shaker chicken noodle soup

the summer i left for my second year of college, my mom photo copied a few recipes for me. after all, i was out of the dorms and into my own apartment. there was homemade macaroni and cheese (perfected by my mom and her brother), my all time favorite mushroom bisque, a few cookie recipes from her betty crocker, held together by a rubber band, and this soup. all in all i have made this soup at least ten times - at least once every winter since.

if it were up to jason, this soup would definitely get more play in the rotation. the first winter we spent together i made this for the two of us. and as soon as the weather starts to get cool and the forecast first predicts snow, he's asking for the soup. as soon as we have leftover chicken, it's ours.

shaker chicken noodle soup
adapted from a photo copied recipe from my mother, with no clue where it came from! (although i did find a similar recipe on TLC's website)
1 hour, serves 8+

i've made this soup with extra wide, wide, and medium noddles and the wides are my favorite. the extra wides seem a bit too much, and are a bit unwieldy on your spoon. the mediums are too thin for us.

note that the egg noodles are cooked in the broth for only half the time indicated on the package. this is important. if the noodles are cooked completely in the broth, they will be mushy and overcooked by the time the soup is actually done and you're ready to eat. and the leftovers will be a total mess of mushy noodles.

the original recipe for this soup uses 3/4 cups all purpose flour, same as the TLC recipe uses, instead of the half a cup i have used. i have made this soup many times with many different amounts of flour and find that 3/4 of a cup is too much - the soup gets too thick - and anything under 1/2 cup is too thin. feel free to play with the flour based on your own preference.

13 cups chicken stock, divided
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
12 ounces dry egg noodles
2 cups cooked diced chicken
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup all purpose flour

1. in a small saucepan, combine 1 cup stock, vermouth, and butter. bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to about a quarter cup, about 20 minutes. the mixture will darken and be thick and syrupy. remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream. set aside.
2. coat the bottom of a stock pot with olive oil and set over medium heat. saute the celery and carrot until softened, about five minutes. add the remaining 12 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil.
3. add the egg noodles and cook for half of the time recommended on the package.
4. when the noodles are done, stir in the chicken until heated through and bring back to a boil.
5. whisk the water and flour until no lumps remain. add a ladle of hot broth to the mixture and whisk to combine. 
6. while continuously stirring the soup, add the flour and water mixture. cook, stirring continuously for about 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened. do not let the soup boil. 
7. stir in the reserved reduced stock, vermouth, butter, and cream mixture. taste and season with salt and pepper. serve immediately and do not let the soup boil. leftovers reheat perfectly.

Thanksgiving Plans

I definitely seem to be in a dry spell when it comes to cooking! We have a decent amount of food in the freezer and pantry so we've just been using up a lot of that. Come Thanksgiving though I will be doing a bit of cooking. We are going over to some friends' house just like we did last year and it is bound to be fun! Here is what I will be making and where the recipes are from in case anyone wants to try them:

-deviled eggs (don't really have a recipe for this! I will write down what I do when I make them)
-pepper jelly over cream cheese, served with crackers (appetizer- better than it sounds!)
-cranberry sauce (the recipe on the back of the bag of cranberries)
-salad (this Apple Harvest Salad, my mom made it recently and said it was great)
-rolls (a slightly altered version of these from Southern Plate)
-macaroni and cheese (altered version of this one, which is the BEST mac and cheese and the recipe behind my blog's name!)
-fudge (altered version from the back of the marshmallow fluff jar)

Our friends will be making the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and dessert. Then the day after T-Day my husband and I will have our own little Thanksgiving! I will be making a batch of mashed potatoes (recipe coming) and sweet potato casserole, so we'll have those in addition to whatever leftovers we bring home. Usually I would cook a turkey and make gravy too but we want to cut back on the amount of meat we use and decided against the turkey.

