Cornmeal Cookies with Jam

 I made a batch of delicious jalapeno jelly. And it was pretty to look at to boot. I love it on cornbread, grilled cheese, cream cheese and hamburgers. Then I got a wild idea... Why not make cornmeal sugar cookies and put some jalapeno jelly on top? 

I did it. And I love them! I love spicy sweet! I love cookies! Yum!!!

3/4 cup softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 cup flour

Cream butter and sugars in mixer until fluffy. Mix in egg, baking soda, salt and vanilla. Add cornmeal and flour and mix until smooth. 

Scoop into balls and then roll in sugar. Lightly press in center with thumb.

Bake at  350 for 10-14 minutes or until light golden brown on edges. 

Cool 10 minutes on baking tray before removing to cooling rack. 

After they have cooled, top with jelly just before serving. 

Triple Berry Macaroons

In Montana I had huckleberry macaroons made from desiccated coconut. After a bit of research, I made a batch of my caramel toffee macaroons with a combo of flaked and desiccated coconut. They were a bit dry. But I messed with the ratio and the triple berry macaroons are delicious! I never thought I'd say this but I think I like them even better...

1/2 cup condensed milk

1/3 cup triple berry jam

1 egg white

1/4 tsp salt

Mix well in mixer bowl with paddle attachment.

Add:

2 1/2 cups shredded coconut

1 cup desiccated coconut

Mix until well combined.

Pack tightly into a cookie scoop (I used a#60) and drop onto a lightly greased silpat mat.

Bake at 325 for 15-18 minutes or until bottoms and tops begin to turn slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and place baking tray on cooling rack. Let sit 5 minutes. Then remove to rack to cool completely.

Store in zipper bag or airtight container in fridge.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

Overall I am not a huge fan of cake. But I like some cakes more than others and carrot cake is pretty high on that list. But cookies are my favorite dessert, so how could I not love carrot cake cookies? Turns out, I do... 

2 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg and cloves

1/4 tsp ginger

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar and brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups finely grated fresh carrots (do not use pre-shredded)

walnuts or pecans (optional)

dark or golden raisins (optional)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and carrots. Mix well.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in small bowl with whisk. Mix into carrot mixture until just combined. 

Fold in nuts and raisins, if desired.

Scoop onto lightly greased parchment paper on baking trays. 

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, or until edges turn golden and tops look dry. Cool on racks but let sit on trays for 5 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely. 

Sandwich two cookies with your favorite cream cheese frosting recipe. I threw a bit of well-drained and patted dry crushed pineapple into some of my frosting. Delicious! 

Blackberry Orange Cake

 My lemon blueberry coffee cake inspired this cake. I love the blackberry and orange combination and this buttery streusel-topped cake ticks all the boxes for me... 

Cake:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Whisk dry ingredients together in a small bowl. 

Mix in...

1 egg, beaten

3 TBSP melted butter

1 tsp vanilla 

orange zest

Mix with wire whisk until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased and sugared 9" round cake pan.

Toss some dry fresh blackberries with a spoonful of sugar. Use enough berries to cover the top of the cake but not be tightly packed. Gently press into batter.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven. Start streusel as soon as it goes into the oven.

Streusel:

1/3 cup each: sugar, brown sugar & flour

orange zest

5 TBSP butter, softened

Cut butter into sugar, flour, zest mixture.

Remove cake from oven and quickly place streusel on top of cake and return to the oven. 

Bake cake for a total of about 40 minutes or until pick comes out clean when placed in center of cake.

Cool a bit on a rack. When it's cooled on top, drizzle with glaze.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

pinch salt

1/4 tsp vanilla

5 tsp fresh orange juice

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.

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... 😊)

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. 

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. 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Pie

 For Pi Day 2021, I tried an idea I'd had floating around in my head for a while... Peanut butter and jelly pie. I used a real pie crust rather than a crust crust for this no-bake pie because I really wanted more of a "bread" crust and I'm glad I did. It turned out just the way I wanted. But be warned... this pie is RICH! Cut it small! 

