Chocolate Cookies with Salted Cinnamon Caramel

 They might not be the prettiest cookies on the block, but they definitely tasted awesome!  I know, because I brought them to work and they disappeared within an hour in the teachers' room.  (well, I guess it's possible that everyone tried them, but didn't like them.  I wasn't there to see reactions, but I assume they were positive! haha)

Lessons for next time:

1. Get a small scoop so that they could be a uniform size.  The only cookie scoop I had was too big, so I had to eyeball it
2. Get a round-ended spoon to make the indentations.  All I had was a squarish one, so I went with square cookies.  Circles would have looked a lot better
3. Roll the dough in your hands a bit to minimize the crackling. I thought they would even out while baking, but they looked exactly the same coming out as they did going in.
4. Make extra caramel- that stuff is amazing!!

For about 2 dozen cookies....

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder, sifted
½ tsp kosher salt
1 stick (8 tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
2 tbsp milk, at room temperature
4 oz soft caramel (I used the Werther's brand soft caramels)
2 tbsp whipping cream
Cinnamon, to taste (I'm not sure how much I used, but I used a lot! I love cinnamon)
Salt (I used Maldon Sea Salt Flakes)

Directions:

1. Center an oven rack and preheat the oven to 325F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. 
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cocoa, and salt to combine. Set aside. 
3. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar and continue mixing until light and well combined. 
4. Add the vanilla, then milk. 
5. Add the dry ingredients and mix on the low speed just until the dough forms.
6. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Place them onto the prepared baking sheet and flatten very slightly with your hand. Using a handle of a wooden spoon, make an indentation in the center of each cookie; make it quite deep and about a penny in diameter. 
7. Chill the formed cookies for 20 minutes in the refrigerator, covered with parchment or plastic, before baking. 
8. Bake the cookies for 15 minutes, until the cookies appear set. Transfer the cookies on the sheet on a cooling rack and, using the same spoon handle, deepen the indentations made earlier; don’t poke through though, be gentle. You do want this extra space for a delicious filling. Let them cool completely
9. Put the caramel and the cream into a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on “medium” for about a minute, pausing the microwave and stirring a couple of times, until the caramel is melted and mixture is smooth. 
10. Transfer into a small plastic bag, seal to close. Snip a corner of the bag and fill the cookies. 
11. Top with salt. The cookies can be stored for up to a week in an airtight container.

 

Recipe adapted from Baking Obsession

Homemade Ricotta Cheese

I have learned that this is not an official ricotta because of the way it is prepared, but it is similar and tastes incredible.  It was so easy, that I can't wait to make it again, with a slight adjustment (see below)

Ingredients (for one large cup of ricotta):
3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (**or 1 1/2 tbs lemon juice + 1 1/2 tbs white vinegar, see note)

Directions:

1. Pour the milk, cream and salt into a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan, and attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer. 
2. Heat the milk to 190°F, stirring it occasionally to keep it from scorching on the bottom. 
3. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice, then stir it once or twice, gently and slowly. 
4. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.  While you wait, line a colander with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). I did not have cheesecloth, so I lined the colander with a coffee filter. 
5. Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour. I let mine strain for about 3 hours. (It will firm as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth.)  You can discard the whey, or use it for something else.
6. Place ricotta in an airtight container, and refrigerate until ready to use.

**Note: Using pure lemon juice as my only acid did impart a fresh hint of lemony flavor.  I did some research and found that cutting back some of the lemon and replacing it with vinegar will give you a more neutral flavor. I think I'll try that one next time, then report back! The lemon tasted delicious in the ricotta, but you might not always want that flavor, ya know?

I put some ricotta on a cracker with freshly cracked black pepper and a dollop of olive oil.  I also just ate it by itself with a spoon :)  In addition, you can spread it onto a crostini and drizzle on a bit of honey.  OR if you are really cool, make some cannoli crepes. Dude, the possibilities are endless.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce

This was a meal I whipped together the other night, and it was so delicious! I know that my recipe for the sauce in no way even comes close to competing with the tomato sauce that mom/grandma/Matt makes. Buuuut it was quick and easy.  I like that!

Since this was thrown together on the fly, I'll do my best to write down the ingredient amounts...

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
28 oz can Whole San Marzano Tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic
1 onion (I used a red onion, because that's what we had)
Basil (fresh would of course be better, but all I had was dried)
a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper

Directions:

1.  Roast the spaghetti squash. I cut mine in half, placed it in a shallow dish with about a half inch of water, and cooked it for about 35-40 minutes in a 450 degree oven.  That did the trick!  Scrape the spaghetti squash with a fork and use tongs to remove and put into a separate bowl.
2. While the squash is roasting, chop the onion and garlic.  I was crying profusely from the onion (usually I make Dave deal with onions, but he wasn't home) so I only had about 4/5 of it chopped.  
3. Heat a pot with some oil (I used our Le Crueset) and saute the garlic and onions until soft. 
4. Add the entire contents of the tomato can to the pot, and use a spoon to break up some of the tomatoes. Throw in some basil, and season with salt and pepper.
5. Reduce heat to medium, put on the lid, and cook for about 20 minutes.
6. Once the sauce has finished cooking, taste to see if it needs anything else, then lightly puree with an immersion blender. Make sure to leave big chunks!  Those are awesome :)
7. Serve the sauce over the cooked spaghetti squash.

This made 3 good sized servings. Since I tagged it as "healthy," I figured I should share the nutrition info per serving:

Calories: 178
Fat: 8g (from the olive oil used to saute)
Sodium: 90mg
Carbs: 23g
Protien: 3g
Sugars: 8g (mostly from the squash)

Savory Pumpkin Beer Bread

This recipe is supposed to be savory pumpkin beer bread, but instead we ended up with savory pumpkin beer bread.  (basically we used regular beer instead of pumpkin beer)

Ingredients:

3 cups unbleached, self-rising flour

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I only used a pinch, then added a bit extra cinnamon)

1/8 tsp allspice

1 cup pumpkin

12 ounces room temperature pumpkin beer (we ended up using Sam Adams Octoberfest)

butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350, and grease a 9x 5" loaf pan with shortening.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar and spices.
3. Add the pumpkin and the beer and stir until combined.
4. Spoon into prepared loaf pan, and bake about 1 hour.  
5. Let cool in the pan 5 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a cooling rack.
6. Pour melted butter on top of the bread, letting it drip down the sides. 

  Enjoy while still warm, toasted with butter, or sprinkle with cinnamon sugar for a sweet treat.

recipe from Bake at 350