I know my blog doesn't have many readers, but for whoever does read this (hi Angela!), what are you making?

thomas keller's chocolate chip cookies

i'm about six months early on my chocolate chip cookie craving. but lately, with all this talk of turkey and pumpkins and everything else leading to turkey day, my mind has been on one single thing: a perfectly crunchy, chewy chocolate chip cookie.

and since i've yet to ever make the same chocolate chip cookie twice, i scrolled through my google reader, realized i have twenty-two (yes, almost two dozen) different chocolate chip cookie recipes bookmarked. i was debating between a couple when i realized - wait! - doesn't thomas keller have a recipe in ad hoc at home? yes, he certainly does.

so while jason and i cooked dinner together, i whipped up a batch of these cookies. one big difference - and huge advantage when you're a last minute chocolate chip cookie baker like me - from alton brown's and cook's illustrated's cookies and these is the time. alton needs at least two hours to chill and cook's wants all that whisking & waiting, whisking & waiting. sometimes i just want to eat a cookie. now. in about thirty minutes these cookies were mine!

these cookies have a nice crunchy edge and super chewy middle. but what sets them apart from others is the teaspoon of kosher salt. the salt is perfect, not too salty, but just enough to offset all the sweetness. these are my new "i need a cookie now!" cookie.

thomas keller's chocolate chip cookies

adapted from ad hoc at home

30 minutes, makes about 24 three inch cookies

the original recipe calls for 5 ounces each of 55% and 70-72% chocolate. since i made these on the fly and don't normally have chocolate that dark in my pantry, i substituted with hershey's special dark chocolate and semi sweet chips. while i'm sure thomas keller would disagree, feel free to use whatever you have on hand.

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

5 ounces (1 1/4 cups) dark chocolate

5 ounces (1 1/4 cups) semi sweet chocolate

1. preheat your oven to 350F. line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. whip half of the butter on medium speed until smooth. add the remaining butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. add the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each egg. 
4. with the mixer on low, mix in the kosher salt, baking soda, and flour.
5. use a spoon to fold in the chocolate.
6. use about two tablespoons of dough per cookie and form into balls. place balls at least two inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet (cookies will spread). bake about 12 minutes. let cool on the sheet pan a few minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack completely. 
7. store in an airtight container.

Cincinnati Chili

Well, look at that, another recipe without pictures! I kind of meant to take pictures of all the recipes I post, but let's face it. The vast majority of my food photos are not particularly appetizing and I don't like always dragging out the camera just to photograph a plate. So I'll just post pictures if I think it's worth it.

Last weekend we went to a potluck of sorts. Everyone brought/made some kind of pasta dish and we made homemade pasta (I now have about 2 1/2 pounds of homemade fettuccine in my freezer, yes!). Our contribution was Cincinnati Chili. It's supposed to be served over spaghetti so it did fit the theme of the evening even though everyone else brought Italian sauces. Also I've wanted to try Cincinnati Chili for years because it sounds so intriguing. As a cinnamon freak, the cinnamon and other spices piqued my interest, and anything served over pasta with shredded cheese on top is worth trying! After looking into it more, I learned that Cincinnati Chili was created by Macedonian and Greek immigrants. My favorite cuisine is Greek/Lebanese/etc so it's not too surprising that a Greek spin on chili would be appealing! And I was definitely not disappointed. The Cincinnati Chili turned out amazing! The flavor was great, a little different, still recognizable as chili. The flavor was very rich and deep and just generally yummy. My husband was a tad uncertain the first night but he happily ate leftovers with me for a couple of nights after that.

This is the base recipe that I used. Now I realize that hard core Cincinnati Chili fans would probably be highly offended because I used ground turkey and beans in my chili (you're supposed to use ground beef and then top it with kidney beans at the end), but that's how we like chili and I see no reason not to make recipes in ways that will appeal to us the most. Feel free to make the recipe as described though with 2 pounds of ground beef instead. Another thing to note is that I read it's more authentic if you boil the meat instead of browning it in a skillet. Boiling it results in much smaller pieces of meat. To do this, fill a large pot with cold water, add the ground meat and break it up thoroughly with your hands, then boil it until cooked through. Drain and proceed with the recipe.

