Triple Citrus Ricotta Cookies

I discovered something new this weekend. (Aside from a who-knows-how-old dust bunny under my bed.) 

I didn't discover this thing though, really. I was introduced to it. And people have been watching it for ages now.. or since they installed the traffic cameras in Philly. So I "discovered" it, in much the same way Columbus discovered our great nation.

Philadelphia has a television channel... devoted... to... traffic cameras. Rotating camera views of different points on all major highways set to an eclectic mix of music spanning all genres and ages. No repeats (on the music, that is). And it's titled... Jams and Cams.

I know what you're thinking. What happens if you happen to witness a horrible accident? Or just any accident really? Are you supposed to do something about it? I would think so. Thus, there is a lot of responsibility that comes in watching this channel. It's not for the faint of heart.

And now you know what I did this weekend (other than to make these cookies of course). I went to the gym. I ate a delicious meal of bbq brisket out. I drank some beers to kick of Philly Beer Week. And I watched Jams and Cams. I'm so cool.

Soundtrack: I like this.

Triple Citrus Ricotta Cookies

Adapted from Giada DeLaurentis Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Yield: ~3 dozen cookies

2 1/2 c ap flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 c sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
6 tbsp of citrus juices, divided*
~ 1 tbsp zest of the mixed citrus used for juices

1/2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 1/2 c powdered sugar

*I used 2 tbsp orange juice, 2 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tbsp lime juice. Combined them in a bowl and then measured out 3 tbsp of the mix when needed, thus I had 1 tbsp of each in the cookies and in the glaze. You will need 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1/2 an orange for this. Also of note: I used fresh squeezed orange juice, not sure the effect that carton juice would have.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, stir flour, baking powder and salt with a whisk until combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, continuously beating the mixture. Once eggs are combined, add ricotta cheese, 3 tbsp of mixed citrus juice, and the zest. Beat just until combined.

Using a spatula, stir in the dry mix and poppy seeds. Dough will be very moist, more similar to a batter.

Spoon ~ 1 tbsp drops of dough onto lined cookie sheets. Dough will spread when baking, so make sure to leave room. (These are a flat cookie, not raised.)

Bake for 15 minutes (or until golden brown at the edges). Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the cookie sheets for ~20 minutes before glazing.

While cookies are cooling, whisk together the remaining 3 tbsp of citrus juice and 1 1/2 c powdered sugar, to create a glaze. Once cookies are cooled, spoon ~1/2 tsp of glaze onto each cookie and spread to coat.

Glaze will need to cool ~2 hrs before storing.

Fall Fruit Walnut Crisp

Guess what!? I'm back. I took a few days off to do some things. Secret things. Wouldn't you like to know? (You wouldn't. I'm not that cool.) I wasn't even gone that long. I just wanted to be dramatic about it and link to that Eminem video for mah girl Kerry (shout out!!!).

But anyway, I'm back and I've got more Fall stuff to make you roll your eyes. Apples! Pears! Cranberries! Walnuts! and BUTTER! (Yea, butter is totally a Fall staple. So is cheese. And squash.)

If anyone read my pumpkin pie with dark chocolate ganache recipe and still thinks they can't make pie crust despite my pleading and disco inspired persuasion, a crisp is a great way to fake it. I actually like crisps more than pies anyway. Brown sugar and butter bubble down from the crust and form a delicious sauce with the fruit in the bottom of the baking dish. The topping is sweet and crunchy and just the right amount pastry-y (you know what I'm talking about). You probably can't frost them though (or maybe you can - I'll work on that).

Then, you can get really lazy with me and not even peel your fruit. Well, some call this lazy, I think it makes it prettier. (Ok, it started as laziness, but I like the way it looks.)

Also, who knew there were this many different types of baked fruit desserts? I can't wait to make a grunt. Uuhhh. Bonus points if you know the difference between a betty and a cobbler without looking!

