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Chocolate Hazelnut Granola

Can’t find a granola that you love? Try making your own. Or see below to make mine 🙂
Ingredients

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. Melt the coconut oil and mix with maple syrup and chocolate rum syrup
  3. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients and slowly incorporate the syrup mixture until it reaches your desired stickiness. Add extra maple syrup if you’re looking to turn them into bars.
  4. Spread evenly into a lined baking pan or cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes (until crunchy and delicious)
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Grandma K’s Italian Wedding Soup

  • Endive (2 large heads) (any variety is fine. Frisée is milder, escarole is more traditional)
  • Whole chicken
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • 1 LB Ground Beef
  • 8 Eggs
  • 1 clove of Garlic (or measure with your heart, we don’t judge)
  • Breadcrumbs (we recommend shredding Provencal Bakery bread)
  • Basil
  • Parsley (optional)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Parmigiano-Reggiano
  1. Rinse and chop your endive. Boil, drain, and set aside
  2. In a large pot, cover chicken with water and bring to a boil.
  3. Cook chicken until tender and then remove. Do NOT drain the liquid.
  4. Chop your celery and carrots. You ideally want approximately 1 cup.
  5. Reduce broth to a simmer and add raw vegetables (celery and carrots)
  6. Once the chicken is cool enough, remove the skin and shred chicken into small pieces.
  7. Return shredded chicken to broth
  8. Add chopped endive to chicken broth and continue to simmer all ingredients together
  9. Beat 2 eggs
  10. Combine beaten eggs, 1 clove of garlic, 1 cup of breadcrumbs, 1 tbsp-ish of basil, 1 tbsp of parsley, 1 tsp salt, 1 sap pepper.
  11. Form into tiny meatballs
  12. Add meatballs to broth
  13. Beat 6 eggs
  14. Grate 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano into beaten eggs and mix gently
  15. Very gently, add egg mixture to soup and slowly stir
  16. Cover and let stand for a few minutes

Disclaimer: Lisa and her family are not Italian, we just love food. Grandma especially loved Italian food.

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Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Source: “Homemade Oreo Cookies” from the BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts

Ingredients:

Wafers:

  1. Combine butter, sugar, syrup, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on low speed to moisten, then increase to medium and beat until fluffy and light, pausing to scrape the bowl and beater as needed.
  2. Sift flour and cocoa together and slowly add your dry ingredients to your butter mixture
  3. Knead the dough against the sides of the bowl to form a smooth ball, then divide in half and flatten into discs. At this point, you can either use immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 week (be sure to let dough soften at room temperature before using)

Make the wafers:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
  2. On a cocoa-dusted service with a cocoa-dusted rolling pin, roll a portion of the dough into a square until it is 1/8″ thick. Feel free to use cocoa liberally in order to prevent sticking (but make sure to remove any excess)
  3. Using a stamp-style cookie cutter, cut your wafers and arrange on a parchment-paper lined cookie sheet.
  4. Gather, knead, and reroll until you have as many cookies as possible. Any scraps that you have deemed unworthy can be baked as is and either snacked on in secret or crushed to make Oreo crumbs.
  5. Bake wafers until firm and dry, approximately 12-15 minutes. Cool completely on the baking sheets

Assemble the cookies:

This is where BraveTart and I differ. She recommends melting your butter. I find that working with room-temperate fat helps give it the stiff cream that Oreo is known for. Cream the butter with the powdered sugar and vanilla. You will slowly add powdered sugar until it reaches your desired consistency and sweetness.

Spoon cream onto the center of one wafer and then make a sandwich using another wafer. I found it best to spread it evenly so that every bite has the perfect ratio of creme to cookie.

Eat immediately and without judgment or store in an airtight container for up to one week.

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Abuela’s Cuban-Style Cornbread

  • 2 cups Flour
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 2 cups Cornmeal 
  • 6 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt (maybe a little more)
  • 2 cups Milk
  • 5 inches of Cinnamon Sticks
  • 1 tablespoon Vanilla
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) Butter
  • 4 Eggs
  1. Add cinnamon sticks to milk in sauce pan and slowly bring to a boil (scald).
  2. Take milk off heat and add butter to melt during cooling.
  3. Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl.
  4. Add eggs, vanilla and milk/butter to the dry mix and blend thoroughly. 
  5. Pour batter into a large glass cake pan.
  6. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes.Â