Cincinnati Chili

1.25 lb ground turkey
2 16 oz cans pinto beans, drained
2 1/2 C beef broth
16 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 C chili powder
1 1/2 t onion powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground allspice
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t cayenne pepper
2 T cider vinegar
1/4 C chocolate chips
Brown ground turkey in a skillet. Alternatively, you can cook the meat by placing it in a large pot of cold water and using your hands to thoroughly break it up, then boil until cooked through. Place in a 4 quart slow cooker with remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 5-8 hours (the amount of time isn't all that important). Stir in chocolate shortly before serving. Serve over spaghetti topped as desired with shredded cheddar and diced onions.
Yield: about 8 servings

chicken & baked risotto with melted tomatoes

while i can't boil a pot of white rice to save my life, i can whip together a risotto in no time. and since i haven't had much trouble with risotto, the time commitment can be a pain in the you-know-what sometimes, with all the stirring and babysitting. so when i saw this recipe for baked risotto - completely hands off - i made it the very next day.

while the texture isn't the same as traditional risotto cooked on the stove, if you're looking for an easy rice side dish or risotto that will sit underneath chicken or other roasted meat covered in sauce, this is it.

chicken & baked risotto with melted tomatoes
adapted from baked bree
40 minutes, serves 4

want to short cut this even more? use leftover chicken! skip step two and simply toss the diced chicken with the tomato sauce to heat through before serving.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup arborio rice
1 small onion, diced
3 cups chicken broth, divided
2 large chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
fresh grated parmesan for serving

1. preheat your oven to 400F. pour the melted butter in the bottom of a 9x13 (or equivalent) casserole dish. add the arborio rice and onion and season with salt and pepper. pour 2 1/2 cups of the chicken stock over the rice, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes.
2. while the rice bakes, cook the chicken. pound the chicken breasts relatively thin. coat the bottom of a saute pan with olive oil and place over medium heat. season the chicken with salt and pepper and saute until cooked through. remove the chicken.
3. turn the heat down to medium low, add the garlic, and cooked until fragrant, about 30 seconds. add the remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock. the mixture should be simmering. if it isn't, turn up the heat a bit. once simmering, add the grape tomatoes and saute until they soften.
4. dice the chicken and toss with the tomatoes.
5. when the risotto is done, fluff with a fork and serve.
6. serve the chicken and tomatoes over the baked risotto and top with fresh parmesan.

apple cider glazed chicken

there's been a heck of a lot of sweet treats around here lately, and not a single bite of apple goodness. which is surprising, since a couple weeks ago we made our annual trip to the orchard where we picked a mere thirty three pounds of apples and picked up a gallon of fresh pressed cider. apple pie was made the next day, followed by one of my fall favorites: apple chicken chili.

i love love love the combination of apples and chicken together, so as soon as i saw this recipe in cooking light, it was ripped out and stuck to the refrigerator, patiently waiting for cider. and man, was it worth the wait. not only is it a mere five ingredients, all of which i had in my pantry, but it comes together in way under thirty minutes and tastes amazing. cooking light suggests serving the chicken over brown rice, but our leftover mashed potatoes served us just as well.

apple cider glazed chicken
adapted from cooking light
20 minutes, serves 4

1 teaspoon unsalted butter
4 chicken breasts or chicken breast cutlets
1/2 cup fresh apple cider
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
mashed potatoes or rice for serving (i used leftover mashed potatoes from two nights before)

1. prepare your mashed potatoes or rice.
2. melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. if you're using chicken breasts, pound them thin. season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. add chicken to the pan and cook about three minutes per side, until done. remove chicken from the pan and set aside.
3. add cider and mustard to the pan and scrape up the brown bits to loosen them. cook a couple minutes until slightly thickened and syrupy.
4. add chicken back to the pan and flip to coat with sauce. sprinkle with parsley and serve over potatoes or rice. top with extra pan sauce.

baked's german chocolate cake

for the last almost five years, it's been my own mission to make an amazing german chocolate cake. i've only had it a few times in my life, and really only one that's worth remembering. almost five years ago, on my birthday, i cut myself a big piece of homemade german chocolate cake - made by my grandmother's best lifelong friend - and was sitting in my grandparents dining room eating it. after a couple bites, dad told me german chocolate cake was my grandma's favorite. how fitting that afternoon - of my birthday and her funeral - was the day i realized how much my grandma and i actually have in common. 

it's taken me almost five years to get up the courage both to make it and to eat it. and this cake was definitely worth it. the cake and the filling sound a bit complicated, but couldn't be easier to throw together. and while this cake is pretty damn good, nothing can beat my twenty fifth birthday cake.

