Cookie Toast

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I got this biscotti recipe from my Grandmother. My son calls them cookie toast. I’ll skip putting up a tree before I skip making these.

INGREDIENTS

5 cups flour

½ pound Crisco

6 eggs

2 ½ tablespoons baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

Walnuts to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift flour, sugar, and baking powder.

Cut in Crisco.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Mix in chopped walnuts.

Form in about 8 small loaves (football shaped) and place on cookie sheet. Cook for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let loaves cool a bit and then slice each loaf (carefully so they don’t crumble) on a diagonal. Place individual biscotti back on cookie sheet and then place back in the oven to toast. After about 10 minutes turn them over and do the same until they are browned.

Let cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Even better the next day.

 

White Chocolate Cheaters

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There are some things worth cheating (on your diet) for. These crispy oatmeal cookies are one of them.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon table salt

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

6 ounces good-quality white chocolate bar, chopped (not “white chocolate” chips; they’re almost always artificial. I am adamant about this.)

1/2 teapoon flaky sea salt (like Maldon or fleur de sel) (for sprinkling on top)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Scrape down bowl again. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until just incorporated and smooth. Gradually add oats and white chocolate and mix until well incorporated.

Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons. Roll between palms into balls, then place on lined baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using fingertips, gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness.

Sprinkle a flake or two of sea salt on each cookie

Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, about 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool.

I got the recipe here.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

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Buttery berries and crunchy nuts. Did I really just say that?

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/3 cup pecans, toasted, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter bottom and halfway up sides of an 8-inch square glass baking dish using 2 tablespoons butter. Spread cranberries evenly over bottom of dish. Sprinkle pecans on top, then sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar; set aside.

Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat; set aside. Put egg and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until pale and thick, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low; gradually beat in flour, and then salt. Pour in melted butter in a slow, steady stream, beating until smooth.

Slowly pour batter into pan to cover cranberries. Bake until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen, and invert to unmold onto a serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I got the recipe here.

Bawling Butter Cookies

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When I first started baking Christmas cookies these brought me to tears. I don’t typically cry, but if you don’t get the dough firm enough (but not too firm) in the refrigerator you might start to cry too. However, there is no crying in baking so take a knee, hydrate, and get to work.

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 cookie press, make any shapes you want and decorate them with whatever you desire. I used a variety of combinations of coconut, jam, chocolate, and nuts.

2016 Christmas Cookie

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Some people make a new ornament each Christmas.  I’m going to make a new cookie recipe.

INGREDIENTS

½ lb butter

1 cup sugar

5 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon or orange zest

5 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ cup sour cream

Icing

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 tablespoon water

melted chocolate

about three dozen pecans for garnish

 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar.

Add eggs one at a time then vanilla and zest.

Slowly add flour and baking powder

Mix in sour cream.

Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop dough on to baking sheet. Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes until slightly browned. Let cool.

Prepare the icing by mixing powdered sugar, juice, and water until a desired consistency. Melt chocolate and set aside. Dip the tops of cookies in the icing, place a pecan on top and let it firm up. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Ultimate CPBJ Cake

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Imagine you made white bread taste like cake and then you topped it with peanut butter, jelly and chocolate.  Then you ate it with a glass of ice cold milk. You’d have the ultimate CPBJ Cake.

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs, beaten well

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup milk

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup jelly

12 oz milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Beat eggs well, add rest of ingredients. Mix well.

Lightly grease and flour a jelly roll pan.  Pour in batter and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 min. Cake should be firm but not brown.

While still hot from oven, spread with peanut butter, then jelly.  On top of that sprinkle the bag of chocolate chips.  You can put it back in the cooling oven, with the door open and let the chips get really soft.  Spread them over the top to cover peanut butter mixture. Put in the refrigerator until firm.  Cut in squares and serve with cold milk.

Pumpkin Raisin Nut Balls

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Can you say “Nut” and “Balls” together?

INGREDIENTS

Softened unsalted butter, for the pan

3 2/3 cups pastry flour, sifted

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 1/3 cups superfine sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten

One 15-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin

1 cup seedless golden or dark raisins

topping:

1/4 chopped walnuts

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon sugar

PREPARATION

  1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400˚F. Brush the insides of 12 to 14 muffin cups with softened butter, then brush the top of the pan.
  2. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt together into a medium bowl. Beat the butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed until creamy, about I minute. Gradually beat in the sugar and continue beating, scraping the sides of the bowl often with a silicone spatula, until the mixture is very light in color and texture, about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the eggs. Reduce the mixture speed to low. Beat in the pumpkin; the mixture may look curdled. In thirds, beat in the flour mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, and mix until smooth. Add the raisins. Increase the speed to high and beat until the batter has a slight sheen, about 15 seconds, no longer.
  3. Using a 2 1/2 inch-diameter ice-cream scoop, portion the batter, rounded side up, into the prepared cups. Mix together nuts, cinnamon, and sugar then sprinkle on top of muffins.
  4. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a wire cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes more.
  5. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely.

I worked with this recipe.

 

Politically Correct Gingerbread

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I didn’t want to piss off the feminists and make gingerbread men so I made a generic shape. Who am I kidding? I didn’t have a man shaped cookie cutter.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
  • 1 large egg

Decorating sugar or sprinkles (optional)

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda, and salt; set aside. With an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in molasses and egg. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients; mix just until a dough forms. Place dough on floured plastic wrap; pat into an 8-inch square. Wrap well; chill until firm, 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough in half. Working with one half at a time (rewrap and refrigerate other half), place dough on floured parchment or waxed paper; roll out 1/8 inch thick, turning, lifting, and flouring dough (and rolling pin) as needed. Freeze dough (on paper) until firm, about 20 minutes.

Loosen dough from paper. Cut out shapes, and transfer to baking sheets. Decorate with sugar or sprinkles, as desired.

Bake until firm and edges just begin to darken, 10 to 18 minutes, depending on size. Cool completely on baking sheets.

I used this recipe.

Almond and Citrus Cloud Cookies

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INGREDIENTS

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

10 ounces almond paste

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

¼ teaspoon almond extract

powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line baking sheets.

In a small bowl, mix together granulated sugar, zest, and scraped vanilla seeds.  Use your fingers to works the zest and vanilla into the sugar, creating a fragrant, moist sugar.

Place sugar in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Add the almond paste and salt.  Beat on medium speed creating a crumbly sugar and almond mixture.

While almond mixture is combining in the mixer, place two egg whites in a small bowl.  Whisk with a fork until loose and frothy.  This will help in pouring the egg whites into the mixer.

With the mixer on medium speed, gradually pour the egg whites in to the crumbly almond and sugar mixture.  Beat until a smooth paste is formed.  Add the almond extract and beat to combine.

Scoop batter by the heaping tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.  Using the tips of three of your fingers, make indentations in each cookie.

Bake cookies for 20 to 25 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned on top.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan.  Cookies will last for 5 days if stored in an air tight container.

I worked with this recipe.

Cinnamon and Sugar Bread with Butter

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The holiday season gets a little hectic but there is always time to make bread.  Mix this the night before, let it sit and just pop it in the oven in the morning.

INGREDIENTS

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon yeast

1 1/2 cups water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Mix together the first four ingredients.  Dough will be wet and loose. Mix cinnamon and sugar together and then fold into the dough.  Cover and let sit on the counter over night.  In the morning heat oven to 500 degrees with dutch oven in it so it gets hot too.  Once the oven and pot have been heating for about 30 minutes, plop the dough into the dutch oven and cook covered for 30 minutes.  Take lid off and let the top of the bread brown for about 10-15 minutes.