Snack #3 in my snack series commences!

When I have nothing particularly appealing in the pantry for breakfast, and last night’s dinner yielded no leftovers, and the bread is so stale I can barely cut it…this is a lifesaver! It’s also a particularly satisfying, yet almost healthy snack. I know, they’re loaded with sugar and butter, but at least the oats have plenty of fibre and the raisins have some goodness in them. Or something. You can easily get away with adding some wheatgerm or bran to add extra goodness, and added walnuts make this a rather complete breakfast option (you may want to skip the sugar in your tea, though, or any other sugary things for breakfast or lunch).

Like Deb promises, this recipe makes soft cookies, which are a little crispy around the edges just after they’ve cooled (not the next day, but they’re still soft and chewy). They’re rather rich, and of course, do that thing to raisins that make them take on a texture like a special, other-world-y candy. I accidentally added twice as much flour to the butter mixture, so I had to make a double batch with not enough rolled oats, but this recipe accommodated that well. This may have led the mixture to be different, as mine weren’t thick even after freezing. The mixture reminded me of chunky peanut butter, and I didn’t have much fun spreading this out. I’d definitely recommend freezing and then you can usually (with some effort) scoop the mixture out and shape it into rough balls. Anyway, let’s get ready to crumble!

Soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies

from Smitten Kitchen (halved recipe below, makes about sixteen 2″ wide cookies)

115g butter, softened to margerine consistency*
2/3 c light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 tspn vanilla extract
3/4 c plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt (up to 1/2 tsp ok)
1 1/2 c rolled oats (I used less which is fine, this quantity is pretty variable)
3/4 cup raisins (again, use your discretion)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional, and you can vary this quantity)

*I know this is hard in winter. I accidentally melted mine, which is ok, just let it sit on the side if cold and it will harden up again. Alternatively, if you chop it up and partially melt it a little, then let it sit, it will be much easier to beat.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt, and stir in. Add the oats, raisins and walnuts, and stir in until well distributed.

Preheat oven to 175C (350F), with a rack centred. Now you can scoop the mixture onto a baking tray (they spread lots so leave at least an inch and a half between cookies), or chill the dough first and then scoop. It’d best to chill overnight, but if you’re impatient, scoop first, freeze for ten minutes, and then bake. You can do whatever size you want, although I’d stay under golf ball size scoops (they’ll be easier to take off the tray later). Just remember to leave an inch and a half between cookies! These don’t stick too badly to an ungreased tray (if you use a metal spatula/fish slice), but a slight greasing will make dislodging a breeze.

Bake one tray at a time, for about 10 minutes (depending totally on how chilled the dough is and cookie size). Take them out when golden brown at the very edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. When you prod them, even at the edges, they will give in easily, almost like they’re sponges. Let cool on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely. These are much more satisfying with a little crispness to the edges (after cooled), as the cookies are very soft when you first pick them up.

Dough can be easily frozen, and you can (with effort) scoop frozen dough and cook it straight away, which is brilliant if you’ve got the oven on anyway a few days later and feel like fresh cookies!

I’ve gained a healthy respect for vegan baking since Emily came along. I want to emphasise the fact that these cookies are more than you probably expect, and they’re a lot easier to make with the lack of beating butter and eggs together. Fresh, classic chocolate chip cookies fast – you can’t argue with that. Especially during exam time!

Emily and Bob made giant cookies, which sort of stuck together…but they were still delicious!

And what would a giant cookie be without giant chocolate chunks?

…just to put the sizing into perspective for you. (That’s Bob, not Emily, just so’s you know)

Emily’s vegan choc chip cookies *please see note below

makes 5 giant cookies or some smaller ones

2c plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of cinnamon (optional)
1c sugar
1/2 c oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c soymilk (I’m guessing normal milk is ok if you only have that on hand)
chocolate chips (use your discretion)

Preheat oven to 175C (350F), centering a rack.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, making a well in the centre

In a seperate bowl mix sugar and oil. Add the vanilla and then add soy milk. Mix well.

Add the wet to the well in the dry. Mix it well but be careful not to over mix it.

Add chocolate chips

Spoon onto ungreased baking trays.

Cook for 8-10 minutes (depending on size). Take out of oven when they look slightly undercooked, but are golden around the edges. The ones pictured could have been a little less cooked if you like having a softer cookie.

Next up: soft, chewy oatmeal and raisin cookies, from Smitten Kitchen.

*EDIT: A friend of mine tried baking these the other day (with milk instead of soy milk) and the batter was very crumb-y. I advise starting with 1 1/2 c of flour, and working more in to achieve a very moist, wet dough (think fondant icing, but with more oil). Please let me know how you go…I will be trying these out myself in a few weeks, and will update again then. Cheers!

**EDIT 2: Made these yesterday into snickerdoodles, and they were delish except next time I won’t use soy oil…eck. Charge ahead with cookierising!

Now, not everyone will be a fan of these, but I feel that diversity is not a bad thing, and thus that if you feel the description sounds like you, to give these cookies a try. If you’re in the mood for a soft, crumbly, buttery cookie that’s slightly chocolatey, not too sweet, a little salt-kissed, with a rich nutty background flavour and soft chunks of dark chocolate nestled in amongst it all (as well as some specks of almonds or hazelnuts). The great thing is of course you’re manipulating exactly how big you want the chocolate chunks, exactly how fine the smashed nuts are. The recipe was found at Pittsburgh Needs Eated, a great site for unique baking recipes. Originally from Gina DePalma’s “Dolce Italiano.”The white on the outside is icing sugar, don’t panic. They haven’t developed some horid fungal infection :P

Anyway, I couldn’t help thinking to myself as I rolled these out how perfectly old-school they seemed to be, and I felt almost transported to some brick and wood kitchen with copper pans etc…These really are quite decadent, although in a very traditional sort of way. They’re not sticky or overtly refined, just comforting and a little addictive, exactly what I was looking for. They’d work beautifully with a superb cup of coffee, or as a cute treat for a picnic. They also take a bit of prep time, so get out your apron, set your music a’playin, and take your time (hey, if you’re a student especially, you’re probably still on holiday. If you’re not, well…you’ll need a sweet treat more than ever!).

Chocolate nut butter cookies (almond or hazelnut reccommended)

makes about 24 one inch cookies.

1 c plain flour
1/6 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt (omit if using salted butter),
1/4 tsp if you’re not keen on salt-kissed chocolate
1/4 c whole hazelnuts or almonds, roasted
70g dark chocolate, finely chopped (go as dark or not as you like)*
115g unsalted butter, softened (consistency of margarine)
1/4 c sugar
1 small egg (room temp)
1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 c icing sugar for dusting

Whisk first 4 ingredients together in a bowl (sift if your cocoa is a bit lumpy) and set aside. Put nuts in any old packet or a small bag and bash with a rolling pin or similar until the nut pieces are to your desired side. Medium fine (ie. some pretty much ground, some coarse bread-crumb sized) is a safe level to bash to. Alternatively whizz in your food processor. Add to bowl of dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and/or fluffy, approx 2 mins. Beat in egg and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients for a wet(ish) dough, until just combined, making sure not to mix once uniformly moist. Cover bowl and chill in fridge for at least 30 mins, until firm.

Once dough is chilled, preheat oven to 160C or 320F. Lightly grease a baking tray, then put icing sugar in a bowl or on a plate.

Roll 1 tablespoon of dough into a rough ball, then roll in icing sugar, coating thoroughly. Flatten, and place on tray, spacing approx 1 inch apart. Repeat until all dough is used up. Bake until puffed and the cookies have small cracks in the sugar coating, or until they spring back when pressed lightly in the centre. Allow to cool on the tray for 1-2 mins before transferring to a rack to cool properly. Taste heavenly warm, slightly crackly on the outside, and soft the next day. Last about a week kept in a cool place, in a sealed container (once totally cooled).

*If you’re a bit broke and in NZ, signature range’s dark chocolate buttons aren’t bad value for regular pricing. They have a ridiculously low cocoa content, but it’s masked pretty well. Again, hate to bully Nestle, but their dark chocolate isn’t top notch for baking, and also, they’re openly known for some of the worst food crimes on the planet – make sure to shop around for a reliable cooking chocolate (sometimes your every day eating chocolate will be fine, especially used as chocolate chips).

We had a great Halloween night at Steph’s place on the 31st, and the food was awesome too. Among the halloween themed lollies, we had zombie fingers and cheese and pineapple stick things and these really nice chocolate coffee drops (which unfortunately I only tried toward the end of the night). Steph was nice enough to share the recipe (I’m not sure where it originated from, so sorry to the original authors that there’s no credit). It might be a bit late, but hey. They’re so much fun, you could make them for anything!

Zombie fingers

1 1/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup butter (230g)
1/2cup crushed nuts (I used walnuts)
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla essence
pinch salt
1 egg
1egg yolk
green food colour (Steph used a bit of yellow instead)
whole almonds

cream sugar and butter till light and fluffy
beat in egg and egg yolk
mix in food colour, vanilla essence and nuts
mix in dry ingrediants dont over mix
roll dough into fingers lightly tapperd an one end add almonds as the finger nail at tapperd end, pich in for a knuckle
place fingers on a greased try or greased cooking paper on tray
preheat oven 150-200 degrees
cook for 10-15mins or until slightly golden ontop

for the blood i mixed up red food coulour icing sugar and vanilla essence :)

have fun I hope they work out for you :)

Note: I didn’t count how many this recipe made, but there was a large (bigger than a dinner plate) plate’s worth.