brown sugar Archives - Baked Chicago

Desserts

Heavenly HALO Olive Oil Cake

The olive oil I selected for my recipe was Arbequina. Arbequina is native to the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Arbequina olives produce an extra virgin olive oil that is intensely aromatic and its flavor profile strikes a delightful balance between grassy and peppery notes, finishing with a buttery almond flavor.

I thought that this particular olive oil flavor profile was perfect for an almond-olive oil cake – so I created a recipe for what I am calling Heavenly HALO Olive Oil Cake with a Brown Butter, Citrus & Almond Glaze. HALO stands for:

Honey,
Almond,
Lemon and
Orange

In both the cake batter and in the glaze, the honey, almond, lemon and orange come together in harmony with the olive oil for a symphony of (almost) sinful flavor.

The recipe is simple and you don’t have to bring out the stand mixer. Everything combines easily by hand in just a few mixing bowls.

When you taste the cake, you can tell that it’s made with olive oil because it’s so moist. And you don’t have to smother the cake in glaze because there’s a delicate sweetness to the cake itself that comes from the buttery almond flavor of the Pompeian Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

I absolutely loved how this cake turned out and can’t wait to use the other Pompeian Varietals in my cooking. The other Pompeian Varietals are stronger, bolder in their flavor profiles and lend themselves more to savory dishes. But the Arbequina olive oil is so light and versatile that you could use it in almost any baking recipe.

What’s your favorite recipe for baking with olive oil? If you use the Arbequina extra virgin olive oil in your next baking recipe, be sure to share it here on Baked Chicago. I’d love to hear how it turned out for you. Now pardon me, but a slice of cake and a cup of coffee are calling my name….LOUDLY.

Heavenly HALO Olive Oil Cake with a Brown Butter, Citrus & Almond Glaze

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 servings

Heavenly HALO Olive Oil Cake with a Brown Butter, Citrus & Almond Glaze

Ingredients

For Cake:

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 large eggs

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup Pompeian Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

grated zest of 1 medium lemon

1/2 cup orange juice

For Glaze:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup dry roasted almonds, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Generously grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt to thoroughly combine. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs to break up yolks. Add brown sugar and whisk it thoroughly. Add the olive oil and whisk until mixture is lighter in color and thickened (about 1 minute). Whisk in vanilla and almond extracts, followed by lemon zest and orange juice.

Add dry ingredients to the mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. Continue whisking until batter is smooth and emulsified.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Cake is done when it pulls away from the sides of pan and springs back lightly when touched. A cake tester or toothpick inserted should come out clean.

Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove it and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

While cake cools, make the glaze. Melt butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. When butter is melted, lower heat and watch carefully until it turns a light tan color. Swirl in pan while heating to distribute heat evenly. It should smell slightly nutty. Turn off the heat and let it cool. It will continue to darken.

In a medium bowl, whisk milk with the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Slowly whisk in butter and lemon juice. Stir in chopped almonds. Spread the glaze on top of the cake and let it set.

http://bakedchicago.com/heavenly-halo-olive-oil-cake-recipe/

Desserts

Jazzy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I would never call a chocolate chip cookie boring to its face…but I might talk about it behind its back.

Have you ever craved something sweet and decadent but your brain and your mouth weren’t on the same page? Let me explain my predicament.

Yesterday my mouth really wanted to taste a chocolate chip cookie warm from the oven, but my mind was saying “how effin’ boring!” I personally don’t like confrontation, but when it involves my mind vs my mouth I step in to broker the peace.

As much as I really wanted to taste a chocolate chip cookie, I couldn’t muster the excitement to make a “plain ole chocolate chip cookie,” so I decided to browse the pantry for inspiration. That’s when I came across an unopened package of dried tart cherries, which I picked up over the holidays thinking I might make a cherry-banana bread or something equally festive.

Next to the dried cherries was my Sam’s Club-sized Quaker Oats Old-Fashioned Oats. And for a moment, I thought maybe I’ll make a cherry crisp or cherry cobbler. But that wasn’t my mission; I still wanted that chocolate chip cookie. So I thought why not combine them all into a chocolate chip cookie with oats (nice for added chewiness and fiber) AND the dried tart cherries (a nice counterpoint to the semisweet chocolate chips). My mouth was calling my brain “genius” and my mind was congratulating my mouth on having such good taste. Finally my stomach had to break up this mutual admiration society to get the recipe in motion.

