Category: Desserts (Page 17 of 21)

Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

November 21, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 11 Comments

I had the urge to make something with chocolate today, and I wanted to share a fun adaptation of a recipe that has become a favorite at our house. It has been very cold and snowy this week, and the driving has been precarious at times. The air is fresh and the snow is beautiful though, and it feels good to come in from the cold and have something warm to drink and a chocolate cookie to eat. My kids are on a hot cocoa kick lately, so we have a lot of hot cocoa packages in the pantry. My daughter and I love to experiment in the kitchen, and she is the one who actually came up with this variation of the traditional Nestle’s Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies. We have tested it several times, and it has become a favorite winter treat. We replace 1/4 of the white sugar with hot cocoa mix (I buy the kind sweetened with sugar, not high fructose corn syrup, and try to see that it is ethically sourced cocoa) and we add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract to the batter, which gives a hint of cherry flavor. Serve these cookies with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea, and a little bowl of fresh raspberries. They are the perfect treat to take the edge off the stress of the week! “As with most fine things, chocolate has its season. There is a simple memory aid that you can use to determine whether it is the correct time to order chocolate dishes: any month whose name contains the letter A, E, or U, is the proper time for chocolate.” –author Sandra Boynton

Cocoa Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: about 48 cookies
Time: about 1 hour
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Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt (if you are using salted butter, cut the salt to 1/2 teaspoon or omit completely)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sweetened hot cocoa mix
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Vigorously stir the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, hot cocoa mix, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a bowl until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring well as you add them. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until everything is combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookies are done. Cool for a couple minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

This recipe is adapted from the traditional Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe

Thanksgiving Inspiration and Louisa May Alcott’s Recipe for Apple Slump

November 3, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 10 Comments

In anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday, my mind has been filling up with visions of warm, wonderful homemade food shared with family and friends. For me, baking is a way to stretch across space and time and connect with people from the past and the present. One book that I like to pull out for inspiration around Thanksgiving time is An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by James Bernardin. I have been a fan of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women since I was an adolescent. That novel made a huge impact on me as a girl growing into a young woman and aspiring writer. When I became a mother and my children were young, my mother gave me the above-mentioned adaptation of Alcott’s An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving. It is a book geared for young children, full of scenic illustrations and a simple, heart-warming story of a New England family in the 1800s. I was so excited to read a book by one of my favorite authors to my children, and they have enjoyed it too. Along with the story there are descriptions of the food the family ate for their Thanksgiving meal. One of those dishes was apple slump. With a name like that, I was really curious what it would taste like. Luckily, at the back of the book, there is Louisa May Alcott’s recipe for apple slump, so my daughter and I made it a few years ago. I have been making it around Thanksgiving time ever since. The spiced, baked apples are topped with a slightly sweet, rich cake-like batter. The recipe suggests we serve it with whipped cream, and I also think vanilla ice cream is lovely with it. Today, I served it on its own, and my family ate it gladly for dessert. I personally like to eat any baked apple dish with thick slice of cheddar cheese. My grandma always said apple pie was best that way. I have posted Louisa May Alcott’s recipe for apple slump below, as it appeared in the book An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving. This is a delicious dessert, and a very fun baking project to do with children in conjunction with reading the book, if you are so inclined.

Louisa May Alcott's Apple Slump

Servings: 6
Time: about 15 minutes preparation, plus about 50 minutes for baking
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Ingredients:

4 to 6 tart apples (3 cups sliced)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg (well beaten)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pare, core, and slice the apples. Lightly grease the inside of a 1 1/2-quart baking dish (I used a 9 in. x 9 in. square baking dish) with butter. Put the sliced apples into the dish. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples and stir to mix. Bake apples uncovered until they are soft, about 20 minutes.

While the apples are baking, stir together into a bowl the flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and sugar. Mix into this the beaten egg, milk, and melted butter. Stir gently. Spread this mixture over the apples and continue baking until the top is brown and crusty (about 25 to 30 minutes). Serve with whipped cream. Enjoy!

Heartwarming Orange and a Recipe for Pumpkin Cookies

October 14, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 2 Comments

Orange seems to be one of the most popular and celebrated colors during the fall. We are drawn to orange foods, such as pumpkins, carrots, and squash in the fall. I have always loved orange–according to many sources, it is the color of joy and creativity. When I eat orange foods, I feel like I am infusing my body with the energy of orange, and with it giving myself more vitality and inspiration. Pumpkins are full of vitamin A, iron, potassium, and phosphorous. Sometimes when I am feeling too blue, orange is a good balance, since orange and blue are complementary colors in the color spectrum. While orange is bright and inspiring, blue is calming and relaxing. According to the talented artist Vincent Van Gogh, “There is no blue without yellow and without orange.” Nothing exists completely on its own–we feel what we feel, or see what we see, in relation to everything else around ourselves. It is good to try to maintain a healthy balance between the two opposite ends of the spectrum, because too much of anything can be detrimental, and I must say, sometimes the beautiful fall weather brings on the bittersweet, wistful blues. To add some orange to my life, and just because I like pumpkin cookies and I know my husband and kids like them too, I often turn to the following recipe in the fall. The recipe I posted below is easy, tasty, and quite healthy (cookies with a vegetable in them!). The pumpkin puree keeps them nice and moist and the spices give them the great flavor. The chocolate chips are optional, but I personally like to add chocolate to as many things as I can, and the chocolate tastes great in these cookies. They are a perfect snack, and easy to pack in lunches.

Pumpkin Cookies

Servings: approximately 3 dozen cookies
Time: about one hour
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Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose, unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 Tablespoon softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 to 1 cup of chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the vanilla, butter, sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, and eggs. Stir vigorously until completely combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Stir until the batter is well-combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, if using. Drop the batter onto a cookie sheet in rounded teaspoons, and bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are puffy and golden, but not too brown. Continue until all the batter is used. Enjoy!