Sweet Potato Brownie Adventures

Want a tray of brownies without my delirious rambling?

Click here for my melt-in-your-mouth sweet potato brownies recipe.

Otherwise, prepare to read about my adventure in sweet potato brownies™.

Earlier this year I posted a recipe for Sweet Potato Brownies. It was an on-the-whim type of recipe that I made once, decided was good enough, and posted. They were good brownies, super melty and soft with lots of chocolate flavor, but they had a notable starchiness from the sweet potato that I couldn’t get over. Eventually I put the post on private and forgot about it.

Then yesterday I was hit with an uncontrollable and explainable desire to make the damn best sweet potato brownies, so I picked myself off the couch and went to the store to buy sweet potatoes.

Batch 1:

• “These taste really good but they’re a bit…I don’t know…gummy?” my mom says

My motivation grows stronger. I decide some kind of fruit puree might add moistness, better yet, carrot puree which I find more mild than applesauce, and that the food processor likely overworked the sweet potato. Fork mashing it is.

Batch 2:

• Much better texture….but what was that I tasted…..a hint of….gumminess?

They are good, but I am on a quest for the best. By this point I am also running out of maple syrup. I decide to start making half batches.

I go to sleep, dreaming of sweet potato brownies.

The next day I start immediately after work. I double the oil to 2 tbs (1/4 cup if I were making full batches), and mash the sweet potatoes with it, like when making mashed potatoes, thinking this will prevent the starch from “developing”.

Batch 3:

• The dough has that characteristic starchy pull to it. ‘Oh no’ I think.
• Maybe there’s too much sweet potato in the batter?
• I am pleasantly surprised, despite 3.5 ounces of sweet potato in the batter, the final brownies have a great texture: soft, fudgy, and a bit chewy (in a good non starchy way)
• “Oh I like these ones”my mom says

But I’m not finished yet. I decide to see what happens when I reduce the amount of sweet potato. I reduce it from 3.5 to 1.5 ounces and mash the sweet potatoes with a tsp of oil. I reduce the oil in the batter back down to 1 tablespoon.

Batch 4:

• The dough is much more liquid-y than the other batches.
• The middle still looks wet after baking for 10 minutes, so I have to bake it about 5 minutes more.
• The brownies are just the way I like ’em. Soft, melty, and gooey. Probably too gooey for the average joe. Was it a fluke? Why was the dough so liquidy?

I decide to recreate a new version of Batch 4 to see whether I screwed something up that led to its liquidy batter consistency. I’ve made so many sweet potato brownies that I’m not even sure I remember how exactly to make them.

This time I add 2 ounces of sweet potato, which I mash with 1/4 tsp of oil. Probably not necessary, but who am I to question this convoluted method I’ve developed? I’ve run out of good chocolate chunks and am using shitty chocolate chips. I learn that chocolate quality really matters in brownies.

Batch 5:

• The batter is liquidy, but slightly less than batch 4. Does .5 an ounce of sweet potato make that much of a difference? Fairly believable.
• I add 1/4 tsp of apple cider vinegar to the sweet potatoes. I’m not sure why.
• It’s also 10 pm and I’m too impatient to let the sweet potato fully cool so most of the (shitty) chocolate chips melt
• I decide to go to Trader Joe’s the next day and buy some chocolate chunks because Nestle chocolate chips taste janky, which I try to rectify by adding a splash of vanilla extract
• They’re less gooey than the last batch, but still very fudgy…it still might be a bit too much for the average person.

Is this what obsession is? Will I ever make the perfect sweet potato brownie? That day I go to the store to pick up a new bottle of maple syrup. It reads “16 1/4 cup servings”. I read “16 potential attempts at sweet potato brownies”.

I want to determine if 2 tablespoons of oil are necessary for 3.5 ounces of sweet potato, or whether I can get away with only one. But I’m going to be a bad experimenter and reduce the sweet potato to 3 ounces at the same time. I’m starting to think this is a concave problem with no absolute maxima, but I’m still hoping to stumble upon a local maxima. If only I could apply stochastic gradient descent to cooking.