Jazzy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Because the inspiration for this recipe was to break out of the ordinary and try new ingredient combinations, I exchanged the butter I would normally use for some extra virgin olive oil. And I added a heaping tablespoon of ground cinnamon to play off the tart cherries to create a subtle cherry crisp flavor note.

This is a one-bowl recipe that is easy to mix by hand. Simply put all the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips and dried cherries) in a very large mixing bowl. Whisk together to combine. Then add the wet ingredients. Stir to combine thoroughly, then fold in the chocolate chips and dried cherries.

If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you could take about 1 tablespoon of dough and roll it into a ball. I tested both techniques in the first batch and found that the cookies were more uniform and held together better on the baking sheet when I used the cookie scoop. Another trick for less mess: In addition to lining my baking sheets with parchment paper, I put parchment paper underneath the wire racks. That way any crumbs from the cooling process fall onto the parchment paper.

I also used a food styling trick that I learned watching some Food Network show: reserve some chocolate chips before folding them into the batter. Then put a few chips on top of each dough ball. That way each cookie will have chips on top, making it more visually appealing.

These cookies may look small, but they are dense and chewy. And nearly overflowing with chocolate chips. I rarely recommend “less chocolate” but in this recipe you could easily use half as many chocolate chips as called for in the recipe and you might not notice a difference in the taste.

I decided to call this recipe Jazzy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies because with the addition of the dried tart cherries, rolled oats and ground cinnamon, this cookie is anything but boring.

What ingredients would you add to a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe to take it from drab to fab?

Jazzy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 large eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 cup dried red tart cherries

2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, olive oil, eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined and the dough is moist. The dough will be dense and crumbly. Fold in the cherries and chocolate chips.

Using a cookie scoop, place dough balls (roughly equivalent to 1 tablespoon of dough) on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

http://bakedchicago.com/jazzy-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/

Desserts

Jazzy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I would never call a chocolate chip cookie boring to its face…

but I might talk about it behind its back.

Have you ever craved something sweet and decadent but your brain and your mouth weren’t on the same page? Let me explain my predicament.

Jazzy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I decided to call this recipe Jazzy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies because with the addition of the dried tart cherries, rolled oats and ground cinnamon, this cookie is anything but boring.

What ingredients would you add to a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe to take it from drab to fab?

Jazzy Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 large eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 cup dried red tart cherries

2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips (60% cacao)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Using a cookie scoop, place dough balls (roughly equivalent to 1 tablespoon of dough) on the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

http://bakedchicago.com/jazzy-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/

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Desserts

Heavenly HALO Olive Oil Cake

When I was asked to create a recipe for a new flavor of premium extra virgin olive oil, I jumped at the chance. I love baking with olive oil because it makes cakes so rich, moist. The folks over at Pompeian have created a premium line of mono-varietal (i.e. produced from a single grape) extra virgin olive oils called the Pompeian Varietals Collection. This new line is meant to celebrate the unique flavor profile that a single type of olive provides, while allowing the consumer a chance to learn about the unique journey behind each bottle.

The collection consists of three types of olives:

Arbequina – a mild-bodied extra virgin olive oil with a round taste of fruitiness and a delicate sweetness.
Picholine – a medium-bodied extra virgin olive oil with a fruitiness and hints of herbs that works well with meats or sauces.
Koroneiki – a full-bodied extra virgin olive oil with robust fruitiness and a peppery finish that is perfect for soups or salads.

One of the cool things about Pompeian Varietals is that you can track the story of the olives from harvest to your table. You can uncover the history behind each bottle — starting at the mill, country and harvest date and ending at your very own kitchen table.

Honey,
Almond,
Lemon and
Orange

In both the cake batter and in the glaze, the honey, almond, lemon and orange come together in harmony with the olive oil for a symphony of (almost) sinful flavor.

The recipe is simple and you don’t have to bring out the stand mixer. Everything combines easily by hand in just a few mixing bowls.

