We had a Lebanese food fest at our friend Megan’s last night, and one of the items we brought were these delicious Arak cookies, adapted from a butter cookie recipe in Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen. The original uses orange flower water, but I thought they’d be delicious with the anise-flavor of arak. Boy was I right — the flavor level was right on: just a hint of licorice without it being overwhelming.

Lisa says:

These are so addicting…

Thad says:

Mmmmm… very good.

Chris says:

I think they’re awesome — they’d be great with pistachios.

Lisa says:

Then they’d totally be Lebanese…

Abbie says:

These are delicious — and I don’t even like arak!

Megan says:

Yeah, how’d you think to use arak in these? Genius!

Chris says:

I’m trying to make room in my belly for more, but the other 9 courses we had tonight are making that quite difficult…

Arak Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp arak
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
Almond slivers

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar, and arak until the mixture is light and fluffy. With a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour.
Preheat the oven to 325F. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough and roll them into balls. Arrange the balls 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Gently press to flatten each ball to make round cookies about 1 1/2-inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick. Sprinkle 3-4 almond slivers (or one pistachio) into the center of each. Bake the cookies at 325F 20 to 25 minutes or until they are firm to the touch. Don’t let them brown!
Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets 5 minutes; sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

24 Cookies

Lisa’s been spending her free time baking lately, and today she made a huge batch of chocolate-chip cookies that also have chopped walnuts and peanut butter. We really enjoyed the light, chewy texture of these “healthy” cookies.

Chris says:

Yum, these are good! They’re light and chewy like the soft-baked kind — I like the buckwheat.

Lisa says:

A lot of the reviews mentioned they were kind of cakey. And I changed the recipe a bit based on the flour we had on hand, the original didn’t have buckwheat.

Chris says:

Where’d you see the recipe?

Lisa says:

Cooking Light… they call them “Good-For-You” cookies… they’re healthy! Plus I added walnuts and peanut butter to it.

Chris says:

So, you made them… less healthy?

Lisa says:

Yeah, but more delicious. And it’s not like I added 13 sticks of butter or anything.

Chris says:

Is it bad that I just ate 5 of them?

Lisa says:

Someone has to eat them… hey, where’d the cat go?

Hailey says:

(Almost…) Good-For-You Chocolate-Chip Cookies
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2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup reduced-calorie stick margarine, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
2/3 cup reduced-fat semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl; stir well. Set aside. Combine margarine and sugars in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add applesauce, vanilla, egg, egg white, and peanut butter; beat well. Add dry ingredients; beat at low speed until well-blended. Stir in chips and walnuts.

Drop dough by level teaspoons, 1 inch apart, onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until almost set. Remove from oven; let stand 2 to 3 minutes or until firm. Remove cookies from pans; let cool on wire racks.

Makes 5 Dozen

I realized late last night that time was running out for Taste & Create VI, and with the rest of our week already planned out and our being out of town this weekend, my options for creating a dish from Kelly’s Sounding My Barbaric Gulp were dwindling. Luckily, she recently featured a recipe that sounded quick, delicious, and utilized ingredients that we (for the most part) already had on hand. I did have to make a substitution: fresh raspberries have been hard to come by recently, so I substituted frozen cranberries that I still had on hand from the last T&C event. Huzzah for that miracle of the modern age, the ice-box.

Lisa says:

How is it that you ended up baking again?

Chris says:

I don’t know — at least this time there aren’t any professional bakers around to taste my wares.

Lisa says:

And it looks like this one only took like an hour…

Chris says:

Yes! Very easy, and I’m happy with the results. I like the tartness of the cranberries against the sweet of the cake.

Lisa says:

I like the sweet of the batter when I lick the bowl.

