Single-serve Homemade Cookies

I'm not saying it's hot here in Southern California, but two Hobbits just threw a ring in my backyard and then fainted. The last thing I want to do right now is turn on an oven. Of course, that doesn't stop me from wanting fresh, homemade cookies, because DUH.

What, oh what, is a girl to do?

Allow me to present the freezer method for single- (or quadruple-) serve fresh, homemade cookies. This method works best for-- Well, I've really only tried it with chocolate chip cookies. I imagine it works with most drop cookies. I am guessing that this method is limited only by your imagination, but I don't know for certain. YMMV

You will need:
+Baking sheet
+Lining for the baking sheet (I've used both aluminum and parchment equally well)
+Freezer

Make your cookie dough like normal. I suppose you could buy the dough if you wanted, but why would you want to, when the part that takes the longest is the baking? Anyway, make up your dough. Then drop your cookies onto a lined baking sheet like normal. If you're making peanut butter cookies, go ahead and use the fork to make your cross-hatch marks. However you normally get your dough ready for baking. EXCEPT, instead of giving the dough room to spread, you can put them as close together as you can get them without actually touching each other.

Partway through the process. Fill the whole tray! Depending on your recipe, you may need more than one.

Pop the tray in the freezer. You want to give the dough-servings enough time so that they're fairly hard and won't stick to each other. I try to give them an hour, although I've been known to get distracted and remember they're still in there two days later. That's a bit long, and depending on the state of your freezer, it might be too long, but so far I've been lucky.  :)

At the end of your hour (or days, whatever), grab a freezer bag (or two) and write the baking instructions on the bag. You probably want to identify what the recipe is, too. Something like "Chocolate chip cookies. Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes" or whatever the instructions are for your recipe. Now, since the dough has been frozen, you'll want to give them a couple of extra minutes, but you won't need too much more than that. Then pull your tray, pop the dough into the freezer bag, squeeze all the excess air out, and pop back in the freezer.

I added two minutes to both sides, to give them a bit of thaw-time.

The next time you want fresh baked cookies, you won't have to bake an entire batch. If you want, you can bake only one or four in your toaster oven. (This is especially useful on One-Ring days when using the full oven is simply not an option.) Just follow the instructions you wrote on the outside of your bag.

Just put them in the toaster oven.

Oh yeah! Almost there...

Voila! Homemade, single-/quadruple-serve cookies.

Are you SURE they should cool first?

Delicious!

No. It totally came out of the oven that way. I swear!

I don't know how long they'll last in your freezer before they get freezer burnt. I did once forget about a bag I had (can you believe it?) and by the time I found them again half a year later, they were getting a little freezer burnt, so they won't last forever. But they'll last longer than they would in your fridge.

Gluten-Free Cinnabonbon Rolls

Oh yes. Cinnamon Rolls! Not only way easier than traditional, from-scratch cinnamon rolls, but gluten-free to boot. This is the stuff dreams are made of. Well, my dreams, anyway. Is this a copycat recipe to those cinnamon rolls from a certain popular shop? No. But it's on the way. These are GOOD, not just "good enough for gluten-free." They're simply good. And gooey. And yummy.

There are three parts to this recipe, and it does take a bit of time, but it's totally worth it. First part is the Dough. Second is the Filling. Third is the Frosting. I use weight measurements for dry ingredients bigger than a couple of tablespoons, in order to ensure consistency, which is super important in baking. If you love baking, you might want to consider investing in a kitchen scale. I use this one.

Okay. Enough chatter. On to the baking! Ready?

Do this the day before baking day...

The Dough

This dough recipe makes 2 lbs of bread dough, enough for two batches of cinnamon rolls, but the dough can sit in the fridge up to five days-- if you don't use it all up before then. OR you can freeze the dough in 1 lb servings for up to 3 weeks. (Defrost in the fridge the night before you bake.)

Challah recipe from Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoë François (One of my GF bibles.)

