Tag Archives: Desserts

Snickerdoodles – Take Two

Posted on by
1

Today was my second attempt at the perfect snickerdoodle. I changed my recipe just a bit, replacing some of the butter with shortening. I also used a bigger ball of dough to get a slightly more domed cookie. I think I have found perfection. Puffed and soft, with just the right texture – these are exactly what I was looking for. Don’t be tempted to substitute the cream of tartar for baking powder – the tartar mixed with the baking soda is what gives these cookies their fast lift. As they de-puff slightly, you get the signature cracks of a snickerdoodle.

Snickerdoodles - Take Two

Snickerdoodles

1/2  cup butter, softened
1/2  cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Add to wet ingredients until just combined. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes.
  3. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls. I wanted them a good size, so I used 2 T of dough per ball.
  4. Mix the 3 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
  5. Bake only one sheet at a time for 8 minutes, or until set but not hard. The cracks should still look moist. Allow to cool 3 minutes on baking sheets then remove to cool on a wire rack.
About these ads

Toffee Fudge Puddles

Posted on by
Reply

Tonight, I was supposed to be making phallic shaped candies for my sister’s bachelorette party tomorrow night. But, I found out my cousin Shannon is making similarly shaped cookies, and felt that the candy molded “members” would be a little redundant. So, I made these babies instead. I combined parts of three recipes and added my own twist to come up with this awesome bite sized cookie with a name that almost sounds like…I dunno – like a profane exclamation. Which you might want to shout out when you taste them. They are that good.

Toffee Fudge Puddles

Toffee Fudge Puddles

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

Filling

1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping

1/2 C toffee chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
  3. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
  4. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
  5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press the back of a teaspoon into each cookie, creating a well. Cool 10 minutes in the pan then carefully remove to a cooling rack. Once all cookies are made and removed from the pan, start your filling.

For Filling:  Put chocolate chips in a double boiler over simmering water. Stir in milk and vanilla, mix well. Place a large ziploc bag in a tall glass, fold plastic over the glass and fill with chocolate fudge filling. Seal bag and snip corner – wrap bag in paper towel or hold it with a hot pad as the bag will be warm. Fill each well with chocolate filling and top with toffee chips.

Pumpkin Pie Poppers

Posted on by
Reply

I love pumpkin pie. L.O.V.E. it. Usually I make the Libby’s Pumpkin recipe – and bump up the spices. But today I decided to do a twist on pumpkin pie by making it bite sized. I’ve heard of pumpkin pie recipes using sweet and condensed milk, and always kind of figured they’d be too sweet. I didn’t want to make a whole pie only to find that one piece was all anyone would eat. These babies solved my problem. I wanted to try the condensed milk version – but make it small enough that the sweetness wasn’t overwhelming. Here’s my recipe for pumpkin pie poppers. They are bite sized pieces of pumpkin pie heaven. And, as a side note – I’ll probably be trying the full-sized version with this recipe too. Because it is awesome pumpkin-ness.

Pumpkin Pie Poppers

Pumpkin Pie Poppers

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 large eggs
1 rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 rounded teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (I just used some refrigerated Pillsbury crusts today)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray non-stick cooking spray over two tartlet pans. (mini-muffin pans)
2. Roll out dough slightly larger than it comes packaged. Using a 4 inch round biscuit cutter, cut out as many circles as you can make. Re-roll the scraps and continue with remaining pie crusts. Press circles of dough into the mini-muffin holes.
3. Combine with whisk or wooden spoon the sweet and condensed milk, pumpkin puree, spices and salt. Beat the eggs together then incorporate into pumpkin mixture.
4. Spoon pumpkin mixture into the prepared mini pie crusts until 3/4 full.
5. Bake in preheated oven 18-20 minutes until pumpkin has puffed up and edges of crust are beginning to golden.
6. Remove and allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes. Slide a butter knife along one edge and pop each mini pumpkin pie out. Place on cooling rack to completely cool. Serve topped with a bit of whipped cream.

Makes about 5 dozen poppers.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

Posted on by
1

I was looking for a bright lemon cookie that I could take to game night. I had all the ingredients on hand for these – too bad I didn’t notice the fridge time prior to starting the batch. They need to chill for 2 hours to get nice and firm before slicing. Sadly – that means I couldn’t finish them in time to share with my friends tonight. I wonder what to do with the half batch I haven’t eaten on my own. Hmmmm. If you like lemon, these are for you! These  cookies  pack a whollup of lemon flavor thanks to fresh lemon zest and juice in the cookie, as well as a lemon cream cheese glaze on top. Yum.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

Glazed Lemon Cookies (America’s Test Kitchen)

3/4 C granulated sugar
2 T grated fresh lemon zest
1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes and chilled
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 large egg yolk
1/2 t vanilla extract

Glaze
1 T cream cheese, softened
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 C confectioners’ sugar

For the cookies: Process the granulated sugar and lemon zest together in a food processor until the sugar is pale yellow and damp, about 30 seconds. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and pulse to combine, about 10 pulses. Add the butter pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about 15 pulses.

In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, egg yolk and vanilla together. Do this at the last minute – if the lemon juice and egg sit together too long, they will curdle. With the machine running, add the lemon juice mixture through the feed tube in a slow steady stream, about 10 seconds. Continue to process until the dough begins to form into a ball, 10-15 seconds.

