I Picked these Orange Basil Cookies with Walnut Creme Frosting from the Garden
Dear Summer,
Although we have had a tumultuous relationship over the years, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you these days. I realized it wasn't your fault that bikinis are forever acceptable and underwear is not or that Florida even exists for that matter. When i was younger, I did not quite realize what the point was. Now I get it.
One of the great things about staying with parents...or let me rephrase...about not living in an apartment complex is being able to experience yards and gardens. If only I had the resources. Like everyone else in the world, all I want from life is a self-sustaining produce garden, a medicinal herb garden for my womanly problems, an animal sanctuary and a couple friends around to help run my little italian cafe. DREAM ON JEN. I wonder what percentage of all of the people who have this big little fantasy life actually achieve such fancies. Probably a pretty depressing statistic.
For now, I'll just try not to kill my basil.
Boston Organics gave me a basil plant in my box before I moved. I kept it in the background of the picture because it is definitely a little sad looking. After months of neglect, I am more than satisfied with it just being alive.
These little guys are destined to be in a cobbler or maybe a fruit soup if I want to get crazy. Maybe in a week or so.
Tomatoes!
But nothing in the garden looks better than this mint. It is seriously viral. Thank you abundant plot of mint for making my breath fresh, my tummy happy, and my bruschetta extra interesting.
Thanks for looking at my cell phone pictures. I shall reward you with a recipe!!
Aa reminded my today that I am incapable of making anything that I don't consider special. I consider this a serious flaw mostly because it means that I haven't even perfected a normal chocolate chip cookie recipe. It just makes me happy to experiment with flavors that I can't buy in a store. The food technology around veganism has progressed far enough to spoil me with every day goodies that flesh eaters and vegetarians get to indulge in whenever they want. Got to keep it interesting! The more food items available to me from grocery stores, bakeries, cafes, etc. the greater the urge inside me to keep ahead of the game. This reveals something sick inside me. But enough of that.
Here are some Orange Basil cookies that I decided to pair with a Walnut Cream frosting. Try it out!
Makes about 12 medium sized cookies
What you'll need:
Food processor and/or a patient chopping hand
Couple of mixing bowls
Microplane or grater
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 t salt
few cracks of black pepper (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup of earth balance, softened
1 Ener-g egg replacer
1/2 cup applesauce
1 t orange extract
2 cups basil (very loosely packed)
2 TB orange juice
For the frosting:
1/2 cup walnuts
boiling water
3 cups confectioners sugar
splash of coconut creamer
1 t orange zest
2 TB barley malt syrup
Chop basil finely in food processor with orange juice. Set aside in a mixing bowl. Then whip together the egg replacer and add the applesauce
Mix egg concoction with the basil
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a separate mixing bowl
Cream the margarine, sugar and orange extract then add the flour gradually. Mix until just combined and dough forms. Let the dough chill in the fridge for a few hours. Apparently doing this ensures a soft cookie, which I prefer.
You can then make the frosting.
Pour boiling water over the walnuts and let soak for like 15 minutes. The idea is to peel all the skin off.
Puree the walnuts with a splash of coconut creamer until it is smooth and creamy.
Sift the confectioners sugar and add to the walnut puree, whisking constantly. Add the orange zest and barley malt syrup, whisk to combine. I like the bold flavor of the barley malt syrup but if you don't have any, totally not a big deal. Chill the frosting for a while as well.
Preheat your oven to 325F. Roll the dough into little balls and arrange on the cookie sheet. Refrigerate until the oven is hot enough. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Let cool on the cookie sheet for a while then transfer to a counter or cutting board for another 15 minutes or so. When cool, you can add a dollop of frosting to each cookie then garnish with a walnut piece and small sprig of basil if you desire.
The cookies came out rather delicate for me which maybe means they needed more butter or something but I'm not sure. Either way, they taste pretty good! I left some unfrosted so that I can pretend that it's acceptable to eat a cookie for breakfast and it not be weird.
