Chocolate Tangerine Waffles

Most weekends, Kristin and I make ourselves something interesting for breakfast on one morning or the other.  We alternate between pancakes, waffles, and French toast, and often try to improvise new ways to add to or alter the basic recipes and keep things interesting.  This recipe was one such attempt - we had some incredibly juicy tangerines sitting around, so we decided to see what we could do with them, and the results were pretty tasty!

You don't need much for these waffles: Bisquick mix, some tangerines to juice (or just some orange juice), a bit of vegetable oil, some baking cocoa, and an egg.  You may also want a bit of brown sugar to sweeten things up.

Start by juicing the tangerines.  Make sure to spill plenty of juice all over the counter.

Throw everything else together in a large mixing bowl, then add the juice.  Make sure not to let any seeds sneak in there!

Action shot!  Give the batter a thorough mixing - but don't worry too much if it stays a touch lumpy.  

There are lots of waffle makers out there in the world, so check the manual (you saved that, right?) for yours to see how much batter it wants per waffle.  Ours uses a half cup each.  Whatever yours takes, add that much and let it cook.

When your waffle is just a little crispy, pull it on out.  Repeat the process until you're out of batter.

Serve up the finished waffles with your favorite syrup and a side of OJ.

Recipe: Chocolate Tangerine Waffles
Prep Time: 5 Minutes | Cook Time: 10 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 8-10 Waffles

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bisquick mix
• 1 2/3 cups Tangerine Juice (juice of 4-5 tangerines)
• 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup Baking Cocoa
• Optional: 1/4 cup Brown Sugar

Instructions

1. Squeeze juice from tangerines over a sieve or strainer to catch seeds.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Mix well.  Batter may be slightly lumpy.
3. Add batter to heated waffle iron according to instruction manual.  Close iron and cook until slightly crispy.
4. Serve hot with syrup and orange juice.

Chocolate-Chip Zucchini Muffins

Today's blog post takes place in a new and different kitchen.  The past 3 weeks, Kristin has been up in her family's cabin in Vermont.  I was here with only the cat and plenty of end-of-term work for solace for the first two of those weeks, but then got to drive up to join her for a week.  While we were there, we made these fantastic muffins.

These muffins were a favorite breakfast item when I was a kid.  Kristin was a bit skeptical the first time I mentioned them, but now she specifically asks for them.  They're quick and easy, and not even all that terrible for you, since you get some vegetable matter in there.  At least, that's what I like to tell myself.

Kristin and I generally make these together - it's quite quick that way, since one person can grate zucchini while the other mixes, prepares the muffin tin/cups, et-cetera.  I highly recommend it.  

Astute readers should keep an eye out for a surprise in the photos.

Here's what you'll need!  All-purpose flour, white sugar, baking soda, salt, one egg, zucchini (a cup worth, though extra is fine), vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice, cooking oil, milk (not pictured - oops!) and chocolate chips.  The recipe is pretty forgiving as zucchini goes - I've used both not-quite-ripe and quite-overripe and had fine results.

Also, if you're a crazy person who hates happiness, I guess you could leave out the chocolate chips.  But you don't hate happiness, do you?  I thought not.

It's the most exciting step of any baking process, with the most exciting photo to match - mixing together white powders!  Specifically, you'll start by mixing together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

So hey, we got one brown powder in there - not that you can really tell once it's all mixed.

In another bowl, combine your lightly beaten egg with the milk, oil, lemon juice, and vanilla.

If you've been putting it off, now is the time to grate the zucchini.  It's not the most fun process, but you only need a cup.  A small zucchini is often good for 1-1.5 cups of shredded zucchini.  The recipe happily tolerates up to about 1.5 cups, so if that's what you have, don't let it go to waste.  If you got a giant zucchini like we did this time around, it's a good time to think about making a double batch.

Did you notice the surprise?  Go look again.

Yep, Kristin is wearing a shiny new ring.  A shiny new ring that I gave her, no less.  We're engaged!

Amazingly enough, she was excited enough to show off the ring that she volunteered to grate the zucchini, provided I took a ring-featuring picture.  Clearly, this is a win-win scenario.

We ended up with a little over two cups of shredded zucchini, so we made a second batch of muffins later in the week.  I highly recommend this strategy.

Now that your zucchini is ready, we'll bring together all of the elements of the batter.  First, empty the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir until they're just barely mixed.  We'll do plenty more mixing to catch any reluctant bits.

Now add the zucchini, and mix it through.

Finally, fold in the chocolate chips.  Don't overdo it on these.  Any more than 1/2 cup per batch and everything ends up all wonky.

Action shot!  Fill ungreased muffin cups about 1/2 full.  Kristin favors the double-spoon method - I, on the other hand, am awful at this method and would just end up making a mess.  If you're talented like she and don't spill all the batter, you should get about 18 small muffins per batch.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350.  They'll probably need another 5 minutes or so after that, but be sure to check after 20.

One of the best things about these muffins is that they smell fantastic after only a couple of minutes in the oven.  they'll only smell better and better as time goes on.  When they're just starting to color on top, pull them out and let them cool plenty before digging in.

Be ready to need another batch very soon.  These things are good.

Girlfriend tested - fiancee approved!

