Cooking for Seven

Chocolate & Pudding. HOW could you go wrong with such a combination?

Alright, I’ll admit it. When I attempted to make these chocolate crepes a month or so ago, they were a complete and utter failure. I must have let the batter sit too long - the crepes were very weak. This was a much-needed cooking lesson.

These crepes have been a family favorite for quite some time. They have been requested for birthdays, and are a wonderful breakfast treat.

As you can see, with Grandma’s help, we succeeded at making crepes: Dad gave us the “thumbs up”!

Grandma advised us to keep our crepe-making secrets. Thus, I shan’t give you any recipes.

**Next Time on Grandma’s Cooking School: Roast Beef!**

Tags: Chocolate, Family, Grandma

Some things are a bit difficult to make at home. Like whole wheat crackers. It’s just hard to make them crispy, tender, and tasty.

Here’s a recipe that comes very close.

Notes:

I experimented by adding spices, Parmesan cheese, and nuts to make the crackers more flavorful. The original flavor is very nice as well. Please, experiment! Get creative!

The dough is very similar to pie dough and should be handled gently for tender crackers.

To get perfectly even crackers, you can roll them out using a pasta rolling machine.

Wheat Crackers

Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

Printable Page

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts (I used sunflower seeds)
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• Scant 1/2 cup milk
• Kosher salt, for spinkling

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 325°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2) Mix together the flours, nuts, raw sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter. Gradually add milk until the dough comes together.

3) On a floured surface, roll out 1/3 of the dough very thin - about 1/16 inch. Sprinkle with salt, spices, cheese, etc., if desired. Cut into squares, triangles, circles, or whatever shape you wish. Transfer to prepared baking sheet.

4) Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container.

Makes approximately 8 dozen crackers.

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Tags: Baking, Crackers, Flatbread, Whole Wheat

These cookies are a lovely blend of one of favorite flavor pairs - Chocolate & Peanut Butter. In fact, my favorite cookie recipe stars those two ingredients.

To be completely honest, I was scared of this recipe. I had my doubts about flourless cookies. So I made a half recipe.

But I had nothing to worry about! These cookies do have a very soft and chewy texture, but the flavor is straightforward and scrumptious. Make them with 60% cacao baking chips, and these cookies are lovely treat.

Note: The original recipe didn’t call for any butter, salt, or vanilla; I added all three.

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from the little red house

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar (homemade or regular)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2) Place the peanut butter, butter, and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed until well blended, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix.

3) In a small bowl, mix together the oats, salt, and baking soda. Add to the peanut butter mixture and stir well. Stir in the chocolate chips. The dough will be very soft and sticky.

4) Drop by spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies

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Tags: Baking, Chocolate, Cookies, Flourless, Peanut Butter, Sweet

Brown sugar is such a lovely ingredient. Yet it is just as processed as regular sugar. So I decided to attempt to make my own, using ground natural sugar and molasses.  This article/video from Martha Stewart was very helpful.

Admittedly, my sugar was much different than commercial brown sugar. But I think it is a very nice alternative.

Would you like to try it for yourself? Here’s what you’ll need:

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Printable Page

Ingredients:

For light brown sugar:

• 1 cup ground natural sugar or 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses

For Dark Brown Sugar:

• 1 cup ground natural sugar or 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses

Directions:

Place the sugar & molasses in a blender or food processor. Mix until fully combined. Store in an airtight container, with a slice of apple or bread to keep soft.

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Tags: Healthy, Homemade

Devil’s Food Cake

Chocolate & Almond Biscotti

Macadamia Nut Brownies

Milan Cookies

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Tags: Baking, Bars, Cake, Chocolate, Cookies, Dessert, Links