Enjoy!!
Love,
Jen
Although we have had a tumultuous relationship over the years, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you these days. I realized it wasn't your fault that bikinis are forever acceptable and underwear is not or that Florida even exists for that matter. When i was younger, I did not quite realize what the point was. Now I get it.
One of the great things about staying with parents...or let me rephrase...about not living in an apartment complex is being able to experience yards and gardens. If only I had the resources. Like everyone else in the world, all I want from life is a self-sustaining produce garden, a medicinal herb garden for my womanly problems, an animal sanctuary and a couple friends around to help run my little italian cafe. DREAM ON JEN. I wonder what percentage of all of the people who have this big little fantasy life actually achieve such fancies. Probably a pretty depressing statistic.
For now, I'll just try not to kill my basil.
Boston Organics gave me a basil plant in my box before I moved. I kept it in the background of the picture because it is definitely a little sad looking. After months of neglect, I am more than satisfied with it just being alive.
These little guys are destined to be in a cobbler or maybe a fruit soup if I want to get crazy. Maybe in a week or so.
Tomatoes!
But nothing in the garden looks better than this mint. It is seriously viral. Thank you abundant plot of mint for making my breath fresh, my tummy happy, and my bruschetta extra interesting.
Thanks for looking at my cell phone pictures. I shall reward you with a recipe!!
Aa reminded my today that I am incapable of making anything that I don't consider special. I consider this a serious flaw mostly because it means that I haven't even perfected a normal chocolate chip cookie recipe. It just makes me happy to experiment with flavors that I can't buy in a store. The food technology around veganism has progressed far enough to spoil me with every day goodies that flesh eaters and vegetarians get to indulge in whenever they want. Got to keep it interesting! The more food items available to me from grocery stores, bakeries, cafes, etc. the greater the urge inside me to keep ahead of the game. This reveals something sick inside me. But enough of that.
Here are some Orange Basil cookies that I decided to pair with a Walnut Cream frosting. Try it out!
Makes about 12 medium sized cookies
What you'll need:
Food processor and/or a patient chopping hand
Couple of mixing bowls
Microplane or grater
Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 t salt
few cracks of black pepper (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup of earth balance, softened
1 Ener-g egg replacer
1/2 cup applesauce
1 t orange extract
2 cups basil (very loosely packed)
2 TB orange juice
For the frosting:
1/2 cup walnuts
boiling water
3 cups confectioners sugar
splash of coconut creamer
1 t orange zest
2 TB barley malt syrup
Chop basil finely in food processor with orange juice. Set aside in a mixing bowl. Then whip together the egg replacer and add the applesauce
Mix egg concoction with the basil
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a separate mixing bowl
Cream the margarine, sugar and orange extract then add the flour gradually. Mix until just combined and dough forms. Let the dough chill in the fridge for a few hours. Apparently doing this ensures a soft cookie, which I prefer.
You can then make the frosting.
Pour boiling water over the walnuts and let soak for like 15 minutes. The idea is to peel all the skin off.
Puree the walnuts with a splash of coconut creamer until it is smooth and creamy.
Sift the confectioners sugar and add to the walnut puree, whisking constantly. Add the orange zest and barley malt syrup, whisk to combine. I like the bold flavor of the barley malt syrup but if you don't have any, totally not a big deal. Chill the frosting for a while as well.
Preheat your oven to 325F. Roll the dough into little balls and arrange on the cookie sheet. Refrigerate until the oven is hot enough. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Let cool on the cookie sheet for a while then transfer to a counter or cutting board for another 15 minutes or so. When cool, you can add a dollop of frosting to each cookie then garnish with a walnut piece and small sprig of basil if you desire.
The cookies came out rather delicate for me which maybe means they needed more butter or something but I'm not sure. Either way, they taste pretty good! I left some unfrosted so that I can pretend that it's acceptable to eat a cookie for breakfast and it not be weird.
Enjoy!!
Love,
Jen
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