Real Chocolate Chip Cookies

M has been begging me for chocolate chip cookies.  I had not found a good real food recipe yet, so I didn't have one on hand when he asked.  I spent some time perusing Teh Interwebz for a good recipe to modify, but nothing really spoke to me.  Then I remembered that my sister T has a good recipe in the Martha Stewart Cookies book that I had made before.  So I tracked that one down, modified it with real food and it turned out beautifully!

I haven't been making much food in the past several days, since developing a nasty cold given to me lovingly by my boys.  It was nice to mix up some cookie dough and make the house smell warm and homey while knowing that the next morning my little M would wake up to cookies for breakfast.  I didn't worry about the fact that they were eating cookies for breakfast, and here's why:

grass-fed butter is good for you

palm shortening is good for you

sprouted whole grain flour is good for you

sea salt is good for you

pastured eggs are good for you

rapadura is good for you (in small amounts, not at every meal)

cacao nibs are good for you

I made these cookies, and they were not only good for my kids, but tasted pretty good too.  The recipe yields a flatter, chewy cookie.  The rapadura and homemade vanilla give a nice earthy, carmel flavor.  The cacao nibs give a nice chocolatey crunch.  Enjoy it with glass of crisp, clean raw milk and afternoon snacktime is a big hit.

This recipe makes quite a bit of dough.  Feel free to freeze half the dough in logs wrapped in plastic wrap and then placed in a freezer bag.  That's what I did.

Real Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks (1 cup) grass-fed butter (I used Kerrygold)

1 cup palm shortening* (I used Tropical Traditions, it's made by non-exploited workers)

3 cups rapadura, or other whole sweetener* (I used Rapunzel I bought from Azure Standard)

4 large eggs (I used duck eggs.  Yes, duck eggs!)

2 teaspoons Homemade Vanilla Extract

3 1/2 cups sprouted whole grain flour (I used soft white wheat berries)

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt (I used Celtic Sea Salt)

2 teaspoons baking soda (I used aluminum-free from Food Wise)

1 1/2 cups cacao nibs (I bought these in bulk at Whole Foods)

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.  In a stand mixer, cream butter and palm shortening until creamy.  Add rapadura and cream together until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  

2.  Into a large bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda.  Whisk with a wire whisk to remove lumps and sift ingredients together.  Add to wet ingredients in stand mixer slowly.  Mix until combined.  Fold in cacao nibs.

3.  Drop by large spoonfuls (2-3 tablespoons) either with a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop.  Space at least 2 inches apart to give them room to spread.  Bake two cookie sheets at a time with racks placed in the upper and lower thirds of your oven.

4.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden.  Remove from cookie sheets and let cool on cooling racks.

Chicken Tetrazini

This is a recipe from my SIL Kristen. I have modified it to include pasta I made by soaking the dough overnight to reduce phytic acid. I also added some herbaceous goodness to the sauce with basil and marjoram at the suggestion of my friend G. It came together very nicely when I made it for lunch yesterday.

I also see that this recipe is nothing like the "Chicken Tetrazini" in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Who knows what that is all about? So, full disclaimer: I don't know if this is really Chicken Tetrazini, but that's what I call it. Enjoy!

Chicken Tetrazini

8 oz. soaked or sprouted pasta (I used durum wheat berries ground up for my pasta)
3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
3 cups homemade chicken broth/stock
½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup Cheddar cheese, grated (I used raw, grass-fed)
1 cup milk or cream
5 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons sprouted flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cook pasta until tender and drain. In a large saucepan, melt butter and gradually whisk in flour to make a roux. Gradually stir in broth, whisking continuously. Add milk and parmesan cheese, stirring with a wooden spoon until all cheese is melted. Cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and thickens.
2. Season with salt and pepper, basil and marjoram. Add chicken and pasta into saucepan and combine. Pour into buttered 9x13 pan. Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over top. Bake for about 30 minutes, until cheese has melted and begins to brown.

Basic Brownies

These brownies have such a nice flavor. I can't really describe it, but it reminds me of Cadbury chocolate or something. At any rate, they are easy and yummy. I just sprouted some wheat berries a few days ago and yesterday dehydrated them and ground them up to use for flour. Soooo worth it to make treats :)

Basic Brownies
from my friends Taryn and Corey

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped
8 T. (1 stick) unsalted grass-fed butter (I used Kerrygold)
1 cup rapadura/sucanat/palm sugar
2 pastured eggs
½ cup sprouted flour (I used soft white wheat)
pinch sea salt
½ tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and line with buttered parchment paper an 8-inch square pan. Set aside.
Combine chocolate and butter in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring occasionally. When just melted, remove from heat and continue stirring until smooth. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in sugar. Beat in eggs on at a time. Gently fold in flour, salt and vanilla.
Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake 20-25, or until barely set in the middle. Cool on a rack completely before refrigerating for at least 4 hours, wrapped. Then remove and cut into even squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Mini-egg Brownies (Sophia Gathering Version)

Mini-egg Brownies

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into ¼-inch pieces
4 large eggs
2 cups rapadura
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sprouted flour
one bag Cadbury mini-eggs

Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let stand 2 minutes, and then whisk smooth. If all the chocolate has not melted, return to very low heat and stir constantly until the chocolate melts.
In a large bowl, use a rubber spatula to stir one egg into one cup of the rapadura. Make sure any lumps in the sugar are dissolved. Add the remaining eggs, one at a time, stirring each in with the rubber spatula in the same way. Stir in the other cup of rapadura, then the vanilla and salt. Stir in the chocolate mixture.
Finally, fold in the flour, then 2 cups of the mini-eggs.
Prepare a 9x13x2 pan by buttering it and then lining it with parchment paper and buttering the parchment paper at the very last. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Scatter the remaining mini-eggs over the top of the batter.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick or a small knife inserted into the center emerges clean. Cool completely on a rack.
Wrap and refrigerate the pan so that the cake solidifies completely, at least 4 hours but overnight is best. This also makes the cake easier to cut.
Transfer the whole cake to a cutting board and slide a long knife or spatula under it to loosen the paper, and then pull it away. Use a ruler to mark, and then cut the cake into 2-inch squares.
For up to several days, store the brownies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting cover. Freeze for longer storage. If you plan to keep the brownies for any length of time, it is better to wrap them individually.

