Pecan Pie

Pecan pie is so amazingly decadent. Pecans are buttery, rich, and crunchy. Encased in buttery, flaky pie crust and gooey, syrupy sweet filling, it's like candy (except it's actually socially acceptable for pieces of pie to be bigger than candy bars).

You'll notice in the corner of the picture above the digits of pi. Yes, it's a pi pie plate.

I totally took a fork to it after we had finished the pie and scraped off the good goop that was left.

Gloppy goopy sugary caramely buttery delicious pecan-scented goodness.

And this is what the pie looks like when you eat it like a normal person on a plate. That's good too!

Pecan Pie
Yield: one pie (you decide if it's sharable...)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole Unbaked Pie Crust
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 3/4 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 whole eggs beaten
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Method:

1. Mix sugar, brown sugar, salt, corn syrup, butter, eggs, and vanilla together in a bowl.
2. Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell.
3. Pour syrup mixture over the top. Cover top and crust lightly/gently with foil. Bake pie at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, then continue baking for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans.
4. Bake until pie is not too jiggly. If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. Baking time varies, find what works for you!
5. Allow to cool for several hours or overnight. Serve and die of bliss.

From Pioneer Woman.

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins

This is how my morning started:

Mistakes: It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.

And this is how it ended:

Thank goodness.

Because I'm weirdly obsessed with food, I couldn't sleep last night for all of the substitutions and details and anticipation of today's recipe.

It comes from a dear baking friend, Mrs. L. Mrs. L is pretty much the bomb when it comes to cookies and muffins, and she shared her recipes with me as a graduation present.

I have been itching to make something from her collection...but we've had plenty of desserts lately. "Okay, so muffins!"
I reiterate. We've had plenty of desserts lately.

So, there are lots of changes I made to the original recipe, some out of desire for health, some out of curiosity about a new ingredient, but I've included both recipes, because the full fat/sugar way is guaranteed delicious. Approved by Mrs. L.

Let's talk ingredients. Chia seeds. I've been freakishly intrigued by them. Each tablespoon offers up 60 calories: 3 g fat (most or all Omega 3s), 3 g protein, and 5 (yeah you read that right) g of fiber. It's crazy, right?


Plus, the omega 3s are available to your body without grinding the seeds.

They're the new superfood. But they have legit nutrients to back it up.

And here's another cool thing. Put liquid on them and they soak it up to make a gel. People make pudding out of it!


So these muffins use chia gel in place of the eggs in Mrs. L's recipe. 1 tablespoon of seeds plus 3 tablespoons of liquid makes the equivalent of a large egg. And since you can use any liquid, I chose orange juice (which also meant I got to decrease the amount of sugar, since OJ is sugary).

Let's get those Beta Carotenes!!
Wait. What kind of healthy person just invaded my fingers and made me type that??

Orange is a nice flavor to complement pumpkin...but honestly the citrus flavor wasn't super detectable with the amount I used. If you're into it, add some orange oil, extract, or zest. Or make an orange glaze with OJ and powdered sugar!

Anyway, these muffins tasted excellent! They were moist and bursting with pumpkin-y flavor. I didn't add cloves or holiday spices like that, since it's summer, but you could for a more seasonal muffin around the holidays.

Pumpkin Pecan Muffins
Yield: 18 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup (7 oz) granulated sugar                       OR       1 1/2 cups (10.5 oz) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 oz) vegetable oil                          OR       1 cup (8 oz) vegetable oil
     plus 1/4 cup+2 tablespoons
        (3 oz) greek yogurt
1/4 cup chia seeds                                       OR       4 eggs
     plus 3/4 cup orange juice, mix with a
        fork to gel
1 1/2 cups (7.5 oz) all purpose flour             OR       3 cups (15 oz) all purpose flour
     plus 1 1/2 cups (7.5 oz) white whole
         wheat (or whole wheat pastry) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg                                   OR       add 1/2 tsp ground ginger and ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 cup pecans, chopped (preferably toasted unless you burn them like I did...), plus 18 whole for topping

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (toast nuts while it's preheating) and line your muffin tin with baking cups or parchment squares.
2. Mix sugar, oil, and yogurt (if using). Add chia gel or eggs and mix to combine.
3. Dump in flour(s), baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt. Fold to combine.
4. Add pumpkin and pecans and mix again (if too thick, add up to 1/4 cup milk, or OJ if you're vegan).
5. Spoon into muffin tins, top with a whole pecan each, and bake for 26 minutes (25 for original recipe), or until toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy! And a big thank you to Mrs. L for sharing her wisdom and love of sweets :)

P.S. The ingredient list just looks long because I have a crazy plotting food brain. I promise, these muffins are a throw-it-in-one-bowl and bake affair.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies with Sea Salt

These cookies were inspired by a visit to my dad's cousin's restaurant in Berkeley, The Elmwood Cafe. It's a beautiful place, right next to a bookshop, and the food is beautiful too!

