Everything But The...Butter

Chocolate Chip Shortbread!

This is a literal "everything but the butter" recipe - our packaged baking mix will come with everything you need to make this delicious shortbread cookie, all you have to do is add 2 sticks of butter.

Here's the dry mix:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a medium sized bowl, simply stir in a cup (2 sticks) of room temperature butter into the dry ingredients until it becomes a crumbly consistency with the butter fully incorporated.

Press the mixture (it will be more of a crumble, not a dough) into a 8" by 8" or 9" by 9" glass pan, using a piece of wax paper to help you push it down flat without it sticking to your fingers. You can also use the bottom of a plate or pot to help you get a super flat top.

Place the pan in a pre-heated 300 degree oven for one hour. Just leave it alone, no need to check on it and no need to open the door if you followed the directions.

After one hour, remove the shortbread from the oven and use a sharp knife to cut it into squares, allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before trying to remove the squares from the pan. The cooling allows them to solidify, reducing the potential to crack when you go to remove them.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

A fun alternative to cutting the shortbread into squares is using a cookie cutter. Use a sharp edged metal cutter in a simple shape (intricate cutters features smaller angles which won't turn out as well due to the thickness of this recipe). Arrange on a platter and enjoy with a glass of eggnog, as I did last night!

Scallion Pancakes

One thing I've never seen in "mix" form is scallion pancakes. You've probably had these delightful, fluffy and flavorful pancakes at a Chinese restaurant or maybe at Korean BBQ along with the plethora of salads. These heavier-than-a-crepe pancakes are so easy to make and great with a dash of soy, ponzu or even teriyaki sauce.

In order to inject some umami (the 5th taste) into the "Everything But The..." line of baking mixes, we've come up with a lovely "Everything But The...eggs" recipe for scallion pancakes. Here's the recipe I tested today. I still have some more tweaking to do, but the pancakes had a soft, delectable texture while really delivering an punchy green onion flavor, accented by some sea salt.

Whisk together in a large bowl:
2 eggs
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil (or any vegetable you have around)

Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Once packaged, Everything But The will include all of these dry ingredients, pre-mixed, in our fantastic, eco-friendly containers so all you have to do is pour into the wet ingredients above!

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Dash of chili powder
Pinch of fresh ground black pepper
1 cup chopped scallions 

Whisk everything together so that there are no lumps. The great part about the rice flour is it provides a smooth, thin consistency very quickly.

Next, heat a large pan to medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil (vegetable oil works just fine). Pour in about 1/2 cup of your batter mix and pan-fry on one side for about 1-2 minutes, then flip and fry the other side. Watch the pan closely and lift the side of the pancake to check for doneness before flipping.

Once done, transfer to a plate and serve it up with any variety of Asian toppings. Any of the following combinations are great:

• Ponzu with lemon zest
• Teriyaki sauce with orange segments
• Soy sauce with grated ginger and cilantro
• Wasbi mayonaise 

Next time I'm going to test these with dried shitaki mushrooms to see how I can inject another umami ingredient into the mix. I'm sure I'll have to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes so the mushrooms can re-hydrate in the batter, but I have high hopes for the outcome.

If you try this at home, let me know your thoughts and leave a comment below.