Food Santa Cruz: June 2011

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Black Bean Cherry Brownies #2

Right after I made "Black Bean Cherry Brownies #1" and set them to cool on the countertop, I made a second version of the recipe. I decided this time to introduce some whole grain into the brownie and add a little sweetener. I had leftover cooked oatmeal and whole oat flour to use up, and a bottle of agave nectar in the refrigerator, so this is what I did:

Black Bean Cherry Brownies #2

325 degrees F. oven
22 minutes
oiled 8x8 glass baking dish

Step 1, melt on low heat and mix:
1/4 cup olive oil (half of what I used in version #1)
2 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate

Step 2, add and mix:
2 eggs
1/2 cup cooked and pureed black beans (including the cooking liquid)
1/8 cup (or about 2 tablespoons) agave nectar
1/2 cup leftover cooked oatmeal
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon whole oat flour

Step 3, add and mix:

3/4 cup (about 4 ounces) dried cherries, cut into tiny pieces
3/4 cup walnuts, cut into small pieces, toasted

Spread mixture into an oiled 8x8-inch square glass baking dish or round pie plate, and then bake in a preheated 325-degree F. oven for 22 minutes or until a toothpick test comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan before cutting.

I liked the way this second version of the brownie turned out. It was less crumbly and held its shape better, and it had a more cake-like consistency. But it was a little too sweet — that agave nectar is pretty powerful stuff! Next time, I'll reduce the amount a lot more.

Here is the list of my favorite cookie recipes I made in the past couple of weeks:

Black Bean Cherry Brownies #1

I created this brownie recipe back in March of 1992 for St. Patrick's Day based on another recipe I had for a flourless cake. This time, I wanted to make a sugarless version of the brownie by omitting the cup of Sucanat completely. For a little sweetness, I used dried cherries, cut up into tiny pieces. Because there is no sugar getting in the way of your taste buds, or flour for that matter, you'll be able to really taste the chocolate.

Black Bean Cherry Brownies #1

325 degrees F. oven
20 to 30 minutes
oiled 8x8 glass baking dish

Step 1, melt at a low temperature:
2 squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup olive oil

Step 2, add and mix thoroughly:
1/2 cup black beans (including the liquid), cooked and pureed
2 eggs

Step 3, fold in:
1 cup or 6 ounces dried cherries, cut in tiny pieces
3/4 cup walnuts, broken into little pieces and toasted

Place the mixture in an oiled glass 8x8-inch pan or round pie plate, and bake for 20-30 minutes in a preheated 325-degree oven, until a toothpick test comes out clean. Allow to cool before slicing.

And that's all there is to it! You may have to experiment a little with the amount of bean liquid in the mixture and the amount of time you bake it. If it comes out too dry, try drizzling a little syrup mixed with boiling water over the top while the brownies are still warm. Also, it ages well in the freezer and the flavors just get better. There's all kinds of syrup you could try — maple, agave, brown rice, or homemade fruit syrup! And since there is no other sweetener inside the brownie besides the dried cherries, the syrup won't overpower it with too much sweetness.

Here is the list of my favorite cookie recipes I made in the past couple of weeks:

Related Blog Articles:
The Benefits Of Whole Foods
No More Sugar
What Counts As Sugar?
Trying Out New Cookie Recipes

Cindy's Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My friend Cindy gave me this recipe back in our college days. That was way back when we were only just beginning to hear words like "vegan." I've adapted the recipe by cutting it in half and replacing the brown sugar with a smaller quantity of brown-rice syrup, but it can stand to be even less sweet than it is here. Reducing the syrup by half again wouldn't noticeably affect the consistency or texture of the cookie, so you can adjust it to suit your sweet tooth however you want. And to make it more interesting, try using barley-malt-sweetened chocolate chips (not vegan) or vegan carob chips.

Cindy's Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

370-degree F. oven
10 minutes
ungreased cookie sheets

Step 1, mix together:
1/4 cup oil (organic peanut oil)
1/2 cup brown rice syrup (or less)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Step 2, add and mix:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water

Step 3, add and mix:
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (or other type of nut or peanuts)
1 cup raisins or mixture of raisins, barley-malt chocolate chips, and/or carob chips
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
3 cups rolled oats (regular or extra-thick)

Mix everything together in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or use your hands. Then cover the bowl and allow to rest for at least ten minutes; longer is better. Shape into balls and slightly flatten on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated 370-degree oven. Enjoy!

Here is the list of my favorite cookie recipes I made in the past couple of weeks:

Oat Biscuits With A Little Dried Fruit

Julia Ferre has a recipe for biscuits on page 153 in her book, Basic Macrobiotic Cooking, that inspired me to make this delicious cookie that's not too sweet. These cookies are so good, they can be eaten for breakfast! Next time, I think I'll add cinnamon to give it a bit of spice.

I was surprised at first when I mixed the ingredients together, because instead of the firm biscuit dough that I was expecting, I got a thin batter. I was worried that the cookies wouldn't stick to the pan or that they'd all run together into one big blob. But that didn't happen at all — in the end, everything turned out even better than I was expecting.

