Chai Spiced Pancakes

 Have I mentioned that I'm really into infusing tea flavor into recipes? And that I really like pancakes? There's not a lot to describe with these pancakes. Use your favorite recipe and throw in some chai tea and spices, and you've got something special.

 I was inspired by Joy the Baker's version, but I used the Tassajara Bread Book's recipe for pancakes. Joy says to directly mix in the chai tea. Which I did, but while I got a hint of chai, it seemed a bit lost. I think the flavor needs to be more concentrated. I want to try this recipe again, but use a technique outlined in the cupcake project. Stef says the key is to steep the tea in butter, and then strain to get tea-infused butter. I like. I'll update this whenever I get around to Chai Pancakes 2.0. For now, these aren't half-bad.

Chai Spiced Pancakes
serves 6.
adapted from tassajara recipe and joy the baker.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of ground cloves
pinch ground ginger
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup black chai tea
1/2 cup oil

Whisk baking flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and sugar together.

Beat milk, tea, and oil into beaten egg yolks.

Stiffly beat egg whites.

Combine wet mixture into dry until just blended. Then fold in egg whites.

Cook and flip and do as pancakes do.

Green Eggs (sans ham)

 Yay! They're eggs! And they're green! And the green actually denotes something nutritious and not food colored!

 The green is from kale, the ever-nutrient-ready green of my heart, apple of my eye, yadda yadda. Bright. Green. Do you see these eggs?! You blend everything up (the kale, the eggs) and throw it in a pan. It makes breakfast more fun and makes you feel super-healthy.

Oh, right. And I better explain the red. It turns out, I'm weird. No, I mean duh, I'm weird, but specifically when it comes to scrambled eggs. Apparently not many people put ketchup on their scrambled eggs. Well, world, I do. And not only is it visually striking, but it is so much better than anything else you could try to put on your eggs. The same goes for ketchup/mac-and-cheese combo. 'Nuff said. Go to it, my friends.

Kale Green Eggs
serves 2-3.
adapted from elena's pantry

4 eggs
4 large kale leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp olive oil

ketchup!

Roughly chop the kale to be friendly to your blender and stuff it into that thing. Add eggs and blend.
Heat oil in pan under medium heat.
Pour eggs into pan and add salt and pepper.
Scramble by pushing the spatula around the pan until lumps start to form.
Cook eggs for a couple minutes (the longer they cook, the less runny they become).
Douse in ketchup.

(is it too early to make a joke about christmas?)

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Oh hey! There's a picture of me! And I've got a plate of cookies on my head!

What can I say? it's October. It's pumpkin season. Don't try to reason with me and say I didn't actually use fresh pumpkin in this recipe. Shh. It's pumpkin season. It's pumpkin puree from a can season.

 Also, It's chocolate chip season. Also, it's always chocolate chip season. So make sure they're always in your freezer.

These pumpkins were sweet and fluffy, kind of like cake cookies, or muffin tops or something. I mean, there's not much to it. Pumpkins. Chocolate chips. How could it not be a good idea?

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies
adapted from Joy the Baker


2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Position a rack in the middle of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. 

In a large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with a whisk until smooth and lightened in color. 

Whisk in the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. 

Mix in the flour mixture and then the chips.

Using a tablespoon, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2-inches apart. Smooth and flatten the rounds.

Bake the cookies until the tops feel firm and a fork inserted in the center comes out dry, about 15 minutes. 

Cool cookies and then eat. Stored in an airtight container, they'll last about 5 days.

Bardbarian Ultimate Cake

No recipe here, sorry. I just wanted to showcase a beautiful (and if I do say, delicious) cake my friend Nina and I made a while back.

Spiced Risotto Rice Pudding

 No. No.... Don't tell me you don't like rice pudding!? Ok. Listen here. Take my hand. We can work through this together. So maybe it's not so pretty. Neither are overnight oats, and I know you love them.

 It's warm, it's sweet, fluffy, and spiced just so to caress your tongue. Seriously, how could you say no?

Chinese Tea Eggs

 I first ran into tea eggs about a year ago, at my local bubble tea place (bubble tea-my designated guilty pleasure. I've had every single flavor from the forty at my place.) They're these super cool hard boiled eggs that are then lightly cracked and steeped overnight in an odd tea/soy sauce mixture.

 What comes out is this marbled, kaleidoscopic creation that is utterly delicious. Who knew that black tea mixed with copious amounts of star anise and soy sauce could create the perfect flavor on hard boiled eggs?