Homemade Samoas™

My favorite Girl Scout cookie is the Samoa™; I love the blending of coconut and chocolate, I love the rich dark chocolate, I love their shape. However, there are a couple of things I do not love about Samoas™, so when I saw this recipe for homemade Samoas™, I couldn’t wait to try them out.

The preparation was a meditative delight, and it brought me working with dough and melted chocolate. Be ready to get your hands dirty making these. And when they had cooled, and I took my first bite of these homemade treats, I knew I had found a recipe that will forever stay in my lexicon. Although these are vegan cookies, don’t think that you must be a vegan to enjoy these; they are amazing, and the reception I received from my group of taste-testers was overwhelming. They implored me to make another batch as soon as possible. And if you are vegan, then these are a perfect egg and dairy-free cookie to bake and share with vegans and non-vegans alike. The addition of coconut oil, as opposed to any other type of fat, fits in so well with the coconut flavor, and helps to make the cookies even more wholesome.

As a side note: the coconut I used was rather broad, and I did not chop it up into smaller bits. For a more authentic homemade Samoa™, go for the finely shredded variety of coconut (unsweetened!).


Homemade Samoas™
From Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

Yield: About 1 dozen

Ingredients:
2 cups finely grated unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup unrefined coconut oil
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp. ground flaxseeds
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached white flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
For topping:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp. unrefined coconut oil

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large heavy skillet, toast the coconut over medium-low heat. Stir occasionally until coconut is a light golden brown. Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, blend the coconut oil, brown sugar, milk, flaxseeds, and vanilla extract. Add flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix well. Fold in the coconut.
4. Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into a small ball, then flatten and place on the baking sheet. Work a small hole into the center. Repeat until all the dough is used. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Let cookies cool.
5. Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil in a double boiler. Let the mixture cool slightly. Dip cookies bottoms in the chocolate and return to the baking sheet. With a fork or a pastry bag, drizzle the remaining chocolate over the tops of the cookies.
6. Chill the cookies in the refrigerator, or let sit, until chocolate is set.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Season

The first strawberry rhubarb pie of the season is always such a welcome treat. Whether it comes from the bakery, a friend’s oven, or my own kitchen, I look forward to the delicious flavor that these two fruits work together to achieve. The good news is that this pie can really be made year-round, with frozen strawberries and frozen rhubarb. But still, nothing beats fresh fruit in a pie. I like how the filling in this strawberry rhubarb pie is quite straightforward, and everything needed was already on hand in the pantry. Tapioca or arrowroot starches are a substitute for corn starch, so that can be used instead if that is what’s available.

And this pie crust was a definite success: flaky and buttery, but without being too heavy. I’m still working on my pie-making skills, so my lattice tops are not anywhere near perfection; that’s why I like to do a dough crumble to top the pie. But practice would certainly lead to much prettier pies, so maybe with the bounty of summer fruit on its way, I can work a bit harder on my pastry skills. No matter how it looks, though, this sweet and tart pie is absolutely satisfying; I’m already looking forward to making another one.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Adapted from Nourishing Traditions

Yield: 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients:
Flaky Pie Crust-
1 1/3 cups unbleached white flour
Pinch sea salt
Pinch sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, chilled and diced
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
3 Tbsp. cold water
Filling-
2 cups rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
2 cups strawberries, sliced
½ cup whole cane sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. tapioca starch or arrowroot
2 Tbsp. butter

Directions:
Crust-
1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and sugar. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly. Add the egg yolks, then the cold water, and immediately blend together well, preferably with your hands.
2. Turn the dough onto a large sheet of wax paper and form into a ball. Wrap it up, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Pie-
1. Preheat oven to 450º F. Place the rhubarb and strawberries into a large bowl. Add the sugar, cinnamon, tapioca starch and toss together. Let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Remove dough from refrigerator. Butter or grease a 9-inch pie plate. Roll out the dough and press into the pie plate, reserving some for the topping of the pie.
3. Fill the pie crust with the filling, and dot with small pieces of butter. Top with lattice work or dough crumbles.
4. Bake at 450º for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350º and bake another 35-45 minutes, watching it carefully for the last 10 minutes. The crust should be brown, the filling should be bubbling slightly. Let cool, and serve warm or cold.

Buckwheat Scones

It’s always fun to try out a new type of flour, and see how its unique characteristics translate into a baked dish. This was my first time using buckwheat flour, and although a part of me wanted to make buckwheat cookies, I decided to try something that I would be able to eat for breakfast the next morning. That’s not to say that cookies cannot be a breakfast item, but I had a very specific intention in mind with these. Before I get out in the morning to do a day of gardening, I like to have a filling and wholesome breakfast; if I eat too much sugar in the morning, then I end up feeling overfull and slightly off-balance. But these scones, while sweetened with a bit of brown sugar, do not overwhelm. They provided me with a hearty satiation, as opposed to a heavy bloat.

The buckwheat gave the scones an earthy quality, and the slight addition of flaxseeds added to the nuttiness of the flour. And after I did a little research on buckwheat, I found out what a nutritional and fiber-full grain it truly is. Not only is it high in dietary fiber, but also in manganese and magnesium, and it’s been said to help lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure. I think the next step would be to get some buckwheat groats and prepare it as a breakfast cereal. For a quicker morning meal, these scones were filling and delicious, and I could feel the positive energy from the buckwheat helping me through my morning work.

Buckwheat Scones

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached white flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup buckwheat flour
½ tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. ground flaxseeds
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1 egg
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup rice milk
½ cup dates, chopped
Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400º F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, baking powder, and flaxseeds. Cut in the butter and blend until there are course crumbs.
3. In a small bowl, mix the egg, brown sugar, and rice milk. Pour this mixture into the flour mixture, and blend well. Stir in the dates.
4. Turn the dough onto the prepared sheet, and shape into a circle, about ½ inch thick. Cut the dough into 4, 6, or 8 wedges, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, and cool on a wire rack.