Egg-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Egg-free and dairy-free; that means vegan too! Enjoy!





Ingredients:

1/2 cup margarine (I recommend Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks)
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 and 1/2 cups flour (I recommend Bob's Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup quick oats
Up to 3 tbsp warm water
1 cup chocolate chips

Procedure:

In a mixer, cream margarine with sugars and vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt and mix well with a fork. Combine flour mixture with the sugar mixture and add the oil and oats. If the dough remains grainy or dry, add one tbsp warm water at a time with the mixer running, until the dough comes together. Add chocolate chips and mix briefly. Roll 1 tbsp balls of dough and place onto a parchment paper-covered cookie sheet. Press down lightly on the dough to flatten. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. For a chewy cookie, remove from the oven when the centers are still soft. This recipe should yield 24-28 cookies.

The Best Hamantaschen Recipe Bar None

My mom's recipe for hamantaschen, developed in California and then adapted by five daughters and daughters-in-law, is the best recipe any of us have ever used or eaten. It’s soft-baked, it’s incredible and best of all, it's impossible to mess up. This is one of those recipes that’s endlessly adaptable and utterly reliable. For example, some of us add a teaspoon of cinnamon for a spicy kick, and another replaces half the liquid with lemon juice for a subtly tart burst.  We've added extra eggs by accident to no ill effect ,and made the cookies successfully in varying climates and elevations. To make this recipe even more legendary, my cousin Jennifer Gage reports that last year she was able to make the hamantaschen successfully and deliciously on top of a wood stove in the middle of a blackout/blizzard. No one who has ever used my mom's recipe has ever not passed it on to others, to our knowledge. We invite you to enjoy it and share it; My mom Ruth Book is famous for her hamantaschen, and now you will be too!

And don't just take my word for it! The recipe this year won the Jerusalem Post's hamantaschen recipe contest. The recipe was made by Zohar Friedman, the social media editor, with lemon zest and raspberry filling, and enjoyed in the Jpost's offices on Purim day 2013! Please note that no one in my family was remotely surprised by this win. 

This recipe yields approximately 40 cookies. 


Ingredients:

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted margarine
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
4 teaspoons milk, rice milk or water
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup of your favorite filling

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Cream together margarine and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt.

4. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture with the mixer on low, alternating with water or rice milk.

5. Chill the dough for 1 hour to overnight (this step can be skipped if you're in a rush, cold dough is just easier to handle), then roll out with flour sprinkled below and above the dough, to 1/4 inch thickness, and using a water glass or round cookie cutter, cut into 2-inch rounds.

6. Fill each round with 1 heaping teaspoon of your favorite filling, and draw up sides for triangle.

7. Seal edges with cold water.

8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 12-14 minutes. Reduce your oven temperature if the dough begins to burn on the bottom. It is very common that ovens run hot, especially if you are baking in batches and the oven has been on for multiple hours. I use an internal oven thermometer for this reason.  

9. To keep hamantaschen soft, store in airtight containers.

Focaccia Challah with Olive Oil, Garlic and Rosemary

This challah, originally a fabulous focaccia bread recipe from Lynn Kutner of my own Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, has been altered to make a airy, savory challah**, perfect to wow guests at Friday night dinner. And I mean, you will really wow them! The challah is best the same day it's baked, so cover it tightly to use even the following day.

The health benefits of using this recipe over other egg challah or even water challah recipes is quite clear. With only teaspoons of sugar as opposed to cups, and with no eggs and with olive oil instead of vegetable oil, this is a truly delicious, even heart-healthy alternative to a high-fat, high-cholesterol, high-sugar content challah. And the best part is you won't miss a thing. 

