Make Cupcakes, Not War Entry: Give Peach a Chance Cupcakes

Posted on June 11, 2011 by ZenLizzie

Just Peachy Cupcakes: Peach cupcakes with peach cream cheese frosting

Give Peach a Chance: Peach cupcakes with peach cream cheese frosting

The flavor for my entry in Jaclyn’s “Make Cupcakes Not War”-Bake-Off Contest was inspired by my latest grocery find: S.C. Peaches! The contest rules state that your cupcakes should be tasty enough to inspire peace. I think if I were attempting to make peace with someone, I would want to bring them something sweet from my part of the world so they would be reminded of how sweet I am. (Sometimes.)

My first S.C. peaches of the season!

I’d bring this peachy peace offering, since everyone knows S.C. peaches are the best. (Sorry, Georgia!)

My cupcake recipe is from Smitten Kitchen, except that I reduced the recipe to only make 6-8 cupcakes and used regular flour instead of cake flour. The frosting is a basic cream cheese recipe with an additional peachy ingredient. They are just sweet enough, and sans-frosting they would be excellent with sliced peaches and vanilla ice cream.

Peachy deliciousness.

Give Peach a Chance Cupcakes with Peach Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 6-8 servings

Cupcake Ingredients

1 cup flour (or cake flour)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 stick room temperature butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large peach, peeled, cored and sliced into small pieces

All peach everything!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Place cupcake liners into muffin tin.

2. Mix salt, flour, baking powder, baking soda in a bowl, and set aside.

3. Cream together butter and sugar with mixer. Mix in beaten egg, buttermilk and vanilla.

4. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture. Mix. Fold in peaches.

5. Bake for 18-22 minutes on 350* and then let them cool before adding frosting.

Frosting Ingredients

5 oz Neufchatel (light cream cheese), softened

3 Tbls butter, softened

2/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 large peach, peeled, cored and sliced into very small pieces (Peach shouldn’t be super ripe – If your peach is too juicy, drain the peaches before adding them to the frosting.)

Directions: Cream together neufchatel, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Stir in peaches. Refrigerate until ready to frost cupcakes.

I really enjoyed these! Sure, I don’t meet many cupcakes I don’t like, but I was really impressed with myself after making these. I would recommend serving soon after frosting or sticking them in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I’m lucky to live in an agricultural state where local produce is available most of the year. Tell me, what does your state grow or produce that makes it special?

It is berry difficult to avoid word play when you aren’t trying berry hard

Posted on June 3, 2011 by ZenLizzie

In this part of the country, the super markets are overflowing with berries priced to move, which is great for me since “priced to move” is pretty much all I can afford until I find a job. (Dear Universe: Please send me a job so that I can stop whining about it on the internet.)

So, yesterday, I stole the idea from Wendy, and topped my ginormous salad with some berries…

I will pile almost anything on a salad these days. Mixed greens + red and yellow peppers + stinky cheese + pecans + tomatoes + broccoli + blueberries + strawberries! Pretty soon I'm just going to run out of room and have to ditch the lettuce part all together.

The salad was tasty and filling, and I love the mix of sweet with savory that the berries add. Then… I was on a roll and decided to make Smitten Kitchen’s strawberry summer cake I’ve been thinking about for weeks…

My Berry Summer Cake - It was just OK.

I think I may have accidentally used whole grain flour in my excitement, so my batter was too dense. The strawberries didn’t fall into the cake and get mushy like SK’s did, but the ones that cooked on top were the best part. I should have made the Strawberry Brown Butter Bettys from last year instead. Or even just heated the strawberries plain!

So, I gave up on my cake and this as my late-night snack instead…

I'm so berry lucky to have found these on sale - 99 cents a pint!

Berries are high in antioxidants and fiber, and they contain Vitamins A, C and E. I like the versatility of being able to enjoy them raw or cooked, and in both sweet and savory dishes. Also, being able to freeze batches for cold weather months is an easy (and cheaper) way to enjoy them year round.

