BIRTHDAY PARTY SMARTIE COOKIES

COOKIE PAIN CONTINUES!

"I think I heard someone say 'BIRTHday party'...!? "

My good pal Christa and her pal Moberley are super stoked on these Smartie cookies you can get at the cookie shop on the local University campus here in Vancouver. So we tried making them and, well... they were pretty good but they just didn't look and taste like those same cookies. So for her birthday this month, I felt the need to try again...!

You know how some kids just love to go for that crazy, garishly coloured turquoise ice cream that has all the rainbow gumballs peppered throughout? And they're all pleased with themselves because as they suck away the ice cream and nibble down their cone, they're squirreling away the gumballs in their mouths at the same time, and when the cone is done they have a gross little wad of cold "gum"? This cookie is for those kids because of the bright little circles of crunchy chocolate Smarties, but at the same time we adults can snack away on them, too! (like I did... I ate three. Argh, new years diet begone!)

The key to the look of the Smartie cookie? Hand-placing a bunch of Smarties into the cookie after you've scooped the dough out onto the baking sheets and patted them down! These are large cookies but it's the kid's birthday party so give them a break, right? Let them eat sugar and a giant cookie once a year? Man, I haven't gotten there yet myself, but let me know how that goes...

BIRTHDAY PARTY SMARTIE COOKIES

Ingredients: 

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 boxes of Smarties (75 gram packs)
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Make it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You will need two baking sheets and parchment paper (optional).

1. Using a stand mixer or handheld beaters, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg until incorporated.
3. Add pure vanilla extract to combine.
4. In a medium bowl, sift the flour and sea salt to combine.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until combined.
6. Add one box of the Smarties and the chocolate chips until combined.
7. Using a regular sized ice cream scoop or clean hands, scoop out balls of cookie batter  and place on baking sheets, evenly spaced, six per sheet. Flatten each cookie with fork dipped in warm water if so desired.
8. Using the second box of Smarties, hand-place a few Smarties on top of each cookie for that brightness of colour that kids love. You'll probably have leftover Smarties.
8. Bake in oven for 13-15 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is, turning pans halfway through.
9. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheets.

Makes 12-14 cookies. Enjoy warm from the oven with a cold glass of milk! (I always say this, I know... heh.)

Thanks for reading!

xo Lyndsay 

MAYBE POSSIBLY THE BEST VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

I LOVE COOKIES!!

I think I may be on a lifelong search for the most delicious chocolate chip cookies. Any bakery I step into, I examine the chocolate chip cookie. Often I will buy it, and sadly more often than not I am disappointed. But not in a jerky way! But... maybe it's too puffy, too flour-y, too sugary sweet, not enough chocolate... man I have a lot of beefs with chocolate chip cookies.

My ideal choco chip cookies are crisp, with really good melty high quality chocolate, not too sweet with a touch of salt. I think these guys make the cut, and they are so easy to make, you'll be chomping down on a few before you can say "Whut? Vegan? No butter? Cahmannn"... vegan or no vegan, these cookies can be filed under crazy delicious. They spread into crisp, flat-ish "buttery" discs... best served fresh out-tha-oven with a tall glass of ice cold unsweetened almond milk, or whatever milk you fancy!



Maybe possibly the best? I'm not bragging because this isn't my original recipe - we have the ladies behind the first How It All Vegan book to thank! I used spelt flour in this recipe too! But you can easily use all purpose flour. I just like to spelt it up whenever I can. Okay! Done talking! Go!

MAYBE POSSIBLY THE BEST VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup margarine (I used Earth Balance brand)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (i used canola)
3/4 cup golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons water
2 1/4 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup sea salt
2 cups chopped Lindt dark chocolate (a dairy free variety)

Make it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. You will need two baking sheets and parchment paper (optional).

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the margarine, oil, sugar, vanilla and water until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together the spelt flour and the salt.
3. Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet mixture.
4. Add chopped chocolate into the mix!
5. Using a small ice cream scoop, dole out 2 inch balls onto two parchment paper covered baking sheets.
6. Bake for 10-13 minutes, turning pans halfway, until cookies are lightly browned on the bottom.
7. Leave to cool on baking pans.

xo Lyndsay 

Recipe adapted from How It All Vegan.




