Tofu and Cupcakes

Continuing with my “and now for something completely different” theme I present a soup containing cinnamon and raisins. Gotta be honest here, I did not have high hopes for this soup. Cinnamon is really good in curries, but when paired with rasins? That just makes me think of sweet yeast breads and oatmeal cookies, certainly not anything savory. I am glad I gave this soup the benefit of the doubt because I absolutely loved it.

I want to be one of those cooks who just has a encyclopedia of tried and tested delicious recipes that they go back to over and over, but I also want to be a cook that is not afraid to try new recipes, new ingredients, new flavor combinations. I love the standbys but sometimes you just want something different and if that sounds like you than try this soup! It takes not time at all, it’s light and super flavorful.

The raisins soak up all those flavors, plump up and are so delicious in this soup. Trust me.

Recipe from the January/February 2010 of Women’s Health Magazine
Prep time: 8 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

3 c vegetable stock
1 can (14.5 oz) nosalt- added diced tomatoes, with juice
1 c zucchini, sliced into half circles
1/4 c canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
4 artichoke hearts, cut in half (frozen or packed in water and drained)
1/2 c whole-wheat couscous
1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped (I was out)
1/4 c raisins
2 scallions, thinly sliced (including green tops)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano

Bring stock plus 1 cup water to a rolling boil. Reduce heat, add remaining ingredients, and simmer uncovered about 5 to 7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 202 cal, 1.9 g fat (0.4 g sat), 40 g carbs, 159 mg sodium, 5 g fiber, 10 g protein

This recipe mesmerized me. It’s such an interesting flavor combination and so out of the ordinary and yummy-looking. I bookmarked it and kept going back to look at it for days. With an impending snowstorm coming to our area my roommate (on her way to the store for milk and bread) asked if I needed anything. I told her “One avocado please.”

This sandwich is everything I thought it would be- sweet and savory, hearty and different. It will certainly make the cut into my regular rotation. I put it in the panini maker for about 3 minutes after brushing it with olive oil, but it would be just as good as a regular sandwich.

Yum!

Ingredients
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp honey mustard
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
1/4 tsp poppy seeds
4 slices whole wheat bread
4 red onion slices, cut 1/8-inch thick
1/2 avocado cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
4 tomato slices, cut 1/4-inch thick
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)
1/2 cup baby lettuce or herb salad mix

Directions
Toss sweet potato slices in a few tablespoons each of olive oil and honey. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook slices in oven until tender, about 15 minutes, flipping slices half way through.

Whisk together honey mustard, mayonnaise, and poppy seeds in a small bowl.

To construct the sandwiches, first spread half the poppy seed mixture on 2 of the bread slices, then place half of the onion, avocado, and tomato slices on top of each slice; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Add a layer of sweet potato slices, cheese and lettuce. Top with remaining bread. Slice each sandwich in half, securing each half with a toothpick. Serve with sliced dill pickles and a handful of baked chips.

If someone asks me what my favorite candy is, I say without hesitation York Peppermint Patties. Really though, it’s a tie between those and cherry cordials but I do love peppermint patties! There is something delightfully old fashioned about them, especially the big ones. When I was little I would pretend that they were those soft little cookies from Alice in Wonderland inscripted with the words “eat me” that make Alice grow (after downing the bottle labeled “drink me” which made her shrink). I also like the sound they make when you slowly break them in half next to your ear. I don’t know why, I just enjoy that sound.

Previously, I tried to adapt this recipe into cupcake form, given it’s peppermint patty resemblance, but it was a disaster. The middle stripe just melted in the oven, leaving a weird hollow inside and the outside was crunchy. I had given up on the idea of modeling a cupcake after my fav candy, but then I saw the latest issue of Food Network Magazine which had cupcake facsimiles of all kinds of candy bars. And because I have decided to set aside my lukewarm feeling for chocolate cake and try to find a kickass recipe; I present to you the York Peppermint Patty cupcake.

