Buckwheat Toffee Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange

Buckwheat toffee cookies are chewy, sweet and delicious. As an added bonus, if such a thing matters to you, they are naturally gluten free.

This month my Creative Cookie Exchange friends are all baking with whole grains. I chose buckwheat because it makes a hearty flour that bakes up light, despite its darker color and I just happen to have some in my freezer.

Buckwheat, despite its name, is not related to wheat at all, but comes from the same family as rhubarb, sorrel and dock. It’s the main ingredient in Japanese soba noodles and the Brittany favorite galette des sarrasin, a large filled crepe, among other regional recipes. It can also be substituted for regular flour in most recipes.

Buckwheat Toffee Cookies   

If you can’t find toffee bits for making these buckwheat toffee cookies, take a small hammer to your favorite hard toffee, like Wether’s candies.

Ingredients
1 1/8 cup or 155g buckwheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 113g butter, softened
1/2 cup or 100g brown sugar
1/4 cup or 50g white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup or 90g English toffee bits plus extra for sprinkling, if desired.

Tip: Unless you go through a bag quickly, do store any extra buckwheat flour in the freezer. This hearty grain can get stale when stored at room temperature.

Method
Measure your buckwheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add the egg and vanilla.  Blend until fully incorporated.

Add the buckwheat flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix to thoroughly combine. Fold in the toffee bits.

Shape into a log about 1 1/2" in or 13.8cm diameter and roll up in cling film. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour, or overnight so that it firms up.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and line two baking pans with baking parchment or silicone liners.

Cut the dough log into 24 even slices.

Place them evenly spaced on the lined baking pans. Do not crowd them as, even after chilling, this dough spreads out a lot. Top the circles, if desired, with more toffee bits and gentle press them down.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until the cookies puff up and look cooked, except perhaps for the very middle.

They will still be quite soft so let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking pan, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Like buckwheat? Try this great blackberry date muffin recipe also.


Check out the rest of the whole grain cookies we’ve baked up for you today. Many thanks to Holly from A Baker’s House for hosting this month.

• Amaranth Lemon Cookies from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Buckwheat Toffee Cookies from Food Lust People Love
• Loaded Aussie Bites from A Baker's House
• Only Oats Cookies from What Smells So Good?
• Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Creative Cookie Exchange is hosted by Laura of The Spiced Life. We get together once a month to bake cookies with a common theme or ingredient so Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board. We post the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

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Bacon Leek Flamiche #BreadBakers

This bacon leek flamiche is my version of the traditional French recipe, made with a springy yeast dough crust, topped with smoked bacon, leeks, green onions, cream and cheese.

When our Bread Bakers host for this month announced the theme a few months back – flatbreads with yeast – I duly made a note in my calendar but I didn’t really give it that much thought. After all, almost every country or culture in the world has a flatbread they call their own. I knew my options were going to be many and various, and the hardest thing was going to be to choose just one.

Then I picked up last month’s issue (March 2018) of one of my favorite recipe inspiration sources, delicious.magazine from the UK. (The Australian version is also fabulous and I always bought it when we lived in Malaysia since our imported seasonal produce often came from down under.) On page 121, there was a recipe for a leek flamiche, a French flatbread I’d never heard of.

Clearly a little research was necessary. Turns out that flamiche means different things to different people. For some, it’s made with puff pastry. Others prefer shortcrust as the base. Still more bakers use a brioche-like dough for the crust. Sometimes the crust is complete flat like pizza, and sometimes it has a raised edge.

They all seem to agree on a semi-soft cheese in the topping though, and many include leeks and crispy fried smoked bacon bits.

Bacon Leek Flamiche

This recipe is adapted from several I found on the internet, but I am grateful to delicious. magazine for introducing me to this wonderful dish. The dough for the crust is quite sticky so I recommend using a stand mixer with a dough hook for kneading, if you have one. Otherwise, get ready for a workout!

Ingredients
For the base:
1/2 cup or 120ml warm milk
1 teaspoon dry yeast
2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups or 280-315g strong white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 57g butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, at room temperature

For the topping:
5 slices thick cut smoked bacon, chopped (about 175g)
13 1/4 oz or 375g trimmed leeks
1 3/4 oz or 50g green onions, green and white part
salt and ground pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 cup or 120ml whipping cream
7 3/4 oz or 220g semi-soft ripe cheese, like Pavé d'Auge. (The orange rind is gorgeous!)

Tip: Semi-soft cheese is easier to slice if it is well chilled. I pop mine into the freezer about 20-30 minutes before slicing and recommend you do the same.

Method
Dissolve the yeast in warm milk and set aside for a few minutes to make sure your yeast is active. It should start to foam and bubble.

In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, sprinkle the salt on to 2 1/4 cups or 280g flour, then pour in the milk/yeast mixture, the egg, and melted butter.

Mix thoroughly and then switch to the bread hook and knead until the dough loses its stickiness and is smooth and elastic, about 5-7 minutes. You can add a little more flour if you need to while kneading.

Shape the dough into a ball and put it back in the mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or cling film and put it in a warm place till the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, rinse the leeks and onions and remove the roots. Cut them all into slices, discarding any hard pieces. Set aside a small handful of the tender green onion tops for garnish.

Brown the chopped bacon in a large skillet. Scoop the pieces from the pan with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of bacon fat from the pan and tip in the bigger pile of the sliced leeks and onions. Fry them gently over a low heat for 15 minutes or until softened, stirring regularly. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Once your dough is sufficiently risen, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C).

Line a tart pan (11 in or 28cm) with baking parchment and press out the dough evenly on the bottom and up the sides. Prick extravagantly with a fork.

Set aside a tiny handful of the bacon for garnish then spoon the leeks, onions and the bigger pile of bacon into the crust.

Beat the eggs and cream in a small bowl, using a whisk.  Season with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Pour about 3/4 of the egg mixture over the filling.

Cut your chilled cheese into about 12 slices. Lay them on top of the bacon and leeks, as you see fit. I put 8 radiating out from the middle, then cut the last four in half lengthwise and placed them between the other slices and in the middle of the circle.

Top with the rest of the egg mixture, then sprinkle on your reserved bacon bits and green onions.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the filling is puffy and the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing to serve.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to Sonia from Sonlicious for choosing such a great theme and for hosting Bread Bakers this month.

• Amritsari Paneer Kulcha - Indian Flat Bread from Sonlicious
• Bacon Leek Flamiche from Food Lust People Love
• Chole Kulche Delhi Style from The Mad Scientist's Kitchen
• Creamy Garlic Flatbread Pizza from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Detroit-Style Pepperoni Pizza from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Foccacia Bread from Cook with Renu
• Garlic Naan Bread from Palatable Pastime
• Manakish Za’atar from Herbivore Cucina
• Methi Naan from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Naan from Ambrosia
• Nángbĭng from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Quick Beer Crust Pizza from Cook’s Hideout
• Sourdough Flatbread from Sneha's Recipe
• Yemeni Malooga Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Alcachofas al Ajillo or Garlicky Artichokes #FoodieExtravaganza

Alcachofas al Ajillo or garlicky artichokes are a traditional tapas dish from Spain made with fresh or canned artichokes, lots of garlic and chili pepper. I like to toss in some small tomatoes as well, for flavor and color.

This is normally served with drinks as part of an appetizer course but it is so simple to make that you might finding yourself eating it as a quick weekday supper with plenty of crusty bread to sop up the lovely garlicky buttery sauce.

Alcachofas Al Ajillo or Garlicky Artichokes

This recipe serves 4 as part of a tapas course, 2 as an side dish. It is also easily doubled or trebled.

Ingredients
1 can or jar (drained weight 5.8 oz or 165g) small artichoke hearts
1/4 cup or 60ml extra virgin olive oil
1 rounded tablespoon butter
8 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
10 grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
1 small red chili pepper
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Few sprigs fresh parsley, hard stems removed, roughly chopped

To serve: slices of crusty bread

Method
Drain the artichokes well and rest them open side down in a strainer or on some paper towels so they can dry even more.

