S'more Cookies

I'm heading to the lake with my family later today and I was tasked with bringing the "treats." Do I go with the classic Perfect CCC's? I could. Do I take the easy way out and just buy s'more ingredients? No, because it's 100+ in Oklahoma right now and the last thing I want to do is stand around a fire. 

So instead, I will combine the two. As if my Perfect CCC's and a s'more had a baby, I give you S’mores Cookies. The ultimate summer lake trip treat.

They are everything you love in a Perfect CCC (hello flaky Maldon Salt) mixed with graham crackers, marshmallows, and a Hershey's chocolate bar. I can think of nothing better right now. I will also take this moment to profess my love affair with Graham Crackers. The most underrated cookie/cracker. They are the perfect after dinner snack. Shmear on a little Cookie Butter or almond butter and you are golden. Graham Crackers I love you. S’more Cookies, I love you too!

S’more Cookies
yields 32-36 cookies

Ingredients:
1  cup unsalted butter, melted
3 cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups light or dark brown sugar, firmly packed*
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped
1 Hershey’s Chocolate Bar, chopped
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 sleeve Graham Crackers (9 crackers total)
Maldon Salt

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 

Divide your graham crackers into stacks of 4 and 5. Take the 5 graham crackers and place in a large ziplock bag. Using a rolling pin crush the crackers into fine crumbs. This mixture will be added to the dry ingredients, so you want them to be very fine. Pour into a bowl and set aside. Then, take the 4 graham crackers and break them up into small pieces. Small enough to be mixed into the dough, but still in chunks. *see photo above for reference.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, fine graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl mix both sugars. *You can use light or dark brown sugar. I like a dark cookie so I prefer dark brown sugar, but I switch off depending on what I have on hand. Pour the melted butter into the bowl with the sugars and whisk until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking to combine. Stir in the vanilla.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. I found a wooden spoon to be the easiest for this job. Once the dough has almost come together, add the chocolate chips, marshmallows, graham cracker chunks and 3/4 of the chopped Hershey's bar.
Reserve a few marshmallows, graham cracker chunks and 1/4 of the chopped Hershey bar for topping the balls of cookie dough.

Form 2-3 tablespoon size balls. I used a standard size cookie scoop, but overload the scoop getting a larger ball of dough. Place them on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Do not overcrowd the pans. I got 10 balls of dough on a pan. Take your reserved chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows and top each ball of dough with a little of each. Then sprinkle the top of each cookie with flaky Maldon salt. 

Bake for 9-11 minutes, rotating the pan around halfway through. Bake until just slightly golden. 

Don't fear, the marshmallows will ooze out and go all over the pan.  For a prettier cookie, take the cookies while they are still warm and using either you fingers or a knife, pull off and trim away the oozy marshmallow. You are simply just cleaning up your cookies. 

Annie

Lite Bite: Mayo-Less Tuna Salad

Tuna salad. Do you love it or does it make you gag? I'm on a HUGE kick right now and I'm real obsessed with my recipe so I had to share. It's free of mayo (EW) and gets tons of flavor from subbing in mustard. Makes for a perfect lunch that is satsifying and healthy!

Mayo-Less Tuna Salad
yields 1 serving

Ingredients:
1, 5 oz can tuna packed in water, drained
1 tbsp. grainy mustard
1-2 tbsp. dijon mustard
1.5 tbsp. chopped pickles or relish
1.5 tbsp. diced red onion
salt and pepper
GG crackers, rice cake or bibb lettuce for serving

Directions:
Drain your can of tuna. In a small bowl combine all ingredients. Adding more mustard if you want it creamier. Serve with crackers, rice cakes or in little cups of bibb lettuce making it whole 30 compliant (as long as your mustard is sugar free! I like this brand, for obvious reasons)!
 

Annie

3-Ingredient Individual Strawberry Trifles

Just store-bought cookies, whipped cream and strawberries, how easy is that?  ;) Chaneling my inner Ina Garten for this recipe. The idea stemmed from her Mocha Icebox Cake. Taking Hampton’s own Tate’s cookies and letting homemade whipped cream soften them while chilling in the fridge. The strawberry addition is a homage to strawberry shortcake.  

This is the perfect not-too guilty dessert. Best enjoyed after a grill-out all fresco. AKA my favorite way to spend a Sunday evening. Preferably on my parents oasis of a patio. 

3-Ingredient Individual Strawberry Trifles
yields 4-5 trifles

Ingredients:
8 oz strawberries, sliced
8 oz heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
8 Tate's Bakeshop Vanilla Cookies (available at most grocery stores)

Directions:
Whip your heavy cream using an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla extract and give a quick mix, making sure not to over whip your cream. 

