Una Vaca Entera

A while back I caught an interview with Francis Mallmann on KCRW’s Good Food while he was promoting his book “Seven Fires“.  Normally a podcast about grilling wouldn’t really keep my attention, but I happened to listen to the whole thing and was actually quite interested in checking out his book. I never ended up buying it (not a lot of grilling goes on in my apartment), so I was thrilled when my friend got it for Christmas and I was able to finally scope it out.

By far the most impressive recipe in the book is the “Vaca Entera”, which calls for “one medium cow” (no big deal)…

Nothing like butterflying a cow to prove you are a total culinary badass.

Dec. 20th

I will definitely be experimenting with one of these soon…

Romanesco Broccoli

Thumbprint Cookies

In the spirit of Christmas I felt that I had to bake a cookie that involved jam. Growing up my grandmother Mone would make a ton of German Christmas cookies over the holidays. My favorite ones that she would make were these thin butter cookies that would have a layer of jam between them and then topped with a lemon icing sugar glaze. I’ll have to find the recipe one of these days and make them next year.

In the meantime, I decided to make these thumbprint cookies. I used sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter (which the original recipe called for) and also added vanilla extract, because in my opinion every dessert recipe tastes better with a little hint of vanilla.

The end result: Amazing.

SB & J Cookies

1/2 Cup Sunflower Seed Butter

1/2 Coconut Sugar

1/4 Palm Oil Shortening (I used Spectrum brand)

1 Egg

1 1/4 Cup Blanched Almond Flour

1/2 Tsp Salt (I used pink Himalayan)

1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

1/2-3/4 Cup Organic Raspberry Jam

With a hand mixer, beat together the sunflower seed butter, coconut sugar, shortening, vanilla, and egg. Once combined, stir in the almond flour and salt. Mold dough into balls then place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Press your thumb into each cookie to make a nook for the jam. Spoon in the jam, then bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Crookies

Because I use a lot of alternative and allergy-free ingredients in my baking, I’m always extra happy when my friends love my non-traditional treats.

These cookies were such a hit they got coined “crack cookies”, which I have now decided to shorten into crookies.

So good they should be illegal.

Crack Cookies (aka Crookies)

2 1/2 Cups Blanched Almond Flour (not packed)

10 Tbsp Melted Butter (I used salted)

1/2 Cup Coconut Sap/Nectar (I’ve also made this recipe using part coconut sugar/part Neera syrup, which was amazing but too expensive for regular baking)

1/4 Tsp Baking Soda

1/4-1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Cinnamon (I eyeball and sometimes use more)

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup Dark or Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

1/2 Cup Gluten-Free Oats (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together dry ingredients. Mix together wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir thoroughly. If the batter is too runny, you can add a couple more tablespoons of flour. Lastly add the oats and chocolate chips. Put the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes so that the dough is easier to spoon/form. Use your hands to make little dough balls and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Baked for 7-8 minutes. The cookies will look lightly browned and “puffy” when they first come out of the oven, but will then sink down into a thinner shape.