Mad About Mini’s: Mad Gourmet’s Single-serve Peanut Butter Pie

My husband is mad about peanut butter. It seems that he puts everything in peanut butter. The most indulging one lately was putting peanut butter on a chocolate chip cookie. Really? Like, aren’t you watching your sugar intake?

He found this recipe in the newspaper and enthusiastically said that I should make it (since I am the baker). However, I know he (actually we) should not indulge too much on dessert so I decided to make a single-serve version.

As always, proportions are always challenging in making it single-serve, particularly if the recipe looks like a combination of volume (cups) and weight (ounces). I just decided to treat the 8 ounces of cream cheese to be approximately one cup.

For the peanut butter, I used regular store-bought peanut butter the first time and needed to add sugar. However, since I started buying freshly ground honey-roasted peanut butter from Whole Foods and loved it. I did not even need to add sugar. Otherwise, it is turns out too sweet.

Challenge really was the chocolate cookie crumb pie crust. The recipe called for a ready-made chocolate cookie pie-crust. Aargh, no proportions! I just winged it and used two Oreo cookies. In my first attempts, I tried pre –baking it, putting a bit of butter, but the best one was just crushing it and placing it firmly at the bottom.

Mad Gourmet’s Mini Peanut Butter Pie

Based on Peanut Butter Pie from the Contra Costa Times

Note: I did not find the original source in my clipping. Apologies for not referencing the original baker.

Ingredients

Crust

• Two Oreo Cookies, crumbled

Filling

• 4 tsp of cream cheese (I used light cream cheese)
• 2 tsp of white sugar
• 5 tsp of peanut butter
• 2 tsp of almond milk
• 2 tsp of whipped cream
• Couple of drops of vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

1. Crumble the cookies and firmly press the crumb mixture into the ramekin. Set aside.
2. Put cream cheese, sugar (if using), peanut butter, and almond milk in a small bowl.
3. Microwave for 30 seconds. Mix well.
4. Fold in whipped cream and vanilla extract.
5. Pour on top of crust.
6. Cool until firm (about an hour) before serving.

Verdict

My husband loves this dessert, almost as much as the Mini Key Lime Pie. This is the one dessert that I made “off-theme” this Thanksgiving, because I know he likes it so much.

I have also used mini Oreos for the crust. The advantage of doing that is one can top the pie with a cookie for a better presentation.

I guess you can serve it without the chocolate crust, but the combination of chocolate and peanut butter is just irresistible. You got to do it.

I guess it is much like eating peanut butter with chocolate chip cookies.

Mad About Minis: Single-serve Haupia Coconut Pudding

I had a bit of a writer's block for Thanksgiving. I was not too sure what to feature for thanksgiving since we normally do not do a traditional Thanksgiving feast. My mom is usually out of town this time of the year (time for a long drive) and my husband's family is 2000 miles away.

That does not stop us from celebrating. I consider Thanksgiving a cook's holiday because it's an opportunity to plan a themed dinner and prepare it. These days we’re only doing it for the two of us, but who knows when it will change.

This year, we decided on a Hawaiian style menu: sweet and sour spareribs, ahi and veggie poke, and of course, kalua-style turkey and cabbage (Note: I am still working on some of these recipes starting with the poke, so expect them in my blog next year). We considered buying some laulau, but decided we have too much food as it is.

For dessert, I made Haupia for two. Haupia is a coconut milk pudding traditionally made with arrowroot starch. I really have to make this single or double serve because it is soooo good and I may not be able to resist the whole batch! I once bought two orders of it at a local eatery for a potluck and the cashier thought it was all for me. She said she could finish two or three orders.

Since coconut milk is the "thing" these days, you may enjoy this recipe, especially if this is your first encounter with Haupia. I based this on a recipe I learned from a Hawaiian cooking class. Hope you enjoy it.

Mad Gourmet’s Single-serve Haupia (Coconut milk pudding)

Based on a recipe by Ron Serrao

Thickening...

Ingredients

• 1/4 c of canned coconut milk
• 2 tsp of cornstarch
• 1.5 tsp of sugar
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl or ramekin, microwave coconut milk for 20 seconds to warm it up.
2. Mix rest of the ingredients and dissolve.
3. Heat in microwave in 20 second intervals until mixture coats the back of a spoon. (Usually about a minute or three 20 second attempts - see photo below)
4. Cool and enjoy.

Verdict

It took me a while to figure out what to write, but I think this was worth sharing. I have been meaning to explore the snack cakes from Hawaii and the Philippines and this is a good start. It's easy to make.

I think the portion size for this recipe is perfect – Just enough to have a sweet finish to a tasty Hawaiian feast.