Soundtrack: The Non-Commissioned Officers (Myspace link)

Fall Fruit Walnut Crisp

3/4 c ap flour

3/4 c brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 c chopped walnuts

1 stick (1/2 c) butter

2 medium Bartlett pears

1 medium Granny Smith apple

1 medium Gala apple

1/4 c craisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add to the bowl of a food processor the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt and walnuts and pulse to combine. Cut butter into 8 pats and drop into the bowl. Pulse until just combined, being careful not to over-process. (Alternately, combine in a medium bowl and cut butter in using a pastry cutter or 2 knives. The knives thing is a PITA, trust me. It totally can be done, but you should get a food processor.) The mixture should look like coarse breadcrumbs. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Grease an 8x8 cake pan or baking dish. Core the apples and pears. Cut into cubes, but do not peel. Add to baking dish with craisins, evenly interspersing the fruit around the dish.

Top the fruit with the dough, adding in clumps. It should form an even crust once patted together.

Bake dish for 45-50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Serve warm and top with whipped cream (or even better, ice cream! I'd suggest vanilla, but Adam wanted chocolate.). 

Please, note the small white dog in the bottom right corner of
this photo, scavenging off the ground

Beautiful Fall colors!

FlufferNutter Bread

Hello. Good evening. How are ya? I'd like to introduce you to my first guest blog.... Drum roll please.... Internet world, meet Becca. She's awesome and funny. We have that in common. We also both like to dance and make delicious foods (both separately and simultaneously).


 I also LOVE love LOVE love LOVE Fluff. So much so that I have actually received tubs of it as a birthday present on more than on occasion. And I am SO excited about this guest post.


TAKE IT AWAY BECCA:


Hi. My name is Becca. I like to bake (sorry if you don't.) I also like to dance (and I'm really sorry if you don't.) Meghan has graciously allowed me to share a recipe with you, but if we're being completely honest here, I mailed Meghan some baked goods, demanded a guest post in return, and now you're stuck with me. You're welcome.

Meghan and I instantly bonded a little over a year ago through mutual friends. And although I only see her once in awhile, we are practically Internet best friends. Her recipes make me want to eat my computer screen, and one night when I was in Northern Virginia, I was lucky enough to eat two of these to go with the whole pint of chocolate peanut butter ice cream I ate as well.


Don't worry, I'm actively judging myself, too. Those darn cupcakes were like little pieces of heaven in my mouth, and the cupcakes (and Meghan!) deserve a +1 because bananas could be one of my favorite things to bake with. Seriously.


When I go to the store to buy bananas, about 30% of the bananas will go on top of my peanut butter waffles or in smoothies that I make for a quick meal. The other 70% do not have the same fate. They are left to sit on my kitchen counter until I deem them "ready to bake with".

I decided one day that I would take it upon myself to recreate a sandwich that I had as a child growing up. I was that kid in elementary school whose parents' refused to buy them Lunchables unless it was a special occasion. I begged and pleaded with Fred and Zena to buy them because if I didn't show up to school with one for lunch I would be deemed an outcast, and end up with no friends. And look at me now. I'm forcing myself onto food blogs to make invisible Internet friends.

So instead of opening my lunchbox and finding a Lunchable, I would normally find a sandwich of some sort. Ham on a bad day (I don't like ham), and peanut butter on a good day. But, on the best days I would find a fluffernutter sandwich! And everyone knows the ONLY way to have one of these is with a banana, right?! And that is why my friends, the fluffernutter banana bread was born.

In the first batch, the banana overpowered the bread and the marshmallow was an afterthought. I decided then and there I had to bake it again, with some modifications. After some serious deliberation and conversations with myself this past Saturday, I decided to make a second batch. And this one was just right. Since baking with the fluff, I have decided it is the STD of baking. It gets everywhere. It's messy. You find it in places you don't want it to be...I think you get the idea. Maybe you'll want to choose a marshmallow more wisely, ifyoucatchmydrift.

The perfect music to bake to on a rainy afternoon.
Wolf + Lamb Podcast: Slow Hands - Live at Ego (Aug 2011)


Fluffernutter Bread - Yields 1 standard-sized loaf or 3 mini loaves
Inspired by my Childhood

1 stick of butter, softened (Earth Balance is also good, I used this in the second trial)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1.5 cups AP flour (I used a 50/50 combination of AP flour and Whole Wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 very ripe medium-sized bananas, a little less than a cup's worth
1/2 cup Greek yogurt (you can substitute sour cream, but I always have Greek yogurt on hand, and the amount of protein (11g) makes me think this bread could be deemed healthy...)
1/2 cup Reese's peanut butter chips
1/4 cup unsalted, natural, creamy pb (I use TJ's peanut butter, it's less than $2.00 a jar here!)
1 cup marshmallow fluff, or miniature marshmallows - set aside a little for garnish


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.


Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar - add two eggs to the mixture.


Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Add dry ingredients to your butter mixture, until just combined.


In another bowl, combine the mashed banana, Greek yogurt, and vanilla. Fold in the Peanut butter chips.


Add the banana mixture to the other ingredients, and slowly fold the banana mixture in with the other ingredients.


In a separate pan on the stove, or a microwave safe bowl, melt the peanut butter and marshmallow together.


Grease your pan of choice. Begin the layering process by first adding the batter, and then a generous scoop of peanut butter marshmallow. Using a toothpick, swirl the peanut butter mixture around the batter. Layer more batter on top, and repeat the same process until you are about half-way up the pan. For the top layer, I took some fluff and swirled it on the top, and it gives the bread a nice marshmallow-y, yummy coating.


Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes if you're using mini-pans, or about 55 minutes for the larger pan. If you are unsure if the bread is done baking, see if the edges are dark brown, and stick a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, the bread is done.


Take out of the oven and let the bread rest (in the pan) for 5 minutes, and then transport bread to a wire rack to cool

Matt's Munchies - Ginger Spice Granola

Ugh. Ok guys, I gotta admit I'm really slacking here. After hearing so many wonderful (and much appreciated) compliments on my little blog here last weekend, I feel like I owe you more. But ya know how it goes...work and stuff. Harry Potter happened and Jags wanted to go swimming. Had to get my glasses fixed, had to sleep forever on Saturday, etc, etc. I haven't even been going to the gym lately! GOD, who am I even? I promise I will go this week. I promise I will go this week. I promise.... blah. (I need some new gym tunes! Send me some shit!)


But all that aside, let's get back down to it shall we? Oh. thank. god. Time to talk about food again. Recently a friend of mine approached me to create a recipe for his line of fruit leathers, which I am actually totally obsessed with, so naturally I was pretty excited about all of this.

Serving suggestion!
(For vegan friendly, use almond milk! Vanilla? Yumm)

Fruit leather. Hmm. Because I mean, even I gotta admit it doesn't sound like it's going to taste all that great. Or at least the consistency should be awful. Right? Leather? But honestly I. LOVE. THIS. STUFF. Self described, Matt's Munchies, "are pure and natural Fruit Leathers in 9 palate pleasing flavors, all less then 100 calories per one ounce serving," (Ok, it should read "than", but I'll let that slide. God, I have issues.) and they aren't kidding. Check out their site for specifics, but they are gluten-free, vegan, and organic. They never contain more than like 4 ingredients (most have just 1 or 2) and are all fruit based (either banana or mango are used as a base - even for the apple flavors!). 


But most importantly, do they taste good? Fuck. YEA. they do! Island Mango is my fave (Matt gave me one to consider for a recipe, but I ate it instead. Oops.) then Ginger Spice (who also happened to be my favorite Spice Girl). Plus, how can you not support something that uses as many exclamation marks on it's packaging as Matt's Munchies? (I'm actually serious about that.)


This recipe was made with the Ginger Spice flavor (because, like I said, I ate the Island Mango flavor). I tried my best to stay true to the healthy and all natural snack that is Matt's Munchies. Oooh!! And I learned something! Oats can be totally gluten-free! The gluten-free varieties will be marked on the package, because they are not always grown gluten-free due to cross pollination issues. 


So this granola is gluten-free, vegan and all natural as well. It can be a snack, it can be your breakfast. I don't have to tell you how to eat your granola, now do I? (Ok, I will give you one suggestion and then I promise to stop being bossy. Toss some apple slices in some cinnamon and sugar. Nuke them for a few minutes or so, until they are soft and look a little like pie filling. Top with this granola and a little vanilla yogurt.)


Oh yea, and thanks to Alton Brown for providing the inspiration for this recipe. I love him. That's really all there is to say.


Soundtrack: Aloe Blacc 


Ginger Spice Granola


3 c. gluten-free rolled oats
1 c. almonds, chopped
1 c. walnuts, chopped
3/4 c. sesame seeds
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp molasses
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt
2-3 packages Matt's Munchies, Ginger Spice Flavor (honestly I used 2 and it was great, but I
could have used another!)


