Bark Bites

Posted on December 15, 2015 by melsmosaic

Human aren’t the only ones who deserve homemade goodies during the holidays. Pups do too! Had to pull out my recipe for Bark Bites (I can’t remember where I actually found this and I gave it this name).

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup oil (I used canola)
2 eggs
3 tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oatmeal

Blend wet ingredients together. Whisk dry ingredients together and mix into wet mixture to form ball of dough. Roll out and shape.

Instead of getting fancy with cookie cutters (like I think the recipe originally said), I just use a pizza cutter. Dogs really don’t care what these things look like. And that way you get a heck of a lot more treats out of this dough. I probably got 5-6 dozen.

Put onto a non-stick cookie tray or lightly greased one. Cook 20 minutes at 400 degrees F. Turn off oven and allow the biscuits to cool in oven until crisp and hard. Store in airtight container.

When you think about it, this is all stuff we eat. Couldn’t taste bad. I think it’s just missing sugar (yes, this means I had to take a little bite at the end).

Woof, bark, devour. Good dog!

From Quinoa to Cookie

Posted on August 25, 2014 by melsmosaic

I make birthday cookies for my friends and for a recent one I emailed her with an idea because of dietary concerns. I know she’s big into quinoa and I looked for (cookie) recipes with quinoa in them. She was kind enough to send me a link to the cookie (recipe) she would like for her birthday goodies. They where basically simple chocolate chip cookies, but with a coconut kick.

As I investigated the recipe, it of course called for quinoa flour. I went to Whole Foods and they had it (I was just talking to them about it, didn’t actually see it but could only fathom the price — just googled it $10-$13). But then I thought, there has to be a way to make this stuff. Of course! This makes it much more fun, and beyond less expensive. You pay $3-$4 for the quinoa and you’re set.

So, found a great recipe for it on Homemadeadventure. You just take 2 cups of quinoa and put it in a skillet over medium heat.

Toast it for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The quinoa will start to make a light popping sound, kind of like popcorn, when the toasting starts. You want this sound for about a minute or two. Then it gets nice and brown.

Let it cool then put it in a food processor.

Blend until fine. I did mine for probably about 8-10 minutes.

Then baking started!

The recipe was from Ambitious Kitchen and named The BEST Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa flour (homemade or store bought)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled (Trader Joe’s has great stuff)
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl whisk together quinoa flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. (I always tend to just put this on top of the wet mixture later).

In bowl of an electric mixer beat together melted coconut oil and brown sugar until smooth. Add in egg, egg yolk, and vanilla; beat again for 2 minutes or until smooth and creamy.

Add in flour; and mix on low speed until just combined. Slowly add in chocolate chips.

Roll dough into 2″ balls and place on cookie sheet leaving 2″ apart. Love the Silpat mat! It didn’t say whether you would spray the cookie sheet or not so glad I have it. Bake 8-11 minutes or until edges just being to turn a golden brown. If you noticed that your cookies are baking flat, then you may want to chill your dough for 10-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool at least 5 minutes on baking sheet. The cookies will need to set and will be very fragile at first so you have to be a little patient for the edges to harden a bit before removing them. Once the edges and bottom harden a bit, transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Makes 18-20 cookies. I got about 2 dozen out of this recipe!

My friend loved the cookies and not sure how many are left. Very coconut-y and the great chocolate in there.

Chocolate Toffee Cookies

Posted on March 12, 2014 by melsmosaic

I have a cookie recipe in my recipe binders that I’ve relied upon for years. I never really get to enjoy the goods because of the butter in them but when people try them I hear rave, amazing, sometimes censor-needing (in a good way) reviews. It’s Epicurious’ Chocolate Toffee Cookies recipe. An amazing combo of chocolate, Heath bar…and dark rum.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon dark rum — I always throw a bit more in there
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate-covered English toffee (such as Heath bar; about 7 ounces)
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until fluffy.

Add egg, rum and vanilla and beat until well blended.

Sift (or in my case I just add/drop in) flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into small bowl. (and then mix in with the power of KitchenAid) Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture.

Mix in toffee and chopped almonds. (Ditto on the last KitchenAid statement — that’s what it’s there for!)

Drop batter by heaping tablespoonfuls onto heavy large ungreased baking sheet (I still use Silpat mats), spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake until cookies puff slightly and crack on top but are still soft to touch, about 11 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheet 1 minute. Transfer cookies to rack and cool completely (cookies will become crisp). And then heavenly bliss arrives.

Repeat shaping and baking with remaining batter. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.)

From blogs to lactose intolerance

Posted on March 20, 2013 by melsmosaic

After some suggestions from friends, I decided to finally start a blog for Mel’s Mosaic. It won’t be overly frequent, but it will go from deep cooking thoughts to new recipes I find that I’d like to share. What prompted to me finally put this together tonight? Lactose intolerance, or the best thing I’ve heard “Lactards” — I will only accept that name since I am one. I was making Mocha Rum Balls and Orange Cream cookies tonight and could not have a single bite. I was worse than Movay, the Food Lab, drooling (not in the bowl of dough), just wishing I could have a bite.

Bake on…