Nutella No-Bake Cookies… improvised edition.

Tags

birthday, chocolate, cookies, no-bake, nutella, oatmeal, oats, peanut butter, The Netherlands, wheat

This past week was one of my friends’ birthdays. My other friend, Molly Weasley, and I wanted to make it special for her. We’re in The Netherlands, in a dorm with no oven, so I couldn’t bake her a cake. So we found the next-best thing: no-bake cookies.

And one thing of which there is definitely no shortage here is Nutella.

So we tried to base the cookies on this recipe. However, we had to make some adjustments because, well, we’re in The Netherlands.

First problem: reading labels.

We tried to buy oatmeal. Apparently that doesn’t really exist here. So what we thought might be oatmeal was actually wheat flakes.

They also use a different measuring system here. 6 tablespoons of butter? Let’s attempt to convert that into grams.

Thank goodness for Google.

…then Molly cut it with a spoon because we were too lazy to go get a knife from another room.

Next we realized we had no measuring cups. Thankfully, I had saved a plastic container from the market (formerly containing delicious pesto) that said it holds 350ml, so back to Google we went. We found out that 350ml is about 1.5 cups. And we measured everything in it.

So finally we got started.

1. In a medium to large saucepan, melt 6 tbsp. (about 85 g) butter over medium to medium-low heat. Add 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder and mix until combined.
2. Stir in 1/2 cup peanut butter and 1-1/2 cups Nutella until melted. 
3. Add the oats or wheat flakes (we didn’t measure, just added them until it looked solid enough).
4. Remove from stove. Continue mixing until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
5. Working quickly, shape balls of dough and place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan (or a plate).
6. Refrigerate while you melt some chocolate with more butter. 
7. Heat about 1/8 cup milk and, when hot, add to the chocolate. Stir until smooth, then drizzle on cookies.
8. Refrigerate for thirty minutes or until firm.

Happy birthday, friend!

Dutch Treats

Tags

cheese, coffee, cookies, crepes, Dutch treats, Leiden, muggles abroad, pancakes, pasta, savory, speculoos, sweet, The Netherlands, veggies

Hallo! Madam Rosmerta here.

I am currently studying abroad in Leiden, the Netherlands (Nederland). I have been here for less than a week, but I already have some exciting food adventures to share with you all!

The main thing I’ve learned so far is that the Dutch love their pastries – and they’re very good at making them.

You know those Biscoff/Speculoos cookies that are all the rage in the foodie community right now? They’re Dutch.

Also, buy a coffee anywhere in Leiden and it comes in a little dixie-cup. Nothing bigger. Except at the one Starbucks in town, at the train station. But the coffee is very strong and satisfying, so I have never really felt the need for more.

Tip: Koffie verkeerd (literally “incorrect coffee”) is coffee with steamed milk, like a café au lait in the U.S. But it’s closer to a latte, because it’s so strong.

The first night we arrived, we went to Oudt Leyden – ‘t Pannekoekenhuysje (the Pancake House) for some delicious and HUGE crepe-like pancakes.

This one had warm cherries, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. It was sublime. It was 12 euros (they ranged from €7 to €15), which is on the cheaper side of average for a dinner here, but expensive for a college muggle’s budget, so I would recommend it once in a while.

Similar, but much cheaper, are the crepes.

I got this nutella & banana crepe from a little stand at the biweekly outdoor market in the center of Leiden. It was a third of the price of the pancake, and still a wonderful treat. They had various fillings – fruits, spreads, liqueurs, even Kinder® chocolate!

At the same market, I acquired this haul:

Fruits & veggies, garlic and chives, a loaf of whole grain bread, and a half-kilo wedge of good quality cheese, all for around €16, or $22. The cheese is “Geitenkaas met Koriander” (goat cheese with coriander) and it’s absolutely fabulous, even for someone who doesn’t particularly love cheese.

Then a trip to the grocery store for staples and seasonings (Nutella is a staple, right?) for €14, and I’m set for a while.

This is definitely the way to go when living on a budget in Europe. Although there are many interesting-looking items labeled in Dutch that I would like to try, I decided to stick to what I know for now. (Spaghetti = spaghetti, apple = appel, paprika = paprika. Phew!) And I forced myself to pass up the chocolate speculoos spread. Yes, it’s a thing here.