I strongly recommend making this dough the day before baking day, BUT it's SUPER easy and fast. (There's a reason they say it takes 5 minutes a day.)

455 g artisan bread flour (see below)
1/2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 Tbsp (heaping) Kosher salt
1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs, room temp
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, room temp

1. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add wet ingredients and mix all of it together. (This is easiest with a danish whisk, but you can use a spoon or your hands.) 
3. Cover (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temp until it rises (about 2 hours).
4. Once the dough has about doubled in size, cover to prevent moisture loss and pop it in the fridge to chill overnight. 

That's it! No punching, no kneading, no second rise, no dough hooks! You can use the dough immediately after the rise, but it'll be easier to handle if it's cold.

On baking day...

1. Set down wax paper on your work area and sprinkle with rice flour. (Not too much, because too much will dry out your dough, but not too little either, because then the dough will stick to the paper.) 
2. Scoop out about 1 lb of dough (half of the original recipe) and place it in the center of the wax paper. Sprinkle a bit more rice flour on top of the dough, and place another large piece of wax paper on top. 
3. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rough rectangle, where the dough is about 1/4" tall, and carefully remove the top wax paper. 

The Filling

Adapted from http://www.laurenslatest.com/my-cinnabon-cinnamon-rolls/

1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick), melted
125 g brown sugar (I use dark for more flavor)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sultana (light) raisins

1. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
2. Pour/spread the butter across the dough, leaving about 1 inch clean at one edge. (I recommend leaving a short edge clean, so that your buns will be short and wide-- unlike the tall, thin buns you see in the photos below.)
3. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over the butter and press it gently to moisten the sugar.
4. Scatter sultanas over the sugar.
5. Use the edge of the bottom wax paper on the non-clean side of your rectangle to help you roll the dough into a tight roll. (Note: Do not roll the wax paper into your roll. Just use it to help you handle the dough without touching/ripping it.)
6. Press the clean edge into the roll to seal it.
7. Using a sharp knife, cut the raggedy edges off either end of the cylinder.
8. Slice the cylinder into 8 even pieces. 
9. Prepare a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
10. Place the 8 sections, cut side up, onto the parchment paper. (I like to bake the raggedy edges for nibbling later.)
    
11. Cover the sections with saran wrap or parchment paper, and allow them to rest for about an hour. During this time, preheat your oven to 350F.
12. Remove cover and bake the rolls at 350F for about 25 minutes or until the rolls get a little golden.
13. Remove tray from oven and cool the entire tray on a cooling rack.

The Frosting

Adapted from http://bit.ly/1M5Z1bv  (Makes a double batch.)

4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp butter (1/2 stick), softened
98 g (3/4 cups) confectioners sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

1. While the cinnamon buns are cooling, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small mixing bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly using a hand mixer, until the frosting is smooth.
3. Spread over the cooling cinnamon rolls. (There will be plenty of extra.)

See? Ooey-gooey Heaven.

A single batch makes 8 heavenly cinnabonbon rolls. Enjoy! (Keep in an air-tight container, if they last more than a day-- They barely do in my house.)

Artisan Bread Flour Recipe

from Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoë François
(Seriously, run to your nearest bookseller or use the link above to go to Amazon, and get this book.)

1,020 g white rice flour 

455 g sorghum flour

225 g tapioca flour / starch

225 g potato starch (NOT potato flour)

40 g Xanthan gum OR ground psyllium husks 

(I use psyllium and I am quite happy with the result, but the Xanthan will give you better stretch.)

Mix thoroughly and store in a large, air-tight container.

Quesadillas

I know, I know, quesadillas are so easy.  All you do is take two tortillas, slap some cheese in between, and stick them in the microwave.  Right?  Right.

I make mine a little differently, and The Dude likes them, so I figured I share...

