Toasted Sesame Cookies

Some time ago I wrote about Sustenance Bakery at the Pittsburgh Public Market and their addictive toasted sesame cookies.  I'll admit, there had been times when I drove down to the Strip District just to get some of these cookies.  I was sad when Sustenance Bakery left the Market back in December, but I was ecstatic to hear from the owner, Sarah Kelby Lewis, that the recipe would be published in the January issue of Food and Wine Magazine.

It took me a while to finally find the time to make these cookies myself.  The key, I think, are the alternative sugars featured in this recipe.  I was able to find both Sucanat and evaporated cane sugar at Naturally Soergels (not the main store but the organic shop in the back), and I have seen them at Whole Foods as well.  As for consistency, the cookies are supposed to be chewy.  On my first try I had baked the cookies for 12 minutes, and while they were soft immediately post-baking, they hardened quite a bit by the next day.  I have discovered that 10 minutes really hits the sweet spot in my oven.  My melon baller came in super handy for scooping the dough as it was the perfect size for these cookies.


I have since made three batches of these toasted sesame cookies, and they have been a HUGE hit.  R.'s mom said they were some of the best cookies she's ever had...and coming from a home ec teacher who has been baking all her life, that means a lot!  Thanks so much for sharing the joy of these amazing cookies with the world, Sarah!

Ready for the oven

Toasted Sesame Cookies

Recipe courtesy of:
Sarah Kelby Lewis and Food and Wine Magazine (get the recipe here)

Frozen Pumpkin Mousse Pie

I love all things pumpkin in the fall!  Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite desserts.  I discovered this twist on a traditional pumpkin pie a few years ago and had hoped to make it for Thanksgiving at some point, but the fact that I always have to travel for the holiday makes it a practical challenge to prepare and bring a frozen dessert.  So finally, this year, I gave up on the idea of saving this pie for Thanksgiving.  Instead, I made it and shared it with a few friends at home.  I should note that the among these friends were three other food bloggers, so it was pretty risky to serve them a dessert I had never made before!  Luckily, they seemed to like it a lot.  The gingersnap crust, in particular, got high praise, and I'd have to agree it was a pretty brilliant crust.  I bet it'd be a great crust for a pumpkin cheesecake.  Also, the use of low-fat ice cream makes this pie a low-calorie treat.

Frozen Pumpkin Mousse Pie 

A couple of notes:  I had to double the amount of oil that was called for for the crust as the crumb was not sticking together.  However, I realize later that I was probably just working with too much crumb to begin with, so I need to watch for that next time.  Also, while the low-fat ice cream made this dessert less fattening, I personally wish the filling were creamier.  But that's probably just the ice cream snob in me talking!  It is a darn good dessert as it is and I'm generally happy with it, as evidenced by the fact that R. and I gobbled up the rest of the pie in a matter of days. :)

Recipe courtesy of:
Eating Well (get the recipe here)

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I had been thinking about baking something for my friendly neighbors who have generously offered to help me with various things while I'm on vacation.  This past weekend I happened to have some very overripe bananas, so I figured I'd make something banana-y (always a good bet, right?) and found this banana oatmeal cookie recipe on Allrecipes.com.  The recipe is pretty simple, although I found the baking time to be somewhat difficult to get just right as the recipe says to bake for 12-15 minutes, but even at 12 minutes the I was burning the bottom of the cookies.  For one of the batches I lowered the baking time to 11 minutes, but the bottom stuck to the cookie sheets so they weren't quite done, and I put them back in the oven for another minute and these turned out great.  Just as soon as I thought I had discovered the trick, however, the bottom of the cookies were burning even at just 11 minutes.  So I think the key is to start checking at around 10 minutes or so and go in 30 second increments until done but not burnt.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies

The consistency was interesting - the cookies were soft in the middle so they were more like banana bread than banana cookies - not that I mind personally.  The flavor wasn't particularly strong, and I don't think these are quite as good as the Andes Creme de Menthe cookies that I blogged about a couple of months ago, but the fact that I gobbled down a whole dozen of them as I was baking proves that they were definitely addictive and a great way to use up those extra bananas. :)

Recipe courtesy of:
Allrecipes (get the recipe here)

Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies

I had these Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies for the first time a few years ago when R.'s mom made them, and I was instantly hooked.  Turns out the recipe is right on the packaging of the Andes Creme de Menthe baking chips, but for the life of me I was never able to find these baking chips anywhere in the Washington DC area where I used to live.  It wasn't until I moved to Pittsburgh that I finally found them - at Walmart, of all places.  (R.'s mom also buys them at her local Walmart, and Walmart remains the only store where I have seen them.  If you can't find them in a store, you can order them online.)  When I made a huge batch of these Andes Creme de Menthe Cookies just before Christmas last year, everybody raved about them, so when I had to bring cookies for a social a couple weeks ago, I knew I could count on these.

Fresh out of the oven

Once again, these cookies turned out great.  If you like chocolate and mint, you'll love these cookies!

Recipe courtesy of:
Tootsie Roll Industries (get the recipe here)

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Once upon a time I discovered a fabulous and easy banana bread recipe, chock full of banana flavor (well, it does call for six whole overripe bananas) and moist almost like a cake.  Then one day, I thought to myself, "I bet this would taste so good with chocolate chips!" so I dump some semi-sweet chocolate chips into the batter and I'm happy to report that I have never been more right in my life!  Not to toot my own horn (and I can't really claim credit anyway because the banana bread recipe was created by somebody else), of all the times I've made this and of all the people who have had it, I have heard nothing but praise.

Fresh out of the oven

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I actually hadn't made this chocolate chip banana bread in a while, at least not since moving to Pittsburgh.  But last weekend I found myself with exactly six leftover, overripe bananas, so it was the perfect opportunity to use them all at once.  Once again, it came out pretty much just perfect.  It's not rocket science, really; it's all about following the directions carefully.  After enjoying a slice of the bread (can't beat that fresh-out-of-oven taste!), I brought the rest to work and it was a huge hit!  I just made another one yesterday and I think my neighbors will be the beneficiaries this time around. :)

If you want to try this yourself, here's my personal copy of the recipe in pdf format, which is basically the original banana bread recipe with a few of my own changes.

What I changed:

1. The obvious one: I added 3/4 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Clearly, the amount can be adjusted according to taste, but personally I've found 3/4 cups to hit just the sweet spot.
2. The original recipe does not state how many bananas are needed to make 2-1/3 cups of mashed bananas, and it is actually about six, which is definitely something good to know ahead of time!
3. The original recipe also does not specify the type of brown sugar used.  I have tried both dark brown and light brown sugar, and in my opinion it's gotta be dark brown sugar for a full-bodied taste.  The light brown sugar is just too subtle for this and doesn't provide the right level of sweetness.

Recipe:
Download here