Heavenly HALO Olive Oil Cake with a Brown Butter, Citrus & Almond Glaze

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 12 servings

Heavenly HALO Olive Oil Cake with a Brown Butter, Citrus & Almond Glaze

Ingredients

For Cake:

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 large eggs

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup Pompeian Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract

grated zest of 1 medium lemon

1/2 cup orange juice

For Glaze:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup dry roasted almonds, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Generously grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt to thoroughly combine. Set aside.

Add dry ingredients to the mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined. Continue whisking until batter is smooth and emulsified.

Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove it and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

In a medium bowl, whisk milk with the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Slowly whisk in butter and lemon juice. Stir in chopped almonds. Spread the glaze on top of the cake and let it set.

http://bakedchicago.com/heavenly-halo-olive-oil-cake/

Desserts

Chocolate Guinness Stout Mug Cake

On St. Patrick’s Day, everybody is Irish! Here in Chicago, we take the holiday very seriously. We’ve got a South Side parade, a downtown parade and we even dye the Chicago River green. After a weekend of getting your drink on, how about a sweet Guinness-infused treat you can make in less than 2 minutes in your microwave? Try this Chocolate Guinness Stout Mug Cake for a decadent dessert that’s perfectly portioned for one!

The malt of the Guinness Stout Beer intensifies the flavor of the chocolate. There are several kinds of stout beers: dry (Irish), imperial (Russian), porter, milk, oatmeal, coffee, oyster and even chocolate stout. Chocolate and beer often makes for a great combination in recipes. Served warm and topped off with chocolate syrup and whipped cream is delish. This chocolate Guinness stout mug cake is super moist, but feel free to pair it with a pint!

Need to feed a crowd? Try these Stout-Glazed Brownies.

Chocolate Guinness Stout Mug Cake

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 2 minutes

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tablespoons milk

splash of vanilla extract

3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

6 tablespoons Guinness stout

chocolate syrup and whipped cream for garnish

Instructions

With a small whisk or fork, mix all the ingredients in a microwave-safe beer mug until batter is smooth.

Cook on HIGH in a microwave for about 90 seconds. Do not overcook or the cake becomes rubbery.

Let cool slightly, then top with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Sláinte!

http://bakedchicago.com/chocolate-guinness-stout-mug-cake/

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Desserts

Peanut Butter Lava Mug Cake

Sometimes cooking isn’t pretty. But that’s okay as long as it’s delicious. And that’s exactly the case here with this recipe for Peanut Butter Lava Mug Cake. It looks like a disaster, but it tastes rich, gooey and delicious.

For all of the peanut butter lovers out there (raise your hands high!), happy National Peanut Butter Lovers Day. In the midst of this cold winter, we get a single day that is meant to satisfy us until we get to Peanut Butter Lovers Month in November. That’s a long time away, but if there’s any food stuff worthy of the wait it’s peanut butter!

Sometimes you want a quick sweet treat but you don’t want to make an entire cake. This mug cake is the best of everything:

Cooks in 2 minutes for the impatient among us
Rich, decadent and uses the same quality ingredients you’d use in a full-size version
Great portion control for anyone who can’t be trusted with more than a single-serving

The “lava” in this recipe is the rich peanut butter that you plop in the bottom of the mug, so when it’s inverted it ends up on top of the cake. Do you wanna go mega-Pompeii-style? Add some chocolate syrup for more choco-lava goodness. Now that’s a delicious disaster I can’t wait to taste!

Peanut Butter Lava Mug Cake

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 3 minutes

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients

2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Spray the inside of a large microwave-safe coffee mug (at least 16 ounces) with non-stick cooking spray.

Place peanut butter in the bottom of the mug. Set aside.

In a small microwavable bowl, add the butter and brown sugar. Heat on HIGH for 45 seconds, then stir with a fork. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Stir in cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into coffee mug.

Microwave on 50% power for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until set. Don't overcook. If additional cooking time is needed, do so in 20- or 30-second intervals. Invert mug onto a plate. Serve immediately.

http://bakedchicago.com/peanut-butter-lava-mug-cake/

Snacks & Candies

Ooh La La: Homemade French Burnt Peanuts Bring Back Childhood Memories

I think everyone waxes a bit nostalgic when it comes to memories of favorite childhood treats. When I think back to the sodas and snacks I had as a kid, I’m kind of surprised at how they’ve evolved over the years. The simple, delicious M&Ms® reigned supreme for Halloween trick-or-treating and the Snickers® candy bar was the new kid on the block.

