i’ve been holding onto this recipe for a while now.   we made it over the holidays when we were back east at my boyfriend’s house.  i just haven’t found the time in my busy work and school schedule to share it with you all since i’ve been back.  but it is quite a treat!

i had never had kugel before, a traditional jewish dish, but it was one of the things that my boyfriend requested specifically upon returning home.  it is one of those dishes that just tastes like childhood and puts a big smile across your belly at first bite.  his mom showed me how to make his grammy’s original recipe, so thanks to her for sharing this family recipe, showing me step by step, and waiting patiently while i snapped copious photos.  luckily her version isn’t too sweet, compared to other recipes i’ve seen which use 2-3 times as much sugar.  i would describe it as a baked noodle pudding that is very creamy, slightly tart and sweet, and pure comfort food.  enjoy it on your next special occasion!

lochen kugel
12 oz egg noodles
16 oz cottage cheese
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick butter
3/4 c sugar
4 eggs separated
graham cracker crumbs and cinnamon sugar to top
more sour cream to garnish

preheat the oven to 350F and put your butter in a sauce pan over low heat to melt.  then boil and drain the noodles.  wait at least 10 minutes for the noodles to cool off.

separate the eggs and whip the whites until they hold their peaks.

once the noodles are cool you can mix in the cottage cheese, sour cream, vanilla, sugar, egg yolks and most of the melted butter (save a little for the top.)  fold in the egg whites until just incorporated and pour the mixture into a greased 13 1/2 x 8 inch pan.

mix your graham cracker crumb and cinnamon sugar mixture in a small bowl (approximately 1/4th cup of crumbs, 2 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.)  sprinkle the crumb and cinnamon sugar mixture over the kugel evenly, then pour the rest of the melted butter over to finish.  cover with foil and pop in the oven.

bake for 45-60 minutes or until the center is set.

let cool slightly before slicing into squares.  serve warm with a dollop of sour cream.  you can make it ahead of time and warm it in the oven.

yields 12-15 servings

i rarely follow recipes word for word.  i’ve been toying around with the proportions in this whole wheat apple muffin recipe from smitten kitchen, but with everything except apples.  i tried them with blueberries, pear – and now – shredded parsnip, which i got the idea for from the very gingery parsnip cupcake at four cafe.  i bulked up these muffins with some extra ground flax seed, as well as fresh and ground ginger.

i made them with some fresh blood orange mimosas, which i am surely i’m not the first person to think of, but am still proud for figuring out! when i was brainstorming beautiful ways to display the bright colors of these seasonal sweeties, this was the one that most enticed me.  for one, it is one of the simplest ways to highlight the flavor and color of the blood oranges, since you simply juice and mix with champagne.  and secondly, it can be fun to find an excuse to drink champagne before noon.

together these will contribute to a beautiful valentine’s brunch and can be prepped ahead of time.

parsnip muffins
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbsp flax seeds – ground
1/4 c coconut oil
1/2 c brown sugar, with some extra
1/2 c greek yogurt
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 c shredded parsnip

blood orange mimosas
equal parts blood orange juice and champagne

preheat oven to 450F

[NOTE: this muffin recipe yields a little less than most (which usually produce closer to a dozen and a half.)  this recipe made just 8, but if you need more you can double or triple the ingredients.]

take out your eggs and 1/2 cup of yogurt so they can start to come to room temperature.  and meanwhile, shred the parsnip, grate the fresh ginger and grind the flax seed to have everything ready when you start making the batter.

if you are unfamiliar with parsnips, they are a winter root vegetable that i find most similar to carrots.  they get thicker than carrots and have a very unique and pleasant bright note to them.  if you’ve never tried one you simply must!  i find larger ones are easier to deal with for purposes like these, so you don’t have to peel several small ones.  i peeled a large one and shredded it in my food processor, it turned out a little more than i needed for this recipe.

when it comes to ginger, i keep a large knob in the freezer because it keeps it fresh and makes it easier to grate (less stringy bits and no juice dripping.)  just keep in mind when you grate the frozen ginger it will be more fluffy, so you have to grate more than you think to fill up a whole teaspoon.

