A twist on an old fave.  You can’t go wrong with this mixture of nuts, chocolates, and salt.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar

8 ounce mixture of chopped high-quality semisweet chocolate and white chocolate.

¾ cup chopped walnuts

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Lightly beat eggs and vanilla in a small bowl.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Add egg mixture and beat, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until mixture is pale and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add dry ingredients, beating until just incorporated. Fold in chocolate and walnuts with a spatula.

Spoon about 12 heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto each prepared sheet, spacing 1″ apart.

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until just golden brown around the edges, 10–12 minutes (cookies will firm up as they cool). Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

I worked with this recipe.

 

 

I had the pecans from Trader Joe’s and I couldn’t resist.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups of yellow cornmeal + ½ cup to cook

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 ¼ teaspoons fine sea or table salt

1 ¼ cups milk

1 cup sour cream

1 stick unsalted butter melted and cooled

5 tablespoons sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup of sweet and spicy pecans chopped

Directions

Heat oven to 425°F

Grease or line a 12-cup standard muffin tin.

Whisk 1 ½ cups cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a medium saucepan, combine milk and remaining ½ cup cornmeal. Cook cornmeal mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens then transfer to large bowl.

Whisk butter, then sugar, then sour cream into cooked cornmeal until combined let cool for a few minutes and then add eggs making sure they don’t scramble. Whisk until combined.

Fold in flour mixture until thoroughly combined and the batter is very thick. Fold in blueberries and pecans. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups; it will mound slightly above the rim.

Bake until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Rotating muffin tin halfway through baking to ensure even cooking. Let them cool for a few minutes and then serves with butter, of course.

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us.  My boy decorated these with me and it made my day. XO

INGREDIENTS

1 pound butter, softened

2 cup’s powdered sugar

5 cups flour

2 eggs

3 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Cream butter and sugar.

Add eggs and vanilla

Mix in flour.

Refrigerate dough for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using a heart design with your cookie press.  Decorate with sprinkles and bake.

These sweet cardamon breads reminded me of Leia’s awesome hairstyle.

INGREDIENTS

For dough

1 1/4 cups warm water

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 large eggs beaten lightly

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup powdered nonfat dry milk

5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

 

Filling

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons cardamom seeds, ground in a mortar with a pestle, or in an electric spice/coffee grinder

an egg wash made by beating 1 large egg with 2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons water

PREPARATION

Make dough:

In a large bowl combine water, butter, and sugar. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand 5 minutes, or until foamy. Stir in eggs, salt and dry milk until combined. With a wooden spoon stir in 5 sups flour, 1 cup at a time, and stir mixture until a dough is formed.

On a floured surface, knead dough about 10 minutes, adding enough of the remaining 1 cup flour to make dough smooth and elastic. Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat, and let rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough and on floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll into a 15- by 20-inch rectangle. Spread butter over dough and sprinkle with granulated sugar, cinnamon and cardamom.

With a long side facing you, roll up dough jelly-roll fashion and cut crosswise into approximately 1 1/2-inch-thick slices with a cut side down. Working with 1 slice at a time gently twist opposite ends of slice around twice to form a figure eight. Crimp ends together. Arrange rolls, a swirled side up, on a buttered baking sheet about 2 inches apart and let rise in a warm place until increased 1 1/2 times in bulk, about 1 hour.

While rolls are rising, preheat oven to 350F.

Brush tops of rolls with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake rolls in middle of oven until tops are pale golden, about 25 minutes.

 Got the recipe here. 

 

Chocolate, cherry, and almond cookies made with love.

2 ¾ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup butter

4 oz almond paste

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup pitted cherries, chopped

½ cup chocolate chips

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and almond paste (crumble paste between your fingers) together until light and fluffy.

Beat in the egg and the vanilla.

Gradually mix in the flour then add the cherries and chocolate chips.

Cover and refrigerate for 10 to fifteen minutes.

Cook for approximately 10 minutes until golden brown.

Cool on rack

 

 

Blueberry crumble bars.  Basic and beautiful.

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 stick cold salted butter (cubed)

1 large egg

1 pint blueberries

¾ cup sugar

⅛ cup lemon juice

2 teaspoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter a 9×9″ glass baking dish and set it aside.

Combine the flour, ½ cup sugar, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and the egg, and then use a fork, your fingers, or a pastry cutter (if you have one) to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients. The mixture is good to go when it reaches a coarse crumble.

Press ½ of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the baking dish.

In another bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, ¼ cup sugar and cornstarch. Add the blueberries and gently toss them to coat.

Layer all the blueberries on top of the crumb mixture in the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top – it should be enough to almost cover the blueberries.

Bake the blueberry crumble bars for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the blueberries are bubbly and the top is golden brown.

Let the bars cool completely before cutting.

I got the recipe here.

 

This will make 2 half pints of the most delicious lemon curd you have ever spooned on toasts, mixed into yogurt or eaten straight out of the jar. I quadrupled this recipe to make my batch and it worked just fine. If you skip roasting the lemons, it will still be amazing.

 INGREDIENTS

6 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

3 meyer lemons, roasted then juiced (approx. ½ cup). Strain to remove seeds

1 stick of butter, cut into chunks

INSTRUCTIONS

Roasting Lemons:

Zest whole lemons. Then, cut them in half, sprinkle some sugar on the top and put under the broiler for 5 minutes keeping an eye on them the entire time.

Curd:

In a small, heavy bottom pot over medium heat, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar.

Add the lemon juice and switch to stirring with a wooden spoon.

Stir continually for 10-15 minutes, adjusting the heat as you go to ensure that it does not boil.

Your curd is done when it has thickened and coats the back of the spoon.

When you determine that it’s finished, drop in the butter and stir until melted.

Position a fine mesh sieve over a glass or stainless steel bowl and pour the curd through it, to remove any bits of cooked egg. Whisk in the zest.

Pour the curd into two prepared half pint jars, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Cover and leave to cool.  Refrigerate.

I worked with this recipe.

 

 

Couldn’t think of a better pancake to start our Saturday.

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup milk

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 egg

2 tablespoon butter, melted

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon poppy seeds

1 teaspoon lemon zest

DIRECTIONS

Stir the milk, vinegar, and lemon juice together in a bowl; let stand 10 minutes to curdle. Whisk in egg, butter, and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds, and lemon zest until well combined. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk a few times until the batter is mostly free of lumps.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cup of batter per pancake into the skillet and cook until bubbles appear on the surface, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes over with a spatula and brown the other side, about 2 more minutes.