White Chocolate Chip, Pistachio, Coconut, Guava and Dried Pear Cookies.

As crazy as these cookies sound from the title, they were out of necessity.  I found a cookie recipe that sounded delicious but I didn't have all of the ingredients, so I used what I had and they were amazing.  This makes a very compact cookie, just enough dough to hold everything together.  But sometimes you don't want a plain cookie, sometimes you want a cookie stuffed with lots of good things from the baking cupboard.

Feel free to use the dough as a base and use whatever additions you have - semisweet chocolate chips, any dried fruit or nuts that you have lying around and you need to use up - just keep amounts to the measurements called for. 

White Chocolate Chip, Pistachio, Coconut, Guava and Dried Pear Cookies
Adapted from In The Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
3/4 cup dried pears, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup dried guava squares

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until well-blended, then beat in the egg and vanilla extract.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, then add to the butter mixture.  Stir in all of your additions and mix well, making sure everything is evenly incorporated.

Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough and roll it into a ball, packing tightly.  Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheet and flatten them slightly.  Bake until they're just barely golden on the outside for chewy cookies, about 12-15 minutes, or longer for crispier cookies.

Let them cool completely, then store airtight up to 1 week.

Nutella and Toasted Coconut Bread.

I know, I know.  World Nutella Day was back on February 5th!  But to be honest, I didn't have any in the pantry at the time and there was a snow storm that day if I remember correctly.  But now that I had some, I wanted to do something different with it.  The website has a lot of great recipes listed, but I'd say 95% of them are way too decadent for what I had in mind.  I found this recipe suited my needs perfectly.  I was nervous that the lack of butter would create a rubbery loaf, but the fat in the Nutella must have prevented that from happening because this was so good!  Not moist like a cake or brownie, but not dry either, perfect for breakfast.  If you'd like to make things over-the-top, do toast it and spread with butter, jam, or more Nutella, but I found it perfect on its own with coffee or tea.  I baked mine in mini loaf pans (since my family eats smaller loaves more quickly, then froze the others), but this also works in a regular 9x5" loaf pan.

Nutella and Toasted Coconut Bread
Adapted from ShowFood Chef
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut, toasted and cooled
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Nutella
1 cup skim milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and grease a 9x5" loaf pan, or 5 mini loaf pans and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and coconut together.  In a medium bowl, stir together the brown sugar, Nutella, milk, egg and vanilla extract.  Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until everything just comes together and there are no dry spots left.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s), and bake until the bread is dry on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  The smaller loaves take about 20 minutes, a larger one could take up to 55 minutes to an hour.

Let cool completely on a wire rack, then store airtight for up to 3 days. 

Chocolate Coconut Almond Cookie Hearts.

These crispy on the outside, fudgy in the middle cookies are basically Almond Joys in cookie form and they're delicious!  I pressed the dough into some miniature heart-shaped tart pans, but these are originally drop cookies and obviously if you don't want to fuss around, just form into walnut-sized balls and flatten slightly before baking.  I'm using upcoming Valentine's Day as an excuse to make everything heart-shaped these days but these are perfect for the people you love any time of the year :)

Chocolate Coconut Almond Cookie Hearts
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1.5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together and set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  When the butter-chocolate mixture has cooled, stir in the sugars, egg and vanilla extract, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir until almost completely mixed, then add the almonds and coconut.  Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 2 days.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and spray tart pans or molds with cooking spray, then using about 2 tablespoons of dough per mold, press in the dough, coming up the sides just slightly.  Bake for 10-13 minutes, depending on the size of the molds and how much dough you've used.  They should puff up in the middle and be just firm to the touch.

Let cool on wire racks, then store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Use What You've Got : Carrot Cupcakes.

It hasn't stopped snowing now for at least 48 hours. And it gets tiring. All the shoveling, winter driving, making sure you have enough gas in your car in case you get stuck in a ditch somewhere.

So generally when I don't have to go anywhere during this time of year I don't. (basically I become a hermit) Actually, it's March now right? Usually this happens around January or February but you never know here in Buffalo. We're going through quite the storm and it will be (TECHNICALLY) spring in two weeks. But to get to the point I don't exactly have the nerves to get in my car and drive to the store to get stuff when I need it when baking. I use what I have.

I really dislike when people on recipe sites (epicurious.com coughcough) make a recipe, then rate it with 5 out of 5 stars when they substitute every ingredient for another ingredient... it's hardly the same recipe anymore! However cooking and baking are about using what you've got ultimately in my opinion. Cooking moreso, but when it comes to add-ins in baking I say why not. Therefore in this carrot cake I used pecans, not walnuts. I used melted butter, not canola oil or some fancy walnut oil (like one recipe I came across called for.) So here is my version of carrot cake. Loosely based on the one from Elinor Klivan's book "Cupcakes."



Cupcake batter:
1 cup AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup canola or corn oil (used melted butter, as mentioned. came out lovely.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 cup finely grated carrots
3/4 cup golden raisins (I'm sure you could add whatever you want here if you're not a raisin fan. I considered dried cranberries and/or apricots for example.)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (pecans IMO)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. and line a 12-cup muffin pan with papers.

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon onto a piece of wax or parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and thick, about 1 minute on high speed. On low speed mix in the oil or butter, vanilla, orange zest until blended. Mix in the flour, carrots and other add-ins here and blend until just combined.

Fill each cupcake paper with about 1/4 cup batter and bake until the tops are firm and a toothpick inserted in the middle of each one comes out clean, about 28 minutes. (I think mine took about 24. Check early, they burn easily.)

Cool the cupcakes completely on a wire rack.

Orange Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting:
(These would be totally rad with just regular cream cheese frosting also I'm sure. I had to use up some coconut stuff that was in the freezer.)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 4 cups icing sugar
1 cup sweetened flake coconut
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth and combined. Then add the vanilla and powdered sugar and beat on medium until well blended. Add the coconut and orange zest.

I liked these to be kind of home-y looking. I originally used a star tip to pipe the frosting on but it reminded me too much of a bakery I used to work at so I got my little icing spatula out and swirled away. Have fun with the garnishes on these. (I considered making these carrot sprinkles from Cupcake Bakeshop but didn't have enough time.) I used a toasted pecan half and toasted coconut that I then whizzed up in the food processor until it was a bit finer. I absolutely love these cupcakes and I hope you do too.