Pizza from scratch

In this installment of Alex tries new things, I am going to spend the next three days running through Martha's basic pizza recipe. Of course, this did not actually TAKE me three days, but because it required three different recipes, I thought this would be the best way to organize things. That, and I'm super lazy right now because I have submitted (count them) 33 medical school applications. Vomit.

Day 1: The crust

I bought yeast. Never thought it would come to this. Does this mean I'm a real baker now? Martha? What do you think?

Well, I feel special. For the crust, I simple took a cup of hot water, added a packet of the quick yeast from the grocery store and included 2 teaspoons sugar. I let this sit for 5 minutes, per Martha's instructions and then added in flour - 1:1 ratio of whole wheat and white.

After mixing this together and getting most of it on my hands as I kneaded it, I managed to scrape some off to sit for 45 minutes. After this, I "punched" the dough (great way to get out my anxiousness) and let it sit for another 30.

Miraculously it worked, and I was left with a nice, fluffy dough circle.

Tomorrow: special olive oil. Don't let the anticipation kill you!'

Recipe: (Martha is my grlll) from http://www.marthastewart.com/333200/basic-grilled-pizza-dough

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 packet (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl and brushing
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

Directions

1. Pour 1 cup warm water into a medium bowl; add sugar and sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, 5 minutes.
   
2. Whisk oil and 1 teaspoon salt into yeast mixture. Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until liquid is incorporated (dough will appear dry). Turn out onto a floured work surface. Knead until dough comes together in an elastic ball, 2 minutes. Transfer to an oiled medium bowl; brush lightly with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; set in a warm, draft-free place until dough has doubled in bulk, 45 minutes. Punch down dough and cover; let rise another 30 minutes.
   
3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Let rest 15 minutes before using.
   

Oatmeal, crispy

In case it isn't obvious, I <3 oatmeal. It's good for you, it makes great cookies, it is a perfect breakfast... it's just all around fabulous.

I found a really simple recipe to maximize one of my favorite things to make delicious, crispy cookies in greater than or equal to 20 minutes.

Using Martha's Oatmeal Crisps recipe as a rough guide, I mixed together 4 tablespoons of vegetable margarine, 3 tablespoons of agave syrup and 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour. Once these were suitably stirred (made easier by the fact that there is no air conditioner in the kitchen and it was approximately 300 degrees in there - I'm surprised they didn't begin to bake on their own) in 2/3 of a cup of steel-cut oats. I placed these on parchment on a cookie sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for around 15-20 minutes.

These are delicious. The only sad part was that there weren't that many of them! I'm going to have to triple this next time... that's how much I love oatmeal!

Peanut butter + brownies

So mine don't look anything like this. 

These are two of my favorite things. How could you go wrong with them? Today, I answered that: by using Splenda! And not enough of it.

I chose Martha's Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies. They looked delicious, and I have had such success with sugar substitutes and wheat flour. I made the following substitutions:


FOR THE BATTER

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan - substituted vegetable margarine
• 2 ounces good-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped - substituted cocoa powder
• 4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped - same
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour - substituted Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder - substituted creme of tarter and baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar - substituted Splenda
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

FOR THE FILLING

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted - substituted vegetable margarine
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar - substituted Splenda
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

So, these were NOT good. They were essentially flavorless - I blame the Splenda. I used slightly less because usually it's a bit sweeter, but I guess not in this case.

This has inspired me to retry, maybe with the real deal this time. They had so much promise!

It's RHUBARB season!

Who knew rhubarb could taste so good? Who even knew what rhubarb was? Not I.

I have had rhubarb before, in the form of a rhubarb-berry pie over Thanksgiving. I remember this pie being good, but who knew if it was the berries or the rhubarb talking?

Today, I made my first foray into the world of rhubarb. I decided to start safe - with a familiar rhubarb-berry combination. Martha's Rhubarb-Berry Crumble with Martha's Crumble Topping looked unbelievable. Instead of making a bunch of them, I made a single one because I only had one ceramic bowl.

And, it was. It truly was UNBELIEVABLE! I think one of the best things I have made since I started this process. I baked it perfectly if I do say so myself. It was just sweet enough, just filling enough and just fruity enough. The rhubarb texture was perfect - soft and textured. The topping was decadent.

Of course, the strawberries I used could have been the main attraction, so later this week I'll be cooking with rhubarb for real... without the benefit of any supporting players. I'm thinking a salad with raw rhubarb?