The fridge has been taken over by brownies. I eat sweet potato brownies for breakfast. I’ll probably eat sweet potato brownies for lunch. I get back from work and begin measuring out ingredients. It feels like muscle memory.

Batch 6:

• I’ve developed a batter intuition. Glossy is good. Dull means too much starch. The thinner the batter, the more gooey the brownies.
• 3 ounces of sweet potato and 1 tbs of oil gives the most beautiful batter I’ve ever seen. Angels are singing in my head, but maybe that’s from the past restless nights of sleep.
• After I remove the brownies from the oven (they’ve lost their shine and are matte now, I take a nap to clear the angels from my head. Post nap hunger leads me to the brownies. Cold from the fridge they’ve regained glossiness. I hesitate before I take the first bite, but as soon as I taste chocolate I realize I had been nervous for no reason.
• The brownies are soft and fudge-y with a complex chocolate taste, and there is exactly zero gumminess to be found. They don’t taste healthy in the slightest, despite being low-fat, vegan, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free.

I’ve found the recipe, the quest isn’t quite over. Perfection is one thing, but repeatability and scalability (I had been working with half batches) is a whole ‘nother beast.

The next day I prepare for the final and most intense battle: baking a full pan of sweet potato brownies.

Batch 7:

• The batter looks as it should: pourable and glossy, but thick enough that I have to scoop out the last bits of batter with a spoon. The batter is a bit less glossy than batch 6, which I blame on some chocolate chips melting (hey you, let the sweet potatoes fully cool).
• I bake them for 22 minutes. They’re matte when I take them out of the oven but I’m not too worried. I leave them on the counter to cool and transfer them to the fridge before I go to sleep.
• The next day I try them. Angels are singing again.

In conclusion, I’m completely nuts, but hey, I have the most incredible tray of sweet potato brownies in the fridge right now. I’m going to go hibernate for a very long time, only waking occasionally to stuff my mouth with brownies (maybe not a good idea considering the instant espresso, but based on what I’ve written, it’s safe to assume my judgement’s muted). Meanwhile, you should go make some sweet potato brownies so we can bask in their glory together.

You can find the full recipe here.

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Quinoa Cupcakes (Gluten Free)

This morning Tumblr informed me that it was Chomps of Life’s 2nd birthday.

Whoa.

That means that I’ve been making posts, albeit infrequently, for 2 entire years.

For someone who is always switching hobbies, 2 years of blogging is quite a feat.

Lately I’ve kind of neglected Chomps of Life, but that was mostly because my laptop was broken and I only recently got a new one.

Anyway, that’s besides the point.

The point is that Chomps of Life has been around for two entire years, and  that calls for cupcakes!

These cupcakes are inspired by my favorite quinoa chocolate cake. They’re soft, dense, and fragrant, and have a faint quinoa taste because they lack chocolate to mask the natural quinoa flavor.

Don’t let that scare you, though! They’re still delicious and taste like vanilla cupcakes. I gave my friend one, warning her that they were gluten free and made with quinoa, and she thought they were yummy. They are, they really, really are!

Look at that beautiful texture (and coloring – they’re naturally very yellow!):

Since I’ve only made these cupcakes once, this isn’t a perfected recipe yet (I’ll post an updated one eventually!). However, they are still delicious and I recommend anybody looking for easy gluten free vanilla cupcakes without 159384 different flours try them.

Quinoa Cupcakes

• ½  cup quinoa
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup potato starch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt

1. Rinse the quinoa.
2. Bring the quinoa and water to a simmer in a medium pot. Cook 10 minutes then turn off the heat and cover. Let rest for another 10 minutes then fluff with a fork.
3. Alternately, put the quinoa and water in a microwave safe bowl. Cover the bowl with a plate and cook for around 8-10 minutes in the microwave. Then let cool.
4. When the quinoa has cooled some, combine with the butter, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a blender. Blend until smooth. If the mixture starts to separate, continue blending until homogeneous.
5. Divide the batter among 12 cupcake liners.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for around 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out without any wet batter.
7. Cool then frost with any frosting desired.

