Sweet Memories

Makes about 90 small to medium cookies; recipe can be halved, or the cookies can be made bigger — just watch the baking time so they are golden but barely set.

These cookies are very similar to my Grandma Kebschull’s cookies, chewy, sweet and delicious. I’ve incorporated the trick from the book Baking Unplugged (see book review here) of adding a little water to the dough, to help keep the cookies moist. I like the strong vanilla flavor of these; you may also add a teaspoon of cinnamon. I’m still experimenting with replacing some of the flour with white whole-wheat flour; if you try it, tell me your results!

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, or 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3 tablespoons water

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups rolled oats (quick-cooking oats will do in a pinch, but not instant)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, or mini M&Ms

1 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, beat granulated and brown sugars with butter until light and fluffy. Beat in baking soda and salt, then vanilla. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well mixed. Beat in water. On low speed, beat in flour just until combined. Beat in oats, chocolate chips and cranberries. Let dough stand for 10 minutes.

Scoop out dough in 1-inch balls onto ungreased or parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, til golden; don’t overbake.

Place the sheets on wire racks to cool.

Serves 4

Because this pudding is thickened with cornstarch, not eggs, and kept as guilt-free as possible, it’s at its best hot, maybe with a small dollop of whipped cream melting on top. My children have certainly never complained about getting a chilled cup of this in their lunchboxes; just know that it sets up quite firmly in the fridge. If you’d rather eat it cold, cut back on the cornstarch to 2 tablespoons. The almond extract is a wonderful touch, but you can also play with other flavors, such as mint, or orange or raspberry liqueur, or rum, or my favorite, Sambuca. This is based on a recipe I cut out of Bon Appetit magazine, and have loved ever since.

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

3 tablespoons cornstarch (see note above)

1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Pinch to 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (I like the higher level of salt)

2 cups cold milk, anything from 1 percent to whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

In a medium saucepan, thoroughly whisk together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, flour and salt. Thoroughly whisk in 1 cup milk, then remaining cup. Whisking constantly, cook over medium heat until thickened; when it reaches a simmer, cook 1 more minute. Off the heat, whisk in vanilla and almond extracts. Serve hot, or chill up to 2 days (by the second day, the pudding may look slightly watery on top — just drain that off).

Makes 1 loaf

I’m giving you a few choices in this recipe, so you can adapt to what you have on hand; this loaf is delicious no matter what. Don’t hesitate to take overrripe bananas out of their peel and freeze in a plastic bag for later; they may turn  brown on thawing, but that’s OK in the bread. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, click on the link below for an easy substitution.

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour (1/2 cup may be white whole-wheat)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or coarse salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup canola oil, or 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mashed or pureed, very ripe bananas (about 3 medium)

1/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together.

In a large bowl, beat oil or butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat for 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and bananas just until incorporated. With mixer on low speed, add half of flour mixture, then buttermilk, the remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. Pour into pan.

Bake 55 to 60 minutes, until bread springs back when top is lightly pressed with a finger. Remove immediately from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Makes 24 to 32 bars

Hard to get much simpler than this, though I do like to complicate matters by making my own granola. These keep well, travel well, and are open to endless experimentation. Add nuts, other dried fruit, chocolate chips, coconut, peanut butter chips, vanilla, cinnamon, almond extract … I’m even thinking about a touch of lavender or cardamom in a future batch.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (1/2 cup of this could be white whole-wheat flour)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

3/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins

2 cups granola

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-by-13-inch pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in cranberries and granola. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, butter and egg whites. Pour over flour mixture and fold in with a spatula. Spread into pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden and set. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Makes 12 6-inch waffles

This is a classic recipe, dating back at least to Fannie Farmer. When you want waffles for a hot breakfast on a school day, these come together quickly, as all you do in the morning is whisk in eggs, baking soda and vanilla. Because the batter then will keep in the fridge for 2 days, you can also make waffles another morning, or make one for an after-school snack. If you prefer, bake all the waffles at once and freeze them, individually wrapped, to reheat later in a toaster or toaster oven (right on the toaster oven shelf). These are delicious topped with fruit and a touch of syrup. Note: If you warm your milk in the microwave, stop midway and give it a quick stir to evenly distribute the heat.

