Double Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Cookies

Forget September 22, the day after Labor Day marks the start of fall in mine and most people's minds. I was at Whole Foods the other night and pumpkins are already out, the PSL made it's seasonal debut, and I am unapologetically sharing my first pumpkin recipe of the fall!

This recipe doesn't scream pumpkin but it does scream fall. Pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate and the secret ingredient, paprika, makes for a kickin' cookie (I had to). I originally made these a few weeks ago and everyone who tried them deemed that they must be remade once cooler weather crept in. Hello cooler weather, hello double chocolate pumpkin seed cookies!

Double Chocolate Pumpkin Seed Cookies
yields about 32 medium cookies or 18 large cookies, adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. paprika
1½ cups light brown sugar, packed
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup dark chocolate (you can use chips or buy a bar of dark chocolate and chop it up)
Maldon salt

Directions:
Place your pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet and place on the upper rack of the oven. Then heat your oven to 350°. This is the best trick my mom taught me. Nuts and seeds brown perfectly in the same amount it takes for your oven to preheat. (About  8–10 minutes). Toss occasionally until golden. Let cool.

Meanwhile, whisk flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and paprika in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter in a large bowl until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Reduce speed to low; add dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing until well blended after each. Stir in chocolate and pumpkin seeds.

If you want medium cookies use a cookie scoop (about 2 Tbsp.) if you want large cookies use an ice cream scoop (about 1/4 cup). Large cookies will be more bakery style, but for portion control reasons I go medium size. You can see both sizes pictured below. Place large cookies 3" apart and medium cookies 2" apart. Sprinkle with flakey Maldon salt and bake, rotating pans halfway through. 17–20 minutes for large cookies, 9-11 minutes for medium cookies. 

Happy pumpkin baking!

Annie

Lemon Turmeric Energy Bites

If there is an event that involves me, then you know there will be treats. I had so much fun hosting a private Beyond 500 class for friends and followers last Sunday. I wanted to bring something sweet to reward everyone for the hard workout, but I didn't want to blow all the work we would be doing in the class. Energy bites (not energy balls, I refuse) were the perfect post-workout treat. 

Lemon Turmeric Energy Bites
yields 20 bites

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
6 oz pitted dates
1 Tbsp. chia seeds
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. vanilla extract
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Directions:
Put all ingredients into your food processor and process until everything comes together, about 3-5 minutes. Stopping and scraping down the sides every minute or so. You want to make sure the nuts, seeds and dates are finely processed and it comes together like a dough.  

Using a tablespoon size cookie scoop, portion out the dough and roll to form balls. Store in the fridge for up to a week. Each bite is only 85 calories. 

With protein from the cashews and chia seeds, natural sugars from the dates, and an energy boost from the lemon and turmeric, they make for the perfect pre-or post-workout snack. 

Annie

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Updated

As if they couldn't get more perfect, well they just did. Perfect CCCs are upgraded and this is now THE only CCC recipe you need. They are my go-to for any event, potluck, or those times when I just have an itch for baking.  

The recipe is very similar to the original Perfect CCCs, with a few extra additions to give them a sweet and salty touch. I have added olive oil in the batter and flakey sea salt on top. But, my secret ingredient is adding a chopped up Hershey's milk chocolate bar to the mix. make sure to read the TIPS section at the bottom of the recipe.

Try not to omit the Hershey's bar if you can. It's worth the trip to the gas station to pick one up. The combo of the semi-sweet chips that stay firm through baking mixed with the melty milk chocolate bar gives it the edge they needed!

I have found myself chopping up leftover Dove Valentine's hearts or Easter chocolate bunnies in place of the Hershey's bar. A great way to use up leftover candy. Halloween, I see you.... I have also been known to add festive sprinkles to fit the occasion. Muli-colored sprinkles for birthdays, red, white and blue for the 4th!

Perfect CCCs Updated
yields 32 cookies

Ingredients:
½  cup unsalted butter (I recommend Kerrygold), melted
½ cup olive oil (use a basic, not fancy olive oil)
3 cups all-purpose flour (if your dough looks too loose, you can add 1/4 cup extra of 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
10 ounces, semi-sweet chocolate chips, roughly chopped
1 Hershey’s Chocolate Bar, roughly chopped (optional, if choose to omit, use 12 ounces choc chips)
Maldon Salt

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

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 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 and olive oil 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, but still a little floury, add the chocolate chips and Hershey's bar. *I roughly chop my chocolate chips, so I could get more chocolate in each bite. I also love those little shavings of chocolate sprinkled through the dough! 

Form 2-3 tablespoon size balls. I use a 2 tbsp. size cookie scoop, but overload the scoop a little bit to get a larger ball of dough. Place them on a cookie sheet 2 inches apart and fluff them a bit*. Do not overcrowd the pan. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with flaky Maldon salt and any extra chocolate bits left over from chopping.

Bake for 9 minutes, rotating the pan around halfway through. Bake until just barely golden around the edges, the key is to not overbake these! Shy on the underdone side.

TIPS:
Olive Oil: I note above, but when it comes to olive oil, please use a basic light olive oil. Nothing fancy or imported from Greece. You don’t want your cookies to taste like olives. I use Trader Joe’s or Bertolli light olive oil.

Butter: I love Kerrygold butter and can truly taste a difference when I splurge and use this butter. It’s suggested, but not required.

