chewy ginger chocolate chunk cookies

These aren't your average cookie. They are a pumped full of better-for-you ingredients....and these cookies are so good you would never know they are also good(ish) for you! If you like ginger cookies, you have to make this recipe! No sugar, eggs, or butter. They are basically vegan, minus the chocolate. They aren't so healthy that you should go eat the entire batch in one sitting (even though they are that good and if you dared me I could and would), but it's nice to eat a cookie where all the calories aren't totally empty.

This time I used whole spelt flour, which gave the cookies a bit of a nuttier texture than the last time I made them. Personally, I don't mind that, but you can also find white spelt flour that has been processed like a regular wheat white flour. Or, if you don't have spelt flour, you can switch out the flour at a one to one ratio with whole wheat flour. Spelt has a few more health benefits though and some people who have issues with wheat can process spelt more easily. Here is some info, if you're interested on Anita's Organic Mill website.

Chewy Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies
minimally adapted from Slice Health Inspired Foods by Barb Davies & Jennifer Rallison

Ingredients:
2 cups spelt flour
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp each: cloves and nutmeg
1/2 cup coconut oil (or butter)
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
3/4 cup dark chocolate cut into chunks (or chips)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F

1. In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.

2. In a separate bowl, cream coconut oil (or butter) until smooth on medium. Beat in molasses, maple syrup and fresh ginger until combined.

3. Reduce spead to low and gradually beat in dry ingredients until blended. Fold in chocolate chunks with a spatula.

4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hour, or until dough is firm enough to handle.

5. Remove from refrigerator; roll into 1 inch balls and drop, 2 inches apart, on an ungreased cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until surface begins to crack. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.


According to myfitnesspal.com, and here is the nutrition info (per cookie):

151 calories / 20 g carbs / 8 g fat / 2 g protein

Let me know what you think if you try them!

XO

coconutty coconut cake

In my experience, you either love coconut, or you hate it. In this house we are coconut lovers (if you are not, no need to read any further, it's all about the coconut from here). After searching through coconut cake recipes for Jordan's birthday yesterday, I settled on the one that seemed be the most "coconutty", a Martha Stewart recipe. And thank you Martha, Queen of All Things Baked. Yum! This recipe is moist and full of coconutty goodness (although a little warning for you crazies that don't like sugar, it is very sweet). It is so good, I am eating another piece as I type this.

This cake also looks pretty, and even though I attempted many times to screw it up, it turned out to be fairly foolproof. Lately, my baking adventures have been a bit of a disaster and this was no exception. While I was pregnant I blamed pregnancy brain, and now that Westley's born I still blame him. The poor kid gets blamed for a lot around here. So to avoid making the mistakes I did, here are a couple of tips... tip #1 is don't forget to put the coconut in the coconut cake. But the good news is that if you've got the batter perfectly mixed and poured into pans and then notice the coconut sitting lonely on the counter you can mix it back into the cake with no damage done. Tip #2 don't stress too much about the icing; you cover it all up with toasted coconut which would make anything look pretty.

Speaking of icing, I chose to make a vegan frosting that is made with coconut oil instead of butter (truthfully because I ran out of butter and didn't have enough eggs to make the suggested frosting in the Martha recipe). This frosting is good! And it's almost healthy - other than the 6 cups of icing sugar that is. I think this will be my new go to frosting recipe, that's how good it is.

Anyways, enough of an intro. Here's the recipe:

Martha's Coconut Cake 
Martha Stewart

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temp
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup caked, sweetened, shredded coconut
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 large whole eggs, plus 4 large egg whites
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9 inch x 2 inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment rounds. Butter parchment and sides and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Place shredded coconut in bowl of a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Stir coconut into flour mixture until combined; set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Add whole eggs, egg white, and vanilla; beat until fluffy and combined. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture, alternating with the coconut milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, mixing well after each addition.

4. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cakes are golden brown a toothpick comes out clean, about 55 minutes.

5. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment paper. Reinvert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.