The basic idea with these is a chocolate cake base topped with a white peppermint cream disc and a chocolate glaze. Me and chocolate cakes have had our differences, but this on was actually decent. I don’t know if heating the cocoa with the butter and water enhanced the flavor of the cocoa in some way but it was really good. I found this cake to be tasty and moist with a light and fluffy texture. I’d still rather have a vanilla cake, but I wouldn’t turn this cupcake down. The topping was amazing- it tasted just like a York Peppermint Patty! Overall I found these cupcakes to be excellent. One taste tester told me they were “absurdly good.” They would be especially perfect for the occasional weirdo who doesn’t like frosting.

butter + water + cocoa goes in the microwave…

comes out of the microwave

But I did have one problem with this recipe. This recipe was supposed to make 24 cupcakes and I got 38.

filled up my 24-cup muffin tin

and I still had this much batter left over!

I may very well have done something wrong to get such a quantity discrepancy. I could have miscounted how many cups of flour I used or something like that. However, whatever I did turned out a pretty yummy little cake so I hope I can do it again. Strangely, I had just enough topping to do all of them.

The peppermint discs started out like this. You roll it out in between sheets of parchment paper (I tried to use wax paper and it was too small and it stuck, so use the parchment)

roll it to 1/4″

and then cut out the discs and place atop the cupcakes.

it did remind me of fresh fallen snow. Are you getting the sensation?

Now for the fun part!

oh, the fun part…

pour on the glaze…

and spread it around, you want to leave some of the white showing though.

Recipe from the Jan/Feb Issue of Food Network Magazine

Mint Patty Cakes
makes 24 (*ahem*38)

chocolate cupcake
3 sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup dutch process cocoa powder
3 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 large egss, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 2 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Put the butter, cocoa powder and 3/4 cup water in a medium microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave until the butter melts, about two minutes. Whisk to combine, then whisk in the brown sugar.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in the warm cocoa mixture. In another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla; stir into the batter until just combined but don’t overmix.
3. Divide the batter among the prepared cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake until cupcakes spring back when touched, 30-35 minutes. Let cool in the pans 10 minutes then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Topping
1 1-pound box confectioners’ sugar (about 4 cups)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup vegetable shortening or cocoa butter, softened
2 teaspoons peppermint extract (I used 1+1/2 cap full peppermint oil)

Beat the confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, shortening, and peppermint extract with a mixer until a tight paste forms. Gather into a ball, place between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4″ thick (microwave 15 seconds to soften if necessary). Use 2 1/2″ round cutter or juice glass to cut into discs; reroll the scraps. Place a peppermint disc on top of each cupcake.

Glaze
8 Oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter

Put the chocolate, corn syrup, butter and 1/4 cup water in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on 50% power until the chocolate melts, about 2 minutes. Whisk to combine, then cool slightly. Spread the glaze over the peppermint topping, leaving some peppermint exposed. Refrigerate until set, at least 20 minutes. Serve cold.

Olives are one of those foods I thought I didn’t like. I tried them when I was kid and my unsophisticated pallet said no way. I went years without consuming any kind of olive. But with recipes like this and this too I have seen the light. I could tell a similar story about fennel, capers, plantains, tempeh and blue cheese. I am a much more adventurous eater than I once was (except for, you know, meat). If you wrote olives off a long time ago, might I suggest giving it a go with this recipe? It’s delicious. There’s artichoke hearts, lemon juice and zest, sweet smoked paprika and salty Kalamata olives. It’s really a winning flavor combination.

I like having a couple of recipes that call for lemon on hand. I always seem to have one lemon that hangs around my kitchen for a little too long, getting a wee bit wrinkly. There aren’t a ton of things to do with ONE lemon. But you can make this tasty side dish.

Artichoke Potato Medley
From the September 2009 Issue of Vegetarian Times Magazine
serves 6 (easily halved)
1 lb. small red potatoes, quartered
2 10-oz. boxes frozen artichoke
hearts, thawed
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (4 tsp.)
3 Tbs. chopped parsley
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
3/4 tsp. sweet or smoked paprika
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped, optional

Directions
1. Bring potatoes to a boil in large pot of salted water. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes, or until potatoes are just tender. Drain.
2. Return potatoes to saucepan; heat over high heat with artichokes and oil. Cook 5 minutes, or until vegetables start to brown, stirring occasionally. Add olives, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cook 5 minutes more, or until fragrant and heated through. Serve garnished with chopped eggs, if using.

