My Kitchen Clatter

Real Food - Real Life

Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I like my cookies to have a nice chewy bite, be soft in the middle, and have crispy edges. Oh, who am I kidding? I like my cookies in any form as long as they are fresh out of the oven. I pretty much have zero standards for cookies other than that they be homemade. All that said, this cookie comes out soft in the middle with crispy edges. It’s pretty darn great. It’s not overly sweet or difficult to make.

A little about sourdough starter…

I wrote this recipe specifically to use up extra sourdough starter. I think the starter helps to give the cookie its excellent crumb and softness. Your starter can be well fed or just your discard. The recipe does call for a full cup of starter, but it can easily be divided in half, depending on how much starter you have available.

And some words on flour…

Whole grain flours really make this cookie. If you only have all-purpose flour on hand, go ahead and use it. But if you’d like to increase the flavor, fiber and nutrients of your baked goods, be sure to give these a try with your favorite whole grain flour. My standard go-to for this cookie is normally a soft white wheat or a spelt flour. Both will make a chocolate chip cookie that has a nice mild flavor with slightly more depth than you’d find using all-purpose flour. But honestly, try this with any flour you have on hand. My favorite flour that I’ve tried with these cookies was buckwheat flour. Let me know in the comments what flours you try them with.

Sour Dough Chocolate Chip Cookies

Serving Size:
4-5 dozen cookies
Time:
20 minutes, plus rest & baking
Difficulty:
Easy

Ingredients

  • 3 cups + 2 tablespoons (380 g) of soft white whole grain wheat flour or all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
  • 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature or softer
  • 3/4 cup (180 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (120 g) light brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup (240 g) sour dough starter discard
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Combine the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine.
  2. Combine the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high speed for 3-4 minutes. The sugar butter mixture should be light colored and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs, on at a time to the butter mixture and mix until combined.
  4. Add the sour dough starter and the vanilla extract to the butter mixture and beat for 2-3 minutes until well combined.
  5. Add the flour mixture to the stand mixer. Combine on low speed, just until the flour is incorporated.
  6. Add the chocolate chips to the dough and mix until just combined.
  7. The dough can be baked right away, but it benefits from at least 30 minutes rest in the fridge. Wrap the dough in parchment paper and rest in fridge for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop heaping tablespoons on dough on the pan and bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool on the pan for 3-4 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Fermented Carrot Sticks

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Bump up the health benefits of your carrots by fermenting them. The kids won’t even know what hit them.

Keep these carrots in a visible spot of your fridge. Put the jar smack in the middle of your sight when you open the fridge door. That way you’ll be more likely to choose the carrots as a healthy snack!

Fermented Carrot Sticks

Serving Size:
2 cups
Time:
10 minutes prep time
5-7 days ferment
Difficulty:
easy

Ingredients

  • 1 T Fine salt (iodine free – no additives)
  • 2 cups chlorine free water
  • Carrots (approximately 4 medium sized), washed well, cut into sticks (peeling is optional)
  • 1 inch ginger, cut into rounds (optional)
  • Other optional ingredients include garlic, onion, dill, turmeric, or jalapeños (pick one of the optional ingredients. 

Directions

  1. Make the brine. Combine the water and salt. Stir to dissolve the salt. 
  2. Pack the carrot sticks along with any flavorings into the jar. Pack them in tight. Allow about an inch of space between the top of the carrots and the top of the jar. 
  3. Pour the brine over the carrots.
  4. Place a weight on top of the sticks, if you have one. You can use a plastic ziplock filled with water as a weight. 
  5. Place an airlock on the top of the jar. If you don’t have an airlock, you can put the mason jar lid back on the jar and just burp (loosen) the lid once a day to release any built up gases. 
  6. Allow to ferment on the counter for 5-7 days. Start tasting after 4-5 days and when the carrots taste good to you, they can go in the fridge. 

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

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I’m excited about this recipe. This is a case where I had a pretty good recipe that I had no plans to improve upon, but a missing ingredient forced a substitution. After crossing my fingers and making a change, I’m pretty sure the change may end up being permenant.

My go-to double chocolate muffins are a take on the Chocolate Ricotta Muffin from Mollie Katzen’s Sunlight Cafe cookbook. Today I had a child requesting his favorite after-school snack of chocolate muffins, but I was out of ricotta but . Soooo… after unsuccessfully searching my freezer for that hidden ball of ricotta (it’s still in there somewhere, I know), I decided I’d better make do with things I have on hand. Two brown bananas were calling me to take them out of their misery. Add some peanut butter and I was ready to give a new recipe a try.

I keep the sugar pretty low on this recipe and I also use freshly ground, soft, white, whole wheat flour. The peanut butter also helps bump up the protein. I used natural peanut butter, but if your peanut butter has added sugar, you can reduce the granulated sugar by a couple teaspoons. And, as always, if you don’t have good whole flour around, just substitute it with white flour. You won’t get the fiber and flavor from the whole wheat flour, but it will taste better than most store bought whole wheat flours.

All in all, I think these are a pretty healthy snack for the kids. The recipe makes about 18 regular sized muffins. If you don’t eat them all right away, you can freeze any extras so the kids can grab them out whenever they want.

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
Cuisine: snacks
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 18
My kids love the chocolatey flavor and I love that these muffins are low in sugar and high in protein and fiber from the peanut butter and whole wheat flour.
Ingredients
  • 2 1/3 cups (10.4 oz) freshly ground, soft white wheat flour (or substitute with white flour)
  • 3/4 t salt
  • 2 t baking powder
  • 6 T unsweetened cocoa (I use Dutch process cocoa)
  • 1/2 c granulated sugar
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 soft, brown bananas
  • 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups milk
  • 1 T vanilla extract
  • 4 T (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray 18 standard (2 1/2-inch-diameter) muffin cups with non-stick spray.
  2. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, cocoa, sugar, and chocolate chips in a medium-sized bowl.
  3. Place the bananas in a separate bowl and mash. I use a potato masher to mash them. Add the peanut butter and stir. Then add each egg, one at a time, and combine with a whisk after each addition. Add the milk and vanilla, and whisk until blended. Add the butter, and whisk again.
  4. Pour the banana – peanut butter mixture into the dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined and the dry ingredients are moistened. Don’t overtax – a few lumps are okay.
  5. Use a large spoon or a scoop and scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups. I usually like smaller muffins, so I fill them up about 3/4 full. You can fill to the top for larger muffins.
  6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until they are pulling away from the edge of the tin and the tops don’t collapse if you lightly press the top with a finger. You can also use the toothpick test to check doneness, but this is sometimes a tough check because of the chocolate chips. (A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean).
  7. When the muffins are done, remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool 3-5 minutes. Use a knife of spatula to remove the muffins from the pan and place on a rack to cool.

Pumpkin Leather

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The whole idea of making fruit leather out of pumpkin sounds crazy, but it tastes like pumpkin pie without the trouble of making a pie. This recipe is based off one I found in the University of Georgia’s So Easy to Preserve book.

Here are a couple tips for dehydrating and making fruit leather:

  • If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use a low oven as a substitute. This is a good alternative if you aren’t ready to invest in a dehydrator.
  • If you are ready for a dehydrator, they range from $35 for the round Nesco brand that you find at places like Farm & Fleet. Middle of the road dehydrators cost about $125, such as the L’Equip Filter Pro that I carry and use. High end dehydrators include the 9 tray Exclaiburs that cost around $250. Things to look for include temperature control, timing, number of trays that can be stacked, air flow, and noise. My first dehydrator was the Nesco brand, and I found it to be very noisy and I didn’t like that I couldn’t set the temperature. I’m happy with the Filter Pro that I have now. I haven’t upgraded to an Exclaibur because I don’t have the space for it and also because I honestly don’t use a dehydrator that often.
  • When making fruit leather, I like to spread the puree about 1/8 inch thick on a parchment that I’ve laid in the dehydrator tray. Someday, I plan to cut some silicon sheets to fit as a replacement for the parchment, but in the meantime, parchment makes it easy to pull the finished leather off.
  • For more tips, check out the University of Georgias’ fact sheet. This is taken from So Easy to Preserve.
Pumpkin Leather
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Pumpkin leather ends up tasting like pumpkin pie. It’s a little weird, but also kind of a fun treat!
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of pureed pumpkin (either cooked homemade or from a can)
  • 1/4 cup of applesauce
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1/2 t cinnamon
  • 1/8 t ground cloves (or less, to taste)
  • 1/8 t ground nutmeg
Instructions
  1. Combine all the ingredients. Spread onto parchment or fruit leather trays in your dehydrator. Dehydrate at 140 degrees for about 10-12 hours until the top is dry to the touch (not sticky). Add time as necessary. This will make about four 4 by 6 inch fruit leathers.

 

Fudge Babies

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The perfect snack!

The perfect snack!

Fudge babies are our family’s homemade version of Lara bars. They are simply chopped up dates, nuts, chocolate chips and a little bit of peanut butter to help hold everything together. IMG_1660

These fudge babies are super easy to make and they are great for the kids to grab on the go. They are not too messy and they are a healthy, high energy snack. Really, these fudge babies are pretty much the perfect snack for a busy household.

I usually keep a bunch of these fudge babies in the freezer. The kids know where to find them and they just help themselves. I grab them to go in the car and I throw them at the kids when they tell me they are hungry.

If you buy the big box of dates from the refrigerator section at Costco, this is a great use for them. You can also make this recipe with dried fruit – such as prunes or dates. I’ve also done them with dried cherries and cashews – which is an fabulous variation on the recipe.

The easiest way to make these is in a food processor. I get out my old Cusinart for this one, but if you have the food processor attachment for your Bosch, this is the time to pull it out. You can also do these in a blender, but you’ll be scraping down the sides a lot. The easiest way to make them is to start by pulsing the nuts in the processor until they are pretty finely ground. Then add the rest of the ingredients and chop everything up until it sticks together in a ball. If your mixture is still dry, then add another glop of peanut butter to help stick it together.

Fudge Babies
Recipe Type: snack
Author: Andrea
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 30
This is our family’s favorite grab and go snack.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of nuts, I usually use almonds
  • 2 1/2 cups of dates, pitted
  • 1 cup of chocolate chips
  • 2 T peanut butter
Instructions
  1. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the nuts until they are a fine grind.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse until the mixture is uniform and sticky.
  3. Add extra peanut butter as needed to allow the mixture to stick together.
  4. Shape into balls, or whatever shape you desire, and store in the freezer or fridge. Will keep for several weeks in the freezer, if you don’t eat them first!