Fun fact: Peanut butter is called “pindakaas”, which literally means “peanut cheese”.

When you’re on a budget, be creative to avoid getting bored! To use my new groceries, I made this the first night:

Sautéed mushrooms, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and potato chunks with paprika, garlic and chives

And this the second night:

Garlicky cherry tomato & mushroom pasta with goat cheese

Tomorrow night, I’ll use the zucchini, the red pepper, the rest of the huge carrot, my last 2 mushrooms, another potato and/or some brown rice – I might borrow some soy sauce from a friend and make an asian-style stir fry, or just keep using my own spices for flavor, but either way it will be a new and different meal!

If you get bored with the same foods over and over, you can still get by with minimal ingredients as long as you get a bit creative. Buy a few versatile spices/seasonings and vary your ingredients until you have used them all up. If you eat meat, you can also buy different meats to pair with the veggies and grains each night.

If you don’t get bored easily, and you don’t particularly love to cook, get bulk packages of meat and/or veggies and/or grains, cook a huge batch, and save the leftovers in tupperware. For example, one of my dorm-mates bought a big pack of beef and a jar of curry sauce, cooked all of the beef in the sauce, put some over rice for his dinner tonight, then stored the rest for his next few meals.

Another tip for caffeine-loving muggles like Bathilda & me:

A little pour-over brewer. Small, easy to pack and clean, and makes decent coffee! I bought the cheapest coffee at the supermarket, so it’s not fantastic, but it does the trick. That entire bag of coffee cost 2 euros, which would only get me 2 cups of coffee at a café. It’s worth the extra few minutes it takes to boil water.

And, um… according to whoever supplies dishes to my dorm, this is supposedly a soup bowl.

It’s maybe the size of my smallest coffee mug in the U.S. I told you portions are small in Europe. Except for the pancakes, apparently.

Thanks for reading! I hope this will help you out if you ever visit the Netherlands or Western Europe. I’ll be back soon to talk about savory foods! Meanwhile, I feel right at home – there’s even a castle in Leiden!

Tot ziens!

Crunch Time Cookies

Tags

chocolate, chocolate chip, cookies, crunch time, espresso beans, finals, oatmeal, oats, peanut butter, pretzel M&Ms

Happy Holidays, D.R.A.G.O.N.S., from both of us at Muggle Food and our friend Diana of Culinary Gradventures!

Harry and his friends visit Hogsmeade for a butterbeer and some Honeydukes treats at the end of the term. Unfortunately, we can’t do that, so we started our own end-of-term tradition.

We call them Crunch Time Cookies — because we always make them at “crunch time” (the beginning of finals), and the cookies have a special crunch!

What’s the secret?

Pretzel M&Ms and chocolate covered espresso beans!

And a healthy dose of oats and peanut butter to provide protein and fiber to fill you up and keep your brain going strong.

We have now made these cookies three times, at the end of each of our three semesters. Each time we have used a different base cookie recipe. The first time, they were very flat and chewy. They looked like this:

The second time they were much puffier but became dry and hard rather quickly.

This last time was our favorite yet! We based them on these cookies, doubled with some alterations. They turned out fabulously soft and chewy, hearty, sweet and salty, with just enough crunch. This cookie gets an A+ in our book.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 sharing size (2.83 oz.) bags of pretzel M&Ms
• 2 cups chocolate covered espresso beans

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.

1. In another bowl, cream together butter and peanut butter until completely smooth.
2. Beat in granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until fluffy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combined.
4. Stir in oats.
   
5. Gradually add in the flour and oats and stir until combined.
6. Add the chocolate chips, pretzel M&Ms, and espresso beans. Mix well.  
7. Roll the dough out into balls and place about two inches apart on a baking sheet.
8. Bake for 10 minutes or until they begin to look golden brown and slightly firm. Do not overbake! Let cool on baking sheets for at least 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks.

Make these and ace your exams. It’s crunch time!

