Desserts
Desserts
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Cardamom Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Cardamom Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chunk Cookies, that's a mouthful! And these cookies are worth it. I love how unique they are, for me that is, as we settle into sugar cookies, chocolate chip or white chocolate chip cocoa cookies.
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How to Make Date Balls | Ancient Egyptian Meal
These Date Balls were so delicious, no junky dessert needed! There were very sweet, filling and rich. They are a very healthy snack or dessert alternative. If you have nut allergies, you can use coconut flakes instead.
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White Chocolate Cocoa Cookies
Hands down this is our family's favorite homemade cookie recipe. The recipe is inspired by a cookie recipe in Martha Stewart's cookbook. We cut the recipe in half and added cocoa powder and marshmallows and traded out the chocolate chips for white chocolate chips.
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Senegalese Banana Coconut Fritters
This delicious dessert is sure to impress you. It's simple with ingredients that are readily available. We got this recipe from the book Senegal by Pierre Thiam. We are using this book as part of our West Africa unit for homeschool. We love to include regional, cultural and when possible, historical foods.
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How to Make Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie
It is timely that our unit study on the Colonial Times, the voyage of the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving nestled perfectly with this time of year. Reservations about the actual events aside, this pumpkin pie was delicious, easy and ties in well with our unit study.
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Apple Pie Tartlet Dessert
I had the best of intentions when I bought pound after pound of fresh gala apples at the start of apples season. I wanted to make all kinds of apple deliciousness. We did manage an apple pie and some caramel apples, but then our apples rested at the bottom of the crisper for literally months....
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Caramel Apples
It's Kindergarten Week and it's fall...that means caramel apples! Though you can make your own caramel, today we are using store bought caramel by Kraft. We also used semi-sweet mini chocolate chips by Ghiradelli and white chocolate chips by Nestle. Used Gala apples, but Granny Smith apples would be delicious, too.
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How to Make Candied Orange Peels
We are making our way through our Colonial Times unit study and finding a lot of inspiration from a few activity books we have. Today we are using a recipe from Colonial Kids: An Activity Guide To Life In The New World by Laurie Carlson.
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How to Make Tiramisu | No Bake Recipe
Blend coffee, sugar, cocoa and milk together. Dip lady fingers in mixture and lay down flat in a serving dish. Once the bottom is filled, add a layer of whip cream. Repeat until you get to the top of the serving dish. Top with whip cream and a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Serve chilled.
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How To Make Whipped Cream
The first time I saw my friend, Pernilla, make whip cream I thought to myself, "Why have I never done this before!!" I take it up a notch and use my NutriBullet to make whip cream in less than a minute!
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Graham Cracker Masjid
Snap graham crackers in half. If you want to decorate the sides of the masjid, do it before assembling it. Add icing to five graham cracker halves. Add sprinkles or chocolate chunks. Or leave it simple with icing and powdered sugar. Add icing to the edges of the graham crackers and hold for a minute until set. Add roof and dome with icing. Add minarets to the front or all four points.
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All Natural Organic Sugar Cookies with Icing
These were surprisingly easy to make and you can make these cookies and icing with no special tools or ingredients. I rummaged through the fridge and cabinets sourcing ingredients I could use to color the icing which was simply a mixture of 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with 1/2-3/4 teaspoons of water. I settled on pomegranate juice for the deep pink/maroon, raspberry puree (from a single smushed fresh raspberry), turmeric and saffron for the yellows and chlorophyll from my supplements for the green.
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The Best Fruit Scones
Even if you're not a baker or have never made scones before, you must try these!! They are a family and friend favorite! I have altered the original recipe which calls for blueberries and use nectarines or peaches. This has become a summer tradition. My friends literally can't wait till it's peach season. I serve these with butter and honey and a cup of hot chai.
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Kettle Corn
Melt butter in microwave for about 15 seconds. Set aside. In a large pan with a lid, hear oil with 3 kernels. When the kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn. Keep the pot moving to avoid burning. It only takes 2-3 minutes to pop popcorn. Once it's done, you can transfer to a bowl and add butter, sugar, and salt.