i find the flax is easiest to grind in a coffee grinder, leave it on for a few seconds until the seeds are very finely ground.

to make the batter, mix the coconut oil and brown sugar in a medium bowl.  the oil will need to be liquid to do this, which won’t be a problem on a hot day, but if it’s solid you can give it a few seconds in the microwave until it’s just liquified – just don’t get it too hot or it will melt the sugar and could curdle the eggs.

next mix the vanilla extract, greek yogurt and grated ginger into the same bowl – followed by the eggs.  make sure this mixture is smooth.

in a large bowl, mix together both flours, the ground cinnamon and ginger, baking soda and powder, pinch of salt and ground flax seeds.  whisk these together to incorporate evenly.  add in the liquid ingredients and mix gently just to combine.  mix the parsnip shreds in last.

the batter should be a little thick and dough-like, not watery, i’ve found this makes a fluffier muffin.

scoop spoonfuls of the batter into a muffin tin, fitted with liners.  i also sprayed the liners with a little cooking oil to help them peel out easier.  they should be most all the way full if you want a big top on your muffin.  sprinkle with a little additional brown sugar.

bake at 450F for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400F and cook another 7 minutes or so.  the tops should have risen an inch or two and starting to brown.  let cool a few minutes before removing from the tin.  you can enjoy them immediately, they are best fresh, or save them a day or two in a air-tight container.

for the mimosas, juice the blood oranges ahead of time and strain to remove the seeds and pulp.  you can keep the juice in the fridge for a day or two, until you are ready to use it.  make sure to pour the champagne first and orange juice second, or it gets really bubbly and hard to fill the glass.

i don’t know much about champagne so i picked this one because it had a pretty label and looked kind of fancy – but it was only $10 so it didn’t break the bank.

enjoy any time of the day, but especially for breakfast or brunch.  these two winter treats go together wonderfully!

i was away for the holidays, celebrating in the boston area with my boyfriend and his family.  during that time we were in the process of transferring the website onto a new server and working out the kinks inherent in any major shift.  if you’ve experienced problems with the site, just hold in there, all will be fixed soon.

i worked up quite a few recipes that are currently on deck to be posted, but since it’s been a busy week back at work and school i’ll appease you for now with these drool-worthy cinnamon buns i made on christmas morning. no real recipe for them, but i loosely based them on this cinnamon swirl bread i made in the past.  just cut into pieces after rolling up (i used dental floss to great nice, clean cuts) and i let the pieces rise in a 9×9 pan overnight, covered with plastic wrap in the fridge.  i’m pretty sure i used twice as much cinnamon-sugar filling than in the original recipe, but it made them even better.  for the icing i whisked together some melted butter, powdered sugar and a little milk.

these were great on christmas morning but they are able to make any morning extra special.

i don’t usually make roll-out cookies because, well, they as just so plain.  but i’ve been seeing so many fun-shaped cookies around the blogs that i’ve been itching to make a batch myself when i was inspired by smitten kitchen‘s nutmeg maple butter cookies.  so i raided my cupboards to find the dregs of a bag of brown sugar and regular organic sugar.  i sat down to stare at them with my cup of tea in hand, when i had the idea.

with cookies like this you don’t need much: all that is really needed is butter, sugar, flour, and some type of liquid to bring it all together.  some people use an egg or some milk to help fill out the liquid portion, but that’s where the black tea comes in.  when paired up with the brown sugar they add a very subtle but lovely touch to an otherwise boring butter cookie.

and to decorate, i made some naturally colored sugars. the pink comes from a few pomegranate seeds and the green from a leaf of baby spinach.  when the cookies are brushed with a glaze to help the colored sugar stick, these simple little cookies become just a touch more special – and perfect for the holidays.

