Thursday, March 19, 2015

Trios (Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip-Oat) Bundt #BundtBakers


A tender Bundt cake recipe with oats, chocolate chips and peanut butter, made gluten-free, just like the new-this-year Trio Girl Scout cookies. 

I’ve had a long and happy relationship with the Girl Scouts for many, many years so I was delighted when this month’s Bundt Bakers host Kelly from Passion Kneaded suggested the theme of Girl Scout cookies, using either the actual cookies or the flavors for inspiration.

As I wrote here, joining a Girl Scout troop was one of the main reasons I solidified friendships and settled in at a new school, in a new country that was ostensibly my own. That supportive environment allowed me to grow and explore in a safe and creative way. I was a Girl Scout through elementary school and into high school and my fellow scouts have remained my lifelong friends.

My first real job after I graduated from university was at the Girl Scouts and I worked with a woman who taught me grace under pressure, how to cooperate with and motivate volunteers and how to comport and express myself articulately in meetings with financial backers. Among other valuable lessons. She gave me scary big responsibilities and made sure I had the support to fulfill them. She reminded me, in fact, very much of my former troop leader in that regard. 

Our volunteers and area coordinators came from every race, every socio-economic group, every religion. What they had in common was a staunch belief in the innate ability of girls to succeed, to grow, to become responsible, contributing members of society - a society that would be made greater by the educated and creative influence those girls would have, as the strong and capable women they would become, through participation in the Girl Scout program.

Years passed and I was blessed with girls of my own. At the first opportunity, I made sure they were able join Girl Scout troops and took turns being troop leader for one of the other throughout the years they were involved in scouting. I saw them learn resilience and perseverance, both leadership skills and how to be a supportive team member, and I saw their natural curiosity and creativity enriched by being part of the Girl Scouts.

Girl Scout cookies come in some wonderful flavor combinations, many new since I was involved with the program. My absolute favorite is the Thin Mint, closely followed by the peanut butter cookies, called either Do-Si-Do or Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies, depending on the bakery and region, but I decided, in the spirit of a true Girl Scout, to explore the new and base my cookie on the latest addition, called the Trio.

It tickled me to bake my Trio Bundt in a Nordic Ware Duet pan (<Amazon affiliate link) which has a 5-cup capacity but you can use a six-cup pan if you prefer. Or even full size pan but the Bundt will just be shorter.

Ingredients
3/4 cup or 70g five-minute oats (These are the step between quick cooked and rolled oats.)
1 1/4 cups or 125g gluten-free bread flour mix (I like this one from Dove Farm. <Amazon affiliate link)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 140g creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup 100g packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
3/4 cup or 150g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Optional for serving: A good sprinkling of powdered sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Grease and flour your Bundt pans or pan or use a gluten-free baking spray.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the oatmeal, flour, baking powder and salt.



In large bowl, beat the brown sugar and peanut butter with your electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down occasionally. Beat in the vanilla and the two eggs.



Beat in flour mixture and then pour in the milk as it mixes till well blended, scraping the bowl occasionally.


Fold in the chocolate chips.



Pour the batter evenly in your prepared pans or pan and smooth out the top.



Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.



Leave the Bundts to cool for about 10 minutes and then turn them out on a wire rack to cool
completely.



Sprinkle with a little icing sugar before serving, if desired. Of course, Trio cookies don’t have icing sugar but I’m taking poetic license here because it looks pretty.


Enjoy!



Were you a Scout growing up? What's your favorite cookie? Perhaps it's been recreated as a Bundt cake in this fabulous list of Girl Scout Cookie inspired Bundts! Many thanks to Kelly from Passion Kneaded, our host this month's Bundt Bakers for this great theme.


BundtBakers


#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme.  Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send me an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.





Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Liquid Cocaine (Espresso-White Chocolate) Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange


Modeled after the secret menu drink from Starbucks called Liquid Cocaine, these crispy-edged chewy-inside cookies are full of espresso and white chocolate. 

This month’s Creative Cookie Exchange ingredient is white chocolate, which I must admit is not my favorite. I find it rather sweet without the essential bitterness of the cacao. But matched with the strong espresso in the dough, this cookie balances that sweetness out beautifully.