On November 28, 2008 I declared that I would be chocolate cake free in 2009. And I was! Oh sure, I made brownies a couple of times. I adore brownies! And I made chocolate cakes and cupcakes by request that I promptly gave away, but I can assure you all that I ATE no honest chocolate cake in 2009. It all stems from the fact that I just don’t care for chocolate cake and I was fed up with looking for a recipe I liked. With enough chocolate frosting or filling, eh, a chocolate cake is acceptable. I just typically find the chocolate flavor in the actual cake to be weak. I don’t want a cake to just be a frosting vehicle. I already have a frosting vehicle and I call it a spoon. Or I call it my index finger. The stress of constantly trying new recipes, hoping to find chocolate cake Nirvana and being inevitably let down was just too much. My cake-related perfectionism led me to wash my hands of looking for a go-to chocolate cake recipe for a whole year.

But now it is 2010! I can open up the doors to eating and attempting to make a perfect chocolate cake! And thank goodness I lifted my self-imposed ban, because on our recent mountain trip my lovely hostess created a perfect combination of sugar and spice in her chocolate chai cupcakes! I devoured these cupcakes like a woman who has not had chocolate cake in a year. The chai spice reminds me of pumpkin pie and gingerbread, making these the perfect wintertime dessert! What I really like about this recipe is that there was no cocoa powder, just real, honest-to-god melted chocolate stirred into the batter.

Erin’s recipe has inspired me, I will open myself up to new chocolate cupcake recipes. I have my doubts, but I also have a plan:

1. Like this choco/chai recipe, I will look for recipes that combine chocolate with another flavor, for example: peppermint, peanut butter, fruit flavors, etc. which will make the dreaded chocolate cake go down a little easier.
2. I will look for a cake-like brownie recipe I can substitute in for chocolate cupcake recipes.
3. I will try Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate Stout Cake recipe which seems to have a lot to offer a girl.

TA-DAH!!!

Erin’s Chocolate Chai Cupcakes

3 Oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup All Purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tbsp chai spice mixture
1/2 cup unsalted btter. room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
Place

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place chocolate in a metal bowl and melt over a pot of simmering water. set aside. Sift the flours, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl. stir in the chai spice mixture. Cream the butter and both sugars together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add in the chocolate and mix to combine. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition to combine before adding the next. Add in the flour mixture and buttermilk in 3 alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Beat just to combine each addition before adding the next. Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, fill each cupcake liner about 1/2 full with batter . bake in oven for 15-18 minutes rotating the pan halfway through until a toothpick inserted in the cupcakes comes out clean. Makes about 12 dozen.

Spiced Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons honey
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp, 1 Tbsp chunks
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tsp* chai spice powder (see note)

Combine the sugar, honey and egg whites in a medium metal bowl and place over a pan of simmering water.

Whisk the sugar mixture constantly over heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture looks smooth and shiny. Continue whisking until the the mixture reaches 160° F.

Remove mixture from the heat and pour into a stand mixer bowl. Whisk on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture has cooled. Switch to the paddle attachment and with the speed on low, add the butter a few pieces at a time, beating until smooth. Do not add the butter too quickly or beat too quickly or the buttercream may break.

When all the butter has been added, beat the buttercream on med-high speed for about 6-10 minutes until it is very thick and smooth. It may appear to separate briefly but continue beating and it will come back together.

add in the vanilla and chai and beat to combine.

**Erin says: “I put some chai in the icing just because i think it makes the end product taste a little less like raw butter. 1tsp is usually enough for a whole batch, but if you’re chai-crazy you can drop in however much you like. The chai itself is a mix of 2 parts cinnamon to one part each of ginger, cloves and cardamom. I’ve seen people use 2 parts cardamom, but I feel like it makes the chai too harsh. I’ve also seen people add ground fennel, but I never had any so I don’t know what the word is with that one. Personally I like mine a little ginger heavy You can do anything with it, put it in coffee or tea, sprinkle on waffles or pancakes, toss it in literally any baked good like cake or bread since the flavor just goes along with everything.”