Ingredients:
2 tortillas, corn or flour
Trader Joe's Shredded Cheese
Butter

Instructions:
Apply a thin, thin layer of butter to one side of tortilla #1, and warm it it in a skillet.  Turn it over once it's a little crispy.  Place it on a plate.  Apply butter to tortilla #2, and after you turn it, add shredded cheese to the top.  I drop it in a circular motion, so that it doesn't all clump up.  Place tortilla #1 on top and add a sprinkling of cheese.  When the cheese in the center is just a little melted, turn over and add a sprinkling of cheese to the top.

What this does is makes for a crispy cheese tortilla -taste on the outside while the melty-gooey cheese is on the inside.

When it is to my crisp liking, I place it on the cutting board and cut into eight pieces.  The Dude gets 3-4 at a time, and the others pieces go into the fridge for another day.


Notes:

This is also delicious with chicken, although The Dude won't eat it if I make it that way.  You can use Marion's Amazing Salsa Verde Chicken, but make sure you have more salsa verde.

You don't have to use butter--it tastes fine and less rich without it.  

Breakfast Yogurt

Yogurt with honey.
I am out of fresh fruit today.

I eat yogurt for breakfast every day.  At least, I have for the past couple of months.  I'm sure I'll tire of it at some point, but until then... yogurt, it is.  It's filling, it's healthy, and it's really tasty.  Also, on normal days, it helps ensure that I get some fruit in me.  I've been stuck inside with a sick kid for four days, so that day is not today.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Trader Joe's plain Greek yogurt
Honey
Fresh fruit in season

Instructions:
Scoop yogurt into a bowl.  Drizzle honey on the yogurt.  Top with fruit.

Notes:
I ONLY use Trader Joe's Play Greek Yogurt.  It's the best yogurt I have ever tasted--thick, creamy, and tart.  I use full fat, because I don't like the idea of putting all the crap they have to put into low- or non-fat items to make them palatable, although this does list "non-fat milk" as an ingredient.

So.  Much.  Yum.

I put the honey on before I add the fruit because the fruit isn't what needs to be sweetened.

I use a lot of fruit.  I'll post another photo when I've been to the market and actually have fruit in the house.

You can tweak this by adding cereal, mixing different types of fruit, etc.

Yes, I do measure out half a cup.

Marion's Amazing Salsa Verde Chicken

My good friend Marion brings this in a crock pot to events and it's always a hit, so I wanted to try my hand at making it. She was gracious and gave me her recipe. It is the easiest recipe ever. And still I messed it up the first time by leaving it cooking in the crock pot for too long, which made the chicken dry. I also only used one scoop of coconut oil for five breasts (because I wasn't paying close attention to the recipe; I put everything together at 5:15 in the morning before I went to work that day.) and it just wasn't coconuty enough, although still delicious.  I served it atop rice.

This is great for leftovers, which may have been tastier than the meal we had the first night, since they had two days to marinade.

Ingredients:

Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde

Four large chicken breasts

One white onion

a bunch of cilantro

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 lime

Instructions:

Chop the onion into half rings and chop the cilantro into bits. Mix. I put them in a plastic baggie the night before, which made it easy to mix by squishing around, so that I wouldn't have to chop onions first thing in the morning. Rinse chicken.

Place one-third of the onion and cilantro mixture on the bottom of crock pot with one third of jar of salsa verde. Layer two chicken breasts on top. Add another layer of cilantro, onion, and salsa, and another layer of chicken breasts. Add the rest of the cilantro, onion, and salsa. Top with coconut oil and the juice of 1 lime

Cook at high 4-5 hours or low 7-8 hours.  

Can put shredded cheddar on top. I did not, the first time.

Notes:

Do not overcook!!!

* For five breasts use two onions if you like it oniony (I do!), 2 jars of salsa, 2 limes, 2 bunches of cilantro. But I like to use onion and cilantro as veggies in recipes like this, and I like sauce, so this is perfect for me.

Z prefers less onions. This is fine, because I ate them all.