My Favorite Hot Chocolate

Yesterday I took Noah to the orthodontist.  His appointment was at
lunch time and so while he was having his braces tightened, I made my
way up the street to Kneaders Bakery to grab a sandwich for
lunch.  I sat in my car eating my sandwich and listening to a podcast
while I waited for him to emerge with his new and improved bright blue
rubber bands wrapped around those little silver brackets. 





I made the decision to only eat half of my sandwich and to
save the rest for lunch the next day (which was today and not the wisest
decision).  My leftover sandwich was not quite the sandwich it was
yesterday.  It was really quite a sad and dried out sandwich and
I'm not sure why I decided to finish it.  It unfortunately left me
feeling like I needed something more and that something more was Megan
Gordon's whole-grain gingerbread. I could not get that
gingerbread out of my head and so between showering and having to leave to
help in Stella's class, I whipped that gingerbread up in record time.  It
came out of the oven just as I had to walk out the door.  To be honest,
while I was helping in Stella's class all I could think about was
gingerbread, gingerbread, gingerbread. 

 

Whole-Grain Gingerbread

 

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup spelt flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Zest from 1 large orange

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the pan

1/2 cup unsulfured molasses

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup whole milk

1/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

1 large egg, beaten

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour an
8-inch square pan.

 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking
soda, salt, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, orange zest, and pepper.

 

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the
butter.  Add the molasses and honey and heat while stirring until the
mixture is combined and just warm.  Pour into the flour mixture and stir
until just combined.  Add the milk, yogurt and beaten egg and whisk
together until combined.

 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the
edges pull away from the pan slightly and a toothpick inserted into the center
comes out clean, 35-40 minutes.  Let the gingerbread cool completely in
the pan before removing.  Give it a good dusting of powdered sugar and
serve.

 

Recipe adapted from Megan Gordon's Whole-Grain
Mornings