Sofi’s Snickerdoodles

Last year we started a special tradition.  Sofi's Week!  My goddaughter and I spend a week together during the summer.  We cook, bake, go to museums, eat special lunches, and most of all spend time together.  At the end of the week, we have her family here for a special celebratory dinner.  I love it!!!  I am just amazed at this 10-year-old - super smart, funny, talented, kind, beautiful, stylish, and a natural in the kitchen!  (Oh, and she is afraid of clowns just like me. HA!)  Sofi is very very special.

I realized that I need to sharpen my listening skills.  Last year she told me she does not like dark chocolate, but I missed that important piece of information (or forgot).  At the beginning of the week, we sat down at the kitchen table to come up with an agenda for our week.  I kept recommending lots of chocolate recipes for our baking projects.  Sofi reminded me that she is not a fan of chocolate.  

She wanted to bake Snickerdoodle cookies!  Let's do it!

Sofi's Snickerdoodles (adapted from several recipes)

2 sticks of unsalted butter

3 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup of granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Cinnamon Sugar Coating: 

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

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This cookie dough needs to set up in the refrigerator for a couple hours, but I suggest overnight.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Remove from heat to allow to cool slightly while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, white and dark sugars, baking soda, kosher salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, combine (using paddle attachment, mix a few times on low).  In a large measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, melted butter and vanilla.  Pour egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix on low t0 medium until soft dough forms.  Will be very loose.  Cover bowl and refrigerate overnight so dough can be scooped out and formed into balls.

When ready to bake cookies preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine sugar coating:  sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  

Scoop dough out with cookie scoop or a tablespoon and form into 2-inch balls by rolling in the palm of your hand.  Place each dough ball into the sugar coating and roll around to completely cover.  Place 12 sugar-coated dough balls on unlined, ungreased baking sheet.  Using the bottom of a glass flatten each ball slightly.

Bake in middle of oven for about 8-10 minutes.  Then remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.  Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.  

Energy Muffins: A very special recipe and a very special person

 
There we are!  Mary and Claire!  Friends forever!  This is us a little over a year ago at Mary's 60th surprise birthday party.  Yes, she IS the youngest-looking person alive!  Beautiful outside and inside - a precious jewel of a person.  I love you, Mary!

When our kids were little Mary's neighbor shared this recipe with her and Mary shared it with me.  I modified it a little to make sure all the ingredients were organic and not highly processed.  For example, instead of bran cereal from the grocery cereal aisle, I found coarse, natural, organic wheat bran.  In place of shredded wheat cereal, I found an organic, no-sugar, version.  

I made so many of these when my kids were growing up and brought them to many friends, family, teachers, etc., etc., THESE ARE REALLY REALLY DELICIOUS!  They freeze beautifully.  Pop a frozen one into the microwave for a minute and it's like it just come out of the oven.

Ingredients are easy to find at Mom's Organic Market or Whole Foods and many other grocery stores.  See the original post in my featured post section and HERE.

Energy muffins were the star on a recent menu!

Chia Seed Pudding: revisited (NO SUGAR needed!)

My oldest was home for a very short visit (sans baby and husband).  Wanted to visit her pals for few days and she also cleaned out A LOT of her "stuff".  I hope was as cathartic for her as it was for me. ; D

I needed some GF options for breakfast and my go-to is chia seed pudding with berries.  It never disappoints!  I decided to heat up the coconut milk to a simmer before whisking in the chia seeds.  It allowed the seeds to bloom quickly, and I realized I loved it warm! Slightly thick, chia pudding - serious comfort food!  But weather here is very hot (90+ degrees) now, so the puddings went into the refrigerator to cool down. 

At serving time I kept them on ice for the girls, so everything was nice a cool for them.  

See my original post in the featured link.  In the original I added agave but if you want it sweetened, I suggest using maple syrup or honey instead - much cleaner flavor in my opinion.  Enjoy!

Chia Seed Pudding REVISITED (NO SUGAR)

12oz to 14 oz of unsweetened coconut milk
5 Tablespoons of chia seeds
fresh organic berries to use as topping

Pour coconut milk into a saucepan and heat on medium low to bare simmer - just a few minutes.  Take off the heat and whisk in the chia seeds and allow to bloom for a few minutes.  Check after a couple minutes and you will notice the pudding has thickened to a nice milkshake-consistency.   Pour mixture into a large quart-size measuring cup for easy pouring into small jars or ramekins.  Eat immediately if you want a warm comfort food (topped with berries or nuts).  Otherwise refrigerate for 30 minutes to cool and thicken even more.

One of my go-to snacks! Toasted pecans that I keep in the freezer - nothing like it!

Tortilla Soup!

This recipe for Tortilla Soup is fast, easy, and delicious!  I saw it on the PBS show Milk Street -it is authentic from Mexico.  I had homemade chicken broth in my freezer so used it but I suspect water or veggie broth will be just as delicious.  You may notice my chicken broth is reddish in color.   I sometimes add tomato paste to my broth (at the beginning of cooking) - it adds a lot of flavor.  Be mindful to use a corn chip that has few ingredients.  I like the Maiz brand because it is made from corn, salt, and avocado oil- that's it!

Tortilla Soup (adapted from a Milk Street recipe)

2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil (Spanish preferred) or use lard or bacon fat

1 large yellow onion sliced

2 jalapeño seeded and sliced

6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed whole

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 large bunch of cilantro- Chop leaves and stems separately

2 pounds cherry or grape tomatoes

1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups corn tortilla chips (I like the Maiz brand because only corn, salt, and avocado oil)

6 cups chicken stock or veggie stock or water

Toppings:  corn chips, avocado, cotija cheese, cilantro, and sour cream.

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Heat a medium to large enameled cast iron pot or other heavy Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the oil to pan and add onion slices.  Cook for about 5 minutes until starting to soften and turn light golden brown.   Add jalapeño, garlic cloves, cumin seen, and cilantro stems to the pot.  Stir and cook for another minute.  Add the tomatoes, sugar, corn chips, and chicken stock (or water or veggie broth) and bring to a boil.  Turn down to low, cover pot and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove pot from stove after 10 minutes and allow to cool for about 5 minutes before blending to smooth texture (will need to do in a couple batches since still hot).  Return blended soup to pan to reheat and taste.  Add about half the chopped cilantro leaves and tastes. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste if needed (the chips have salt so you may not need additional salt).  To serve put a handful of chips in a bowl, pour a couple ladles of soup over, top with avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and cotija cheese.