Some other ways I want to use berries this season:

Strawberry, Pistachio and Goat Cheese Pizza

Goat Cheese and Strawberry Grilled Cheese

Strawberry-Kiwi Freeze

Blueberry Tart

Sichuan Strawberry Slaw

What is your favorite way to eat berries or is there a recipe you’re wanting to try? Also.. what do you do if you make something and you don’t really like it? I end up eating it anyway because poor grad students don’t let food go to waste.

Light Vegetable Frittata with Zucchini and Peppers

Posted on May 11, 2011 by ZenLizzie

Egg white frittata with zucchini, peppers and tomatoes.

Light Vegetable Frittata with Zucchini and Peppers

To me, eggs are one of the most perfect foods. Without eating much meat it can be hard for me to get enough protein, but eggs help me stay full and on budget. Although I’m not egg yolk phobic, I love the option of using mostly egg whites to minimize fat in some recipes while still keeping the dish filling.

For this recipe, I used raw vegetables I had on hand, but you could definitely experiment with whatever is on its last leg in your refrigerator or with cooked leftovers. The only “complicated” part of making the frittata was making sure I had a pan that could go from stove top to oven. I googled my pan to check, because… ya know, the internet knows things.

I was really happy how this turned out, since it is my first frittata to actually set the way it was supposed to without taking forever. It would make a great breakfast or brunch food, and you’ll get a serving of veggies in without even realizing it!

Light Vegetable Frittata

Makes 4 servings, nutrition info for 4 slices. (Adopted from O Magazine recipe.)

Ingredients
1 egg
6 egg whites
3 Tbs crumbled or shredded cheese (I used gorgonzola because it is my favorite.)
1 medium zucchini, halved and thinly sliced
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped sweet peppers
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 tsp dried basil (or a few fresh leaves, roughly chopped)
salt and pepper
Cooking spray

What makes frittatas different from other egg dishes is that they require a two step cooking process. You cook it briefly over the stove to firm the bottom (left corner), and then stick it in the oven to finish.

What makes frittatas different from other egg dishes is that they require a two step cooking process. You cook it briefly over the stove to cook the bottom (left corner), and then stick it in the oven to finish.

Directions

1. Crack egg and egg whites into a bowl and whisk vigorously. Mine didn’t get very frothy, but there should be air bubbles and a relatively homogenous texture.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400*, and place 8″ non-stick, oven safe pan on stove top on medium-high heat to begin warming. Spray pan with non-stick spray.

3. Add pepper, zucchini, onions, garlic, basil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to eggs and stir. My mixture got more frothy when I added the vegetables. It doesn’t really matter if it seems like there are too many vegetables, since they seem to settle when you cook them, but if you are worried you have added too many, add another egg white and keep whisking.

4. Pour eggs and vegetables into your hot pan and let it sit without stirring for 1-2 minutes. Check the edges with a spatula to see if they have firmed. When the edge of your frittata can cleanly be pulled back from the side of the pan, move pan to oven.

5. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until the center has solidified.

Nutritional info per serving: (2 WW+ Points, 86 calories, 3. 5 g fat, 4.1g carbs, 1g fiber, 9.8g protein)

For my work snack-lunch... I made a salad out of basically the same vegetables, just replacing zucchini with cucumber. I used a little balsamic for flavor. You could add oil or avocado for more fat, or beans, lentils, chickpeas or rice for more carbs.

My all-veggie lunch at Ruby Tuesday

Posted on April 11, 2011 by ZenLizzie

In a perfect world, we would only eat at locally sourced, locally owned restaurants and there would be lots of options for special diets. Unfortunately, our culture doesn’t really work that way. I’m lucky enough to live in a relatively urban environment with a lot of local food options. Very few of them have a wide array of vegetarian, plant-based, reasonable-calorie meals, however, and so one of my anti-foodie pleasures is Ruby Tuesday. I admit it. I’m a sucker for a salad bar.

