Meet In Your Kitchen | Marta Greber's Chocolate Chickpea Cookies for Breakfast
This post is part of my Meet in My Kitchen podcast: How did we get to where we are in life & what does food have to do with it
"Food is comfort. Food makes me happy." - Marta Greber
Marta is an adventurer - driven by curiosity and trust. She explored New Zealand in a camper van with her 2-year old daughter and even when the van broke in the middle of nowhere she felt they were safe. She travelled around South America on her own, taking precautions and cutting her hair short as matches and adorning her face with not the cutest glasses to cause anything but attraction. Marta avoids risks but she doesn't miss a chance when she sees it. Australia, South East Asia, Europe, there isn't really a dirt road she hasn't been on yet.
When it comes to very spontaneous, very intuitive decisions that always lead to a good ending, no one beats the Grebers: be it on her own or together with her husband, Tomasz, and their daughter, Mia, living in their camper van called Thelma - Marta says she's Louise but hopes for a better ending than in the movie; be it backpacking, or moving to a new country for good.
I first heard of Marta when I started my own blog and found endless inspiration in hers, on What Should I Eat for Breakfast Today?. Her photography drew me into her digital wonderland of breakfasts and traveling. Her pictures are full of joy, depth, and color. Marta has a great talent, she can tell a story in a single picture. Once, many years ago, she shared a picture of a dish that was shoot on an old Yves Klein-blue door. The contrast of the blue surface and the spring green food made the dish almost pop out of the screen. Marta is the reason why both of my books have blue covers.
Always drawn to breakfasts - years ago she told me it's the only time of the day that you can really plan - it was in Australia when she felt overwhelmed by the variety and excitement that this meal of the day can bring to your life and table. Banana bread and pancakes, Dutch baby and chunky cookies, Finish pannukakku, shakshuka, Portuguese pastel de nata - her insatiable Wanderlust and appetite became the endless source of inspiration for her food blog, one of the most popular blogs in the last 10 years.
"It’s about living in a van. Imagine when it’s raining, you sit in your apartment, you have this awesome window, you look through the window, you look at people running on the street and hurry somewhere and I am always in a different place. So when it’s raining I’m looking, for instance, at the sea, and at the storm over the sea. There’s the wind, the beach is empty, a bird is fighting with the wind. For me it’s amazing and whenever things like this happen, it’s like each second day, I tell Tomasz: This is the reason why we’re here!" - Marta Greber
Her life wasn't meant to be so adventures from the beginning. Marta grew up in Poland, still experiencing the communist system in her childhood years. She studied law, married early, and for a long time she didn't even question that she would live a settled life in Poland. However, her first long trips to the US, staying in Las Vegas as part of a work and travel program for Polish students - there couldn't have been a bigger contrast between her country's communist past and this flashing capital of capitalism - living in and exploring Australia together with her husband followed by various adventures in South East Asia, they all changed her.
So as she went back to Poland, reflecting about where she sees herself at that point in her life, after all those impressions and experiences, she decided to take the time to figure exactly that out. She didn't want to be a lawyer but she had no idea what the next steps should be, she couldn't see her future yet as a successful blogger, photographer, and journalist but she grabbed the chance to find that out.
When you hear her talk about her beloved mornings when the family is on the road, stepping out of her camper van welcomed by silence and the sun rising over a lonely beach, or misty hilltops, her cup of coffee in one hand, she's the happiest person in the world. And I totally understand why. To see someone being so brave to actually make all those radical changes in her life and to do what many just talk about, to see the peace she found, this is very touching. There's so much I learn from this woman and I'm sure this will never change.
Recently Marta had to change her diet and she reduced her consumption of flour but she didn't want to spoil the fun so she got experimental. For the Meet in My Kitchen podcast, she shared a flourless cookie recipe with me, made of chickpeas, peanut butter, bittersweet chocolate, and a squeeze of lemon. The cookies taste so good and have such a moist texture that we emptied the tray before the cookies had a chance to cool. The recipe is adapted from one of Marta's blogger friends, Texanerin.
Giving up their apartment in Berlin - actually while we recorded the podcast - and now moving to Lisbon, the Grebers are ready for a new chapter in their life. This is the reason why we shot the recipe in my kitchen and not in Marta's. Thank you, Mia, for being an awesome kitchen assistant, reliable cookie tester, and for patiently waiting behind the closed kitchen door until Marta and I finished the podcast recording before we could start baking together.
