Whole Wheat Oatmeal Coconut Choco-Chip Cooooookies

I love to bake, end of story. Seriously, there is something so comforting about getting out all of your ingredients, carefully measuring the correct amount, mixing it all together, popping it in the oven, then VOILA a sweet treat comes out for you to enjoy! I can bake anytime of day whether it is early morning or late at night. It is always the right time of day to bake. I love that you can always take out an old recipe and without fail it will come out the same almost every time. OK, so maybe you burn your first batch. But usually there is always enough batter left over for a second round. Don't get me wrong I love a good savory dish and cooking is what started me onto this blogging adventure. However, baking will always hold a special place in my heart. So as I'm sitting reading my book tonight (Song of Ice & Fire, A Clash of Kings) I have a hankering for oatmeal cookies. I wanted to make it a slightly healthier version of the classic cookie so I played around a little bit. I actually deviated from the printed recipe, gasp. I am not very good at ad-libbing baked goods. I pretty much will always stick to the exact recipe, so don't expect a huge change from the original. I did put my stamp on this one though. I adapted it from Mark Bittman's Oatmeal Cookie in, How to Cook Everything (my cooking bible, you should get it). 

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Coconut Choco-Chip Cooookies (said as if you are cookie monster!)

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups rolled oats (not the instant)

2 tsp. baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

3/4 cup milk (I used skim)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, cream sugars and butter with an electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, then add vanilla beating until well blended. In a separate bowl combine, whole wheat flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, pinch of salt (I used a generous pinch of kosher salt), choco chips, and coconut. Alternating with the milk, add flour mixture to batter by hand stirring with a wooden spoon. Make sure the batter is well blended, it will be quite sticky but that's OK. Drop onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. I made my cookies pretty big so the recipe yielded about 2 1/2 dozen cookies. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are just golden brown. 

This recipe will give you a nice dense oatmeal cookie, with less of the guilt ;) The cookies have a nice earthy tone from the whole wheat flour and a sweet finish with the chocolate and coconut. And as a plus, your house will smell of warm, freshly baked cookies.  Yes, I will admit I was eating two cookies while I wrote this! Somebody must enjoy the benefits of this blog. Let me know if you try them out, I promise you won't regret it. 

Roasted Veggies over Israeli Couscous Pilaf

Sitting in my living room tonight after a long day at work, the only thing I wanted to do was pop open this bottle of wine....

North Fork Shinn Estate Vineyards

and eat my left over mom baked birthday cake for dinner. And let me tell you, I almost did. I admit I had a  sliver of the cake while I pondered my dinner. I curled up on my comfy couch enjoying the sound of pouring rain and thunder and started flipping through my new cookbook, Super Natural Everyday, courtesy of my lovely sister Tara. Let me tell you how much I love Heidi Swanson.... A LOT!! I have followed her blog 101 Cookbooks for a while now. I just think she is this really rad, artistic chef. Basically she is my idol. I know I have mentioned her a few times prior on this here blog. I highly recommend that you buck up and sign-up to follow her as well. She has some great, healthy, and different recipes. Her photography is amazing and I can only hope that one day with a good camera my pictures will come out as beautiful as hers. 

Well, once again she inspired me to prepare a healthy meal for myself. So using the fresh veggies I had in the pantry (thanks mom!) I threw a little somethin' somethin' together. This is a classic that I love. My mom makes these roasted vegetables all of the time. I decided to pair mine with pearl couscous, a.k.a. israeli couscous. I used the veggies as an entree but these would both work separately as side dishes to a nice apple cider chicken breast, or if you like red meat to a steak. 

Roasted Veggies

1 small baking potato-peeled and cubed

1 butternut squash- peeled, seeded and cubed

1 small head of cauliflower, chopped

1 large red onion, thickly sliced

2-3 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 tsp. Thyme

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Throw all veggies onto two big cookie sheets. Drizzle olive oil overtop veggies, sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Quickly toss the veggies right there on the pans. Make sure not to over crowd the veggies, you don't want them to steam in the oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Flip once at about 17 minutes or until the bottom of the veggies are golden brown. Make sure not to flip the veggies too soon, you want a nice caramelized texture on the bottom. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have on hand. I also use sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and turnips. Have fun with it! 

prior to being cooked

Israeli Couscous Pilaf

1 cup Israeli or pearl couscous

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 Tbsp. Olive oil

Salt and Pepper 

In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onions and allow to soften approximately 3 minutes.  In a separate saucepan bring stock to a boil. Add garlic to onions and continue to saute another minute or two, add pearl couscous and toast for one minute. Pour boiling stock into couscous and cook for 8-10 minutes or until couscous is soft but still has a slight bite to it (al dente). Serve with vegetables on top. I added an extra drizzle of olive oil before serving and a some freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano.

