maple syrup

Maple Walnut Whoopie Pies

September 21, 2013

You should totally make these for your dog walker when you leave your dog with her and her adorable family for 4 1/2 days and the idea is totally crushing you. Sure, you really need the vacation before you are cut off from flying and before a cute wiggly baby comes crashing into your heart. But the fact that he has NEVER been without either of you for even a day is freaking you out… A LOT.

So that is what I did. I made these the morning of our flight so that our super amazing dog walker and her family would have something to enjoy while our pup ‘terrorized’ her life. Hello, middle of the night pee walks!!! In fact I got up so early (crazy lady) that the dog didn’t even want to get up when I checked on him. So I got to make these in peace while he slept another hour. Again, I’m nuts!

Oh, you aren’t pregnant and crazy about leaving your dog? Then just make these for this weekend’s NASCAR race in New Hampshire since you can’t not have maple goodies while in New England. So you’re not a NASCAR fan and don’t follow along with my Sprint Cup Snacks? Then make these just because you deserve them.

You totally do.

These are light, spongy maple cookies that are studded with walnuts that sandwich a fluffy cream cheese frosting. Once you take a bite you will be transported right to the middle of the woods in New England with maple taps all around you. Kinda like a Klondike Bar experience. Kinda.

Maple Walnut Whoopie Pies

Makes 13-15 small whoopie pies

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring
2 large eggs
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Filling

8 ounces cream cheese
4 cups sifted glazing sugar OR confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Process

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line them with parchment paper.
For the cookies: Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and maple flavoring.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Scrap the bowl down between the addition of each egg.
Add in the dry ingredients until the mixture is evenly moistened.
Scrape the bowl again, then mix in the walnuts.
Scoop by the tablespoonful to make 26-30 (even # amount!) cookies onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2″ of space between each cookie.
Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly touched, and the edges are a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a rack before filling.
For the filling: Place the cream cheese and half of the confectioners’ sugar in a large mixing bowl, and beat at slow speed until the mixture is smooth.
Add the remaining sugar and the flavoring, and mix until the filling is a spreadable consistency.
Place a tablespoon of filling on the flat face a cookie then top off with another cookie, flat face towards the filling.

Slightly adapted from King Arthur

The Farm School Brunch with Boston Brunchers

April 1, 2012

I recently attended a brunch provided The Farm School of Athol with a group Boston Brunchers. Since Athol is nearly 2 hours away from Boston, the brunch was hosted by one of their supporters in Cambridge. It was so nice of the family to welcome the group of us into their lovely home.

While brunch was being prepared we got to hear about The Farm school including their farming, animal husbandry, CSA, and the programs they offer on their 130 acres, which is made of about 40 acres of open land and 90 acres of woods,

The Farm School has programs for visiting schools that allows them to hosts over 1,500 students every year. During their 3-day stays the students are “fully integrated into the farm operations, rising early for milking, tending to the garden, fields and forests, and helping to cook meals with the food they have harvested.” This allows them to learn about agriculture, sustainability, and themselves. Kids can also experience more through their camp program by attending week long sessions throughout the summer.

As well as the short term programs, they have their own onsite school for middle school aged children called the Chicken Coop School. The total class is 10-14 students and has 2 teachers, which helps the kids excel with extra attention and a curriculum that allows for hands on learning with an emphasis on critical thinking.

I was starting to feel a little discouraged about all these great programs for school aged children. How can I go there? Well I soon found out that they offer year long Learn to Farm program for adults who hope to have their own farm one day. During the year you learn about everything ranging from marketing, farm animals, forestry, and homesteading. One of the courses is about beekeeping… sign me up!! 🙂

Aside from learning all about The Farm School, I carefully watched them prepare our brunch. They provide daily meals for hundreds of students and staff so preparing brunch of us must have been a piece of cake.

When brunch was ready to be served we each took a seat at a lovely decorated series of tables. The tables were covered in canvas table clothes and there was a runner that ran the entire way. Mason jars filled with stalks of yellow forsythia made the table beautiful, as well as filling the room with a light floral scent. Each place setting was marked with a flyer and a handmade napkin. We each we able to take the napkins. Such a cute gift!

Our first course plates were fresh cut tree trunks. This provided a rustic look to brunch as well as sustainable place setting. Also served on the tree trunk plates were breads provided from Iggy’s Bread.

We started with 2 versions of bacon. I only ate the strip of maple bacon. The maple syrup glaze gave the piece of bacon a lovely sweet flavor. The baked on glaze also made the bacon extra crunchy, which I enjoyed since I don’t like very soft bacon. I gave my piece of thicker pork belly bacon to Price. While I am sure it was very good (he said it was) I knew I would not enjoy the texture of it (see above).