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Carrot Cake Plus Cream Cheese Frosting
What special ingredient turns your ordinary carrot cake into a moist delicious experience? Start by preheating your oven to 350°F and greasing a 9-inch square baking dish. The dry ingredients are prepared first: sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, and a small amount of ginger. The ginger is kept mild for kid-friendly flavor, but can be increased for a warmer spice profile.
dessert
dessert
I often skip making desserts as I don't like spending extra time making foods that don't support a healthy lifestyle. However, desserts are totally part of a healthy lifestyle! And you can modify recipes so the desserts are healthier. I spend more time cooking food than making desserts, but I wanted to share the few desserts I do make, even if they are not made regularly.
Cardamom Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chunk Cookies | Indian Cookies
Cardamom Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chunk Cookies, that’s a mouthful! And these cookies are worth it. I love how unique they are, for me that is, as we settle into sugar cookies, chocolate chip or white chocolate chip cocoa cookies. This cookie recipe is is full of flavor and seldom used ingredients. I would suggest omitting ingredients you don’t have or substituting as I did. I used raisins rather than golden raisins and chocolate chunks from a Swiss bar of chocolate with almonds rather than chocolate chips. I would try to source good quality cardamom. I got mine on a trip to Dubai and shelled dozens of cardamom pods and ground it myself so the flavor of the cardamom was strong and amazing, but not stronger than the cinnamon which overpowered the other flavors. I’m using the book Vibrant India: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Brooklyn, and the recipe is in the dessert section titled Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies.
Recipe: Warm two sticks of butter until lightly brown. Add 1 cup of raisins, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom, 1-2 teaspoons of molasses, 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla paste or powder, and 1 cup of brown sugar. In a separate bowl, beat two eggs lightly. In another bowl combine 2 cups of oats and 4-6 ounces of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks with almonds. In a third bowl, sift 1.5 cups of flour. Remove butter mixture from stove and let it cool a bit. Add eggs and combine well using fork or spoon. Slowly add flour 1/3 cup at a time until incorporated. Add oats with chocolate. Refrigerate for 6 hours. Add 6 1-inch balls to a parchment lined sheet pan and bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool before serving. Best with coconut or pistachio ice cream.
How to Make Date Balls | Ancient Egyptian Meal
For our Ancient Egypt unit study we decided to make some ancient Egypt inspired dishes using the book “Food and Cooking in Ancient Egypt” by Clive Gifford and illustrated by Paul Cherrill. You can find the book at Rainbow Resource. These Date Balls were so delicious, no junky dessert needed! There were very sweet, filling and rich. They are a very healthy snack or dessert alternative. If you have nut allergies, you can use coconut flakes instead.
Recipe:
3 Tablespoons of honey
1 1/3 cups of moist dates (pitted)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 1/4 cup walnuts
Ground or slivered almonds
Blend dates, cinnamon and walnuts in a blender. Form into balls. Coat them with warmed honey, coat with slivered almonds. Serve immediately or chilled. Watch them disappear!! Serve as an appetizer or a desert following the chicken in this recipe. Or watch the complete Ancient Egypt Cooking Playlist.
White Chocolate Cocoa Cookies
Hands down this is our family's favorite homemade cookie recipe. The recipe is inspired by a cookie recipe in Martha Stewart's cookbook. We cut the recipe in half and added cocoa powder and marshmallows and traded out the chocolate chips for white chocolate chips. Those changes made a cookie recipe we all liked into one we loved. We made a half batch and froze the dough in 1 inch diameter portions for easy storage and even easier defrosting and baking.
Here's the recipe:
Mix the following:
2 sticks unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs lightly beaten
Add mixed dry ingredients to wet ingredients:
1.75 cups of flour
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Once incorporated, add 12 ounces of white Chocolate chips and 10 quartered marshmallows.
