Coconut, Peanut Butter Chip, & Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’ve been on a cookie kick this summer.  Or rather, I’ve really been on a cookie kick this summer.  Since high school cookies have been one of my favorite things to make for a lot of reasons.  One reason being that once you get the pattern behind making them down the process itself is fairly calming: cream the butter and sugar, add the egg and vanilla, and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Another reason being that they’re so incredibly versatile and once you’re comfortable with a recipe (or bored with one) you can play around with it and do what you want.

The second reason is exactly where the inspiration for these cookies came from. Well, sort of where the inspiration for these cookies came from... hunger played a major role as did only having coconut, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips in my pantry.  Between my kitchen’s mysterious lack of butter and my obvious lack of a real recipe for these cookies I went to work on cookies that were potentially destined for disaster.

These cookies were anything but disastrous.  They turned out to be delicious; not only were they chewy and crunchy at the same time, but also simultaneously flaky and dense. And the coconut, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips?  They were amazing together.  I’m not the type of person to toot my own horn, but when it comes to cookies I  know what I like, and these cookies were some of the best that I’ve ever eaten.  

I could go on talking about them for hours, or you could just try to make them yourself.  They’re your basic recipe and you don’t need to refrigerate the dough, just mix everything together and put onto a cookie sheet.  So stop reading this post and go make them.  No really, go make them now.  

Here’s what you’ll need:

½ cup vegetable shortening

½ cup white sugar

¼ cup light brown sugar

1 egg

½ -⅔ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp baking soda

¾ tsp salt

½ cup chocolate chips

½ cup peanut butter chips

1 cup coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Mix the shortening and sugars together until smooth and then add the egg and vanilla.  

Add the flour, baking soda, and salt into the bowl and fold into the dough until it’s fully incorporated. 

 Fold the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and coconut flakes into the dough and mix together.   

Place the dough on a baking sheet and flatten the cookies a bit with your fingers.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.  Take out of the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes before taking them off of the baking sheet.  

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Mix the shortening and sugars together until smooth and then add the egg and vanilla.  Add the flour, baking soda, and salt into the bowl and fold into the dough until it’s fully incorporated.  Fold the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and coconut flakes into the dough and mix together.   

Place the dough on a baking sheet and flatten the cookies a bit with your fingers.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.  Take out of the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes before taking them off of the baking sheet.  

Gazpacho

Sometimes I hate the heat.  Don’t get me wrong, I love summer and most things associated with it (the biggest exception being bugs), but there’s something about muggy days that I just can’t stand.  I think the problem is that I’m no good at dealing with random changes in temperature, and sometimes it seems like that’s all summers in New York are.  One day the weather will be sunny with a high of 75 degrees and no humidity and then the next day it’ll be muggy with a high of 93 degrees.

If living in an area that has random weather changes has taught me anything its how to adjust cooking styles to fit the weather, and this is one of the many reasons why I love recipes that require no heat.  They’re perfect for hot days when you can’t even think about cooking over a stove without wanting to pass out.

Over the last few years I’ve gained a big appreciation for gazpacho and how refreshing it can be on a hot day.  It’s crisp and spicy flavor make a simple vegetable dish into something completely delicious, and even though it might be an acquired taste for some it’s so easy to make and perfect on hot summer days.  You can make it chunkier and have the vegetables coarsely chopped, or you can use a food processor to make the vegetables smaller and easier to mix.  Either way, this is a simple and full-bodied dish that can't be beat!

Here’s what you’ll need (adapted from here):

1 ½ cucumbers

2 red bell peppers

4 plum tomatoes

¾ red onion

3 cloves of garlic

3 cups of tomato juice

1 jalapeno

1 green pepper

¼ cup rice vinegar

¼ cup olive oil

2 tsp kosher salt

¾ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp cayenne pepper

Chop the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeno, and onion so that each piece is about ½ inch in size.  One at a time put each vegetable into a food processor and chop them.  Make sure that the pieces end up being about the same size, but you don’t want to overprocess the vegetables and make them into a paste.

After processing each vegetable put it into a large bowl and when all of the vegetables have been processed add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, oil, salt, and peppers.  Stir together and let chill before serving.

The longer you let the ingredients mix together the more unified the flavors become!  Next time you’re in the middle of a heatwave and can’t even think about turning your stovetop on to make something for dinner, try this gazpacho.  You won’t regret it!

