Baking Experiments #3

It's that time of the year again, when cookies and sweets and unhealthy snacks (oh my) appear everywhere. In an attempt to steer things in a slightly healthier direction this year, I made the below recipes for work. They all turned out quite well, although be warned that you should keep toothpicks nearby for the chia seeds!

Oatmeal Raisin Chia Seed Cookies
1 cup butter
3/4 cup each brown and white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup raisins

London/Ireland trip, part 3

(continued from previous post)

     Ok, I promise this will be the last post on this trip! After leaving Killarney, we headed up to Galway, We checked out of the hotel a little late, because we wanted to soak up the peace and quiet as much as possible, so we pulled into Galway right around rush hour. The hotel was pretty decent,
although it had terrible wifi, and had an attached restaurant where, with a reservation, we became the least-well-dressed and youngest couple (by at least 20 years) to have a freaking delicious meal. Thankfully, we both overate horribly, because the waitstaff was not what I'd call speedy, so we had plenty of time to digest before the bill came and we went back to the room to pass out.

     The next day, we drove into oldtown Galway, parked by the water, and began to wander. Since we didn't really plan anything, this turned into somewhat of an adventure as we left the shopping district, found a train station, trespassed on abandoned private property to get a good view of the Bay, got rained on, and found a random cemetery. Knowing that my gentleman and I both appreciate quiet and old spaces, we decided to duck in, counting on the fact that it had a plaque near the front gate to indicate that it was, indeed, open to the public, and we weren't further trespassing.

London/Ireland Trip, part 2

(continued from previous post)

     Having successfully navigated London and Dublin, we climbed back in the car and headed out to see other parts of southern Ireland. After navigating out onto the appropriate highway, I learned two things. 1) The best way to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road is to be on an open highway for mind-numbing hours. 2) Drivers in less urban areas are rather nice, and pretty darn mature. We quickly picked up that the thing to do is to be in the left lane (slow lane) until you need to overtake someone. You move right, go around them, and then get back in the slow lane. We had zero issues with getting stuck behind some jerk going slowly in the fast lane and holding everyone up. It was quite pleasant.

London/Ireland Trip, part 1

   My gentleman and I recently went on a trip to London and Ireland - my first vacation in years, our first big trip together, and his first time off the continent. Overall, it was very good, and we had some serious soul-searching on whether or not to come back. The siren song of steady paychecks were what finally won out, but we have both agreed it will not be our last vacation together or abroad.

London:

   We intentionally flew out on Monday night, so that we could have a weekend before our vacation to prep and be relaxed from the start. In hindsight, taking an overnight flight with a connection at 3am was maybe not the smartest thing, but I did like the mid-week start. We landed at London Gatwick at about 9am local time, and hopped a cab into London. Somewhat expensive, but we were both pretty fried at that point. Moreover, even the cabbie got lost looking for the hotel, so I'm pretty sure if we'd tried it ourselves, it would have been a rough start. The hotel itself was nice, if typically British (i.e. very narrow rooms with high ceilings, as if height makes up for lack of elbow room). Breakfast was included, and we slept in both days we were there. 

Baking experiments #2

The first round of baking experiments were quite the hit. One co-worker has since adopted the protein rice krispie bars to the point where her husband gets sad if there aren't any in the house. I have to admit, I'm the same way. So delicious and convenient! Through a series of (fortunate) events, I ended up promising another round of experiments to be made on a Wednesday. Having to bake everything on a week night meant fewer recipes, one of which I did not care for at all, but I did end up with this gem:

White Chocolate Strawberry Cookies
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2-ish cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup diced fresh strawberries

Baking experiments

One of the great things about working in a smaller company is that you can make small batches of things, leave them in the lunch room, and get feedback! I did this back before Christmas in 2015, and now that the sugar rush from the holidays has worn off, I figured I'd give it another go.

Naturally, I modified things as I tried them, because I'm not going to pour soupy "dough" into a cookie sheet and hope it turns out well - of course I'm going to fix it! Interestingly, recent experiments with protein powders, healthy recipes, and adding vegan recipes for one of our executives (let's face it, how many holiday treats do vegans get to share in?) means that my methods of "fixing" have changed. In the past, if a recipe was too dry, I'd add milk, but let's be honest, that really only fixes the dough, not the finished product. Adding a tablespoon of applesauce, on the other hand, works wonderfully for both sides of the cooking process.