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start off by brewing the black tea.  i used 1 tea bag and brewed it in a small amount of water, only about half a cup.  this yielded a really subtle black tea flavor but you can brew it with 2-3 tea bags if you want a stronger flavor.  do this first so it has plenty of time to cool down and won’t melt the butter when added to the dough.

mix together your brown sugar and butter.  this is easiest if the butter is soft but you can also cut them together with a pastry cutter – mix so that the sugar is coated but small chunks of butter are fine.  add the black tea in with the butter/sugar mixture and loosely mix it in – it won’t be smooth but that’s not a problem.

in a separate bowl mix together the flour and baking soda so they are evenly dispersed, then slowly add these dry ingredient into the butter, sugar and tea mixture.  the mixture should be fairly solid, but not so stiff it can’t be rolled out.  stick the dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

preheat the oven to 375F.

meanwhile set up a place to roll out the cookies, like a large cutting board or other flat surface.  sprinkle a little flour and spread it out.  do the same with a large cookie sheet, or you can cover with parchiment paper or foil.

start by rolling out half the dough to about 1/4th an inch and cut out the cookies.

bake for 7-9 minutes or until they are toasty brown around the edges.  repeat for the other half the dough, then for all of the trimmings of dough that weren’t used in the first 2 roll outs.  you can knead it back together, let it rest in the fridge and keep doing this until all the dough it gone.  the cookies towards the end will have slightly more flour incorporated but it doesn’t change the flavor too much.

when they come out of the oven let them rest for 1 minute on the pan, then at least 10 minutes on a cooling rack.

once you’ve gotten in the groove of rolling, cutting and baking the cookies you can make your colored sugars.

i did this on two separate plates with raised edges, adding about 1/4th cup of organic sugar to both.  just work the pomegranate seeds into the sugar one at a time, removing the hard inner seed with each one.  you could also do this with pomegranate juice by dropping in 1 drop at a time.  add until it is your desired color but keep in mind it won’t get too red without the sugar getting too wet, so i settled for a more subtle pink color.

for the spinach i only used 1 leaf and it gave it a good color.  because i used baby spinach it all worked in when i rubbed it into the sugar and there was nothing to remove.  you could also do this with spinach juice by adding one drop at time but not too much for sake of flavor.

to make the glaze you simply add the 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons sugar and heat in a pan until bubbling.  let bubble for about 30-60 seconds and then pull from the heat.  this will make a sticky sugar syrup that when brushed on the cooled cookies will help the colored sugar stick. just be sure to be gentle with these as the sugar is held on fairly delicately.  if you put it in ziplock and let them rustle around, you’ll find as i did that the sugar has fallen off.

to customize this recipe you can swap out regular or turbinado sugar for the brown sugar, you can use replace half of the flour with whole wheat to make it a little more hardy, add in seasonings like cinnamon or nutmeg, or you can replace the black tea for any other liquid like milk or juice.  you could even replace the butter with non-dairy margarine to make them vegan.

enjoy and happy holidays!

yields 3-4 dozen cookies

the idea of candying an orange peel had always intimidated me.  i thought it would take too long or that i would need a candy thermometer – which i for some reason have neglected to buy all these years.  or at worst it would be a huge disaster involving burnt peels and hard candy stuck to the inside of my pans.  but the process was surprisingly easy!

it’s a great way to use those large, bulky oranges which are usually reserved for juicing because they are so fibrous.  it only takes 1 cup of sugar and some melting chocolate to transform these otherwise fairly inedible peels into a fancy candy that make perfect christmas gifts!

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for guidance i started with some help from deb over at smitten kitchen, because her post has lots of pictures and tips she picked up along the way, but she based her post on a recipe from food network.

start by cutting the top and bottom off of your oranges and scoring a few times from top to bottom.  remove these chunks of peel all together.

slice into strips that are no more than 1/4th inch wide.

to take some of the bitterness out of the peels blanch them twice.  just bring a medium pot full of water to boil and cook the pieces for 3-4 minutes, remove, replace with fresh water and repeat one more time.

now mix the sugar and water and stir to incorporate, if the sugar does not completely dissolve do not worry, it will when heated.  add it to a medium-sized pot and start to heat.  when bubbles start to form add the orange peels and cover.

