Valentine’s Day Peanut Butter Cookies

February 10, 2014 ~ Crystle ~ 2 Comments

Growing up, Valentine’s Day was one of my favorite holidays. I loved the cards, the crafts, the candies and the parties. I still do, and I hope to make this holiday just as special for my kids growing up.

This time last year, I was heavily pregnant with Margot, and our cupboards were rather bare (it’s funny how chores take a back seat when you’re 8 months preggy). I felt compelled to bake a Valentine’s Day treat for my husband so he’d have something nice to come home to — so I gathered a few pantry staples and made these peanut butter cookies shaped like hearts. I’m sharing the recipe and how-to tips on shaping your cookies just in case any of you find yourself scrambling for a last minute Valentine’s Day treat. These cookies are made a little less sweet, making them great for dipping in (chocolate) milk, or sandwiching with nutella, for those of you with a sweet tooth.

Follow the instructions posted below to make your cookie dough. When that’s complete, line your baking sheets with parchment paper, and roll out the dough into 1 1/4″ balls and line them up, 12 cookies per baking sheet.

Take the flat end of a fork and part the top of the cookie, pressing each side outward to form the top of the heart. Pinch the bottom of the cookie to form the bottom of the heart.

Use the prong end of the fork to flatten the cookie down a bit, creating the signature peanut butter cookie criss-cross.

Once your cookies are shaped, sprinkle with granulated sugar and bake for 6-9 minutes at 375F.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Peanut Butter Cookies for Valentine's Day 095A7215

Valentine’s Day Peanut Butter Cookies

Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Crystle

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 8 mins

Total time: 18 mins

Serves: 36

Festive Valentine’s Day Peanut Butter Cookies, made light with whole wheat pastry flour, light sugar and other pantry staples.

Ingredients

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 tsp baking soda

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F
Beat sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and egg on med speed until creamy.
Blend in flour and baking soda on low speed until well blended.
Shape dough into 1 1/4″ balls. Using flat end of fork, part and spread the top of the ball open to form the top of the heart. Pinch the bottom of the ball to form the bottom of the heart. Flatten each half into criss-cross pattern with prong end of the fork.
Bake 6-9 minutes or until set. Cool on cookie sheet 2 mins, remove to wire racks to cool.

Southwest Sweet Potato Galette

January 15, 2014 ~ Crystle ~ 8 Comments

It’s going to be 25 degrees this weekend up here in Fairbanks. That’s BBQ weather! Well, we won’t attempt it, but I can guarantee some of our more adventurous neighbors will. When the temperature rises above 20 degrees, the layers come off, and the people head outdoors. It’s the Alaska equivalent to sandal weather, I guess you could say.

All of this BBQ talk, and the promise of warmer weather this summer has me longing for a weekend in Santa Fe, my all time favorite US city.

Where the vast sprawling desert meets the towering Southern Rockies, there’s the mile high Capitol city that’s calling to me. Santa Fe: flamboyant vistas, racous thunderstorms, and fragrant piñon wafting in the air; it’s all part of the complex, magnetic landscape that draws me in. No other city has a pull on me like Santa Fe.

Since travel from Fairbanks, AK to Santa Fe, NM is about a trillion dollars, I’ll have to get creative about how I satisfy my wanderlust. I can either George O’Keefe all over a canvas, or (more attainably) emulate some of the culinary masterpieces I’ve sampled in the Southwest.

Of course I chose the latter.

This recipe uses ingredients I almost always have on hand, making it remarkably easy to prepare. The process unfolds into three areas: prep, roast, and bake. When you approach this recipe with this in mind, it goes quickly.

Southwest Sweet Potato Galette Recipe This recipe is adapted from Pam Anderson’s wonderful cookbook Cook Without a Book: Meatless Meals. I’ve tried most of the recipes in this book and none of them disappoint. Cookbooks that teach technique instead listing regimented recipes are much more rewarding to have around. The flexibility afforded in this style cookbook has made me a much greater cook. I highly recommend picking up a copy (and I’m not being paid to say that!). Southwest Sweet Potato Galette Recipe

Southwest Sweet Potato Galette

Recipe Type: Vegetarian

Cuisine: Southwest

Author: Crystle

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 12

Satisfy your wanderlust with this savory, flavor-packed pastry.

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 medium red onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
red chili pepper flakes to taste
1 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 heaping cups sharp cheddar cheese, divided
2 Store bought Pie Crusts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F
Dice sweet potato, onions, bell pepper, and add to large mixing bowl. Add minced garlic, olive oil and seasonings. Toss to coat evenly.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and spread out vegetable mixture over each of them in one layer.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until tender, turning over halfway through to allow even roasting.
Remove from oven, return vegetables to mixing bowl, add black beans, cilantro and cheddar, reserving a small handful of cheese to top the galettes later. Mix well.
On two separate sheets of fresh parchment paper (away from the warm baking sheets), unroll your pie crusts.
Drop filling into center of pie crusts, leaving 1-2 inches around the edge to allow for folding.
Start at the top of the pie crust, fold up over the ingredients and pinch the dough to hold it in place. Continue this process every 1-2 inches around the crust to enclose the pastry.
Top the pastry with cheddar.
Move pastries onto cooled baking sheets.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown, and the cheese is bubbly.

Notes

Divide the ingredients in half for a smaller serving. This yield is great if you want to freeze one of the galettes for future use. When you’re ready to use it, simply thaw it, and bake it according to directions. [br][br]This is a vegetarian meal, but you may add a little spicy sausage if you desire. Just be sure to drain excess fat that may prevent the crust from flaking during baking.[br][br]For a creamier base, add 1/2 to 1 cup of cream cheese, fontina or goat cheese.

White Chocolate Chip and Pistachio Cookies

December 16, 2013 ~ Crystle ~ 6 Comments

The advent candles on our table have been melting down, week by week, in anticipation of Christmas. After dinner and discussion, we read aloud our nightly advent prayer. Then I secretly add on a prayer request for less judgement in my heart, because those ritualistic purple and pink candles on the wreath are totally cramping my style.

Yes, it’s Christmastime again. Christmas cards have been mailed out, icicle lights hang gleefully from our front elevation, and hints of cinnamon and pine waft fragrantly through the home. This is such a nice time of year, but experiencing it in Alaska is very different from winter in Bakersfield, CA. Aside from the obvious difference in temperature and snowfall, the sun is showing up for less than four hours a day, hanging only as high on the horizon as a two story building down the street. It’s dark, cold and dreary up here. As I write this post at 2:44 pm, the sun has already faded behind the Alaska mountain range, leaving only a pink and orange glow in its wake. It will stay this way for at least another hour and a half before darkness envelops the tundra.