It’s a funny thing when you run a blog, people think they know you. On some level of course they do, but in many ways they don’t.

I have disappointed many a person when they write to ask me what we are having for dinner and turkey meatloaf is what I write back. I think they have some fantasy about how I am making lavish dinners every night drenched in cream. In fact, I’m sure some people might even go as far to think I take baths in cream (which for the record I stopped years ago, I only bath in hot chocolate now ). People think I eat dessert every night. Which if you count a little chocolate or a piece of licorice dessert, than yes, technically I do eat dessert every night.

So it might come as a bit of a shock to those people who think I sit around eating fattening food all the time that I eat raw vegan until 5pm every day. Yep, you read that right. I eat raw vegan every day until 5pm. I have a condition that I care not to go into and my naturopathic doctor suggested going raw vegan for part of the day. Now come 5pm I can eat whatever I want, but I usually stick to a vegetarian diet…with limited dairy. I have a slight dairy allergy that since I never had a reaction to I assumed was never really a problem. Well, when I started eliminating it from my diet, I felt better. Much better. And so I only eat dairy on special occasions (aka dessert). I still eat bacon. I could not give up the pig. And I am not one of those obnoxious people who tell other people what they should be eating (like the idiots who are always commenting to poor Veggie Girl).

At first it was pretty darn hard, especially since I don’t do soy products either as it interacts with my thyroid. But as time went on I discovered more and more things to make and products that could help me in my new adventure. I, like Veggie Girl, am a big fan of all things coconut based. Switching to coconut based ice cream (like Coconut Bliss) has been a lifesaver.

Now I still eat the white devil, sugar. But I tend to also only save that for my baked goods. Most of the time I use agave syrup. Have you picked your mouth up from the floor yet?

Branching out into this world means you have to start looking for places that cater to you style of eating obviously. Luckily, vegan/vegetarianism is becoming more mainstream. As is gluten free. Now luckily I don’t have a gluten issue, but a lot of people do and it is nice that there are alternatives for them.

So when I was asked to look at a vegan, gluten free, wheat free baking book from Seattle’s own Flying Apron Bakery I was all over it. I will admit that I don’t usually bake vegan as I save my non vegan stuff just for after 5pm. And I don’t really bake gluten free all that much either. But I love getting to highlight this book for those who do fall into the full time vegan or gluten free category. Or if you just want to give it a try.

Now the one downfall is of course that they use a lot of different types of flour. Buckwheat, corn, brown rice, garbanzo beans, etc…So the start up cost might be a little much. But once you have them in your pantry you will use them more and more. I personally use corn and rice flour a lot. As well as garbanzo bean flour of coating veggies for baking.

The most awesome thing about this cookbook is that basically what they make in the bakery is now available in this book. So if you are like me and live almost an hour north of Seattle and can’t get down there this is a great alternative!!!

I chose to make something with some slightly more mainstream ingredients. I know to a lot of people hazelnut flour isn’t that mainstream, but it is to me as I always have it in my freezer. The original recipe called for fresh cherries, just one per cookie on top. But I have dried and this isn’t exactly cherry season right now. I also used some local honey from Kent, WA….so these cookies really represent the Pacific Northwest. I also skipped the 1 tsp dried lavender or dried rosemary, just wasn’t feeling that at all. I under-baked mine to make them more chewy. Mine had the texture of a coconut macaroon.

It’s been an interesting switch in my life. All for the good ,for the most part. The hard part is people. People not understanding and thinking you are a freak. The people who get offended if they make something I an choose not to eat it, this is mostly during the daytime. The thing is that, when I deviate, I feel it. I feel like crap. And I would rather feel good than eat a cookie.
But if I piss a few people off a long the way, so be it. It’s what is working for me. And they don’t live my life. Just like I don’t live theirs.

P.S. No worries…this is not becoming a Vegan blog. Just letting my peeps who are, and who are gluten free, know there is a new book out there for them to enjoy.

Hazelnut Honey Cookies

2 cups hazelnut flour
1 cup honey
¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine the hazelnut flour, honey, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl. I used a stand mixer as this dough is sticky and doesn’t like to come together at first. Mix until smooth and then fold in dried cherries.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop cookie dough into ping-pong sized mounds. Press slightly with your hand to flatten a little.

Bake until firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Personally, I like these a little chewy, more like a macaroon (not French, the coconut kind) so I only went for 16 minutes.