Ingredients: 

4 packages dry yeast
4 and 1/2 cups cool water
4 tsp sugar
2/3 cup olive oil
1-2 tsp dried rosemary
12 cups unbleached bread flour
2 tbsp coarse kosher salt

Topping:

3 teaspoons additional chopped dried rosemary1 tsp dried granulated or minced garlic
additional coarse kosher salt for sprinkling
additional olive oil for brushing
olive oil or (other nonstick oil) spray

Procedure:

Dissolve the yeast in the water and mix in sugar. Let mixture stand for five minutes. Then, add olive oil and rosemary (or substitute your favorite herb). In another bowl, combine flour with salt, and mix with a fork. Either by hand or using the bread dough attachment on a stand mixer, slowly add two cups of the flour mixture at a time to the liquid mixture until all is combined and a dough forms. Knead the dough for 3-4 minutes. Turn out dough into a large oiled bowl or container and cover lightly. Allow to rise for 2 hours. In cold temperatures, allow more time for the rise or do the rise in a lukewarm oven (heat oven to 170 degrees, turn off the oven, and then put the dough in, making sure your bowl or container is oven-safe). 

Once the dough has risen, separate dough roughly into sprayed pans and press lightly to make nooks and crannies. Brush olive oil on top of the dough and sprinkle with coarse salt, rosemary and garlic. Allow dough to rise an additional half hour. 

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. Challah is done when nicely browned on top.  

This recipe yields 4 large challahs with 12 cupcake tin sized rolls (or any other combination). The recipe can be easily halved. 

**If you say a bracha over at least 2 lbs 10 oz. of flour (acceptable according to ArtScroll), then this recipe qualifies for a bracha. 

Healthier Double Chocolate Muffins

I altered another recipe of mine, the Dark Chocolate Applesauce Cake, to make whole wheat pumpkin double chocolate muffins. They are almost sinfully delicious.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat or all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I use and recommend Ghiradelli unsweetened)
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp decaf or regular instant coffee granules
4 large eggs, beaten (or the equivalent in Ener-G Egg Replacer, which works great!)
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
1 and 1/4 cups oil (I use, and recommend Mazola Vegetable Plus with Omega 3's)
2 cups unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 cups (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine eggs, honey, sugar, vanilla and coffee granules in a mixer and blend well. In another bowl, combine baking soda and powder, salt, flour and cocoa. With the mixer on, add half the dry ingredients and half the pumpkin puree, and then repeat. Stop the mixer as soon as the ingredients are blended to prevent over-mixing or any gluten development. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon generously into mini-muffin tins, larger muffin tins or loaf pans. Mini-muffins will take 12-15 minutes  to bake, while larger tins will take longer. Muffins are finished when they are firm on top. Yields 28-36 mini-muffins or 14-16 regular muffins. 

Kosherfest Preview

With my twin girls walking, running, flying, and getting into all manner of cute trouble (and they're not even two yet!), I have less time than ever to commit to Kosherfest, our industry's largest event of the year. I won't be hanging at CKCA's booth either the whole time like the past two years (though I will still leave my coat there!), so I will have the opportunity to really see the booths and make an effort to check out as many of the new products as possible.

As you may know, my mission at Classically Kosher is to utilize healthier cooking methods and products to recreate classic Jewish recipes. I hope that some of the products coming out will support my work, as it has in past years. Products like MimicCreme, Earth Balance and others have permanently altered and broadened the way kosher cooks can function in the kitchen, and while Jack's Gourmet's Facon product might not be the healthiest of options, it is sure to open up a whole new world of recipes previously untried by the kosher cook (Julia Child's beef bourguignon recipe comes to mind).

I also am happy to see a pronounced interest in social media platform development forming around Kosherfest this year. While I was unable to attend the (first annual?) Kosher Food Bloggers conference in NYC today, I was thrilled to see that most (if not all) of the names of the speakers were familiar to me, especially Ely Rosenstock, a social media/branding expert and beloved former colleague of mine.

While the topics discussed at the conference seemed to be focused on how the bloggers can present themselves, I hope that this additional interest in social media from the kosher community will lead to bloggers taking more responsibility to use their Internet powers for the benefit of the marketplace. I say this because much of the information about what happens in the kosher world is now accessible through the Internet and, like never before, kosher food bloggers have the opportunity to help promote or hurt kosher food purveyors by their posts and commentary. It is more important than ever that social media representatives take their roles seriously to avoid misinformation or abuse of the larger marketplace.

Enough of my soapbox: Feel free to visit this space over the next couple of days to see my impressions of this year's Kosherfest offerings, and feel free to follow me in real time on Twitter at #kosherliz.

Water Challah With Cinnamon Streusel

My daughter is allergic to eggs, so I have been busy altering much of my baked goods recipe repertoire to make things taste great without those incredible edibles. But the great thing about water challah is that eggs aren't part of the original recipe so you still get a great rise and great crumb without compromising on taste. I altered a plain water challah recipe to make it sweeter, and added a crumb topping to make it more festive.

Ingredients:

3 cups lukewarm water
1 and 1/2 packages active dry yeast
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
2 and 1/2 lbs flour (I use a 50/50 mix of all purpose and white whole wheat flour for improved texture and taste) -- to make a bracha on this recipe, use 2 lb 10 oz. flour, which is halachically acceptable and works with this recipe.
1 tbsp plus 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
3-4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract

for topping:

4 tbsp white or white whole wheat flour
4 tbsp white or brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 dash vanilla extract
2 tbsp canola oil (add one tbsp at a time, you might not need all of it, especially if you use brown sugar, which is often quite moist)
1/4 cup oats (optional)

Preparation:

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water, add sugar and let sit for 5 minutes. Combine flour, salt and cinnamon. Add oil to yeast mixture and then combine both mixtures. Knead or use bread hook on mixer, and knead for 3-5 minutes. Place dough in a lightly covered oiled bowl and let rise for 1 to 2 hours (or overnight if in the fridge).  Shape dough. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on tops of challahs. Let rise again for 1 hour, or slightly longer if the dough has been refrigerated.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until brown and crusty.

Yield is 2 medium sized challahs plus 6 mini challahs, or 2 large challahs. In order to make enough challah to say the bracha, simply double the recipe!

Jamaican Jerk Chicken Hash

I never would be able to make a dish like this without kosher sausage maker Jack's Gourmet (Thanks, Guys!). With their incredibly pungent, spicy Jamaican jerk chicken sausages, I was able to make a flavorful, filling weeknight meal with a red meat feel, without using any red meat. Jerk flavoring is not a common flavor seen in Jewish homes, but my thought on this is that it's only because it's not marketed too much to the kosher consumer. Jamaican jerk seasoning, like many seasoning mixes, is herby and spicy, with undertones of things I like but can't fully identify, like nutmeg, cloves, allspice and chives. This hash is stuffed with filling and nutritious fiber (obviously) and also has little added fat. It is Weight Watchers friendly and comes in at approximately 6-7 WW points plus per serving. My recipe yields four generous servings.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 large onion, sliced 2 links Jack's Gourmet Jamaican jerk chicken sausages, minced 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cooked and shredded (or use 10-12 oz. of any type of leftover chicken) 1 15.5 ounce can baked beans, in sauce (I like Heinz Vegetarian Baked Beans, one of the first products to carry the OU Union Symbol in America!) 1/2 cup brown or red lentils 2 cups boiling water 2 tsp granulated garlic 2 tsp chili powder 1 tbsp kosher salt (or to taste) 2 tsp black pepper (or to taste)

Procedure: Sweat the onion in the olive oil over medium high heat until browned, about five minutes. Add the chopped chicken sausage and shredded, cooked chicken thighs and sear lightly, just to get some color. Next add the baked beans and the spices. Taste and correct seasoning. Finally, add the lentils and the hot water and cover with a tight fitting lid and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Serve immediately hot, but it's amazing the next day too as a cold leftover. To add more heft to the hash, you may also add a can of small white beans, or a can of cooked chickpeas. This will stretch the dish to serve more people and will not affect overall flavor.