Ann Arbor's Finest Molasses Crinkles

I made these tonight, and even though they are more likely enjoyed in the fall I am sure they will disappear quickly from the cookie jar.

Quick notes: grass-fed butter gives you vitamin k2, sprouted flour reduces phytic acid, rapadura is whole cane sugar with all the vitamins and minerals found in the plant.

Ann Arbor’s Finest Molasses Crinkles

from The M Den in Ann Arbor

¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, softened (I used Kerrygold, it is grass-fed)
1 cup packed brown sugar (I used rapadura)
¼ cup molasses (I used unsulphured)
1 egg
2¼ cup sifted flour (I used sprouted flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
½ tsp. cloves
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup granulated sugar, for dipping (I used rapadura)

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add molasses and egg; combine. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to the mixing bowl and blend well. Remove bowl and chill for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. (I skipped the chilling, and just scooped directly onto the cookie sheet with a small ice cream scoop.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove dough from fridge and roll into 1-inch balls. Put sugar into a shallow bowl and dips the tops of the balls in. (I just sprinkled the rapadura on top.) Place on parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Enjoy! Go Blue!

Homemade Jumbleberry Pie

I finally bit the bullet and committed to make a completely nourishing pie. In honor of R's birthday yesterday, complete with rapadura for sugar and sprouted wheat flour for white flour, the pie was a hit among the entire family, even those not avoiding sugar or white flour. I also used grass-fed butter and organic frozen berries from Trader Joe's.

I say this is a nourishing pie because if you buy grass-fed butter it is full of vitamin K2. You can google vitamin K2 and get a lot of information about it, but I like these two links here (basic K2 info) and here (list of vitamin K2-rich foods).

The rapadura is full of nutrients because it is the only form of sugar processed without ever being separated from the molasses. It is considered a whole food.

Sprouted flour is neutralized of it's phytic acid, so you can absorb all the good trace elements in the grain like calcium, magnesium, etc. You can buy sprouted flour, make your own, or ask me to show you and we will have a sprouting party. You do need a dehydrator and a grain mill if you want to make your own. (Basically you soak wheat berries overnight in mason jars with sprouting lids or screens, then drain and rinse a few times a day until the sprouts are showing in the wheat berries. Then you dehydrate at a low setting (95 degrees or so) for 8-12 hours. Then grind in a wheat grinder.)

Berries, being full of antioxidants and also pesticide-free and GMO-free if bought organic, are just plain delicious.

Double Pie Crust
adapted from Cheeseslave's recipe

3 cups sprouted wheat flour
3 and 1/4 sticks (26 Tablespoons) of grass-fed butter, cut into small pieces, very cold, preferably straight from the fridge
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons rapadura (or Sucanat, maple sugar, palm sugar)
3/4 cup ice water

1. Make pie dough: Mix flour, salt and sugar with a whisk in a bowl to sift.
2. Take butter out of the fridge and sprinkle small pieces over flour mixture. Using a combination of a pastry cutter and your hands (or just your hands), cut in the butter until the crumbs are between the size of peas and olives. Add ice water a little at a time, blending with your hands, until the dough comes together.
3. Lay out two pieces of plastic wrap and put half of your pie dough on each. Using your hands under the plastic wrap, form each pile into a ball, then flatten and wrap up in the plastic wrap. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes. You can also make this ahead of time and store in the freezer for a few days, moving it into the fridge for a few hours when you are ready to use it.
4. Make pie filling:

Jumbleberry Pie Filling

Mix together:
5 cups of berries--I eyeballed equal amounts of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries
3/4 cup rapadura (or Sucanat, maple sugar, palm sugar)
1/3 cup sprouted wheat flour
2 tsp. lemon zest (optional) (I forgot this)

Continue with pie assembly:
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. When ready to roll out, pull ONE flattened ball out of fridge and roll on a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin. Have your pie dish ready so you can properly estimate how large to roll your dough. When dough round is the right size, use your rolling pin to move it by rolling your dough around the rolling pin like a scroll and gently transferring it to unroll over the dish. Ease it into the dish and press down flush.
6. Pour filling into pie. Set aside.
7. Take out remaining ball of pie dough from fridge. Roll out on a floured surface, not as big as the last round since it only needs to be on top of the pie. Transfer over to filled pie. Press edges together with fingers. Cut excess off of edges of pie with a sharp knife. Press edges again with a fork, dipped in a little flour if sticking to pie dough edge. Poke decorative holes into top of pie with sharp knife. Brush entire top of pie with whole milk. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (I used a little turbinado sugar I am trying to get rid of; you could use rapadura, but it would look darker). Cover edges with foil to prevent over-browning.
8. Bake for 25-50 minutes, longer for frozen berries. Then remove foil and let bake completely uncovered for another 20-30 minutes or so until the pie looks perfectly brown. Cool on a wire rack.
(Serve with real whipped cream sweetened with rapadura, or homemade vanilla ice cream made with raw milk and raw cream. Yum!!!)