[note:  i ended up adding a touch more water (1-2 tbsp) because i was worried that the mixture did not cover the peels, but remember it will bubble up and you will stir the peels fairly frequently so it's not a problem.]

find the heat that allows the sugar water to gently bubble over the peels, i found this between medium and low heat.  cook with the cover on for 1 hour – checking and stirring ever 15 minutes.  it is very important to cover, since there is not much water you don’t want any more boiling off.  if the water reduces too much then add a little extra.  and it is important to check on them every 15 minutes, since sugar can quickly burn and the peels need to be rotated to candy evenly.

after the hour is up you’ll want to transfer the candied peels to a cooling rack fairly quickly so they don’t all stick together.  i did this with some tongs at first and before long they were cool enough to quickly fish the rest out with my fingers.

all of my sugar water cooked into the peels and boiled off so there was essentially nothing left at the end of the hour, but if you have residual liquid then reserve it as a tasty orange syrup you can use for something beverages or other baked goods.

let them cool thoroughly before covering with chocolate.

use a double boiler to melt the chocolate.  i make one from a small pot with a thin layer of water and a ceramic bowl that rests on top without touching the water inside.  bring the water in the pot to a simmer, reduce to low, cover with the bowl and melt the chocolate in the bowl on top.  the steam from below will heat up the bowl just enough to melt he chocolate, but keep the temperature low so it won’t burn.

honestly, i think the peels are best when completely covered in chocolate, but this takes a bit of work to finagle.  i started by doing with, with two forks, but it was taking way too long and making a bit of a mess.  then i switched over to dipping the peels about 3/4th of the way in and leaving them at that.  this make them look a little better i think, because you can actually tell what they are, they just don’t have as much chocolate on them.  but either way, they are going to taste good.

the original recipe used 16 oz of chocolate which would make it a bit easier.  i only used 10 oz so it got harder to cover the peels towards the end when there was not much chocolate left.  you can also use milk chocolate if you prefer.

let them cool until the chocolate is hard, on either a piece of wax paper, parchment paper or aluminum foil.  as soon as they are hardened, transfer to an air-tight container (mason jars work great if you are giving as a gift) and enjoy asap.  i find that if they sit around for about a week the chocolate starts to get that dried-out spotted look so eat them all up before that happens and have yourself a happy holiday!

yields several dozen

my kitchen activities have been adapting to the cold and windy days lately.  i’ve been making weekly pots of stew, roasting nearly every veggie, sprinkling cinnamon and maple syrup in most dishes i make and preserving the glut of citrus i’ve happened upon in the form of marmalades and candied peels.  it takes a bit more time, but when it’s dark and cold outside i don’t mind snuggling up to my nice warm stove, eagerly awaiting the toasty bites it delivers.

so when i wanted to kick off christmas baking season with a batch of cookies, i ended up with a maple cookie base, slightly spiced with ground cinnamon and ginger and glazed with a tangy marmalade icing.  these little guys make the perfect holiday snack with a lovely blend of christmastime flavors.  if you make them this size they are a lovely pairing for hot cocoa, cider, coffee or tea – but they would also be awesome in a much larger size.

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preheat the oven to 350F

in a medium bowl add together the butter, sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla extract.  mix together with a hand or stand mixer to get it very evenly mixed.

add in the egg and loosely stir it in.

in a separate, larger bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  slowly add this into the wet ingredients by stirring in with a larger spoon – you don’t want to use a mixer because it will make the gluten in the flour too sticky.  if the dough is still a little too loose when you add the dry ingredients in, you may need a little more flour.  add in a small spoonful at a time until the consistency is slightly stiff and it begins to hold together.

scoop evenly sized amounts onto a cookie sheet that is either covered with parchment paper or sprinkled with flour.  it is easiest to get evenly shaped pieces of dough if you use a small cookie dough scoop.

bake for 15 minutes, but check on them about 10 minutes through.  they are done when slightly brown around the edges.

when you take them out let them cool on the tray a minute so they set in shape.  then transfer them to a plate with a spatula to cool further – they must be thoroughly cooled before glazing or it will melt right off.

