rich little brownies with matcha glaze + a giveaway

as first time guest-bedroom-having humans, we have a rule: whenever someone braves the small planes, long drives, and lack of 4g or l.t.e. or whatever in order to just visit us, we have to be as hospitable as possible. five-star hospitable. so hospitable that they would easily brave the planes, trains, and automobiles all over again to come back for another visit. every pillow must be fluffed, every towel must be warm, every political stance must be taken into account when curating the guest bedroom library. and obbbbbbbbviously, there must be plenty of little welcoming snacks, representing sweet and savory, and addressing any applicable dietary preferences.

so before my pops arrived on monday, we scurried around, cleaning, collecting apples from our backyard, combing through our magazine collection, and putting out these itsy bitsy brownies. like why have a chocolate on your pillow when you can have a chocolate brownie on your pillow?

pops was in and out before you could say sugar beet but we had such a delightful time! we strolled around town and ate many kinds of cake. we ate ribs and roamed around the fields. more on this later...

my point is, if he wasn't my dad and also already in possession of a plane ticket to come back for the wedding, i'm pretty sure that eggboy and i made a very convincing argument that yeah, he totally needs to leave chicago for a few days again and come back soon.

i overlook brownies entirely too often. which is silly because not only are they very good, but also these ones are so quick and easy to make. no softened butter, weird ingredients, or even cooling time necessary. (ok, some might consider matcha a weird ingredient, but it shouldn't be. it's wonderful. i keep one little bag on hand at all times and i rarely need to buy more because a little goes a very long way.) my mom used to make these and instead of matcha, she'd spike the glaze with peppermint schnapps. addicting. they'd never last more than a day. so if you're having a chocolate emergency of medium intensity, meaning you can wait about 45 minutes but no more than an hour, i'd highly recommend these little bites of joy. 

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rich little brownies with matcha glaze

based on my mom's recipe!

makes about 24 little brownies

ingredients

brownies:

1/2 c all-purpose flour

1 c sugar

1/3 c unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 c butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

glaze:

3 tb butter, melted

1 tb matcha tea powder

1 tb honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 c powdered sugar

clues

preheat oven to 350 and grease and line an 8-inch square pan (or a pan of similar size).

in a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. add the butter, eggs, and vanilla.

pour into prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.

whisk together the glaze ingredients and pour the glaze on while the brownies are still warm. cut into 1 1/2-inch squares. give to all your friends, otherwise you'll eat them all yourself.

-enjoy!

-yeh!

thanks so much to kiss me organics for sponsoring this post! enter to win a bag of their organic matcha tea powder by leaving a comment here or on Facebook with the craziest use for matcha that you can think of! open to u.s. residents only. update: this giveaway is now closed.

matcha mochi yogurt pops + hello, brooklyn!

this morning i woke up in brooklyn, in my old apartment, on my old couch. i had coffee in my old kitchen as memories of my 23-year-old self with a pre-eggboy eggboy came hurling back all projectile-like: sitting at the counter and giggling uncontrollably when he accidentally called me his girlfriend for the first time, making roasted squash pizza in the wee hours of the morning after a bike ride over the brooklyn bridge, having scrambled eggs and soft boiled eggs and a lot a lot of kale and eggs. it's all so very weird being back in this place! everything here is pretty much the same, although my successors appear to be much cleaner than i was, and they have cool things like milk glass mixing bowls and fishs eddy salt shakers. 

i've yet to venture out. the hum of the falafel truck kept me up (or maybe that was jet lag), so i'm getting a late start to my morning, which is now the afternoon. i forget how to dress in new york... are birkenstocks at all ok? as long as i call them normcore? i need a bagel. and i think it's rather warm out this week, which is a good time to segue into my recipe for the day...

matcha mochi yogurt pops!

for popsicle week! you could say these little guys are like an inside out version of mochi ice cream balls. they've got cynthia's mochi bits scattered about within, which make for a texturally exciting and deliciously chewy experience. and the fact that they're made with yogurt makes them a perfectly acceptable breakfast (of course, an ice cream or any other kind of pop is also an acceptable breakfast, especially during popsicle week). i like my yogurt on the tart side, so i've only added a teensy bit of honey, but you can certainly add more if you please. 

be sure to check out the other popsicles that are being posted throughout this tasty week! and three cheers for billy for organizing this and three more cheers for the official unofficial spokesperson, mariah carey.

matcha mochi yogurt pops

makes 6

ingredients

2 c plain yogurt

2 tb honey, or more to taste

2 tsp matcha powder

a pinch of kosher salt

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

1 c mochi bits

clues

whisk together all ingredients except for the mochi. taste and add more honey, if desired. fold in the mochi. spoon into popsicle molds, insert popsicle sticks, and freeze for a few hours.

run the molds under warm water for easy removal.

enjoy!