Preheat oven to 250.


Start by measuring the oats, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir until totally combined.


In another bowl, whisk together the molasses, syrup, oil, vanilla and salt until fully combined. 


Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry and stir to coat. Coat 2 sheet pans with parchment paper (or use cooking spray). Spread the granola mixture evenly over the sheet pans. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to get an even toast.


Meanwhile, begin chopping the fruit leathers. Fruit leather can be a sticky product, (I made this on pretty hot day, no AC.) but in this case the freezer will be your friend. Simply stick the fruit leathers in the freezer for a few minutes and then chop into raisin-sized pieces. It might ball up a little, that's fine. Store the chopped pieces in the freezer while you chop. This way they will be easy to separate once you are ready to add them to the granola.


After 1 hour, remove the sheet pans from the oven. Move granola to a large bowl and stir in the pieces of fruit leather, separating as you add them. Do not wait for the granola to cool, do this as 
soon as possible.

Horse food?

Feeling nutty!

The dry stuff

Liquids. It's literally impossible to store molasses
without the container being sticky. Impossible.

Left-handed photography, not bad!

Pre-toast

Little pieces of fruit leather - it's not going to look perfect.

Slainte! (Toasted... c'mon people!)

Chipotle Mango & Zucchini Bread

That's right. I said chipotle. Just a little, don't get any crazy ideas here. Just a tang.

Looks so innocent and sweet, but don't let that fool you!

Long weekends are aaaa-mazing aren't they? It's Sunday today, but no Monday blues tomorrow! The thing about Philadelphia 4th of July weekend, is that it's deserted. Not desserted, that would be awesome, but deserted. Everyone's gone "down the shore." It's sort of nice, the peace and quiet. Until Monday when the hoards will come in from the suburbs and descend upon the Art Museum area for the fireworks and live music (Just reminded myself of this movie trailer, 1:00 minute in lol). But for now, I feel like I'm alone in the big city! Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration; there are certainly people around, but you catch my drift. This has been one much needed long weekend of relaxation. And I'm certainly going to need it considering my plans for next weekend. (No sleep 'til Brooklyn, people.)

Btw, I'm still thinking about a desserted Philadelphia and wishing I was better at Photoshop. I would put donuts around the sky scrapers, a giant Franklin Fountain ice cream sundae atop the state building, William Penn on city hall would be holding a birthday cake (for America obvs)... etc.etc.etc. All in good ole' red, white and blue. It's the thought that counts sometimes.

Anyway, this bread is NOT one of those "thought that counts" instances. It's delic. It's a great summer bread; Florida mangoes are in season (making them cheaper!) and zucchini is coming out of the garden (or you can definitely find some locally grown very easily!). The bread is moist and flavorful; the chipotle adds just a tiny zip to make things interesting.

The recipe was derived from the basic Sweet Zucchini Bread from The Joy of Cooking. Subbed half the oil for some yogurt to cut the fat (I also just think it makes for a moister bread), subbed in some wheat flour, and added some cut up mango and chipotle seasoning.

Soundtrack: Old Crow Medicine Show (ROCK ME MAMMA LIKE A WAGON WHEEELL. No question, it's going to be stuck in my head all day.)

Chipotle Mango & Zucchini Bread 

Makes 1-9x5 loaf

1 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground chipotle seasoning

2 large eggs

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. vegetable oil

2 tbs plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups finely chopped zucchini, squeezed of excess water (interesting process)

1 large mango, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x5 loaf pan; set aside. Combine in a medium sized bowl the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and chipotle with a whisk; set aside.

In a larger bowl, beat the eggs. Add in the sugar, oil, yogurt, vanilla and salt. Continue to beat until blended. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Add zucchini and mango, and using as few strokes as possible, stir these into the mixture.

Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. The bread will pull away from the sides when done. Don't try the toothpick trick, you might still get some stuff on it, as it's a very moist bread!

Chopping, using my immersion blender attachment

Cutting mangoes is really very pretty, huh?

The dry stuff

GOD I LOVE THIS THING! hehehe

Mixin' it together

Stir in chopped zucchini