This afternoon, I wanted a big salad but didn’t really feel like standing around my over-heated apartment chopping and washing dishes, so instead I headed to RT. I was surprised to see they have added even more low cal and vegetarian items to their menu, including roasted spaghetti squash and something called “zucchini cakes.” Some of their other vegetable options: balsamic tomatoes, asparagus, snap peas, steamed broccoli and mashed cauliflower.

I’m trying to detox from a salty/alcoholic evening at trivia last night (we lost), so I decided to go with the three vegetables and salad bar combo for lunch today.

This may not look like much to you, but to someone who has been disappointed by the extreme lack of vegetables on restaurant menus, then this is a happy plate.

This may not look like much to you, but to someone who has been disappointed by the extreme lack of vegetables on restaurant menus, this is a happy plate.

VERDICT: The zucchini and cauliflower were really tasty and filling, but I was disappointed by the lack of seasoning on the roasted squash. I ended up putting the mashed cauliflower on the squash, and that evened things out. I’m slightly skeptical about the “grilled” zucchini, because they tasted really flavorful like they were probably sauteed in oil or butter.

While I’m all for cooking at home to control ingredients and price, I’m happy that there are more vegetable options on the menu. I’m OK with a once-a-month burger or pasta carb-fest, but I like being able to find everyday restaurant food that reflects my normal eating.

What is your “not really a special occasion”-dining out strategy? Vegan/veggie/gluten-free/whatever… how do you eat out without sacrificing your general food principles? PS: This is a legitimate question, but read this entry on “blog discussion questions” from AJ on Hollaback Health, which I am totally guilty of and reconsidering after reading this post.

Bless Your Heart: Root vegetable pot pie

Posted on March 9, 2011 by ZenLizzie

I’m still committed to giving southern recipes a healthy makeover, but cooking has taken a back burner to running, school, work, sleep… you get the picture. But, after a trip to Rosewood Market, I was inspired by these multicolored carrots and daikons.

Rainbow blend carrots and daikon radishes

Rainbow carrots, who knew?

So, I used this recipe from March’s Cooking Light as a guide to make Root Vegetable Pot Pie as a makeover of the Lady and Son’s Chicken Pot Pie which is undeniably delicious, but not an everyday food. This recipe is filling, with all the creaminess you expect plus an extra serving of vegetables.

I made a few different variations. This mini-pot pies are cute, but the bottom layer of crust isn't necessary.

Root Vegetable Pot Pie

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) slices carrot*
2 1/2 cups (1/2-inch-thick) slices radish*
1 cup frozen peas and carrots mix
3 cups organic vegetable broth
2 cups fat-free milk
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon butter
1 tsp dried thyme
1 white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 box of 2 frozen pie crusts, thawed

Making Root Vegetable Pot Pie

Directions

1. In a large pot, add root vegetables, vegetable broth, milk, bay leaf and thyme. Cook on high for about 15 minutes. Depending on which root vegetables you use, this may take more time. They should be cooked, but not mushy.

2. In a medium sauce pan, cook onion and garlic in butter. When they are tender, ladle about 1 cup of the liquid from the other pot into the sauce pan and add flour.

3. Continue to stir onion and flour mixture until it cooks down. When mixture is thick, add to the other pot and stir.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and stir. Let mixture simmer until it is a thick consistency.

5. If you are using ramekins or muffin tins, spoon the mixture into the dish and cover with unrolled pie crust. If you are using a skillet or a pie tin, add the mixture just as you would a regular pie. For smaller dishes, there is no need to have a bottom pie crust layer.

6. Bake at 400* for 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

*Notes: The original recipe uses rutabaga and parsnip. Experiment with whatever vegetables you have on hand. Because I used several different sizes for cooking, I can’t give exact serving sizes, although I estimate it would serve between 6-8 for about 6 WW P+.

Two quick dinners and a healthy, frozen dessert

Posted on February 17, 2011 by ZenLizzie

Whole wheat angel hair with goat cheese, asparagus and broccoli

Whole grain angel hair with goat cheese, asparagus and broccoli

I love cooking when it is an “event,” but sometimes it is hard to get excited about weeknight dinners for one. I haven’t been cooking as much lately, and after a week or so of take-out (even healthy stuff) I can feel an impact on my health and my wallet. So finally, I dragged myself off the couch and went to the grocery store.

