Perfect not-too-sweet molasses cookies

One thing I've noticed about dessert recipes: there's almost always too much sugar. Actually, it's not just in the recipes - even in store-bought cookies and pastries, I always found the sugar overwhelming. No, I'm not a sugar hater. I just believe that we eat too much sugar in general. In fact, the average American consumes more than 20 teaspoons of added sugar each day. That's about half a cup of sugar every day, 3 and 1/2 cups of sugar every week and 15 cups of sugar per month. This means that an average family of four eats (drumroll) a grand total of 60 cups of sugar a month.

That's why, of all my cookie recipes, I especially love this one. It's got just enough sugar, a chewy texture and a delightful hint of ginger. If you actually can stop yourself from eating them right away, I really recommend that you store them in a cupboard overnight, because they're even better the next day.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl, combine the oil and the sugar. Mix in the egg and molasses. In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the oil mixture and mix until well combined.
• Shape dough into 1-inch balls, slightly flatten and place about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the bottom of the cookie is light brown. Cool on wire rack.

The "everything" bread dough

This is a quick recipe that I use over and over again; because it's so easy, you'll have no trouble memorizing it, and you'll find out that it's more handy than you would have ever believed.

With only this basic dough, you can make pizza crust, flat breads, hamburger buns, regular loaves of bread, raisin bread (my personal favorite), French baguettes, garlic bread... and everything else you can think of. You can probably even make some kind of a sugar/cinnamon mixture and make sticky buns with it. It's up to you to jazz up this recipe as much as you like and create a completely unique creation because somehow, no matter what you add to this dough, the end result tastes perfect.

So, I really recommend that you try out this recipe. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour (you can also use whole-wheat flour or bread flour)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• 2 Tbsp instant dry yeast
• 4 Tbsp white sugar

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven at 360° Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt. (Note: if you're making garlic bread or raisin bread, this is where you add the garlic or raisins.)
  
• Combine the water, yeast, and sugar; let sit for about 10 minutes until frothy.
• Slowly pour the water mixture into the flour mixture and create the dough. Add extra flour as needed if the dough is too sticky. Knead with your fists for 5 - 7 minutes.

- Hamburgers: Divide the dough into 12 parts, shape into buns and place onto 2 greased baking sheets. Let rise in a warm area for 30 - 40 minutes. (Tip: To rush this process, I cheat and install a normal desk lamp with a heating light bulb right next to the buns.) Bake for 20 minutes and let the buns cool down before slicing.

- Pizza crust: Let dough rise until doubled. Roll on a lightly floured surface and place on a large greased oven-safe pizza plate. Cover with toppings of your choice and bake until edges are golden-brown.

- Flat bread: Let dough rise until doubled. Roll on a lightly floured surface and place on a large greased oven-safe plate. Brush with 1 beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake for 20 minutes.

- Garlic bread: Finely chop 5 cloves of fresh garlic and add to the flour BEFORE adding the water mixture. Let dough rise until doubled. Roll on a lightly floured surface and place on a large greased oven-safe plate. Brush with 1 beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake for 20 minutes.

- Regular white bread: Divide the dough into two parts and place into two greased 8" x 4" bread pans. Let dough rise until doubled. Brush with 1 beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake for 20 minutes.

- Raisin bread: Use brown sugar instead of white sugar and add 1 cup of soaked raisins to the flour BEFORE adding the water mix. Divide the dough into two parts and place into two greased 8" x 4" bread pans. Let dough rise until doubled. Bake for 20 minutes.

One of these days...

It's a rainy, humid, and rather unpleasant day. The kind of day when a headache is unevitable, and when you just want to recluse behind your computer screen or TV and forget about the ugly, depressing weather.

It's also the perfect day for an almond bundt cake. The batter takes minutes to put together, then you just shove it in the oven, wait an hour and enjoy.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup margarine
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 4 Tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup toasted slices almonds
  

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds. Set aside.
• In a mixer, cream together the margarine and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons almond extract and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture and the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and invert on a wire rack. Cool 10 minutes longer. Place rack on waxed paper. Combine water and confectioner's sugar, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and toasted sliced almonds; pour over warm cake.