baking

date filled butter cookie

by spabettie on February 22, 2012

in baking,Dessert,Gluten Free,recipes,Vegan

Gosh I miss you guys. Yes, you. and you. You too. All of you.

I am hoping to have a bit more of a normal schedule soon, but right now I am absolutely happy to be able to do what I am doing. Helping my dad, taking care of things for him right now, making sure he has everything he wants and needs, I cannot imagine it any other way. This is my Most Important Thing right now.

Thank you all again for your continued thoughts, prayers, support and messages. All of it makes me smile, makes my day, and is truly appreciated. So many of you ask about his progress – he has completed his first round of chemo and is feeling GOOD now that it is done. Routine doctor appointments and one 3am emergency trip to the ER have been the routine this week (well, I’m hoping the ER visits are not routine!) and things are getting back into a groove. My nursing skills are pretty dang efficient at this point, and time and again I am shown I keep calm under pressure and during big events, which is one of those things you never really know until it is put to the test.

I’m doing pretty good.

I deserve a cookie.

I know I often say ‘this recipe is my favorite’ or “make this today, please”! This time, really, I mean it. I meant it all the other times too… but this one, really. I love this cookie. Jason loves this cookie. All the CICU nurses at Providence Portland love this cookie (and not just because they enjoyed three batches of them).

date filled butter cookies

makes 20-24 cookies

gluten, dairy, egg and soy free, vegan

1 cup butter (Earth Balance soy free)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 cups flour (gluten free ap)
1/4 cup milk (vanilla almond)

Cream together butter, sugar and water. Stir in flour 1/2 cup at a time, adding milk by the tablespoon as necessary. Combine until dough forms, do not over mix. Knead into a ball, cool in refrigerator 10 minutes. Forming cookies: first, roll one inch pieces of dough into ball, second, flatten and fill with date paste, third, pinch four sides together into a square.

Place on prepared baking sheet, bake at 300 for 25 minutes.

date paste

1 pound Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup water
zest of 1 small lemon

In saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients, stirring/mashing until dates break down to paste consistency and water is absorbed. Cool completely before filling cookies.

Make this cookie. For me? For you.

raspberry cheesecake oreo bars

by spabettie on February 11, 2012

in baking,Dessert,recipes,Valentines Day,Vegan

Yep, you read that right, Oreo.

Do you know there are vanilla Oreos now? I may like them even more than the original. Although I know either choice would be good in this crust, I went with Golden.

This time.

I’m going to add to the conversation about Oreos being vegan, and throw my hat into the “yes they are” side of the ring. Healthy? Not at all. Tasty? ~~Sometimes~~. Always.

As a crust for cheesecake bars? Absolutely. Throw them in the food processor, filling and all. I still added melted butter, but reduced the amount. This crust is good.

You may want to throw a few extra cookies into into the processor, if you taste test like me.

raspberry cheesecake oreo bars

dairy and egg free, vegan

crust:

one half package Golden Oreos
1 tablespoon butter (Earth Balance), melted

Process Oreos in to crumb; add melted butter and combine. Press into 9×9 baking dish, bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

filling:

2 packages cream cheese (8 oz Tofutti), room temperature
2 tablespoons Ener-G egg powder
3 tablespoons NuNaturals More Fiber Baking Blend
2 tablespoons almond milk
2 tablespoons agave, divided
1 pint fresh raspberries

Combine cream cheese, egg powder, baking blend, almond milk and 2 tablespoons agave. Divide in half and set aside. In saucepan over medium heat, combine raspberries and remaining 1 tablespoon agave. Stir until raspberries make a syrup, leaving some berries intact.

Combine berries with half cheesecake batter. Pour ‘plain’ batter over crust, top with ‘berried’ batter. Bake at 375 for 37-42 minutes or until set. Cool completely on counter before cutting; store covered in refrigerator.

This is one of the last in my series of Valentines desserts – although it also works for a random Saturday.

Cuteness for the day – a sheep-herding rabbit.

Happy Saturday!

cream cheese brownie fudge

by spabettie on February 9, 2012

in baking,Dessert,Gluten Free,recipes,Vegan

I have had an unstoppable brownie craving recently. I’m giving in to it.

Just when I thought that salted caramel was the best thing to swirl into my new brownie fudge, I had another craving – cheesecake flavor. I have always loved a pastry with sweet cream cheese filling. I had to give into that craving too.

Today I am very excited to share a new project I am a part of, and once again find myself in the company of some extremely talented writers and chefs that I have looked up to for some time.

Foodie is a new website and community that launches today, featuring recipes and discussions from ‘The Foodie 100′. As a featured author, I am sharing recipes there that are not published on spabettie, like this one!

See my cream cheese brownie fudge on Foodie, and follow me there if you’d like. More fun things will unfold soon, including a Foodie blog and bios on each featured author in the Foodie 100.

Cheers!

saffron doughnuts with rosewater icing

February 8, 2012

Here I am with another pink and yellow dessert. I have had the flavors of this doughnut in my head for a while. I couldn’t wait to taste it, and I have to say, they are as good as I imagined they would be. These will be a unique and decadent Valentines breakfast or dessert [...]

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pink thumbprints with whiskey ganache

February 3, 2012

Now that February is here, I can really start celebrating Valentines and all things pink. Once I saw the beautiful color that comes from beet juice, I started coloring everything pink. I am also drinking a lot of beet juice. The juice balances out all the desserts we are enjoying. I am super excited about [...]

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buffalo tarts

February 2, 2012

Superbowl is approaching fast, and I have many ideas for game day eats. If my recent buffalo dip recipes were not enough, I have one more. This one can be made last minute with minimal effort and big payoff. Because everyone loves buffalo sauce, yes? I know we do, and all of our friends do. [...]

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salted caramel brownie fudge

January 26, 2012

I have always said my Dad has a fun sense of humor. From changing lyrics of songs to cracking silly jokes, his humor is rare and classic at the same time. I always tell the story of my first basketball – I was maybe 9 or 10 when Dad took me shopping to choose one. [...]

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homemade Twinkies

January 12, 2012

Too much for you? I plead The Twinkie Defense. My defense is that yes, things like this aren’t good for us all the time – but Twinkies make you happy. Guys, did you hear? This childhood icon is in danger. Jason always surprises me with a sweet treat at the start of my birthday month. [...]

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lemon cardamom cake stacks

January 5, 2012

Until very recently, it has been a long time since I had spray whip cream. I went a little nuts with it. I made this colorful dessert and had a lovely little dinner party. Everyone was enjoying these sweet stacks, and I was spraying rice whip directly into my mouth. It was pretty rad. I have [...]

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garlic pistachio cranberry tarts

December 28, 2011

I expressed an unpopular opinion on twitter and facebook the other night. Honestly, I knew the backlash would come. I asked – what is the appeal of The Princess Bride? Eeep, I know, what was I thinking? It was early in, I was a little distracted (this was my first time seeing it!), and it [...]

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