I didn’t feel like spending that much time in the kitchen, so I made pasta with asparagus, broccoli and goat cheese. It was super easy and filling. To make: Boil 2 oz (about 1 serving) of pasta. Steam broccoli and asparagus. Drain everything and combine with 2 tsp of olive oil, a sprinkle of basil and a sprinkle of garlic salt. Mix. Top with 2 oz of goat cheese. That makes 2 servings, and if you’re following on WW that’s about 6 pts each.

I always forget about pasta when it comes to quick dinners, mostly because of my carb-phobia, but felt pretty good about this.

Falafel with homemade tzatziki + carrots and hummus

Another quick dinner from this week: Falafel with homemade tzatziki! I made the falafel with Telma mix, and just heated them in a pan with a very light coating of olive oil. I’d never made tzatziki before, but it turned out to be pretty easy. As you can see from the photos, mine is super chunky, but that’s because I left my cucumbers that way. To make the sauce: 1 individual serving of 0% greek yogurt + 1 Tbs vinegar + 1/2 Tbs chopped garlic + 1/2 cucumber, seeded and chopped + dill, salt, pepper to taste.

Creamy frozen blueberries

And finally… my favorite post-dinner snack: creamy frozen blueberries. Ok, I know this isn’t much of a recipe, but I love it. When I find blueberries on sale, I buy a few cartons and wash and freeze them for later. For a sweet and creamy frozen snack that doesn’t come in an ice cream container, pour unsweetened almond milk over frozen blueberries. Yup, that’s it. I told you it wasn’t much of a recipe, but it is really good.

The milk will freeze immediately, coating the blueberries. I’ve also used soy and skim cow’s milk, and they both worked fine, but almond milk gives my favorite consistency.

What is your favorite quick dinner? Have you made anything new recently? I need ideas!

Hearty vegetables and dumpling soup

Posted on January 12, 2011 by ZenLizzie

Got the 'Winter Ughs'? You need more soup in your life.

So, I’ve been iced in for the last few days, which has reminded me why I need to graduate and move closer to the equator to avoid winter in general. Really, it hasn’t been so bad, but I was looking forward to getting back on track with my new semester and work. You’d think two more days off would be great, but not when I’m stuck in my apartment!

I have been working on one of my 25 at 25 goals…

Can't tell? It is my afghan I started last year! As any semi-dedicated yarn crafter will tell you, it is crucial to finish your cold weather projects while it is still cold.

… and cooking a lot of soup.

To kick off my first recipe of the new year, and in Southern-ish tradition, I’ve revamped a recipe that I grew up loving: chicken and dumplings. Except.. I just finished “Eating Animals,”and the idea of eating chicken soup right now kind of makes me lose my appetite. (If you read the book, you’ll understand.) So, in place of chicken, I’ve added a bunch of vegetables, and I promise it is still really delicious and hearty.

Vegetables and dumpling soup - This was a version I made with whole wheat flour, that's why the dumplings are tan. If you make it with white flour, you'll get lighter colored dumplings.

Vegetables and dumpling soup

Ingredients

Soup:
8 cups vegetable broth
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 cup milk (or milk substitute)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
3 cups frozen mixed vegetables (I used a “Japanese Mix” with green beans, peppers, broccoli and mushrooms)

Dumplings:*
You can either use this method from Paula Deen, that I used, which requires 2 cups of flour, a pinch of salt and about 3/4 cup ice water, or you can do it the easy way, which for this I actually recommend: 1 can of pre-made refrigerated biscuit dough.