Take a martini glass, start with a small spoonful of cream in the bottom of the glass. Crumble over a Tate's cookie, add a few sliced strawberries, then repeat. Continue until you have filled 4 martini glasses. I was able to stretch this recipe to serve 5, but it's best divvied up for 4. 

Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to let the cream soften the cookies a bit. Before serving, sprinkle the tops with granulated sugar and a small sprig of mint to garnish. 

Annie

Lite Bite: Thai Chicken Lettuce Boats

Here's the 411 on "lite bite" posts. These are recipes I came up with on the fly. Measurements are geared toward cooking for one, but can easily be upped to feed more. Any questions about conversions or recipes, never hesitate to email me annie@takeabiteblog.com.

Thai Chicken Lettuce Boats
instructions yield 1 serving

green leaf lettuce
rotisserie chicken, shredded
roasted unsalted cashews
coconut oil
fresh ginger, finely chopped
garlic, minced
Sambal Oelek chili sauce
salt and pepper
cilantro
green onion
sesame seeds
cashews

Cut the core off the end of your lettuce. Wash and pat dry each lettuce leaf. These will become your "boats." A tip I learned from my roommate Lindsay is after washing your lettuce, lay it out on long strip of paper towels. Pat dry, then roll up your lettuce in the damp paper towels and store in a plastic grocery sack in the fridge. The lettuce will stay crisp and fresh!

Heat 1 tsp. of coconut oil over medium heat. Sauté 1/2 tsp. of minced garlic (or half of a clove) and 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger for about 30 seconds. Add 3/4 cup of shredded rotisserie chicken and 1/4 cup crushed cashews to the pan. Add 2 tsp. of Sambal Oelek chili sauce to pan. Sauté and warm all the ingredients, only takes about 1 to 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and tear in a few leaves of cilantro.

Once everything is combined and warmed through, divided the chicken mixture amongst 3 leaves of lettuce. Top with sesame seeds, more cilantro and thinly sliced green onions. 

I love this meal for dinner or lunch leftovers the next day. Tip: the inner baby leaves of your green leaf lettuce bunch are perfect for dipping in hummus!

Annie

Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are the brain child of craving lemon bars the second spring hit, being gifted a huge bag of Brandless Oats & Honey Granola while trying to avoid eating granola (due to my lack of self-control when it comes to this crack snack), and the response to an Instagram poll where lemon bars won in a landslide.

These lemon bars are vegan. No, I don't follow a vegan diet, I tried and gained what felt like 5 lbs. in 5 days due to eating pasta and carbs in replacement for protein and dairy. However, I've found that cooking and baking while trying to modify for various diets is a challenge and a fun experiment. It also doesn't hurt to watch your intake of added sugar, animal products and excess dairy. Due to the granola, these bars are not gluten-free, but the are vegan, dairy-free, egg-free, and free of processed sugar. 

Quick plug for Brandless before we move on. This recipe is not sponsored by Brandless, but I have to brag on them. The granola, the parchment paper and the knife (yes the knife) that I used in parts of this recipe are all from Brandless. It's my new obsession. They are a fair-trade, non-GMO, mostly organic, no added sugar food and household item company where everything is $3. And for each purchase made on Brandless, a meal is donated to Feeding America. 

Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars
yields 16 bars

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews* soaked
1 cup coconut cream (the hardened portion at the top of a can of full-fat coconut milk)
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 2 lemons
1/4 cup agave
2 cups plain granola, I used Brandless Oats & Honey, but any kind of honey, almond, or vanilla flavor will work. 
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1-2 Tbsp. powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:
Place your cashews in a bowl and cover with very hot water. Let soak for 1 hour. Line an 8x8 square pan with parchment paper, letting the edges hang over the sides and set aside. 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a high powered blender or food processor, pulse the granola until it is the texture of fine crumbs. In a small bowl, mix melted coconut oil and granola crumbs.  Press mixture into prepared pan. Using the bottom of a measuring cup or drinking glass, make sure crust is pressed firmly into pan. Bake for 10 minutes until edges are slightly golden. 

While the crust is baking, start working on the filling. In a high powdered blender, add soaked cashews, coconut cream, juice and zest of lemons and agave. Blend together until smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides.. Taste and make sure flavor is where you want it. I added a bit more lemon zest after tasting. You want the lemon flavor to be bright and it to be slightly sweet.

Spread filling mixture over the baked crust. Reduce the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes until the edges are firm and the center slightly jiggly (LOL jiggly). Let rest for 10 minutes. Chill for at least 4 hours in the fridge or overnight. 

Using the parchment paper to assist you, pull the lemon bars out of the pan. Cut evenly into 16 squares. Lightly sift powdered sugar over the top. Fine served at room temperature, but store in the fridge for optimal freshness!

Annie