Cranberry Almond Biscotti: A cookie so nice, they baked it twice

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

When I was about 14 years old, I went through a serious biscotti craze.  While other girls my age were starting to get into normal early-teen things like makeup, hair straighteners, and school dances, I was elbow deep in biscotti dough, forming little loafs, baking, slicing, and baking again.  Biscotti are just a little bit more involved than a traditional drop cookie like chocolate chip or oatmeal but they are oh-so totally worth it.  

By twice-baking these delectable little Italian cookies, they become a little crunchy and crumbly making them perfect for dunking into a cup of coffee or tea.  Another bonus?  The double bake allows them to stay fresh in your cupboard for up to a month though I’ve never had a batch last that long!

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Cranberry Almond Biscotti

Makes around 30 biscotti

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 ¼ cup All Purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup dried cranberries
¾ cup whole almonds, unsalted
1 cup white chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition followed by the vanilla and almond extracts. 

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt then fold in the dried cranberries and almonds.  Don’t worry about sifting your dry ingredients – these lovely little cookies have a great bite to them and are much more hearty than sifted things like cake.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet and stir just until combined.  Set the bowl in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350F and line one large or two small cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Once the dough has chilled, divide it in half and form each into approximately a 3x8” rectangle on your parchment lined sheet.  Be sure to leave at least 5 inches of space between your two biscotti loaves as they will rise and spread in the oven.  Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until lightly golden brown and slightly set.

Remove your biscotti from the oven and allow it to cool slightly on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes.  Lower your oven to 325F and slice each biscotti loaf into around 15 cookies.  I like to do mine on a bit of an angle – it gives you longer biscotti and a nicer looking cookie.  Place the biscotti cut side down back onto your baking sheet and back for 15 minutes.  Flip the cookies over and bake for an additional 5 minutes.  This flip is not totally necessary but it does give your biscotti a more even colour and texture.

Remove your biscotti from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack while you melt your white chocolate in the microwave.  Once the biscotti are cool, dunk or drizzle each cookie with the white chocolate and allow it to set up on a piece of parchment before digging in!

It’s a-BAO-t time! Quick and easy steamed buns

Clamshell Steamed Buns stuffed with sesame tofu, quick picked carrots, cucumber, and cilantro

It’s no secret that bread is my all time favourite food.  The only things that could possibly come close to that doughy love fest are butter, cheese, and salt and, let’s be honest, all of those things are just made better with the addition of a big old hunk of freshly baked bread. 

From watching the yeast wake up from its long slumber and kneading it into a big mound of powdery flour to digging into fresh and lofty loaves, my love affair with bread is totally and completely consuming.

Now, I can’t argue with the fact that a perfect golden brown crispy crust is a thing of pure beauty.  Whenever I pull a loaf from the oven or am out and about shopping for my starchy love, I can’t help but think of that scene in Ratatouille where Colette is trying to teach Linguini (and, in turn, Remy) about good bread:

How can you tell how good bread is without tasting it?  Not the smell, not the look, but the sound of the crust.  Listen… Oh, a symphony of crackle!

But what about bread that has never seen the heat of an oven?  When does it get it’s due? 

Enter the wondrous culinary invention that is the steamed bun!

No, it does not have a crispy golden crust but, boy oh boy, do I ever love me some steamed buns!  Not only is my recipe for steamed bun dough super simple, it cooks up in around 10 minutes so you can be digging in to some excellent eats in no time flat!  Another bonus?  These steamed buns (or bao) can be totally customized through shaping and stuffing so feel free to let your imagination run wild!

If you're looking for a little bit of help when it comes to shaping clamshells or stuffed bao, check out this segment I did with my gal Veronica Cham on Your Morning!