baked's german chocolate cake
adapted from baked: new frontiers in baking
2 hours start to finish, makes a three layer 8" cake

for the cake:
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
5 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee
1 cup buttermilk
4 ounces melted dark chocolate

for the filling:
1 1/3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
1 1/3 cups chopped pecans, toasted or untoasted
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg yolks

1. make the cakes. preheat your oven to 350F. grease three 8 inch round cake pans, line the bottom with parchment paper, and grease the parchment paper. set aside.
2. using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. while the butter and sugar are beating, combine the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) in a separate bowl and set aside.
3. when the butter and sugar are creamed, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides as needed. add the vanilla extract and about a third of the dry ingredients. mix well. alternate additions of the coffee and buttermilk and the dry ingredients until they are all added. mix in the melted chocolate.
4. divide the batter evenly among the three pans. bake about thirty minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. let the cakes cool in the pan about 20 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. cool completely and remove the parchment paper from the bottoms before filling.
5. while the cakes are cooling, make the filling. line a baking sheet with parchment paper. and heat your oven to 300F spread about half of the coconut on the baking sheet. if your pecans aren't already toasted, spread those on the baking sheet as well. bake about five minutes, or until the coconut just starts to brown. 
6. in a medium saucepan, whisk the sugar, butter, evaporated milk, vanilla, and egg yolks over medium low heat until the mixture begins to boil and thickens. be careful not to cook the mixture too long or the yolks will turn to scrambled eggs. mix in the coconut and pecans. to cool the mixture quickly, place the pan in an ice bath and stir continuously until cool; otherwise let the mixture cool in the pan. 
7. to assemble the cake, place one cake layer on your serving tray. if it isn't flat, slice off the top to flatten the cake. spoon about one third of the filling onto the layer and spread to the edges. continue with the other two cake layers. serve with a tall glass of milk.

check out more sweet treats at sweet tooth friday!

Garlic Roasted Broccoli

Tonight we went over to some friends' house for dinner and games. My friend made pasta dough and ravioli filling and we worked together to make ravioli while her boyfriend made a tomato sauce. My husband and I brought garlic bread and this broccoli and baked both in their oven. I'd never roasted broccoli before but it turned out very well! I was even snatching pieces of it when it was raw. It is definitely something we will make again. If you like broccoli and garlic you're bound to like this! Even with the amazing ravioli and garlic bread, the four of us polished off the entire pan (the broccoli shrinks some as it cooks). Sorry no picture, I didn't bring my camera.

Garlic Roasted Broccoli

2 T olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 350 and line a 9 by 13 pan with foil. In a gallon Ziploc bag, combine oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add broccoli, seal bag, and toss around until broccoli is evenly coated. Arrange in baking dish and bake until lightly browned and crisp tender, 15 to 20 minutes depending on the size of your florets and how cooked you want them. Serve the broccoli with lemon wedges so everyone can squeeze on as much as they like.

Yield: 4-6 servings

pumpkin sheet cake with brown sugar cream cheese frosting

this year, just as years past, mom hosted her halloween soiree. while this year's wasn't as big, scary, or as theme based as years past, it was fun none the same. and even though i didn't intend to - i started my own theme with pumpkin cakes. last year it was this iced pumpkin chocolate spiced bundt and this year - i swapped the bundt pan and the chocolate for brown sugar and cream cheese. best decision i ever made.

and while we were all too busy munching on popcorn (like snoopy in a charlie brown thanksgiving), crunch bars, and chocolate spiderweb cupcakes, everyone took some home. and the email requests for the recipe started the very next day.

pumpkin sheet cake with brown sugar cream cheese frosting
cake adapted from kitchen simplicity, frosting adapted from martha stewart's cupcakes
30 minutes (plus cooling time), makes one 9x13" cake

for the cake:
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups pumpkin puree

for the frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. preheat your oven to 350F. grease a 9x13" pan & set aside.
2. in a large bowl, whisk the oil, sugar, and eggs until smooth. whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until smooth. whisk in the pumpkin puree until smooth.
3. pour the cake batter into your greased pan. bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. while the cake bakes, make the frosting. beat the butter and cream cheese until combined. add the brown sugar and mix completely. taste the frosting & add powdered sugar, about 1/4 cup at a time, if you'd like the frosting sweeter.
5. wait for the cake to cool completely before frosting. store frosted cake in the refrigerator.

