Eating all of the Irish Food while Social Distancing: Flapjacks

Hey folks, how are you all holding up while holed up? We are making it work and also, making a lot of crafts, messes, food and DIRTY DISHES! We sent our neighbors a quarantine care package, Emmett’s idea, and they sent us one.  We’ve been going on daily long walks, during which some of us invariably fall asleep. And are basically trying not to lose our just minds like everyone else in the world. THAT struggle is real! Still, we are feeling incredibly lucky for everything we have, especially our health and safety and that of those we hold dear. I am also feeling particularly grateful for all of the kits, crafts and art supplies I’ve squirreled away in various parts of the house, for a rainy day, as well as the foresight to have four kids which is 4X the insanity but also never a dull moment and a friend for everyone.  

Five-year old’s mis en place.

Four active children also means burning through food like nobody’s business. I had no idea how much my family eats. Last week, when I couldn’t find any bread at my local grocery store, in an effort to maintain social distancing, I got out my breadmaker instead of trying to find bread at another store. What I found out was, my kids LOVE fresh bread.  And also, I should have bought more bread flour because one bag only makes about 10 loaves. Thank goodness for the food section at Paddy’s which has provided me with a few bags of oats, coarse whole grain flour, and several baking mixes, including scones, Yorkshire puddings, soda bread and this one, for flapjacks. 

If you are reading this, you probably already know that flapjacks are not pancakes. According to Wikipedia, “In the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Ireland, and Newfoundland a flapjack refers to a sweet, tray-baked oat bar, most commonly made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup.” So, not pancakes, though we have also been eating lots of those. 

I’ve used this type of mix in the past and it cannot be easier. All the delicious smells and fresh-baked loveliness of baking from scratch, but easy enough to throw together and do the cleanup in that 30 minutes between conference calls. #workingfromhome 

The directions on the box call for using butter and golden syrup or making them “healthier” by using coconut oil and honey.  Because I am incapable of following directions, even with a mix, I used coconut oil and golden syrup with amazing, coconutty results. Honestly, I have no idea how much 150g of coconut oil is. I could have gotten out my kitchen scale, but I just eyeballed it based on the equivalent 10 tablespoons of butter that would have been required if I went that route. It worked! 

I was not ready for how much I would LOVE these.  They are sort of in the same vein as the chocolate chip cookie brittle I made back in the blissful recent past when “global pandemic” was for Netflix series’.  Thin and crunchy and sweet but not crazy-sweet. I broke it up like brittle, not bothering to cut it in neat bars, because what’s the point? I used a bigger tray than called for, resulting in thin flapjacks, and reduced the cooking time accordingly. The directions were spot on in noting that the flapjacks would be ready once the edges began to brown. I pulled mine out after about 15 minutes.

I was the first one to dig in and once I started it was NOT easy to stop. If not for the kids, I could have, and would have, eaten an entire tray of these in no time. They were all outside playing and sort of forgot that we had made them, so it took a lot of willpower, but I was able to save some for the rest of the family. Once I let the kids try them…well, let me just say, within about 10 minutes I had to hide the container from them. Yes, there was a not-so-small part of me that wanted to make sure there was some left to crumble over my yogurt for breakfast, but also, they were like crazed animals. Flapjacks. Who knew?

Hope you are sheltering in place, happy, healthy and safe. xo

Midwest Made: Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle

True story. Last time I made a pie, an apple pie, I pulled it out of the oven, set it on the counter and ran out to the grocery store.  When I returned, my dear husband, Paul, had cut into it prematurely and ALL of the juices were spilling out into the gaping hole left from the piece he had served himself. I was SO.MAD. Like couldn’t see straight mad. Like the maddest I remember being in YEARS! Which, in retrospect, is actually pretty funny. Still, I think we can all agree that it’s super frustrating to spend a few hours making a pie just to have someone ruin it the minute you pull it out of the oven to rest. I explained to him that ALL pies need to rest before you cut them. Fruit pies, so that the juices can cool and thicken properly, and custard pies so that the custard can set.  He said that leaving a warm pie on the counter was entrapment. Ok. Fair point. Regardless, I think my anger scared him straight. I don’t think he’ll ever cut into a pie without permission again.  

I guess I’m glad that cutting into a pie too soon is about the most infuriating thing Paul has done in the last several years. But trust him around baked goods? I unequivocally do not. Which is why, after finding this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle a week or so I go, I knew I had to make it when he was not home.  The directions call for “cooling completely” before removing the brittle from the cookie sheet. So unless I was up for getting in between Paul and a warm Chocolate Chip Cookie-type situation, I was waiting.  

