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.

Yukon Quest

February 3, 2014 ~ Crystle ~ 3 Comments

I can tell you definitively that if I were to embark on the Yukon Quest, it wouldn’t take long for me to want to turn around and race back towards the cozy home and happy family I would have left behind. Yukon Quest 2014 - Fairbanks, AK

Brian Wilmshurst - Yukon Quest 2014 - Fairbanks, AK First of all, I’d probably want to Instagram or Tweet everything I see on my 1,000 mile journey through the wilderness, and a lack of reception would probably not allow that. Second, winter camping is not my forte. I just don’t have the greatest tolerance for long exposures to bitterly cold temperatures. I am definitely a summer camper.

Yukon Quest 2014 - Fairbanks, AK

What a challenge: 1,000 miles through the Alaskan Wilderness from Fairbanks, AK to Whitehorse, YT. We drove that stretch on our way out here, and I thought it was a long ride by car. I can hardly imagine taking that journey by dog sled. Especially a dog sled team led by my elderly, overweight Beagle, Yango. I probably would elect to have a different lead dog, or we’d likely get nowhere. There are a great many reasons why I’m not cut out for the Yukon Quest — and a great many reasons why I highly respect the competitors.

Each night I can easily track the progress of the racers from the comfort of my cozy living room, glad that I can enjoy the sport from afar. I’m rooting for Curt Perano, because I spoke briefly with his wife Fleur by chance when her toddler Wyatt wandered over to Margot in her stroller at the Co-Op Plaza. The New Zealand natives have been mushing for a very long time, with Curt Perano competing in the Iditarod last year and taking 27th place. What a fun legacy for baby Wyatt to inherit.

I also spotted former Iditarod champ Lance Mackey behind the starting gate. Alaskan Celebrities are much different than the Southern Californian celebrities I’m used to spotting (David Hasselhof, Tobey Maguire). But it’s still exciting to see a famous face!

This journey is likely to last 8 days or so for the mushers; an exciting week for the mushers, and an uneventful (but cozy!) week here at home, I can confidently predict.

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.