Pink Lemonade Cookies

This June we've had a decent amount of sunny, nice weather and it's been making me crave light and summery foods.  So when I had to bake something for a potluck at work, pink lemonade was on my mind.  I've already made bars with that flavor, but wanted to try a cookie too.  (Apparently making everything but actual pink lemonade...hm...)

When looking for a recipe, most of them included either a mix of some kind (cookie or cake), concentrate, or food coloring.  Yuck!  I eventually found one that didn't use any of that, and it is awesome.

Fresh lemon juice and zest, with a splash of fresh, pureed strawberries create the flavor base.  Pureeing the strawberries was the perfect use of my itty bitty food processor. So cute, and guaranteed to send curious kitties racing away from the kitchen in terror from the scary appliance.

The dough was a bit wet to work with, but certainly not enough to be frustrating... or to discourage you from baking these tasty, little gems!

Bright, tangy, lemony flavor comes through with a bit of sweetness in these cookies.  It's a perfect balance.  The dough was tasty, but a cool, baked cookie was even better.  They were a hit at the potluck, as well as with some of the husband's coworkers as well!

Pink Lemonade Cookies
(from Healthy. Delicious.)
Makes ~ 1 1/2 dozen cookies

8 Tablespoons butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
4 large strawberries
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
2 Tablespoonsfresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
2½ cups Flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350*F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the berries and vanilla to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Add ⅓ cup of the strawberry puree, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the butter and sugar mixture.  You could discard any extra puree or save it for another use, like in your breakfast oatmeal or to flavor an adult beverage. ;-)  Mix well.

Stir in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda until a wet dough forms.

Pour the powdered sugar into a small dish. Drop 1 Tablespoon dough into the powdered sugar. Roll into a ball; shake off excess sugar. Repeat with remaining dough. Arrange on a cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake 9-12 minutes, until no longer wet (the tops of the cookies will be shiny and slightly crinkled).

Enjoy!

Fruity Recovery Smoothie

Recovery from what, you ask?  Due to the content of this blog, you might not guess that I'm a marathoner.  But hey, I run and then I get tasty treats, so it's really the perfect system.  Anyway, I recently finished a race and thought I'd share a super tasty smoothie that I use for my and the husband's training.

I'd made a version of this smoothie for a long time, but recently have perfected it with some inspiration from Scott Jurek's book, Eat and Run.  He's an amazing ultramarathoner, an inspiration of mine, and he happens to be a great chef as well.  With his crazy mileage, he would know a thing or two about recovery.  Anyway, he had some great tips to amp up my post-run smoothie to not only taste great, but be extra beneficial as well.

There is a lot of flexibility in this smoothie - use your favorite fruits!  Fresh fruits work well, of course, but if you want the smoothie to be more icy (perfect on a hot day), then use frozen fruits.  Additionally, this smoothie could easily be made vegan by taking out the yogurt.

Some nutritional reasons to love this smoothie:
-Refueling within the first 30 minutes post-workout is ideal (fuel is most efficiently absorbed within that timeframe), and a smoothie is an easy and quick way to refuel.  It might be particularly helpful if you don't feel like eating solid food post-workout.
-Potassium from the banana helps maintain the mineral balance in your body and can combat muscle cramping.
-All of the fruit provides quick carbohydrates to restore glycogen to depleted muscles as well as essential vitamins and antioxidants that defend against free radical damage to muscle tissues.
-Protein from the yogurt and protein powder promote muscle repair.
-The miso replaces the salt and electrolytes lost in sweat.
-Flax and chia seeds provide omega 3 fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory, and may reduce joint pain intensity.
-Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties as well, and may prevent delayed onset muscle soreness.

And, it's simply very tasty!  Perfect for recovery, whether from an intense workout at the gym, chasing your kid around the park, or just a yummy treat on a hot day.

Fruity Recovery Smoothie
(My recipe, with inspiration from Scott Jurek's book, Eat and Run)
Makes ~3 cups - 1 large, or 2 medium sized servings

1 ripe banana (sliced and frozen is great, as well)
1/2 cup frozen mango
1 cup frozen berries (I used a mix of strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries, but blueberries are wonderful too!)
4 oz. yogurt (We love Noosa, but definitely use one that has probiotics in it)
2 tsp mellow miso
1 Tbsp flax seeds, ground
1 Tbsp chia seeds (or just double the flax seeds)
3 Tbsp protein powder (I love the brown rice protein powder)
1/2 tsp ground ginger (or if you like, 1/2 - 1 inch fresh ginger, minced)
1/4 cup Pom juice
1/2 cup Almond milk

Puree all ingredients in blender.  Add more almond milk if it's too thick.  Pour into glasses, and drink up!