once all the cookies are baked and cooling, mix together the glaze.  i used a hand mixer for this to help make it easier and to break up any clumps of powdered sugar, but you can sift your powdered sugar and mix together with a spoon just as well.  if you find the glaze is not thick enough you can add extra powdered sugar, which should make up most of the mixture.

you can add the glaze by spooning small amounts on each cookie, but i used a silicone brush to make it a bit easier.  i ended up with extra so you can either find other baked goods to slather it on, or attempt to adjust the recipe to make even less.  once the glaze sits for an hour or two it hardens and makes it much easier to transport or even wrap up and ship off to loved ones!

i realized only after the fact that this maple cookie base would make an amazing chocolate chip cookie.  if i get around to trying that i’ll let you know how it turns out!

enjoy!

yields about 2 dozen small cookies

scones have become my go-to baked good as of late.  i like how they can be a hardy catch-all for whatever ingredients seem to be lying around, they aren’t overly sweet, they keep well and i’ve already got a killer recipe that can flex to my specifications.  all you really need is a pastry cutter, some cold butter, flour, sugar and a hefty tablespoon of baking powder.  Everything else is adaptable.

i used to make vegan scones by mixing a bit of soy milk and vinegar to replace the egg, i’ve filled them with stone fruit and berries, and even tried my hand at turning them savory.  but this recipe has turned out to be one of the best.  i wanted a strong autumn flavor so i used plenty of cinnamon, maple syrup and opted for brown sugar instead of my usual preference, turbinado.  they are a splendid little treat to enjoy with hot coffee or tea and easy to whip up in about 45 minutes.  i hope you’ll enjoy them as much as i do!

pomegranate and dark chocolate chunk scones
1 c all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 c packed brown sugar
dash of salt
dash of ground clove
1 stick butter
1 egg
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/3 c rolled oats
~10 tbsp ice water
1 c pomegranate seeds
1/3 c dark chocolate chunks

maple glaze
maple syrup
cinnamon

first things first, seed your pomegranate if you are using a fresh one.  you can find out how to do that in an old post of mine: how-to open a pomegranate.  once you have the seeds strained, measure out a cup (there should be more than enough in a medium-sized pomegranate.)  set the rest of the seeds aside or snack on them while you bake.  if you don’t have a fresh pomegranate you can also use prepared seeds from the grocery store, usually in the produce section.  fresh seeds can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for a few days but are best used right away.

when you are ready for making the scones take the butter out for about 5 minutes, to let soften a bit.

preheat oven to 400F.

mix together the dry ingredients – both flours, the baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and ground clove – in a large bowl.  cut in the butter, preferably with a pastry cutter, but you can also use a pair of knives or a large fork.  you want to leave large chunks of butter.

roughly mix in the egg, maple syrup and rolled oats, maintaining those large chunks of butter.  prepare at least twice as much ice water as you will need in a small cup with several ice cubes.  add in the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough sticks together.  it might only take you 6 or 7 tablespoons, or might take you as many as 12, but as long as you add it in slowly it’s a lot easier to get the texture just right.

once the dough is just barely sticky enough to hold together, add in the pomegranate seeds and chocolate chunks, loosely incorporating into the dough.  form it into a tight ball and lay out onto a floured surface.  press down until it is about 8-12 inches across and evenly round.  slice into 8 even slices and transfer the pieces to a floured cookie sheet.

make  the maple glaze by mixing together a small amount of maple syrup (1-2 tbsp) and a dash of ground cinnamon.  brush onto the top of each scone until evenly coated.

bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on the outside and slightly plumped.  let cool for a minute or two before using a spatula to transfer to a plate or cutting board to cool more.

they are best right away but can be enjoyed 2-3 days later.  just keep in an air-tight container outside of the fridge, and toast slightly to re-heat.

yields 8 scones

we don’t know how old angie is exactly.  when we adopted her some people thought she was a little under a year, some thought a little over, so we decided the day we took her home would serve as her birthday.  this year on august 2nd we celebrated her 2nd birthday and 1st anniversary of her adoption!

