Grinding Sprouted Wheat - an actual near disaster

As I mentioned a few blogs ago, I have undertaken the sprouting & grinding of my own wheat for flour, to meet the requirements of the Body Chemistry Diet that I am undertaking with my housemate.  There are three major steps to the process: sprouting, dehydrating, and grinding.  The sprouting element is the most lengthy one, and after that the dehydrating adds another day to the process--as, to grind the wheat berries they have to be completely dried out--while the grinding itself is fairly simple but potentially difficult.

The first time I undertook this sprouting-drying-grinding adventure, the flour turned out coarse but usable enough.  Drama arose when the cookies all melded into one giant pan-sized cookie.  The problem was that, in order to make the peanut butter cookie recipe we were after, we had to substitute honey for sugar--and in so doing, we doomed our cookies to excessive runny-ness.  We couldn't add more sprouted-grain flour ... because we didn't have any more.  The cookies tasted fine, but I won't be posting the recipe until I can find a way to make them look palatable (and cookie-ish).  We enjoyed them with full glasses of milk and a few episodes of Castle, our current TV-show obsession.  (I mean, come on!  A writer and a cop team up to tackle crazy crimes?  It's like NCIS, but with a literary nerd bent!)

Tonight we ground some more flour, about a cup worth.  Actually, we quadruple-ground the berries this time, producing a much, much finer texture.  I'm eying the potential of a small cinnamon-roll bake thing.  We'll see if I end up going that direction-or end up making muffins.

RECIPE: Gingersnaps

It's that time of year.  I cracked open my spice cabinet and felt the need for something rich and spicy and ... with just the perfect amount of crunch.

I have a rather large spice cabinet, by the way.  It's getting larger, too, despite my vow to not buy more than I need.  Apparently, I need quite a few.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon garam masala
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour
granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS

Beat butter and shortening together with an electric mixer.  Add the 3/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices.  Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure you get all the butter into the mix.  Beat in the egg and molasses, then beat in the flour.  If you're using an electric hand mixer, you may have to do some of the beating by hand.  KitchenAid and other upright mixers won't have much trouble, even though the dough becomes incredibly thick.

Cover and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place sugar in a small bowl.  Shape dough into 1-inch balls.  Roll the balls in the sugar and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet (or a foiled one, as I do).

Bake 8-10 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are crackled and the edges firm.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

(Yield: approximately 50 gingersnaps)

VERDICT:

These cookies were, as always, a bit of an experiment.  I like my cookies to be very flavorful, and spicy almost to the point of endurance.  Don't worry, I always tone them down for public consumption.  And these will be consumed publicly, as I'm taking them in to work tomorrow.  They have a nice bite--the ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon lend the usual richness of flavor, but the cardamom and garam masala give the cookies a little extra punch.  Really, they're quite delectable.  Crunchy on the outside ... and soft on the inside.  Purr-fection.

Thick & Chewy Suicide Chocolate Cookies

You have been begging me for this recipe for years (you know who you are, *coughLINDSAYcough*).  This recipe has long been one of my favorites and was a great favorite amongst both the men and women of the Ministry House both years I lived there.  I sometimes call these whompers suicide cookies, because you eat one and you're in heaven.  The end.

I made them last week; we polished them off this morning.  I will make more later this week to send in care packages & the like, so I will  post pictures of them then.

THICK AND CHEWY SUICIDE CHOCOLATE COOKIES


(adapted with much love from Baking Illustrated)

MAKES 35. MAYBE. THEY'RE EPIC.


Notes:

• I recommend using parchment paper for this recipe, or at least covering the pan with foil. The undersides of these cookies are so soft that, if you need to use the same pan multiple times or you need to transfer the cookies quickly for some other reason, they will fall apart.

• Large spring-loaded ice-cream scoops were designed for these cookies. 

• Resist the urge to bake the cookies longer than indicated; they may appear under baked at first, but they will firm up as they cool—and the centers should be soft in any case.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups (10 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour

½ cup (1 ½ oz) cocoa powder (Dutch-processed if you can find it)

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

16 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder (optional)

10 Tbsp (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool

1 ½ cups packed (10 ½ oz) light brown sugar

½ cup (3 ½ oz) granulated sugar

1 bag Andes Mints, Reeses Miniature Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey Kisses, or other meltable candies.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix (or sift) the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Melt the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl—either over a pan of almost-simmering water (stirring once or twice until smooth) or in the microwave—and remove from heat. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla with a fork (OPTIONAL: sprinkle the coffee powder over to dissolve) and set aside.

3. Beat the butter at medium speed (or by hand, if you’re brave) until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds on the mixer. Beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds. The mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is scoopable and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop the dough with a 1 ¾-inch ice cream scoop, spacing the scoops about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.

6. Unwrap your Andes Mints or candy of choice and place one piece in the center of each dough scoop. Press firmly, until the dough rises above the candy on all sides. Gently shape the dough over the candy until completely covered—this is important to keep the candy from burning.

7. Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes—and rotate the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets about 10 minutes, slide the parchment with cookies onto wire racks, and cool to room temperature. Use new parchment paper for the second round of cookies. Remove cooled cookies from the parchment with a wide metal spatula.

8. Devour.  Gracefully.