Dessert Pears

When I was growing up, my dad was in the military and we moved from state to state pretty frequently. In all I went to 4 elementary schools because of the moves. My favorite for a number of reasons was a great school in Grapevine, Texas. A small part of why I liked the school so much MIGHT have been the school lunches! Most school lunch food is woefully bad but the food at that school was quite good. I'm pretty sure most of the food was made from scratch and the head cook (who was a very nice lady) put a lot of love into what was served. I remember they frequently made rolls from scratch and the entire building would smell like baking bread. On those days, kids that brought their lunch from home would trade away their food for the school rolls! As a picky kid who purchased lunch every day I very rarely disliked what was being served. If I didn't like what we were having, there was always the option of buying a baked potato or a huge salad instead.

These pears are one of the things that was served a couple of times a month. The lunch ladies even served the pears on lettuce leaves so they looked pretty! If you haven't had pears with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips, you should definitely try it. The combination of flavors and textures is very good and is actually the only way my husband will eat pears because usually he hates the texture. You can use peaches instead if you want and pineapple is nice too.


Dessert Pears

canned pear halves
sweetened whipped cream
mini chocolate chips

Place pear halves in bowls. Top each with a little whipped cream, then sprinkle on the mini chocolate chips!

Lentils and Rice

This is a VERY versatile recipe! It tastes great on its own but you can also use it as a taco filling or even use it to make taco salad. The recipe makes a decent amount too so it's nice to have more than one way to enjoy the leftovers. From what I understand, this dish is popular in the Middle East made without the spices and cooked on the stove instead of in a slow cooker. I added the spices the first time I made it a few years ago because to us it needed a little something extra. It may be because of the kind of lentils I use. The store only has generic brown lentils and I think red and green lentils are more commonly used in food from the Middle East. I've had both red and green lentils before and they are indeed better in flavor and texture, but I have to work with what's available!

Sorry about the lack of a photo. You can click the link above if you want to see what it looks like!

Lentils and Rice

1 1/2 C dry lentils, looked over for debris

6 1/2 C water

3 t ground coriander

2 t ground cumin

1 t garlic powder (2 cloves minced garlic)

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1 1/2 C uncooked rice
1 1/2 t salt

oil

2 large onions, sliced thinly

plain yogurt or sour cream

Combine lentils, water, spices, and garlic in a 4 quart crock. Cook on high until lentils are tender, 2-4 hours (depends on your crock pot). Stir in the rice and salt, cover again, and let cook until rice is tender, 30 minutes to an hour. I suggest checking after 30 minutes and if it's still crunchy re-cover and don't lift the lid again for another 30 minutes.

When the lentils and rice are done, saute the onions in a small amount of oil over medium heat until they're browned, stirring frequently. This will take about 10 minutes. Top the lentils and rice with plain yogurt and the cooked onions.

Yield: 8 servings

Veggie Fajitas

Sorry about the lack of recipes over the past week! We had leftovers a few nights and one night I made a soup that needs to be tweaked more before I share the recipe. I also made a recipe that never got photographed! In a few moments I will post it anyway because it's good even if you can't see what it looks like. Then tonight I made these veggie fajitas. We love them! The fajitas themselves are great and I think meat lovers would appreciate them too. I've always liked fajitas and haven't ordered them from a restaurant since I made up this "recipe" because it's so easy to make and we think they taste as good as restaurant fajitas, which are always inexplicably expensive.

I know the recipe sounds plain because it's just sauteed veggies with salt and pepper, but they're really good. In the past I've tried adding spices and stuff to fajitas but they always ended up tasting like tacos that way! You can add a lot of additional flavor with condiments, and my favorite is chimichurri. From what I've read, it's Argentinean and usually made as a marinade for meat, but it's fantastic on fajitas too :) The chimichurri recipe is the result of my experimentation so I can't really say whether or not it's authentic. No picture of it unfortunately because we had salsa in the fridge to use up instead but chimichurri is great and VERY green :D

Note: You could add shrimp or a little bit of steak or chicken cut in strips if you want. If you do shrimp or steak you could probably toss it in with the squash. Chicken would be best cooked first and then removed from the skillet and added again at the end because of course you want to make sure it gets cooked through completely.
Chimichurri
1 bunch cilantro, stems torn off and discarded
4 T olive oil
3 T white wine vinegar
2 T lime juice
1/4 t salt
1/8 t cayenne pepper

Place everything in the bowl of a food processor or blend and puree until well combined. Serve over fajitas.