Enjoy!

Strawberry Dream Cupcakes

Did you think I would only do one cupcake for my birthday?  Of course not!  Besides the amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes, I also wanted to make Strawberry Dream Cupcakes.  Ages ago I had a cake by this name and loved it.  Surely I could find a cupcake recipe?

It actually was a lot harder to find than I thought it would be.  Most of the recipes call for a boxed mix and might use real strawberries, but jello or pudding mix is often involved.  No thanks.  I also wanted to avoid them tasting like muffins.  After a ridiculous amount of searching, I found a great Strawberry Dream Cake recipe at Cook's Country and used that to make cupcakes.  So easy, and their stuff is always amazing!

Of course, you can always turn a cake recipe into cupcakes, but I hadn't done it before, so it was a tiny bit of an experiment that went right in so many ways.  I brought the results to work and everyone loved them.  The frosting got lots of attention, and I must say that the fresh strawberry scent wafting around my desk all day wasn't a bad thing!

I will admit that I had a bit of a struggle with the frosting, which was my own fault.  A word of advice - don't overbeat it or you will have liquid frosting on your hands!  Luckily a few teaspoons of meringue powder and a night in the fridge fixed it.  The frosting should be refrigerated until used, so pipe it on at the last minute, if possible.

A yummy spring flavor!  This one has earned a spot in my cupcake arsenal, for sure.

The verdict: Really, really good.
The husband's thoughts: Tasty, and the frosting is amazing.
Changes for next time: None!
Difficulty: Easy, but a little putzy.  Cook's Country recipes always are, but they are always worth it!

Strawberry Dream Cupcakes
(from Cook's Country)
Makes 24 cupcakes

Cake
10 ounces frozen whole strawberries (2 cups)
3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
6 large egg whites, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) cake flour
1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened

Frosting
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) confectioners' sugar
12 ounces cream cheese, cut into 12 pieces and softened
Reserved strawberry solids
Pinch salt
Fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced thin for decoration

For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 muffin tins.

Transfer strawberries to bowl, cover, and microwave until strawberries are soft and have released their juice, about 5 minutes. Place in fine-mesh strainer set over small saucepan. Firmly press fruit dry (juice should measure at least 3/4 cup); reserve strawberry solids. Bring juice to boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until syrupy and reduced to 1/4 cup, 6 to 8 minutes. Whisk milk into juice until combined.

Whisk strawberry milk, egg whites, and vanilla in bowl. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 1 minute. Add half of milk mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give batter final stir by hand.

Scrape equal amounts of batter into prepared cupcake liners and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pans, and cool completely, about 2 hours. (Cooled cupcakes can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)

For the frosting: Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix butter and sugar on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add reserved strawberry solids and salt and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Be careful to not overbeat!  Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 days.

Using a pastry or Ziploc bag, pipe frosting on top of cupcakes and top with a sliced strawberry.
(Cake can be refrigerated for 2 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
Enjoy!
 

Strawberry and Cream Scones

It's been a really busy and stressful time at work and I felt a baked good was in order.  Who would say no to that?  And I'm always a fan of Smitten Kitchen, so I decided to give this recipe a whirl.

I call these scones, but they're sort of a biscuit-scone hybrid, in the best possible way!  The way they're made is definitely biscuit-like (mix dry first, cut in chilled butter, add liquid).  But they use cream instead of buttermilk, and that is more like a scone.

But really, I don't care what they're called, because they are SO GOOD.    They're moist (unlike most scones), and flavorful.  I made a batch for the fiance and I to try out first, and we ate half the batch on the spot.  The second batch, for my coworkers, disappeared off my desk so fast that by mid-morning there were only crumbs left.

I used a biscuit cutter for these, only to make them equal size, but you could certainly used the scone-triangle shape for "authenticity."

If you want a special breakfast...or a tasty treat...or just want to use up some strawberries, this is the recipe for you!

Strawberry and Cream Scones
(from Smitten Kitchen)
Makes a dozen or more, depending on the size

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon  baking powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1 cup chopped very ripe strawberries
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

You want to mix the dry ingredients, cut in the butter, toss in the strawberries, and mix in the cream.  There are three methods of doing this.  My favorite is listed first.

Food Processor: Mix dry ingredients in your food processor, a few pulses will do it.  Scatter the cold butter over the dry ingredients and pulse briefly, until it resembles a coarse meal.  Pour mixture into large bowl and mix in strawberries to coat them.  Then mix in the heavy cream.  Try not to overmix it!