Turns out I didn’t have to wait too long. Thanks to Chicago Public School’s and all of the random days off they give the kids, there was no school this Friday.  Perfect opportunity to bake with Emmett. Good thing he’s a lot better at waiting than his dad. I love this brittle. It’s reminiscent of a Chocolate Chip Cookie, but definitely not a cookie. 

It’s something entirely different. Even if, like me, you love thin, crunchy cookies, this is still not that, it really is more of a brittle.  The surprising accuracy of a name! I feel like you have to try it to understand. And you should! The only problem with the recipe, and brittle format, is that I feel like it’s REALLY easy to eat way too much of this.   

Child baker or serial killer? You decide. (This was actually the least wacky of the camera smiles he gave me. Ha!)

It took us under 10 minutes to prep these and after about 20 minutes in the oven they were ready.  I think it was harder for me to wait for it to cool than it was for Emmett. Truth. But don’t tell Paul. 

He jammed an animal cookie in his mouth to give him sustenance for continued whisking.

We made these with mini chocolate chips, regular chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts and sprinkled them with additional sea salt before putting them in the oven.  I think they would also be incredible with pecans, or white chocolate and crushed pretzels. I suggested pretzels but Emmett didn’t like the idea. Crazy kid. I hope the girls and Paul like this brittle as much as I do because I don’t trust myself with a whole container of this stuff in the house. 

I’m going to say this is a must make. I’m definitely bringing it to the next party I’m invited to. Maybe I’ll even bring some to the store tomorrow for the Cocoa Crawl! It’s from the book Midwest Made by Shauna Sever. If you love all things Midwest, like me, you will love this book.  You can find the recipe here. Also, I want to bake just about everything else in the book. As you can imagine, there are a bunch of homey, Scandanavian-influenced recipes in there.  Nothing Irish about it but I’m guessing it would all be Ireland approved fare. Ehhem, Potato Chip Shortbread, Brewer’s Cheddar Bread, I’m looking at you. Actually, there is a recipe for Brown Irish Soda Bread that’s on my list, so I stand corrected. 

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to squirrel away some of this brittle before the rest of the family gets home. Have a great weekend and if you don’t have plans tomorrow, stop by Long Grove for the Cocoa Crawl.

Boutique Bake Brown Bread Mix

Hello there! It’s been way too long. I know we’ve been cooking at our house because somehow food keeps appearing on the table at dinner time.  I’m just not quite sure what or how. Sound familiar? Because it is STILL winter here, and I’ve still got napping little ones, I’ve taken to making soup from the weeks leftovers on Sunday afternoons. I’m kind of loving this little ritual.  The relative quiet. Doing something with my hands. Letting my mind wander. Giving my sense of smell, taste and feel something to do other than sit on the sidelines as they do for most of the week. I enjoy it without any of the guilt I associate with sitting on the couch and watching netflix or shopping online or any of the other things (that I also enjoy!) that I could be doing with my Sunday afternoons.

Not that I should feel guilty for any of it, just that, honestly, I do. I blame my Dad (as wonderful and amazing as he is. Hi Dad!).  When I was a kid, my dad would walk in the room and immediately observe his surroundings.  If he saw that you weren’t engaged in something “productive” - reading, homework, cleaning etc. he would blurt out “What are you doing!?!” with urgency and more than a little distress. I would have instant regret at my foolishness for relaxing so openly.  It’s hard to tell whether it nature or nurture - and it’s surely both - but as I grew older, I internalized this sense of “What are you doing!?!” to the point where I say it to myself constantly. Having kids, and no free time has definitely toned down that voice in my head, but it is always there, somewhere. As much as it drives me crazy, I appreciate it too.  For the fact that it drives me. Even if it’s just to make soup.

My Sunday soup ritual does not involve any recipes.  Just throwing leftovers into a pot with stock really. But I have been supplementing the soup with some great  breads and bread mixes from Paddy’s on the Square. Like me, the kids love brown bread and using a mix makes it so easy.  I can make the soup and bake bread all at the same time. And if we don’t eat the soup and bread for dinner, I take the soup with me to work for weekday lunches and we enjoy the bread as toast in the mornings.

A couple of weeks ago, I made this Brown Bread mix from a Company called Boutique Bake.  It was beyond easy to throw together and came with this nice little packet of seed mix to throw on top of the loaf for even more texture and flavor.  We loved this bread. The only downside was how fast this loaf went at our house.

*Serves 12 should be taken with a grain of salt. It took 10 minutes for my clan of 6 to finish this off.

Just add milk…

one egg…

and the crunchy seed topping. Then your work is done. Put it in the oven.

Your only remaining job is to slather it with Irish butter and eat. Now, RELAX. You can do it!