This recipe scales easily too. If you need it for two or three, just scale it appropriately.  Please do note, the original recipe was for 12 and used 1/4 tsp of salt.

I usually make this when I have leftover coconut milk (usually from making curry). I have not tried it using coconut milk from the carton yet. If you try it let me know how it turns out. It's fairly quick to make too, so it's great for a quick dessert.

The other thing is you can have fun with it since Haupia can be easily molded or cut. See what I did with a cookie cutter. Love it!

Aloha! A hui hoi.

Mad About Minis: Polenta Cookies for Two

When we went to Pizza Antica, the accompaniment to the chocolate budino was a polenta cookie. It was the first time that I enjoyed a polenta cookie, so I was really curious. It was delicious and indeed tasted like polenta but in a cookie. Ideas started to come… which can be a good (or bad) thing. Nonetheless, that experience inspired a second dessert or midnight snack.

I researched this recipe by doing my usual Maddy-thing. What is a Polenta Cookie? Is it really made of polenta? Can I Google a recipe? What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.... (oh wait, wrong question). Can I make a small batch and see if the husband enjoys it? 

I found an Italian Polenta cookie recipe from Martha Stewart, and thought one cannot go wrong with Martha.  I used the ingredients as a base, but combined some of my single serve recipe proportions (like my single-serve chocolate chip cookie) for reference.

My original recipe was admittedly for a single cookie. However, after making it the first time, I decided to make cookies for two. Reserving it for a “photo shoot”, the cookie mysteriously disappeared and I found my husband was quite happy. I think I can put two-and-two together. Nevertheless, that answers the question of whether my husband would enjoy it.

Here’s what I ended up with. Let me know what you think... and we can tweak it together.

Mad Gourmet’s Polenta Cookies for Two

Based on Martha Stewart’s Italian Polenta Cookies

Ingredients:

• 8 tsp of AP Flour
• 4 tsp cornmeal (I used medium grind for texture)
• Pinch of salt
• 4 tsp butter
• 4 tsp of white sugar
• 1/4 tsp of lemon zest/juice
• 3 tsp of egg whites
• Drop or two of vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. Combine wet ingredients to dry. Mix until combined. (Sometimes, I even obsess and combine them before adding – depending on my mood to clean one more dish)
4. Split into two cookies and put on a greased baking sheet.
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
6. Cool for at least 5 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

Verdict

Obviously, my husband enjoyed this cookie and I loved it too. It’s a great break from our usual chocolate chip or sugar cookies. The hint of lemon is perfect with a cup of tea or a chocolate budino.

Most importantly, it was close to what I had in Pizza Antica.

Mad About Minis: Mini Chocolate Pudding

This dish was inspired by the Sea Salt Chocolate Budino from Pizza Antica. I tried this dessert last year, and it was excellent. I thought this was something I can easily make since I have been making a lot of mini desserts then. Well, maybe easy.

Unfortunately, I did not know what a budino was, this was my first budino. After a lot of research, I found that it was an Italian Chocolate Pudding. I found a lot of budino recipes: it is usually very rich using cream and whole milk. I wanted to scale it down and also making it a bit more healthy. However, Actually, even the pudding recipes were a bit difficult to scale down too. So, I have a dilemma.

Fortunately, after a long search, I found a home-alone chocolate pudding recipe hidden in the internet. It is in the community section of Cooking Light magazine. There are a bunch of recipes in there, but I choose the one from Cooking Light, primarily because I wanted to save my chocolate chips for cookies, and I wanted to use the Dutch Process Cocoa.

I also wanted to make a smaller version since 3/4 cup of milk seems to be a lot! Usually I just want something small and sweet to end the evening. So naturally, I halved the recipe.

Here’s what I have so far… I love the deep chocolate flavor on this dish. Let me know what you think.

Mad Gourmet’s Single-serve Chocolate Pudding

Based on Cooking Light’s Home Alone Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients

• 3 tsp sugar
• 3 tsp Dutch Process Cocoa
• 1.5 tsp corn starch
• 6 Tbsp low fat milk
• 1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Microwave milk for 30 seconds.
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Add warm milk and vanilla mixture.
4. Microwave at high for 30 seconds and stir well.
5. Microwave until thick, at most for another 30 seconds.
6. Add vanilla extract and stir.
7. Refrigerate until cold (at least about an hour)

Verdict

I love this recipe. To make it more decadent, I sometimes put it on top of crushed oreo cookies to make the double-dose chocolate effect.

I also have been known to double the recipe to share… or not. I'd just save the other portion for later..

I have also tried making this pudding using coconut milk. That gave it a tropical feel, especially if you add bananas or more coconut.

But then that would not be Italian…