Chocolate-Drizzled Oatmeal Shortbread

It's been a long and emotional 72 hours here in Boston. There isn't much to say that hasn't already been said. It's amazing how this city has come together and stayed incredibly strong. I'm not a die hard Boston fan like some of the people here in this city but I have to say that I've felt really proud this week to have called this place my home for the last seven years. Not because of the events that occurred but because of the way the people have reacted.

Monday was a scary day.  It was the first year since 2007 that I wasn't at the marathon cheering my Dad on.  Luckily, he and my aunt were already around the corner celebrating his finish at the Westin Hotel, so they were safe.  But those moments during a tragedy before you get in contact with loved ones and confirm they are okay make your mind go to all the worst scenarios. My heart truly goes out to all the victims and their families and, as so many have said, those are the people we will remember and not the bad guys.

You always feel shaken when events like this happen but it is a much more intense feeling when it happens in the place you call home.  Living and working in the area makes it that much more real and shakes you to the core. By nature I can be a very anxious person and in the last few days the best way I've been able to calm my nerves is to distract myself completely.  This world we live in today with hyper-connectivity allows so much information to be available at the touch of a button.  Twitter, Facebook and all social media outlets have been flooded with information and stories. I've had to make a point of putting my phone down, closing the computer and focusing on other things in order to not be consumed and stay calm this week.

This afternoon I took to the kitchen and chose these cookies to distract my mind for a few hours. The act of following a simple recipe can really put a mind at ease. This recipe is from The Sprouted Kitchen cookbook and I followed it exactly making no tweaks.  The dough comes together quickly; it is full of oats and lightly spiced with nutmeg.

The dough gets rolled in to a log and chilled for about an hour.  The cookies then get sliced, baked, drizzled with dark chocolate and flecked with sea salt. I received this lovely package of salt, along with some other pretty salts, from a good friend for my birthday and this was the first time I was able to make good use of them. Make these cookies, give them to loved ones and make sure to hug them a little tighter.

Chocolate-Drizzled Oatmeal Shortbread
from The Sprouted Kitchen cookbook

• 1 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temp
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 1/2 oz dark chocolate (60 to 72% cacao)
• Flaked sea salt for garnish

1. In a food processor pulse the oats to create a course flour. Set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla and egg.
3. Add the oat flour, all-purpose flour, salt and nutmeg and mix together. The dough will be thick.
4. Using your hands roll the dough in to a log, approximately 2-3 inches in diameter.
5. Roll the log up in parchment paper and chill in the fridge 1-2 hours.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. Slice the log in to 1/2 inch coins and spread them on the baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges are golden.
8. Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the cookies.  I did this by placing the melted chocolate in a ziploc bag and cutting the tip of it. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt over the cookies. The chocolate will take about 15-20 minutes to firm up.  Cookies can be stored for up to one week in airtight container.

PS: Follow me on Instagram: @michellekmartin

Cinnamon Chip Snowballs

Well, time got away from me there for about a month. Between dwindling daylight hours and a lack of enthusiasm after working marathon work weeks there hasn't been much thought to photographing after cooking or baking. There has still been lots of it, just not well documented. I've missed the camera but I think I'm back at it.

October ended with a weekend of friends, pizza, and pumpkin carving and last minute costumes for a Halloween party.  November then rolled in and weekends were full of being at work or being out of town on the occasion that there was no work. We went to Woods Hole in Cape Cod fin early November and virtually had the whole place to ourselves.  We took a long, dark drive there on a Friday night where we found ourselves situated in a corner room with a king sized bed. We awoke to sunshine and views of the ocean and spent the next two days bundling up, exploring, drinking margaritas, relaxing and ending it all with a 16 mile winding bike ride along the southern part of Cape Cod.

November Instagrams (@michellekmartin)

Thanksgiving came and went and was full of family and delicious food and now we are officially in the second week of December and we still don't have a Christmas tree but it's on the agenda for this weekend (hopefully!)

In the meantime, to get in the spirit of Christmas without having the time to fully decorate I've made these snowball cookies. The cookies have just a few ingredients and they are perfect to make them in to whatever you'd like based on preferences or simply whatever's in your pantry. I used these cookies as an opportunity to clean out the last of a few baking odds and ends. Whatever add ins you choose to use, these cookies turn out as festive little bites.

Cinnamon Chip Snowballs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup flour, spooned and leveled
• 1 cup nuts (I used 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup slivered almonds)
• 1 cup chips (I used 1/2 cup cinnamon chips and 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks)

1. Beat together vanilla, water, sugar, and butter. Once well combined add in the flour.
2. Fold in nuts and chips
3. Form in to 1 inch balls and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Hazelnut Dark Chocolate Cookies

The idea for these cookies began while I was staring at a bag of hazelnuts that's been sitting in the pantry for about 6 months.  They were bought and used in a couple of recipes but we discovered maybe we don't like hazelnuts.  At least not as raw nuts by themself. Nutella is probably the one hazelnut based thing that I like, and probably so much so because it's paired with chocolate.  Anyway, these cookies were inspired by that bag of hazelnuts that had no use and a love of Nutella.  

The hazelnuts were toasted and ground into a meal that was used, along with whole wheat pastry flour, as the base of the cookie.  A few simple other ingredients and these cookies turned out perfect.  They remind me of the chocolate chip cookies my mom makes, which are perfect every time, but these have that little something different.  Next time you are thinking of chocolate chip cookies - give these ones a try. 

They bake up tiny, perfectly nutty, and loaded with dark chocolate.  I made them on a recent day off and they were the exact thing that a dreary and rainy week day needed-the smell of toasted nuts and butter wafting through the apartment. 

Hazelnut Dark Chocolate Cookies

adapted from Nestle Toll House recipe

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup hazelnut meal
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 1 egg & 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 1 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

1. To make hazelnut meal: toast one cup of hazelnuts in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as you don't want them to burn.  Once they are toasted, remove, and place in a dish towel to remove skins.  It's okay if some of the skins are left on.  Once you have removed the skins place hazelnuts in a food processor and process until they have a flour/meal like consistency.  Be careful not to over process as it will start to turn into hazelnut butter. 
2. Brown your butter.  Place butter in a pan over med-high heat, stirring occasionally until you begin to see small brown flecks and it gives off a nutty aroma; approximately 10-20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
3. Whisk together flours, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
4. Once butter has cooled whisk together with sugar in a mixing bowl.  Add eggs and vanilla extract.  
5. Once all your wet ingredients are mixed, add your dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Roll dough into one inch balls and bake at 350 for about 7 minutes.