Always.
Never.
Not if Bieber’s watching my every move.
Maybe.
(The Butterfinger Bites, if you’re offering, Rocket Fizz.)
Indubitably.
(American-style iced coffee > Australian-style iced coffee.)
Shhhh. I know. You don’t need to tell me.
Won’t repeat.
(My gluten-free dairy-free poppy seed cake is better. Probably because I use sugar.)
Will repeat.
(Happiness is freshly-baked snickerdoodle cookies.)
Recipe here.
Heel click,
Hannah
A few months ago, I was sent (free of charge) an enormous jar of Tropical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil to play around with and, if I wanted, host a giveaway for. (Host a giveaway for a brand-new jar, that is, not the one I’m halfway through.)
I’m not one to wax lyrical about the health claims of various “superfoods”, so I’ll leave that purported side of coconut oil alone. What I can say, however, is that I’ve been enjoying using this coconut oil in a great many food-related ways, including:
- The Roasting of Glorious Brussels Sprouts;
- The Stir-Frying of Assorted Other Glorious Vegetables;
- The Veganisation of an Australian Childhood Treat For My Work Colleagues (recipe to come); and
- The Baking of Cocoa Molasses Coconut Cookies, Also For My Work Colleagues.
I used this Soft Chocolate Molasses Cookies recipe from Serious Eats as my base, making the following changes (it’s a listpalooza today):
- Used melted coconut oil instead of butter
- Used blackstrap molasses which, I warn you, makes for an Intensey McIntense from Intensetown molasses flavour. Use non-blackstrap molasses for a milder flavour.
- Forgot to hold back half the granulated sugar for rolling, i.e. I added all the sugar into the batter in the first instance and didn’t roll the balls in more sugar before baking.
- I made about 35 cookies out of the recipe. And they weren’t tiny cookies, either. They were normal-sized cookies. America, YOU BE CRAZY. 14 cookies out of this recipe? THAT WOULD MAKE FOR COOKIES THE SIZE OF A SMALL CHILD.
Anyhoodle, the cookies were lovely. They were crisp on the outside but wonderfully chewy within, not-too-sweet yet still treat-like for sure, and with a deep molasses and cocoa flavour that felt very, well, “grown-up”. The coconut oil worked perfectly. Hurrah!
If you’re interested in winning an enormous (seriously; it’s a behemoth) jar of Tropical Traditional Virgin Coconut Oil yourself, read below for Tropical Traditions’ blurb and the giveaway details.
Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!
Tropical Traditions is America’s source for coconut oil. Their Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil is hand crafted in small batches by family producers, and it is the highest quality coconut oil they offer. You can read more about how virgin coconut oil is different from other coconut oils on their website: What is Virgin Coconut Oil?
You can also watch the video they produced about Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil:
Tropical Traditions also carries other varieties of affordable high quality coconut oil. Visit their website to check on current sales, to learn about the many uses of coconut oil, and to read about all the advantages of buying coconut oil online. Since the FDA does not want us to discuss the health benefits of coconut oil on a page where it is being sold or given away, here is the best website to read about the health benefits of coconut oil.
To enter, subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter and leave a comment telling me you did so.
For extra entries (leave a comment for each one so that you do get the bonus entries):
- Follow me on Twitter;
- Follow Tropical Traditions on Twitter;
- Follow me on Facebook; and/or
- Follow Tropical Traditions on Facebook.
Open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. (Note for Canadians: Tropical Traditions is not responsible for any customs or duties that Canada may charge for the prize’s delivery.) Winner will be chosen by random number generator on 18th April 2013.
Why should the haiku poetry form get to have all the fun when it comes to chocolate?
Exactly. It shouldn’t.
Time to give the almighty limerick form its Andy Warhol-esque 15 minutes of fame.
There once was a Cadbury Cookie Crunch
Which I bought on a whim, on a vague hunch
That its sugary flavour
Would make me belabour
The obvious: it’s not a good lunch.
With milk chocolate and cookie bits
Plus a handful of chocolatey chips
This crazily sweet
Oreo-tasting treat
Sugar-bombed me near out of my wits.
