As if those delicious dark chocolate and orange biscotti (and a video to go along with it!) weren’t good enough, I’ve got something even better. I’m so excited that OXO® has so kindly offered up one super-sized gift set full of baking tools and goodies to one lucky L&OO reader!
The winner will receive a fabulous OXO® gift pack of their choice, valued at $150. When you win (and we all know you’re going to win, right?) you get to decide which set you’d like. Maybe you’d like a set of Pop Containers to organize your pantry? Or maybe you saw us using the mini beakers in the video and must have a set for your kitchen. There are rolling pins, measuring cups, mixing bowls, cookie jars, spatulas, egg beaters… I can tell you any one of these sets would make you a kitchen rockstar.
The fine print: No purchase necessary. Giveaway open to US residents only. Void where prohibited. Giveaway sponsored by OXO®. I received an assortment of kitchen goodies to use in the video, however all opinions written are purely my own.
Happy National Cookie Day! Did you know this was a thing, and just didn’t tell me? If so, shame on you. But if you’re pleasantly surprised, like I am, then let’s do our best to make the most of this day, starting with baking and eating lots. And lots. Of cookies.
Cookie season is perhaps my favorite time of year. And something about this year seems more cookie-filled than most, with the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap and all. So when OXO® asked if I’d like to help make a holiday cookie video in support of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, how could I say no? If you haven’t heard of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, it is a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. I’ll bake to that.
Julie and I filmed this back in October when she came to visit. We’re total goobers, you’ll have to forgive us. Also, clearly amateur videographers (as evidenced by our truncated noggins). Whoops. Foreheads or not, we hope our “Baking a Difference” video will help raise awareness and encourage you to be a good cookie, and donate or hold a bake sale for the cause.
If you want the recipe for the Meyer Lemon and White Chocolate Biscotti we make in the video, hop on over to The Little Kitchen, and Julie will hook you up. I’ve chosen to share another decadent variation, Orange and Dark Chocolate Biscotti. Stay tuned too as I’ll be back tomorrow giving away a super-sized set of OXO® baking tool goodies!
Considering this was the first time I’d actually ever made biscotti, it may surprise you that I really do love it. My favorite part is that there’s no denying it is totally, 100% a cookie, but a cookie that’s perfectly acceptable to eat for breakfast.
Personally I believe all cookies should carry such a characteristic.
Biscotti are by nature very sturdy cookies (their crunchy texture comes from the fact they are baked twice; in fact, biscotti literally means twice-baked), and they are perfect for shipping or gifting. I think this orange and dark chocolate version is great when dipped in even more dark chocolate (isn’t everything?), but if you’re shipping to a warmer part of the country, you can easily skip that part.
Put the two together and, well, you’ve got yourself one heck of a combination.
I whipped up a few dozen of these babies to sell at the Sweet Relief bake sale last earlier this month. They were gone before you could say Bob’s your uncle (actually, Tom’s my uncle. Bob was my grandfather. So much for that cliche).
The recipe is loosely based on my malted milk chocolate sandwich cookies from last year (I told you I had a thing for sandwich cookies), but with dark chocolate and a peanut butter filling. Slightly more butter and dark cocoa makes for a richer, softer chocolate cookie. Don’t over-bake them because the softness is what makes them irresistible: the cookie gently giving way to the sweet and salty filling within.
This recipe is one of a few I’ll be posting in the coming weeks that feature Hershey’s products. You may have noticed from my twitter feed that Taylor and I went to Hershey, PA a few weeks back, as part of their Baker’s Dozen holiday promotion.
I think you could say the chocolate lover in me was giddy at the opportunity.
We got to play around in their (gorgeous!) test kitchens, eating cookies and playing with all things chocolate, and filming a holiday how-to video that we hope to share with you in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
How many times, in the midst of the endless food of the holidays, have you wished for a simple salad? After a second helping of turkey, bowls of creamy mashed potatoes piled high with rich gravy, and a larger-than-you-really-needed slice of decadent pumpkin pie for dessert (and then another slice for breakfast), sometimes a salad sounds downright divine.
For those momentary healthful cravings, this salad is perfection. It’s not just an ordinary Niçoise salad (which usually contains canned tuna fish), but instead features slices of black-sesame-crusted tuna atop a bed of bright baby greens and tossed with an Asian-style wasabi vinaigrette.
This salad is just one of the recipes we’ve created for the Spice Islands® Flavor Explorer blog, this one showcasing the unique black sesame seeds and potent wasabi powder. I can tell you that we loved cooking our way through the Spice Islands® library, playing with flavors and combinations that we’d never used before.
Welcome to Love & Olive Oil, the culinary adventures of Lindsay and Taylor. We're all about food that is approachable but still impressive, unique and creative yet still true to its culinary roots.
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