Last week Josh and I decided that before the new semester starts (on Monday) we should try to get away for a few days and visit some of our friends who live in the mountains. It was a spur of the moment little three-day trip. We both really needed a change of scenery and I think it did us a lot of good. What I was NOT expecting was my friends to prepare beautiful and delicious dinners and desserts for us.

This is Erin. This is Erin in the supermarket buying ingredients to make me a eggplant-lasagna-esque delight. We’ve been pals for a long time. See, she’s married to Morgan, who has been my friend since I was 8. Morgan is BFFs with my boyfriend Josh; in fact, he introduced me to Josh. Got all that? They are good people.

Can you spot my reflection in this bowl?

She made this dish that is not unlike eggplant Parmesan; it’s layers of friend eggplant with layers of fresh tomatoes, spinach and cheese. It was out of this world. What I love is that it is so versatile, you could add a sauce, or fresh herbs or other vegetables- anything. The spinach wasn’t even in her original recipe. It had called for basil. But the store was out of basil, so we improvised.

This thing was dang good.

Erin’s Eggplant Tomato Casserole Lasagna Thing*

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant, sliced thin about 1/8″
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1-2 eggs, mixed with a little water, beaten
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
4-6 Tbsp canola oil
3 large beefsteak tomatoes, sliced about 1/4″ thick
1 10 Oz. box spinach, thawed and squeezed dry of excess moisture
1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Heat canola oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Allow eggplant slices to soak in a big bowl of well-salted water for 15-20 minutes. Mix flour and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Bread eggplant by first dipping in the flour mixture, then in the beaten egg, then in the breadcrumbs. Fry 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown.

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a 9×13 casserole dish, line the bottom with about 1/3 of the the fried eggplant slices, then a layer of tomato slices and then spinach (just pull it apart with your fingers and lay on top of the tomatoes, don’t try to completely cover the tomatoes) and 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat two more times so you end with cheese on the top. Bake 30 minutes until bubbly and nicely browned on top.

*This recipe is a guideline. Erin doesn’t need precise measurements and you probably don’t either. And we may have eaten a few tomato slices before we assembled the casserole. And maybe some of the fried eggplant slices.

Erin also made chocolate chai cupcakes and with any luck I will post about them tomorrow. We were spoiled. And she didn’t really seem to mind me sticking my camera all up in her ingredients.

What I have failed to mention is that we went to the Appalachian mountains during one of the worst cold snaps in years. It snowed almost continuously while we were there and they had already gotten over two feet of snow on Christmas Eve. It was so beautiful. The snow banks on the sides of the roads and parking lots were taller than me! I was worried about the roads, but we had no trouble. They really stay on top of it and keep it safe there. We had a delightful time.

    I have been obsessed with salads lately. And I don’t necessarily mean I’m-on-a-diet-I’ll-just-have-the-salad salads; I mean delicious, savory, fresh and seasonal salads with unexpected ingredients and homemade dressings. I have to admit though, January is a good time to lighten up my food choices and basically recover from last month’s feasting. A beautiful green salad like this one from Ina Garten is a good place to start.

    The idea of fall and winter salads is new to me. But now my mind is reeling with ideas- pears, pomegranates, all kinds of greens and root vegetables, clementines, persimmons (which I’ve never tried). A salad with some part served warm?! That certainly makes me raise an eyebrow, in a good way. What’s your favorite kind of winter salad?

    I thoroughly enjoyed this one, my only complaint is I am a little sick of butternut squash. I had been eating leftover butternut squash soup and having it in this salad too- enough already. I do love it though, just too much of a good thing. I love how the dried cranberries got all plump and flavorful in the oven. The dressing is fabulous, and I thought it was just as good served cold the next day. I thought the apple flavor was more intense when it was cold.