Recipe (Martha Stewart is a genius):

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds rhubarb cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices, leaves discarded
• 2 cups raspberries or sliced strawberries, or a combination (I used strawberries)
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 tablespoons instant tapioca
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest plus 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
• Pinch of salt
• Crumble Topping Crumble Topping
• Vanilla yogurt for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir together rhubarb, berries, sugar, tapioca, orange zest, orange juice, and salt in a bowl. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
   
2. Divide rhubarb mixture among 6 small ceramic baking dishes (1 cup capacity and 5 1/2 inches in diameter). Transfer baking dishes to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with topping, dividing evenly.
   
3. Bake until topping turns golden and juices are bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool on sheet on a wire rack 30 minutes. Serve with yogurt, if desired.
   

Crumble: 

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt

Directions

Put butter and brown sugar, and orange zest if desired, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until creamy. Stir in flour and salt. Work mixture through fingers until it form.

Nutty

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite surgeons and a fellow pre-diabetic ordered me some peanut flour. Peanut flour is a GREAT flour substitute - it is gluten free, high in protein and low calories. Today, I decided to put it to the test.

I wanted to start slow, it case something went horribly wrong. I picked Martha's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies. I made some fairly major substitutions to make it good for my blood sugar and my body... and it worked out! I liked the peanut and chocolate taste together and they were really light and cakey. My first experience with peanut flour was a success.

Recipe and instructions (from Martha Stewart and all substitutions by ME!):

These cookies are crispy at the edges, chewy in the center, and loaded with two kinds of chocolate. Feel free to add 2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans to the dough.

• Prep Time 10 minutes
• Total Time 45 minutes, plus chilling
• Yield Makes 24

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled) - I substituted 1.5 cups peanut flour and 1.5 cups whole wheat flour - as both of these are dryer than white flour, I figured this would be enough
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder - I substituted with baking soda and creme of tarter
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature - I substituted one cup of stick vegetable margarine and one cup of olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar - I substituted 1 cup agave syrup, as this is sweeter than sugar this was enough
• 1 cup granulated sugar - I substituted 1 cup of Splenda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped - I omitted this, because I didn't want anything too chocolatey this time around

Directions

1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
   
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium-high until light and fluffy, 6 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low and beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Mix in flour mixture just until incorporated; fold in chocolate chips and chunks.
   
3. Using a 1/4-cup ice-cream scoop or a large spoon, drop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (you should have 24) and refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Arrange 6 unbaked cookies, 3 inches apart, on each of two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until edges are light golden brown, 17 to 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. Bake remaining dough using new parchment.
   

Cheesecake cupcakes

I haven't had cheesecake in so long! Today, I decided to change that.

The one problem was that I don't have a cake pan... so I decided to make some cheese cupcakes. Thankfully, Martha had a recipe that was for just that: Mini Cheesecakes with Apricot Jam. I decided to combine this with her Classic Cheesecake recipe, taking the crust from the classic cheesecake, the cheesecake part from the Mini Cheesecakes recipe and omitting the apricot.

I started by making the crust, which was as simple as crushing graham crackers in a food processor and adding in agave (substituted for sugar) and butter (I used vegetable margarine). I pressed this mix on the bottom of cupcake tins in the cupcake pan. I baked this for a bit and took it out to cool.

Then it was time to make the cheese part. I mixed together low fat cream cheese, agave, vanilla, eggs and non fat sour cream. I poured this mix into each cupcake cup with the crusts. This, I baked for around 20 minutes... until the outside of the cheesecakes was hard, but the middle was still jiggly.

I had to chill these cheesecakes for four hours (which will end up being overnight), so I haven't tried them yet. But they look delicious! I'll update tomorrow with the full results and pictures.

Recipe (courtesy of Martha Stewart):

Crust: 

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus room-temperature butter for pan
• 12 graham crackers (3-by-5 inch)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make crust: Butter a 9-by-3-inch springform pan. In a food processor, pulse graham crackers until fine crumbs form; add melted butter, sugar, and salt, and pulse to combine. Press crumb mixture into bottom and about 1 inch up side of pan. Bake until set, 12 to 15 minutes; let cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven to 325 degrees.

Filling: 

1. Reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees. Beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, then vanilla. With mixer running, add eggs slowly, scraping down side of bowl. Add sour cream and salt. Pour batter into muffin cups, filling almost to the tops.
   
2. Bake until sides are set but centers are wobbly, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks. Wrap tins tightly with plastic, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
   
3. Warm jam in a small saucepan until liquidy. Strain through a sieve. Spoon 1 teaspoon jam on top of each cake. Cheesecakes will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Edit: I just tried them and these are DELICIOUS. I'm in love.