6. Using a serrated knife, trim tops of the cake layers to make level (and then quickly devour the extra bits because they are soooo tasty). Place one layer on a cake plate, and spread top with 1 and 1/2 cups frosting (recipe below). Top with remaining layer, cut side down. Using an offset spatula, spread remaining frosting over entire cake. Sprinkle cake with toasted coconut.

Coconut Frosting 
Chef Chloe

2 cups coconut oil
6 cups icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4-10 tbsp coconut milk (or other milk)
2 cups toasted coconut (I used sweetened, but unsweetened would be good as the frosting is already sweet)

1. Beat coconut oil with mixer until smooth (this part is key, I screwed up here and added the icing sugar before the coconut oil was smooth and it was hard to get a smooth consistency).

2. Add icing sugar and vanilla.

3. Add milk 1 tbsp at a time until desired consistency is reached.

4. Beat on high for 2 more minutes until light and fluffy.

Let me know what you think if you get a chance to try it! Or come over tomorrow for a slice, because as good as it is (and even with my appetite for sweets) it is way too much for two people.

Also if you've read this far, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to that amazing guy I married almost 5 years ago, you really are the best.

XO

shepherd-less pie

I cooked last night!! I know, Jordan was shocked too. Most nights it seems to be frozen lasagne, pizza, wraps, or just good old eating out on the menu. Not quite the gourmet meals I imagined preparing while on mat leave. I would say we are lucky to have a home cooked meal (that involves more than setting the oven to 375 degrees) once or twice a week. So, starting the week off right!

On the menu last night was a meatless Shepherds pie, shepherd-less pie if you like. There are all kinds  of ways to make a shepherds pie without meat (most commonly with lentils), but I had veggie crumbles in the fridge that needed using up, and I'd say it turned out really well! Close to the original hearty Irish meal, except I threw in a few other changes too (my meat-eating Irish father is most likely shaking his head at this point). 

We have a friend who is going meatless for a month (you know who you are!), so this recipe is in honour of him. Good luck, can't wait to hear how it goes...

Shepherd-less Pie

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup diced onions

1 cup diced parsnip

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup diced red pepper

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 pkg veggie crumbles

2 cloves garlic, minced

Pinch cayenne

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon flour

1 1/2 cups of dark ale (or 1 bottle) or 1 ½ cups stock (vegetable, mushroom or…beef)

1 cup crushed tomatoes

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tsp tomato paste

salt and pepper to taste

11/2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered (I replaced half of this with sweet potato for a healthier and tastier topping, steamed separately) 

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

1 cup grated cheddar

1. Prepare veg. Chop away. Bring potatoes to a boil and cook until softened for 12-15 minutes. Steam or boil sweet potato if using.

2. While potatoes are cooking, heat oil in saucepan and saute onions, carrots and parsnips until slightly softened (around 4 minutes).

3. Add mushrooms, red pepper, garlic, thyme and cayenne. Saute for around 3 minutes, until mushrooms and red pepper are cooked. Add flour and bay leaves.

4. Add ale, soy sauce, tomatoes, tomato paste and bring to a boil. Once boiling, bring down to a simmer for 20-25 minutes until sauce is thickened. Add mashed veggie crumbles and frozen peas. Heat through for 5 minutes and season to taste.

5. Prepare potato topping. Mash cooked potatoes and sweet potato with butter and milk until smooth; then whip with a hand mixer until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Pour meatless mix into medium casserole dish (I used a 9x13, but a slightly smaller one would have been better for a better filling to potato ratio). Top with potatoes and grated cheddar.

7. Cook at 375 for 20-25 minutes until hot and bubbling. Broil until top is slightly browned and crispy.

(again, the photos don't do this dish justice, it's hard to make shepherd's pie look pretty, but you get the idea!)

caramel sage latte

I love coffee, seeing a Starbucks on the horizon for me is like seeing a friend - a reliable friend who never disappoints you (...but always makes you pay). A latte in Calgary tastes the same as a latte in LA or London, and I kind of love that about Starbucks, that no matter where you are you can rely on Starbucks to be Starbucks. My seasons are defined by pumpkin spice, gingerbread, cinnamon dolce, and coconut. I hate being such a slave to a giant coffee corporation, but I can't deny it. Don't get me wrong, Starbucks isn't my only coffee buddy, but it is the one that has been there for me the most over the years. So of course I was thrilled when we decided that one of our "just-one-last-trip-before-baby" trips would be to Seattle, the birthplace of my friend Starbucks.