A couple of years ago, for Muffin Monday, our ingredient was coffee so my younger daughter suggested that I research alternative Starbucks recipes and then turn one of them into a muffin. It was an excellent suggestion! I chose one called Liquid Cocaine, with four shots of espresso and four pumps of white chocolate. I couldn’t resist recreating it in cookie for this white chocolate challenge, sans the wild party pics, although I did add a little alcohol to the actual cookie.

Party down with muffins: Liquid Cocaine (Espresso and White Chocolate) Muffins

Ingredients for about two dozen cookies (I got 27.)
4 teaspoons espresso powder
1 tablespoon Kahlua
1 cup or 200g sugar
1/2 cup or 115g butter, at room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
2 cups or 250g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 oz or 170g good quality white chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°f or 180°C and prepare your cookie sheet by lining it with parchment or a silicone liner.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix your espresso powder in with the Kahlua till it dissolves.


In another larger bowl, measure out your dry ingredients and stir well.

Cream the butter with the sugar using an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the egg.



Then add the Kahlua/espresso syrup  and mix again until thoroughly combined.



Sift your dry ingredients into your batter and mix well.



Stir in the white chocolate chips.



Drop the dough in scoops on your prepared cookie sheet and bake for about 18-20 minutes. With the first pan to go in the oven, I pressed all but one of the balls down to flatten them. I wanted to see what that one ball would do.

Turns out, it makes a more interesting and pretty cookie to leave them in a ball and let them flatten out themselves, so the second pan to go in were all left in balls.



These guys are crispy around the edges and chewy in the middle, which is pretty much my perfect cookie.



Enjoy!



Many thanks to our organizer, Laura of The Spiced Life for this month’s white chocolate challenge. If you are a blogger and would like to join us for future challenges, scroll down after the link list to see how.

Check out all the great white chocolate cookie recipes we have for you this month!



If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links.

You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts. You can find all of them at The Spiced Life. We post a new cookie on the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!


Monday, March 16, 2015

Arabian Nights Muffins #MuffinMonday

One great way to add flavor to a muffin is to use flavored teas in the batter. Brew the tea with piping hot milk and add some more loose tea to strengthen the flavor profile to make a tasty muffin. 

This week I am in Michigan, spending time with a dear friend who owns a teashop filled with hundreds of loose teas in a variety of flavors. My favorite part of coming here is hanging out with her in her shop because she is constantly plying me with tea to sample, as we chat and catch up. I deliberately didn’t make my muffin for today before I arrived because I also love baking with her tea, something I don’t think to do often enough at home. Today I chose one of her special blends called Arabian Nights, which mixes black tea with jasmine petals, jasmine essence and cardamom. The aroma is spectacular! If you have a special tea you enjoy, I encourage you to try baking with tea as well.

Ingredients 
For the muffin batter:
2 teabags Arabian Nights tea or your favorite spice tea blend
1 cup or 240ml milk
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup, packed, or 100g dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon loose Arabian Nights tea or your favorite spice tea blend
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (or the spice prominent in your tea’s flavor profile)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
2 large eggs

For the glaze:
1 tablespoon tea-infused milk
6-7 tablespoons powdered sugar

Optional for decoration: 1 teaspoon loose Arabian Nights tea

Method
Bring your milk to a boil and put the teabags in to steep. Leave the teabags in till the milk is cool then remove them, making sure to squeeze the milk out before discarding them.



Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it thoroughly or spraying with non-stick spray or lining it with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, loose tea and salt and stir well.


Reserve one tablespoon of the tea-infused milk for the glaze and then put the rest in a small mixing bowl with the oil and eggs. Whisk thoroughly to combine.



Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.



Divide the batter between your muffin cups in your prepared pan.



Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.



Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.

To make the glaze, add the powdered sugar to the reserved milk-infused tea one tablespoon at a time, stirring well in between, until you read a good drizzling consistency.


Drizzle the glaze over the muffins once they are cool.

Sprinkle on a little pinch of loose tea to decorate, if desired.





Enjoy!