High Fiber Low Fat Cookies, don't knock em 'til you try em

Hello again :)

I have been quite busy as of late with no real time to blog.  It's a good thing I have very few followers  lol

Most of you know that I am a Custom Cake Artist by trade. I would say the vast majority of my business is wedding cakes, so this time of year is craziness. Thankfully I usually get a break in August and this year is no exception.  It is typically too hot and sticky in southern VA to get married in August, though this year has been unusually, gloriously mild.

Being a cake artist means that most people think we live on cake ;)  No seriously, you would not believe how many people think we must eat massive amounts of cake.  Not true. We try our best to eat well in our home. We cook most things from scratch using whole ingredients. Very little if any processed foods and HFCS is to be avoided at all times. Even in my business life these basic principles hold true. Scratch made everything, real ingredients.

When we crave a sweet treat in our house I frequently try and tweek it to make it a bit healthier for my kiddles. Last night was a craving night. Rhiannon made homemade pizza with whole wheat crust and sauce made with the organically grown heirloom tomatoes from our garden. It was supremely delicious!! Afterwards though, I was dying for something sweet. High Fiber reduced fat cookies were just what I wanted :)  Don't make that face......I can see you scrunching up your nose in disappointment and disgust....High Fiber....Reduced fat....gag.  NOT SO I SAY, They are fantastic and hit that sweet tooth spot perfectly without quite so much guilt.

Let's talk about ingredients.  Now I need you to keep an open mind....can you do that??  Most of these ingredients will be very familiar, just in adjusted ratios.  Just hold onto the familiar :)  Ok i'm just going to rip off the bandaid here and list them all (even the oddball)


This recipe is quite large for our large family. Half would be a standard recipe amount

1 3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 white sugar
1 cup butter (soft not melted)
1 15 ounce can Cannellini beans, drained
4 eggs (you can use 8 egg whites but this will lead to a slightly more dry cookie)
1/4 cup milk
4 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups unbleached ap flour ( See previous post for why you should ALWAYS use unbleached)
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
5 cups quick or old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup chopped almonds
1 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup pitted dried dates, chopped
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips


Did you see it?  The oddball ingredient? Beans?  Hang with me people, you won't even taste them :)

So lets talk about the other modifications I made that make this a healthier option.  This recipe has a greatly reduced sugar load ( less than half of the base recipe I started with). It also has half the fat.  The beans , almonds, coconut and dates all add large amounts of fiber and protein.  As cookies go, this is a pretty healthy treat.

First you will want to drain off one can of Cannellini beans (If you can find organic beans that is always better. I was unable to find them at kroger this trip).

Place the drained beans and your milk in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside. 

Combine your sugar and butter and cream in mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add eggs and beat for 3 minutes.

Add your pureed beans into the butter, sugar and egg mixture. It will look a bit less beautiful (slightly grainy) once mixed but that's fine :)

Now add your flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Stir until just combined (once that flour is in there you don't want to over mix it and you still have other things to add)

Add the remaining nuts, dates, coconut and chocolate chips

You can substitute raisins for the dates.  They don't have same nutritional punch but they would work well flavor wise. 

Stir until well distributed.

You can let the dough rest or even refrigerate it over night at this point. I made them right away because I was impatient and craving remember ;)

I used a small cookie scoop for mine.  Using this scoop and half the dough (remember I make large amounts) yielded sixty small cookies. 

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 12- 15 minutes. They will still be soft when you take them out and just slightly golden. As they cool they firm up but stay soft enough to be lovely.

My entire family loved them ....ENJOY!!!

Oh So Many Cucumbers! O_o

Good morning from the Cucumber family....errr....I mean England family O_o  We have always had a garden. We have always loved having a garden. In recent years our oldest daughter Rhiannon has slowly taken over that task. She has a passion for it and we have encouraged her in that endeavor. Even though we have 2.5 acres, my husband and I have built raised beds along an otherwise unusable slope on the side of our house. Each spring what begins as barely more than dirt filled landscape "steps" turns into a lush oasis heavy with the fruits of her labors.

This year has been plentiful indeed and we have enjoyed a steady stream of heirloom tomatoes, green beans, peppers and cucumbers....oh so many cucumbers!!!

