My nephews’ Grandmother passed away the other day. We spent many holidays together over the years and I always loved her Greek cookies. She gave me the recipe a few years ago and this is the first time I made them.  Thank you, Dina.

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 sticks of butter, room temperature

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup sugar

4 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 fresh orange juice

shot of brandy

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg, vanilla and oil and beat until well combined.   Sift dry ingredients together and add slowly until a dough forms.  Add juice and mix until combined. Make a flat disk 2″ thick, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes or so.  Roll out to doubt 1/4″ thick and use any cookie shape you like.  Use flour so you can work with dough easier.  It warms quickly.  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle on sesame seeds or poppy seeds.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Let cool and eat.  They are even better the next day.

Grab a cup of coffee and a slice of this cake.  It is better than Calgon.

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 stick butter, softened.

2 cups sugar

3 cups sifted flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-1/4 cup buttermilk

3 whole egg whites, beaten until stiff

FOR THE TOPPING:

1-1/2 stick butter, softened

3/4 cups flour

1-1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg whites and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until combined. Don’t overbeat. Fold in beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula. Spread in a well-greased 9 x 13 baking pan.

In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle all over the top.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until toothpick comes out dry in cake part. Cinnamon/sugar/butter mixture part will still be sticky.

I got the recipe here.

Marcus is a beautiful man that sits near me at work and always samples my baking.  When he asks for Jam cookies he gets them.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups flour

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup jam or other filling

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Whisk the measured flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl to aerate and remove any lumps; set aside.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer, scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl, and add the egg and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until incorporated, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.


Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until the dough just comes together, about 45 seconds.

Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and form it into a disk. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Using your hands, roll each portion into a 10-by-1-inch log. Carefully transfer 2 of the logs onto each prepared baking sheet. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, make a 1/2-inch-wide and 1/2-inch-deep trough in the center of each log, leaving a 1/2-inch border at each end. Place the jam in a piping bag and pipe the jam into each of the troughs. Place both baking sheets in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom and bake until the cookie logs are light golden brown around the bottom edges, about 10 to 12 minutes more. Place the baking sheets on wire racks and let the logs cool for 15 minutes. Pick up 1 of the parchment sheets and carefully transfer the two logs to a cutting board. Cut each log on the diagonal into 1-inch-wide pieces. Transfer the cookies to the wire rack. Repeat with the remaining parchment sheet and cookie logs. Let the cookies cool completely.

I followed this recipe.

Banana bread made even better with chocolate.

INGREDIENTS

3 medium-to-large very ripe bananas

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

DIRECTIONS

Heat your oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan, or spray it with a nonstick baking spray.

Mash bananas in the bottom of a large bowl. Whisk in melted butter, then brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Place baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa powder in a sifter or fine-mesh strainer and sift over wet ingredients. Stir dry and wet ingredients with a spoon until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks or chips.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 55 to 65 minutes, until a tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out batter-free. Cool in pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I worked with this recipe.

Can you believe this is the first dessert I’ve made with bacon?

INGREDIENTS

12 bacon slices, minced

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups quality milk chocolate chips

Flaky sea salt

 DIRECTIONS

Preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with silpat or parchment.

For the bacon: In a medium frying pan, saute the bacon until the fat has rendered and the bacon is crisp. Drain the fat from the pan, add the maple syrup and stir to blend. Saute until the maple syrup becomes thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer immediately to a small bowl and let cool.

For the batter: With a standing or handheld mixer, blend the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the egg and beat until well blended, 1 minute. Add the vanilla and beat for 30 seconds more. Stir in the flour and baking soda with a wooden spoon. Add the bacon and chocolate and stir to combine. Scoop heaping teaspoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake until golden around the edges, 9 to 10 minutes.

I worked with this recipe.

I think the name kinda says it all.

INGREDIENTS

¼ cup butter, softened

½ cup plain sour cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

¾ cup white whole wheat flour

1/3 cup all purpose flour

¼ cup protein powder

2/3 cup dark cocoa powder (regular cocoa power is fine as well)

1 tsp baking soda

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

¾ cup milk

1 cup chocolate chips and/or walnuts

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine butter, sour cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin in a bowl and mix well to combine. In a separate bowl, mix together flours, protein powder, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Combine wet and dry ingredients, add in milk and stir until well combined. Scoop into a muffin pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Place muffins in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops spring back when touched. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

I worked with this recipe.

I remember going to Sweden with my friend Carina in High School. I don’t think I ever saw one of these.

INGREDIENTS

Dough

2/3 cup milk, lukewarm in temperature

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/2 cup demerara sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

4 ounces walnuts, finely chopped

Egg wash (1 large egg + 1 tablespoon water, whisked)

DIRECTIONS

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the lukewarm milk, sugar, egg, melted butter, and yeast. Using a bowl scraper, fold in the flours, cardamom, and salt until the dough comes together and appears uniform. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. If using a stand mixer, knead the dough on low for 3-5 minutes with the dough hook attachment, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of bowl.

Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1 to 2 hours.

To make the filling, mix together the butter, sugar, and cinnamon until it forms uniform paste.

When the dough has doubled in volume, punch down the dough and, on a lightly floured surface, flatten the dough into a rectangular shape. Roll out the dough to a 12-by-18 inch rectangle. Using an offset spatula, spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around all edges. Sprinkle on the finely chopped walnuts evenly and press the walnuts down lightly into the filling.

From the long end, roll the dough tightly into a log and place seam side down. Cut off the ends so the log appears uniform. Form the log into a ring shape and pinch the open ends together. Using a kitchen shears, cut the dough 2/3 of the way into the log into 2-inch segments. Carefully turn the segments upwards so the interior of the dough is exposed. Cover and let rise for an additional 30-45 minutes.

While dough is rising, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Brush with egg wash and sprinkle lightly with additional demerara sugar. Bake the tea ring for 25 minutes, or until golden. If it browns too quickly, cover with aluminum foil to prevent browning during the last 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.

I worked with this recipe.

Foelske shared this recipe with me so I walked to the 99 Cent store and bought everything I needed.

INGREDIENTS

Crust

1/2 sleeves of Saltines

1/3 cup butter, melted

3 tablespoons sugar

Filling

4 egg yolks

14 0z can of condensed milk

1/2 cup of lemon and lime juice mixed

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crush saltines in bowl but don’t turn to powder. Add sugar and then melted butter. Press into 8″ pie plate. Chill for 15 minutes then bake for 18 minutes.

Take pie crust out of oven. In a medium bowl, add egg yolks and milk. Whisk well. Add lemon/lime juice mixture and whisk well. Pour into warm pie crust and bake for another 15 minutes. Let cool and then refrigerate for a few hours until chilled and set. Serve with whipped cream on top.

Foelske got the recipe here.