Whole Wheat Carrot Bread

Whole Wheat Carrot Bread from A Thought For Food

Whole Wheat Carrot Bread from A Thought For Food

Love is a shelter.

Love is a cause.

Love goes on forever.

Yeah, love will lead us all.

Love! It is our honor.

Love! It is our all.

Love goes on forever.

Yeah, love it is our home.

That's What's Up//Edward Sharpe + the Magnetic Zeros

Whole Wheat Carrot Bread from A Thought For Food

Carrot Bread3.2

Whole Wheat Carrot Bread from A Thought For Food

Whole Wheat Carrot Bread

makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups grated carrot

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

3. In a bowl, whisk together the oil and eggs.

4. In a separate bowl, sift together the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix in the oil and eggs.

5. Fold in the grated carrot, raisins, and chocolate chips.

6. Pour mixture into loaf pan. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies from A Thought For Food - #baking #dessert #recipe

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies from A Thought For Food - #baking #dessert #recipe

I know... these may not look chewy, but they are. I promise. If they weren't, I wouldn't put them up here. Cookies are meant to be served the way salmon or a steak should be prepared, a nice sear on the outside, but raw in the middle. I just don't mess around with cookies. If there's too much crunch, I can't eat them. But what's so great about these is how the rim is crispy, making for the most wonderful sound as you bite into them. Then, you get to the good stuff. The blend of sugar and spice; the festive flavors of ginger, cinnamon and clove. It brings to mind lazy weekends... curled up on the couch with a cup of tea and a book: the lead in for an afternoon nap.  I've been making these ginger molasses cookies for years, altering the recipe slightly as I prepare each batch.  I hate to use the P-word, but I can't help it... these are kind of perfect.

CHEWY GINGER MOLASSES COOKIES

Yield: This recipe will make 3 dozen smaller cookies, if the dough is rolled into 1 inch round balls, as directed below.  However, I also like them a bit larger. In which case, you will get fewer cookies, but they will be bigger (not that size matters or anything)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces crystallized ginger, chopped coarsely
Granulated sugar, for rolling dough balls

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, vegetable shortening, sugar, molasses and egg. In a separate bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.  Add to wet mixture and beat until combined.  Stir in crystallized ginger.

Depending on the size you would like your cookies, form into 1 or 1.25 inch balls.  Roll dough balls in granulated sugar. Place dough balls onto a non-stick cookie sheet (or a sheet lined with parchment paper) two inches apart.  Using a spatula, gently press down the tops of each cookie dough ball.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until outer rim is golden brown.  Let cool for a few minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies via A Thought For Food - www.athoughtforfood.net

I remember the last time we had peanut butter in our house growing up.  Sitting on the tiled floor of our kitchen, I held the jar in my hands and I knew that this was something we had to do.  Never again could we have any nuts (especially peanut butter) in our home.  It was too dangerous, too much of a risk.

This came after a few incidents where my older sister had, by accident, consumed peanuts and had ended up with a severe allergic reaction.  Her throat started to close, her breathing would become strained.  The few (thankfully, very few) times that I've witnessed this, it's been terrifying.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies via A Thought For Food - www.athoughtforfood.net

Unlike my sister, I have no allergies to food (nor to animals).  But knowing someone who is deathly allergic to such foods, I am typically more sensitive about this issue.

And there's a reason why I say typically.  Just a few weeks ago, I attended my first gluten-free event.  When I first heard that the Big Summer Potluck was going to be a gluten-free weekend, I had a moment of hesitation.  Really, how could a weekend without bread or cake or cookies be fun?  What the heck were we going to eat?

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies via A Thought For Food - www.athoughtforfood.net

But as I met people over the course of the weekend, including the talented (and incredibly sweet) blogger, Shauna, of Gluten-Free Girl fame, who have Celiac disease, I thought more about why I was so anti-gf (that's gluten-free, by the way... not girlfriend).  What it comes down to, I realized, is this: there are no other allergies out there, that I'm aware of, at least, that have also become a health craze.  And this, I believe, is why it has taken me so long to understand the severity of Celiac disease.  Naively, I've always looked at eating gluten-free foods as a fad... a form of the Atkins Diet.   But it's funny how your views can change so quickly when you sit down and analyze the thought process behind them.  And mine, after the Big Summer Potluck, certainly changed for the better.

I learned a lot over the course of that weekend.  About myself, about other people, about the role that food plays in my life and, despite a lot of similarities, how very different that connection is for every one of us.

So, if you're like me and you've always been a bit skeptical of gluten-free cooking, I suggest you try these chocolate chip cookies made with chickpea flour.  I can't begin to tell you how good these are.  Trust me, they'll stump even the most die-hard cookie fan.

GFChocChipCookie

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

(adapted from Food.com)

Note: I let the dough chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes before scooping it onto the baking sheet.  If you do this, you can wait to preheat your oven until after you're done mixing the ingredients together.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, slightly softened
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
3. Mix chickpea flour, salt, soda, and baking powder in a separate bowl.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Drop by the tablespoon onto the baking sheet.
7. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes. These cookies will have to be a little darker than golden brown so that they will set and hold together. Let cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before removing.
8. Cool completely on a wire rack.