Wizards in Winter

Tags

banana, chocolate, chocolate chip, coffee cake, muffins, streusel, winter

Winter has arrived in all its glory. Classic music everywhere; peppermint mochas (for Bathilda) and gingerbread lattes (for Rosmerta) in red paper cups; mittens and scarves; thick sweaters; clementines; flurries of snow; and pretty lights.

Harvard Square

Winter also brings stressed students with finals and essays consuming their every waking moment (stay tuned for our famous finals cookies, coming soon!) So we did what any half-crazed, sleep-deprived students would do: put up bright colorful lights, blasted Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and made our lights dance!

We also made banana muffins. Fun fact: mashing bananas is a great stress reliever. In the holiday spirit of giving, Rosmerta will be giving away some of the muffins to her coworkers. But we’re keeping some too, because hungry college students need study food.

Banana Coffee Cake Muffins with Chocolate Chip Streusel

(adapted from The Moonlight Baker) Ingredients: 2-1/2 C. semi sweet chocolate chips 1-1/3 C. (packed) brown sugar 2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (divided) 3 C. all purpose flour 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1-1/2 C. sugar 1 C. unsalted butter, room temp. 2 large eggs 2-2/3 C. mashed banana (about 6 regular bananas, we used 7 small) 1/2 C. sour cream or plain greek yogurt, room temp. 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a muffin tin with muffin liners. Mash your bananas until soft but slightly chunky. Little banana chunks in the muffins are delicious! In a bowl, stir together chocolate chips, brown sugar, and 2 Tbsp. cinnamon in a small bowl.  Set aside. Mix flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter, and eggs in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in mashed banana, sour cream or yogurt, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and blend well. Fill each muffin cup half way with batter.  Top generously with streusel. Spoon remaining batter over streusel layer. Top  each muffin generously with remaining streusel. Bake 28 – 34 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack. Yields 24 Muffins

Eat one warm with a glass of milk, and take a break from it all for a while. Enjoy the beauty of winter, and have a little fun. P.S. We would like to point out that we go to the nerdiest, best school ever. This is drawn in chalk on a building near our beloved Castle:

Two Weeknight Treats

Tags

apples, balsamic, caramel, crostini, muffins, pumpkin, ricotta, toasts, vinegar, weeknight, white chocolate

One of the great and terrible things about college is that you’re at school all. the. time.

Terrible because you can’t escape the looming academic buildings that remind you that you should be studying right now. You can’t escape that person from that one class who always, without fail, asks you about the homework. And you see professors outside of class, which is always awkward for both parties (my professor relatives agree).

But it’s wonderful because you’re always near your friends. So you can study together, go to the dining hall together, or just hang out. Any time.

And as long as you don’t have too much to do, that means that you can be social and have a good time even on weeknights. And do spontaneous cooking projects.

Our friend D of Culinary Gradventures has a kitchen in her suite, so we all got together to make pumpkin white chocolate muffins one Tuesday night. While we waited for them to bake, we drank peppermint hot cocoa and studied. Best Tuesday night I’ve had in a long time.

The next night (a Wednesday), because of a canceled club event, Bathilda and I made Toasts with Ricotta and Warm Balsamic-Caramel Apples… just for ourselves.

They were definitely weeknight-friendly (simple and not too time consuming). All you have to do is:

Slice up some bread and apples. Spread butter on the bread and melt some more in a skillet, then add the apples to the skillet and cook until soft.

Add sugar, water, and balsamic vinegar to the skillet. Cook until caramelized. You may have to pour off some of the liquid if it’s too soupy.

Toast the bread in an oven set to broil for 1 minute or less (we slightly burned some of them, so be careful!)

Spread your soft cheese on each slice of bread (the recipe calls for ricotta, but we think that goat cheese would be better to add complexity and contrast to the sweetness)…

…then top with your apples and any caramel left on the bottom of the pan.

Enjoy!

Recommended with a cup of coffee to cut the sweetness. But maybe go for decaf and get some sleep, because it’s a weeknight.

Happy cooking, college muggles!

Know Your Limits.