The podcast episode with Marta Greber is in English. You can listen to the Meet in My Kitchen podcast on all common podcast platforms; there are English and German episodes. You can find all the blog posts about these podcast episodes including my guests’ recipes here on the blog under Meet in Your Kitchen.
Listen to the podcast episode with Marta on:
Spotify / Apple / Deezer / Google / Amazon / Podimo
On Instagram you can follow the podcast @meetinmykitchenpodcast!
Chocolate Chickpea Cookies
by Marta Greber
Makes about 22 small cookies
240g / 1 1/3 cup drained and rinsed canned chickpeas
175g / 2/3 cup smooth peanut butter, at room temperature
60ml / 1/4 cup agave syrup, or maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
A squeeze of lemon
100g / 3,5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 175°C / 350°F (preferably convection setting) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the chickpeas, peanut butter, agave syrup, baking powder, salt, and lemon juice and, using a food processor or blender stick, briefly puree but keep the mixture a little chunky. Using a large spoon, fold in the chocolate.
Shovel a spoonful of dough into your hand, form into a ball, and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Slightly flatten the dough with a teaspoon. Repeat to make around 21 more cookies, leaving a little space between them.
Bake for around 10 minutes or until golden; they will still be very soft and moist in the center. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before you transfer them to a cooling rack; they will stay quite soft. Enjoy!
Perfectly Fudgy Ginger Chili Double Chocolate Cookies
Over the past few days, I've been working on last year's tax declaration, a rather frustrating task that is only bearable with lots of sweets on the side. Or a glass of wine, which I don't recommend to avoid serious problems with your tax office due to illogical inconsistencies caused by a tipsy mind. This highly responsible - but absolutely boring work - needs lots of concentration and sugar to keep the brain cells awake. I think any kind of cookie would have worked in my case - I'm always happy when I have these sweet, chunky bites in my mouth - but I was after a powerful treat, packed with spice and bittersweetness.
And here's what I came up with: Ginger Chili Double Chocolate Cookies. I would call it a proper man's cookie, at least our male friends who passed through our flat recently were absolutely hooked on them and praised the perfect balance of softness and crunch. They are very dark, with chocolaty depth, I used melted bittersweet chocolate plus roughly chopped chunks and only a little bit of flour, which had an amazing effect on the texture. These cookies are soft inside, a bit fudgy, and wrapped in a thin, shiny crust - perfect. I stirred in plenty of freshly grated ginger and finely chopped fresh red chili pepper. The result was hot, citrusy and fresh - don't expect a slight hint of the spices, they are present.
You have to take these cookies out of the oven at the right point, when the dough is just done. I made 11 cookies, 10 were perfect, and only 1 of them (for whatever reason) was still too gooey inside for my taste. The chocolate flavour is intense, I wouldn't use chocolate much darker than 55% for this recipe, the bitter note can become too overpowering and disturb the spices - even for men.
Ginger Chili Double Chocolate Cookies
Makes 10-12 cookies
bittersweet chocolate (about 55%) 300g /10 1/2 ounces
unsalted butter 45g / 3 tablespoons
freshly grated ginger 1 heaping tablespoon
ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon
plain flour 65g / 1/2 cup
baking powder 1/2 teaspoon
organic eggs 2
granulated sugar 100g / 1/2 cup
fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon
medium hot fresh red chili, finely chopped, 2 teaspoons
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Line 1 baking sheet with parchment paper.Roughly chop 1/3 of the chocolate (100g / 3 1/2 ounces) and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt the remaining chocolate, the butter, ginger, and cinnamon over low heat, stirring occasionally. Let it cool for 2 minutes.
Combine the flour and baking powder and set aside.
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the eggs, sugar, and salt for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Whisk in the melted chocolate until well combined. Using a wooden spoon, fold in the flour and chopped chocolate until just combined. Stir in the chili and scoop 1 heaping tablespoon for each cookie onto the lined baking sheet, leaving a bit of space between the cookies. Don't flatten the cookies. Bake for about 11-12 minutes or until the cookies are a little crunchy outside and slightly soft in the middle. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and let the cookies cool for 10-15 minutes before you transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely, the chocolate will need a little while to become hard again.