Chop the tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalapeno, and onion so that each piece is about ½ inch in size.  One at a time put each vegetable into a food processor and chop them.  Make sure that the pieces end up being about the same size, but you don’t want to overprocess the vegetables and make them into a paste.

After processing each vegetable put it into a large bowl and when all of the vegetables have been processed add the garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, oil, salt, and peppers.  Stir together and let chill before serving.

The longer you let the ingredients mix together the more unified the flavors become!

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Sometimes I think people overestimate my skill level when I tell them that I’m going to culinary school... or at least they underestimate my laziness.  There are certain dishes that sound like they take a lot of prep work and a lot of effort, but in reality they take a total of 30 minutes to make.  That’s where the majority of my “impressive” dishes are from, and these cheesecake stuffed strawberries are one of them.



Yes, you heard that right: cheesecake stuffed strawberries... and they’re easy.  So easy that anyone with a bowl, a knife, and a ziploc can make them, and that’s not an exaggeration by any means.  For maybe 30 minutes of effort you can get delicious, creamy, juicy, fruity, wonderful dessert that is sure to impress any crowd (I know from experience).  I’ve already had three people ask me to make them again and last night was the first time I made them, but it definitely wasn’t the last.



So give them a try, especially during the summer when strawberries are at their peak.  The juiciness of the strawberries gives the cheesecake an entirely new, and even more amazing flavor.



Here’s what you’ll need (more or less stolen from here:)
1 lb of large, whole strawberries
1 8 oz block of cream cheese
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract



Rinse the strawberries and cut the tops of the strawberries off.  With a small melon baller if you have one, or a paring knife hollow out the inside of the strawberry.  Repeat this step with all of the strawberries and place them aside.



In a medium sized bowl mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until they’re fully incorporated.  Then put into a ziploc bag and cut one of the corners off; this acts as a makeshift piping bag for the cheesecake mix.



Fill the strawberries with the cheesecake mixture and try to even out the cheesecake mix inside of it.



Next, dip the tops of the strawberries into graham cracker crumbs to make a ‘crust’ and chill in the refrigerator until they’re ready to serve!





Rinse the strawberries and cut the tops of the strawberries off.  With a small melon baller if you have one, or a paring knife hollow out the inside of the strawberry.  Repeat this step with all of the strawberries and place them aside.

In a medium sized bowl mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until they’re fully incorporated.  Then put into a ziploc bag and cut one of the corners off; this acts as a makeshift piping bag for the cheesecake mix.

Fill the strawberries with the cheesecake mixture and try to even out the cheesecake mix inside of it.  Next, dip the tops of the strawberries into graham cracker crumbs to make a ‘crust’ and chill in the refrigerator until they’re ready to serve!

Hummus

Sometimes it takes me a lot of effort to write a blog post, it can take hours just to think of what to write or how to say what I want to say, and sometimes when I finish I delete the entire post because I’m not happy with how it turned out.  I hope that leads to better blog posts, but sometimes it just leads me to not posting at all.  If you’re wondering, this post has been one of those challenges, so here goes nothing:

I’m convinced that hummus is one of the greatest foods on this planet.  It’s creamy, hearty, healthy, and delicious with anything you can conceive of putting on it.  Back in school during especially bad days I’d knock back an entire container of hummus in one sitting, and I’m not talking about the small containers either.  Hummus is one of my many comfort foods, but it’s one of my favorites because it’s so easy to make and customize.  You can add roasted red peppers, or sun dried tomatoes and basil, or chilies in adobo, or really whatever your stomach desires. 

If you’ve never tried hummus you need to, even my mom likes it… and that’s saying something.  So give it a shot, it’s easy, cheap and delicious; which makes it worth it in my mind!

Here’s what you’ll need:
1 15.5 oz can of chick peas/garbanzo beans drained
5 tbsp tahini (between ¼ cup and ½ cup)
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 ½ tsp salt
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp cayenne powder

Drain the can of chick peas and save the drained fluid.

Half the garlic cloves and place aside.  Place all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  If you want a more smooth consistency add some of the liquid from the can and continue to process

Spoon into bowl and refrigerate before serving.  The hummus will keep in a refrigerator for up to a week.  

Drain the can of chick peas and save the drained fluid. Half the garlic cloves and place aside.  Place all of the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  If you want a more smooth consistency add some of the liquid from the can and continue to process   Spoon into bowl and refrigerate before serving.  Will stay in refrigerator for up to a week.