Directions

1. Add broth, onions, celery, seasoning to large stew pot and cook over medium heat.
2. While the broth is simmering, either prepare dough for dumplings by slowly stirring cold water into salt and flour mixture until it comes together into a ball. OR Open your can of biscuit dough.
3. Add vegetables and milk to broth and stir.
4. When broth is hot and vegetables are warmed, pinch off 1 inch balls of dough and drop them into the pot.
5. Dough balls should be small. Drop them one by one around the pot. It is OK if they stick together, since you can break them up with a wooden spatula later.
6. Cook mixture on medium to high heat for about 4 minutes, or until dumplings float to the top. You can use a spatula to stir around the bottom and sides of the pot, but let the dumplings cook for at least 3 to 4 minutes before doing this.
7. You can serve as is, or if you want a thicker base you can add about a tablespoon of flour.

*I attempted the PD dumpling recipe twice with different flours and I wasn’t thrilled with either version because they were a little too heavy. I know that the biscuit method will work, and if you’re not into pre-packaged foods, you could probably use a from-scratch biscuit recipe to make the dough.

Other notes: If you want chicken and dumplings, add chicken at the beginning of the cooking process. I didn’t miss the meat at all.

I know this looks like the pot of doom, but really this recipe is super easy and delicious.

I know this looks like the pot of doom, but I promise this recipe is easy and delicious.

Don't be alarmed. This soup requires a storm before the calm while cooking.

Makes about 6, 1 1/2 cup servings, for 6 WW points, using calculator. Five if you add the ingredients individually.

What is your favorite soup? I think tomato is still my favorite. Any excuse for a grilled cheese!

What Stollen and Tamales have in common

Posted on December 22, 2010 by ZenLizzie

My sad life: A wonky tamale and a stalker cat.

I started the month with the idea that I would make international holiday foods. I made alfajores, which were a tasty disaster. After those, I made German Stollen and Mexican tamales. What do all these dishes have in common besides being Christmas foods? At some point, a few hours in to preparing them, you will think, “What have I gotten myself into?”

General tips for making food that other cultures deem “once-a-year” foods:

1. Find an aunt, mom or grandma from that country who makes the dish. They could probably give you some pointers, or maybe they will feel sorry for you and just give you some food.

2. If all else fails, look it up on YouTube.

3. Give yourself twice as much time as the recipe calls for.

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Both literally, because baskets are no good for egg travel, and figuratively because if you base your whole meal off a new dish you’ve never made before, you might go hungry.

I’m sure that if I decided to make them again, I would be more prepared, but I’ve put off writing the recipe posts because I’ve been afraid they would be overly technical. Rather than wait until after Christmas to share these recipes, I’m going to give you the abridged version.

Delicious Almond Stollen (or Köstlicher Mandel-Stollen)

Almond stollen – Inspired by my German roommate

Stollen is a traditional German sweet bread made with nuts and candied fruit. Don’t be alarmed, this is not the kind of fruitcake you use for doorstops, although I found the candied fruit in the fruitcake baking area of the grocery. Apparently, stollen are normally made weeks in advance and kept in cold rooms or basements. I didn’t have that kind of time, so I wrapped mine up and kept it in the freezer for a few days, and that worked fine to get the right texture and flavor. It is sweet and festive, and kind of addictive.

I used a recipe from a German magazine which gave all the measurements in weight rather than cups, which triggered my math phobia. My roommate translated the recipe as I went along and helped me figure out the weights using her scale.

Making Stollen. Weighing fruit, reading German and covering the kitchen in powdered sugar.

This recipe looks similar to the one I used, except I didn’t soak my fruit in rum and I used candied lemon and orange instead of fresh grated. After you bake your loaves, add a coat of melted butter followed by a coat of powdered sugar. Repeat about 2 or 3 times and let the dough cool.

Tip #1: Adding a coat of melted butter + powdered sugar (repeat x3) to any dessert will make it a winner.

Tip #2: Don’t be alarmed if your fruit starts falling out of your dough. There is only so much fruit the dough can handle.

Bean and cheese tamales. Don't judge a dish by its poor presentation - these were good!

Vegetarian Bean and Cheese Tamales

My final holiday cooking adventure came in the form of five hour tamales. I decided to make bean tamales using this recipe, and I made a vegan masa using vegetable shortening rather than lard. I had no problem finding the masa harina (the corn meal stuff), but had to go to a Latin grocer to find the corn husks.