Adapted from Flying Apron’s Gluten-free & Vegan Baking Book by Jennifer Katzinger 

Now some would say that I am a fairly decent baker and most days I would agree with that statement. That being said, most of my friends are not. Most don’t cook if there is not a crock pot involved, and baking seems to scare them to death.

Enter Beth.

When Beth Lipton of Cookie Pie asked me if I wanted to be apart of her upcoming book blog tour to feature her new book, I of course, said yes…it’s a dessert book, duh! You Made That Dessert?: Create Fabulous Treats, Even If You Can Barely Boil Water is what the book is called and it’s a God send for a good portion of the people I know. Those who want to bake but fear it.

This book gives you the building blocks to make tasty desserts, and that ladies and gentleman is all that you need to get some dessert making self confidence under your belt. There are pictures, pictures, pictures in this book. Which is awesome since it is geared towards those you don’t bake that often but want to. A picture is always nice to look and say “oh good, mine looks like it’ suppose to”. The directions are written really well. Step by step but not to complicated and written in everyday language, no super culinary speak.

My husband takes his lunch to work everyday. He likes cupcakes but when they are frosted they don’t travel well, as he stuffs his lunch into his work bag every morning as I cringe. So I am always on the lookout for muffins or cupcakes that can stand alone. That’s why I chose these Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes. Perfect for what I needed.

Now enter the tragedy in my household. While making these cupcakes, out of nowhere, the motor part of my Kitchen Aid just dropped, straight down into the batter. There were many, many, many, many curse words spoken. Many. Did I say many? Many. And then I started to cry. My husband came downstairs to see what was the matter. I pointed to the mixer. He knew all was not good.

Now lucky for me I still have my original KA from 13 years ago. So I was able to start again. The only problem was, now I was out of butter to make frosting. So I had some frosting in the fridge from something the other day (yes, I have frosting in my fridge), so I ended up using that instead of something from the book. I only frosted a couple of them for photos. The rest are for the hubby’s lunch.

These are nice and dense and chocolaty. I found them to be a little more muffin like than cupcake like, which makes sense, since the method used to make them is very similar to that of making a muffin. So if you have kids or a husband who crushes his lunch daily, these are a great snack to make for them.

If you or someone you know is a little afraid of the baking world, but really wants to make desserts, I recommend this book whole heartedly!

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup hot strongly brewed coffee
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
8 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line all the cups with standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners.

Place the cocoa powder in small bowl. Whisk in hot coffee until smooth and let cool until the mixture is lukewarm, about 5 minutes. In a separate small bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt with a fork.

In a medium bowl, using and electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. After beating in the second egg, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a flexible spatula and beat the mixture again, until just combined. Beat in vanilla and coffee mixture.

Using the flexible spatula, stir in the flour mixture. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour is incorporated, but try to mix as little as possible- the more you mix, the tougher your cupcakes will be. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Use an ice cream scoop or two TBSP to divide the batter evenly among the cupcake cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Bake 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Do not over bake them, or they’ll be too dry. Transfer the muffin tin to a wire rack for 20 minutes to cool, then remove the cupcakes from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from: You Made That Dessert? Create Fabulous Treats, Even if You Can Barely Boil Water by Beth Lipton

So I am lucky enough to be apart of this go around of the Edible Word. Co-  hosted by Cath of A Blithe Palate and Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness. Last time we reviewed a cookbook, which of course I loved, but this time the book was well, more book than recipes. Which I was so happy about. I am always looking for books to read. My buddy Cookie Baker Lynn keeps me in books from time to time, and of course, I was in a book (shameless self promotion), but I was running out of things to read.

Then along came “Confections of a Closet Master Baker” by Gesine Bullock-Prado. I puffy heart this book. It was a quick read and a good one. I think it is a must read for those who are considering a career change in life to the world of baking. This is Gesine’s memoir of going from her mundane life in LA to becoming a baker in VT.