Originally published on Poppytalk

DARK CHOCOLATE COCONUT COOKIES

The cookie brutality continues!!! 

 

Coconut... ya either love it or you hate it. Hands up if you're a coconut lover? If coconuts had a fan club I might be the vice president. Wait, there's already probably that fan club, right? Coconut oil smeared on crispy toast with almond butter and fresh raspberries, rich coconut milk in a fragrant Thai curry, shredded toasted crunchy coconut atop a frosted cupcake ... and all that deliciousness trapped up in a rock hard hairy brown bowling ball high up in a hard-to-reach palm tree!



Back to cookies... I wanted to make a thank you present for my sweet friend Bobbi, one of the coconut lovers, for lending me her daughter's bassinet for when my little baby was a mini newborn.... and I wanted to try a coconut cookie of some kind. I'm forever trying to find the balance between the salty and the sweet when it comes to desserts. A fine sprinkly teaspoon of sea salt is always a welcome addition to my desserts - especially cookies! This cookie is light on the sweetness, bittersweet from the cocoa powder, textured from the coconut, with a touch of salt and rich from butter. I used a 22-24% Dutch process cocoa powder for this cookie which gives it a more complex and slightly bitter flavour and very dark colour! Feel free to use a lighter cocoa powder if so desired...

DARK CHOCOLATE COCONUT COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup golden yellow sugar (or brown sugar)
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup shredded sweetened dried coconut
1 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Make it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Makes 2 dozen cookies.

1. Using a stand mixer or handheld beaters, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg until incorporated.
3. Add pure vanilla extract extract to combine.
4. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, coconut, cocoa powder and salt to combine.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until combined.
6. Add the chocolate chips until combined.
7. Using a small ice cream scoop or clean hands, dole out 2 inch round balls of batter evenly spaced on baking sheets, a dozen per sheet. Flatten each cookie with fork dipped in warm water if so desired.
8. Bake in oven for 11-14 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is, turning pans halfway through. 9. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheets, then transfer to container or right into your mouth! Serve with an ice cold glass of milk. 

Cookie attack!




Originally published on Poppytalk

DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS: HOMEMADE P&B CUPS!

These are really so good you could mentally insane. Just saying, guys. I would be a 900 pound maniac if I allowed myself to have these sitting around the house.... ENJOY! ^__^

If I could be a hoarder of chocolate bars I would have a closet bursting with Reese's peanut butter cups. Salty sweet peanut butter, milk chocolate... even the cute little "puck" size. The cool thing about this recipe - "no baking required!" Just a little stovetop melting of things, some throwing of things together, some mixing and spreading and chilling... then some serious peanut butter cup snacking!

Who knew graham cracker crumbs were the key to making homemade P&B cups taste so much like the classic store-bought cups?! Brilliant! Make these for your next holiday party and you will make new friends: peanut butter and chocolate loving friends! These can also easily be made vegan or gluten free by using vegan/gluten free graham cracker crumbs and substituting vegan margarine for the butter, and using dairy-free dark chocolate.

EASY TIMES CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Ingredients

1 cup melted, unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup smooth natural peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate (or your choice of chocolate- I used a mix of Lindt brand milk and dark!)

You will need a 9 x 12 inch baking pan.

Make it!

1. In a saucepan on the stovetop, melt 1 cup of unsalted butter.
2. In a stand mixer on low setting, or mixing by hand with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl, mix together melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, icing sugar, peanut butter and vanilla extract until combined.
3. Pour into the baking pan and spread evenly along bottom of pan.
4. In a double boiler/bain-marie (or using a ceramic or metal bowl over top of a saucepan of low boiling water), melt the chocolate.
5. Pour melted chocolate on top of graham cracker layer and spread evenly.
6. Place in refrigerator to set, about 30 minutes.
7. Using a circular cookie cutter, punch out circle shaped peanut butter cups! Or just cut out into squares (or some sort of shape!) with a knife.