Veggie Fajitas

3 T olive oil
1 onion, halved then sliced into 1/3 inch half rings
1 bell pepper, seeded and sliced into 1/2 inch strips
1/2 lb mushrooms, quartered
1 zucchini or summer squash, cut into 1/2 inch half moons
about 15 tiny grape tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
small flour tortillas

Potential Condiments:
sour cream
shredded cheddar
chimichurri or salsa
guacamole (roughly mash an avocado with a little salt and lemon or lime juice)

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and bell peppers and cook about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until veggies have nice saute marks and start to soften. Add mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes more, then add squash and cook about 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute another minute, then add tomatoes. Cook them just long enough to heat through and blister the skin. You don't want them to break up. Season veggies with salt and pepper. Place skillet on the middle of the table with flour tortillas and condiments on the side so everyone can put whatever they want on their fajitas.

Yield: About 8 fajitas

secret recipe club: gingerbread muffins

my husband and i did not take what i would call a 'traditional' honeymoon. we spent a week in prague, where it snowed each and every day in october, and spent a second week roaming around germany and austria. while we were too early for all the christmas and holiday festivals and markets, the market in nuremburg germany was full of lebkuchen. not too sweet, perfectly spicy, some dipped in chocolate, some decorated with whole almonds, we feasted on lebkuchen for days. while germany's gingerbread is distinctly different from what i consider traditional american gingerbread - ours rolled thin, cut with cookie cutters, and decorated and their drop cookies, chewy and soft - i couldn't get enough. while i was always a sucker for good spicy gingerbread before, that trip - and those cookies - sealed the deal for me. now every time i so much as get a whiff of gingerbread, i'm transplanted back to that market, sitting on the edge of a statue, sharing a cookie and hot chocolate with jason. it's funny what food does to our memories.

so this month, when selecting my secret recipe club recipe, i had a cold, hard stop when i came upon camilla's recipe for gingerbread muffins at culinary adventures with camilla.

while camilla made her gingerbread muffins days after thanksgiving, in the heat of the holidays, i made mine to kick off fall, when thoughts of thanksgiving first begin to hang in the air. i didn't change her recipe much. i added the baking powder she suggested, since i like my muffins light and fluffy over dense and pudding-like. i also added a thin, simple glaze. i should have realized how unsweet these muffins would be - not that i'm complaining about the flavor. those of you who like things on the less sweet side will love these muffins. but for me, i needed a bit more sweetness. and instead of adding it to the batter, i simply covered the baked muffins in sugar. these are definitely in my fall rotation.

for more information on the secret recipe club, including the list of participating bloggers, featured recipes from members, and instructions on how to join, visit the all new secret recipe club website!

check out my previous src posts below
double chocolate peanut butter chip oatmeal cookies
butterscotch peach cakewhole wheat honey pancakesminted pineapple lime agua frescabreakfast tacos
simple almond sandwich cookies
roasted banana rum cake

gingerbread muffins
adapted from culinary adventures with camilla
45 minutes, makes 18 regular sized muffins 

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg
1 cup unsulfured molasses
1 cup hot water
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1. preheat your oven to 375F. line 18 standard muffin cups with cupcake papers.
2. cream the butter and sugar. add the salt and spices and mix well.
3. add the egg, molasses, and water and mix until blended. the dough will be very runny.
4. add the all purpose flour and mix until blended. add the whole wheat flour and baking powder and mix until blended.
5. fill each muffin cup about three quarters full. bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. cool in the pan for a couple minutes, remove from the pan, and finish cooling on a wire rack.
7. if you want to glaze your muffins, wait until completely cool. mix powdered sugar and water until it's the right consistency - not too thick, not too thin. dip the tops of the muffins in the glaze or drizzle the glaze over the muffins.