Gluten Free Bialys

When I was younger and my dad still ate gluten, we use to walk to a local bagel store every morning before he dropped me off at preschool.

I would have a sesame or poppyseed bagel with cream cheese (and remember being disgusted by the horribly uneven bagel to cream cheese ratio) while he would order a bialy.

Well, he would order one but I would usually toss aside my bagel and eat it instead. As picky as I was, I knew a good breakfast when I tasted it.

That morning routine seem so far away now, especially considering my dad hasn’t eaten a bagel, let alone a slice of bread, in nearly a decade.

Since I’m interested in gluten free cooking, today I decided to make gluten free bagels. As I was making the dough I remembered the bialys from my childhood, and was inspired to recreate them.

I can’t take credit for the dough because I used Pamela’s bread mix, but the final texture was fantastic. Of course, like all gluten free breads, the bialys were distinguishable from normal gluten ones, but they still tasted great.

Seriously, look at the beautiful texture of the bialys:

However, in the interest of giving you full disclosure, there is one issue with the bialys I made.

In my defense, I tried to cut the onions, I really did. It’s just– I had my glasses on and the sink running and glass of hot water by the cutting board to boot, and I still was chopping wildly with one eye closed and the other one in severe pain. Eventually I just gave up.

For anyone still confused, here’s the problem with these bialys: the onion pieces should be finely diced while mine are the size of small spaceships.

Also, while I’m being honest, I didn’t cook the onions nearly long enough. Don’t be like me and cook them until they are golden brown.

Moral of the story: be stronger than me – chop the onions finely and cook longly.

Still, these bialys were delicious and even though I may have to accept my failure and scoop off the topping, I will be making them again. Just with precut onions (or someone else’s help).

Gluten Free Bialys

Dough:

• 3 ½ cups Pamela’s Bread Mix
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/3 cup warm water
• ¼ cup oil

Filling:

• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbs oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp poppy seeds

1. In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, mix the Pamela’s Bread Mix, instant yeast, warm water, and oil. Whisk on medium speed for 3 minutes.
2. Scoop out ½ cup sized portions of the dough and flatten into disks on a greased baking sheet.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for an hour.
4. Bring water to a boil and boil each disk for 25 seconds. Return to a baking sheet. (Technically bialys are not boiled, however I like the texture it gives the final product and chose to include this step.)
5. Create divots in the dough by smoothing the insides of the disks with wet fingers.
6. To make the filling, heat up the 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan.
7. Add the onions and sauté until golden brown.
8. Stir in the salt and poppy seeds and remove from heat.
9. Divide the filling among the bialys and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Quinoa Chocolate Cake (gf)

Ever since my lens stopped working (a nicer way of saying I think I might have broken it when my camera fell of the couch), I haven’t made much food. Occasionally I’ll whip up a batch of cookies, but without a way to document what I make, baking is somehow less rewarding.

Photography is something I do instinctively, how I record and remember my life. Unlike memories which fade and contort over time, pictures are constants. I can try to remember things long past, but human memory is fallible. Pictures are reminders of what has existed, how I revisit the past.

I’m not a very sentimental person despite how sappy I might sound right now, but as my high school graduation rapidly approaches and as I anticipate being uprooted, torn away from the people I have spent so many years with, I can’t help but flip (scroll) through old pictures and reminisce. Try as I might, I cannot fathom a life any different than the one I have now.

Food might not have the emotional significance of friends, but cooking has become an integral part of my life and I like to remember what I make. I’ve been using my phone’s camera since my f/1.4 lens broke, and it works fine for casual pictures (I like how candid phone pictures look), but my iPhone doesn’t do justice to food.

My fingers itching to practice food photography once more, I ordered a f/1.8 lens from Amazon last week, and though it’s was a hundred dollars, finally I have the ability to take DSLR pictures. My other lens is at the store being evaluated at the moment, but for now this lens will do.