Note: if your fridge has set the peanut butter cups so the chocolate is too hard, let it sit out for 15 minutes before punching out with cutters! I decorated with blackberries which gave it a bit of a peanut butter and "jam" vibe!

xo Lyndsay

Contributor post by Lyndsay of Coco Cake

If I could be a hoarder of chocolate bars I would have a closet bursting with Reese's peanut butter cups. Salty sweet peanut butter, milk chocolate... even the cute little "puck" size. The cool thing about this recipe - "no baking required!" Just a little stovetop melting of things, some throwing of things together, some mixing and spreading and chilling... then some serious peanut butter cup snacking!

Who knew graham cracker crumbs were the key to making homemade P&B cups taste so much like the classic store-bought cups?! Brilliant! Make these for your next holiday party and you will make new friends: peanut butter and chocolate loving friends! These can also easily be made vegan or gluten free by using vegan/gluten free graham cracker crumbs and substituting vegan margarine for the butter, and using dairy-free dark chocolate.

EASY TIMES CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Ingredients

1 cup melted, unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup smooth natural peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups semisweet chocolate (or your choice of chocolate- I used a mix of Lindt brand milk and dark!)

You will need a 9 x 12 inch baking pan.

Make it!

1. In a saucepan on the stovetop, melt 1 cup of unsalted butter.
2. In a stand mixer on low setting, or mixing by hand with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl, mix together melted butter, graham cracker crumbs, icing sugar, peanut butter and vanilla extract until combined.
3. Pour into the baking pan and spread evenly along bottom of pan.
4. In a double boiler/bain-marie (or using a ceramic or metal bowl over top of a saucepan of low boiling water), melt the chocolate.
5. Pour melted chocolate on top of graham cracker layer and spread evenly.
6. Place in refrigerator to set, about 30 minutes.
7. Using a circular cookie cutter, punch out circle shaped peanut butter cups! Or just cut out into squares (or some sort of shape!) with a knife.

Note: if your fridge has set the peanut butter cups so the chocolate is too hard, let it sit out for 15 minutes before punching out with cutters! I decorated with blackberries which gave it a bit of a peanut butter and "jam" vibe!

xo Lyndsay

Originally published on Poppytalk

SPELT FLOUR BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

I love chocolate chip banana cakeeeeeeee! ^__^

Golden autumn days: brown crunchy leaves, the hesitant start of long sleeves and a dusting of grey clouds rolling in... here in Vancouver, we hope for the sun but await the rain... but we've been mega blessed thusfar with a fine fall - days of sunshine, even as the air gets crisp and cold. The chill in the air always makes me want to hunker down, get cozy... and the perfect time for the oven to start cranking out some comfort. So why not throw together this super easy banana chocolate chip cake? Admittedly I've been a ravenous little baking pig lately because I've been nursing my now 7-week-old baby, and here's something I didn't know before having a kid - you can kind of eat whatever you want when you're nursing, because baby seems to suck away all the calories! Sweet!

 


This cake is moist from the bananas, a bit rich from the butter and fills your chocolate craving with loads of semi sweet chocolate chips. There's not too much added sugar because the ripe bananas help to sweeten the cake, and the spelt flour adds a teensy extra bit of "health" vibe to this cake. I made it in a 9 x 12 inch rectangular pan but you could easily use this recipe and make 2 dozen cake muffins, or a 2 layer 8 inch round cake for the banana cake lover (frost with chocolate ganache or vanilla buttercream).

We vaporized this cake in two days and I'm awaiting some bananas to ripen so I can make it and vaporize it again!



SPELT FLOUR BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup loosely packed golden yellow sugar (or brown sugar)
1 egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas - medium/large in size
3 cups spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk (i used 2% organic)
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Make it!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray with nonstick oil and line a 9 x 12 inch rectangular cake pan with parchment paper.

1. Using a stand mixer or handheld beaters, cream the butter on high speed in a large bowl for a minute or so.
2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. On low speed, scraping down sides of bowl with spatula, add egg, peeled bananas and pure vanilla extract until incorporated.
4. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.
5. On low speed, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk until all ingredients are incorporated (do not overmix)
6. Fold in chocolate chips (or throw em into the mixer if feeling lazy!)

Bake in oven on middle rack for 25-30 minutes, depending on how hot your oven gets. Turn pan halfway through. Check cake after 20 minutes and every few minutes thereafter. (I hate an overdone cake!) Cake is finished when a clean toothpick inserted in middle come out clean.

Originally published on Poppytalk