Today, there are so many varieties and flavors – in addition to the original versions – it can make your head spin. Even soda has changed exponentially. As a kid, I remember stopping at the park canteen after swimming lessons for a fountain Green River® soda. I can’t tell you what the flavor tasted like, but I remember I obsessed over it.

Back to snacks (everything always comes back to snacks, right?). One of those childhood candies that appears to be no more is French burnt peanuts. Specifically Brach’s® French Burnt Peanuts. If you’ve ever had them, you know exactly what I mean. They were crunchy and sweet and oddly bright red. And oh so addictive (the sugar, right!).

Every know and again I get a craving for those French burnt peanuts and for a few years I was able to locate them online via Amazon. But in my latest search, I realized that the Brach’s version of French Burnt Peanuts has gone away. I searched and searched online for possible recipes to recreate the flavors, but nothing I found online really recreated the right texture and colors.

So I decided to give it a try to adapt some of the better recipes I found to see if I could get just a few steps closer to that Brach’s standard that I so fondly remembered. You only need 4 ingredients: peanuts, sugar, water and food coloring. You put all the ingredients in a pot and heat over medium-high until all the moisture had evaporated. At first, it will feel like it’s taking too long. You’ll wonder if you’re doing something wrong. Be patient. The mixture needs to boil, or in this case foam, to help with the transformation of the coating.

Regularly stir the mixture to ensure even coating. The last few minutes will rapidly accelerate as the sugar and water foams; watch closely because if all the water is gone the remaining sugar may easily burn. The mixture will be very sticky and dry.

Now you’re ready to bake them in the final step. You’ll notice from the above image before you pop them in the oven that the color is a bright pink / light red. I tried a number of variations in the food coloring but never really got past light red. Something tells me the vibrant red color burned into my childhood memories “may” be un-achievable with today’s food coloring. Stir the mixture every 15 minutes. When done, let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

While the final product doesn’t have the same dark red color of the original, these French burnt peanuts taste as good, if not better, than the childhood snack I remembered. And with this end-product, I can actually taste the quality of the peanuts and brown sugar. They say you can’t go home again, but in this case I think this recipe got darn close in some respects and totally hit the mark in most.

Homemade French Burnt Peanuts

Rating: 51

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 2 cups

Homemade French Burnt Peanuts

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups dry roasted peanuts

6 drops red food coloring

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 250F degrees. Line a jelly roll with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine all of the ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until moisture evaporates.

Spread out the peanuts on the prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes, stirring and breaking up large clumps every 15 minutes.

Let cool completely and store in an air-tight container for up to 10 days.

http://bakedchicago.com/french-burnt-peanuts/

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Breakfast

Cinnamon-Sour Cream Pancakes with Blueberries

Breakfast is great any time of the day. One of my favorite breakfasts to make for visiting family during the holidays is pancakes, which are sometimes also called:

flapjacks
skillet cakes
hotcakes
griddle cakes
crepes blintzes
latkes
johnny cakes

No matter what you call them, they are delish. The sour cream makes these blueberry pancakes extra fluffy and light, and they will melt in your mouth. What’s your favorite garnish for the top of a big ‘ole stack of hotcakes?

Cinnamon-Sour Cream Pancakes with Blueberries

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yield: about 16 four-inch pancakes

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups buttermilk

¼ cup sour cream

2 eggs

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1 to 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, for the pan

1 cup fresh blueberries for garnish

maple syrup

Instructions

Whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, eggs and melted butter.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Gently stir until just combined (batter should remain lumpy with a few streaks of flour). Do not overmix.

Heat vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Using a paper towel, carefully wipe out the oil, leaving a thin film of oil on the bottom of the pan. Using ¼ cup to measure, portion batter for 3 to 4 pancakes in the pan. Cook until the edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break (about 2 to 3 minutes).

Flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown (about 1 to 2 minutes more). Serve pancakes immediately with syrup and blueberries on top. Repeat with remaining batter.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

http://bakedchicago.com/cinnamon-sour-cream-pancakes-blueberries/

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