-yeh!

bánh mì hot dogs

there are few things i love more than hot dogs. they're my favorite part about baseball games, they might even be one of my favorite parts about summer. when i was little, this was acceptable. now that i'm a sophisticated (*picks nose*) adult, it's almost embarrassing to eat a hot dog unless i've waited hours for it at hot doug's. at barbecues i feel like i should be going for angus this or wagyu that instead of elbowing a seven-year-old out of the way to get to the wieners with ketchup only. cue the judgements from all the chicagoans. i know i know. but is it so much to ask that i have a new, fun way of eating a hot dog that makes me feel more like a real live grown-up?

no.

enter: the bánh mì hot dog!

it's inspired by the one at asiadog and it's basically what would happen if your beloved hot dog got the prettiest, most colorful makeover in all the land. it's also perfect if you don't have access to those special meats that are often found in bánh mìs. this version is super easy to make and great for adding some spunk and new flavors to your barbecues. snappy wieners basking in squishy soft buns, topped with heaps of crunchy veggies? ooh yes.

bánh mì hot dogs

makes 8

ingredients

for the daikon/carrot slaw:

(adapted from the kitchn)

1 c julienned daikon

1 c julienned carrots

a big pinch of salt

1/4 c sugar

1/2 c white vinegar

1 c water

for assembly:

8 hot dogs

8 cobblestone bread co. windy city hot dog buns

1 large cucumber, seeded and sliced

1/2 c hoisin sauce

sriracha mayo (1/2 c mayo + 2 tsp sriracha, or more if desired)

2 jalapeños, seeded and sliced

fresh cilantro sprigs

clues

for the slaw, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, cover, and then refrigerate until ready to use. (you want it to sit for at least half an hour.)

for assembly, grill the hot dogs. place them in their buns and top each with a slice of cucumber, some hoisin sauce, sriracha mayo, some slaw, a few jalapeño slices, and a sprig or two of cilantro.

enjoy!

-yeh!

compensation for this post was provided by cobblestone bread co. via aol media. the opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of cobblestone bread co. or aol.

p.s. check out these other fun summer sandwiches!

bacon and egg shengjian bao (pan-fried steamed buns)

it has been so deliciously cloudy around these parts. it rains almost every day and i love it. it's perfect sweatpants and hoodie weather and the clouds create some very yummy photo lighting as well as the perfect backdrop for practicing three places in new england. 

this weather is not so perfect for farming though. every other day, for a few weeks now, eggboy says we're gonna start planting soon! but then it rains and it rains and planting gets delayed and he puts on a frown until i remind him that now we have time to get caught up with game of thrones.

in other news: i have felt guilty about letting almost a year go by of not making steamed buns. living with a gluten-free eggboy has its downside because who will share my buns with me?!

but today i woke up and thought fuck that! it's my birthday month, i'm making steamed buns and i'm gonna eat them all.

so i made them and i filled them with bacon and eggs as a nod to my all time favorite birthday breakfast, the humble breakfast sandwich. and then i decided to just go all the way and make shengjian bao, which are basically steamed buns... and then you fry them! (side note: henry james was wrong when he said that "summer" and "afternoon" were the most beautiful words in the english language, because i'm pretty sure that "and then you fry them" are more beautiful, no?)

typically shengjian bao have some soup in them, but these ones just have eggs, bacon, scallions, and a wee bit (a lot a bit) of parmesan. good thing i'm wearing stretchy pants!

bacon and egg shengjian bao

makes approximately 18 buns

ingredients

for the buns:

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1/2 c + 1 tsp sugar

3/4 c warm water

3 c flour, plus more for dusting

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 c milk (cow or almond)

1/4 c vegetable shortening, melted

for the filling:

6 strips bacon

3 stalks scallions, chopped

6 large eggs

a bit of cheese, optional

salt + pepper

for serving:

soy sauce

black vinegar or rice vinegar

a pinch of crushed red pepper

clues

to make the buns, proof the yeast with the 1 teaspoon of sugar in the warm water.

in a large bowl, combine the flour, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, and salt. pour in the milk, vegetable shortening, and yeast mixture, and mix to form a dough. knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. transfer to a clean bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let rise for 2 hours.

to make the filling, crisp up the bacon and chop it into 1/2-inch pieces. in the bacon fat or a little olive oil, cook the scallions for 3 minutes. beat the eggs with a splash of water and the bacon pieces. pour the eggs in the pan and scramble them, keeping them pretty wet. don't overcook them because they'll cook a bit more when the buns steam. add in cheese, if desired, and season with salt and pepper.

roll or pat out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out 3-4 inch circles. you could also pinch off small balls of dough and roll them out into circles. fill with 1-2 tablespoons of filling and pinch shut. place on a square of parchment paper and in a bamboo or metal steamer, a few inches apart. let rise for 30 more minutes.

steam over a large pot of boiling water for 10-15 minutes, until doubled in size and cooked through.

coat a pan with vegetable oil, set it over medium-high heat, and lightly fry the steamed buns for a few minutes on each side, until browned.

to make the dipping sauce, combine 1 part soy sauce with 1 part vinegar and a pinch of crushed red pepper.

eat them all yourself!!! or share them. 

-yeh!