Oat Biscuits With Dried Blueberries And Cherries

350 degrees F. oven
35-40 minutes
well-oiled cookie sheets

Rub the following together with your hands until smooth (it takes a long time!):
2 cups oat flour
2 tablespoons peanut oil

Then add:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (and next time I'll add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon)
1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped fine
2 tablespoons dried blueberries

Add last, and mix thoroughly:
1 1/2 cups water

The mixture will be watery, like a thin pancake batter. Allow to rest for 30 minutes and then be amazed to see how it thickens up in the bowl. Drop by spoonful onto well-oiled baking sheets with space around each cookie to allow for spreading. Then bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. These are good, good!

(You can get Basic Macrobiotic Cooking by Julia Ferre from the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation website.)

Here is the list of my favorite cookie recipes I made in the past couple of weeks:

Oatmeal Fruit And Nut Cookies (Including 1 Egg)

These cookies are sweetened basically with chopped dried apples and only a tablespoon of agave nectar. Of course, agave nectar is extremely potent and a tablespoon will go a long way. You might want to reduce it even more after you taste this amount.

My recipe was inspired by Julia Ferre's recipe for "Oatmeal and Walnut Cookies" on page 171 in Basic Macrobiotic Cooking (available on the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation website).

Oatmeal Fruit and Nut Cookies

350 degrees F. oven
22 minutes
oiled baking sheet

1/4 cup unrefined organic sesame oil
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 egg
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt
2 1/2 cups oat flour (Bob's Red Mill Whole Oat Flour)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cups (4 ounces) dried apples, chopped into tiny pieces
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped tiny, some ground, then toasted

Mix dough, then let sit for 15 minutes.
Roll into balls (gently), then press flat with fingers onto the oiled baking sheet. Bake for 22 minutes in preheated 350-degree oven.

Here is the list of my favorite cookie recipes I made in the past couple of weeks:

Related Blog Articles:
The Benefits Of Whole Foods
No More Sugar
What Counts As Sugar?
Trying Out New Cookie Recipes

Half-recipe of Sweet Nut Butter Cookies (Vegan)

During this recent cookie-making expedition, I happened to have some almond butter in the refrigerator that I wanted to finish up, which turned out to be just enough for a half-recipe of Julia Ferre's "Sweet Nut Butter Cookies" (page 171 of Basic Macrobiotic Cooking — available from the George Ohsawa Macrobiotic Foundation's website).

The ratio of sweetener to flour was very different than your traditional sweet cookie. For example, a typical recipe for peanut butter cookies might have anywhere from 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar and only 2 cups of flour, whereas Julia's recipe has only 1/4 cup of sweetener and 3 cups of flour!

Sweet Nut Butter Cookies (half recipe)

350 degrees F. oven
15 minutes
oiled cookie sheets

1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups whole wheat flour

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Shape into tiny balls with your hands and flatten them with a fork dipped in water on top of an oiled cookie sheet. Then bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 15 minutes.

The result? A very intense, solid cookie, just sweet enough to satisfy and hearty enough for a small mini-meal! Next time, I'm going to use freshly ground flour and a half teaspoon of almond extract to intensify the flavors even more.

Here is the list of my favorite cookie recipes I made in the past couple of weeks:

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Trying Out New Cookie Recipes

All my life, I've loved to bake cookies and give them to my family and friends. In the last couple of weeks I've created a few cookie recipes for two types of people — those who normally don't want to eat cookies at all because they're usually too sweet and those who are only familiar with the traditionally sweet cookies, which they like to eat.

For the people with a sweet tooth, I started with a basic cookie recipe that had the same amount of sweetener as the typical sugar cookie, but would be made with healthier, more wholesome, ingredients. I wanted to give them something they'd probably be familiar with and a cookie that I could use as a measure for determining what recipes to try on them next. If they liked this cookie, then maybe they'd be more open to trying something more different and less sweet the next time.

Oatmeal Coconut Drop Cookies
For this cookie, I used a high ratio of fresh organic butter (Straus Family Creamery) and an organic sweetener called Sucanat (Wholesome Sweeteners, and Now Foods) — also known as Rapadura (wikipedia), or "Whole Cane Sugar" (Rapunzel Organic Fair Trade Foods) — which, unlike white sugar, is less refined and made from dehydrated sugar cane juice that retains much of the molasses and minerals.

To this, I added eggs, whole oat flour (Bob's Red Mill), rolled oats, and Let's Do Organic unsweetened coconut (Edward & Sons). And that's it — a pretty simple cookie. I baked them on lightly greased cookie sheets for about 11 minutes in a preheated 375-degree oven. The cookies were extremely rich, buttery, and delicate. They could easily break apart in your hands.

As I offered them to my friends, at first there were a few protests from one who especially didn't like to eat a lot of sweets. The others started tasting right away and assured the protester that he would like the cookies too, because they weren't too sweet. (I think that's because Sucanat, combined with a whole-grain flour, tastes different, more balanced, than refined white sugar with white flour.) They all said that they liked the cookies, and that they shared the cookies with another friend who really had a sweet tooth, and apparently he liked them too.

From there, I created my next recipes using ingredients I had on hand in my cupboard and basing some of them on Julia Ferre's recipes in her cookbook, Basic Macrobiotic Cooking.

Julia Ferre's cookie recipes give you a really good idea of what proportions you can use to come out with a more well-balanced cookie — one that is not too yang (she uses no eggs in her recipes) and not too yin (the sweeteners are either fruit or certain syrups or nectars, in much smaller amounts).

So here is a list of the cookie recipes I made to satisfy a not-so-sweet tooth in a gentler, more balanced way: