Friday, January 26, 2024

Mexican Hot Cocoa Cookies

I love spicy chocolate anything! And these cookies perfectly fit that bill... Delicious!

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

grated zest from 1/2 of a large orange

2 1/4 cups flour

Beat sugar, butter, vanilla and salt until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in cream of tartar and baking soda. Mix in cocoa powder, cinnamon, cayenne and orange zest. Mix in flour.

Scoop dough into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. 

Bake on parchment lined baking sheets at 350 for 9-10 minutes, or until edges are set. Let cool a bit on sheet before removing to racks to cool. 



Raspberry Linzer Bars

 This Christmas I made real raspberry linzer cookies. I rolled the dough, cut them out, layered them with jam. They were adorable, delicious and a lot of work! 



This recipe makes all of that so much simpler and still taste yummy!

1 cup flour

3/8 cup almond flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix in large bowl with whisk. 

Cut in 1/2 cup of room temperature butter.

Press 2/3 of dough into an 8" square baking pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed with baking spray.

Spread dough with raspberry jam.

Crumble remaining dough on top of jam layer. 

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until base is light golden brown. 

Let cool. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.




Friday, March 17, 2023

Triple Irish Cheesecake Brownie Bars

 I didn't think I could improve on my Irish Brownie No-Bake Cheesecake recipe but I was wrong. I think these from scratch brownies are delicious and the ratio of brownie/filling/topping is perfect! Make these for dessert on St Patrick's Day. You won't be sorry!

Brownies:

 3/4 cup baking cocoa

1/2 tsp baking soda

2/3 cup oil

1/2 cup boiling Guinness beer

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

Stir together cocoa and soda. Add 1/3 cup oil. Stir in boiling Guinness until thick. Add remaining 1/3 cup oil, eggs, and sugar. Then add flour, vanilla and salt. Mix well. 

Pour into lightly greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Cheesecake Filling: 

4oz  cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup Irish Cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/8 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 of a small box of white chocolate instant pudding mix (you could also use vanilla or cheesecake)

Mix cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add whipping cream and Irish Cream. Beat until smooth Add pudding mix and beat for 2-4  minutes or until thick. Spread over brownie and tap on countertop to make sure it settles without holes in filling.

Chill for 1 hour in freezer.

Ganache: 

3 oz heavy whipping cream

1 Tablespoons Irish whiskey

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Place chocolate chips in small bowl.

Heat heavy cream on med heat, stirring occasionally, until it JUST begins to bubble on the edges. Remove from heat and pour right over chocolate chips. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in whiskey and mix well.

Let sit for about 3 minutes and then spread over the top of the cheesecake filling.

Chill in fridge for at least one hour. 

Cut into squares with a hot knife for clean edges. 

Store in fridge. 



Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Freezer Fresh Scones

 I love warm scones fresh from the oven. I don't love eating an entire batch of scones. Well, I don't love the consequences... :/ 

My friend Emily introduced to the solution to my problem: the freezer. 

Here's what you do for freshly-baked scones whenever you want them:

Make up a batch of your favorite scones. If you don't have a favorite, you can check out some of mine HERE. All of these will work for this method.

After you cut them into wedges, separate them and put them on parchment paper and place them in the freezer.



Once they are frozen solid, place them into a freezer bag. Write the baking instructions on the outside of the bag.



The scones will bake for the same method, time and temperature from frozen as they do when fresh. I know if seems unbelievable, but it is true!

I just put the scones on the baking tray lined with parchment while the oven preheats and then bake at whatever time and temperature the original recipe states.



You're welcome! 


Monday, September 27, 2021

Spiced Caramel Apple Cider Doodles

 I really wanted to combine caramel and spiced apple cider into a cookie. I could get the spice and the caramel but the apple part was eluding me. So how would I get that intense apple cider flavor I wanted? Boil down some of our hand-pressed cider into a dark, syrupy goodness. Then combine it with butter, sugar and cream and make caramel. Place on top of a mulling spice snickerdoodle. Yup. That's it...

I used the Smitten Kitchen recipe HERE but only make a half batch for this recipe with a couple of changes.

First... make the snickerdoodles.

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp soda

1/4 tsp salt

***************************

1/4 cup sugar

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves & allspice

Heat oven to 400.

Mix butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs thoroughly. Blend flour, cream of tartar, salt, and soda. Stir into butter mixture. Mix well. Shape dough into 1” balls and roll in spiced sugar mixture.

snickerdoodles 01

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. Before removing from pan and while still warm, press an indentation in the top of each cookie. I used my wooden tart shaper from Pampered Chef, but you can be creative.

Then remove and let cool on wire rack. (the cookies in the picture aren't the ones I used for these cookies, so no indentation for caramel... 😊)

snickerdoodles 02

Now to make the caramel. And this takes a while. Oh, and prep all your ingredients while you're reducing your cider. You won't have time later...

Reduce 2 cups of cider to 1/4 cup. 

You can't use just any cider for this. It needs to be the real stuff. Not the one you get at the grocery store. This needs to be hand pressed with the sludge at the bottom. Look at your local natural grocer or farmer's market.

Pour 2 cups of cider into a heavy saucepan and turn on a fairly high heat. Not your highest setting but close. And then just let it boil, hard. Stir it every once in a while. This is going to take a bit of time. Like maybe a half an hour. When it starts to get foamy, you know it's getting close. So keep an eye on it, it goes much quicker at this point. Have a heatproof measuring cup for liquids nearby so you can check your amount. 

Ingredients to prep while reducing cider:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix together in small bowl.


1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

scant 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Mix in small bowl


3 Tablespoons of heavy cream

Pour into small glass


4 Tablespoons margarine (I don't use butter because it makes a stickier caramel and I hate caramel that sticks in your teeth)

Cut the margarine into smaller cubes


When your cider is down to 1/4 cup, immediately pour it back into your saucepan and remove from the heat. Stir in sugars, margarine and cream (in that order) and stir until margarine melts. 

Place back on burner and reduce heat just a bit (still med-high). Put a candy thermometer into the pan. Bring the mixture up to 252 degrees that can't be stirred down, while stirring constantly. You don't want it to burn. 😬

Stir in cinnamon and salt.

Carefully pour the caramel into a bowl and stir until it cools and begins to thicken a bit. 

Then carefully fill the centers of the cookies with the caramel. 

Let cool completely before eating. 




Saturday, September 25, 2021

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Muffins

 Inspired by the salted caramel chips at Trader Joe's, we had these muffins for breakfast this morning. Apple and caramel are one of my favorite flavor combinations and apple is my transition food between Summer and Fall. 😋🍎🍂


I was so nervous about how they would turn out, I only baked 6 as a trial. But they were moist, apple-y and sweet, but not too sweet. Next time I'll throw some pecans or walnuts in my half of the batch... 😜

Preheat oven to 425. Grease or place 12 muffin papers into standard sized muffin tin. You may make more or less depending on how full you fill them.

First mix 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in a small bowl. 

Next grind 1/2 cup of rolled oats in food processor or blender until they have a flour-like consistency. Then pour them into a new mixing bowl.

Add:

1/2 cup white flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

3/8 cup or 6 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

Grate a cored and quartered apple until you have 1 cup. You don't need to grate it first, but you can if you want.

Add:

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1 beaten egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

the sour cream/baking soda mixture

Stir until mixed but don't over mix or the muffins will become tough. Stir in grated apple and 1/4-1/3 cup caramel chips.  Gently fold them in, making sure they are both well incorporated.

Spoon into prepared muffin tin. The batter will be very thick.

Bake for 5 minutes at 425. Then turn off the oven and turn temperature to 350. Do not open or remove the muffins from the oven. Just continue to bake for 10-14 minutes, or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool on wire rack for 5-10 minutes before removing. Continue to cool on rack or enjoy while warm. 😊





Saturday, April 3, 2021

Bottled Lemon Curd

 This is the best lemon curd recipe ever! I can use fresh or bottled juice and lime works as well. I love that it only needs one whole egg and doesn't make a huge batch! I will be making it again soon... 

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/3 cup lemon juice

Mix these ingredients in a small heavy saucepan with a whisk. 

Heat on medium heat while whisking constantly. It will become frothy. Keep cooking and whisking until it becomes thick and completely frothy. Test on the back of a metal spoon. If it coats the spoon and doesn't fill in the line made by your finger, it is done.

Remove from heat and immediately whisk in 4 Tablespoons of cold butter, one at a time, using the whisk.

Pour into bowl and chill.