2 1/2 cups milk, warmed to about 115 degrees (warm to the touch)

2 teaspoons instant yeast, or 1 package active dry yeast

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 cups flour: either 2 cups all-purpose flour, or a mixture of all-purpose and white whole-wheat flour, using no more than 3/4 cup white wheat

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Additional flavorings (optional): 2 tablespoons minced lemon verbena leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1 tablespoon minced cinnamon basil leaves, or 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

In a large bowl, whisk together milk, yeast, butter, salt, sugar and flour until very smooth. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. In summer or a warm house, refrigerate overnight; in winter or a cool kitchen, let stand on the counter overnight.

Next day, whisk in eggs, baking soda, vanilla and any additional flavorings. Whisk until smooth. Make waffles immediately or let stand up to 30 minutes.

Heat and grease, if needed, a waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions. Be sure to not overfill waffle maker, and cook until waffle iron stops steaming; waffles should be crisp. Serve immediately. Leftover batter may be chilled, tightly covered, for 2 days.

When a friend asked me recently for snack suggestions, especially for a daughter who isn’t big on fruit, I was pulled up a little short. We have fairly haphazard snacks, with one child who eats three meals a day and calls it good, and another who finds hunger hitting at the most inopportune moments.

My friend’s question came with a conversation about our mutual dislike of snack time at sports. I often fight the urge to fuss at other mothers, who blithely go around at the first practice with their snack sign-up lists. Stop the snacks! Our kids are not starving, and if yours for some reason are, then bring your own food. My children, at least, do not need a box of juice (should that read “juice”?) and a bag of chips, or sweet cereal, or Rice Krispies Treats, 30 minutes before lunch, or at 8 p.m. when the baseball game ends, or really, ever.  Do we truly want to teach them that any physical exertion requires an ending sweet? A glass of water will do fine, thanks.

I don’t object, at least not completely, to snacks at school. I’m willing to acknowledge that many children do better with a little mid-morning boost, especially if they had to eat breakfast at 6 a.m. and won’t eat lunch until 12:30. But I think we’re setting kids up to be unable to tolerate a touch of hunger, to reach the point where they are truly hungry and thus will eat every last carrot slice or pepper strip that we valiantly put in their lunchboxes.

And if we’re going to insist on school snacks, please, please, please, ditch the goldfish. How did these nutritional know-nothings become the default snack? A bit of fruit, a small cup of yogurt (and not that squeezable junk that masquerades as yogurt), a few nuts or an ounce of cheese — this is more than enough. And water, water, water.

OK, there’s the rant. Now, what to offer when your kids really do want a bite after school?

For starters, I aim to stop a snack attack as early in the afternoon as possible, so they’re still ready for supper. I also understand, from my own cravings, that sweet hits the spot at 3 p.m. — but so does protein.

So, some snack suggestions:

A banana with peanut butter, and possibly just a few mini chocolate chips sprinkled on if your 7-year-old has smothered you with kisses.

Half a grilled-cheese sandwich: We like to include thin slices of apple in the sandwich. I cut the apple on a cheap slicer, and we eat the extra pieces alongside the sandwich — somehow super-thin apple slices seem like a treat. (I used a gift certificate to get a panini press, something I would never have spent the money on otherwise, and I have to say I adore it. Although I love grilled sandwiches that have the outsides buttered, there’s no need for butter with the press).

Half a grilled peanut butter and honey sandwich, with banana slices if you like.

