Cooking With Amanda

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Speculoos Cookies

My daughter is obsessed with the spiced shortbread cookie known as speculoos. She specifically likes the packages of two my husband gets when he is on an airplane. I always slip them in her lunchbox for school and she tells me she eats them first!

There are so many ways to make speculoos and I've adapted several recipes to come up with one we love. They contain a heavy dose of spice and are just the right amount of sweet. I roll out the dough and cut them with round cookie cutters; but you could use any shape cookie cutter you prefer. If you have an oblong cutter, use it. Then they will look like they came straight from the package.

The combination of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves makes them especially perfect for the holidays. Dip them in chocolate and serve them at parties. Or, package them up in tins to give as gifts.

When it isn't the holidays we skip all the fancy packaging and eat them with a tall glass of milk on the side for dipping. In the summer we make them into ice cream sandwiches by rolling them in sprinkles to look like the store-bought variety. Kids love them!

The one trick to note about baking these is that the dough is crumbly and soft. The guidelines below contain specific directions for chilling the dough before cutting it for a reason. If you don't chill it long enough it will end up crumbling in your hands and not coming together.

If you get as addicted to these as we are, make it easy on yourself and double the recipe. You can very easily freeze these cookies and defrost when you need them!

Lastly, if you are really motivated, these cookies can be used to make homemade speculoos butter that is delicious spread on crackers or used as a dip. But that is a recipe I'll have to write about next month!

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Speculoos Cookies Recipe

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Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature (8 tablespoons)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg

Directions

In a small bowl mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Then, beat in the eggs until as smooth as possible. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the flour mixture until the flour is no longer visible. Scrape down the sides as needed to make sure all of the flour is incorporated.
Divide the dough into 2 pieces and wrap each piece in plastic. Refrigerate both pieces for 6 hours, or up to 1 day.

When Ready to Make the Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Remove one piece of dough and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Then roll it out on a liberally floured surface until it is 1/4" inch thick.
Use a cutter to cut out the cookies and place them the lined baking sheet.
Bake them for 8 to 10 minutes, or until lightly golden.
Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Chia Seed Smoothie

Fruit and protein smoothies were my life for several years. I made one every.single.morning for about two years, and they were so large and hearty that I got several meals out of each one. Smoothies probably made up 1/3 of my daily sustenance for a while there.

I am a serious creature of habit though. Similar to that time I ate French toast two or three times a day for like four months straight. I get fixated on a food and eat it constantly!

Smoothies are so creamy, refreshing, and filling though. Hard not to love a smoothie.

I always try to get creative with how I make them. You can put all kinds of things in smoothies. Flavored yogurt (frozen or regular!), ice cream, frozen coffee ice cubes, fruit, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, honey, juice, and even oatmeal. Maybe not all of those things together, but you get the idea – the list goes on and on. More recently, I've also been tossing chia seeds into my smoothies.

Yes, those same seeds that grow to make Chia Pets. You know, Ch-ch-ch-chia? Chia Pets still exist, by the way, and have you Googled them lately? Don't. It'll shock you. There are some seriously creepy Chia Pets being produced these days. Like, did you know that they make Shrek, Britney Spears, Sponge Bob, and Barack Obama Chia Pets now? I applaud the creativity behind those, but I can definitely confirm that I want NONE of those in my home.

Anyway, chia seeds are tiny little seeds but they pack surprising nutritional punch! They're full of antioxidants, fiber, protein, and Omega-3 fatty acids. I don't even know how all those fabulous nutrients even fit into that itty bitty seed, but they do, and I'm glad for it.

With the arrival of spring, I've had all things fresh and fruity on my mind, so it seemed like the perfect time to get back into my smoothie groove. I was also determined to make something with strawberries and kiwi. They are an epic fruit combo, and one of my favorite flavor teams.

Using passionfruit nectar (found it easily at my local grocery store) as a base for this delicious beverage, I tossed in lots of fresh strawberries, kiwi, and even some banana for the perfect blend of fruit. It's sweet and creamy, with tons of wonderful tropical flavors. For extra nutritional power, I added vanilla protein powder, Greek yogurt, and a spoonful of chia seeds! This is a super refreshing and filling smoothie that will make the perfect start to your day!

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