Now the idea was for us to create a recipe inspired by the book. I love this idea, seriously, what fun! There was a chapter that I identified with very much so in the book. Ironically, I identified in the opposite way of the author. She grew up in what one would call a uber healthy household. You know the house. You probably had one in your neighborhood. The one where they had no sugar in the house, and prunes were considered…nature’s candy (no, that would be nature’s laxative!). And even worse, they gave you raisins at Halloween (also nature’s candy). The chapter was about her enjoying the contraband that her friend Stacy Coleman ( the enabler she is) introduced her to. The Coleman’s pretty much were my family…in the food sense that is.
I lived in the house of contraband. The house of sugared cereals (that the neighborkid was not allowed to eat…my mom didn’t know this though). House of candy (usually Brach’s pick a mix), cookies (both homemade and store bought), cake, cinnamon rolls, chips, soda, etc…, every dentists nightmare. Now before my mother comes at yells at us, we did get healthy-ish meals for our main meals. But we did have the junk. Oh we had the junk.

Since the chapter is called Ode to the Oreo. It got me thinking about the contraband I grew up with. Now I know I am going a little Sandra Lee with this one and duh, these are not hard to make, but darn it all they are tasty. I always make Peanut Butter Captain Crunch Marshmallow Treats for when I go to book club. This time I decided to add two of the contraband items together. Cocoa Krispies and Oreo cookies. Um. Wow, who knew these would turn out soooo good.

So if you aspire to become a master baker, or just want a fun foodie read, this is your book.

Oreo-Cocoa Krispies Treats

3 TBSP unsalted butter
10 ounces mini marshmallows (fresh, not the stale ones hiding in the back of your pantry that you forgot about)
4 cups Cocoa Krispies Cereal
3 cups roughly crushed but not pulverized Oreo cookies

Butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan. Or be lazy like me and spray it with non-stick baking spray. Set aside.

Over low heat melt 3 TBSP in a large pot (I like to use my stock pot because I am a messy person).

Once butter has melted, add marshmallows. Continue to cook over low heat while they melt. It may take a little time. Don’t turn up the heat to try and make it go quicker, you could end up with burned marshmallows or your treats could end up too hard once they firm up.

When most of the marshmallows have melted and they resemble marshmallow crème with a few lumps, remove from heat and add the cereal and cookies.

Using a wooden spoon, stir, stir, stir some more, until all the cereal is fully coated and other parts of the pot are not hogging all the marshmallows (so evenly coated).

Pour into prepared baking pan. Take a rubber spatula and either spray it with non-stick spray or simply get some water on it (I just put mine under the faucet real quick). Using the spatula, press the cereal/marshmallow mixture down into the pan, attempting to create a flat, even surface.

Cover with foil and let sit for a few hours to firm up.

Take foil off. Place wax paper down that is a little bit longer than the baking pan. Flip the pan over onto the wax paper. Cut into squares. Some would say 2-inch. But whatever size you would like works. You can also use cookie cutters to make them fun shaped.

When people find out that you run a food blog, they often ask me who my favorite chef on Food Network is. I really dislike this question as half of them are not actually chefs, and second because no one seems to know my favorite sadly. Gale Gand had a show called Sweet Dreams, it was my favorite show. It’s not on anymore (or so I think) to make room for people to show me how to mix Cool Whip with Jello and set it in to an all orange kitchen. Bitter? Perhaps I am a tad. All I have left on the Foodnetwork now is my eye candy, Tyler Florence.
If you never got to see the show, too bad. Great desserts were shown how to be made by a woman who has worked at two of my all time favorites, Gotham Bar & Grill and Charlie Trotters. She has several cookbooks with Butter Sugar Flour Eggs being my favorite, but they all are good. So when I was asked if I would want to receive her Brunch book I was intrigued. Brunch? Up until now, I had only known her as the dessert woman, or guru. But heck yeah, I wanted to see what she did with brunch.
Gale did Brunch proud. And let me just say, this book made me want to eat brunch more than just on Mother’s Day and Easter. It covers everything from beverages, eggs, pancakes, coffeecakes, toppings and much, much more.
This being a baking and sweets blog, I thought I would stick with that. I made three things from the book; the Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake Muffins, the Chocolate Waffles, and the Banana Fosters topping to go on top of my Chocolate Waffles. Let me just say that Chocolate Waffles with Banana Fosters topping is definitely the way to start your day! And for you on the go people, the muffins were yummy. I liked them because they were more sweet than a regular muffin, and you know I am all about the sugar. Next I am needing to make the Almond Ciabatta French Toast and my husband some Peanut Butter and Jelly Turnovers.
The sad thing is, no recipes. But I can highly suggest that you buy the cookbook. I mean, come on, Arbor Day will soon be here, and surely you deserve to buy yourself an Arbor Day gift. Right?

Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake Muffins

Chocolate Waffles with Banana Fosters Topping