Sugar Rush!.....Sugar Crash.......

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  I've been in a sugar coma for the past week.  (I just came out of it this evening after much sleeping and slightly above average nutritional eating.)  This is how it happened.  As most sugar induced comas are caused, it all started with family vacation!! Early this week my sister's family, my parents, Kurt, Rowen and I all headed to Wisconsin Dells for a little R&R, or should I say lack thereof, as we spent most of the time chasing the kids around the indoor water parks that were as abundant as dandelions in springtime at our resort. 

In preparation for lots of swimming and indoor playground climbing, (which turned out to be my nephew, James's, absolute favorite thing to do all the time, much to the cringing of those who had to chase after him what with all those kid germs breeding in there.......shudder) I decided that I should bring along some sugary treats to keep the batteries charged with just enough energy to keep us going but allowing us (and more importantly the kids) to crash just in time for bed.  What better way than to start off the day with a nice healthy portion of Chocolate Coffee Cake?  Which by the way looks like a giant chocolate chip cookie (see pic below!)  It ended up not being as sweet as I thought, which was pleasantly surprising.  And what's a better mid-morning or afternoon snack than homemade Lofthouse Cookies?!  Yes, you know those irresistible pink or yellow frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles that sit in the bakery section of your local grocery store just daring you not to buy them.  And of course your not a sucker when it comes to dares so you buy them!  Well, these are homemade so I felt like I'd conquered something, but then I started making them and it was like "Yeah, even homemade and these have a whole lot of not so good things in them......but at least I made them!"   

Anywho, the recipes are below.  I strongly suggest you make these for your next family vacation.  While my little Rowen is too young to sample these tasty treats, and was ready to go to bed before he even ate dinner, James and his sister, Ava (3 yrs. and 1 yr respectively) were still bouncing off the walls at bedtime.  (Should've gone ahead and brought some raw sugar to be taken by the teaspoon full.....)

Chocolate Coffee Cake
Makes one 9x13 inch cake

For the Streusel:
2/3 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
6 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 C chocolate chips

For the Cake:
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C cake flour
2/3 C unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 C sour cream
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan or dish.  If using a glass baking dish, set the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

To make the streusel, in a small bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.  Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut or rub in the butter until coarse crumbs form.  Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.

To make the cake, in a bowl, stir together the all-furpose flour, cake flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.  Add the flour mixture in 2 or 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla.  Using the mixer on low speed, beat the batter until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.  Sprinkle the streusel mixture evenly over the batter.

Bake until the topping is golden brown 40-45 minutes.  A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.  Cut into squares and serve.

Note:  Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips can be used in this coffee cake recipe.  I used semisweet chocolate chunks because that was what I had in the cupboard.  I also thought maybe a tablespoon of espresso might add to the flavor of this cake, so maybe next time!  Also, this recipe is from my W-S Baking Book!

That is one giant chocolate chip cookie! It's the breakfast of champs! Yum!

Homemade Lofthouse Cookies

 I found this recipe on Pinterest.  It's from sweetpeaskitchen.com  Here is the link: http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2011/05/30/soft-lofthouse-style-frosted-cookies/  I've seen other Lofthouse recipes out there but this is the one I settled on.  The cookies turned out great and were so soft!  The frosting was pretty great too.....I couldn't stop licking it from the bowl! (and I hadn't even frosted the cookies yet!)  I made the frosting green for St. Patty's but let it be your canvas!

Lots of sugar for already sweet kids!

Sad Day.......

So yesterday my immersion blender died.  I know.  Tragic.  I used that thing for everything!  From making smooth and silky soups to deliciously blended smoothies.....ahhhhh!  I can't believe this has happened!  I'm in denial.  Kurt said he would try to fix it this afternoon.  He will figure it out, he's good like that.  Oh who am I kidding?!  It's gone!  And it's all my fault!  I'd been asking too much of it in the past few weeks.  If I hadn't been on this damn smoothie kick!  I know you are thinking I just should have used my blender.  Well, that died too.  It happened on Tuesday.  And I know Rowen was just as happy as a clam because he hates that blender.  I did too.  It's time was up.  (I think Ro clapped when I chucked it in the garbage.)  So alas, now I'm on a search for a new immersion blender/blender (unless Kurt can bring it back to life).  Maybe a Vitamix?!  So long immersion blender, you've done so much and are yet so little.

 

My old Cuisinart Smartstick Immersion Blender.....and it was really smart!  Look at all those attachments!!!

The Vitamix 500 Professional Blender...my dream.

The Cuisinart Compact-Smoothie Blender....This could satisfy my smoothie cravings.

If anyone has any recommendations on a great immersion blender/blender I'm all ears.  I'm just too distraught right now to think clearly on the matter!