Chocolate: I love using Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chunks for this recipe. They bake up very dark despite being semi-sweet and I love the color contrast compared to the lighter milk chocolate Hershey’s bar. Please include the Hershey bar. It makes it!

Sugars: Do NOT, I repeat, do not use Trader Joe’s cane sugar or brown sugar. I love their olive oil and chocolate chunks for this recipe, but their organic cane sugar and brown sugar do not cut it. I’ve had multiple people, including myself, use these two sugars and say their cookies didn’t turn out. The sugars are not granulated enough. I don’t know quite how to explain it, but they are coarse and lead to a weird texture in the cookie.

Fluffing stage: After using the cookie scoop, I give the cookies a “fluff.” Simply just rough the cookies up a bit so more chocolate chips are showing on the top and they are more rustic-looking balls of dough instead of perfectly scooped. Then sprinkle with Maldon and more chocolate if needed.

I firmly believe this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's easily become my most popular recipe on the site. Thanks to everyone who has made their own batch of Perfect CCCs. And if you haven’t yet, it's time to whip up a batch!

FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS:
To save your cookies for a rainy day, pre-scoop your cookie dough into balls onto a lined cookie sheet, “fluff” them, and then place the cookie sheet in the freezer to flash freeze them. One they are cold, transfer the balls of dough to a freezer-safe bag or container to freeze until you need them!

To bake, pull your frozen dough balls from the freezer and place on a lined cookie sheet. Let the dough come to room temperature for about 30 minutes or while your oven is preheating. Don’t forget to sprinkle with Maldon Salt, and then bake as normal!

Annie

Italian Chopped Salad

Recipe posts are BACK! After a two and half month hiatus, I come back with a recipe for non other than...a salad. This chick loves a good salad though, so be it.

I used to eat wimpy, non-protein, rabbit food salads. That just won't cut it now. I'm not sure if I'm still growing or that I'm working out more, but I want all the protein, healthy fats and goodies in my salads. With sliced salami, salty artichokes and kalamata olives, fresh tomatoes and protein packed chickpeas, I'm crushing on this Italian Chopped salad! 

Once you marinate the chickpeas and artichokes the rest of this salad comes together in under 10 minutes. Serve it as a hearty main salad or divide amongst your friends and fam with grilled chicken or fish as a side! Skip to the bottom to see how I stretched this salad out over a week to eat for lunches. 

Italian Chopped Salad adapted from Foodie Crush
serves 2 as a main, 4-6 as a side*

Ingredients: 
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. salt
14 tsp. pepper
1, 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained
1, 14 oz can plain artichoke hearts
4 cups chopped romain lettuce (2 large romaine hearts)
8-10 oz cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup kalamata olives
4 oz salami, sliced into strips
Maldon salt, to finish

Directions:
In a small bowl or mason jar, combine olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, dried thyme, salt and black pepper. Shake or whisk to mix. 

Drain and rinse your can of chickpeas. Pat dry then place in a medium bowl. Drain your can of artichokes and chop into quarters, then add to the chickpeas. Pour 2 tablespoons of the dressing on the chickpeas and artichokes to marinated for 30 minutes. Reserve the rest of the dressing for later.

Add the chopped romaine to a large bowl. Add your tomatoes, olives, and sliced salami. Add the chickpeas and artichokes in the dressing to the lettuce mixture. Pour the reserved dressing over the salad then toss to coat. Sprinkle over some Maldon salt and fresh cracked pepper to finish.

*I have been eating this all week for lunch. To preserve the lettuce, keep each component in separate Ziplocks and Tupperware, including the dressing. Each morning I toss it all together with a drizzle of dressing and it is still fresh at lunch time! I got 4 days of salad from this recipe. 

Annie

The Only Key Lime Pie Recipe You Need

Look no further. This is the last key lime pie recipe you need. I got the recipe from one of my best friend's moms. She adapted it from Joy of Cooking then I made of few tweaks myself. The results=absolute deliciousness. I'm not even going to ramble on about it, let's just cut to the chase.

I'm a sucker for a good graham cracker crust. Especially this one. It has brown sugar it. I'm telling you it makes all the difference. 

Key Lime Pie
yields 1, 9" pie

Crust:
1 1/2 cups of graham crackers (about 10)
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar 

Filling:
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup key lime juice (about 12 to 14 key limes)
zest of two key limes, plus extra for garnish

Topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp. sugar

Directions:
Preheat your over to 350 degrees. In a food processor, grind up your graham crackers until finely ground. Pour melted butter and brown sugar in and process together. Dump graham cracker grounds into a 9 inch pie pan. Using your hands spread them out and up the sides. Use the base of a measuring cup to help pat down the crust so that it is even. Use the side of the measuring cup to smooth the sides and make sure the crust is even all along the rim. Bake for 10 minutes.  

While your crust is baking whisk your egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, key lime juice, and key lime zest in a large mixing bowl. Once your crust is done, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Pour in the filling and bake for 15 to 17 minutes. Let your pie cool completely before adding the whipped topping. 

Once the pie is cool, make the whipped cream. Using an electric mixer, mix heavy cream and sugar until stiff peaks form. Using a spatula, loosely top the pie with a hefty amount of whipped cream. Sprinkle with extra key lime zest. Serve cold. 

Make it for you momma this weekend. I know she will love it. Mine sure does!

Annie