Shortishbread

Let me just say... yum!

More to come soon. I'm out for drinks :)

Edit: This recipe was super easy. As my roommate astutely pointed out - this is essentially a pie crust. 

I baked steel cut oats in the oven until they were browned. I then blended the oats in the food processor with a 1:1 ratio of whole wheat and white flour, agave and vegetable margarine. I spread resulting dough in a rimmed cookie sheet and topped it with whole oats. This I baked for circa 20 minutes until it was nice a brown.

The shortbread was crumby, soft and so sweet and wonderful. Not so bad for a quasi-healthy dessert.

Recipe (courtesy of Martha "I'm too hot to eat fattening things" Stewart):

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325. Spread oats on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast until fragrant and lightly browned, 4 to 6 minutes. Let cool completely.
   
2. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, and 1/2 cup cooled oats; process until finely ground, 1 minute. Add butter. Pulse until mixture is the consistency of coarse meal. Transfer to an 8-inch square baking pan; press firmly into bottom. Sprinkle remaining oats on top, and press gently.
   
3. Bake until firm and lightly browned, 30 to 35 minutes. Using a paring knife, immediately score shortbread into 16 squares; then score each square diagonally into 2 triangles. On a wire rack, cool completely in pan; gently invert, and break along scored lines.
   

http://www.marthastewart.com/258747/oatmeal-shortbread?czone=food/cookies-cnt/everyday-favorites

Completely unhealthy but amazingly delicious chocolate chip cookies

Ok, so I splurged a bit today. And made some REAL chocolate chip cookies. Well - I did use a ratio of 1:1 white and wheat flour and employ agave instead of brown sugar, but still... these are deadly.

And delicious.

Recipe (thanks Martha "I shouldn't eat this but I will" Stewart):

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
   
2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
   
3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
   

 http://www.marthastewart.com/281905/soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies?czone=food/cookies-cnt/everyday-favorites

Ahhhhh-gave

In my quest to at least limit, if not totally eliminate sugar and carbs from my diet, I finally found agave. For a while there, I dabbled with Splenda. Here and there I experimented with Equal. For a two day period when my office only stocked Sweet'n'Low, I went there. These liaisons were short, fleeting, and unsatisfactory.

And then, today, I found agave syrup, the perfect sugar substitute. Let me just say... it. is. fabulous! Agave nectar is commercially harvested from a variety of agave plants in Mexico. The particular agave syrup I found is from the blue agave plant, if anyone cares about specifics. It tastes like heaven. Except better.

For my first baking attempt with agave, I tried Martha's Oatmeal Cookies. I knew that I wouldn't get it perfectly right the first time, particularly because agave is a liquid sweetener, and is therefore not a perfect baking substitute for sugar. In addition, I was planning to bake vegan, which adds a whole additional element of difficulty. Both of these elements combine to produce flat, cake-y cookies that don't stay together as well as regular cookies.

I started with two cups of agave, subsituting for both the brown and granulated sugar. Because agave has such a unique, sweet flavor, I figured this would be appropriate. Instead of butter, I mixed in two sticks of vegetable margarine with the agave. In place of the eggs, I stirred in a cup of Sprite Zero.

For the dry ingredients, I mixed together three cups of rolled oats, one cups and two tablespoons whole wheat flower (instead of white flower), baking soda, baking soda + creme of tartar (to replace the baking powder) and 1/2 cup flax meal (to replace the wheat germ). I skipped the toffee bits/raisins all together because I am really not supposed to have either of these.

While, as expected, the resulting cookies were a bit flat and crumbly, they were absolutely delicious. I really love the agave alternative. It definitely doesn't taste as fake as Splenda; plus, while more expensive, it's all natural and not full of chemicals with unknown biological actions.



Recipe (from Martha Stewart, http://www.marthastewart.com/282206/oatmeal-cookies?&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/oatmeal-cookie-recipes#slide_4):

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 12 ounces good-quality chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups golden raisins, or 10 ounces toffee pieces

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Starting with the mixer on low speed and increasing until it is on medium, beat until the mixture is creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract, then scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and mix to combine.
   
2. Combine the rolled oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and wheat germ in a large bowl, and stir to combine. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture, then mix on low speed just to combine, 10 to 15 seconds. Remove the bowl from mixer stand, and stir in your choice of chocolate chunks, golden raisins, or toffee pieces.
   