Stovetop popcorn: My air-pop machine still hides somewhere in the recesses of my pantry shelves, but it’s time to give it away. It makes flavorless, chewy popcorn. On the stove, though, we make utterly delicious popcorn, and it’s fun for kids to shake the pot around (carefully, with oven mitts on). Use 1 to 2 tablespoons of canola oil to 1/3 to 1/2 cup popcorn. Heat the oil in a large pot on medium-high heat, toss in a few kernels, and when they start to pop, add the inrest of kernels and cover. Shake the pan often, and when the popping slows to a crawl, remove from the heat and immediately pour into a serving bowl. Great plain, it’s also tasty with a little olive oil drizzled over or some grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled in. Store extra popcorn kernels in a plastic bag or box in the fridge; the moist environment keeps them ready to pop.

Deviled eggs, or just a hard-boiled egg with a dash of salt or a thin slice of cheese on top.

Banana bread sandwich: two thin slices of banana bread with a thin filling of peanut butter or cream cheese.

A small cup of chocolate pudding, made with low-fat milk and cornstarch, not butter and egg yolks.

Granola bars.

Yeast-raised waffles: Spread with a little peanut butter, or drizzle with a touch of syrup and top with blueberries. Make the batter ahead for fresh-cooked waffles, or freeze them once baked. Made with white whole-wheat flour, they’re a reasonable treat.

Carrot balls (based on a Martha Stewart recipe): Mash together to taste some cream cheese, grated cheddar or Swiss cheese, grated carrots, and a truly tiny pinch of cayenne pepper. Roll the mixture into small balls, then roll the balls in more grated carrots, or in crushed walnuts.

Cookies and fruit: No matter what, when we have a snack, it must include fruit (or, if it’s taste-appropriate, grape tomatoes or sweet red pepper strips). Often my children have cookies in their lunchboxes left over from whatever custom baking I’ve done, but those tend to be pure sweet, lacking much redeeming nutritional value. In moderation, this bothers me not a bit. But when we need a second sweet for the day, we have to aim a bit higher. I start by making my cookies small, in the belief that two small cookies seem more satisfying than one big one. Then, I go for cookies that have something worthwhile, and usually, that’s oats. I love oatmeal cookies, oatmeal-peanut butter cookies and oatmeal-cranberry cookies.

What’s your best snack? (Or, your best snack rant?)

Recipe: Banana Bread

Recipe: Hot Chocolate Pudding

Recipe: Great Granola Bars

Recipe: Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe: Yeast-Raised Waffles

Our latest snow settled Friday night over the icy remnants of the last storm, a rare sight for North Carolina’s Piedmont. This round gave us a perfect winter wonderland combination, with snow-crusted treelimbs but streets that were just delicately wet.

I’d been prepared to be snowed in again, so my only disappointment here was losing my stuck-inside excuse to bake. For several days, I’d been craving just one treat: a classic 1970s blueberry torte.

I hadn’t thought of this dessert in quite a while, but a glance in the mirror at my gaunt face reminded me. The one advantage to pneumonia has been a bit of weight loss; the disadvantage, of course, is where that weight came from. The old phrase “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips” holds sadly true.

The last time I lost this much weight from illness was in eighth grade, when I most exquisitely timed an attack of appendicitis: the night before finals started. Five days later, I was back home, my face a stark 10 pounds skinnier but my spirit joyous from having gotten out of taking any exams. Knowing I was starving after fending off rubbery hospital gelatin concoctions and salty broths, my parents set me up on the couch in the living room, and my mother brought me a torte.

How can you go wrong with cream cheese, whipped cream and blueberries, plus a few graham crackers for crunch? It certainly put those 10 pounds right back … which may be why it’s a good thing I lost my snowed-in baking excuse this weekend.

I hadn’t told the children I was thinking of making the torte, so they didn’t know what they were missing. I’m always happy to make special treats, as long as we follow the moderation in all things rule, but after a weekend of Valentine’s cupcake parties, we’d moved way past moderation. As soon as I can find another excuse, though, I’m going for it. This simple torte, served with such love and concern by my mother, has remained one of my sweeter memories, definitely deserving an introduction to another generation.