Soaking husks and making masa

I’m not sure if my dough was too dry. When I made it according to the recipe, it seemed gooey, so I added more flour. When I started looking at videos about tamales, their masa was more of a paste. The final taste was the same, but the dough might be thicker than normal if you make it like mine.

I use a can of pinto beans + a can of black beans + some spicy cheese + peppers + onions + garlic for the filling

I used a can of pinto beans + a can of black beans + some spicy cheese + peppers + onions + garlic for the filling.

Folding the tamales weren't super hard, but I think they would have stayed together better if i would have tied them with some string.

The only equipment I used that I don’t normally have in my kitchen was the steam basket thing that sits in the bottom of a pot. I checked the water level in my pot during the cooking and had to add more only once. After all that mixing and cooking and rolling… you have to wait 1.5 hours for them to cook. So, don’t start tamales hungry! I had to make Carlton a snack while they were cooking, since he came over assuming that it wouldn’t take five hours to make dinner.

Tip #1: You need lots of time to make these. Soak your husks at least 2 hours before you start cooking, and give yourself at least an hour to refrigerate your masa once it is formed into a dough.

Tip #2: Do not try to use the wisk attachment to cream your shortening. Use regular beaters, or else you might end up throwing Crisco all over your kitchen and guests, and nine times out of 10, they will not appreciate that.

Have you ever wanted to give up half-way through a recipe? Do any of your holiday foods take this long to prepare?

Vegetarian Collard Greens

Posted on December 14, 2010 by ZenLizzie

Pig-free collards.

I’d like to take a break from whining and blogging about Christmas sweets, to bring you my first attempt at collards. Now, throughout my life I’ve had a very keen sense of smell and a very big mouth, and as a kid I was pretty vocal about how much I hated collards, particularly the way they smelled cooking.

But then I grew up, started eating vegetables and ended up eating collards in other dishes. Even then, the fear of the gross-smelling green kept me from actually making them on their own. This year, however, my Dad planted collards in our winter vegetable garden, and they’ve done really well. So, I decided it was time to learn to make collards.

If you buy them like this, not pre-cut, be sure to wash them. Mine weren't dirty at all, but you can get the grit off by soaking them in a sink. The dirt will sink to the bottom and the collards will float on top.

So I googled recipes and they all used ham hocks, pork fat or bacon. Ummmm no. Beyond the ethics of meat eating, I just don’t like the taste of ham. I put out a twitter APB and got some good suggestions. I ended up using this recipe that Tameika suggested as a jumping off point for my vegetarian collards. At first I was nervous that I wasn’t going to really like them, but I was really pleasantly surprised at how tasty and unlike my childhood memories they are.

Vegetarian Collard Greens

Ingredients

About 5 cups of collards, washed, chopped without stalks
1 small white onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Saute onions, garlic and garlic in a large saute pan.

2. Add liquids and sugar and stir until dissolved.

3. Add collards and stir so that they are coated and covered with the liquids. Some may stick out at first, but with a little stirring most should be covered depending on your pan/pot. You can add more liquid if you think they aren’t cooking evenly. It won’t hurt, but you’ll have more liquid left over when you`re finished.

4. Cook on medium-high heat for about 30 minutes, or until they are tender but not mushy.

Cooked in a skillet, but made from a box. I haven't conquered corn bread.

My attempt at Alfajores-ish cookies

Posted on December 10, 2010 by ZenLizzie

or, “Why I think someone’s South American grandma put a curse on my kitchen.”

Alfajores-ish cookies!

So, this year, I’ve decided to try to make traditional holiday foods. Except, I figured it would be more interesting to make other people’s traditional foods. For these, I asked Eunice, a Peruvian-Floridian-Blogger extrordinaire about Peruvian Christmas foods, and she suggested Alfajores.

