rolled oats

In Skillets: Butter Nut Streusel Cake

April 15, 2013 | 17 Comments

Confession time: I love skillets.

I love cooking in skillets.
I love baking in skillets.
I love broiling in skillets.
I love wearing skillets as dangly earrings on date nights.

Really? No. Maybe? Only every third one.

The truth is that even before I got serious about cooking, I was always intrigued by meals that can be assembled and prepared using just one pan. Specifically, cast iron skillets, because they are so inexpensive, so versatile, and such efficient conductors of heat; they are the very best multi-tasking kitchen tool I’ve personally ever encountered.

And since my cast iron skillet has been such a solid player in my kitchen happenings over the years, I’m returning the favor with a week-long skilletpalooza in the form of recipes and posts each day featuring dishes, both savory and sweet, that can be cooked in just one skillet.

Today’s skillet-tastic recipe is one that is truly near and dear: sweet skillet cakes are, in my opinion, the eighth wonder of the modern world, and this one is no exception.

I should back up and talk just a bit about how I care for my cast iron skillet.

We all probably know that cast iron should be seasoned, not scrubbed, right? I season early and often, and actually subscribe to a rule similar to that on cooking with wine: I only season my cast iron skillet with high quality oil with which I would cook or bake. Why? Because it has been my experience that cast iron absorbs the flavor of seasoning oil, which is why I wouldn’t want to season and ‘flavor’ my favorite skillet with the taste of an oil or fat that is, for lack of a better word, gross. Once I have seasoned my skillet, I will let it dry and set it aside in a cool, dry area for the next time I’m ready to use it.

I should also note that seasoning is not the same thing as greasing or preparing your skillet, as is called for in this recipe. When I make this cake or one like it, I may choose to season my pan with oil first, but I will then take the additional step of greasing my pan with whatever fat works best with my recipe, in this case butter.

Onwards to the cake.

Filed Under: Cakes & Cupcakes Tagged With: butter cake, canela, cast iron skillet, cinnamon, eggs, pine nut, pinyon nut, recipe, rolled oats, skillet seasoning, streusel, sweet

Pomegranate Crumble Bars

January 17, 2013 | 32 Comments

So this girl walks into the kitchen and finds her dog eating a puffy taco.

Sounds like the start to a joke, right?

I mean, I’m sure you’re expecting the follow-up to involve three rabbis in a rowboat, or someone somewhere crossing the road for some reason other than just to get to the other side…

Right?

Sadly, in this girl’s case, the story of the dog and the puffy taco is nothing other than cold hard reality.

And a visual metaphor for the crazy chaos that has been my first 17 days of 2013.

Do you ever see something in front of your very eyes and it just hits you?

Well that was me, watching sweet lil’ 9 lb. B. dominate the sad leftovers of last night’s vegan puffy taco feast.

I don’t know how he got his hands on that puffy taco. And I don’t know exactly why my reaction was to burst out laughing like a hyena instead of trying to tear it from his grasp and scolding him vigorously.

No. Instead I laughed, I offered to pass him the salsa, I went to my inner Zen place, and I acknowledged that I may need to slow down a little. Calm down a little. Secure the trash more tightly a little.

Filed Under: Bars & Brownies Tagged With: aril, butter, crumble bar, flour, jelly, light brown sugar, pomegranate, recipe, rolled oats, sweet

Cookie Butter Cookies

November 27, 2012 | 22 Comments

I’ve always liked to think of myself as an early-adopter. A mover and a shaker. A twister and a shouter. (Is that last one a thing? Uh, it is now.)

But I’ve come to learn that I’m actually, you know, the tardiest of tardy when it comes to a fair amount of shiny new things.

So it won’t surprise you to learn that when I started hearing rumblings about this newfangled thing called Biscoff some months ago, I filed it away into the furthest reaches of my gray matter.

Far far away!

So sure was I that Biscoff would undoubtedly be a mere flash in the pan just like fuel-powered automobiles, pasteurized milk, and the Internet…

Flash forward to modern day and I’m pretty sure I saw Biscoff running for President on my ballot a few weeks ago.

There’s Biscoff up high.
There’s Biscoff down low.
There’s Biscoff to the left.
There’s Biscoff to the right.

There’s a big cloud of dust in my face right now from that Biscoff Bandwagon speeding off into the sunset – I’m going to have to make a jump for it.

Filed Under: Cookies Tagged With: Biscoff, cajeta, caramel, cookie butter, honey, Maria cookies, recipe, rolled oats, sweet, walnut

Milk Bar Mondays: Crack Pie

April 9, 2012 | 55 Comments

I remember back in the day, when cell phones were enormous and hair was enormouser, my friends and I would scour the Earth for CD releases from our favorite indie bands. As soon as we were able to score a CD or two, we’d lock the door to one of our rooms and sit around listening to each track over and over and over and over, hating on the world and loving on the music.

At some point it became a thing for bands to include double top-secret bonus tracks that lucky listeners would have to find on their own. Imagine skipping over track after track after track hoping to find that hidden gem. This girl did it. Because once you found it you were the coolest kid in town, sharing your bonus goodness find with anyone who you deemed worthy.

If you’ve read this book, you know that Crack Pie is listed as the bonus track to the rest of the book’s string of hits.

I found that hidden track. I’m sharing it with you. Prepare to have your brain fall out of your head. It’s time for Crack Pie.

The recipe for Crack Pie is deceptively simple. You’re making a crust and you’re making a filling. Duh.

You need to use your stand mixer. And you need to pay attention while you’re baking. But you’ll be churning out two whole pies in no time.

I suspect the key to successful Crack Pieage is twofold:

1. Creaming the filling in a stand mixer. The book flat out says it. And it makes sense since you’re not filling with mounds of apples or pecans or anything else with its own texture and consistency. You’re making your pie filling from scratch so it needs to be perfecto. You can do it with a hand mixer, and things will still taste stellar. It just might not be, you know, crack-like.

2. Baking the pies carefully, at the correct temperatures, for the correct amount of time. The recipe instructs a baking time of 15 minutes at 350° before you lower the temp to 325° and bake until only the bulls-eye center remains jiggly. My oven is stoopit so I really needed to watch carefully as I lowered the temperature, alternating between keeping the door open and then closed so that the temp dropped but not too low. No biggie. Just keep your eye on it.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: butter, Crack Pie, eggs, light brown sugar, Milk Bar Mondays, Momofuku Milk Bar, Oat Cookie, recipe, rolled oats, sweet

Momofuku Compost Cookies & A Cookie Swap

December 12, 2011 | 33 Comments

The other day at the library I overheard a tutor teaching a young boy how to identify the ‘main idea’ in an article that he was reading. Young Boy seemed smart. I think he got it.

So if Young Boy was reading SB today he would have no trouble telling you that the main idea of today’s post is cookies.

Baking cookies. Swapping cookies. Eating cookies.

Cookies. Cookies. Cookies. Cookies. Cookies.

Starting with some spectacular Momofuku Compost Cookies.

Since we have so much cookieness to discuss today, I’ll keep the talking to a minimum. But I did want to tell you about this book. Momofuku Milk Bar. I’m obsessed with it.

I just adore the unconventional, science + culinary arts approach that is Momofuku.

So when I signed up for the 1st Annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, I knew that I needed to get my Momofuku on with these Compost Cookies.