Split the chili pepper down the middle but leave it in one piece. This is purely aesthetic because I like the look of a whole split chili pepper. Feel free to chop it if you prefer. The seeds can be removed to lessen the spiciness of the dish.

Heat half of the olive oil along with the butter in a large non-stick skillet over a medium high flame.  Tip in the well-drained artichoke hearts. Cook for about 6-7 minutes on one side, until they are turning golden in places. Turn them gently so the artichokes can color on both sides.

Add in the chopped garlic, tomatoes, the chili pepper and the rest of the olive oil.

Lower the flame to medium and cook the garlic until softened, making sure to stir often to keep it from burning.

When the garlic is starting to color slightly and the tomatoes have wrinkled, turn the heat off. Sprinkle the top with salt, a few good grinds of black pepper and the chopped parsley. Stir again.

Serve with sliced crusty bread, and perhaps a cold beer, your favorite wine or a small glass of Spanish sherry.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of garlic? Make sure to check out all of the wonderful garlicky recipes my Foodie Extravaganza group has for you today, in celebration of National Garlic Day on April 19th. Many thanks to our host, Caroline of Caroline’s Cooking.

• Aïgo Bouido (Provençal Garlic Soup) by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Alcachofas al Ajillo or Garlicky Artichokes by Food Lust People Love
• Cuban Cube Steak - Bistec de Palomilla by Caroline's Cooking
• Fresh Green Garlic Mince Bake by Sneha's Recipe
• Garlic Fried Calamari by Palatable Pastime
• Garlic Knots by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Garlic Loaded Tzatziki Sauce by Hardly A Goddess
• Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts by Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Homemade Creamy Garlic Salad Dressing by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays, and we all post recipes using the same ingredient. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

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Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Muffins #MuffinMonday

Peanut butter stuffed banana muffins are baked with our favorite banana batter filled with a good teaspoon of peanut butter each, then dipped in a sweet peanut butter glaze. These guys are a special treat for breakfast, snack time or even dessert.

Whenever I have bananas that are past their best, I can’t bear to waste them. My go-to recipe when my girls were still at home was banana cake, a light and fluffy after-school snack they both enjoyed. (Want something approaching muffins? Bake the batter as cupcakes.) Nowadays I am more likely to mix up some muffins.

If bananas are your favorite, check out these other recipes you might enjoy:

• Homemade Banana Cream Pie
• Banana Fritters
• Banana Pecan Bundt with Bananas Foster Frosting
• Banana Coconut Pineapple Bundt

For this month’s Muffin Monday, I decided to kick those banana muffins up a notch or two with the addition of peanut butter, but not mixed into the batter since that might overpower the banana flavor. Instead I froze 12 teaspoons of peanut butter and tucked them in the batter, where they became a lovely soft surprise.

Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Muffins

Make these muffins with or without the peanut butter stuffing or the peanut butter glaze for a simpler treat, but if you’ve got just a little extra time, I recommend you make all three. The peanut butter can be popped in the freezer the night before, if you are baking these for breakfast.

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
12 teaspoons peanut butter, frozen separately
3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup or 75g butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the glaze:
1 rounded tablespoon peanut butter
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup or 130g powdered sugar
pinch fine sea salt

Method
Cover a plate with cling film or waxed paper and scoop out 12 teaspoons of peanut butter onto the prepared plate. Put the plate in the freezer until ready to bake, but for at least 30 minutes. The peanut butter never gets completely hard, even if left overnight but it does firm up nicely.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by lining it with muffin papers. I also like to give the muffin papers a quick spray of nonstick cooking spray to help them release the muffins after baking.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, use a fork to mash your three very ripe bananas. Whisk in the butter, eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and fold until just combined.

