Chocolate Crinkles

The last couple of days have been pretty stressful around here. What were meant to be peaceful demonstrations around the country erupted into angry riots, after courts took away the protesters' right to march.The high court eventually over-turned that order, but by then, the damage had been done.

What this meant for us is that for the last two days we have effectively been locked down in our home, discouraged from venturing out into the city for fear of getting caught up in the mayhem.

I don't really like being cooped up. It makes me anxious. And then, add to that worries over a situation that in my childless days I would have probably laughed off, but now, with two vulnerable little ones to look after, I couldn't stop obsessing about....well, let's just say I was a wee bit stressed.

So, true to my genetics, I did what my mother did too, when she had something heavy on her mind...I baked.

And I didn't bake just anything - I baked Chocolate Crinkles, a delicious brownie in a cookie, which I have been making since about the time I was first able to crack open an egg. My sister and I were known, as children, to make these cookies just to eat the raw batter (there was no fear of salmonella in my house, I guess). The cookie dough is even better after it has been rolled in powdered sugar:

After baking, the powdered sugar forms a lovely, cracked coating on top, hence the name.

Chocolate Crinkles

4 sq. unsweetened chocolate (4 oz)
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon Salt
about 1 cup of powdered sugar

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a microwave or double boiler.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the sugar and the melted chocolate and butter. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to the chocolate mixture. Chill several hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350 F. Sift some of the powdered sugar onto a plate. Using 2 spoons, drop teaspoonfuls of dough into the powdered sugar. Roll the dough in the sugar, shape into balls, and shake off the excess sugar.

Place about 2” apart on greased baking sheet. Be careful not to over-bake!

Makes about 50 cookies.

Scones, two ways

I have been obsessed with making scones lately, ever since trying out the recipe for Dreamy Cream Scones I found on the Smitten Kitchen website.

You see, I needed another way to use up buttermilk, and saw this recipe and suddenly developed a hankering for scones. Although the recipe calls for cream, I always have a lot of buttermilk on hand. In fact, I think my husband and I are singlehandedly keeping the industry alive in Malawi. Every weekend it gets mixed into biscuits or pancakes. The leftovers marinate chicken, or add lightness and tang to cakes. Buttermilk seemed a natural substitution in this recipe, and allowed me to save my small stash of cream for whipping and serving on top.

These are so fast and easy to cook, that I make them every weekend. So now, every Sunday afternoon at our house, there are hot baked scones, served with butter and jam, and accompanied by a hot glass of tea. A week ago I was invited for cocktails at a friend's house. she had recently mentioned that she was more of a fan of savory snacks as opposed to sweet, so it occurred to me to bring along a savory scone. I eliminated the sugar, and added minced, cooked bacon, chives, and grated cheese. Heaven.

Here is the recipe for my original version, and the savory variation. I usually just make a half-recipe.

Scones

makes 16 scones

2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons chilled butter

1/2 cups raisins or other dried fruit (optional)

1 cup buttermilk

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F, and butter two 8-inch round cake pans.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. With a pastry cutter, a fork, or your fingers (my method), cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Add the raisins to the bowl, if using, then stir in the buttermilk. Turn out the sticky dough and dry bits on to a floured surface, and knead together until just combined. It will be a lumpy, slightly sticky dough.

Cut the dough in half, and then press each half into a cake pan. Using a knife, carefully cut the dough into 8 segments.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. The scones will still be fairly light in color when finished. Serve with butter, jam, and fresh whipped cream.

For the Bacon Cheddar Scones:

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, but omit the sugar. Mix in the butter, then stir in 1 Tablespoon of chopped fresh chives; 4 strips of cooked, minced bacon, and 1/4 to 1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese. Mix in the buttermilk and prepare as in the sweet scone recipe.

Welcome!

I got a foolish idea into my head over this last weekend. A terrible, dangerous, silly idea. "Why not create a food blog?", I thought.

After all, it's not as if I struggle already to find enough time to keep up my long-running blog, Taking the Long Way. Why no, I'm sure I can manage to neglect two blogs at once.

But here I was, thinking how I love to cook. And how I enjoy writing also. So a cooking blog would be a natural extension, right? And of course there's more, the main thing, really - I like to show off. And what says overachiever more than baked-from-scratch scones, covered with home-made gooseberry jam, and topped with silky whipped cream, laboriously whipped by hand? Someone hand me a James Beard Award, right this minute!

And to be honest, there is a practical motivation at work, too. As often as I get asked for my recipes, it seems easier to pass along a URL than to write them out over and again. So here you are my friends, my coveted recipes. You asked for them, and here they are.

Many of these are family recipes that were discovered by my parents, and made by my sisters and me for years. Others are new classics in our home. But they are all tested, and tasted, and proven delicious. So enjoy, and let me know if you have any special requests!

-Gwyneth