3. Line the baking pans with parchment paper. Use a large (2 1/2 ounce) or small (1 1/4 ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of dough. Place the balls of dough about 4 inches apart on baking pans. Bake until golden and just set, about 18 minutes for large cookies and 14 minutes for small cookies. Remove from oven; let cool on pan 4 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
   

Hamen! Mordecai!

IT'S PURIM.

Which means it's time for every Jews favorite dessert (minus macaroons I guess), HAMANTASCHEN.

I made some, Martha style. They don't look nearly as nice, but they taste almost as good, I'm sure! Flavors: apricot, strawberry, and nutella! More details to follow - for now, enjoy these pictures. I'm running to dinner.

Edit: I substituted two cups white flower and two cups whole wheat flour for the four cups flour, three cups of sprite zero for the eggs, Splenda for sugar and margarine for butter.

They may look like crap, but they don't taste all that bad if I do say so myself!


Ingredients

Makes about 60 cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions

1. In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add orange zest, orange juice, vanilla extract, and 2 eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl when necessary
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add to butter mixture until just combined. Divide dough into thirds. Wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one-third of the dough from the refrigerator at a time. On a liberally floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. With a 3-inch fluted round cutter, cut out as many circles as possible, and place on a prepared baking pan. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile make the poppy-seed filling: Grind poppy seeds in a food processor. Place seeds in a medium saucepan. Add milk and honey. Cook over a medium-low heat until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Add raisins and lemon zest. Remove from heat. Cool completely before using.
5. Remove chilled circles from refrigerator. Place each filling into a medium pastry bag fitted with a coupler. Pipe 2 teaspoons of filling into the center of each circle. Whisk together remaining egg with 1 teaspoon of water. Brush edges with egg wash. Fold in sides to form a triangle. Pinch dough to enclose the filling.
6. Bake the cookies in the center rack of the oven until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes; then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Hamantaschen - Martha Stewart Recipes

Happy birthday, Casey!

So it's time for another roommate birthday! My number one bro Casey turned 23 today, and to commemorate, it was of course time for come delicious Martha Stewart-inspired cupcakes.

While Mike opted for chocolate chip with buttercream chocolate chip frosting, I opted for a vanilla cake with a cream cheese frosting for Casey today.

I followed the same procedure as before with the cake part, this time with a substitute. I used Sprite Zero instead of eggs, a technique I learned while a broke college student. This is both healthier and more interesting than using eggs. The downside is that I didn't know exactly how much to use, so the resulting cupcakes were a bit more buscuit-y than cupcake-y in texture. Still delicious, though!

For the frosting, I tried a new trick, mostly prompted because I realized that I didn't have enough butter.  I substituted 3/4 cup of olive oil for the 1 cup of butter in the recipe. It was actually completely delicious! And it's definitely a healthier choice. I will definitely be doing this again in the past.

A topped the frosting off with a bit of food coloring. Per Casey's request, I attempted "red" which actually equaled "bright pink" in practice. At least it tastes delicious anyway!

Recipes: 

Vanilla Cake

Makes 24

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups milk

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In another mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until incorporated and scraping down sides of bowl, beat in vanilla.
2. Add flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to assure the batter is thoroughly mixed. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling papers about 2/3 full. Bake on the center rack of the oven until tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Vanilla Cupcakes - Martha Stewart Recipes  

 

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth. Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; before using, bring to room temperature, and beat until smooth.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Cream Cheese Frosting - Martha Stewart Recipes

P.S. A HUGE thanks to my fantastic, wonderful, inspirational, hardworking mother who helped me out a huge amount today because I have a test tomorrow and didn't have much time to do my Martha craft. Much love!

Oatmeal "cookies"

I have been totally craving something sweet. As those who know me are definitely aware, I have a major sweet tooth and pretty much adore dessert. This has been difficult given that I can't really have sugar or carbs anymore. I am literally at the point where I am stuck chewing sugarless gum, chugging Diet Coke, or brushing my teeth if I want a sweet taste. This is unacceptable.

So today I took on a challenge: attempt to bake healthy cookies that are pre-diabetic approved. As it turns out this is easier said than done.

I decided on Oatmeal Cookies as the perfect antidote to my case of the sugar blahs. Of course, I had to make some intense substitutions to Martha's recipe.