According to Wikipedia, alfajores can be found all over the world in different forms, but in South America they are usually two cookies with a filling. After googling recipes, I found that two of the most common fillings are dulce de leche and manjar blanco. Either the words are used interchangeably (incorrectly) on the recipes I was looking at, or these are very similar milky-vanilla-sweet sauces/spreads. The biggest difference I found was the addition of baking soda in most of the dulce de leche recipes. If you know more about these, please let me know!

So, my version is compiled from a couple different sources, and when I served these to my classmates, a girl from Costa Rica said they tasted like alfajores from back home without me prompting her, so I think the flavors are close even if my methods are a little off.

I think this recipe looks deceptively easy, but proceed with caution. Or follow the directions better than I did.

Alfajores-ish Cookies

Cookie Ingredients

2 1/4 cups flour
3 Tbs powdered sugar
1 1/4 cup softened butter

Manjar blanco Ingredients

8 cups whole milk
2 Tbs vanilla extract
2 cups sugar

Disaster manjar blanco and disaster microwave dulce de leche.

Directions

1. Pour the milk into a very large pot, way bigger than you think you need because, as you can see in the photo, the milk will jump out of the pot if it isn’t big enough.

2. When the milk boils, add sugar and vanilla and stir continuously making sure it doesn’t stick. Here is someone’s grandma’s method for doing this. It takes a very long time for the manjar blanco to thicken, as in, hours. I didn’t stir mine enough so it got a little burnt before getting smooth, thats why mine looks sugary instead of like caramel.

(I also attempted a microwave version of dulce de leche using just a can of sweetened condensed milk, which I am going to spare you. But I can tell you what not to do: Don’t use a too-small bowl, don’t take your eyes off the bowl, don’t cover with a paper towel, don’t cover with plastic wrap or else you will end up with a milky, brown, but delicious mess.)

3. Preheat oven to 350* and spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray.

4. Combine ingredients for cookie and knead into a ball. The dough is dry, so you can add tsp of oil or butter if it will not stick together.

5. Most recipes for alfajores recommend rolling the dough and using a cookie cutter, but my dough was too dry so I rolled small balls of dough and flattened them by hand. They were thicker than the traditional ones, but they held together for the most part.

6. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on how thick your cookies are. (Don’t forget to keep stirring you manjar blanco!!)

7. Let the cookies cool, which should be no problem since the manjar blanco is probably still cooking, unless you burned it like I did. Once the manjar blanco comes together in paste-consistency rather than a liquid, take it off the heat.

8. Spread about a tablespoon of manjar blanco onto one cookie, and then add the other cookie. If your cookies are dry and breaking, just place a scoop of the manjar blanco on the cookie and then slowly press the other cookie down with the palm of your hand.

Some recipes recommended not adding the filling until just before serving, but my cookies were dry enough that it actually helped to fill them a few hours before serving. You can also cover these in powdered sugar.

The flavor was really good, despite my mess ups. I think if I were going to make these again, I would probably not try to be such an eager beaver, and just use a pre-made dulce de leche.

Do you have any suggestions for holiday foods I should try to make? Any special traditions from your area of the world/country/state?

Living! with ZenLizzie

Live simply, eat mindfully, laugh inappropriately

Tag Archives: food

Make Cupcakes, Not War Entry: Give Peach a Chance Cupcakes

Give Peach a Chance Cupcakes with Peach Cream Cheese Frosting

It is berry difficult to avoid word play when you aren’t trying berry hard

Light Vegetable Frittata with Zucchini and Peppers

Light Vegetable Frittata

My all-veggie lunch at Ruby Tuesday

Bless Your Heart: Root vegetable pot pie

Root Vegetable Pot Pie

Two quick dinners and a healthy, frozen dessert

Hearty vegetables and dumpling soup

Vegetables and dumpling soup

What Stollen and Tamales have in common

Delicious Almond Stollen (or Köstlicher Mandel-Stollen)

Vegetarian Bean and Cheese Tamales

Vegetarian Collard Greens

Vegetarian Collard Greens

My attempt at Alfajores-ish cookies

Alfajores-ish Cookies

Follow “Living! with ZenLizzie”