These kakimochi (mochi crunch/arare/rice crackers) chocolate chip cookies are a fun and tasty way to share a unique, local-style cookie with family and friends. They are crunchy and chocolatey in the best way. I love how cute they look with the mochi crunch topping. A sprinkling of furikake makes the perfect finishing touch.
There are numerous shapes and sizes of kakimochi. The sakura shape above works perfectly as they are not too large.
Once all the ingredients are combined, chill the dough for an hour in the refrigerator so it firms up a bit and doesn’t spread too much when baking.
Each dough ball is topped with a piece of kakimochi before baking. Sprinkle some of the dough balls with furikake.
Once the cookies are done baking, leave them on the cookie sheet for a minute so they firm up just a bit. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before packing them up for gifts.
1/2 cup (113g) room temperature Earth Balance Buttery Sticks or unsalted butter
1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (107g) packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (105g or 3.75 ounces) kakimochi (Tomoe brand recommended) + extra for topping cookies (about 36 pieces)
1 cup (170g) chocolate chips
Furikake (Mishima Nori Komi Furikake recommended) for sprinkling on cookies
Directions
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer cream Buttery Sticks or butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and and mix well with a firm spatula. Stir in kakimochi and chocolate chips. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Form dough into 1-inch balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (keep remaining dough in the refrigerator until ready to use). Press a kakimochi on top of the dough ball and sprinkle with furikake if using. Bake for about 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until cookies are lightly browned. Let cookies rest on pan for one minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.
These crispy, spice scented cookies are now one of our favorite desserts. They have a crunchy exterior and centers that are a bit softer. I love how the sugar coating gives them even more texture. This is a simple recipe for those who want a quick sweet treat.
Most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry. There’s nothing fancy about the recipe yet it turns out delicious, rustic little cookies that are hard to resist. I used Miyoko’s vegan butter for a lactose free cookie, however, you may use regular butter or coconut oil.
The dough is chilled for 30 minutes or so. Depending on your weather it may take longer than 30 minutes. Here on Maui the weather is always warm so I find that chilling the dough for an hour is best. The original recipe calls for rolling the cookie dough balls into granulated sugar. This works great but if you happen to have coarse sparkling sugar it will bump up the crispy texture once the cookies are baked and cooled.
I had a bit of white chocolate hanging around so I melted it in my homemade double boiler. I quickly spread it over the top of some of the cookies then sprinkled mini hearts confetti on the white chocolate. I placed the frosted cookies in the refrigerator uncovered for a few minutes to set the white chocolate. A perfect little treat to share with friends for Valentine’s Day.
4 tablespoons (57g) Miyoko's vegan butter, at room temperature (substitute with regular butter or ¼ cup (53g) coconut oil
½ cup (92g) vegetable shortening
1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
¼ cup (85g) molasses (I used Brer Rabbit mild)
1 large egg
2 cups (240g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoons cloves
Coating: Granulated sugar, coarse sparkling sugar (optional), melted white chocolate and sprinkles (optional)
Preparation
In a medium bowl, beat together the butter, shortening, and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to wet ingredients and mix until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Scoop dough with a tablespoon scoop and roll into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in sugar and place on the baking sheet, leaving 1½-inch space between them.
Bake for about 10 minutes. Tap pan on rack to flatten cookies. Bake an additional 1-2 minutes until cookies are cracked on top and not yet browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
If your climate is cool, store in an airtight container for up to one day. I prefer to store in an airtight container with waxed paper layers, in the freezer.
Optional: Decorate some of the cookies with white chocolate and sprinkles.
One of my favorite fruits to use in a galette is mango. During the summer months our two trees produce a good harvest of fruit that we use in all sorts of recipes. But not everyone has access to mangos so any number of other seasonal fruits or berries are suitable. I particularly like strawberries. They make a gorgeous galette that bakes up beautifully. The crust holds up well and leftovers, if any, are a real treat with coffee the following morning.
The strawberries found in the markets can vary in sweetness. It’s a good idea to buy ones that are ripe and juicy in appearance but not at all soft. Strawberries are quite perishable so plan on making the galette within a day or two of buying your strawberries.
The crust for this galette is excellent. It holds up well to the juicy strawberry filling and does not become soggy even if you have leftovers the following day.
I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks (vegan and lactose free) but feel free to use regular unsalted butter as the original recipe calls for. Whatever you choose to use, make sure it does not sit out on the counter and is well chilled. Buttery Sticks are not as firm as regular butter so I freeze the cubes for 15-30 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
If I am short on time I freeze the wrapped dough for 30 minutes instead of chilling it in the refrigerator for a few hours.
