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Super Smooth Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

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Sometimes I feel silly buying things in the grocery store that can easily be made at home. Other times I’m lazy and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Hummus is one of those things (like pomegranate seeds) that have huge markup at the store for the sake of convenience.

Since I’ve found a hummus recipe I like, I’ve vowed to (almost) never buy hummus at the store again. This hummus comes together in a food processor and it makes more than twice the amount that a standard container holds. It’s very creamy and smooth and it is easy to add flavors to. I had a jar of roasted red peppers and mixed some in while this was processing.

Dig in with chips, crackers, or pita bread. This is also a great, flavorful spread on a sandwich or wrap.

Pistachio Dark Chocolate Toffee

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I live about a block from a Williams Sonoma store. I often pop in while walking to the grocery store or shopping at the stores nearby to see what they have that is new or sampling. I rarely buy anything there since it is very expensive and seems to be catering to those “Semi-Homemade” type homemakers (exceptions include: Fiona’s Sweet Shoppe candies & Peppermint Bark). Around the holidays they were sampling their Handcrafted Toffee which tasted absolutely amazing but at over $30 a tin, I couldn’t justify taking it home. I kept making laps around the store and sneaking more samples while my fiancé swapped our Sodastream CO2 canister.

When we got home we were determined to satisfy our toffee craving. Toffee always seemed so daunting and complicated to make, but it’s actually pretty easy if you have patience and a candy thermometer.  The best thing about making toffee yourself is that you can control what goes in it and customize it in a variety of ways. The caramel-y toffee layer only has butter, sugar, water, and a dash of salt. The top is whatever percentage chocolate you desire sprinkled with toppings of your choice. I used a darker chocolate (70% Trader Joe’s Pound Plus) because it offsets the sweetness of the toffee, but you can use a lighter, semi-sweet chocolate. I wouldn’t go lower than 54%.

This was also my handmade gift for the holidays. We made two batches and were able to customize it based on the audience. Chopped pistachios were the “traditional” recipe; for my more adventurous friends I mixed crystallized ginger, pistachios, and cashews. The toffee tastes better the next day when the moisture from the top layer has had time to soften up the sugar layer. I opted to break the pieces by hand and package them up into little bags since I liked the homemade look, but portion-ing out into a mini square pan would look more professional. Plus, with the shard style there are always little pieces left over you can sprinkle into your morning coffee.

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Salad with Pickled Beets & Feta

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club, I was paired up with Turnips 2 Tangerines. After trying out some apple cider garam masala pickled beets at my local farmer’s market, I decided to tweak Lynn’s recipe for pickled beets. Thankfully I was able to find pre-cooked and peeled beets, so this recipe was even easier!

I simply subbed out the vinegar for apple cider vinegar and the spices for garam masala. I used the pickling liquid to make a simple vinaigrette (1 tablespoon pickling liquid, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or to taste, dash salt and pepper, 1/4 teaspoon mustard).

The bitterness of the greens, saltiness of the cheese, and tang of the beets all go well together. The cider vinegar and spices keep the beets from tasting too “dirty”, but they still keep their earthiness.

I’ll have to go back to Turnips 2 Tangerines and look at the other recipes I was having trouble choosing from, including: Spicy Refrigerator Pickles, Surprise carrot cake, pear nut cake, and chocolate pecan coffee cake!

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Secret Recipe Club

Double Chocolate and Espresso Cookies

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You know something’s a success when people ask for the recipe after eating it.

I was a little doubtful while scooping these cookies out onto the baking sheet. The batter didn’t look like any cookie dough I had ever seen because it was pretty loose and some even lost their shape when they hit the pan.

I was still worried after they were done baking and I chomped on one while still warm from the oven. It just tasted o~kay.

But, I let them sit overnight and by the next day they had somehow changed. The flavors had mingled together and become stronger. The texture on the outside had become crunchier and the inside more fudgy, like a brownie. In fact, these taste like a delicious brownie-cookie hybrid, and they even double as a caffeine pick-me-up because of the chocolate covered espresso beans.

Everyone that tried these cookies became an immediate convert, even those that don’t like coffee (read: my mom).

Even though a little more work goes into these to melt the chocolate, there are only 2 tablespoons of butter in the entire recipe. Can you believe it? I think I’m going to try coating these with sugar next and see if they can replace my traditional Milk Chocolate Espresso Cookies at Christmas time. If you’re one of those that doesn’t like crunchy things like nuts or candy in your cookies (like my fiance), then you can replace the chocolate covered espresso beans with a strong espresso powder.

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Mini Blueberry Cheesecakes with Trefoils™ Cookie Crust

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The baking with Girl Scout Cookies® saga continues! Trefoils™ are sometimes seen as the plain, boring cookies that you always have extra boxes of after a booth sale. My sister had an extra box of Trefoils™ from last year and gave them to me on the condition that I bake something with them. Also, did you know that February 8th is National Girl Scout Cookie Day?

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I was a little burned out on chocolate, as crazy as that may sound, so I wanted to make something for my office for Valentine’s Day that was decadent, but lighter. I made my Mini Blackberry Cheesecakes recipe and replaced the blackberries with blueberries. I also replaced the vanilla wafer cookies with the buttery, fragrant Trefoils™ and added some almonds in too (omitting the almond extract in the original).

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It was easy to convince my office-mates to try these treats. The fruit on top makes it “healthy”; they’re bite-sized; they have Girl Scout Cookies® in them, which makes them “limited edition”. The crust on these are delicious and it goes well with the tanginess of the cheesecake and the tart berries.

Feel free to sub your favorite fruit on top or replace the cookies with what you have on hand. I had some extra filling and crust and swirled in some chocolate chips and crunchy cookie butter for a rich Valentine’s treat.

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