First you will need to blind bake your crust. Preheat your oven to 375. Roll out your crust and place in pie plate. Prick crust with fork on bottom and sides. Line with non-stick parchment and fill with weights (or uncooked rice or beans). Bake for 15 minutes with weights. Then remove and bake 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool completely on wire rack.

Make your peanut butter filling by beating together:

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

1 cup sifted powdered sugar

1 softened stick of butter

Beat until smooth and creamy. It will be thick.

Spread a very thin layer of the peanut butter filling on the bottom of your cooled crust to keep the jam from leaking through.

Top with a thin layer of jam or jelly of your choice. (I like my homemade strawberry jam best with peanut butter)

Spread remaining peanut butter filling on top of jam.

Chill for a few hours before cutting. 

Irish Car Bomb Bundt Cake

I recently bought a mini bundt cake pan to make 6 adorable little cakes. I hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet, but St Patrick's Day seemed the perfect opportunity. For its maiden voyage I went with another variation of my Spiced Rum Cake recipe using stout, Irish cream and Irish Whiskey.

I wish I had taken more pictures during the process but I was also busy making orange caraway Irish soda bread, corned beef, cabbage and mashed potatoes. :)

Oh, and I also made Irish cream whipped cream for an added bonus... Yum!

Cake:

1 box chocolate cake mix
1 small box chocolate instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup stout (a dark beer, do not substitute)
1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients together for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Grease and sugar/flour your bundt cake pan, size of your choice. Fill with cake batter.

Bake 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size of pan, or until pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove to wire rack and let cook 10-20 minutes before inverting onto rack to cool.

Make glaze while cake cools in pan.

Glaze: 

1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 - 1/2 spiced rum

Melt butter in sauce pan; stir in the water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Prick cake top. Drizzle and smooth prepared glaze evenly over top and sides, allowing cake to absorb glaze. You don't have to use it all. I never do. 

Place a large baking pan or parchment paper under the wire rack to catch the drips. There are a LOT!

Then let the glazed cake cool completely.

Ganache:

3.5 oz heavy whipping cream
1 Tablespoon Irish whiskey
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Place chocolate chips in small bowl.

Heat heavy cream until it JUST comes to a boil. Remove from heat and pour right over chocolate chips. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in whiskey and mix well.

Chill the ganache until it is thick enough to pipe through a bag. 

Fill a zipper bag with the ganache. Cut off a very small tip of one corner. Pipe the chocolate over the cake.

Chill cake to set genache. 

This is the recipe I used for the Irish Cream whipped cream. The only thing I did differently was to add a bit of Instant Clear Gel to my sugar as a stabilizer. 

Buttery Cracker Apple Pie

I have wanted to try making this pie for as long as I can remember but have never done it until this week. I really had a hankering for apple pie but didn't have apples and it snowed this week! But I did have left over crackers from holiday parties last month.

When you read the recipe, you can't imagine how this could be tasty much less taste like apple pie. But it is both! I loved it and it was just what the bourbon caramel sauce I bought at a bazaar needed... <3

Since my husband doesn't like pie, I made a small pie with half the recipe. I know... how can you not like pie??? :)

Prepare one 9" pie shell. You can buy one or make your own using this RECIPE.

Preheat oven to 400.

1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar

Bring these to a boil in a saucepan on medium-high heat.

Put 30 whole buttery round crackers (like Ritz or Town House) into the boiling sugar mixture. If the crackers are a bit small, throw in a few extra.

Simmer on medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Trust me... it feels weird but works just fine.)

Gently stir in 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Let it sit while you make the crumb topping.

26 crackers, crushed into coarse crumbs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup melted butter

Mix all of the ingredients together.

Pour pie filling into crust and top with crumb topping.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for 20 minutes or until crust and topping are golden brown.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and caramel sauce, if desired.

Store leftovers in fridge.

Pumpkin Spice Mochi

I had pumpkin mochi at a hot pot restaurant while in China and I've been craving it ever since. This recipe isn't exactly the same but it still satisfied my craving. It is an interesting cross between cake and mochi and is the perfect accompaniment for a good Asian meal on a Fall day. I think it would be especially tasty for dessert with my Sichuan Style Pork Stew and rice.

1 1/4 cup Mochiko rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Mix dry ingredients in small bowl.

In a large bowl, mix together:
2 eggs
7 oz sweetened condensed milk (regular or coconut)
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
15oz can pure pumpkin

Sift dry ingredients into bowl with pumpkin mixture. Whisk until smooth. Pour into greased 8x8 glass baking pan.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes, or until edges turn golden brown.

Cool on wire rack 2 hours. Turn out onto rack and continue to cool 4 hours.

Cut into small squares before serving.

Blueberry Cheesecake Pie

This recipe is a variation on a dear friend's blueberry pie filling recipe combined with a not-so-sweet no-bake cheesecake filling I came up with. I think the two came together to make a super nice dessert... Made with cornstarch and a gluten-free cookie crust, this would be an easy GF dessert.

1 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons flour or cornstarch (I think I prefer cornstarch)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whisk together in a small saucepan.

Whisk in:
1 cup cold water
grated zest from small lemon

Stir in:
1 cup fresh blueberries

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly (about 10 minutes).

Stir in 4-5 cups of fresh blueberries and the juice from 1/2 of small lemon.

Let filling cool in fridge.

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar, remove 2 Tablespoons of  it and place in a small bowl
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk until smooth and creamy.
Mix in 1 teaspoon lemon juice (from second half of the lemon)
scant 1/4 cup of sour cream

3/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar (reserved from the 1/3 cup)
heaping 1/2 Tablespoon instant clear gel (optional to help stabilize cream)

Mix the sugar and clear gel together and pour into heavy cream in a bowl. Whip until forms stiff peaks.

Mix the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until smooth and well incorporated.

Spoon cheesecake mixture into the bottom of a graham cracker crust.

Top with chilled blueberry topping.

Chill for at least three hours before serving.

Bourbon Barrel Mocha Stout Cake

This is a variation on my Spiced Rum (aka Pirate) Cake that I think turned out pretty fantastic. My middle son declared it perfect. :)

1 18 1/2 ounce package German chocolate cake mix

1 3 3/4 ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold strong coffee
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup stout

Glaze:
1/4 pound butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup bourbon
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 12 inch bundt pan. Mix next 6 cake ingredients together with electric mixer for 2 minutes and pour into pan. Bake 1 hour and cool. Invert on a serving plate.
Glaze: Melt butter in sauce pan; stir in the water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon. Prick cake top with fork. Drizzle and smooth prepared glaze evenly over top and sides, allowing cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is used up.

Norwegian Style Rice Pudding

This probably isn't terribly authentic but it makes a delightful breakfast served warm with melted butter and cinnamon sugar on top.

3/4 cup short-grained rice
1 1/2 cups water

Bring to a boil. lower heat, cover and simmer for 13 minutes.

Mix:
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
ground cardamom, to taste
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Add milk mixture to the rice, 1 cup at a time. Turn to medium heat and stir and cook until thick before adding the next cup of milk. This will take about 40 minutes or so.

Remove from heat.

Serve warm with melted butter and cinnamon sugar on top.

Chill leftovers. Can be served cold or reheated in microwave.

Pressure Cooker Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

Our other Fat Tuesday tradition is bread pudding. Despite not finding much to go on on-line, I attempted it anyway...

First I cut up some crusty bread into cubes and put them in front of the woodstove to dry them out a bit. But it's better if you have a few days to let them dry out on their own.

Grease two 8oz ramekins and fill with bread cubes. Stir in some raisins, if you like. I did one of each.

Beat well:
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg
1/8-1/4 cup sugar
splash vanilla
ground nutmeg

Pour egg mixture over bread evenly.

Pour 3 cups hot tap water into pressure cooker.

Put steamer rack in pot and place ramekins on rack.

Turn it on meat setting and let water heat for 5 minutes. It will probably boil.

Turn pressure cooker off.

Put lid on cooker and cook on meat setting for 15 minutes and let natural release for 10 minutes.

When I opened the lid, I didn't expect to see them all boiled over. It was a bit of a mess but didn't seem like a total loss...

Remove the puddings and let them cool 15-30 minutes.

Then make bourbon sauce.

Heat 2 Tablespoons milk and butter, 1 Tablespoon of white and brown sugar on medium-high heat until it just boils. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon bourbon.

Spoon sauce over puddings and serve.

The texture of the pudding was nice but I should have added more bourbon to the sauce... :)

Almond Toffee Macaroons

It's hard to imagine that I only started liking coconut at all in the last 8 years or so. I must have been crazy! :)

I made lemon curd today and had 6 egg whites that I didn't just want to throw down the garbage disposal. So I made cookies instead. Yummy coconut cookies with toffee bits I had in my freezer from Christmas and chocolate drizzle...

4 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon each of vanilla and almond extract

Beat this until foamy but not white. Don't worry if the sugar isn't totally dissolved.

Mix in 14 ounces of shredded coconut and about 1/2 cup of toffee bits.

Pack tightly into balls (about the size of a walnut) with wet hands to keep them from sticking too much to your hands.

Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Or use a slipat that you've sprayed. These suckers are sticky!

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes or until golden on edges and a bit on top.

Let cool on baking sheet on a wire rack for 20 minutes before removing.

After they have cooled, drizzle them with melted chocolate chips with a bit of coconut oil for stability at room temp.

GF Peanut Butter Cookies

Need a fast and easy GF treat to make? Here's one...

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350

Mix peanut butter and sugars until smooth. Add egg and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined and smooth.

Roll into small balls and place on baking sheet. Dip a fork in water and make criss cross pattern on top of each cookie. Be careful not to make it too flat!

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until set.

Let cool a few minutes before removing to cooling rack.

Eat with a glass of cold milk.

3...2...1... CAKE!

Last week we had supper with a couple from church and she made the coolest little cakes for dessert! I'm sure this recipe is all over the internet, but since it was new to me I'm posting it here...

It's so easy and you have have individual cakes in any flavor you want in only a couple of minutes. Here's all you need to do...

First buy a boxed angel food cake mix. (You MUST have this!)

Then buy a second box cake mix in any flavor you want. (She had strawberry and I made devil's food for tonight.)

Pour both mixes into a large clear bowl and mix well. (Use a clear bowl because you will better be able to see when they are mixed.)

Pour into a zipper bag for storage in the pantry.

Take a standard 12oz coffee mug and put in:
3 TBSP cake mix
2 TBSP cold water

Mix well with fork. (Be sure you get all the dry mix off the bottom.)

Place in microwave and cook for 1 minute.

Remove from microwave.

Immediately turn the mug upside down and shake into a bowl or plate.

You can eat this cake warm or cooled. (But they are better warm) Top it with whatever floats your boat. The possibilities are ENDLESS!

Have fun and eat cake!

Raisin Spice Bars

Make these quick and easy bars to celebrate National Raisin Spice Bar Day... Very nice with a cup of coffee or tea for a late morning snack.

Pour boiling water over 1/2 cup raisins. Let sit about 10 minutes. Remove 2 Tablespoons of water then drain well.

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons raisin water

Mix together.

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon each: baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves and allspice

Stir until smooth.

Add 1 egg and mix well.

Fold in raisins.

Pour into greased 8 or 9" baking pan.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until top springs back when touched.