.

INGREDIENTS:

Shortcrust Pastry

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tbsp margarine

3tbsp shortening/lard/butter/margarine

2-3 tbsp chilled water

pinch of salt

Filling

4 cooked sausages

2 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2/3 cup cream

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup grated Gruyère/Pecorino/Parmesan cheese

pinch of salt

freshly ground black pepper

tomato rinds to decorate (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Shortcrust Pastry

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub in the margarine and lard (shortening) until the mixture resembles

fine breadcrumbs. Add the water and mix to a firm dough. Knead on the lightly floured surface until smooth.

Roll out the pastry (dough) and use to line a 20 cm/8 inch flan tin (pie pan).

Filling

Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF

Cut the sausages into small pieces and add to the prepared flan case.

Place the eggs, egg yolks and cream in a bowl and beat together.

Stir in the milk, and add salt andpepper to taste. Pour the mixture over the sausage and sprinkle

with the grated cheese. Bake in the already preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to set for 10 minutes before serving.

The Neiman Marcus Cookie

To me, this recipe is essential to every food blog out there!

The famed $250 Neiman Marcus Cookie recipe, an urban legend still told and believed by some to this day.

In the legend, a woman and her daughter enjoy a cookie while shopping at Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas,

and ask for the recipe. The waiter informs her there will be a “two-fifty” charge, which the woman interprets

as a modest $2.50. Upon receiving her VISA statement, she is shocked to discover she has been charged

$250.00 instead. In revenge, she photocopies the recipe and urges her friends to distribute it for free to

everyone they know so that the store will make no further profit on its sale.

The Neiman Marcus Cookie sold is actually quite different from this recipe, they even show the recipe for

free in their website.

Its so silly how so many people actually believe in this story, here are a few things that prove it isn’t:

Prior to the emergence of the legend, the store did not have a chocolate chip cookie;

A similar story has been around since the 1940s, originally involving a red velvet cake
recipe from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. It wasn’t until the 1980s that the story’s focus
shifted to cookies. The cookie version of the story originally was attached to Mrs. Fields
cookies, causing that company eventually to post disavowals of the notices at all its stores.

Neiman-Marcus for most of its history only accepted its own card and American Express.

So there you have it folks, not a true story.

However, whoever did invent this recipe sure knew what they were doing, these cookies are DELICIOUS.

So good in fact, that I find it difficult to choose between the classic chocolate chip cookies and these.

…and boy do I LOVE chocolate chip cookies!

Like most cookie recipes, its very easy to make. So why not make these for New Years as a delicious treat?

INGREDIENTS:

2½ cups rolled oats

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

4 ounces milk chocolate chips

1½ cups chopped walnuts/pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Blend the oats in a food processor or blender to a fine powder. In a medium bowl whisk together

the blended oats with the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy,

3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides and beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in the vanilla extract. On low speed gradually mix in the flour mixture, beating just until incorporated.

With a rubber spatula fold in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

4. Roll the dough into 2-ounce balls (or about 2 heaping tablespoonfuls worth) and place about 2 inches apart

on the baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Cookies should be lightly brown and set on the

outside but still look a little undone in the middle. That’s okay – they will finish setting up after you remove them

from the oven. Let cool 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

4 Weeks Of Christmas: Chocolate Snow Cookies

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I got so frustrated thinking what to call these cookies!… thinking how to start this post

and sounding silly in the process.

I’ve been playing Dragon Age Origins for the past 4 hours now and as a result having “writers block”.

So, as promised, here is yet another 4 weeks of Christmas recipe post!

Yet another sweet recipe, I just can’t get enough of sweets!

Next week I promise to share a savory Christmas recipe, maybe turkey?

This recipe is from Ana Maria Braga, she calls them American Cookies – not the best name, this

explains why I had to think of a new more suitable one. They’re really yummy and sweet, I just love

dunking them in a glass full of cold milk!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract/essence

120 g semi sweet chocolate/dark chocolate – melted

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 cup icing/powdered sugar

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients – leaving out the icing sugar.

Mix well until you obtain a sticky dough. Wrap this in saran wrap

or wax paper and keep in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

With a buttered spoon or a small ice cream scoop, scoop small portions and roll into balls.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF.

Roll the balls into the plate with the icing sugar, completely covering each ball.

Place the cookie balls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes

hhhhh

delte2

dellee

4 Weeks Of Christmas: Christmas Morning Pancakes

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The morning of Christmas is a special one, you smell the gingerbread in the oven, that beautiful

morning sun light – peaking through the windows with that magical glow, presents waiting to be

unwrapped and cinnamon in the air from the hot pancakes on the table.

Oh yes, the pancakes, the fluffy and moist pancakes waiting for you to sink your teeth in.

With a tall glass of milk, you can’t go wrong.

So for this weeks recipe I’m sharing my famous pancakes, the most delicious pancakes!

This summer I attempted to make them in my grandmas house with a friend – they turned out horrible!

Why? Well, I experimented a little with the mixing process and added some new ingredients, thinking that I

could make the recipe better than it already is, I failed and learned myself a lesson.

Not only that, but I embarrassed myself in front of my friend – expecting for something yummy.

It’s important to follow the recipe, mixing everything in order and not adding any other ingredients!

The great thing about these pancakes is that they contain no oil.

I made these perfect pancakes one day by accident, forgetting to add the oil.

I always thought, the more fat in a recipe, the better flavor, but not in this case.

So even if your a health freak you can make and enjoy these pancakes, just skip the butter you add

on top and in between the layers.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS:

Its important to mix the ingredients in this manner, to achieve that special fluffiness.

Start by adding the egg, sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Beat this using a metal whisk for about 2 minutes.

Now alternate with the milk and flour, adding a little bit of the flour and a little of the milk, beating thoroughly

until you finish the two ingredients.

Then add the cinnamon and pinch of salt.

Before adding the baking powder, have your non stick skillet lightly greased and heated.

Once its hot, mix in the baking powder (this should always be the last ingredient to add, because baking powder

works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into the batter through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet

mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture, if you leave it in too long, the effect will be less).

If your batter looks too liquid or too thick add in more milk or flour depending on the texture.

Using a ladle, pour a small disk of the batter onto the hot pan, once bubbles start to form around the pancake,

flip it gently with a spatula. Make sure your heat is set to medium – low, you don’t want to burn these babies!

Place the pancake on a plate, drizzle a little bit of maple/golden syrup, add a little piece of butter and keeping on

doing so for each layer.

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pancakes2

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Freakin' Delicious!

The Peanut Butter Cookie

Sausage Quiche Lorraine

The Neiman Marcus Cookie

4 Weeks Of Christmas: Chocolate Snow Cookies

4 Weeks Of Christmas: Christmas Morning Pancakes

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