It's Greek To Me!

And I'm strictly speaking in food terms here people.  Hummus and pita bread to be exact.  Homemade to be even more exact.  Have I tantalized your taste buds?  Piqued your curiosity?  Captured your attention?  Whet your whistle?   What am I even saying?  I'm going a little crazy lately.  My son has refused to take a nap for the past two days (and is finally sleeping!  Hallelujah!  Thus allowing me to divulge such great recipes to you from the Greeks.)

So a few weeks ago I was doing my weekly scan of recipes from a few of my favorite cookbooks for meals for that week.  I came across a tried and true hummus recipe from a Barefoot Contessa cookbook (How Easy Is That?) which I instantly decided I needed to make.  I thought some fresh veggies and hummus would more than make up for all the pretzel and french onion dip I'd been, shall I say "vegging out on."  (Can I call that a pun?)  I also flipped through my W-S Baking Book and found the pita bread recipe I'd been wanting to try,  which looked easy enough and didn't require me to buy any new ingredients for it!  (I love when that happens...)  All I needed was some Fage and you could call me Athena!  (Like I said, one cute,but determined son who doesn't nap makes for one stable otherwise, but on the verge of a nervous breakdown right now mommy.) 

Anywho below are the recipes.  Nothing could be easier here!  Or healthier!  The hummus is packed with protein and as far as the pita bread goes, you need carbs to sustain energy!  I just ate the hummus with vegetables since I was feeling guilty about my binge on pretzels and dip, but be adventurous with your dippers!  I ate the pita bread plain since I feel that I can't really appreciate the flavor that only comes with homemade bread if I slather it with spreads, but eat it how you like it!  I thought about making some gyros with it, but that was just too ambitious a task for me at the time.  The pita bread makes 10 so if you feel like you won't eat it up within a few days, just pop the rest in a ziploc and into the freezer they go!  Apolafsete!  (That's "Enjoy!" in Greek!)

Hummus
Makes 2 cups (I doubled the recipe since I love it so much!)

2 C canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1/3 C tahini or sesame paste
4 cloves minced garlic
6 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
8 dashes Tabasco sauce
2 tsp kosher salt

Place the chickpeas,  2 Tbsp of the reserved liquid, the tahini, garlic, lemon juice, Tabasco, and salt in the bowl of a food processor (or a blender) fitted with the steel blade and process until coarsely pureed.  The hummus should be moist and thick; add more lemon juice or reserved chickpea liquid to thin, if necessary.  Cover and refrigerate for several hours for the flavors to blend.  Taste for seasonings.

This is a basic hummus recipe, but you could add roasted red peppers, or any other array of ingredients to make it unique!

All the ingredients pre processer

 Press of a button and your done!

Pita Bread
Makes 10- 6 inch flatbreads

1 Tbsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1 1/2 C warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2-4 C all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed

In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over 1/2 C of the water.  Stir gently to dissolve and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 10 minutes. 

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the remaining water, the oil, salt, and 1 C of the flour.  Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute.  Stir in the yeast mixture.  Beat in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl sides.  Switch to the dough hook.  Knead on low speed, adding flour 1 Tbsp at a time if the dough sticks, until stiff and sticky, about 3 minutes.

Transfer the dough to an oiled deep bowl and turn once to coat it with oil.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1-1 1/2 hours.

Place a baking stone on the bottom oven rack and preheat to 450 degrees F.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it in half.  Cover half with plastic wrap.  Divide the remaining half into 5 equal pieces and form each piece into a ball.  Let rest for 10 minutes whilde dividing the other dough half.  Roll out the balls into rounds about 6 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick.  If the dough does not roll out easily, let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes.  Drape each round over a flour-dusted rolling pin and transfer to a floured kitchen towel.*  Cover with another towel and let rest until puffy, about 15 minutes.

*  I was confused by this step, as I only have one rolling pin.  How am I supposed to put 10 pitas on one rolling pin?!  If you are so blessed to have multiple rolling pins, kudos, and this step should be no problem.  I ended up stacking my pitas on top of each other which was really dumb of me since it didn't allow my pitas to get puffy, plus they stuck together, but in the end I thought they still turned out great! 

Preheat a baking sheet in the oven for 6 minutes.  Quickly brush the sheet with oil.  Transfer 3 or 4 dough rounds to the hot sheet and place it on the baking stone.  Do not open the oven door for 3 minutes.  Bake until puffed and light brown, 6-7 minutes.  Stack the pitas on a plate and cover with a kitchen towel.  Bake the remaining pitas, then serve warm.

Puffy pitas!

My Leaning Tower of Pitas! (oh wait, that's Italy...)