Category Archives: Dessert

Chocolate Peppermint Brownie Cookies

Posted in Dessert, Holiday by

Is a brownie cookie called a brookie? Is that a thing? Brownie cookie seems like too many words for the modern person so am thinking we call these brookies. Regardless, these are delicious and easy and beautiful. Too bad we ate them before I could take a picture…. Guess we’ll need to make another batch 🙂

What you’ll need:

  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (fine to use chocolate chips or you can chop up a bar of chocolate)
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
  • 4 ounces chocolate chips (bittersweet or semisweet — whatever you have on hand)
  • Crushed candy canes for garnish

What to do:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees (convection is always best for baking if you have that option). Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  • Combine the 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and the butter in a small heatproof bowl. Bring about an inch of water to a boil in a small saucepan, reduce to a simmer, then set bowl on top (make sure bottom of bowl doesn’t touch the water). Stir chocolate and butter until completely melted then remove from saucepan and let cool.
  • Combine eggs and both sugars in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed to combine then increase speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Scrape down sides of bowl as needed to make sure everything is properly combined. Add vanilla and peppermint extracts and beat to incorporate.
  • Add the chocolate and butter mixture to the eggs and sugar and beat on medium speed to combine. Reduce speed to low and slowly add in flour mixture until just incorporated. Remove bowl from mixer and give the dough a good stir to make sure everything is well combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of chocolate chips.
  • Using a small scoop or tablespoon measure out dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment spacing each scoop 3 inches apart. You should get about 18 portions. Top each cookie with a good pinch of crushed candy cane. Bake about 8 minutes or until surface is crinkly and edges are firm, rotating sheets top to bottom halfway through.
  • Let cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Dairy-Free Strawberry Pistachio Ice Cream

Posted in Dessert by

Well I seem to have gone on hiatus from blogging…. Oops. I didn’t stop experimenting in the kitchen though! Just lazzzzyyyy. I’m breaking the silence with something really cool and unique I came up with recently that is perfect for summer (and easy on the tummy). I have become a huge fan of nut milks recently (homemade!) and thought it would be really cool to make a custard base for ice cream using nut milk instead of heavy cream. My mom LOVES pistachio ice cream so I had some raw unsalted pistachios on hand… Why not make pistachio milk ice cream?! Strawberries are a perfect pairing for pistachios and since it’s summer they are in season. This could be made vegan by omitting the eggs but the result would be icier. The texture is somewhere between ice cream and sorbet and it’s the perfect amount of sweetness. Enjoy!

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What you’ll need:

  • 3 cups pistachio milk (recipe follows)
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • Juice from one lemon
  • 1/2 cup roasted pistachios

Directions:

  • Heat pistachio milk in a heavy saucepan over low heat until just simmering (do not boil!). Remove from heat.
  • While milk is heating whisk egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar in bowl until light and frothy. Add a ladleful of hot milk to egg yolks to temper, whisking hard. Pour egg mixture back into saucepan with the remaining hot milk and stir to combine.
  • Return custard base to low heat and stir continuously until mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon, about five minutes (can take longer).
  • Pour custard through a mesh strainer into a clean bowl and add almond extract. Cool then refrigerate for at least two hours (I typically do overnight).
  • Combine strawberries in a bowl with lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar. Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
  • Puree strawberries in a blender or food processor to desired consistency (I kept mine chunky). Add strawberries to custard base and refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
  • Churn mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions (I did mine in a Cuisinart machine for ~25 minutes). The ice cream should look like soft serve. Add roasted pistachios and churn for 30 seconds (or longer) to combine.
  • Eat right away if you prefer soft serve texture or freeze for an hour to produce a harder ice cream.
  • Enjoy!!

 

Pistachio Milk:

  • Soak 1 cup raw, unsalted pistachios in water for at least one day (I typically do two).
  • Rinse nuts then place in blender with 2 cups of water. Pulse to break up the nuts then blend on high power for a minute.
  • Pour mixture through cheese cloth placed into a mesh strainer. You may need to squeeze the cheese cloth to get all of the liquid out. You should end up with ~3 cups of pistachio milk.
  • Keep refrigerated and consume within 3 days.