Tasting close to a cheap hot fudge sundae
Or a Starbucks Frappuccino Grande
All greasy with cream
(Just a little obscene)
Would I eat it again? Oh no. No way.
My housemate and I had our rental inspection today (nailed it! “Excellent” ticked all through the report; pat on the back, pip pip!) and, as a result, there’s space to move in my room for the first time in six months. To be clear, my room has never been unclean (I’m far too paranoid about attracting living creatures for that). However, it’s not uncommon for 90% of the floor space to be taken up by piles of books, fancy heels that have been kicked off with relief at the end of a long day, and scattered recipe print-outs.
It’s amazing how putting the recipe print-outs in the desk, the books on the shelf, and the shoes neatly against the wall can affect one’s sense of space. All of a sudden I have room in my room (in my room, in my room) to practice fake-yoga and, more importantly, frenetically dance around in.
I’ve got a bit of nervous/crankypants/swirling energy to dance out at present. I’m skipping over the melancholy songs on iTunes and finding the music to which I can do my best impression of an electrocuted-monkey-crossed-with-a-jellyfish.
I dance goooooooood.
Of course, the other way to deal with skittering thoughts is through baking. After eating almost all of the amazing plain Chobani yoghurts that the Aussie Chobani folk sent me as filling work snacks (I’ve gone wild this past week, adding not just sprinkles and coconut but poppy seeds too), I made sure to save a few tubs to bake with.
These Oatmeal Cherry Yoghurt Cookies with Cacao Nibs were the first result of my Chobani baking endeavours. Okay, so “cookies” may not be the best term, as these are a far cry from crispy-buttery-sugary treats. Instead, they’re soft and deliciously doughy in the middle, not too sweet yet excitingfied through the buzz of intense cacao nibs and the tart sweetness of chewy dried cherries. The oats provide their almost-nutty malty flavour and the yoghurt a very soft tang, all bundled up in the warmth of cinnamon and a hint of coconut.
Plus, these healthy and low-fat cookies are (say it with me now!) spectacular topped with almond or sunflower seed butter.
Enjoy!
Makes 12
Adapted from Workout Cookies at Carrots ‘n’ Cake
Note: Because these cookies aren’t crisp to begin with, I’ve happily been storing them in the freezer and simply letting them defrost before eating them.
Question Time: What songs do you put on when you feel the need to dance wildly in the privacy of your own room/house?
During my primary school years, my best friend and I used to play Barbies a lot. It’s a testament to the power of childhood imagination that we found our storylines endlessly fascinating, despite that fact that they were all variations on the same plot.
Good Barbie meets Ken.
Good Barbie and Ken Fall in Love.
Evil Barbie Steals Ken. (Often through some sort of wily scheme involving her clothes coming off, although we had no idea what was supposed to happen after that point. Nakedness alone was the end game, as far as we knew.)
Good Barbie Wins Ken Back.
I’m embarrassed to admit that, in our world, “Good Barbie” was always the prettiest Barbie in our collection, and “Evil Barbie” was my less-attractive Barbie with the 80s crimped hair and sharper face.
This fact makes me furious at both my younger self and the pervading societal influences that led we young girls to equate prettiness with goodness. So furious, in fact, that I wish I could go back in time and slap myself. So furious that I find myself sitting here growing tense, knowing that such messages are still prevalent in the world today. I want to beat such messages with a burning stick of fury and doom and sobs.
Not all variations on a theme are as insidious as those of my childhood Barbie games, of course. Take these flourless peanut butter cookies, for example. I’ve so far used the basic recipe to make both Tabasco Peanut Butter Cookies and Kaya Peanut Butter Cookies.
Recently, though, I decided it was time for a safer and more unequivocally delicious flavour combination: peanut butter and chocolate. A perfect couple.
Plus, you don’t even have to get naked to bring peanut butter and chocolate together.
Though you can if you want.
Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Body-Image-Destruction-Free
Question Time: Are there any aspects of your childhood games that, now you’re older and wiser, give you pause and perhaps make you want your own burning stick of doom?