That little heart card is a ballot to vote for the charity you want half of Elmwood Cafe's profits to go to. They have boxes up on the wall and you can slip the card into one of them to cast your vote.

There are so many windows, and the decor is homey, with tables outside, lots of mason jars, and a huge wooden sidebar.

Those glasses in the picture above? Yeah...that's homemade soda. I had ginger soda (SO not like Schwepps Ginger Ale, but delicious all the same) and my dad had rosemary. There are a whole bunch to choose from, plus cappuccinos, teas (see above), and all the usual culprits.

The food is really, really fresh. Their menu changes seasonally, and they buy a lot of local, organic produce.
My sandwich was a croque monsieur with pear and whole grain mustard. Yum!!

And, of course, what would lunch be without dessert? Her chocolate chip cookie with sea salt is what inspired this post, but also on this plate are a chocolate croissant half and a bit of coffeecake!

My goodness, did we leave feeling nurtured :)

So, on to these cookies. Last time I posted a chocolate chip cookie recipe, it was for crunchy ones. And don't get me wrong, I love them, but this here is the chocolate chip cookie recipe I have made so many times that I have the double batch measurements written into the margin. It's the one I bring to school to impress people.

It is chewy.
It is delicious.

And this time, I added walnuts and sea salt. Walnuts because I like 'em and my mom's out of town (she's not a fan), but also because I have a very vivid memory of giving my English teacher a cookie with walnuts last year and he remarked on how they made the cookie special. Since these were to thank my teachers for writing me college recs, I really wanted to include walnuts.

(people, I promise this isn't creepy. It's just a weird thing I remembered)

Oh plus, I used good chocolate. Always a good investment. Apparently Costco carries big bags of Callebaut chocolate now, which makes me Oh So Happy.

Just look at dem walnuts.

Make these cookies...and spread the love!

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies with Sea Salt
Yield: about 30 cookies, depending on how big you make them!

Ingredients:
2 cups 2 tablespoons AP Flour (10 5/8 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup packed (7 ounces) brown sugar--light or brown is fine
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped
sea salt, to top

Method:

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray them with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed just until combined. Stir in the chips and walnuts.
4. Roll a scant ¼ cup of the dough into a ball. Break it apart and try and mash the halves back together so the craggy broken surface is on top (see this website for illustrations...and by the way this is basically the same recipe). Place on baking sheets 2 inches apart and sprinkle with the sea salt.
5. Bake until cookies are just starting to turn golden at the edges, with still soft and puffy centers, about 15-18 minutes, rotating top/bottom and front/back midway through baking. Cool on the sheets.

Impress people! Thanks Kara for the inspiration!

Recipe from Baking Illustrated.

Oatmeal

Life is messy.

Being a second semester senior...yeah, not as freedom-ful as everyone seems to make it out to be.

Which is why I've brought you a picture of my breakfast this morning.

Overnight oats are one of my absolute favorite things in the world. The idea is to soak old fashioned oats (don't get those pre-cut up oats that claim to be instant, old fashioned stand up much better to this method) in liquid overnight in the fridge, then pop them in the microwave for a minute or so in the morning for fresh, hot, oatmeal!

Bonus: they are separate grains, not gluey porridge. Though if you're into a runnier breakfast cereal, just add more liquid.

AND, I managed to find the time to toast some walnuts this weekend, so this is a complete breakfast, with:
starch (oats)
fruit (blueberries here)
protein/good fats (nuts and milk)

Yum.

Overnight Oats:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup oats
liquid (to cover)--water, milk (any type), apple cider, etc, though I'd stay away from acidic juices like orange juice
sweetener--brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, etc.
fruit--banana, applesauce, blueberries, raisins, strawberries, etc.
cinnamon
nuts (optional)

*This is obviously the most precise recipe ever written and it will take you hours to recreate in your home kitchen.
NOT.

Method:

1. The night before, cover the oats with the liquid in a microwave proof bowl, bigger than you think you need.
2. The next morning, microwave for 1-2 minutes (depending on the power of your microwave). Watch to make sure it doesn't boil over if it's your first time so you can get used to bowl size and how powerful your microwave is.
3. Top with sweetener, cinnamon, fruit and nuts (if you like). Use what you have and what you like!!

(This bowl had maple syrup, blueberries, toasted walnuts, and was soaked in milk. But another combo I love is strawberries, honey, and a squirt of lemon juice. Experiment!)

Inspired by a farro porridge I had at Le Pain Quotidien. It was awesome: