Thumbprint Cookies with Homemade Apricot Jam and Walnuts

From my summer jamming efforts, I have several jam jars in my fridge that didn't seal. I've been slowing eating my way through them on toast and PB+J sandwiches, but one person can only eat so much jam! 

Then I thought of the wonderful idea to make thumbprint cookies to use up the jam! 

Thumbprint Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs, seperated 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup walnuts (hazelnuts, almonds or pecans would also be fine), toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup apricot jam (any jam would be fine as well!)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. To toast the nuts: spread nuts on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden-brown in colour and fragrant. Watch out - these cook fast! Let cool completely, and then chop finely by hand. 
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract, and beat until combined. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just combined. 
5. In a small bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy. Place the chopped walnuts on a plate. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Dip the dough into the egg white, and then lightly roll on the walnuts. Place on the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Using a wooden spoon, make a indentation in the center of each cookie and fill with a dollop of jam. 
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cookies are set and have nicely browned. 

Zucchini Chocolate-Chip Walnut Loaf and Muffins

A few weekends back, Thomas and I made a trip out to his parent's house in Glen Valley. His parents grow a variety of herbs, vegetables and fruit on their property. Apart from some delicious blackberries and apples that we picked, his mom gave me a summer zucchini the size of about my arm. 

I've never been a big fan of zucchini, probably due to the fact that I don't really know what to do with it. So faced with a huge zucchini that I really didn't want to see go to waste, I decided to bake with it. My big inspiration was the vegan zucchini chocolate-chip muffins that are sold at JJ bean. Their muffins are moist, nutty, chocolate-y and delicious - so delicious that you forget that there is even zucchini in them! 

I found a recipe for a zucchini chocolate-chip loaf smitten kitchen which looked yummy, so I decided to give it a shot! 

Zucchini Bread
(I've made a few adjustments to the smitten kitchen recipe)

Yield: 2 loaves or approximately 24 muffins

3 eggs 
3/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup sugar 
3 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour (next time I would use a mixture of whole wheat flour and all-purpose) 
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, plus 1/3 cup to sprinkle on top
1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour loaf pans and muffin tin. 

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk. Mix in oil and sugar, then zucchini and vanilla.

3. Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt, as well as nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried fruit, if using. Stir this into the egg mixture. Divide the batter into prepared pans, or muffin tins. 

4. Bake loaves for 60 minutes, plus or minus ten, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Muffins will bake far more quickly, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.

Broccoli Mushroom Popovers

These fluffy, nutty, cheesy, broccoli-y popovers are also coined "poor people's brioche," or, as I like to call them, "puffy pillows of perfection."

I would highly recommend doubling the popover section of the recipe to optimize the tastiness of the end result!

Stuffed Popovers

(adapted from vegetarian cookbook Horn of the Moon)

Popovers:

2 T butter, melted

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp honey

1 cup all-purpose flour

Filling:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 T butter, melted

3 cups chopped broccoli

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups cheese (I use a mozza-cheddar mix!)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put melted butter, eggs, milk, salt, honey and flour in a food processor and mix until smooth.

2. Butter a 12-hole muffin tin and fill each cup half full with popover batter.

3. Bake for 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake popovers another 10 to 15 minutes more until lightly browned.

4. Take out of oven and immediately make a 1-inch slit across the top of each popover. Now gently go around the edge of each popover with a wide-edged knife. Lift up the sides and bottom of each one until free. Tilt onto its side in muffin tin and allow to cool.

5. On a cookie sheet, roast walnuts 5 minutes in the oven and set aside.

6. In melted butter, saute the broccoli, garlic and herbs in a 10-inch fry pan over medium heat. When broccoli turns bright green and tender, add mushrooms and salt. Continue to cook over medium heat until mushrooms are done. Remove from heat.

7. In a medium bowl, combine broccoli mixture, walnuts and cheese.

8. Make an opening in each popover (where slit is) and stuff with the broccoli-cheese filling until all the popovers are filled.

9. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes!

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins

I got this recipe off of Martha Stewart Living. The original recipe called for blueberries, but I substituted them for walnuts and chocolate chips, for obvious reasons! My dad claims that these are the best muffins in the world! :-)

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

3 ripe bananas

1/3 cup skim milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a bowl, whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In another bowl, mash bananas with a fork; stir in milk and vanilla.

3. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips.

4. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more.