It’s that time of year when I get to start baking for Christmas! I loooove Christmas baking, and I kicked off the season’s treats with these Lemon Lavender Shortbread. I’ve made this recipe a few times now and it takes the rich buttery taste of shortbread and pairs it up with the delicate scent of lemon and lavender. These are so unique- I bet your family and guests will never have tried a cookie flavoured with lavender before. The recipe is a snap to make, but do make sure you follow the chilling times even if you are impatient

Lemon Lavender Shortbread (recipe from Epicure Selections)

• 1/2 lb (125 g) butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 heaping tsp lavender (I use this)
• 1 heaping tsp fresh lemon zest
• 1 cup all purpose flour

These cookies are semi-healthy, made with whole wheat pastry flour, wholegrain oats, natural peanut butter, and dark chocolate chips. I used Ener-G egg replacer instead of a egg, but I’m quite sure a flax or chia egg would work perfectly, too. Lastly, butter could be replaced with Earth Balance to make this recipe completely vegan.

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from here)

• 1/2 cup butter (or EB), softened
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• egg replacer for one egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 3/4 cups rolled oats
• 3 heaping tablespoons natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg replacer and vanilla until smooth. Sift in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt . Add the peanut butter. Lastly, stir in the oats and chocolate.

Scoop dough onto a parchment-lined or lightly greased baking sheet (I used a small ice cream scoop for evenly sized cookies.) The cookies should be two inches apart. Press down with a wet fork. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

I recently ventured into the kitchen again and braved the heat to make a batch of White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies. I love macadamia nuts in cookies- they add a really nice buttery, rich crunch and are perfectly paired with white chocolate. They also always remind me tropical places, which is why I set up this photo the way I did! I got the super cute zebra pattern plate from Pier 1, where I also picked up the leopard print ones. They are so cute and I am obsessed with anything animal print (minus REAL animal print….). I should also mention that HOLY CRAP MACADAMIA NUTS ARE EXPENSIVE. I was shocked when I got to the checkout and half a bag was 34 dollars…..I was not expecting that!!

White Chocolate Macadamia Monsters (Adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/3 cups white sugar
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs or egg replacer equal to two eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. In a seperate, large bowl, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. One at a time, beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients, as well as the nuts and the chocolate. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto greased or line cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes. (**I never add eggs to my cookies and it especially helps because I like to underbake my cookies so they are soft and chewy- the 13 minutes worked fine for me. Go longer if you like your cookies slightly more well done.)

I had a LOVELY weekend, for the first time this year it was WARM and SUNNY! (Can you tell I was a little excited….!!) In between work and school I got to go for a lovely run outside and a bike ride with my boyfriend, I got to help wash his car and just enjoy the warmth of the sunshine. Like everyone in Vancouver, I’ve been in my winter coat since October- even experiencing snow in April which is something I have NOT experienced here before.

Amidst my frolicking in the sun, I was anxious to bake and cook for Koko’s Kitchen! I made cookies, cake and a beautiful lentil & brown rice salad. I should mention that since October I have supposed to be following a very specific diet: the “Eating Alive” diet prescribed to me by my naturopath after months and months of stomach pain, joint pain, colds and auto-immune problems. The problem is candida. Due to a “leaky valve” between my intestines, yeast has been able to develop throughout my blood leaving me with a variety of symptoms. After following the diet for about 3 weeks I was feeling a thousand times better than I had been. I left for Thailand for five weeks and since then I have not been strictly following my diet, letting the symptoms catch up with me once again. I’ve decided to really commit to this diet now because my health is more important than eating everything I want to. The Eating Alive diet limits my sugar intake to….well….none. In the next posts, I’ll be focusing on healthy foods that benefit my needs as well as everyone else’s. But don’t worry!! I love to bake and I’m sure no one in my house will complain if a batch of cupcakes or cookies is baked up The cookies and cake I made this weekend are the last I’ll be having for quite some time! Good thing they were delicious! Stayed tuned for the Cookbook of the Month as well- I promise there will be a new on for this month, I already have a gorgeous cookbook picked out!

Buttered Rum Meltaways (Recipe from marthastewart.com)

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup dark rum

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Whisk flour, cornstarch, spices, and salt in a bowl. Put butter and 1/3 cup sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in rum and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and gradually mix in flour mixture.

2. Divide dough in half. Place each on a piece of parchment paper; shape dough into logs. Fold parchment over dough; using a ruler, roll and press into a 1 1/4-inch log. Wrap in parchment. Chill in freezer 30 minutes (up to 1 month).

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap logs. Cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds; space 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until just golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool 10 minutes. Gently toss warm cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Cookies can be refrigerated in airtight containers up to 2 weeks.

So, once again it has been awhile! I’ve been busy working away at my new job, classes at the gym, and working towards completing my courses in holistic nutrition. I miss being able to cook and bake as much as I did before, so I’m trying to squeeze it in whenever I can. I don’t always have the camera on hand to take pictures, though I try to keep up!

After feeling like something sweet a couple days ago (okay, fine…I was just craving cookie dough) but not wanting to overdo it, I searched through my recipe books, Tastespotting, and some of my favourite food blogs. I settled on some Banana Chocolate Chip cookies from 101 Cookbooks. These cookies were great, and unlike most other healthy cookies I have tried. They were very moist because of the bananas in them and the chocolate chips add just the right punch of sweetness. I would suggest using dark chocolate chips or a dark chocolate bar,chopped. Another great addition would be peanut-butter chips! The texture from the oats and coconut were a nice change to the familiar texture of other cookies.