normally she doesn’t get treats like this, but we figured that this was an occasion.  i whipped up this mild, light cupcake that is dog-friendly because it is free of salt, sugar and oil.  it is a whole wheat peanut butter and carrot cake with just a touch of honey for sweetness and applesauce rather than oil.  there is nothing dog-foody about it, just a little more dense and less sweet than a regular cupcake, like a muffin.  i even tried one myself and it wasn’t all that bad.

to decorate, i topped it with some plain greek yogurt (which angie gets sometimes at night to help settle her stomach) plus carrot shreds and one of her favorite little chicken-flavored treats.  she just went just crazy for it, trying to eat it all at once.  i got so worried she might choke on it that i helped her take little bites.  the other pupcakes were shared with her doggy friends who all eagerly gobbled them up as well.  make these for the dogs you love!

pupcakes
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp honey
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1/2 c shredded carrot

toppings
plain greek yogurt
carrot shreds
dog treats

preheat the oven to 350F

shred your carrot first.  one medium-sized carrot should give you a bit more than the 1/2 cup you need for the recipe so you have some left over for decorating.

mix together the flour and baking powder, then add in the peanut butter, apple sauce, vanilla, honey, egg and water, and mix in evenly.  add the carrot shreds last and loosely fold in, the texture should be slightly liquidy but still fairly thick.

fill 5-6 cupcake liners about 2/3rds full of batter and bake for 15-20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out of the middle clean.)  let cool thoroughly before serving to any pups, you can even make them ahead of time since, let’s face it, dogs don’t really care if food is stale.  and make sure to remove the paper liner before they really dig in.

yes, that is a tiny party hat i made for my dog.  it stayed on for about 30 seconds.

i was going to add some type of cream in with the fruit and was toying with the idea of pastry cream or a fresh almond cream, but when i realized i had a giant jar of tahini in the fridge i was inspired to try it for just that purpose – it worked beautifully!  simply mixed with a touch of honey and egg yolks makes the tahini the perfect filling for this treat.  after it bakes and sets, it is firmer but still gooey and just slightly sweet.  it is the perfect texture sandwiched between the soft baked fruit and light crunchy crust.

crust
1/2 c oats
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp turbinado sugar
1/4 c coconut oil
1/4 c unsalted butter
pinch of salt (do not add if using salted butter)
about 6 tbsp ice water

tahini honey cream
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp tahini
2 egg yolks

filling
about 5 mission figs
about 10-12 strawberries

start with the crust.  to measure out the coconut oil i usually pour how much i need in liquid form into a measuring cup and stick it in the freezer for a few minutes.  after about 10 minutes it should be solid enough to stay together, but still easy enough to scoop out and break into chunks.

in a food processor or blender add the oats, flour, baking powder and salt.  blend them all together for 1-2 minutes to break up the oats.  sift this mixture into a large bowl, but you can save the oat pieces left behind for sprinkling on the crust.  add in the sugar and small cubes of cold butter into the sifted ingredients.  cut them in with a pastry cutter, or you can use a large fork but it’s much easier with a pastry cutter like the one pictured.  also cut in the now solid coconut oil in the same way – it stays solid even better than butter out of the fridge, so there will be nice chunks of coconut oil in the crust when it goes in the oven, helping it to melt into a flaky texture.

at this point, when the texture is crumby and chunky, stick the whole thing in the fridge to let the butter and coconut oil stiffen up a bit more.  meanwhile, make this tahini honey cream because it should also spend a little time in the fridge, luckily it is really easy to make.  simply separate your egg yolks from whites (save whites for another recipe) and mix the yolks with the honey and tahini.  they all mix quite well but are just a little too thin so a few minutes in the fridge help hold it together.

and before we get back to the dough, prep the fruit to have it ready when it is time to assemble everything.  for the figs, wash and slice off the very top hard bit of stem, and cut the body of the fig into fourths.  for the strawberries gently rinse, slice off the tops and then cut each in half.  it’s okay if they are different sizes.

at this point, preheat oven to 350F.