Ingredients
1 (1 1/2-pound) butternut squash, peeled and 3/4-inch) diced
Good olive oil
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 ounces baby arugula, washed and spun dry
1/2 cup walnuts halves, toasted
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Place the butternut squash on a sheet pan. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the maple syrup, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss. Roast the squash for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until tender. Add the cranberries to the pan for the last 5 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, combine the apple cider, vinegar, and shallots in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the cider is reduced to about 1/4 cup. Off the heat, whisk in the mustard, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

Place the arugula in a large salad bowl and add the roasted squash mixture, the walnuts, and the grated Parmesan. Spoon just enough vinaigrette over the salad to moisten and toss well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

I hope everyone had a terrific Christmas and New Year’s! I certainly did. One especially fun part of my holiday season was going to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party! And it was a potluck! If you ever want me to come to a party, make it a potluck and I will be there with bells on. If it’s an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party, those bells may be on my sweater. One of the hosts, my lovely friend Lex, does not eat wheat and I thought it would be a nice gesture to surprise her with some gluten-free cupcakes. This was my first ever foray into gluten free baking so I turned to the geniuses behind Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for a recipe.

These cupcakes were definitely a learning experience. I never knew there were so many kinds of flour. Gluten free baking requires bypassing the wheat flour and using a mixture of other kinds of flour to achieve the right texture, flavor and structure in your baked good. This recipe features a mixture of rice flour, quinoa flour, almond meal and also tapioca starch and milled flax seed.

Bob’s Red Mill is a brand that offers all different kinds of flour and everything you could possibly need for a gluten free lifestyle. The guy pictured on their products is Chef Bob Moore, who is in fact NOT Chef Paul Prudhomme and certainly not Dom Deluise (may he rest in peace).

Adding in the flours; the white one is white rice flour, the one on top is quinoa flour and the other one is almond meal/flour (the same thing I used for my almond funfetti cupcakes.

They went into the oven looking like this- not a thick batter like I’m used to. At this point I’m having doubts about my abilities with this whole gluten-free thing.

They came out of the oven looking like this. I don’t like the look of this. They appear to have the color and texture of cornbread, and they sunk a bit in the middle. boo.

but appearances can be deceiving! Only the very top had that cornbread-texture thing going on, the inside was a soft but dense cake with a really good flavor and texture.

I was going to do a Swiss meringue buttercream frosting, but when I sampled the texture of the cake which was moist and slightly dense I knew a thicker traditional buttercream would be a better complement. I went with the almond buttercream recipe I’ve made before because the cake already had notes of almond, and it was good choice if I do say so myself.

Lex loved them, that’s the important part. I think two other people tried them and they only had good things to say. I liked the flavor and texture and I probably wouldn’t have guessed they had no wheat flour. But if you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time you know I am extraordinarily particular. Here’s what I didn’t like: the tops were browned (on the verge of too brown) before the cupcake was baked all the way through. That’s why they sunk a little bit. In a perfect world, all cupcakes rise in perfect domes. I’m not saying that it was just raw runny batter in the middle, they were just too soft and just not totally done in the middle. The tops should not be done before the innards! They should be done at the same time! Maybe next time I should cut the oven down by 25° or so and leave them in a little longer? Has anyone else tried this recipe and had a similar problem? I also didn’t like the little brown flecks due to the ground flax seeds. I just want a uniform yellow cake, call me a purist. The flax seed and tapioca starch replace the egg (I think?) and I know you can use other things to do the job so I plan to try something else that won’t leave those aesthetically unappealing flecks. Or I can just use an egg- I’m not vegan and neither is the gluten free person I’m baking for.

Overall they were good and well-received, but I intend to experiment with different recipes.

If you haven’t heard of the whole ugly xmas sweater trend, it’s pretty much exactly what you’d think. I went to Value Village and found a lovely cardigan.

Two words. Sex Appeal.

I also made deviled eggs and spanokopita for the party, but that’s a blog post for another day. My spanokopita recipe really is to die for.

Recipe
Vanilla Gluten Freedom Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcake Take Over The World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
Makes 12 (I got 10)

ingredients:
1 cup soy milk (I used cow milk, sorry!)
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
1/3 cup corn flour OR 1/3 cup almond flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line muffin tray with cupcake liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine soy milk, canola oil, sugar and extracts. Mix with an electric mixer on medium speed just to combine. Add tapioca flour and flax seed and mix vigorously for about a minute until the tapioca flour is dissolved and the mixture is well emulsified.
3. Add the corn flour, white rice flour, quinoa flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix on Medium for about 2 minutes.
4. Fill cupcake liners a little over 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 20-23 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before serving.