  I am a huge cucumber fan. I like them in my salad....sliced and added to a sandwich..... tossed with sliced onions, mayo,vinegar and a smidge of sugar for my favorite cucumber salad....you get the picture.  But friends, we would have to eat cucumbers all day every day with no other food involved to keep up with Rhiannon's green thumb :) Unlike other vegetables, you simply can't freeze them so that leaves canning....or more to the point, pickling!! We had previously made dill pickles and several weeks later have finally opened the jars to discover that they are fantastic! This week, heavy laden with more lovely cukes, Rhiannon decided Bread and Butter pickles would be next.  These are hands down my favorite type of pickles and this recipe is DIVINE!  As usual the recipe will be large because we are a large family, but honestly, if you are overrun with cucumbers this is a perfect way to preserve and enjoy them the remainder of the year :)

Let's get started shall we :)

You will need

8 lbs of thinly sliced cucumbers
3 bell peppers (two yellow one green)
4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
4 cups white vinegar
1 cup canning salt (also called pickling salt)
3 large onions thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic sliced or chopped
1/4 mustard seed
4 tsp celery seed
1 tblsp ground turmeric
7 quart jars

After rinsing your cucumbers thoroughly you will need to slice them fairly thin.  You can use a v slicer or mandolin for this task.

See the bandaid in the next picture?  Ask me how sharp the slicer is :(  Careful boys and girls!

I got my slicer on clearance at kroger for all of $5. You can spend a pretty penny on the lovely adjustable professional quality mandolins, and one day maybe I will take out a loan to do so, but honestly my little $5 find has served me quite well for several years.  New tools/toys are certainly alluring but you can be a great cook without selling a kidney. In fact most of my chef friends could make you the best meal you have ever had in your life armed with only a single knife and an open campfire.  Right then...... back to the recipe ;)

You will also want to slice up your garlic and seeded pepper. We used what we had on our garden (a combination of yellow and green peppers) but you can cater to your own tastes. I for one LOVE orange peppers and think they lend a beautiful flavor to the mix.

Once you have all of your items sliced you will want to place them in a large bowl and stir in the salt. Cover with crushed ice and stir again.  This mixture will stand (covered) for at a least 3 hours (overnight is fine if that works out better for you time wise, that's what we did)

After standing, rinse and drain three times to make sure you aren't leaving too much salt.  This ice bath leaves everything nice and crisp :)

You will want to go ahead and sterilize your jars and lids now. We sterilize the lids in a simmering pot for 15 minutes. Clean jars are sterilized in the oven at 225 degrees (f) for 20 minutes.

Now to make the liquid portion of our pickles.  Combine your sugar, vinegars and spices and bring to a low boil.

Portion out your rinsed and drained veggie/cucumber mix into your hot jars. Take care in handling the jars. Also be careful to put an equal amount of the peppers, onions and garlic in each jar. 

Stir your hot liquid mixture and ladle over your loosely packed cucumbers and veggies. The liquid should come to the bottom of the jars neck.

Clean the rims of your jars with a damp rag and place lid and ring on tightly. (again, careful, they're hot)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

On to our next kroger clearance bin find. A beginner canning kit AKA a plastic heat proof jar basket for use with the hot water bath. I paid a whopping $2.50 for it but even its regular price of $9.99 is quite reasonable. It keeps the jars raised just above the bottom of the pot. Previous to finding this green beauty we laid a towel on the bottom of the pot to avoid direct contact between the glass and the metal. Do yourself a favor and grab a basket ;)  This one holds three pint or two quart jars at a time.

Submerge and allow to boil for fifteen minutes.

Remove from boiling water and turn upside down on the counter (super hot peeps, use a potholder).  After another fifteen minutes turn right side up again. The button on the lid should be sucked in after a couple of minutes as the jars cool.  That my friends is it.  Now pickles are supposed to sit for 4 weeks before they are ready. And i'm sure they are wonderful after 4 weeks...but we waited a whopping 12 hours to taste the first one (we made a large half gallon jar just for the fridge). They are without question the BEST bread and butter pickles I have ever eaten!  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Have a blessed day !! :)

 It has been a busy couple of weeks and I am just getting a chance to drop in here and say hello to you lovely folks :)

After I finish a weeks cake work ,and deliver said cake, I typically descend into a state I call a cake hangover. Yesterday was no exception. After cleaning my entire house (you cake muggles would not believe the amount of mess created when making a large wedding cake, and how the rest of the house falls apart when mom is otherwise engaged) I had every intention of writing this last night but my mind and body objected and I gave into their lazy desires.

Today, armed with a good nights sleep, I am prepping for company.  I was going to show you how I built a rolling platform for my very favorite, massively heavy, Hobart mixer (remember I warned you, anything goes lol) But we are gathering tomorrow with another large family that we love.  Combined our families have 17 children (and 4 parents ;).  For this large crowd we have decided to prepare our favorite chili and scratch made cornbread and I figured another recipe post couldn't hurt.  I adore chili and making it in the middle of summer does not seem at all odd to me.  Our whole family loves it (that in and of itself is a miracle lol)

Typically my husband is happy to receive the fruits of my love of cooking. In this case he actually helped in developing our go to recipe, having very specific ideas about the flavor of his ideal chili. Our recipe is a bit on the spicy side for some so be forewarned. I will tell you how to adjust it if you like your chili mild. So let's begin shall we :)

Chuck's Chili

4 lbs ground beef

1 lb ground sweet Italian sausage

2 cans hot chili beans

1 can mild chili beans

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 can black beans (drained)

1 can dark red kidney beans (drained)

1 large yellow onion chopped

1 bell pepper (green) diced

2 jalapeños seeded and chopped

1 tblsp beef concentrate 

1 bottle of Guinness beer

2 tblsp Chili Powder

1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp garlic powder (or 4 cloves crushed garlic)

1 tblsp Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

Keep in mind that I am doubling this recipe to accommodate the crowd we are serving. One recipes worth will yield plenty for the average family to enjoy for a couple of days. 

Because so many children will be in attendance I have flipped the amount of hot and mild chili beans. In a single recipe this would be two mild and one hot. I use organic ingredients whenever I can and Krogers simple truth products are very affordable. I prefer to use mayan sweet onions. Their flavor is lovely but regular yellow onions will get you where you need to go.

Next we have our spices. You can use garlic powder in place of the fresh garlic if you don't have any on hand, but fresh is always best. As far as the beer goes, my husband and I love the rich flavor of Guinness so that is what we use. A myriad of stout and non stout beers would also work. Use your favorite. I would not recommend something with a tremendous hop flavor, however. We have a friend who loves a beer called Hopsecutioner....no good for chili my friends ;)

Your choice of meats can also alter the heat level. For those wanting to spice it up even more, simply sub hot italian sausage for the sweet.  I use 80/20 ground chuck for the beef.  You will need a large cast iron skillet and a large stockpot (though likely not as large as ours lol)

Most cubed beef bouillon has msg in it and we avoid that whenever possible. I much prefer the flavor of this product and recommend it for anything that calls for bouillon.

We try to use what we grow in our garden as much as possible so today we are using two small green bell peppers, one young Anaheim and one jalapeño (seeded and chopped).  Here is another step that can increase or decrease your heat level. I went with an anaheim and a jalapeño in place of all jalapeño to mellow it out slightly. Want even less heat? Go with just bell peppers.  More heat...crank up the jalapeños. Want crazy town hot??? break out the habanero's or ...(dramatic horror movie music)  ghost peppers O_o

Place your ground beef in your skillet and cook thoroughly.  Drain and rinse before putting meat in your stock pot......what was that??  The air being sucked out of the room at the thought of rinsing your meat? (my chef friends all just passed out I'm sure) Look I love the flavor of the meat "juices" as much as the next person, but 80/20 gives off a LOT of liquid fat. It is too much, and draining doesn't always get enough out for my taste. I promise you won't miss any of it.

In the same cast iron skillet cook your sausage fully.   You are going to reserve 3 tblsp of the rendered sausage fat before draining (no rinsing this time)

While your meats are cooking, seed and chop your pepper assortment and your onions. Also press your garlic. (and there on the bottom left is our our ramekin of reserved sausage fat)

Once your sausage is in the stockpot and your skillet is once again available, add your reserved fat, peppers, onions and garlic and cook until the onions are translucent.

