Green Tea Chia Seed Pudding

I recently received me a big bag of Matcha (Japanese green tea powder) and I plan to make a lot of yummy things with it.  First on the list is this green tea chia seed pudding. If you've never made chia seed pudding before, it's really one of the easiest things you can make - just stir the ingredients together and let the chia seeds do their thing overnight in the fridge.  They'll "gel" as they absorb all that flavorful liquid.  Chia seeds are not only delicious, but they have a satisfying, almost chewy texture.  Oh, and did I mention how nutritious they are? High in fiber, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants.  Speaking of antioxidants, matcha is loaded with them too.  So it's nutritious, easy to make, and fun to eat - what more can you ask for?  

Five simple ingredients - that's all it takes.

Ooh, love that color!

Whisk, whisk, whisk.

Vanilla bean paste - sooooo good.

Sticky, sweet honey.

Nothing mixes beverages quite as well as this little gadget.

Happy.

And now, the star of the show....  cha-cha-cha-CHIA.  

Clear ramekins really show off that lovely green color.

Dig in!

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Items used for this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• pure vanilla bean paste https://amzn.to/3HhfWXZ

• organic chia seeds https://amzn.to/3rj8PZC

• organic matcha powder https://amzn.to/3IW3Zrj

• battery operated beverage whisk https://amzn.to/3rk3QYD

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Green Tea Chia Seed Pudding

makes 4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1 teaspoon culinary grade Organic Matcha powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla bean paste

• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey (or to taste)

• 1/2 cup organic chia seeds

Directions

1. Whisk together milk, matcha powder, vanilla bean paste, and honey until completely combined.

2. Stir in chia seeds; continue to stir every 15 minutes for an hour, then cover and chill overnight.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups with Vanilla Infused Milk - do I have your attention yet?  How stinking cute are these?  I can't take credit -they're the brainchild of Dominique Ansel, but he's keeping his recipe top secret so I played around with a few recipes and techniques until I came up with this version.  They're a bit more work than baking a batch of cookies, but you can make them in advance so that helps.  Just wait until your guests see them - they'll be blown away.    

The cast of characters.

I love my BeaterBlade attachment.  It completely eliminates the need to stop and scrape down the sides of my mixing bowl.  Love it, love it, love it!! 

Cream the butter, sugars, salt, and vanilla together until they look like this.

Add the egg white and mix until it looks like this.

Add the flour and mix just until no traces of dry flour remain.

In go the mini chocolate chips - mix just until the chips are evenly distributed.

Wrap well in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.

You'll need something small, oven-proof, and cylindrical like these adorable stoneware espresso mugs.  They make the perfect size cookie cups!

For best results, use Baker's Joy.  Butter simply doesn't work for this recipe, and believe me, I tried - for some reason, it made the cookie dough fuse onto the mugs and I couldn't remove the cookie cups at all.  Couldn't even chisel them out.  Epic fail.

Ok, here's the best advice I can give you - don't put too much cookie dough into the espresso mugs.  The first time I tried these, I used more than twice the amount of dough shown, but I couldn't get the dough to bake through - the tops were burned and the bottoms were a puddle of raw dough.  

I found the trick is to press a much thinner layer of dough - basically the thickness of a mini chocolate chip.  Just press pieces of dough against the mug until the mini chocolate chips prevent you from pressing it any thinner.  Continue all around the sides and bottom of the mug, patching and pressing until it's completely covered, being careful to press all seams together.

Ready for the oven - note how I've neatened up the rim of the dough.

I bake my cups for exactly 16 minutes.  The top of the dough will just be starting to turn golden brown.  The cookie cups will be too soft to unmold at this point so it's really, really important to allow them to rest for at least 15 minutes before unmolding.  Again, I learned the hard way.  Your patience will pay off, I promise.

When you remove the cookie cups, they will still be a little warm.  Allow them to cool completely before proceeding.  This should only take a couple of minutes, but you can speed things along by placing them in the fridge.

Gently melt your favorite chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Coat the inside of each cookie cup with the melted chocolate.  Because the inside of the cookie cups are so narrow, a thin, round pastry brush like this one works very well.

Remind me to paint with chocolate more often - it's fun.  Chill until the chocolate sets.

Time to enjoy.  I like to serve each cookie cup with a little individual porcelain pitcher full of vanilla infused milk.  I like the milk icy cold.  How about you?

Refill and sip some more.

When you can't resist any longer, devour cookie cup.

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• baker’s joy https://amzn.to/3gdpPKF

• oven-proof espresso cups https://amzn.to/3L5U6cg

• beater blade attachment https://amzn.to/3IW1cOH

• small pastry brush https://amzn.to/3HlMH6p

• small porcelain pitcher https://amzn.to/3giZ2wh

• pure vanilla bean paste (use the good stuff!) https://amzn.to/3HhfWXZ

• pure vanilla extract (again, use the good stuff!) https://amzn.to/3r9wNGK

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups

makes 8 cookie cups

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Cookie Cups:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• pinch of fine salt

• 1 egg white

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

• 1 ounce high-quality dark chocolate, melted

Vanilla Infused Milk:

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F and place rack in the lower center position.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a BeaterBalde attachment (or the flat paddle), cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and salt for 1 minutes on medium-high speed.

3. On medium speed, add egg white and mix until completely incorporated.

4. Continuing on medium speed, add flour and mix just until no signs of dry flour remain.

5. Reduce speed to low and add mini chocolate chips; mix until evenly distributed.

6. Wrap cookie dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

7. Spray 3.5-ounce mini espresso cups with Baker's Joy; use your finger to spread it into an even layer, paying close attention to get down where the sides and bottom of the cups meet.

8. Press a layer of dough about the thickness of a mini chocolate chip evenly into the bottom and up the sides of each cup.

9. Place cups on a 1/4-sheet pan and bake on lower middle rack of preheated oven for 15-16 minutes.

10. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before attempting to unmold cookie cups; allow to cool completely.

11. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate.

12. Use a small, thin pastry brush to coat the inside of each cookie cup with chocolate; chill until chocolate sets.

13. Make vanilla infused milk by whisking warm milk and vanilla bean paste together (serve warm or cold).

14. Serve with mini pitcher of vanilla infused milk - just pour the milk in the cookie cup, and enjoy.

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