Bittersweet Chocolate Muffins filled with Peanut Butter
I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions, I'd rather be happy and feel good with myself and change what needs to be changed when I'm ready to give it a go - which is not necessarily at the beginning of a new year, especially if it involves changes to my (sweet) diet. During winter, my body loves to keep a few more pounds on my hips, it's cold out there so it does so for a good reason. And anyway, I wear large wool sweaters most of the time, it's not summer yet and there's no bikini or walks on long beaches in sight. So I accept my pounds, I'll even feed them well, and enjoy what makes this time of the year so special: getting cozy on the sofa, sipping tea or hot chocolate and nibbling on some cake or dark, chocolaty muffins. The cookie cutters get a break and my cake tins and muffin trays are back on the counter tops. Happy New Year!
To add even more richness to my spongy muffins made with melted bittersweet chocolate and butter - no vegetable oil and cocoa powder for me - I fill them with dollops of creamy peanut butter. The nutty golden filling is almost liquid when the muffins are fresh out of the oven and still warm inside. I got hooked on the combination of dark chocolate and peanut butter when I made my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies in autumn, I knew it would come back sooner or later.
If you're up for another kind of muffin treat, try one of these:
Fig, Ricotta, and Olive Oil Muffins (if you can't find fresh figs you can replace them with chopped dried dates)
Bittersweet Chocolate Muffins filled with Peanut Butter
Makes 12 muffins
plain flour 200 g / 1 1/2 cups
baking powder 2 1/2 teaspoons
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
a pinch of salt
butter 150 g / 2/3 cup
bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces, 100 g / 3 1/2 ounces
granulated sugar 150 g / 3/4 cup
organic eggs 3
peanut butter, about 135 g / 1/2 cup
icing sugar, to dust the muffins (optional)
Preheat the oven to 190°C / 375°F (preferably convection setting) and line the 12 molds of a muffin tray with paper baking cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Take the pan off the heat and whisk the chocolate into the melted butter until combined. Add the granulated sugar and eggs and whisk until well combined.
Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a lumpy dough, with a bit of flour left here and there. Keep in mind, the more you mix it, the more it will lose its light texture. Drop 1 heaped tablespoon of the dough into each muffin cup and add 1 heaped teaspoon of the peanut butter on top. Cover each dollop of peanut butter with the remaining dough, then flatten it lightly with a tablespoon. Bake for about 20-22 minutes (slightly longer using conventional) or until the muffins are firm and spongy on top. Let them cool for 1 minute before you take the muffins out of the tray, sprinkle the tops with icing sugar (optional) and enjoy, preferably warm.
You can keep the muffins in an airtight container for a few days but I find them best on the first day.
Bittersweet Chocolate & Orange Muffins
One of eat in my kitchen's hungry followers asked me if it's possible to turn my Maltese granny Edith's bittersweet chocolate and orange sponge cake into muffins without loosing any of its scrumptious qualities - and the answer is: yes, it is possible and they taste as amazing as my Mediterranean granny's cake! The muffin loving lady called Edith's cake the best orange cake she's ever baked - which I still have to tell Edith as I'm sure it will make her a little proud - and I call these miniature versions one of the best muffins our coffee table has every seen. They are so soft, buttery-juicy and aromatic, the warm chocolate lusciously melting into the yellow sponge. It's the kind of sweet you want to enjoy snuggled into a blanket on the sofa on a cozy Sunday afternoon with a hot amber-coloured cup of Darjeeling tea or a thick, dark hot chocolate.
I had an interesting hot chocolate experience a few days ago. It was a typical autumn day, not too cold yet, the leaves vigorously flying in front of our living room window. I felt like a walk through Berlin's West and took the afternoon off. We live in the eastern part of the city and at the moment I tend to spend a lot of time in the area where we live, so it felt a bit like a holiday to go to a different Kiez (the Berlin word for district). The restaurants, shops and houses look a little different and we even needed a map at one point as we lost our way - we felt and looked like tourists. Whenever I discover a new area I have to go to at least one café or restaurant. We went to Winterfeldt Schokoladen, a chocolate shop and café in Schöneberg, located in a stunningly beautiful old pharmacy from 1892. Tiny drawers and ornate cabinets filled with the best chocolates and pralines, cupcakes and caramel candy displayed on scratched up, old marble. Luckily, we found a free table - there are only a few in the tiny shop - so we placed our order: scones with clotted cream and thick Italian hot chocolate. When our dark beverage was served in fragile antique cups, we looked at each other and smiled. The hot drink was as thick as custard, the purest taste of chocolate mixed with steaming water - no milk and just a little sugar. It's not the kind of hot chocolate I could drink every day but it was delish. And it felt so good to just sit there at the window and watch the people passing by that we didn't want to get up and step out into the cold again.