now back to the crust.  add a bunch of ice cubes in a small glass and fill with water.  add a tablespoon of this cold water one at a time into the dry crust mixture, incorporating between each until it just comes together and will form a ball.  for me this took 6 tablespoons but it may take you between 4-8.  while it may still look a bit dry, if it holds together when pressed in a ball, that’s the perfect texture.  turn out onto a lightly floured surface, flour the top of the dough and roll out flat into a large circle a few inches wider than you want your galette to ultimately be.  the edges don’t have to be perfect but it should be a rough circle.  you should notice the chunks of coconut oil, that’s is a good sign!

for transferring the crust the easiest thing to do is to start on one side and roll the crust onto your rolling pin until it is completely wrapped around it.  then lift the whole thing, move to a floured pan and roll back out evenly.  i used a cookie sheet for this but a pie pan would work too.  i also sprinkled a few of those saved oat bits on the pan so they would line the outside of the crust.

once rolled out flat, grab your tahini honey cream out of the fridge and pour in the center, spread around most of the crust, leaving a few inches from the edge cream-free.  now arrange your figs and strawberries as evenly as you can.  it can be a bit tricky but start from the center, working out. try to alternate fig and strawberries in each layer.  even if it’s more rustically thrown together it will still look great.

you can sprinkle with even more of the saved oat bits, or top with more sugar if you’d like.  fold the edges of the crust loosely towards the center and promptly pop it in the oven.  bake for 30-35 minutes.

the crust should be starting to turn golden brown and the tahini honey cream looking bubbly and slightly firm.  let cool for at least 10 minutes to let the cream set.  cut into wedges and you can serve it with a touch more sweetness if you like – such as honey or a sprinkle or powdered sugar.  and of course it would be a real treat with some fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  enjoy!

yields about 6 servings (depending on how generous you’re feeling)

i already have an awesome vegan recipe for scones that i know is quick, so i de-veganized it with a stick of butter and an egg.  all of these circumstances schemed to create one spectacularly tasty treat; quick and easy to make and a perfect way to feature any seasonal fruits.  because we are trying not to eat too many sweet and starchy foods around here – and because they are best enjoyed while fresh – i donated most of these to the people i encountered in the next 24 hours.  i’m told they are still inspiring drool-inducing daydreams, so whip up a batch soon!

whole wheat raspberry rhubarb scones
1 c chopped rhubarb
1 c fresh raspberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 c turbinado sugar
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c rice flour
1 tbsp baking powder
dash of salt
1 stick butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
about 6 tbsp ice water
some extra flour and sugar for dusting

preheat the oven to 400F and pull your butter out of the fridge to soften.

rinse your raspberries and rhubarb, chop the rhubarb in small chunks and soak both with the lemon juice and half of the sugar.  you can use regular sugar but i like the texture of turbinado sugar in scones, especially as crunchy crystals on the outside.  you can leave this mixture while you prep your other ingredients, it will allow some of the flavor to come out.

mix all your dry ingredients together in a large bowl – all flours, the other half of the sugar and the baking powder.  you can experiment with different ratios of flour but i’ve found they need at least a bit of all-purpose flour to hold them together.  cut in the butter in with a pastry cutter, a large fork, or with two knives.  you want the butter to remain in chunks when you put the scones in the oven, so just loosely break it up and make sure the pieces are all coated.  crack your egg into the batter and add the vanilla extract, loosely incorporate them as well.

get your ice water ready, i usually take a glass of water and drop a bunch of ice cubes in it, then spoon the water out one tablespoon at a time.  mix between each to make sure you add just enough to hold everything together, but no more (you might need a bit more or less than what i used.)  the dough should still seem just a bit crumbly, but wet enough to stick together.  once the dough is just right add in the soaked raspberries and rhubarb, very loosely stirring them in so they ribbon through but still maintain whole pieces

turn the dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a large flat circle – about 8-12 inches across.  coat the top and sides with a bit more flour and then cut into equal pieces.  i usually make 8 because it’s easy to cut evenly.  use a large knife or a fork to gently transfer the wedges to a baking tray, and sprinkle a little extra sugar on top.

bake all on one tray for 20-25 minutes, or until starting to brown.  share and enjoy!

yields 8 scones