Nibby Buckwheat Butter Cookies

These shortbread-style cookies are unusual but absolutely delicious. The recipe is from Pure Dessert, a cookbook I bought a while ago but never managed to actually bake from for a long time. I finally determined that the time had come, and selected this recipe, which I think was an excellent choice! Although it does have some pricier ingredients that aren't standard in most kitchens (buckwheat flour and cacao nibs), the recipe doesn't use too much of either, leaving you plenty left over for another batch of cookies or a different recipe. Or, if you have access to bulk bins, you can buy just a small amount.

The cacao nibs add a great subtle chocolate crunch to these cookies. They're not as intense as chocolate chips would be, and the small size means it's easy to roll out and slice the cookies. Even with the fancier ingredients, these are still just basically slice-and-bake cookies, which means they're really easy to pull together. The buckwheat makes the texture perfectly tender, and also lends an interesting flavor that will be very strong right after baking but fade over time. When I first tasted the cookies, I thought the buckwheat flavor was a little overpowering, but by the next day, I was totally addicted and couldn't stop eating these!

Nibby Buckwheat Butter Cookies (from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich)

1 1/4 cups (5.6 ounces) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (3 ounces) buckwheat flour
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup cacao nibs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Whisk together the flours in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and salt until smooth and creamy but not fluffy (about 1 minute). Mix in the nibs and vanilla. Add the flours and mix until just incorporated. Scrape the dough into a mass and, if necessary, knead it with your hands a few times so that everything comes together.
3. Form the dough into a 12 by 2-inch log. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough log into 1/4-inch slices. Place the cookies about 1-1/2 inches apart on parchment-lined baking sheets.
5. Bake until the cookies are just beginning to color at the edges, 10-14 minutes. Cool on a rack. The cookies are tasty fresh but even better the next day; store cookies up to 1 month in an airtight container.

Shrove Tuesday: Blueberry Pancakes for One

If you want bacon and eggs, it's easy to make breakfast for one. With sweet breakfasts, it's a little more difficult. Cooking up a whole batch of pancakes for one person is a lot of work and reheated leftovers just don't taste as good later. This recipe is the perfect solution. It makes three medium-large pancakes, the perfect amount for a delicious stack of blueberry pancakes for one person. You can also add some fresh or frozen blueberries if you have them, or use a different blueberry sauce on top.

Blueberry Pancakes for One (inspired by Taste of Home)
Serves 1 (easily doubled or tripled)

1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup blueberry yogurt
1 1/2 tsp vegetable or canola oil, plus more for pan
Milk
Butter and Trader Joe's Wild Maine Blueberry Fruit Sauce, to serve

1. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.
2. Add milk to thin the batter to your desired consistency. I prefer a somewhat thinner batter, but it's up to you.
3. Oil a hot skillet or griddle and use a 1/3 cup measure to pour out the batter onto the skillet, working in batches as needed. Use the back of your measuring cup spread out the batter so the pancake is not too thick.
batches as needed.
4. Wait for bubbles to form and break on top of the pancake, and then flip to cook the other side. Cover cooked pancakes with foil while you cook the remaining batter.
5. Serve with butter and blueberry sauce.

Dilly Ricotta Bread

This is a delicious savory bread that's great with some soft goat cheese or a fried egg. The bread has a nice tight crumb that makes it perfect for creamy or liquid-y toppings (like the egg yolk in an over-easy egg). I especially liked it toasted. The dill flavor is subtle but tasty, so feel free to add more if you want a more assertive taste from the dill. Or, you could substitute another fresh herb such as chives. You might also try this with a soft cheese with a more assertive flavor than ricotta; while ricotta made a very tasty loaf, I didn't think it tasted "different" enough from a regular bread to justify the cost of the ricotta cheese.

The technique is an interesting one, pretty much the same as the Rolled Oat and Apple Bread that I posted about a while ago (and from the same cookbook). It's definitely a nice one if you don't have a mixer because it's almost no-knead, and the dough itself is wonderful to work with for the small amount of kneading that there is--nice and soft but not too wet. The recipe also calls for whole-milk cheese, but I couldn't for the life of me find whole-milk ricotta at the store. Does no one eat whole milk dairy anymore?! I had the same problem with finding normal, plain, unflavored, whole-milk yogurt in a non-enormous container the other day. Boo. But, the low-fat variety seemed to work out fine.

Dilly Ricotta Bread (adapted from The Art of Handmade Bread by Dan Leopard)

1 1/4 cups (300 g) water at 68 degrees
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)
1/2 c (125 g) ricotta cheese
2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups (250 g) bread flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 heaping T very finely chopped fresh dill
1 tsp olive or vegetable oil

1. In a bowl or pitcher, beat together the water and yeast. Wait for the yeast to get bubbly, and then stir in the ricotta cheese. In a large bowl, combine the two flours, salt, and dill. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and stir to form a soft, sticky dough.

2. Rub 1 tsp oil on the work surface (I used a big cutting board) and knead the dough 10 seconds, ending with the dough in a smooth, round ball. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and leave for 10 minutes. Remove and knead once more on the oiled surface, returning the shape to a smooth, round ball. Place it back in the bowl, cover, and leave 1 hour in a warm place.

3. Grease and flour a 9-inch loaf pan. Shape the loaf into a baton and lower it neatly into the prepared pan. Cover with a cloth and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until almost doubled in height.

4. Preheat the oven to 410 degrees. Dust the top of the loaf with flour and bake 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 25-30 minutes, or until the top of the loaf is a shiny dark brown and the loaf has come away from the sides of the pan. Remove from pan and cool on a rack.

Check out other awesome yeast-y goodies at YeastSpotting (round-up posted every Friday).

Salt and Pepper Cocoa Shortbreads

These are really fantastic little shortbread cookies that just melt in your mouth. The chocolate is just a little fudge-y (especially if you underbake them a teeny bit), and the salt and pepper add something really excellent. They don't taste savory at all--the salt and pepper just add that little je ne sais quoi. While salt is becoming a fairly usual addition to sweet recipes with chocolate or caramel, freshly ground pepper isn't so typical...given how good these cookies are, though, perhaps it should become the next fad! These are tasty just as they are, but I think mixing in some cacao nibs for a little crunch would be excellent as well.

Salt and Pepper Cocoa Shortbreads (from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 large egg yolk
3/4 tsp fleur de sel or 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Sift the flour and cocoa together and set aside.
2. Beat the butter on medium-low speed until it is soft and smooth. Add the confectioners sugar and continue to beat until the butter is satiny. Add the yolk, salt, pepper, and vanilla and beat until the mixture is smooth. Add the flour-cocoa mixture in three additions, beating on low speed only until each addition is incorporated.
3. Turn the dough out onto a working surface. Roll the dough into a thick log, about 2-inches in diameter. Wrap in wax paper and chill at least 4 hours. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for 2 months.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
5. Cut the log into 1/2-inch thick slices and place teh rounds on the baking sheet, leaving a little space between the rounds. Bake for 8-14 minutes, at which point the cookies should be set on top and fairly firm to the touch. A slightly shorter baking time will yield fudgier, softer cookies; a slightly longer baking time will yield crisper, crunchier cookies.

Jane's Sourdough Pancakes

These pancakes are amazing: the texture is super light and the flavor is complex and tasty from the sourdough. I first had them at my Aunt Jane's house over Thanksgiving, and finally got around to making them myself. They may just be my favorite pancakes ever! In addition to the excellent flavor, the batter is very thin, resulting in thinner pancakes that are pretty much impossible to undercook in the middle. I'm constantly cursed by pancakes that are burning on the outside while the inside is still totally liquid...this recipe solves all of those problems!

I like these served simply, with a little softened butter and maybe some maple syrup, so that you can really taste the flavor of the pancakes rather than just using them as a vehicle for toppings. These are also pretty good frozen and reheated (in the toaster, until slightly crispy), which definitely isn't true of all pancake recipes. If you like these pancakes, don't forget to check out other awesome yeast-y goodies at YeastSpotting (round-up posted every Friday).


Jane's Sourdough Pancakes

2 cups flour
2 cups water
1/2 cup sourdough starter
Let sit overnight.

Remove 1/2 cup starter and either save it for another use or discard it.

2 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 T oil
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 T water

Add all the ingredients except the baking soda to the starter, and mix well. Gently fold in the dissolved baking soda. Bake on a hot griddle or skillet and serve with soft butter and maple syrup.

Maple-Blue Cheese Roasted Banana Squash

I found this terrific recipe on Closet Cooking and the combination of flavors sounded really delicious. In reality, it's not so much a recipe as a complimentary set of ingredients. The squash is simple to cook up, and yet definitely makes for an impressive side dish. All the parts of this dish perfectly complement each other: the tender squash with slightly crispy bits, the creamy and tangy cheese, and the subtle sweetness from the maple syrup.

Just peel and cut up your favorite squash (I used banana squash, but you could use butternut squash or another squash that you prefer). Toss the cubes with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. Roast the squash in a 400 degree oven until tender and browned. Transfer the squash to a bowl and toss with crumbled blue cheese. Drizzle with a bit of maple syrup, and taste for seasoning (depending on how salty your blue cheese is, you might or might not want to add a bit of salt). Enjoy!

Church Potluck Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I know, I know, who really needs another chocolate chip cookie recipe? But believe me, these babies are really fabulous. Unlike the thicker, doughier cookies that come from the back of a bag of Tollhouse morsels (which are also terrific cookies), these are thin, chewy, and chock full of chocolate chunks. You can, of course, use any mix of chocolates that you enjoy or happen to have on hand. I liked the blend of a really intense bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate. The bittersweet chocolate gives fabulous flavor but isn't overwhelming, while the milk chocolate adds richness without making the cookie too sweet. These cookies are best the day they are made, as they start to soften pretty quickly.

I called these Church Potluck Chocolate Chip Cookies because, well, that's what I made them for. But, generally, these are really great for bringing to group events since they're already individually portioned and most everyone likes chocolate chip cookies.

Thin and Chewy Chocolate Chunk Cookies (adapted from Bleeding Espresso, original recipe here)

2 ¼ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 sticks softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
½ tsp water
2 large eggs
7 oz. milk chocolate, roughly chopped
5 oz. intense bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients and set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, water, and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time.
4. Add flour mixture and mix well. Add the chocolate and mix to combine.
5. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake; take out when just turning golden brown as they will continue to cook a bit after you take them out of the oven and if they’re cooked too long they get quite hard. Cool cookies on a rack.

I'm sending these cookies off to the Cookie Party at the Secret Recipe Club.