Bittersweet Chocolate & Orange Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
plain flour 200g / 1 1/2 cups
baking powder 2 1/2 teaspoons
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon
a pinch of salt
granulated sugar 180g / 3/4 cups and 2 tablespoons
butter 150g / 5 1/2 ounces, melted and cooled for a few minutes
organic eggs 3
freshly squeezed orange juice 6 tablespoons
orange zest 1 1/2 tablespoons
bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped, 100g / 3 1/2 ounces plus 1 tablespoon finely grated for the topping (optional)
Set your oven to 200°C / 390°F (fan-assisted oven) and put paper baking cups into the 12 molds of a muffin tray.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
Whisk the melted butter, eggs, orange juice and zest and pour into the bowl with the dry mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until you have a lumpy dough, with a bit of flour left here and there. Keep in mind, the more you mix it, the more it will lose its light texture. Quickly stir in the chocolate and scrape the dough into the muffin cups. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden and firm and spongy on top. Let them cool for a few minutes before you take the muffins out of the tray, sprinkle the warm tops with a little more chocolate.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
I am impressed! I did not expect Doris' peanut butter cookies could possibly be turned into something even more delicious than the original recipe - once I called these cookies the best ever and for good reason. For years I didn't even feel the need to modify anything of the sweet formula created by our granny in Florida. Her cookies are perfect! But - I felt tempted, I couldn't let go of the idea of rough chunks of bittersweet chocolate melting into the nutty richness of these crunchy bites once it got stuck in my head.
It was a very quick project - another quality of these cookies, they can be done in 20 minutes. I chopped the chocolate first, moved on to unsalted peanuts lightly broken for the topping and waited impatiently in front of my oven to see how my kitchen experiment would turn out. My boyfriend was skeptical - we're talking about an old recipe from his beloved grandmother - but he approved in the end, they were just too good.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Makes about 40 cookies
plain flour 280g / 2 cups and 2 tablespoons
baking soda 2 teaspoons
salt 1/4 teaspoon
butter, at room temperature, 250g / 9 ounces
light brown sugar 280g / 1 1/3 cups
organic eggs 2
peanut butter (smooth not crunchy) 350g / 1 1/3 cups
bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, 160g / 5 1/2 ounces
peanuts (unsalted), roughly chopped, 70g / 2 1/2 ounces
Set the oven to 180°C / 355°F (fan assisted oven) and line a baking sheet with baking paper.
Combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy, add the sugar and continue mixing for a minute. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, add the peanut butter and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients gradually and mix well. Stir in the chopped chocolate and shape the dough into large walnut sized balls. Lay them out spaciously on the lined baking sheet, they will rise! Flatten lightly with a fork, sprinkle with peanuts and push the nuts lightly into the dough. Bake for 10-11 minutes until golden. Leave them to cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before you cool them completely on a wire rack.
The darkest Gâteau au Chocolat
99% dark chocolate - I went for the darkest Swiss chocolate I could find for my petit gâteau! For months I've had this cake on my mind, dark, moist and rich, an adult cake that combines the best of a luscious mousse au chocolat and a tender cake. So often I've enjoyed this bitter sweet at French patisseries or as a dessert with whipped cream melting on top in one of Paris' pretty bistros in the hidden side roads.
This treat doesn't need many ingredients but the few should be of exquisite quality, especially the chocolate. Sometimes this gâteau is dusted with icing sugar but I don't like to hide its honest dark beauty under a layer of blank white. I also don't see the sense of using one of the best chocolates to blur down its complex taste by using cheap sugar. So my gâteau stays naked! Spiced with a little cinnamon and cardamom, its a rich composition perfect for desserts or for Sunday afternoon tea time, my favourite! I had a few slices with a cup of Darjeeling and it was heavenly!
Gâteau au Chocolat
For a 20cm / 8" springform pan you need
dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa, preferably 99%) 150g / 5.5 ounces
butter 150g / 5.5 ounces
organic eggs 4
granulated sugar 180g / 6.5 ounces plus 1-2 tablespoons for the whipped cream
plain flour 120g / 4.5 ounces
ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon plus a pinch for the whipped cream
ground cardamom 1/8 teaspoon plus a pinch for the whipped cream
a pinch of salt
heavy cream 200g / 7 ounces, for the topping
Set the oven to 180°C / 360°F (fan assisted oven) and line the springform pan with parchment paper.