What is up everybody?! Did you miss me?! I missed you!! It has been a very busy couple of months for ol’ Aubs, but I promise I have not given up on cooking up a storm. Today I am sharing the secret of Oreo Truffles.

In the interest of full disclosure, I gotta give a couple of disclaimers about this recipe:

DISCLAIMER #1: These are really awful for you. Horrible. I know the word ‘healthy’ is in the tagline up there in the banner for my site. The irony is not lost on me. Oreos are vegetarian, yes, but that certainly does not imply ‘healthy’ at all. Oreo Cookie filling was included in the top 6 Weirdest, Scariest Processed Foods; wherein, the author describes the filling as such: “It’s rare to encounter a food that makes you say, “If only this were as healthy as frosting!” And yet, the filling in Oreo cookies manages to accomplish just that.”

DISCLAIMER #2: These are friggin’ amazing. They are absolutely the most delicious treat I have ever had. You can’t eat just one. If you make these all of your family and friends will ask you for the recipe, and ask you to make them at every single event. Josh’s mom loves them so much that she’ll buy me the ingredients and leave them on my counter, which is her subtle way of asking if I will make them for her. Here’s the thing though, they are made with Oreos! Out of all the many, many treats I lovingly make from scratch, the thing that’s made with Oreos is what everybody wants! It’s almost insulting. If they weren’t so good, I would be insulted.

DISCLAIMER #3: This is far from the first food blog that has featured Oreo Truffles, and there may be a better way to make them then how make them. My technique is messy and the final product is not perfect, but it works and I have used it a lot. And I don’t want them to be perfect. I want them to look home-made and not like they were made in a factory. Feel free to find the technique that works best for you. If you already have a fool-proof method for dipping things in chocolate, then feel free to leave it in the comments!

Onward!

Basically, you put Oreo cookies and cream cheese in a food processor, process until it’s a smooth paste, roll it into balls and dip the balls in chocolate. That’s it. For a more thorough description, keep reading.

3 ingredients- 1 package of Oreo Cookies, 1 8 Oz. package of cream cheese, and some chocolate.

My food processor is fairly large so I can fit the whole bag of Oreos in it. If yours is smaller then you may have to do it in batches. You can crush up the cookies first if you want to, but I just let the food processor do the work.

Then to your package of Oreos, you add your 8 Oz. of cream cheese, and let her rip.

Form the balls by rolling a little bit of the filling in between your palms. How big you want them is up to you. Mine are usually about an inch in diameter. I place the balls on cookie sheets lined with wax paper. Then I put the cookie sheets in the fridge for about 15 minutes. I want them to firm up a bit so they won’t get a big dent from my fingers when I go to dip them in the melted chocolate. While they are firming up in the fridge, start melting the chocolate.

I like to use this kind called Dolci Frutta. In my grocery store, Dolci Frutta is located in the produce section near the strawberries (because it’s really great for dipping strawberries into). I love the flavor of this chocolate. It is not fancy or gourmet but, you know, the heart wants what it wants. You can use fancy gourmet chocolate if your heart wants it. You could use melting wafers, chocolate bark, chocolate chips, chopped up chocolate bars, whatever. It takes two containers of dolci frutta for me to make one batch of Oreo truffles.

Dolci Frutta is specifically designed to melt in the microwave, but I’m going to use a double boiler which is a heat-safe bowl placed over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the simmering water, it’s the steam that melts the chocolate. Stir continuously.

Is there anything prettier than a big bowl of melted chocolate?