Place 1 inch portions on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
Senegalese Banana Coconut Fritters
This delicious dessert is sure to impress you. It’s simple with ingredients that are readily available. We got this recipe from the book Senegal by Pierre Thiam. We are using this book as part of our West Africa unit for homeschool. We love to include regional, cultural and when possible, historical foods. This book offers all of that. It’s a breathtaking journey through Senegal, the people, the food and the culture. You learn about culturally religious foods and celebrations, and in the process you learn what is important to the Senegalese people. This cookbook is more than a cookbook, it’s an experience. We’ve made a couple recipes from this book and we aim to do more. We weren’t sure how we were going to like this dessert, so I halved the recipe.
That was a mistake! It was so delicious, I made it again the following day. We made a few alterations to the recipe, as a Muslim family, we did not add rum to the batter. We also didn’t let it sit for an hour as directed. We were too impatient! I used avocado oil and a sauce pan for frying. Even without the right equipment, you can achieve success with this recipe. I also didn’t have the right kind of shredded coconut, so we took our slivered coconut and pulsed them in the NutriBullet until they were flour consistency. That mixed well with the flour, which was white wheat flour and not millet flour as I didn’t have that on hand. Since the coconut was sweetened, I put less sugar in the batter. That too was a mistake as the batter could have used more sugar. After gently frying the banana fritters a few at a time, I placed them on a paper towel and dusted them with powdered sugar. I paired them with some vanilla ice cream, but I think coconut ice cream would have been even better!
How to Make Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie
It is timely that our unit study on the Colonial Times, the voyage of the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving nestled perfectly with this time of year. Reservations about the actual events aside, this pumpkin pie was delicious, easy and ties in well with our unit study.
I can’t believe I this is my first year making pumpkin pie…it’s so good! I got this recipe from my Martha Stewart cookbook edited by Roy Finamore 1995. The “Perfect Pie Crust” is on page 7 and the Brown Sugar Pumpkin Pie is on page 490.
The ingredients for the Pie Crust:
2 cups flour
1.5 sticks of butter
1/4 tsp. salt
up to 1/4 cup of iced water
Directions:
Cut in butter into sifted flour. Use a pastry tool if needed, but don’t over incorporate or heat the butter. At salt if your butter is unsalted. I added a little bit of brown sugar. Add a bit of iced water to help mix the remaining flour into the mixture.
Roll out pie crust large enough for the pie tin. I found it easier to do this between two sheets of wax paper. You may need to chill the dough. Set the pie crust in the pie pan and put it in the fridge while you make your filling.
The ingredients for Pumpkin Pie:
1 can pumpkin puree (15 oz)
3 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
(or 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice mix)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Direction:
Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated. Fill pie and bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, then drop the temp to 375 and bake for about 30 minutes until a knife cuts clean.
Apple Pie Tartlet Dessert
I had the best of intentions when I bought pound after pound of fresh gala apples at the start of apples season. I wanted to make all kinds of apple deliciousness. We did manage an apple pie and some caramel apples, but then our apples rested at the bottom of the crisper for literally months….
Finally I remembered to add phyllo dough to our shopping list…then another long pause. Finally, and I’m not sure how, but we decided to make these delicious charming apple tartlets. Maybe I was needing to clean out the refrigerator, or maybe the apples were getting too soft, or maybe it was shopping day and I needed room. No one remembers, and no one cares, but these desserts were awesome! And…EASY!! Plus they’d make a stunning addition to your dessert table. Or, you could make them when the kids get home from school. Or, you could make them just to have your home smell of cinnamon and apples. Who doesn’t love that!?
Recipe:
4-5 peeled and dices apples
Juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Phyllo dough and butter
Cupcake tin and circle cookie cutter
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all ingredients together (except butter and phyllo dough). Set aside. Cut large round circles of phyllo dough using a cookie cutter (ours was the Martha Stewart biscuit cutters size 4 inches), and set about 4-5 sheets of phyllo over each cupcake spot. Spoon in a generous amount into the phyllo dough. It was mold into the cupcake tin. Put a pat of butter (1/4 teaspoon) on top of each and sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes. Let cool before taking them out of the cupcake tin.
Tip: If your phyllo dough doesn’t hold up well and falls apart when you remove these mini apples tartlets, try using more sheets of phyllo dough or make your ‘batter’ less moist.