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Steamed Bun Dough

Makes 24 - 30 buns

1 cup + 2 tablespoons very warm water
1 tablespoon instant active dry yeast
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons dry milk powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons shortening or lard, room temperature
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, if making clamshell shaped buns

In glass measuring cup, combine the warm water and yeast and give it a bit of a stir.  Set this mixture aside for about 10 minutes to allow the yeast to develop.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, salt, dry milk powder, and baking powder and make a well in the middle.  Once the yeast is nice and foamy, pour the mixture into the well, add in the shortening, and mix to combine.  Knead the dough on low for 8 – 10 minutes if using a stand mixer, or by hand for 10 – 12 minutes.  After kneading, the dough should gather into a ball and be soft but not sticky.

Lightly grease a large, clean mixing bowl with cooking spray and transfer the ball of dough into the bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm area for 1 ½ hours or until the dough had doubled in size.

When risen, punch the dough down and divide into 2 equal pieces. 

Now is the time to decide on the shape you’d like your steamed buns to be!  If you would like clamshell shaped buns, roll each piece of dough into a 4-5 inch-long oval with a rolling pin.  Lightly brush the ovals with vegetable oil, lay a chopstick horizontally across the narrow centre of the oval, and fold over onto itself to form a kind of taco shape.  Gently pull the chopstick out, place each bun on a small piece of parchment paper, and allow the buns to rise on a baking sheet, covered in plastic wrap, for 20 - 30 minutes.

If you are looking for a classic bun shape, just roll the pieces into tightly skinned little rounds, place on small squares of parchment paper (about 3” square), and allow the buns to rise on a baking sheet, covered in plastic wrap, for 20 - 30 minutes.  

If you want to fill your bao, flatten balls of dough into circles that are a little thicker in the middle, fill, and crimp.  Check out this video for a little demo of stuffing bao!

Set up your steamer and, working in batches to avoid crowding, steam the classic round buns for 13-15 minutes or clamshell buns for 10 minutes.  Serve warm with anything your heart desires!

If you have any extra buns, they are great stored and served at room temperature, reheated in a steamer, or can be frozen in a tightly sealed zip top bag for up to two months.

Frittering the day away: Apple Fritters

Apple Fritters with Maple Glaze

Every Saturday morning during my undergrad, I would cajole at least one of my roommates out of bed at an unearthly hour to join me on my weekly trek to the St. Jacob's Farmers Market only to wait in a line reaching around the building for freshly made, piping hot apple fritters.

While they were always rewarded with their fair share of the journey's spoils, I've since figured out my own recipe.  This is pretty much a win-win situation for everyone.  I get glorious homemade fritters whenever the whim strikes and my roommate (read: husband) gets a good sleep in on Saturday mornings.

There are few things in life as impressive as fresh, homemade doughnuts and these apple fritters are sure to provide ample praise with minimal effort on your part.  

My only word of advise?  Don't tell anyone how easy they actually are ;)

If you're looking for a demo of this recipe or perhaps a tasty cocktail also inspired by apples, check out my segment on Your Morning!

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Apple Fritters

Makes about 18 fritters

Vegetable oil, for deep frying
1 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 slightly heaped tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg
¼ cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp melted unsalted butter
1 ½ cups peeled and cored apple, chopped into a ½ cm dice (I like Macintosh or Granny Smith)
Powdered sugar or Maple glaze (recipe follows)

Heat about an inch and a half of vegetable oil  in a large, deep pot over medium/medium-low heat until a thermometer registers between 340-350F

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and set aside.  In a separate bowl, mix the egg, buttermilk, and vanilla.

Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry, add the melted butter after about three stirs, and continue to mix until almost combined.  Add the apples to the fritter batter and fold in.

When the oil is heated, carefully drop five or six heaped tablespoons of batter into the hot oil.  Make sure that each of the fritters has at least 2 inches of space between it and the next so that they brown evenly and the pan does not become overcrowded.  Fry until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Remove from the oil and place on a cooling rack to drain and cool slightly and enjoy as is, dusted with icing sugar, or snazzed up a bit with a maple glaze (recipe follows)!