Now here is probably what makes my technique different than other people’s. When I dip the truffles in the chocolate I only do half of it at a time and let the chocolate harden in between dippings. You know what else I do? I plug in a heating pad and set it to high and cover it with a plastic bag, then I put my big bowl of melted chocolate on top of that. This way, the chocolate stays pretty warm and melty while you are working with it. You don’t have to keep reheating the chocolate once it starts to cool and you don’t have to worry about it getting lumpy (thanks Alton Brown!). Very gently grip the truffle and dip half of it into the melted chocolate, then pull straight out and give it a little shake to fling off the excess. Don’t forget to give the chocolate a stir every once in a while.

I put them back on the cookie sheet, dipped side down. I want the melted chocolate to pool a little bit at the bottom. That’ll give me something to hold onto when I dip the other side. Then they go back into the fridge until the chocolate is hard.

See what I mean? It makes a little puddle around the bottom…

…that I can hold onto when I dip the other half. This is the least messy way I’ve found to prevent having a big ol’ fingerprint in the chocolate coating. A fingerprint means a spot that is bare of chocolate. My way, the “top” will be relatively smooth and uniform in coating.

Dip the other half and set back down on the cookie sheet (first dipping half down, just like before). They’re not perfect but they do have a good thick coating of chocolate. Back in the fridge until chocolate is set.

Then take a bite and feel your life change forever.

I get 40-50 truffles in a batch depending on how big I make them. There are so many varieties of Oreos nowadays, it’s ridiculous. I like the original kind, but I’m sure any flavor would be pretty delicious. You could also sprinkle the tops with all sort of decorations while the chocolate is still melted, like sprinkles, crushed up candies, or crushed up Oreo pieces. You could also drizzle them with, say, white chocolate when they are finished. The possibilities are endless. Make these for the holidays, they will not disappoint!

I hope everyone is enjoying your end-of-summer harvest. I had an overabundance of tomatoes and something like this vegetable tart from Ellie Kreiger is a great way to use some up. I would serve this for a brunch or light lunch. It’s so fresh! And it has those yummy Provençal flavors I’ve been craving all summer.

Shallots are pretty. I sliced these with the mandolin slicer, lickity-split.

These roasted zucchini slices are pretty too. They look like little pinwheels.

The cornmeal crust is parbaked in a tart pan for a few minutes to keep it from getting soft after the veggies go in.

First layer is a double-layer of roasted eggplant slices. I started from the middle and worked my way out.

Then a layer of part-skim mozzarella.

Topped with a little fresh basil.

Then the zucchini pinwheels.

and sautéed shallots.

MORE cheese and basil.

Then roasted tomato slices, homegrown is best!

Finally, a little more mozzarella and Parmesan.

Then you bake it and it comes out of the oven looking like this:

It kind of looks like a pizza, but it doesn’t taste like a pizza. It’s not at all heavy or greasy like a pizza.

delicious!

Like this recipe? You may also like my ratatouille, roasted ratatouille, or soupe au pistou.

Recipe by Ellie Kreiger from The Food you Crave
Ingredients
Crust:

* 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
* 1/3 cup whole-grain pastry flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 3 tablespoons water

Filling:

* 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
* 2 shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
* Cooking spray
* 1/2 pound thinly sliced eggplant rounds (about 1/3 medium eggplant)
* 1 zucchini, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (about 8 ounces)
* 3 medium tomatoes, sliced thinly
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
* 1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
* 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine cornmeal, pastry flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Add butter and oil and pulse about 20 times, until mixture resembles small pebbles. Add water and pulse until mixture forms a loose dough. Remove dough from processor and press into bottom and about 1/8-inch up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a detachable rim. Press aluminum foil into the bottom and sides of the pan on top of the dough and weigh down with uncooked rice or pie weights. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove rice and foil. Return to oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until no longer shiny and wet. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the filling: Increase the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat; saute shallots until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Spray 2 baking trays with cooking spray. Arrange the eggplant, zucchini and tomato slices on the trays in a single layer and brush with the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and roast the vegetables until soft but not browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the vegetables from oven and cool.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Lay the eggplant slices in 2 layers on the bottom of tart; cover with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese and some of the shredded basil. Add the zucchini and shallots, top with another 1/3 of the mozzarella and basil, then the tomatoes. Top with rest of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and vegetables have further wilted. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and cut into 8 slices. Serve warm.