Merry Christmas!!

I hope you’re all having a wonderful day – whether celebrating the holiday or just enjoying a day off. We get to see both sides of the family today, so it’s bound to be a good one.

Since we’re traveling this year, I didn’t do a lot of Christmas baking, but I did squeeze in these “Massachusetts shortbread” cookies right before we left home. “Massachusetts” because of cacao nibs from . . . → Read More: Cookies with Dried Cranberries and Cacao Nibs]]>

Merry Christmas!!

I hope you’re all having a wonderful day – whether celebrating the holiday or just enjoying a day off. We get to see both sides of the family today, so it’s bound to be a good one.

Since we’re traveling this year, I didn’t do a lot of Christmas baking, but I did squeeze in these “Massachusetts shortbread” cookies right before we left home. “Massachusetts” because of cacao nibs from Taza Chocolate and dried local cranberries. “Shortbread” because of the slightly crumbly texture (as opposed to chewy or crisp). They’re a little sweeter than your standard shortbread, but not overly so. The dried cranberries add a nice tang and the cacao nibs are more nutty than chocolate-y. They’re the perfect cookies to accompany an afternoon tea. If you want something a little more luxurious, drizzle some dark chocolate over the top.

I made them small and kind of fat, but you could roll the dough into a log, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a bit. Once it’s nice and cold, cut thin discs off of it and bake them for 10 minutes or so. This will give you a thinner and bigger cookie. With the assistance of a kitchen scale, you can prep these even before the oven has preheated.

Cran-Nib Cookies

Makes about 45 small cookies

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat the sugars and butter until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.
4. Add the flour and salt and mix well.
5. Add the dried cranberries and cacao nibs and mix gently to evenly distribute.
6. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll about 2 teaspoons of dough into a ball. Place it on the pan and flatten it gently with your palm. Repeat with the remaining dough. You should be able to fit about a dozen cookies per pan.
7. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pans in the middle. To rotate the pans, (1) switch the top and bottom pans and (2) turn the pans so that the cookies in the back of the oven are in the front. The cookies should be just a little golden around the edges.

Taza Chocolate makes really SOLE-ful chocolate, if you’ll allow me that somewhat . . . → Read More: Somerville’s Own Taza Chocolate]]> My parents came to visit in December and it was so so cold. My plans of wandering around the city were squashed. We didn’t even want to walk to the nearest bus stop. But d’y'know what’s nearer than the nearest bus stop? A CHOCOLATE FACTORY! For serious. Where’s the closest place to get a snack? A CHOCOLATE FACTORY! Yeah, that’s how we roll.

Taza Chocolate makes really SOLE-ful chocolate, if you’ll allow me that somewhat over-used acronym. Beyond Fair Trade, Taza Chocolate is “Direct Trade” certified, which adheres to the following principles:

1. We work exclusively with certified organic cacao farms that practice sustainable agricultural methods.
2. We pay a premium of at least 500 US dollars per metric ton above the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) price on the date of invoice to the producers of our cacao beans for high quality cacao with 95 percent fermentation rates or more and dried to 7 percent moisture or less.
3. We physically visit each cacao producer or producer group at least once a year to build long-term, sustainable relationships.
4. We only buy cacao from producers using fair and humane work practices.
5. We never purchase cacao from producers engaging in child or slave labor.

Source: Taza Chocolate website

Their chocolate is Mexican-style, which has a nice gritty quality and really fruity flavor. “Gritty” might not be something you think you want in chocolate, but it’s pretty tasty. The straight-up chocolate is great, but my favorite part of Taza is all the crazy stuff, like salt and pepper hot chocolate discs. Or chocolate-covered ginger. Mmmmm….

They also make roasted cacao nibs, which are a great nut substitute. They definitely have a chocolate flavor, but it’s much subtler than chocolate chips. We remade these cranberry muffins substituting 3/4 cup of nibs for the carrots. Wicked! (I’m really becoming a Bay Stater, now, huh?)

If you want more info and live in the area, you should definitely check out their factory tour. Gena at Choosing Raw just wrote a post on them, too, so check out her site for another take on the greatness of Taza. If only they were still open, so that I could swing by for a snack…

About two weeks ago, we ordered a five-pound box of fresh cranberries from Cape Cod Select. Take a look at that . . . → Read More: Dark Days Challenge Week 3: Cranberry-Carrot Muffins]]> Happy Sunday to you all! My parents are visiting for the weekend, so we had a lazy morning. After a huge feast last night of braised chicken and parsnips, a riff on this macaroni and cheese, and a kale salad with toasted almonds and dried cherries, we only needed a nibble for breakfast. Muffins!

About two weeks ago, we ordered a five-pound box of fresh cranberries from Cape Cod Select. Take a look at that great box!

We used most of them for canning – whole berry sauce, relish with oranges and walnuts (no mint), and pickled cranberries…

… but had about 2 cups sitting in the refrigerator. We also had a TON of carrots. Why? I don’t know. I probably planned to use them in some grand scheme, so bought some at the farmers’ market, and then got some more from the CSA, and it just got out of control.

For a random muffin based loosely on a Mark Bittman recipe, these turned out really really well. Just sweet enough, but with a tart bite every now and then. The texture is great, too. I don’t usually like coffee shop muffins, because they’re too dense, but these are moist without being heavy. If I do say so myself…

Cranberry-Carrot Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Add the butter pieces to the dry ingredients and use your fingers to rub the butter through the flour mixture. Keep smooshing until the butter is pretty evenly dispersed and all the chunks are pea-sized or smaller.
4. Whisk together the maple syrup and egg.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the flour/butter mixture and whisk until just barely combined.
6. Gently fold in the cranberries and grated carrot. You’ll probably have to switch from the whisk to a spoon or spatula, but use as few strokes as possible to avoid developing gluten, the protein that makes bread nice and chewy, but muffins tough.
7. Fill each muffin cup with a scant (i.e. not quite full) 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a thin knife or skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.