This was a great fall dinner full of warmth and flavor. The thyme adds a nice earthiness to the vegetables and the couscous adds that extra heft to make the meal feel substantial. The colors even remind me of fall :) I hope you enjoy the recipes and let me know if you try it in the comments section below! Be on the lookout for recipes from the above mentioned cookbook, I will be trying them out shortly. 

Double Chocolate Tiramisu

I'm back....life has been crazy over these last few weeks. I cannot even believe that October is here and almost half way through to boot. I just spent the most amazing weekend with my family. They ventured down to DC for a visit. Me, my dad, and my Uncle Gregg raced in the Army Ten Miler yesterday and we all finished with respectable times! Woohoo, all that training really did pay off. Although, it may take a few days to be able to walk normally again. We visited the National American History Museum, where I was able to see Julia Child's kitchen, so cool! It was really neat to see all of her copper pots, and how she organized all of her tools. It was definitely a chef's kitchen. We lounged on the National Mall enjoying the view of the Capitol and the Washington Monument, taking in the great weather. It was so nice to have my family here with me and to have that time to spend together. We don't get to do that often enough. 

Acting like proper tourists

Enough about my weekend let's get onto the good stuff, double chocolate tiramisu. Yes, you heard right double chocolate. This seriously is one of the best desserts I have made in a while. A few weeks back, I visited my grandparents and aunt & uncle. I wanted to make them a nice meal and a kickin' dessert. I definitely think I hit the nail on the head for the dessert. I based the recipe off of Martha Stewart's tiramisu but I tweaked it to my tastes. This is the recipe I followed:

Double Chocolate Tiramisu (adapted from Everday Food)

2 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder (plus more for garnish)

1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream

4 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate, chopped

1 bar (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup Sugar

24 Ladyfinger cookies (premade/bought)

1 1/2 oz. Amaretto Liqueur

2 Tbsp. brewed Espresso

1. In medium bowl, mix cocoa powder with 1 1/2 cups very hot water until disolved. Add brewed espresso and let cool. Once cool, add amaretto. In a small microwaveable bowl, place 1/4 cup heavy cream and chocolate; microwave in 1-minute increments, stirring each time until melted and smooth. Allow to cool to room temperature.

2. In a mixing bowl, add cream cheese, sugar, and cooled chocolate mixture. Using an electric mixer, cream together. Add the remaining heavy cream and mix until fluffy about 2 minutes. 

3. Line the bottom of pan with 1 cup of chocolate/cheese mixture. One at a time dip ladyfingers in cocoa/espresso mixture and line on top of chocolate in a single layer. Repeat layering until all chocolate mixture and ladyfingers are used. Cover tiramisu and refrigerate for at least two hours. Before serving dust with cocoa powder and server with homemade whip cream.

This was a nice fluffy yet rich dessert. Make sure the portions are small when serving. I will definitely be using this one again! 

OK, since this is a cooking blog and I did promise to share the good and the bad, I am going to quickly share my failed attempt at Apple Fritters. I found what seemed to be this great recipe on Pinterest (my new online obesession). It was for Apple Fritters, which is always something I had wanted to try. I have not done a lot of frying in my kitchen so I thought it would be a good blog post right? Wrong. I just don't have the right equipment for it (no heavy bottom pots, candy thermometers, splash screens, none of it). But, I thought I would give it a whirl since the recipe seemed pretty straight forward. You can find the recipe by following this link: Apple Fritters

My fritters came out too dark and raw in the middle. I was cooking them at too high of a temperature and I did not use enough oil in the pot. The glaze came out fine and added a sweetness but overall I would say that I might need to find a new fritter recipe to really find my groove here. Feel free to give it a try and let me know how yours come out, any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

What mine looked like :(

What they were supposed to look like :)