Anyway, on to the recipes (with my modifications)!

Peanut butter protein bars (vegan)
    1 cup oats
    1 cup rice crispies
    1/4 cup protein powder (I use rice powder)
    1/2 tsp cinnamon
    1/4 tsp salt
    1/2 cup blue agave syrup (probably any sweetener would do)
    1/2 cup peanut butter
    2 tsp vanilla
    2/3 cup chocolate chips
    Mix dry, set aside. Heat peanut butter and agave syrup in microwave for 45 seconds. Stir, then add vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Grease an 8x8 pan, then press the mix into it. Melt chocolate and spread on top. Chill in fridge/freezer. Once hardened, cut into 8-16 pieces. Keep in fridge. 328-164 calories each.

Banana pecan oat cake (vegan)
    2 cups regular oats, processed into a flour
    1/2 cup regular oats (not processed)
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
    1/8th tsp ground nutmeg
    1/16th tsp ground cloves
    2 tbsp sugar
    1 tsp baking powder
    1/2 tsp kosher salt
    2 tbsp vegetable oil
    2 medium very ripe bananas
    1/3 cup applesauce
    1/4 cup almond milk
    1 tsp pure vanilla extract
    1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
    1 ripe banana, cut into chunks
I just used my blender to get the 2 cups of oats into a flour. It was a little rough, but gave the cakes a nice texture. Mix the dry, set aside. Mix everything else except the final banana. Add the dry. Grease muffin tins (or use cups), fill about 2/3 full. Slice the last banana, press the pieces into the tops. Bake at 350 for 14 minutes. Makes 17. These are not overly sweet, which really brings out the banana and spices. 124 calories each.

Coconut lime macadamia cookies

    3/4 cups granulated sugar
    3/4 cup brown sugar
    1/2 cup salted butter, softened
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1 large egg
    3/4 cup shredded coconut
    2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
    1 tablespoon grated lime rind
    2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/4 teaspoon salt

    1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg until fluffy. Add lime juice and rind. Add dry ingredients and macadamia nuts. Bake at 350 for 13 minutes. Makes 39. These smell and taste like you ought to be on the beach, and have a surprising 72 calories each.

Now for the less health-conscious recipes.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
    1 cup butter, softened
    2/3 cup peanut butter
    1 cup sugar
    1 cup packed brown sugar
    2 eggs
    1/3 cup natural applesauce (unsweetened is best)
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    4 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
    2 cups chopped peanut butter cups (about 22 mini-cups, or 2/3 of a  bag)
Mix butters, sugars, egg, applesauce, and vanilla. Add dry. Add chocolate chips and peanut butter cups. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.  Makes 78. These are a lot sweeter than I prefer in my cookies, and a touch drier, although the applesauce helps. 94 calories each.

Marshmallow Caramel Oreo Cookie S'mores Bars
    6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
    32 Oreo Cookies, ground
    2 cups mini marshmallows
    15 caramels, unwrapped and quartered
    4 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips
Mix ground Oreo cookies and melted butter. (This is important:) Line an 8x8 pan with foil, leaving the ends hanging over the sides. Spray with cooking spray. Press cookie mix into foil, bake at 350 for 10 minutes. While hot, sprinkle marshmallows on top of crust, then caramels on top of marshmallows. Put back in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until everything is melty but the marshmallows aren't browning yet. Remove, sprinkler chocolate chips on top. Let cool. Cut into 16 bars. I haven't gotten taste results yet (because holy cow way too sugary for me), but when I was slicing it, it became apparent that the melty toppings hadn't bonded with the crumbly Oreo crust at all. Maybe okay over ice cream, but it didn't seem worth the whopping 205 calories each.

And there we go! I will definitely be making the oat cakes and coconut lime macadamia cookies again. I'll wait to try to protein bars when I bring them in to work tomorrow, but they did smell good. Let me know if there's a recipe you'd like me to try out. This was quite fun!