Based on some extensive internet research and some logic, I made the following substitutions to the recipe:

• 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour - substituted whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour - substituted whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ - substituted whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder - substituted creme of tartar and baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened - substituted margarine
• 1 cup granulated sugar - substituted Splenda
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar - substituted sugarless maple syrup
• 2 large eggs - substituted 1 cup of Sprite Zero
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups raisins - omitted, I can't have dry fruit anymore

Once I mixed all the ingredients and baked the cookies, I was ready for a taste test. The resulting oatmeal balls did not taste like cookies, but were definitely part way there. They were a bit doughy, no doubt due to the use of wheat flour instead of white flour, which is much more water absorbent. In addition, they weren't nearly as sweet as most cookies, perhaps because I substited sugarless maple syrup for brown sugar. 

This is definitely a work in progress, but I won't give up! Next time, I'll have to figure out how to make the cookies less doughy and a bit sweeter. Until then, I'll definitely be enjoying these "cookies".

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add oat mixture; mix until just combined. Mix in raisins.
2. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.
3. Bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - Martha Stewart Recipes

Happy birthday, Mike!

Today is my roommate's birthday and no birthday is complete without cake or cupcakes. Even if I can't eat said cake or cupcakes due to my current freeze on white flour and carbohydrates.

Being the awesome roommate that I am, I decided to do some baking and, for the first, time cook cupcakes without the help of a box of mix. This was much easier than I had anticipated.

I chose an easy recipe to start; my other roommates birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I vow to try something more complex then. I gave my roommate and choice, and he picked Martha's Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Chip Frosting, an excellent choice in my opinion. In order to make the whole thing more festive, I substituted M&Ms for chocolate chips, so the cupcakes would be nice and colorful.

The best thing about this recipe was that it omitted whole eggs, and just used a combination of milk and egg whites instead. Of course, this doesn't make the resulting cupcakes THAT much healthier, but they are definitely super light and fluffy, which was an added bonus.

The recipe called for a basic buttercream, which is essentially just powdered sugar, butter, and a dash of vanilla. I only used half the powdered sugar because the frosting (yes, I dared to try some, don't tell my doctor), was already really sweet.

Mike caught my other roommate night eating my cupcakes at 2am last night, so I'd say this recipe was a success. I hope these lucky non-pre-diabetics enjoy without me... I'm not bitter at all.

RECIPE (courtesy of Martha Stewart at marthastewart.com)

Ingredients
Makes 30
3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
7 ounces (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
5 large egg whites, room temperature
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Chip Frosting

Directions

Make cupcakes as directed in Basic Cupcake How-To, omitting eggs and using milk and vanilla for wet ingredients. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks, and fold into batter. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake cupcakes about 22 minutes. Frost with buttercream, and serve immediately.

Meringue disaster

I attempted to make meringues for the first time today and let me say - it's easier said than done. It all seemed so simple! Mix together some basic ingredients, whip it up until it is firm, light and fluffy, and bake it in the oven for multiple hours.

Everything was going well until I came to the whipping part. I had decided to substitute sugarless maple syrup for brown sugar, in an attempt to pre-diabetes proof the recipe. Unfortunately, this substitution seems to have done something to upset the rising power of the meringue.

I began mixing. And mixing. And mixing. According to the instructions, after around 5 minutes, the mixture was supposed to have firm mounds in it... but this was not the case. Many minutes of mixing later, the mixture wasn't rising the way it was supposed to and it ended up a liquidy mess.

I decided to just go with this and I poured the mix, with grapefruit juice in it, into a baking pan with a thick lip on the sides to keep the meringue in. I hoped that this would create a meringue-cake-like-dish. I baked it according to the instructions.

I ended up with what I can safely term an excellent start towards baking an actual meringue. The result was an edible, if not SUPER delicious meringue-cake-like creation. I have to say I'm kind of proud of myself for salvaging such a disastrous situation!

RECIPE (courtesy of Martha Stewart at marthastewart.com)


Ingredients

Makes about 1 Dozen

• 5 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated grapefruit zest
• Pink gel-paste food coloring

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Put egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar into the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water.Whisk until mixture is warm and sugar has dissolved.
2. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high, beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 5 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
3. Transfer half the meringue to another bowl. Using a rubber spatula, stir orange zest into 1 bowl of meringue. Stir grapefruit zest and pink food coloring into remaining meringue.
4. Place a 3 1/4-by-3 1/2-inch heart-shape cutter in one corner of a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a small spatula, fill heart with meringue; swirl. Push down edges of meringue with the spatula, and lift up cutter. Repeat, spacing meringue hearts 2 inches apart on baking sheets.
5. Bake until meringues are firm and can be removed easily from parchment paper, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Meringues can be stored between layers of parchment paper in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

When life gives you lemons...

