Another Recipe Round-up

No-Bake Cookies

Ethan's favorite treats in the world {I think.  Probably.} are No-Bakes.  He asks me ALMOST on a weekly basis to make them for him and usually I say no.  Mainly because the last thing he needs is a sugar infusion to add to his already extreme tendencies, but also because I really like them, too.  And as I've said before, when it comes to delicious goodies laying around the house, I have ZERO self-control.  Hahaha.  A couple of weekends ago, I finally caved and made a batch and in the process "trained" him on how to do it, too.  So, on Sunday -- when he was begging for some more -- I told him that if he wanted them he'd have to make them himself.  Mostly because I didn't want to get up.  And I'm lazy like that.  Hahaha.  I scribbled out the recipe, handed it over to him, and fully expected him to complain about not wanting to do it or simply lose interest in the prospect, but I was wrong.  On both accounts!  A little while later he proudly brought one to us to sample, and I have to say I was pretty impressed.  It was REALLY good.  Not so good?  Probably the fact that he ate several that evening, one for breakfast the next morning, and packed the last one for his lunch at school. I'm really out of the running for mother of the year, aren't I?  Haha.

The next recipe for the round-up was made the very next day for an FHE treat.  And since we'd already consumed more than enough sugar for the entire WEEK with those no-bakes, I decided to re-vamp that browned butter chocolate chip cookie recipe from a few weeks ago to make it a little bit "healthier."  Haha.  As if, right?  Can any cookie truly be called "healthy"?  As far as treats go, though, I thought these were REALLY really good, and certainly less bad for you than a regular old cookie recipe.  The original recipe was found here, and for the record, they really are aMAZing.  But also for the record -- my re-worked version was pretty dang delicious, too.  With the added bonus of making me feel MUCH less disgusting after stuffing my face with cookie after cookie.  The major changes I made to this recipe were to eliminate refined sugar, reduce the amount of overall sugar, and add a bit more flour to compensate for the substituted ingredients.  I also used my Blendtec blender to make sure that my addition of pitted dates was completely pulverized and pureed so that the unsuspecting children would not notice there was anything "off" with the cookies.  Mwahahahaha.  {Oh and p.s., I had some sea salt on hand when I made them this time and I loved the addition of it sprinkled on top.}

{I clearly am not a food photographer.  Hahaha.  It didn't help that I was just using my phone to snap the above picture.}

Jessica's "kind of almost healthy" brown butter + sea salt chocolate chip cookies

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ingredients
1 cup (2  sticks) unsalted butter
1/4 c. molasses

1/4 c. {real} maple syrup

1/2 c. tightly packed dates
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 tbsp coarse sea salt for sprinkling

directions
1. To brown butter, heat 1 stick of  butter in a pan over medium-high heat until melted. Continue cooking and stirring until the butter is dark golden brown with brown flecks on the bottom of the pan, and you can smell that heavenly, nutty aroma.  Pour it into the Blendtec and allow to cool completely.
2. Add the maple syrup, molasses and pitted dates to the browned butter, then blend using the "syrup" setting.  This was enough for me to completely pulverize the dates so that there were no chunks at all.  It really did create a syrup-y texture.

3.  Add the other stick of softened butter to the mixer then add the blender mixture slowly, along with the vanilla.
4. Mix until well blended, scraping sides of bowl if needed.
5. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low until the flour is just incorporated.
7. Add chocolate chips and mix for a few seconds.
8. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, then cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
9. Line cookie sheets with  parchment paper and place dough 2 inches apart.
10. Sprinkle each ball with some sea salt.
11. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through.

The last recipe I'll post for the day is, ironically, the one we START most of our days with --  my tweaked and perfected, whole grain blender pancake recipe.  Mondays and Wednesdays are our pancake mornings for breakfast, but this recipe makes enough extra that there are usually leftovers for things like afternoon snacks, or breakfast the next morning if they don't want the oatmeal.  I make these in my Blendtec using whole wheat berries and steel cut oat groats.  Mmmmm.  Hearty.  Hahaha.  They actually taste really great, though, and the kids love them and I love that they ARE hearty and filling and hopefully enough to stick with them all morning and get them through the day.  I've been making these regularly since the start of the school year, and I've finally perfected the "regular" recipe.  Sophie's version, however, is never quite the same each time I make it.  I'm still trying to get it spot on, but for the most part I've tweaked it enough that she thinks they taste really good and the other kids think they taste fine enough as well.  So there you go!

Jessica's Whole Grain Blender Pancakes {the regular version}

2 c. milk
2 eggs
2 big spoonfuls yogurt {full fat plain yogurt or Greek yogurt}
2 T. oil {I use sunflower oil}
2 T. {real} maple syrup
1 t. salt
3/4 c. wheat
3/4 c. steel cut oats
1 T. baking powder

I add the ingredients to the Blendtec in that order, and then blend them on a speed of 9 -- twice.  I've found that one time is not quite enough to get rid of the "grittiness" from the grains, but second time's a charm!  Then I just ladle them out onto my hot griddle and flip when they get all bubbly and cooked around the edges.  Voila!  Breakfast. 

And there you have.  A few more recipes for the record books.  Happy Eating!  Hahaha.