The main course was a poached egg on sliced pork schnitzel cutlets with sides of spinach and potato hash. The eggs are farm fresh and their flavor and color were very intense. I had never seen such a yellow egg before! Besides my million photos I took before diving in, I had to tweet a photo as well since I was so impressed. I loved the poached egg on the pork schnitzel. The egg was covered in a silky Hollandaise sauce (my favorite thing ever!). The pork was very lean, seasoned well, and cooked perfectly. The cooked spinach was so sweet and tender. I wish all spinach was like that. I didn’t love the Adirondack potato hash because I think it was a little plain but the color was fun.

Throughout the brunch we were able to sip on coffee, iced tea, and peach bellinis. To sweeten the iced tea we could use ice cubes that had a bit of maple syrup in them. I didn’t notice much maple flavor in my tea but I thought it was a very creative to try it. I loved the peach bellini because the fruit puree was so fresh. I know I will have to try this at home one day!

To round out the brunch, we were served a maple bread pudding made from Iggy’s bread and the maple syrup tapped on the farm’s property. The bread pudding was naturally sweet and very moist. I am always in awe of a bread pudding that achieves the balance of golden brown crunchy top, cooked middle, and soft consistent texture.

Their 2012 veggie CSA has just begun to take sign ups. The 21-week program runs from June to October and offers different options and pick up locations in Cambridge, Watertown, and Orange. And if a weekend CSA is not for you then check them out at the Belmont Farmers’ Market. The weekly market is on Thursdays from 1-7 at the Belmont Center Parking Lot. There you can pick up there in-season produce as well as all-natural meats, free-range eggs, and flowers.

I enjoyed the food so much that I know I will make a point of stopping by their farmer’s market one day after work. I huge thank you to the staff that prepared the meal and our lovely hosts that welcomed us into their home.

*While I did receive this complimentary brunch provided by The Farm School these opinions are entirely my own.

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Maple Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

January 23, 2011

I recently went to a new farmer’s market, Somerville Winter Market, and I picked up a bottle of pure maple syrup from Vermont. I just needed something to do with it, besides pancakes and waffles. Luck would have it that I came across a contest that required maple syrup to be incorporated into the recipe.

I bugged Price endlessly about what I should make… something sweet? something savory? make a bread? cake? dinner entree? sandwich? what????? I feel I went a little safe with the oatmeal cookie but it just works so well. A little drizzle of maple syrup works perfectly over a bowl of steaming hot oatmeal. So I went with the “keep-it-simple-stupid” approach when I decided to make a cookie.

These cookies are soft, chewy and studded with crunchy walnuts. The maple flavor is pronounced without being ‘Hey I’m a Maple Cookie!’. The taste reminds me of fall days. It is the perfect kind of cookie to enjoy with a glass of milk or cup of tea.

Maple Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

yields 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teapoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup pure maple syrup
4 cups quick cooking coats
1 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Process

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream together butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at at time, until combined. Add vanilla extract and maple syrup to butter mixture.
Mix the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Once the flour is incorporated, add the walnuts and oats and gently mix until combined.
Spoon 1 1/2 inch rounds on to baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Let cookies cool for 2 minutes prior to removing from sheet (otherwise they will crumble), let cool on a rack.

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Pineapple Cinnamon Pancakes

February 24, 2010

Pancakes with Grade B maple syrup (no butter)

In honor of National Pancake Day, Price and I had pancakes for dinner last night. I adapted a recipe for pineapple cinnamon pancakes from The Great Big Cookie Book by Hilaire Walden. Apparently pancakes fall under the scone and muffin category in a cookie book, who knew? Well I thought the combination of pineapple and cinnamon was interesting and would be good so I picked them as the pancake to try.

These pancakes turned out to be fluffy, thick, and flavorful. These pancakes were quite dense, which resulted in an airy sponge that soaked up our syrup. (awww we used syrup we got during a trip to VT for one of my birthday’s) Every bite was punctuated with bits of the crushed pineapple. I think that it could have used even more pineapple. The best is that there is little sugar and no butter or oil in the recipe making them a bit healthier and makes them light in texture.

coming together now

This is a large batch of pancakes. We purposefully make large batches of pancakes and waffles so we can freeze them and reheat them later on for a quick breakfast. Then freezing the pancakes separate them with pieces of wax paper before wrapping them up. Separating them will prevent them from becoming a block of pancakes and defrosting/reheating a lot easier.