We got to go to a classroom open house kind of thing after school last week and he showed off all the amazing things he’s been learning. It blows me away every day how quickly he is picking up another language.
El dice “quiero ser un cientifico.”
The cookie exchange I had with my friends was a huge hit and even though my cookies were not the favorites, they were still quite good.
I adapted a recipe from the Nugget Winter catalog to make it gluten and dairy free.
Matcha Almond Shortbread with Chipotle Chocolate
Ingredients:
- 7 tbsp Earth Balance
- 6 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour (I used TJs brand)
- 6 tbsp almond meal
- 2 tsp matcha powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cane sugar
- 10 oz chipotle dark chocolate (or dark chocolate with a pinch of chipotle powder)
Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the Earth Balance and powdered sugar until pale and fluffy. Then add the egg and mix until incorporated.
Sift together the flour, almond meal, matcha, and salt, then add to the mixing bowl all at once. Mix until it sticks to itself and forms a large clump.
Scoop the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a log and wrap tightly.
Put in freezer for ~40-45 minutes, until firm.
Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
Once dough is ready, unroll the plastic wrap and roll the log in the sugar, pressing down so that it sticks to the sides of the dough.
Cut into 1/4 in thick slices and arrange on baking sheet(s).
Bake for ~10 minutes, remove from oven and let cool on a rack.
Once the cookies are cooled, melt the chocolate in a glass bowl in the microwave (or a double boiler) and dip the cooled cookies in so they are half way coated. Alternatively, you could drizzle the chocolate atop the cookies (because the gluten free versions I made kept breaking off in the chocolate!).
Transfer to a sheet or parchment paper to let the chocolate set.
I don’t know why but cookies are really hard for me. I can bake quickbreads with no recipe and my eyes closed and it turns out every time. And cooking seems to come pretty naturally to me too. I get inspired by things I see and can generally replicate them and my family all enjoys whatever I make. But cookies elude me. I follow recipes with such precision and yet I still get pancakes that spread across the whole sheet or crumbly dough that won’t stay together or a million other issues. What’s with me and cookies?
Anyway, I was mostly pleased with these aside from the difficulty I had in dipping them in chocolate.
So aesthetically they aren’t the most amazing. But let’s be real, I’m competing against cookies with butter and sugar up the wazoo. I hardly stood a chance even if they were perfectly executed. Look at these!?!? They were made by hand!
What the what!?!? That is talent.
And FYI I did try a ton of them (gluten and dairy and all) and got a headache ON THE DRIVE HOME. Not to mention the GI stuff that happened over the next 48 hours. Truthfully, it was not worth it. I told Kyle the same and he’s pretty delighted that he gets the spoils of the exchange now. I mean, I will probably have a few in more modest serving sizes if I’m being honest. Ugh. Such a tough thing to manage. Anyway, now I know that my sensitivities are still very much real. 🙁
Don’t worry about my dessert situation though. You see, Nugget’s secret special last weekend was for chuao and I mayyyyy have gone a bit overboard. The limit was 10 per purchase, but I went back a few times. And had Kyle go once. So yeah. I am good.
Speaking of last weekend…
This little thing was feeling terrible and the kind TJs employees were trying to help her out by giving her some crackers…
Fortunately she only ate one (her only food from breakfast til bedtime) because she wound up throwing up later that night. My kids can’t catch a break right now!!
As you can see, she rebounded quite quickly. Literally.
I can’t decide which of these I like more. They normally cost $6 each so I’m living like a baller right now, eating a bar a night.