Cranberry Almond Blondies
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9 tbsp unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup sliced almonds, (3 ounces), toasted
1/2 cup cranberries, sliced
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a buttered 8-inch square baking pan with foil, allowing 2 inches to hang over sides. Butter lining (excluding overhang); set pan aside.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, and set aside.
Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; cream on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Add flour mixture, and beat on low speed, scraping down sides of bowl, until well incorporated. Mix 3/4 cup almonds into batter.
Pour oh-so-thick batter into prepared pan; spread with a rubber spatula. Scatter cranberries and remaining 1/4 cup nuts over batter in pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted into blondies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, 55 to 60 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before cutting into squares.

16 small squares

When I came across this recipe for “Indian Spiced Peanut Brittle” on 28 Cooks, I knew it would be a fun treat to try making for our recent housewarming party. I’d never made peanut brittle before, and assumed that it would be a pretty time-consuming affair involving standing over a hot stove with a thermometer, waiting for the perfect time to pour, stir, etc. Well, with the exception of remembering to keep an eye on the bowl, it’s pretty much a no-brainer in the microwave — yes, the microwave! Not only that, it was a fantastic way to use up the light corn syrup and peanuts that we had in the pantry.

Once we saw how easy the first recipe was, we made a second batch using some leftover white chocolate. Both were delicious and a big hit at the party.

Chris says:

Oh my god, these spices in here rule. I love the savory along with the sweet.

Matt says:

Mmmmmm… I love the way those spices sneak up on you. Very good.

Lisa says:

Ooh, next time for the white chocolate I want to try lining the parchment with the chocolate and then then pouring the peanut mixture over the top instead of mixing it in.

Chris says:

That sounds cool, you’d have whole bits of chocolate in there.

Amy says:

I think you guys just figured out what to give people for Christmas presents next year!

Chris says:

Genius!

Peanut Brittle
————–
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 c light corn syrup
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1 cup dry-roasted unsalted peanuts
1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Sweet White Chocolate Peanut Brittle:
———————————————
1/2 White Chocolate candy bar, broken into pieces

For the Savory “Indian Spiced” Peanut Brittle:
———————————————-
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp whole white peppercorns
1/8 tsp cumin seeds

Use a mortar and pestle to crush the spices together.

1. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and peanuts in a microwave-safe dish. Heat on high for four minutes, stir well, and return to the microwave for an additional 2-4 minutes until it just starts to slightly darken, making sure it doesn’t burn.
2. Remove from the microwave, add the butter and stir well. If making the sweet peanut brittle, add the chocolate and stir well.
3. Return to the microwave for an additional 1-2 minutes.
4. Remove from the microwave and add the baking soda and vanilla, stirring well. If making the savory peanut brittle, add the crushed spices and stir well.
5. Spread on the parchment-lined baking sheet and let cool. When set, break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Notes:
On microwaving: Microwave times vary based on the power of your oven, so watch that bowl. If it starts to brown darkly and smoke, your brittle may be toast, and not the edible kind!
On washing the bowl: After you pour out the contents of the bowl on the parchment paper, whatever’s left will quickly harden, and you may think you have an evening of hard scrubbing ahead of you. No worries, though, remember it’s basically just hardened sugar in that bowl, so just fill it with water, let it sit for a while, and when you return you should find that it has all dissolved.

Lisa made this recipe from the book Fitness Food. We didn’t have a baking pan that was the size the recipe asks for, so she used an 8×8 pan and put the remaining mix in muffin pan lined with paper cups. The recipe yielded a full 8×8 pan plus 4 cupcakes.

Lisa says:

Yay for bonus cupcakes!

Chris says:

They’re so good with ice cream and that chocolate sauce. What’s with the walnut on that one brownie?

Lisa says:

There was a walnut laying around, so why not?

Chris says:

Good call.

Reduced Fat Fudge Brownie Cupcakes
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oil spray
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup superfine sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp canola oil
7 oz low-fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup apple sauce
powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray an 12×8 baking dish with the oil and line the base and 2 long sides with baking paper. Sift the flours, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil, yogurt, and apple sauce. Add to the flour and mix well. Spread into baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
The brownie will sink slightly in the center as it cools. Leave in the pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Dust with powdered sugar, cut, and serve.