So of course one of our first stops in Seattle was to Pike Place for a latte, where it turned out they were celebrating 40 years of world coffee domination and serving free coffee. It was good, it tasted just like the coffee I had that morning at the Calgary airport. The next morning however, on our way back to the market we were lured into a different coffee shop by a sign promising freshly baked pumpkin muffins. They were out of muffins, but thankfully we stayed for breakfast anyways because it was at Cafe Fonte that I had the best latte of my life.

A caramel sage latte. Milk infused with fresh sage, sweetened with caramel and poured into espresso. An odd, unforgettable combination that you won't find at Starbucks, ever. I was sure I would see herb-infused lattes everywhere soon after...but it's been over a year and I must have been wrong, so I tried to recreate it this weekend. Although it was a bit of work (tip: buy your own caramel and save yourself the trouble!), I felt like the end result was comparable to Fontes multi-layered taste experience and so worth it...that is until I made one for Jordan's brother whose glowing review was "It reminds me of gravy". So apparently it's not for everyone...but you should try it anyways.

Caramel Sage Latte:
(makes one) 

3/4 cup sage-infused steamed milk (see below)
1-2 tbsp caramel (see below) - depending on sweetness preference 
2 oz brewed espresso

Pour caramel into espresso and stir. Add steamed milk and top with more caramel (mmm and whipped cream would be good too!). Drink up and try not to think of gravy. 

Sage-infused milk:
For more on infusing milk and cream, check out this article on thekitchn.com to inspire you to try all kinds of combinations...

3/4 cup milk
4 sage leaves torn in half

Bring milk and sage to a simmer. When bubbles form in the milk, turn off the heat so that the milk doesn't burn. Taste, if you want it sage-ier repeat the process, but I found it strong enough after a few minutes of simmering.

Caramel:
If you want to put yourself through the caramel-making process, this recipe worked well for me (you have to scroll down a bit, I left out the salt for this particular recipe). I don't know how many pots of almost-caramel I have burnt, but it can be frustratingly finicky - David Lebovitz has some good tips here. 

vegetarian poutine

Oh, dear. This picture does not do this justice at all. In fact it looks pretty unappetizing...but it's poutine! and it's vegetarian! Fries. Cheese. Gravy. Goodness. You can't really go wrong. The vegetarian answer to the original. Quick, easy, and the perfect comfort food for a snowy cold day in January.

Mushroom Gravy:

It all started over Christmas when I decided to try a vegetarian gravy for the first time. I'm not sure what took me so long, because it's just as good, I would even go so far as to say better than regular fatty animal gravy. I started with this recipe here and modified it a bit.

3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp finely chopped onions
2 minced garlic cloves
1 portabella mushroom, roughly chopped into bite-size pieces
3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 - 2 cups vegetable stock (depending on desired thickness)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in pot and add onions and garlic on med-high heat. Sauté for a couple minutes, then add mushrooms and sauté until softened and browned slightly. Reduce heat to medium. Slowly add flour, continuing to stir onion and mushroom mixture for one minute. Add soy sauce and half of vegetable stock, and continue adding stock until you have the desired gravy consistency. Sauce will thicken as it cooks. Season to taste.

Poutine:

1. Throw some french fries in a bowl. If you're feeling ambitious they could be homemade, or if you just want the cheesy goodness stat, go for frozen like I did.
2. Top with grated mozzarella (traditionally it would be cheese curds, but we had mozzarella and it melted well).
3. Top cheese and fries with gravy and green onions.
4. Devour.

XO

new years resolution chili

So, both Jordan and I feel fat. After weeks of Christmas meals, baked goods, easy frozen pizzas and lasagnas we were desperate for something healthy and delicious for dinner. We had this Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili for dinner last night from Allrecipes.com...so tasty and healthy too. And it made a huge pot and leftovers are the greatest. You roast the sweet potatoes first so they're nice and crispy on the outside and they don't turn to mush in the chili. Try it!