A little sugar is stirred into the berries which will give them a bit of sweetness, but not too much.
The strawberries are gently tossed into a mixture of strawberry jam that is mixed with cornstarch and a pinch of salt.
Roll the dough out on parchment paper. Transfer the rolled out dough to your rimmed baking sheet and continue with the recipe.
Leave a 2-inch border (sometimes I end up with 1 1/2-inches!) to fold over the filling. The original recipe calls for brushing the edges of the galette with some of the reserved strawberry juice and sprinkling sugar over the edges before baking. Try not to apply too much of the juice as it is quite thin and will drip down the sides of the crust. You can brush the crust with a bit of lactose free half and half or whole milk instead, then sprinkle with sparkling sugar. The coarse-grained sugar adds a beautiful sparkle and sweet crunch to each slice of the baked galette.
The dough is pleated every 2 inches to shape the galette and keep the strawberries the center of attention.
I brush a bit of warmed strawberry jam over the strawberries once the galette is done baking. It gives the galette extra flavor and a beautiful sheen.
For the dough: Process flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor until combined, about 4 pulses. Scatter Buttery Sticks cubes over the top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse sand and butter pieces are the size of small peas, about 10-12 pulses. Add ice water to flour mixture and pulse until dough begins to form small curds and holds together when pinched with your fingers, about 5 pulses.
Transfer mixture to a lightly floured counter. Gather dough into a rough rectangular mound about 8 inches long and 4 inches wide. Starting at the farthest end, use the heel of your hand to smear a small amount of dough against the counter, pushing firmly down and away from you. Continue doing this while turning the dough as you go. Continue until all the dough has been worked, about 8 times. This is a process of working the crumbles of flour, butter, and water together into a dough by smearing them against the counter, making for a sturdy, flaky crust. Form dough into a 6-inch disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or freeze (if short on time) for 30 minutes. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.
For the filling: One hour before rolling out the dough, toss strawberries with ¼ cup sugar in a medium bowl. Set aside for 1 hour. Reserve 1 tablespoon strawberry juice (if using for crust). Drain strawberries in colander while rolling out dough.
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough into 12-inch circle on parchment paper. Transfer dough on parchment paper to rimmed baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Whisk jam, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl. Add drained strawberries and toss gently to coat. Remove dough from refrigerator (I transfer to dough to a second rimmed baking sheet that hasn't been chilled) and mound fruit in center, leaving a 2-inch border. Grasp one edge of dough and fold up 2-inches over fruit. Repeat around circumference of galette, overlapping dough every 2-inches. Firmly pinch pleated dough to secure. Sprinkle reserved 1 tablespoon of sugar over the strawberries. Brush top edges of dough with reserved strawberry juice, half and half or whole milk and sprinkle with sparkling sugar.
Bake until crust is deep golden brown and fruit is bubbling, about 1 hour 5 minutes. Let galette cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes. Warm reserved tablespoon of jam. Brush jam over the berries. Let cool for 15 minutes. Using parchment, carefully slide galette onto serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I had every intention of posting this in August when mangos were abundant, yet here it is, February…. It looks as though it will be a good mango season this year. All the trees in the neighborhood are full of flowers and keiki fruits right now. So when the time comes and you have a few pounds of mangos and want an easy to assemble dessert, this mango galette is the perfect choice. It is a beautiful dessert to bring to the table after dinner or to serve with your morning coffee.
Between the two types of mango trees we have, the White Pirie is the one I use most often for making jams and preserves as well as for baking. With its sweet, intense, mango flavor and relatively firm texture, it holds up well when chopped or sliced for recipes such as mango bread, cake, streusel muffins, and this galette.
The wonderful thing about a galette is its free-form shape. Roll it out, add your ingredients then tuck up the sides. You will use the entire piece of pie dough since there’s no need to trim the edges of the crust.
Serve a slice all by itself, or top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
1 stick (8 tablespoons, 4 ounces, 113g) frozen Earth Balance Buttery Sticks cut into about 16 pieces (if using regular unsalted butter increase salt to ½ teaspoon)
¼ cup ice water
Filling:
⅓ cup (heaping) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups (about 2½ pounds) mangos, peeled, seeded, and cut into ⅓-1/2-inch-thick slices
mango jam for glaze (can substitute with apricot jam)
Preparation
Dough: Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is cut into the flour. The mixture will look like coarse meal. Continue to pulse until you get small flake-size pieces and some larger pea-size pieces. Add a little of the ice water and pulse, add some more, pulse and continue until all of the water is in. Now work in longer pulses, stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl if needed, until you have a dough that forms nice bumpy curds that hold together when you pinch them. Heads up. Just before you reach this clumpy stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change.
Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk and put it between two large pieces of parchment paper. Roll the dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Don’t worry about getting the exact size or about having the edges be perfect.
Slide the rolled-out dough, still between the parchment papers onto a baking sheet and freeze for about 15 minutes or refrigerate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove chilled dough from freezer or refrigerator while you prepare the fruit. The dough should still be cold but pliable and not prone to cracking.
Filling: Place sliced mangos in a large, wide bowl. Combine sugar, corn starch, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle sugar mixture over mangos and toss gently with a wide spatula.
Remove top layer of parchment paper from dough round. Starting 1½ to 2-inches from the edge of the round, arrange the mangoes in a single layer in concentric circles, creating overlapping folds as you work around the perimeter. If your mangos are extra juicy, leave the extra juice in the bowl so the filling does note overflow in the oven. Gently lift the border of the dough up and around the filling, making pleats as you go. Brush the border with half & half or milk. Sprinkle with turbinado or coarse sparkling sugar. This is optional but makes for an attractive and crispy crust.
Bake on the parchment lined baking sheet for 45 - 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling. Remove the galette from the oven and brush the fruit with warmed mango jam. Let cool on the baking sheet on a wire rack. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature.
Summer is long gone yet surprisingly our mango trees continue to provide us with fruit. Is it global warming that has confused our magic mango trees? Who knows how long this will continue, but for now, we are thrilled to have mangos all year long. Which brings me to this wonderful mango cake. The original recipe from Ina Garten features fresh peaches. I just switched them out with mangos and what a delightful version it turned out to be.
Our Pirie mangos are very sweet and the perfect choice for this cake: like peaches they hold up well in baking. I also prefer them when making Maui mango bread loaves.
I made the cake lactose free since this is the best option for me, but feel free to use regular dairy products if you try the recipe.
Lots of cinnamon sugar makes for a tasty topping.
The cake batter and mangos are layered, ending with mangos, pecans, and cinnamon sugar on the top.
The cake is moist from the two layers of mangos and the top has a light crunch to it from the pecans and cinnamon sugar. Fresh mango cake in January is such a treat.
1 stick (4 ounces, 113g) Miyoko's unsalted butter (or regular unsalted butter), at room temperature
1½ cups sugar, divided (7 ounces, 198g = 1 cup and 3½ ounces, 99g = ½ cup)
2 large or extra large eggs (2.2 ounces, 63g each) (Ina calls for extra large eggs. If you don't have them handy, use large eggs. I find that some brands such as Eggland's Best large eggs are heavier than others so I use these instead of extra large).
1 cup (8 ounces, 227g) Green Valley lactose free sour cream (or regular sour cream) at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (8½ ounces, 240g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2½ pounds ripe but firm mangos, peeled, pitted and sliced
½ cup (2 ounces, 57g) chopped pecans
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and hand mixer), beat butter and 1 cup of sugar for 3 minutes on medium-high speed, until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs one at a time, then the sour cream and vanilla. Mix until the batter is smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixture on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until just combined. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup sugar and cinnamon.
Spread half of the batter evenly in the pan. Use an offset spatula if you have one. Top with half of the mango slices, then sprinkle with two-thirds (about 5 tablespoons) of the sugar mixture. Spread the remaining batter on top, arrange the rest of the mangos on the batter and sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture and the pecans.
Bake the cake for about 55 minutes (check at 50 minutes), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature. Any leftover cake can be frozen for a few months.
These flourless cookies are decadently rich with pockets of melted chocolate tucked beneath their crinkly tops. They are light, with crisp edges and chewy, chocolatey centers. They are pure delight for anyone who enjoys a chocolate treat occasionally (or frequently).
With just 7 ingredients these cookies are easily made in 30 minutes. Two types of chocolate and toasted pecans pair up beautifully.
Egg whites and powdered sugar are what brings the batter together, giving these cookies a wonderful texture. Stash some in the freezer for an anytime chocolate fix.
Sift together powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt in a large bowl.
Whisk egg whites until frothy (hand mixer works great). Stir egg whites and vanilla into powdered sugar mixture. The batter will be very thick. Stir in chopped chocolate and pecans until well combined.
Drop cookies 3-inches apart using a 1½-inch cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) on a parchment-lined baking sheet lightly greased (otherwise they will stick) with cooking spray.
Bake until tops are shiny and cracked, about 8 - 10 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