In a saucepan (or a bain-marie), melt the chocolate and butter and let it cool off for a few minutes.
Whisk the egg whites with the salt until stiff.
Combine the flour with the cinnamon and cardamom.
Mix the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy and stir in the chocolate/ butter mixture. Stir in the flour/ spice mixture with a spoon before you gently fold in the stiff egg whites. Put the dough into the lined springform pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until the cake is done. Check with a skewer, it should come out clean. Let the cake cool for a few minutes before you take it out of the springform pan and serve with with the spiced whipped cream.
Whip the cream with sugar, cinnamon and cardamom and season to taste.
Espresso Ricotta Mousse with Ouzo and Bittersweet Chocolate
The past few weeks felt like living in ricotta heaven! If some places are called the land of milk and honey, Malta would be the land of ricotta and honey! Sweet and savory, you taste it in pies like Qassatat or Pastizzi, tarts, cakes like Cassata Siciliana or with pasta, there is an endless variety in the use of this delicious dairy product on the island. One might think that after a month of savoring all these delicacies I might need a break, but that's not the case at all. Now that I'm back home, I miss it already!
So, to ease my culinary longings, I came up with a dessert that satisfies my needs when I'm in the mood for ricotta, a coffee ricotta mousse with Ouzo, or Spuma di Ricotta al Caffè! It lifts you up like a Tiramisu, the espresso, sugar and anisette are the right kick after a long dinner. The ricotta makes it smooth and velvety and gives it a milky touch. I sprinkled some bittersweet chocolate on top, the perfect finish, visually and in flavours!
This dessert is perfect for a dinner with friends, it only takes a few minutes to whip the ingredients together. You can prepare the mousse either in advance and keep it in the fridge or eat it straight away if the ricotta is chilled enough like I did.
Espresso Ricotta Mousse with Ouzo and Bittersweet Chocolate
For 4 portions you need
chilled ricotta, drained, 250g / 9 ounces
instant espresso powder 1 1/2 teaspoons
grainy espresso powder (for the espresso maker) 1 teaspoon
granulated sugar 3 tablespoons
Ouzo 2 tablespoons
bittersweet chocolate, grated, 4 teaspoons, for topping
Whip the ingredients until well combined, add sugar to taste and fill the mousse in whiskey glasses. Serve immediately sprinkled with chocolate or keep in the fridge and add the chocolate just before serving.
Grown up Chocolate Cookies
This is already the beginning of my last cookie baking weekend before Christmas! I can't believe it, time flew - as always during Christmas season. I baked and ate so many cookies this year! Whenever friends came over we sat under our Christmas tree, enjoyed the festive mood and emptied the cookie boxes. But I can definitely take another round before closing the 2013 cookie season, so let's start!
If you don't really have a sweet tooth these will be your cookies! Bittersweet chocolate and lots of spices: cinnamon, coriander, cloves, aniseed and allspice. The texture is light and crumbly with a thin layer of melted dark chocolate on top. They taste grown up - dark, bittersweet and rich in flavours. I thought some foresty animal shapes would do them good.
Chocolate Spice Cookies
For around 80 cookies you need
plain flour 250g / 9 ounces
cocoa powder 50g / 2 ounces
icing sugar, 90g / 3 ounces
baking powder 1/4 teaspoon
butter, soft, 130g / 4.5 ounces
organic egg 1
cinnamon, ground, 1/2 teaspoon
cloves, ground, 8
coriander seeds, ground, 1 heaping teaspoon
aniseed, ground, 1/4 teaspoon
allspice berries, ground, 2
a pinch of salt
bittersweet chocolate, melted, to brush the cookies, 100g / 3.5 ounces, mixed with cinnamon (1/4 teaspoon) and Chinese 5 Spice (1/4 teaspoon) or some of your cookie spice mixture
Combine the dry ingredients (except the sugar). In a separate bowl, beat the butter till fluffy, add the sugar and continue mixing till combined. Add the egg and mix for another 2-3 minutes. Put the dry mixture into the bowl with the butter mixture and continue mixing with the hook of your mixer until you have a crumbly mixture. Form a disc, wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 320°F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll the dough out thinly (about 3mm) between cling film and cut out your cookies in whatever shape you like. Place your cookies on a baking sheet and bake them for 6 minutes. Let them cool and brush with the melted chocolate.