Maple Glaze

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup maple syrup
1 cup powdered sugar
pinch salt
1 - 4 tbsp warm water, if needed

In a small frying pan, melt the butter over low heat then add in the maple syrup.  Remove the pan from the heat and carfully stir in the powdered sugar and salt.  The glaze should be quiet thin but should still be able to coat the back of a spoon.  If the glaze needs thinning, add warm water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency.  If the glaze looks a little speckled, no worries.  That's just the butter solidifying again.  Pop the pan back on the heat for 10 seconds or so and that should fix everything!

Dip or dunk the cooled fritters into the warm glaze and allow to set for a few minutes before digging in!

Elvis approved: Fool's Gold Cupcakes

Fool's Gold Cupcakes

There are some things in life that just shouldn’t go together.  Shellfish and chocolate cake.  Balloons and porcupines.  Perfect hair and a windy day.  Brussels sprouts and ice cream.  Cell phones and swimming pools.    

I have a friend who insists that a gin martini she once had while in Rome which combined musty vanilla bean with the briny funkiness of an anchovy is the best drink she’s ever had.  I’m not convinced but I’m definitely curious and slightly intrigued by this strange elixir…

And isn’t that the case for so many amazing things?!  Sometimes, in those very rare and strange instances, things that seem oh-so-wrong can be just about the best thing you never imagined.

It’s a classic trope in so many things from film to food and, for me, it just never seems to get old.  So, when I was contacted by the lovely people over at Reel Canada to develop a recipe for National Canadian Film Day this year, I knew I needed to somehow make my favourite Canadian romcom, The F Word, fit into this amazing “food in film” initiative!

The F Word tells the tale of Wallace (played by Daniel Radcliffe… and if you know anything about me at all, you’ll know I’m obsessed with all things Harry Potter), a lovelorn and burnt out 20-something who becomes fast friends with a girl named Chantry pretty much over a discussion of Elvis’ favourite sandwich.

My future may not lie in writing movie synopses but it is in this sandwich, also known as Fool’s Gold, that I found inspiration for my recipe.

Without further ado, here she is: Fool’s Gold Cupcakes.  If the shouldn’t-go-together part of your brain cannot be pushed aside, I’d suggest leaving out the grape jelly or the bacon.  But, believe me, it somehow works!  My hubs can’t get enough of the salty sweetness of these strange little guys.

You can find more recipes inspired by great Canadian films by clicking here!

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Fool’s Gold Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Cupcakes:
¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 ½ cups All-Purpose flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
2 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup creamy peanut butter*
½ cup cream cheese, room temperature
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
4 cups icing sugar
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp – ¼ cup whipping cream

Decoration:
¾ cup prepared grape jelly
6 slices of bacon, cooked crisp and finely chopped

For the cupcakes, preheat your oven to 350F and line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy then add the eggs one at time, mixing well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir to combine.  This is the dry mixture for your cupcakes.

In a glass measuring cup, measure out the buttermilk and stir in the vanilla.

Add approximately a third of the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture and beat together with the hand mixer until almost combined.  Blend in half of the buttermilk mixture, followed by another third of the dry, the buttermilk, then the rest of the dry, mixing after each addition.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, filling each cup about 2/3rds full, and bake for 17-20 minutes or until golden and set.

Set the cupcakes aside to cool and prepare the frosting.

For the frosting, beat the butter, peanut butter, cream cheese, and vanilla together in a large bowl with a hand mixer.  Slowly add the icing sugar and salt, being careful not to mix too fast or else you’ll have quite a mess on your hands.

Finally, beat between 2 tablespoons and ¼ cup of cream into the frosting to make it light and fluffy.

To decorate, use a teaspoon to scoop a little well out of the centre of each cupcake.  Fill that with about 1 ½ teaspoons of grape jelly and cover the top of each cupcake with a good helping of the peanut butter frosting.  To finish the cupcakes, sprinkle the chopped bacon over the top and dig in to probably one of the most weirdly delicious desserts you’ve ever had!

Note: Be sure to use traditional peanut butter as the all-natural variety will make for a thin frosting.