This chocolate cake is probably my favorite ever. I know I’ve called this the “ultimate” chocolate cake, and I even have another gluten free chocolate cake recipe here, but this cake, this cake exceeds them all.

I use my friends as Guinea pigs for my gluten free foods especially (aren’t I a sweetheart?), and this one cake was received very, very well. One friend who claims to have discerning tastebuds scoffed when I announced the cake was gluten free, said it was good but kind of “empty,” then proceeded to finish her slice. The next day she ate another slice, and the day after had another. (Moral of the story: I think she’s just doesn’t like the idea of gluten free foods.)

My mom said she couldn’t even tell the cake was gluten free, and I agree with that assessment. The cake is moist, tender, and chocolatey – and has made up two out of my three meals today…oops. (I was almost going to see whether I could go an entire day on only chocolate cake, but I relented.)

A bit of advice, though: blend the quinoa mixture well. If not the cake will have a sort of corn meal texture, but it’s not a bad thing (I like it!), just different.

Gluten Free Quinoa Chocolate Cake

Found here.

• 2/3 cup white or golden quinoa
• 1 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and parchment paper two 9 (or 8) inch cake pans.
2. Rinse the quinoa under cold water. (I forgot to do this and didn’t encounter any problems, but the quinoa can impart the cake with a bitterness if not done in some cases.)
3. Add the water to the quinoa and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
4. In a blender combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla.
5. Add the quinoa and butter and blend until smooth.
6. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
7. Pour in the liquid ingredients and fold together until smooth.
8. Divide the batter among the two pans. Bake for around 25 minutes (35 minutes for 8 inch pans) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Let the cakes cool then frost.

Chocolate Frosting

• ½ cup butter
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup milk

1. Melt the butter.
2. Stir in the cocoa, sugar, salt, and vanilla.
3. Beat in enough milk to get desired consistency. I didn’t add much and ending up with a soft, fudge-like product.

Five Minute Oatmeal Pancakes!

Five minutes from now you could have seven pancakes. Seven soft, fluffy gluten free pancakes that taste just as delicious as their wheat-filled counterparts. Honestly, they’re easier to make than regular pancakes and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to make flour ones again.

I’ve made this recipe six times in the past week – three times plain, once with chocolate chips, and twice with cocoa – and all versions received raving reviews from my parents and peers alike. Make this recipe, fall in love, and never spend more than five minutes making pancakes again.

EDIT: From an attempt to cook these pancakes on a regular frying pan, I’ve realized how important a nonstick surface is. So unless you want to make scrambled pancake, use nonstick!

Five Minute Pancakes 

(1 minute for gathering ingredients, 1 minute for blending, and 3 minutes to cook; it’s really that easy!)

• ¼ cup old fashioned oats
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar (I use 1 pitted date!)
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.
2. Blend for about a minute, or until the mixture is smooth.
3. Cook at medium-high heat on a non stick pan until golden brown.
4. Serve plain, or with syrup, jam, ice cream, or chocolate sauce.

Oatmeal Stuffed Baked Apples

I have a pretty solid routine when it comes to being on the computer.

I usually start off with facebookstalking, move on to checking my email, scroll through a billion pages of reddit, look for any tumblr updates, check my deviantart, and if I have time, oogle at the mind-numbing brilliance of foodgawker.

The other day, managing to get through my whole checklist, I was drooling at desserts on foodgawker when I came upon a recipe for this.  Ice cream stuffed apples? Yum.  My cranium began turning and all of the sudden, a simple idea invaded my thoughts: oatmeal stuffed apples.

This is a new, revolutionary food-so healthy (you get your apple a day to keep the doctor away!) and yet so simple.  Portable, filling, and best of all: DELICIOUS!

Today’s version (I’m betting there will be more in the future ;)) is super simple-an apple stuffed with cinnamon apple raison oatmeal.  They take about 30 minutes to make, but I betcha they could easily be made on a weekend, and heated in a microwave for breakfast (who wants to turn on an oven for breakfast anyways).

Eat them plain for maximum nutritional value, or top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for maximum yum factor.

Cinnamon Raisin Apple Oatmeal Stuffed Baked Apples

• ½ cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbs brown sugar (add to taste)
• pumpkin pie spice, to taste (I used 1 tsp)
• 2 apples (dense apples probably not the best for this recipe)
• 1 tbs raisins
• OPTIONAL 1 tbs butter- I didn’t use.
• OPTIONAL- 1 tbs walnuts, chopped

1. Combine the oats and water in a large bowl, and microwave at high heat for four minutes.  Carefully watch to make sure it doesn’t overflow.  OR cook the oats on a stove until done.
2. Combine the brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice in a ramekin.
3. Take the apples and cut the tops off.  Scoop out and dice the flesh of the apples.  Cut off the stems.
4. *OPTIONAL* Rub the butter along the inside of the apples.
5. Take about 1 tsp of the brown sugar spice mixture and spread on the inside of the apples.
6. Add the remaining spice-sugar mixture to the oatmeal, along with the raisins, diced apple flesh, and walnuts, if using.  I only used the flesh of one apple, and fed the rest to my dogs.
7. Place the tops of the apples back on, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
8. Serve plain, or with whipped cream and/or ice cream. Enjoy!

“Autumn” Cookies

“These cookies taste like Christmas”- Sonia.

“You know what, if you went to a store and asked for fall cookies-this would be exactly what you would get.”-Phil

“Mmm, they’re good”-Mom

As much as I’m straining to write more here-there’s really no other way to describe these cookies other than little blissful bites of holiday spirit.

Speaking of holiday spirit, I need a vacation, asap.  Junior year is just as difficult as predicted, which why my little blog is so neglected. So sorry! I’ve made many recipes recently, but I just haven’t had the time to blog about them.  😥 Luckily, now that my first English essay of the year is done (essays consume me.  I’m the world’s slowest writer), I ought to have a bit more time for Chomps of Life.  🙂

Anyways, since I have to get back to history, I’m going to leave you with the recipe.  These cookies are a perfect way to celebrate the beginning of fall, and they’re healthy too (well, they have white chocolate chips, but that could always be subbed for say, cocoa nibs or raisins).  The actual cookie base itself is sugar free, gluten free, and vegan. Woah! Admittedly I’m not a health food blogger, and I doubt I could ever be one, but I like to mix it up with some more health conscious recipes here and there. Well, as long as they’re delicious.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

1. In a large bowl, sift together:

• 1 cup of Pamela’s Gluten Free Flour* (or all purpose flour)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp allspice and nutmeg
• ½ tsp ginger

2. Add to the dry ingredients:

• 2 cups of old fashioned oats

3. Cream together until light and fluffy:

• ¼ cup vegan butter, melted* (real butter fine too!)
• 1/8 cup milk
• 1 ½ tsp dry egg replacer (or 1 egg)
• 1 ½ cups coconut palm sugar
• ¼ cup maple syrup (if aiming for a sugar free recipe, sub with sugar free pancake syrup)

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine with a spatula. The dough will be very dry (but still formable into balls).

4. Mix in:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips***
• 1 cup dried cranberries (raisins if making the recipe sugar free)

5. Measure the cookies into 1 tablespoon sized balls, gently flatten on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for eight minutes. Enjoy with a glass of milk (or soymilk).

*Other gluten free mixes will work as well, just make sure xanthan gum is an ingredient (if it’s not, you’ll need to add ½ tsp xanthan gum).
**If working with a drier dough does not appeal to you, add up to ½ cup more melted butter for a more traditional cookie dough
*** I should add that white chocolate chips are neither sugar free nor vegan, so if making this recipe for someone that is, the white chocolate can be subbed with sugar free white chocolate, sugar free semi sweet chocolate, vegan chocolate chips, cocoa nibs, or just left out, because the cookies are already darn delicious without them.