Pete loves blueberry pies and it was his birthday.

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups shortening
5-7 tablespoons of cold water + 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
heavy cream for brushing

Filling:
6 cups blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons cold butter

DIRECTIONS

For crust: Stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-size.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water mixed with vinegar over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to side of bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time, until all the dough is moistened. Divide in half. Form each half into a ball. Refrigerate while you make filling.

For the blueberry filling: In a bowl, toss the blueberries with the sugar, flour, and lemon zest and juice.

On lightly floured surface, flatten 1 dough ball. Roll from center to edges into 12-inch circle. To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin; unroll into a 9-inch pie plate. Carefully place pastry into pie plate. Fill with blueberry mixture.

Tuck the pats of cold butter beneath the top layer of berries. Roll out the 2nd piece of dough and cover blueberries. Trim both to a 1/2-inch overhang around the pie. Tuck the overhang into a roll and crimp the edge, pressing down to hook some of the dough over the edge of the dish, holding the pie. Cut a hole in the center of the pie, as well as some decorative vents.

Brush the top of the pie with cream and dust it with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes. Cover the edges of the pie with foil and continue to bake until the center juices bubble and thicken, 25 to 35 minutes more.

Huge thanks to Epicurious for posting this recipe. I reprinted it here. Consider this a gift from Marcy Goldman.  Rosh Hashanah is September 20th. You will thank me (and Marcy).

 

My nephew came home from getting a tattoo and said he wanted a cupcake. So, I made these. We are not your traditional family and this is not your traditional frosting but like my family, this frosting is freakin’ amazing.

INGREDIENTS

Cupcakes:
1 1/4 cup flour (sifted)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cream
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 °F and line tin with cupcake liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the the bowl of an electric mixer, ass eggs and beat slightly. Then add sugar and beat for about a minute.  Add vanilla and oil and do the same.

Reduce mixer speed to medium/low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture, mixing until incorporated. Add half of the buttermilk and mix until incorporated. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk. Beat until just combined and smooth, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed. The batter will be thin.

Pour batter into a lined muffin pan. Bake for 14-16 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

While cooling, make frosting.

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add the brown sugar. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium low, and continue to boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk and return to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.

Gradually sift in the powdered sugar and cinnamon. Beat until thick enough to spread. Dip cooled cupcakes into frosting and let drip dry.  Sprinkle with a little cinnamon and brown sugar.

I worked with this recipe.

 

The gluten-free part is just a bonus.  Thanks to Add A Pinch for this recipe.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Garnish:
Sea salt
Coarse sugar

DIRECTIONS

Presheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.

Cream together peanut butter, sugar, baking soda, and sea salt until well blended. Add in egg and vanilla until well incorporated.

Drop tablespoon scoops of cookie dough batter onto prepared baking sheets. Press tops with fork. Place in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven before they have begun to brown. While still warm, garnish with sprinkles of optional garnishes, if desired.

Allow to cool slightly before removing to a cookie tray.

 

Did you ever try those Biscoff cookies?  I always thought they would make a good pie crust and then Nina brought some some key limes.

INGREDIENTS

Crust:
1 1/2 cups of crushed biscoff cookies
5 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:
14 oz (1 can) of sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest

Whipped cream for serving

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crush biscoff cookies in a plastic bag with a roller until finely ground.  Put in bowl.  Stir in butter.  Push into a pie plate and bake for 10-15 minutes.

While cooking, make filling by mixing condensed milk and egg yolks until well combined.  Add lime juice and zest.  The mixture will thicken a bit.  Once pie crust is done, pour filling into hot pie crust and bake for about 15 minutes.  Let cool completely on wire rack and the refrigerate overnight.

Serve with fresh whipped cream.

It’s just chocolate cake.  And chocolate cake is awesome.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3 tablespoons finely ground espresso
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Butter and lightly flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, on the medium speed, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat well, then the buttermilk and vanilla. Sift the flour, cocoa, espresso, baking soda, espresso, and salt together into wet ingredients. Stir together with a spoon until well-blended but do not overmix. Scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for about 10 to 15 minutes, at which point you can cool it the rest of the way out of the pan.

I worked with this recipe.

A little bit of heaven in a cookie.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon finely ground espresso
1 stick + 3 tablespoons butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Melted white chocolate for dipping

DIRECTIONS

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, espresso, and baking soda in a small bowl then set aside.

Beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla and beat for a few minutes.

Add the dry ingredients. Pulse for a bit, then finish by hand for about 30 seconds, just until the flour disappears into the dough.  It will be crumbly.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide it in two. Shape each half into a 9-inch log. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at a few hours.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets.

Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are ½-inch thick. Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them. Sprinkle a small amount of extra salt on top of each round.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are room temperature. Temper white chocolate and dip cookies.  Let set in refrigerator for a few minutes before serving.

I worked with this recipe.

Whenever I make jam, I have to make something like this.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 pound (3 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup crushed peanuts
1/2 cup crush almonds
1/2 cup raspberry jam

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together the butter and sugar until just combined. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt. On low speed, add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Pour on a floured board and roll together into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough into 1″ balls. Dip each ball into the egg wash and then roll in crushed nuts.  Place the balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and press a light indentation into the top of each with your finger. Drop 1/4 teaspoon of jam into each indentation. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the nuts are golden brown.

I worked with this recipe.

You can make this in one bowl and just sprinkle on the topping.  I’m thinking you serve it with cream cheese.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1-3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 eggs
½ cup melted butter
⅓ cup milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9″x5″ loaf pan.

Whisk together sugars, flour, spices, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the bowl. Add the wet ingredients. Whisk, starting with the wet ingredients and working your way to the outside of the bowl, mixing until batter is smooth but not over-mixed.

Pour batter into the loaf pan and sprinkle with cinnamon, brown sugar, and walnuts. Bake for 55-65 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then cool on a rack until ready to serve.

I worked with this recipe.

This recipe was conceived in the early morning hours, as most of my experiments do.

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour

Filling:
1 cup Fig Jam
1 peach sliced thinly
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon sugar for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

For Crust: cream butter and sugar.  Add vanilla. Add flour one cup at a time and fully incorporate. Press into tart pan, add pie weights to stop crust from rising and bake for 20 minutes until set and slightly browned.

For Filling:  Remove pie from oven and spread jam. Turn oven up to 375 degrees. Cover top with sliced almonds and arrange peaches.  Sprinkle peaches with sugar.  Bake for about 20 minutes more until jam is bubbly and crust is browned.

Let cool before serving.