Oh how I love Fall! While I love the weather, secretly, I love the food. It’s getting heartier, more rustic, and its soup time! I don’t have a soup recipe for you, at least not this month, but I do have some more of my fall favorites. As the weather changes, one of the things I enjoy doing is baking cookies, so this month, I’ll bring you my absolutely favorite cookie: Cinnamon Toast Cookies. When I was sick as a kid, my mom would make me toast with butter and cinnamon sugar; this is my adult version of one of my childhood favorites.
While at a farmers market this week, I found the most beautiful looking baby eggplants. Because they are perfect for this time of year, I decided to make a meal that is affordable, quick, and easy—my Eggplant Tacos. Feel free to use any soft cheese that you like with this, although I would recommend shying away from the moldy varieties like bleu cheese or gorgonzola; brie, goat, and camembert are all good options.
Eggplant Tacos
Easy to make, eggplant tacos are the perfect 30-minute from prep-to-eat meal.
Ingredients:
2 Baby eggplants (about six inches long and an inch and a half wide)
3 Baby portabella mushrooms
Salt, to taste
Olive Oil
Soft Cheese (I used goat cheese; room temperature)
Fresh basil or cilantro (rough chopped)
Small soft tacos
Eggplant tacos are ridiculously simple. You don’t have to use truffle oil; regular olive oil will suffice, but if you have some, it will definitely add to the flavor palette.
Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice eggplant and mushrooms into ¼ inch slices and lay flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Roast vegetables for approximately eight minutes on each side. When done, place the mushroom and eggplant slices on warmed tortilla shells. Spread with the soft cheese and sprinkle with basil or cilantro.
Cinnamon Toast Cookies
Make sure you get your mise en place together before you start baking. It will make it a lot easier once you begin.
Ingredients:
½ cup salted butter
¼ salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 large egg
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cinnamon sugar, to taste (for rolling)
Method:
Cream together sugar and butter with an electric mixer.
Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Slowly mix into the butter mixture until well blended.
Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to roll into balls.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Roll dough into ¾ inch diameter rounds. Roll in cinnamon sugar until fully coated.
On a lightly greased cookie sheet, place cookies one inch apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges.
Cool on the pan until cookies harden enough to be moved without breaking.
Far better than a snickerdoodle, these cookies just melt in your mouth.