No time should go to waste in the kitchen so while the onions and their pan mates are cooking start opening all those cans :)  Drain (don't rinse) your black and kidney beans.  Then get all of your dried spices and better than bouillon measured out and ready.  As you can see I love little stainless steel prep bowls and recommend having an assortment. Mise en place isn't just for restaurant kitchens boys and girls :)  I frequently have everything measured, chopped and prepped before starting any recipe and it always makes life so much easier.

Once translucent, add your onions and their pals to the stock pot and the rest is just a matter of dump and stir.  Tomatoes, chili beans (hot and mild undrained), beans, spices, bouillon and beer.

Mix and simmer for 1.5 hours or more. If you can avoid digging in....you are a better person than me ;)....but honestly, it will taste better the next day. A night in the fridge lets all of those lovely flavors come together even more. I would say that this dish freezes beautifully (and i'm sure it does) but we have never had enough left to freeze so you will have to discover that for yourself ;)

Ok so chili is done, and fantastimagically delicious!  What goes better with chili than cornbread?  I would say nothing!  So today instead of one recipe I'm gonna go ahead and do a second one. 

I live in Virginia, the people here consider this the south (even though its technically mid atlantic....no hate mail please :)  One of the first things I noticed when moving here is that the iced tea is UNBELIEVABLY sweet, ( I'm talking crunchy sweet) and the cornbread is not sweet at all. The first time I bit into a piece I was in an unhappy shock. Being a Jersey girl, I love sweet cornbread (and not so sweet tea). So this recipe is my kind of cornbread....Just sweet enough, soft and lovely.  If you are from the mid atlantic...I mean south (wink wink) this may not be the recipe for you.

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil

4 tblsp melted unsalted butter

2 tblsp honey or agave

2 eggs (beaten)

1 tblsp Baking Powder

1 1/4 cups milk

So a few words about ingredients....... Flour - always use unbleached. Why?? ....It has been shown that alloxan is a byproduct of the flour bleaching process, the process they use to make flour look so “clean” and -- well, white.  Alloxan, or C4 H2O4N2, is a product of the decomposition of uric acid. It is a poison that is used to produce diabetes in healthy experimental animals (primarily rats and mice), so that researchers can then study diabetes “treatments” in the lab. Alloxan causes diabetes because it spins up enormous amounts of free radicals in pancreatic beta cells, thus destroying them.

Beta cells are the primary cell type in areas of your pancreas called islets of Langerhans, and they produce insulin; so if those are destroyed, you get diabetes.

There is no other commercial application for alloxan -- it is used exclusively in the medical research industry because it is so highly toxic.  

Now that we've covered that O_o ....onto cornmeal.  I like to use yellow cornmeal. White will have a slightly different texture but will also work.

Baking powder should always be aluminum free. It's important. I can taste the metallic undertone and so can a lot of other people. Also, why would you want aluminum in your baked goods if an aluminum free option works just as well? Just saying.

BUTTER, NOT MARGARINE...always...period.

I used Agave today but normally prefer local raw honey. A coworker of my husbands has many hives and we have always gotten our honey from him by the gallon (yep the gallon folks). It is gloriously delicious and helps with our seasonal allergies as well. Sadly a bear on his property thought the honey was wonderful as well and decimated his hives :( I have been out of his honey for some time now and didn't make it to the local farmers market to get some before making this. Agave works just fine but local raw honey is always superior.

Combine all of your dry ingredients and whisk together.

Mix all of your wet ingredients (including your eggs) and add to your dry ingredients. Now I LOVE a good mixer. I have two kitchen aids and a hobart....but DON'T use a mixer for cornbread.  It will be tough. Just gently stir or fold until well combined with some lumps. Don't fear the lumps.

 Let it sit while you prep the pan or pans and give another quick stir before adding to pan(s). Most of the lumps will be gone just from that little rest where the remaining dry ingredients soak up the moisture. Plus,  no further development of gluten comes from the sitting and soaking method. Soft cornbread, not tough peeps.

Bakers Joy, use it, love it, never be without it. The end.

 Fill pan(s) halfway. I quadrupled the recipe so mine fit in 14 and 10 inch rounds.  I know not everyone has 14 inch round pans (unless you are a custom cake artist like yours truly) so you can use any rectangular pan that suits the amount of batter you prep.

Bake at 350 for 35 - 50 minutes depending on your oven or pan size.  When a toothpick comes out clean, you're good to go :)

Enjoy and have a blessed day!!! :)