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 18 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour 
• 3/4 cup Sugar 
• 1 tsp Baking Soda 
• 1 tsp Cinnamon 
• 1/2 tsp Salt 
• 1 egg, beaten 
• 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil 
• 1/4 cup Milk 
• 1 tbsp Lemon Juice 
• 1-1.5 cups Zucchini, shredded 
• 1/2 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tin(s) with ungreased muffin cups.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In a second bowl, combine beaten egg, oil, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla.

Grate zucchini into a small bowl.

Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir a few times.

Add zucchini and chocolate chips and mix until distributed.

Spoon batter into muffin cups 1/2 to 2/3 full, then bake 20-30 minutes until muffin tops have just begun to change color.

Cool 10-15 minutes before serving.

Bribe Cookies

It's coming down to the end of summer term at BGSU.  I'm teaching an Introduction to Philosophy course that's got a funny structure - it's only 6 weeks long, twice per week, which means we get very few class sessions, and each session is really, really long.  I'm talking over 3 hours long.  This makes for some tired students, not to mention a tired instructor.  I like to have my students do a lot of writing, and that's usually not an issue, but in only 6 weeks, that means the students have had a paper due every other week.  They're getting a little weary.

I gave my students a shortened class one session this week, and had them bring in their papers to work on together.  This gave them a chance to do a little breathing and guaranteed that these papers wouldn't all be forgotten til the last minute.  So, they were already content with getting a little break.  But I like to earn some extra brownie points.  How better than to do so with cookies?

These are good cookies.  I mean, really good.  The brown sugar gives the cookie itself an almost caramel flavor, and the chocolate really pops.  Many students grabbed a cookie, took a bite, and grumbled something like "Theesh are good!" through a very full mouth.  They were pleased.  You will be too.

Our ingredients are more or less standard fare.  We'll just mostly brown sugar, though just a touch of white sugar keeps things from getting too dark.  All purpose flour, baking soda, salt, eggs, butter (unsalted, please!), vanilla, and - of course - chocolate chips round out the mix.

First things first.  Pre-heat the oven to 325 and find yourself a couple of big baking sheets.  Don't even think about greasing them.  Doing so will guarantee you that the bottom of your cookies are tragically burnt.  Instead, parchment paper those baking sheets and we'll call it good.

Melt some butter.  Be careful to do this on low power if you're using a microwave.  2 minutes of half power works great for me.

Mix together all of those powdery, dry, white ingredients.  That's the flour, salt, and baking soda.  Set this bowl aside.

In a nice large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar.  Really pack the brown sugar into the cup, otherwise you'll end up with too little.  And you get this fun ice-cream scoop effect when you add it to the bowl.  Mix those together, but don't worry if it's not particularly smooth.  Another mixing step is coming up immediately after this.

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.  The mixture won't be completely smooth, but it should be pretty close.  Make sure you don't have any stubborn brown sugar clumps.

Now for the dry stuff.  Add the dry bowl into the wet and mix.  I often start this process with an implement like a spoon or a spatula, but end up just finding that frustrating.  Be brave and mix with your hands.  It'll give you a good excuse to eat a little dough off of your fingers.

Now the really fun part - chocolate chips!  Two cups will seem like egregiously too much, but I promise it's not.  These cookies are perfectly tasty with standard semisweet milk chocolate, but you can also go ahead and get creative.  A cup of semisweet and a cup of white is good, as is sneaking in some peanut-butter or butterscotch chips.

Again, mix these in with your hands until the chips are well-distributed.  Sneak a bite or two to confirm that it's delicious (Hint: it will be).

Now it's time to drop some cookies.  You're aiming for roughly ball-shaped cookies between an inch and an inch and a half in diameter.  An ice cream scoop works well for this, or you can just stick to the hands.

Bake em.  These cookies are a little fickle when it comes to baking behavior - sometimes they're done done done after 14 minutes, sometimes they'll look disturbingly raw after 17.  So check after 13 or 14 minutes, but absolutely don't let them go more than 17 minutes at 325.  Even if the middles look entirely too squishy, I promise it will be okay.  Overcooking these just ruins the texture, as they firm up considerably as they cool.

So long as you've baked them so that they're not completely crisp, let them cool on the baking sheets and your cookies will reach a perfect crisp outside with a chewy, smooth center.

They may not be the prettiest things in the world, but they are mighty yummy.  Sometimes they spread more than others, and each cookie will be a little differently shaped.  But come on, are you baking to win beauty contests, or because you want to stuff your face with cookies?  Yeah, I thought so.

If you're watching your diet, I recommend sharing these with others, as they'll then disappear quickly and you won't be able to eat a dozen of them in an evening all by yourself.  Or, if that's your thing...well, okay.  However you do it, enjoy.

Recipe: Bribe Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes   |   Cook Time: 14-17 minutes  |   Difficulty: Easy   |   Servings: 18-24

Ingredients

• 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 cup White sugar
• 1 cup Brown Sugar, packed
• 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Line cookies sheets with parchment paper.  Do not grease.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar and mix well.  Add vanilla and eggs and beat until smooth.

Add medium bowl into large bowl and mix.  Add chocolate chips and mix by hand.

Drop cookies onto parchment-paper covered cookie sheets in inch balls roughly 2-3 inches apart.

Bake 14-17 minutes.  Edges should be set, though cookie centers will likely be soft.  Do not overcook.

Cool on baking sheets.