Recipe: 1970s Blueberry Torte

Yields: 8 to 10 servings

Cook’s notes: I almost always use frozen berries for the topping, but fresh berries (use 1 pint) also work. To cool the topping fast, place it over a bowl of ice water and stir often. For the crust, I grind half a box of cinnamon-topped graham crackers in the food processor, but plain graham cracker crumbs work, too. If you have time to chill the crust before spreading it with the cream cheese mixture, you’ll find the filling easier to spread.

Blueberry topping:

1 16-ounce bag frozen blueberries, or 1 pint fresh

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup cold water

Crust:

1/2 of a 13 1/2-ounce package of graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Filling:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature

3 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

2 cups whipping cream

Make the topping: Combine berries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves and berries thaw and give off some of their juice. In a small bowl, stir together cornstarch and cold water until smooth. Bring berry mixture to a boil and add cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly, until mixture turns translucent and mounds slightly when dropped from a spoon. Cool completely.

Make the crust: Stir together crumbs, butter and sugar until well mixed. Press into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch dish.

Make the filling: In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, milk, vanilla and sugar on medium speed or by hand with a wooden spoon until smooth. Spread gently over crust and sprinkle evenly with pecans. Whip cream in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form; cover pecans and cream cheese completely with cream. Top with the blueberries, swirling them a bit into the whipped cream. Chill well, then cut into squares and serve.

I suppose it says something about how well guilt works on me that I find it impossible to feed my children cereal. If they get up on Saturday before I do, they know to get a bowl of cereal. Once I’m up, though, they know to hold off until something comes out of the oven.

And a fair amount of obsession goes into their school-day breakfasts: Is there enough protein to fuel their brains through lunch, but not too much? A little sweetness, because that’s what mornings demand? Some fruit? Some grains? Enough warmth and love to guide a smooth glide out the door?

My need to provide a hot, special, doting breakfast hit high gear this week, with children home for snow days. My guilt, gone into overdrive by how horribly the kids have eaten for the past three weeks as I fought through a virus, sent me into the kitchen still gasping for breath to prepare whatever simple-but-special treats I could come up with. Ridiculous, but it did make me feel better.

Finally, today, it was back to school — but on a two-hour delay — perfect for one last treat. This time, it was a simple apple crisp — a treat, but a reasonable one, and definitely easy.

Crisps make homey desserts, but I like them even better for breakfast. With a pan filled almost to the brim with fruit, topped with an oatmeal streusel, I feel warmed and comforted, without the guilt (drat, there it is again) of a breakfast of scones or coffeecake or some other treat that offers nearly nothing nutritionally.

Recipe: Apple Crisp

Tell me: What’s your favorite fruit in a crisp?

See also: Recently Made: Blueberry-Peach Crisp

Yield: One 9-by-13-inch pan

I like apple and blueberry crisps best; you can also punch up apple with a bag of cranberries, though you’ll need to add more sugar to the fruit. Use what fruit you have on hand, and flavor it as you wish (blueberry is especially nice with a bit of lemon zest stirred in). Peaches also make good crisps (be sure to peel them, or use frozen ones), or add firm-ripe pears to the apples. The fruit amount is up to you; I like to fill my pan fairly full for as much nutrition as possible. Any apple will work here; some may get softer than others during baking, but I like them all.

About 8 apples, peeled and cut into about 1″ chunks

1/4 cup granulated sugar, plus more for fruit if needed

3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 cup rolled oats (if you have only quick-cooking oats, they’ll work here, but don’t use instant)

Garnish: Half-and-half, light cream, or heavy cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Pile apples into a 9-by-13-inch pan; if they are very tart, sprinkle with sugar as desired. In a food processor, briefly whiz 1/4 cup sugar, brown sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon. Cut butter into chunks and add to the processor; pulse several times until butter is in very small pieces. Add the oats and pulse two times, just to mix the oats in. Spread topping evenly over the apples.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the apples are softened and the topping is golden brown; I like to start the pan on the bottom shelf and move it to an upper shelf halfway through. Serve warm, with a drizzle of cream if desired.

See also: Recently Made: Blueberry-Peach Crisp