I also whipped up a batch of blondies. This was my first time making blondies, and vegan ones at that! I loved them!!!!! I made Dreena Burton’s Maple Pecan Sticky Blondies from Eat, Drink, Be Vegan. I barely had time to snap a picture before they were gobbled up! I’m not sure how they compared to VeggieGirl’s blondies (she is the queen!) but I thought they were divine!

You may have noticed that a lot of my baking is vegan- this is due to the fact that I find vegan recipes use ingredients that suit my stomach and my health-conscious mind better. Ie. flax or bananas over eggs, maple syrup or agave nectar over white sugar, and so on.

-Koko

Hey everyone! So I’m a little slow on posting this month’s Cookbook of the Month but I will be getting it up soon! In the meantime how about some orange marmalade cookies from the Joy of Cooking. I’ve made these a couple times before and I usually replace the eggs with Ener-G egg replacer and it works great. I’ve also tried this with apricot marmalade instead of orange and that works well, too!

Apricot/Orange Marmalade Cookies (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Ener-G egg replacer for one egg
• 6 tablespoons orange or apricot marmalade (or half and half!)

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt. In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add Ener-G Egg Replacer and marmalade. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Drop by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes until cookies are slightly golden. Let stand briefly, then remove to a rack to cool.

** Dropping by teaspoonfuls will give you 36 2-inch cookies

So, it’s been a little while since my last post- I got a GREAT new job and it’s full time, so it’s left me with a little bit less time for cooking and baking but I’ve tried to catch up, so don’t worry, I have a few posts up my sleeve for this week! I’ll start with these Chewy Chocolate Raspberry Cookies from Veganomicon. This book has been sitting on my shelf and I almost forgot I owned it! These cookies taste chocolate-y with just a hint of raspberry flavour. They are crisp on the outside and nice and chewy on the inside.

Chewy Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (sifted if clumpy)
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease cookie sheet.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together raspberry preserves, canola oil, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts.

In a seperate mixing bowl, sift together the other ingredients. Add the dry to the wet in 3 batches, mixing well with a fork after each addition. When you get to the last batch you may need to use your hands to work the batter into a soft and pliable dough.

Roll the dough into walnut size balls and then flatten them with your hands into 2 1/2 inch diameter discs. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

**This was my first time making these and I think that some dark chocolate chips or dried unsweetened raspberries would be a great addition.

This is a vegan recipe courtesy of Dreena Burton’s Eat, Drink, Be Vegan cookbook. I absolutely love this book for it’s healthy and delicious recipes. Dreena manages to make all of the food taste rich- as if eggs or dairy products were used! This was my first time trying these peanut butter- chocolate cookies and as usual, “Eat, Drink, Be Vegan” didn’t disappoint. Those of you with wheat allergies will be happy to know that these cookies are wheat free (if you use spelt or barley flour)!

“Who Put Chocolate In My Peanut Butter” Cookies

• 1/4 cup unrefined sugar
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp barley or spelt flour (or 1 cup all purpose)
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 – 2 1/2 tbsp agave syrup (or more maple syrup)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup natural peanut butter (smooth or chunky)

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl, combine sugar, chocolate chips, and salt. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and stir until well combined. In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, agave nectar, vanilla, and oil until well mixed. Add wet mixture to dry and stir until just well combined (do not overmix). With a knife, cut in peanut butter into batter, but just a little, so peanut butter remains in chunks and swirls in the batter. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop rounded tablespoons of batter onto baking sheet evenly spaced apart. Bake for 11 minutes (no longer, or they will dry out). Remove from oven and let cool on pan for one minute (no longer), then transfer to a cooling rack.

Well, Valentine’s day is coming up and love it or hate it, February 14th will be here soon! I decided to start the festivities off by making up a batch up Vanilla Heart Cookies and I think you should, too! Though I normally stick to soft and chewy cookies, these ones are crunchy with a simple, tasty vanilla flavour. The recipe is from “The Big Book of Baking”. Watch out though, these cookies spread quite a bit and may not look done after the required 15 minutes- but they are!! Look for that tinge of golden brown around the edges and you should be fine. Share the love!

Vanilla Heart Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• scant 3/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces, plus extra for greasing
• 1 1/8 cup superfine sugar, plus extra for dusting (** If you don’t have superfine sugar, simply put regular white sugar into your coffee grinder. It only takes about 3 seconds of grinding- you don’t want icing sugar, so keep watch!)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F, then lightly grease a cookie sheet (I used a silpat).

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract and mix together to form a firm dough.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured counter to a thickness of 1/2 inch 0r 1 cm.

Stamp out 12 hearts with a heart-shaped cookie cutter measuring 2 inches or 5 cm across.

Arrange the hearts on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until just coloured.

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Dust with a little superfine sugar just before serving.

Christmas may be over, but winter sure isn’t! It’s not too late to bake up a batch of snowflake sugar cookies. I spent the weekend up in Whistler, where the snow is still abundant. I had made these cookies before Christmas but as they freeze so well, I thawed them out for this short vacation. These particular cookies come from Alton Brown’s recipe which you can find here. The icing is delicious, and traditional Royal Icing from The Joy of Cooking. Enjoy!

Royal Icing or Quick Decorative Icing (about 2 cups)

The icing will become very hard. To avoid the naturally grayish tone that develops during preparation, add to portions that you want to keep white a slight amount of blue vegetable colouring. Do not use blue in any icing that you plan to colour yellow, orange, or any other pale, warm tint.

Sift:

• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Beat until stiff, but not dry:

• 2 large egg whites at room temperature

Gradually add in the sifted sugar and:

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

until it is of a good consistancy to spread. Cover with a damp cloth until ready to use.

**Note: PLEASE use real lemon juice, as bottled can create a flavour that you may find too tangy