...make lemon cookies!

There are moments in life where chocolate just wont do. Although these moments are definitely few and far between, it is in these cases where a nice lemon dessert just completely hits the spot. Sometimes, I'm just not in the mood for something super sweet and a nice tart taste is just what the doctor ordered.

I was having one of my rare lemon cravings today and as always, Martha came through in a big way... in the form of lemon glazed cookies. They looked just too good to pass up.

Of course, I still don't have a mixer, which makes baking slightly trickier. That will have to be my next purchase, because it really isn't much fun hand-mixing cold butter with other ingredients. That, and a zester. Instead of a simple zesting process, I ended up having to peel lemons with a knife and cut up the peels into small pieces, which, I hoped, roughly resembled zest.

Aside from this slight stumbling-block, the remainder of the recipe was simple enough. I mixed the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest) in one bowl, and stirred the wet-ish ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and lemon juice) in another. I then combined the two together and baked the mixture.

The glaze was nothing more than lemon zest, lemon juice, and powdered sugar mixed together. Simple enough... minus the fact that I had to zest the lemon the hard way.

The resulting cookies totally hit the spot. I have plenty of leftovers too, which I plan to keep around for a rainy day... or another lemon craving!

Oatmeal and Almond Deliciousness

I am not a huge oatmeal fan. As I child I would take the instant packets and add a tiny amount of water to them until it made a thick paste and scarf it down with a 1:1 ratio of oatmeal to brown sugar. Now, I eat oatmeal because it's a healthy breakfast as compared to the sugary pastries I am always tempted to scarf down as a work in the morning.

Despite my reservations, Martha's Oatmeal-Almond Crisps looked too good to pass up... plus they seemed really simple to make. I mixed brown sugar (after all, how can you have oatmeal without brown sugar?), butter, an egg, and (imitation) vanilla extract together and then added in plenty of rolled oats and sliced almonds.

I also added a bonus ingredient: wheat bran. I have been on this fiber kick lately because I have high cholesterol (ridiculous for a skinny 22-year-old, but probably due to my over-consumption of In'n'Out when I'm home in LA) and it's supposed to reduce cholesterol and just be all around healthy for your digestion. One serving of wheat bran has 24% of one's daily value of fiber, good step towards getting healthy.

The fiber-loaded oatmeal crisps, baked in the oven, were fantastic and enjoyed by my entire apartment. Most of them were mysteriously gone in a matter of a few hours.... The few that are left will make an incredible breakfast for me tomorrow. 

Comfort cookies

With all this wintry mix gloom and doom still lurking, I was definitely in the mood for some comfort food today. And nothing says comfort food like peanut butter, chocolate, and lots of sugar.

Today, I baked. I should have perhaps prefaced this by explaining that I don't bake. When I bake, things happen. At Thanksgiving a few years back, I dropped an entire apple pie upside-down into the open, hot oven instead of placing it gracefully in. The pie tin actually crumpled while I was carrying it and the whole thing just collapsed into the waiting oven. My mom spent hours scraping off the pie, which had become baked on.

This brings me to my current project: flourless peanut chocolate cookies. The best part of this recipe is that it is probably as easy and straightforward as recipes get... one throws a minimal number of ingredients into a bowl, stirs, and bakes.

For me, nothing is that simple. The first problem is that my apartment lacks any kind of measuring cup or measuring spoon or measuring utensil of any kind except an ancient plastic measuring cup that has the actual measurement worn off that I assumed was a one-cup and used as such. This meant some guesstimation and some crossed fingers. The second issue was that I didn't have chocolate chips and had to resort to cutting up semi-sweet chocolate into manageable pieces.

Surprisingly, I didn't screw up too badly and my roommate and I enjoyed the resulting cookies

(as did my coworkers when I brought them to work). The result was perhaps a bit too peanut-y and peanut-butter-y because there is no flour and the dough was essentially just peanut butter, sugar, an egg, and baking soda. Plus, the recipe calls for peanuts as well, so if you don't like peanuts, stay far away. I actually was a bit scared bringing them into the hospital for fear that anyone with a nut allergy within a 25 mile radius would drop dead of anaphylactic shock.

The one issue is that no matter what I do, and ho

w careful I am, I can't prevent the bottom of the cookies from burning. Even if the actual cookie isn't cooked, the bottom burns. Maybe it's the fact that I live in a Manhattan apartment with a bite-sized oven that is definitely not state-of-the-art. Or this is something I'll just have to work on... with Martha's help of course!

Here's what the result looked like: