{"id":42407,"date":"2023-10-12T18:04:21","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T01:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=42407"},"modified":"2023-10-14T09:19:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-14T16:19:29","slug":"cookies-and-muffins-for-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2023\/10\/12\/cookies-and-muffins-for-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Cookies and muffins for fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peanut cookies are so good, it\u2019s hard to keep a batch around once you get a whiff of them. <\/em>(photo by Shelley Civkin)<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m definitely my happiest when it\u2019s blueberry season in Vancouver. You know what I\u2019m talking about \u2013 those huge, sweet, juicy blueberries grown in British Columbia in July and August. I can\u2019t get enough of them, and end up putting them in salads, quinoa dishes, smoothies, breakfast foods and, of course, desserts. I often get overzealous and buy several pounds of them at once. Since there are only two of us to feed, I end up freezing loads of them, knowing that they\u2019ll be reincarnated into something delicious in the months to come. Enter one of my faves.<\/p>\n

LEMON BLUEBERRY CORNMEAL MUFFINS<\/strong><\/p>\n

1\/2 cup butter, softened
\n<\/strong>3\/4 cup sugar
\n<\/strong>2 eggs
\n<\/strong>1\/2 tsp vanilla extract
\n<\/strong>1 tbsp lemon juice
\n<\/strong>1 tbsp grated lemon zest
\n<\/strong>1 1\/4 cup flour
\n<\/strong>1\/4 cup cornmeal
\n<\/strong>1 tsp baking powder
\n<\/strong>1\/2 tsp baking soda
\n<\/strong>1\/2 cup milk
\n<\/strong>3\/4 cup blueberries<\/strong><\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 350\u00baF. Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. The mixture may look curdled, but that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n

In a separate bowl, reserve one tablespoon of flour for the berries later on. Combine remaining flour, cornmeal, baking powder and baking soda.<\/p>\n

Add dry ingredients to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.<\/p>\n

Toss reserved tablespoon of flour with berries and stir it into batter gently.<\/p>\n

Pour batter into muffin tins (use cupcake liners) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Test for doneness using a toothpick.<\/p>\n

These have always been a crowd pleaser and, even though they\u2019re nothing fancy, they\u2019re really yummy, especially served warm \u2013 with a big glob of butter. They freeze nicely, too. Pair it with a London Fog tea and you\u2019re all set.<\/p>\n

My next favourite snack is not exactly fancy-shmancy, but who cares. Call me plebeian, but I\u2019m a sucker for a\u00a0peanut butter cookie. They\u2019ve got a lot going for them besides the protein that the peanut butter provides (that\u2019s my nutritional pronouncement and I\u2019m sticking to it). They\u2019re dead easy to make and everyone loves them. Well, except people who have peanut allergies. Grill your guests before serving.<\/p>\n

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 1\/2 cup all-purpose flour
\n<\/strong>1\/2 cup butter, unsalted (or substitute margarine)
\n<\/strong>1 cup peanut butter
\n<\/strong>1\/2 cup brown sugar
\n<\/strong>1\/2 cup white sugar
\n<\/strong>1 tsp vanilla extract
\n<\/strong>1 large egg, at room temperature
\n<\/strong>3\/4 tsp baking powder<\/strong><\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 350\u00baF. Sift flour and baking powder together then whisk to combine.<\/p>\n

Cream butter and sugars together.\u00a0Add peanut butter and mix until incorporated. Mix in egg and vanilla extract then add flour mixture and beat until incorporated.<\/p>\n

Roll dough into one-inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten cookies with a fork in a criss-cross pattern.<\/p>\n

Bake cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, depending on whether you like them soft or crispy. Allow cookies to cool completely on the baking sheet, as they need to set before being transferred to a plate \u2013 or your mouth.<\/p>\n

Peanut cookies are\u00a0probably one of the oldest, most basic cookie recipes around, but they\u2019re just so darn good, it\u2019s hard to keep a batch around once you get a whiff of them. Pair them with a glass of milk, and you\u2019ve got perfection right there in front of you.<\/p>\n

My next cookie recipe\u00a0is a bit unusual, and not terribly sweet, but, once you eat a couple of them, you\u2019re addicted. A former colleague gave me the recipe for these\u00a0tahini cookies.<\/p>\n

TAHINI COOKIES<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 cup butter
\n<\/strong>1\/2 cup white sugar
\n<\/strong>1 tsp vanilla extract
\n<\/strong>1\/2 cup tahini
\n<\/strong>1 1\/4 cup all-purpose flour
\n<\/strong>1\/2 tsp baking powder
\n<\/strong>A couple of dashes of cinnamon (optional)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 325\u00baF.\u00a0Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla and tahini and mix until well combined.<\/p>\n

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder, then stir it into the butter mixture.\u00a0Drop tablespoon-size dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten the dough out a bit. If you make them too thick, they tend to taste doughy.<\/p>\n

Bake until they turn golden brown, anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 10 to 15 minutes before removing them to a wire rack or plate.<\/p>\n

The flavour is somehow more sophisticated than, say, a chocolate chip cookie, so they might not appeal to a younger palate. Or they might, who knows.\u00a0The minimal sugar, coupled with the nuttiness of the tahini, produces a seductively addictive cookie. Don\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you.<\/p>\n

My husband recently pointed out that, since the weather has cooled, I\u2019ve started nesting.\u00a0Consequently, we\u2019ve been eating a lot more soups, homemade challah and desserts. Not that he\u2019s complaining. My waistline, on the other hand, is putting up a gallant (but losing) fight. I\u2019m just plain weak-willed when it comes to homemade baked goods. I console myself with the fact that winter hibernation will be that much easier with extra poundage on board. Luckily, my new jeans have Lycra in them.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019ll be busy stuffing my pie-hole with cookies, I\u2019ll be flipping through Netflix looking for the next K-drama series to binge watch. Have I mentioned that I might have a teeny-tiny addiction to K-dramas and K-romances? If you haven\u2019t yet been introduced to Korean TV series on Netflix, do yourself a favour and try some. The acting is superb, the storylines are satisfying, and there is very little sex (unlike American TV and movies), which I find quite refreshing. The romance is chaste and sweet.<\/p>\n

The Israeli student who I tutor English to online via Zoom introduced me to K-dramas, and the rest is history. We talk about them each week and swap suggestions for new series to watch. Not exactly what I thought I\u2019d be talking to my student about, but it seems to work, and she gets to practise her English conversation skills. Win-win.<\/p>\n

Allow me to recommend a few of my favourite K-dramas: Our Blues; Prison Playbook; The Good Bad Mother; Itaewon Class; It\u2019s Okay to not be Okay; Extraordinary Attorney Woo; Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha; D.P.; King the Land; Something in the Rain; Divorce Attorney Chin; Crash Landing on You; One Spring Nigh<\/em>t; and Run On<\/em>. Enjoy your fressing and viewing. You\u2019re welcome.<\/p>\n

Shelley Civkin<\/strong>, aka the Accidental Balabusta, is a happily retired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly book review column for the <\/em>Richmond Review. She\u2019s currently a freelance writer and volunteer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peanut cookies are so good, it\u2019s hard to keep a batch around once you get a whiff of them. (photo by Shelley Civkin) I\u2019m definitely my happiest when it\u2019s blueberry season in Vancouver. You know what I\u2019m talking about \u2013 those huge, sweet, juicy blueberries grown in British Columbia in July and August. I can\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[8729,3797,7889,22675,3456],"class_list":["post-42407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-accidental-balabusta","tag-baking","tag-cookies","tag-muffins","tag-recipes"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}