Pastry Cutter/Knives:  Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.  Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in cold butter until it resembles a coarse meal.  Mix in strawberries to coat them, and then mix in the heavy cream.  Do not overmix.

Grater:  Freeze butter.  Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.  Grate butter into dry ingredients with a large hole box grate, until it resembles a coarse meal.  Mix in strawberries to coat them, and then mix in heavy cream.  No overmixing!

When you’ve mixed it in as best as you can with the spatula, go ahead and knead it once or twice in the bowl, to create one mass. Do not worry about getting the dough evenly mixed. It’s far more important that the dough is not overworked.

Generously flour your counter. With as few movements as possible, transfer your dough to the counter, generously flour the top of it and with your hands or a rolling pin, gently roll or press the dough out to a 3/4-inch thickness. Cut into 2 1/2-inch circles with a floured biscuit cutter or cut triangles. Carefully transfer scones to prepared baking sheet, leaving a couple inches between each.

You can re-roll the scraps of dough, but don’t freak out over how wet the dough becomes as the strawberries have had more time to release their juice. They’ll still bake up wonderfully.
Bake the scones for 12 to 15 minutes, until bronzed at the edges and the strawberry juices are trickling out of the biscuits in places. Cool in pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Do ahead: Biscuits are generally best the day they are baked. However, if you wish to get a lead on them, you can make them, arrange them on your parchment-lined sheet and freeze them. If you’re prepping just one day in advance, cover the tray with plastic wrap and bake them the day you need them. If you’re preparing them more than one day in advance, once they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag or container. Bring them back to a parchment-lined sheet when you’re ready to bake them. No need to defrost the froze, unbaked scones, just add 2 to 3 minutes to your baking time.

Enjoy!

Mango Pudding with Strawberry Sauce

I know.  It's winter.  Why am I cooking with mangoes?  That's so.... summery!  Well, after the holiday cookie-baking-binge, I wanted to make a dessert that was not a baked good.  And not butter-laden.  We had some pots de crème for our holiday dinner and it got me thinking of other desserts utilizing my lovely ramekins.  Why not a pudding?

And with the winter solistice comes the lengthening of days.  I know it will be awhile before the days don't make me want to hibernate, but I like to think of the solstice as a turning point and leading towards summer.  A bit delusional?  Yes, but it helps me get through the gloom of a Pacific Northwest winter!  So, it's time to bring the sun inside with some mangoes!

Okay, the mangoes at my local grocery store looked positively pitiful.  So I had to be resourceful and I used an organic substitute of canned mango chunks with no added sugar.

I wanted a topping of sorts as well, for presentation as well as taste.  Cue another of my favorite fruits - strawberries!

Mango Pudding
(adapted from Eating Well)
Yields twelve 4 oz. servings

2 1/4 to 2 3/4 lb very ripe mangoes (4 or 5) OR 3 cans of mango chunks, drained
1 (1/4-oz) envelope unflavored gelatin
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup canned evaporated milk

Peel and pit mangoes OR drain 3 cans of mango chunks, then purée in a food processor until smooth (you should have 2 1/3 cups purée). Force through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl to remove any fibers, scraping bottom of sieve with a rubber spatula (discard fibers).

Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup water in a small bowl and let stand 1 minute to soften. Heat sugar and remaining cup water in a small saucepan over moderately high heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, then add gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved. Add puréed mango and heat, stirring, just until mixture reaches a bare simmer. 

Remove from heat, then stir in evaporated milk until combined well. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Divide among 12 (1/2-cup) ramekins and chill, covered, at least 8 hours and up to 24 (for flavors to develop; puddings will be softly set). 

 Strawberry Sauce

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 cup water

2 cups fresh strawberries, washed and chopped

dash of lemon or orange juice, to taste

dash of lemon or orange zest, to taste

8 whole strawberries, for garnish

In medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch; mix well.  Add water; mix well.  Add strawberries and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 10 minutes, or until thickened.

Remove from heat; stir in zest and juice and let it cool a bit.  Purée in food processor or blender to make it smooth.  Let cool until room temperature and then divide among the ramekins.

Wash remaining strawberries, and leave green stems and leaves intact.  Hold stem with one hand and slice almost all of the way up the strawberry, 1/8 inch slices, and as many times as the size of the berry allows.  Press open/sideways with hands to fan it out - a lovely garnish!

The resulting flavor reminds me of a smoothie, and next time I think I might add some rum for a more adult dessert.  Yum.  Rum.  :-)

Enjoy!