Tags

apples, college life, egg, experiment, fail, failure, limits, mustard, sweet potato

Dear college students and others with limited means,

One day you will be perusing food blogs / recipe websites, and you will come across something beautiful that you absolutely must have. Like this:

source: Verses from my Kitchen (http://www.versesfrommykitchen.com/2011/04/apple-sweet-potato-cakes-with-poached-egg-and-sweet-mustard-sauce.html)

You will think, Hey, I have all of those ingredients! Except for the onion, but who needs that?… and the white wine vinegar, but I have apple cider vinegar… and the lemon juice, but who needs that either?

And you will decide to make it immediately.

You will gather your materials and ingredients, and realize that you don’t have a grater. That’s okay, you think, I’ll just cut it julienne-style! So you do.

Well, you’ll try.

Then you’ll confidently mix up the dressing, sans lemon juice. So far so good.

You’ll add the rest of your ingredients to the “julienned” sweet potatoes and apples. You’ll promptly realize that they are nowhere near small enough and that this is not even close to the proper consistency for a potato pancake.

So you’ll dump it in the pan without oil and just call it hash.

Mmm.

Then you’ll realize that there was supposed to be an egg component.

So you’ll make some room in the pan, scramble the eggs, and dump them in.

You’ll wonder why it looks like something halfway between hamburger helper and vomit. But you can’t give up now! You’ll add a little more salt and pepper and let it finish cooking.

Alright, you’ll think, a new type of breakfast hash. For dinner. Yeah. It smells pretty good, it can’t be too bad. And it’s healthy!

And you’ll drizzle dressing on it and eat it, and it will be quite edible. Almost tasty. But definitely odd.

And that’s how something that is supposed to look like this…

…will end up looking like this.

After all, we’re only muggles.

When in Doubt, Make Cookies

Tags

chocolate, cookies, espresso beans, midterms, oreo, stress, tests

Greetings D.R.A.G.O.N.S!

We have had a busy few weeks. Midterms have come upon us and the many long nights full of Markovnikov reactions, term papers, and  increased caffeine consumption have found their way into our already busy lives. Worry not, we have a secret weapon to combat the ills of midterms–chocolate! Chocolate is always the answer.

The answer. Always.

As college muggles we have limited time and resources to bake with, but these cookies embody everything easy about baking–we didn’t even make the cookie dough ourselves (egads!). And the best part, these cookies are completely customizable–add whatever you have lying around.

We decided to use crushed Oreos and chocolate covered espresso beans (we wouldn’t have survived midterms without these little morsels of caffeinated goodness).

Form your cookie dough into reasonable sized spheres (feel free to buy your preferred brand or use your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough recipe) and add in your goodies. In this case, crushed Oreos and chocolate covered espresso beans.

Bake as directed.

Enjoy with good company (whether that’s a person or a textbook) and a cold glass of milk.

To everything, there is a season

Tags

apples, autumn, bread, fall, panzanella, salad, savory, squash, sweet potato

If you haven’t figured it out by now, we get really excited about squash and sweet potatoes and apples.

Really excited.

Last weekend, we made an excursion to the Food Truck Throwdown, Boston vs. New York.

There, we experienced Roxy’s Fall Melt: grilled cheese made with roasted sweet potatoes, cinnamon roasted apples, raisins, and vermont cheddar.

Needless to say, it’s vying with our strawberry & chocolate grilled cheese for best sandwich of all time.

It reminded us of the salad we made a few weeks ago based on this recipe, once again from How Sweet It Is (we promise we didn’t intend to post so many How Sweet recipes on this blog, it just happened that way… our blog-crush just has really good taste.)

It also contains roasted sweet potatoes, apples, and bread. Yes, bread. In a salad. Call it a panzanella if you want.

This salad is fall on a plate.

“Autumn On A Plate” Salad

makes about 6 servings, depending on the size of the squash and sweet potatoes

What you’ll need:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small butternut squash
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 2 apples, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3-4 cups fresh arugula
• 4-5 thick slices multigrain bread, cut into chunks

Pomegranate Vinaigrette:

• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/4 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• pinches of salt, pepper & nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix salt, pepper, chili powder, cinnamon, and garlic powder in a small bowl.

Peel the squash and sweet potatoes, scoop out the squash, and chop all of them into cubes.

In a large bowl, mix sweet potato and squash chunks, then drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil on top and mix to coat with your hands. Add about 3/4 of the spice mixture, and mix again to coat.