Scoop a little more than half of the batter into the 12 muffin cups. Remove the teaspoons of peanut butter from the freezer and poke one into each of the muffin cups.

Top with the remaining banana batter making sure to cover the peanut butter completely. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown in the preheated oven.

Meanwhile, make the peanut butter glaze by mixing all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Remove the muffins from the oven and set them aside until they are cool enough to handle, then remove them from the baking pan and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Once the peanut butter stuffed banana muffins are cool, dip the tops in the glaze.

Set aside to dry. I had plenty of glaze so I actually dipped mine twice. Because more peanut butter is always a good thing.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday baking group is sharing today!

• Banana Nut Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Butternut Squash & Apple Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheezy Garlic Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Papaya Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Peanut Butter Stuffed Banana Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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Creamy Crab and Scallop Chowder #FishFridayFoodies

My creamy crab and scallop chowder begins with frying bacon, as all the best recipes do. Pour in the whipping cream, add a whole pound of crabmeat AND a pound of bay scallops, for a deliciously rich mouthful in every spoon.

When our elder daughter graduated from university in 2013, she immediately started a job in New York City. She was paid hourly so if she didn’t work, she didn’t get paid. Which also means no vacation time. It’s a hard cruel world, right?

As summer turned to autumn, thoughts of the possibility of Christmas without her sent me to the internet where I looked for a house we could afford to rent for three weeks, somewhere in New England. We ended up in a little town called Tiverton in Rhode Island. When we arrived at the home, a typical northeastern winter had already set in with real snowfall that stuck still covering the trees and bushes and lawn.

Just a few days before Christmas, on our daughter’s birthday in fact, we decided we needed some clam chowder to warm us up from the inside out. We found delicious bowls in nearby Newport and I’ve been a chowder fan ever since.

Creamy Crab and Scallop Chowder

This recipe is adapted from the Nantucket Chowder recipe from an issue of Bon Appétit magazine, December 1995 and it's my favorite! See if you don't agree.

Ingredients to serve 6
8 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, plus extra for garnish, if desired
4 1/4 cups or 1L seafood or fish stock
1/2 cup or 120ml dry white wine
2 medium potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup or 180ml whipping cream
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 lb or 450g bay scallops, thawed if frozen
1 lb or 450g handpicked cooked crabmeat
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Traditional chowder accompaniment: oyster crackers – Buy some or make your own with this simple recipe: Easy homemade oyster crackers

Method
Fry the bacon pieces in a large Dutch oven, over a medium heat. Once the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon and put it on some folded paper towels to drain.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings from the pot. You can discard what you remove but I suggest you put it in a clean jar in the refrigerator where it will keep for several weeks. Use it whenever you want to add a little flavor to a dish, like roasted vegetables or pan-fried chicken.

Add the onions and thyme to the pot and sauté them over a medium heat, until they soften, stirring occasionally. This just takes a few minutes.

Pour the stock and white wine into the pot, along with the potato cubes. Bring the stock to a boil and then lower the heat till it’s just above a simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

While the potatoes cook, take a few minutes to look through your crabmeat to make sure all the little bits of shell have been removed. Even the best, most conscientious pickers can miss some.

Remove the thyme sprigs from the pot and discard. Ladle about half of the chowder into a blender and pulse till smooth. Or you can use a hand blender in a tall measuring vessel, like I do.

Pour the smooth mixture back into the pot and cook for another 10-15 minutes, until it thickens slightly.

Whisk the cornstarch into the cold cream until it is completely dissolved. Add the cream to the chowder pot, stirring quickly.

 Sprinkle in half of the bacon and return to a gentle simmer.

Add the bay scallops and crabmeat to the chowder. Heat through and season the chowder to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Ladle the chowder into bowls. Sprinkle the remaining bacon, garnish with fresh thyme leaves, if desired, and serve immediately. If you have some oyster crackers, put those out too and folks can help themselves.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month’s Fish Friday Foodies host, P from The Saucy Southerner. Check out all the lovely crab recipes we are sharing today.

An InLinkz Link-up

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