Pages

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Whole Grain for the Holidays! Cookies and Bars on Fox 10






Today  on Fox 10 Arizona Morning show I shared some awesome whole grain alternatives to the cookies you might see on the buffet tables. I'm including some gluten free whole grain gingerbread,  7 grain jam crumble bars and cookie mixes to help make the giving and receiving even more merry and bright! I'm so excited to share these with you. Did you know I started a 90 day weight loss challenge this week? I started the week of Christmas?! I know. It sounds crazy. However...it's been a huge motivator in keeping things healthy for me.  Special thanks to my dear fitness coach Christina Wheeler! She has been a great cheerleader in this decision and I'm very thankful for her support.  What a cool coach to join me in this effort and not eat junk food this season herself!   All I know is that it's the gift I'm giving myself this year. I wanted to start in early so that, when the new year came along, I would already be kicked into high gear. So. Let me share the recipes from today's show. 

As a random note. I use a 9 grain flour in many of these recipes that contains hard red wheat, soft white wheat, barley, rye, oats, corn, millet, buckwheat and flax seeds. It's now available at all the Honeyville Farms Retail Locations in a 50 (yes 50 lbs) for around 16$. It is their 9 Grain Cracked Cereal in a flour form and amazing to use in place of 100% of all purpose flour in most recipes.  I used the cracked version in my 9-grain-ciabatta whole grain bread

Whole Grain for the Holidays!

 Chef Tess Gluten Free 

Brown Rice Orange Gingerbread Cookies
  3 cups Honeyville Farms Certified Gluten Free Brown Rice Flour ( 750ml)
1 tsp Xanthan Gum ( 5ml)
1 tsp Salt (5ml)
 1 tsp baking powder (5ml)
2 tsp Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend ( 10 ml)
 1/2 tsp ground ginger (½ tsp or 2.5ml)
 2 tsp fresh orange zest (2tsp 10ml)
1/2 cup (4 oz) Lucero Chocolate Infused Certified Extra Virgin Olive Oil (125 ml)
 1 1/2 cup Dark brown sugar OR 1 cup Xylitol natural sweetner ( 375 ml)
 2 T molasses (30ml)
 2 whole egg ( 125ml)
1 tsp  pure bourbon vanilla (1 tsp)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
 In a large bowl combine the brown rice flour, xanathan gum, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and orange zest. In a separate bowl whisk the olive oil, dark brown sugar, molasses, eggs and vanilla. Mix the brown rice flour mixture with the egg/sugar mixture. Stir well. Mixture will be thick. scoop cookies (36g each or 2T/30ml) and round with hands into balls. Roll the balls of dough in sugar. Transfer to a lightly oiled cookie sheet with 1 inch between cookies. Lightly flatten cookies to ½ inch thick with your hand. Bake 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cookie sheet 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Keep in an air tight container.
Yield 2 dozen cookies. 




Chef Tess 7 grain and  Jam Crumble Bar Mix 

4 cups Chef Tess Homemade whole grain  or 1 box organic White cake mix, 
1 cups sugar or Xylitol low calorie natural sweetener,
1/4 cup whole chia seed
 ½ cup brown sugar or dehydrated  honey, 
1 tsp Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East spice blend OR 3/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice. 
To prepare you will need:  1 egg, 1 cup Lucero Chocolate Infused Certified Extra Virgin Olive Oil
and 2 cups unsweetened jam (any flavor)
 1 9 by 13 inch baking pan
Directions: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the crumble bar mix in a large bowl and combine with egg and olive oil just until combined (about a minute). The mixture will be thick. Reserve 11/2 cup for the topping. Using fingertips, press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan so it reaches all sides. Spread the jam over the the mixture in a layer with a spatula. Pinch off pieces of the reserved crust mixture and scatter over the jam. Bake until light brown and bubbling, 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool 30 minutes before cutting. Yield 24 bars.
Chef Tess Whole Grain Cake Mix

5 cups  whole grain cake flour (I use Honeyville Farms 9 grain flour)
2 1/2 cup sugar (or Xylitol natural sweetener)
2T baking powder
1T salt
1 cup organic shortening (or butter )
1T double strength vanilla
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt through a flour sifter at least once to remove extra lumps. Combine shortening (or butter) with dry ingredients and vanilla in a Kitchen Aid type mixer with paddle attachment. Mix until well combined. If you don't have a mixer, it also works to cut the shortening into the flour as you would for pie crust and then run the mix through a hand held flour sifter to make the mixture more smooth. The metal flour sifters are available to purchase at most grocery stores and baking sections of Wal-mart or Target.
Yields 9 cups cake mix. If you use butter, please keep your mix in the fridge!


4 1/2 cups mix equal to one boxed cake mix:
Combine with 3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 1/3 cup water
200 strokes by hand or 3 minutes medium speed.

Bake time 350 degrees:
Pan size: 2 8 inch 33-35 minutes
2 9 inch 28-31 minutes
13 by 9 inch 32-35 minutes
bundt 38-43 minutes
24 cupcakes 18-21 minutes
High altitude: stir 1/4 cup all purpose flour into mix. Mix as directed.
*Soft White Wheat flour or Spelt flour will work. Wheat bread flour is not a good alternative for cake mix. The protein content is too high to produce a tender cake.



Chef Tess' Extra Moist Holiday Buttermilk Cookie Mix
9 cups Honeyville Farms 9 grain flour
1 1/2 buttermilk powder (instant milk is okay too)
1 1/2 cup 
Homemade Instant Pudding Mix
3T baking powder
1 T salt
2T vanilla
2 cups butter or shortening (I use Spectrum Organic)
3 cups sugar (you can use spenda spoon able instead)
Directions:
Softened butter in a very large bowl, electric mixers are amazing for making mixes, I highly recommend using one. Add the sugar and vanilla (I also love brandy, rum, nut flavors...)and cream well. In a separate large bowl combine the dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. If done correctly it will look like a course cornmeal. This mix will make 20 cups of cookie mix. 
I use 2 cups of mix per gourmet mix. Most often I will put 2 cup portions in storage size zip bags. This mix will make 10 bags of plain sugar cookie mix.
The baking directions for basic Buttermilk Sugar Cookies:
In a large bowl, combine the cookie mix, 2 egg and 1/4  
Chocolate Infused Certified Extra Virgin Olive Oil
cup oil. Drop by rounded Tablespoon onto cookie sheet, 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 375 degrees 10-12 minutes. You may sprinkle with sugar or funky cool nubby things. You know...have fun. Also, if you would prefer to do a roll out sugar cookie from the mix, use only 1 egg 1/4 cup oil or melted butter and chill the dough 30 minutes before rolling out 1/4 inch on lightly floured counter top. Bake 375 degrees 10-12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.


There you go! Enjoy some healthier cookies this season!

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

1 comment:

  1. These look terrific! And GOOD for YOU for starting a weight loss challenge smack in the middle of the grazing season! Best of luck to you! You can do it!! Especially with these healthy, fiber-filled treats!

    ReplyDelete