Lay on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, flipping once.

Meanwhile, chop up your apples. We used Honeycrisps, our favorite!

After 20 minutes, toss apple chunks with remaining spice mixture. Add apple to the baking sheet and bake for another 25 minutes, tossing once or twice.

While the apples and squash bake, cube your bread.

When squash and apples are tender and roasty (that is now a word because I say so), take them out…

…then put bread chunks on the baking sheet. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden and crispy.

Meanwhile, make your dressing. Combine mustard, honey, pomegranate juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and olive oil in a plastic container, then shake it up!

Place arugula on a plate. Top with roasted veggies and apples and bread cubes. Drizzle lightly with vinaigrette.

Pour yourself a mug of cider, grab a fork, and take a bite of pure autumn bliss.

Now this is a salad that every fall-lover can get excited about.

College Muggle Pasta

Tags

college food, pasta, sauce, savory, tomato, vegetarian, veggies

This post is for our fellow college muggles, and others with limited resources.

I’d like to share a great way to make a cheap, easy, healthy, and filling vegetarian pasta! Courtesy of my good friends K and A, who basically cooked the whole thing while I stood around taking photos and discussing methods. Thanks K and A!

The proud chefs!

What you need:

• your favorite pasta
• your favorite pasta sauce
• your favorite vegetables (or whatever is available) — we used cherry tomatoes and broccoli
• eggs (1 per person)
• a cooking pot big enough for the pasta
• a strainer, or a plate big enough to cover the pot
• a bowl or plate for the sauce, or another pot if you have one
• a knife and a spoon

That’s it!

Here’s what you do.

First, make the sauce:

Cut up your veggies. Put your canned/jarred sauce in the pot, add your veggies and a little bit of water if you like your sauce thinner, and simmer on medium-low heat until heated through and vegetables are tender. Transfer to a bowl/plate if you don’t have another pot for the pasta.

Next, make your pasta. Rinse out your pot and add pasta and enough water to more than cover the pasta, and cook according to package directions.

Meanwhile, play music and dance. Ignore the weird looks from people passing by.

When the pasta is almost done (less than 5 minutes left), crack your eggs into the pot. When it is done, it will look something like this.

If you don’t have a strainer, press a plate against the pot to keep the good stuff in and let the water drain out, like so:

Add the sauce back into the pot, and stir it up until everything is nice and hot! Serve and enjoy.

College food!

I promise it tastes better than it looks. And I guarantee that this is better than dining hall food. Plus, if you share with friends and each chip in an ingredient or two (pasta, sauce, eggs, veggies) it is quite cheap! Happy eating, muggles!

Autumn at Hogwarts

Tags

apple, autumn, bars, castle, cider, fall, food, le, leaves, nature, Photos, pumpkin

Happy autumn, D.R.A.G.O.N.S.!

We live for fall. We wait impatiently for the first turned leaf, and we watch with glee as the landscape turns from simple green to a sea of oranges, yellows, and reds. We happily pull out our favorite sweaters to welcome the cooler weather.

A few days ago was the official first day of fall! So today, in honor of our favorite season, we thought we’d give you a small taste of our lives.

To us, autumn means this:

And this:

Meet our coffeemaker, Helga! She is now equipped with fall-flavored K-Cups.

And this:

Fresh apple cider!

And these:

Recipe here.

And this:

Recipe here. Highly recommended with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Speaking of which, this is the common room in our beloved castle, where we do most of our cooking:

That’s our tiny kitchen on the left!

There’s a bathroom that you can only get to through the kitchen. Weird.

There’s a fireplace in the middle of the common room, but I don’t think we’re allowed to use it. No floo powder traveling for us.

But we like to sit near it and feel regal.

There are also couches, from which people have stolen almost all of the cushions.

There’s some interesting ivy on the windows.

And we found Harry’s cupboard under the stairs!

 Enjoy the season, fellow muggles. Breathe the crisp, fall air. Fill your cupboards with all things squash, and enjoy the flavors fall has to offer.  And most importantly, find your fall bliss…we found ours.

P.S. Stay tuned for more fall recipes to come!