Transfer the dough to a clean counter and roll it into a 10-inch log – about 2 inches thick. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 2 hours). A trick to keeping your dough in a round shape while cooling is to cut a paper towel roll lengthwise and set the dough inside…it keeps the side the dough is resting on from going flat.

Adjust the oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Slice the dough into 3/8 inch-thick cookies. Lay cookies on the prepared baking sheets spaced about 1 inch apart. Bake the cookies for 13-16 minutes or until the edges begin to brown. Switch and rotate the sheets halfway through cooking time. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.

For the Glaze: Whisk the cream cheese and lemon juice together in a medium bowl until smooth, then whisk in the confectioners’ sugar. Spoon a teaspoon of the glaze onto the center of each cookie and spread it out evenly with th back of the spoon. Let the glaze dry completely, about 30 minutes, before serving.

Thumbprint Cookies

Posted on by
Reply

I love this recipe for an old standard – thumbprint cookies. I have always hated the “thumb” part of making thumbprint cookies – my thumbs are not anywhere near the proper shape. Reshaping the imprint halfway thru baking with the back of a measuring teaspoon makes for nice even round hollows to fill with delicious jam. Also, the cream cheese in this recipe makes for a light cakey cookie which complements the richness of the sweet jam center.

Thumbprint Cookies

Thumbprint Cookies (America’s Test Kitchen)

1/2 C raspberry (or any flavor you like) jam
2 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t baking powder
12 T unsalted butter, softened
2/3 C sugar
3 oz (6 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1 1/2 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a small ziploc bag with the jam. Whisk the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder together in a medium bowl.

In large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 minutes. Beat in the cream cheese, egg and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as necessary.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds.

Working with 1 1/2 t of dough (about a small melon baller) at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart. Make an indentation with your thumb (wet your thumb in water to prevent sticking) in the center of each cookie. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect – you’re going to do a second indentation halfway thru cooking.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until they are just beginning to set and are lightly browned around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven and, working quickly, gently reshape the indentation with the bottom of a measuring teaspoon. Snip a small corner off the bag of jam and carefully fill each indentation with about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam. Rotate the baking sheet and continue to bake until lightly golden, 12-14 minutes.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 30 minutes before serving.

Apple Pie Bars

Posted on by
Reply

I’m still trying to use up all the fruit from my sister’s bridal shower. Had a bag of sliced apples that worked perfectly for these awesome Apple Pie Bars. They taste just like homemade apple pie – but they are much faster. The crust doubles as the streusel topping, which means you don’t have to roll out any dough. You don’t even need a fork – cause you can eat it just like a slice of pizza! Maybe I should change the name to Apple Pie Pizza? Whatever the name, I’m a big fan of anything that gets into my mouth as quickly as possible.

Apple Pie Bars

Apple Pie Bars (Recipe from Cuisine at Home)

Base and Streusel
2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C packed brown sugar
3/4 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t salt
6 T cold unsalted butter (if you use salted butter, half the amount of salt added)
3 T milk
3 T unsalted butter, melted

Apple Pie Filling
3 1/2 C tart apples (granny smith works best) peeled, cored and diced
1/3 C sugar
1/4 C heavy cream
1 T all-purpose flour
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350°; coat a 10-inch springform pan with removable bottom with nonstick spray (if you don’t have a springform pan, a 9×9 square will work fine…it just won’t look like a piece of pie when you’re done).

Combine 2 C flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt for the base and streusel mixture in a bowl. Transfer 3/4 C of the mixture to a second bowl; set aside for the streusel. Cut 6 T cold butter and milk into the remaining dry ingredients using your (clean) fingers or a pastry blender if you’re fancy. Mix until clumps form.

Pat mixture evenly into prepared pan, using the bottom of a measuring cup to tamp down the dough. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until set and golden at the edges. Stir melted butter into the reserved streusel mixture until sandy; set aside.

Toss all ingredients for the apple filling together. Arrange over the hot base, pushing apple pieces to the edges of the pan to completely cover the crust.

Sprinkle apples with the streusel topping and bake until apples are soft and topping is golden, 30-40 minutes. Cool bars for at least 30 minutes before removing the side of the pan and cutting into wedges. Store bars at room temperature or chill. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or just eat it with your hands right out of the pan. :)

Nectarine Raspberry Pie

Posted on by
Reply

We had a bunch of fruit leftover from my sister’s bridal shower this weekend. So, I took the nectarines home, combined them with some raspberries I had in the fridge and tried out a new recipe for pie. It was kind of a complex recipe – but the pie was really good. Very flaky crust with a lot of flavor and perfectly tart filling.  I’ll probably make some tweaks the next time I make this pie though (I always go “by-the-book” the first go round of a recipe). I would have liked more fruit in this pie, I like mine mounded up, and the filling was just a smidge runny – probably will cut back on the added juice next time. Overall though, excellent.

Nectarine Raspberry Pie

Nectarine Raspberry Pie (America’s Test Kitchen)

Crust:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
16 T butter (two sticks), diced and frozen for 10 minutes
1/3 C ice water
3 T sour cream

Filling:
2 1/2 pounds nectarines (about 5 large), pitted and sliced
1 cup raspberries
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1 t lemon zest
2 t lemon juice
2 T cornstarch

1 egg white
sugar

Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine.
Sprinkle the frozen butter over the flour, and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Combine sour cream and ice water. Pour 1/2 mixture into food processor and pulse until incorporated. Repeat with 2nd half of sour cream/water mixture.
If the dough doesn’t come together, sprinkle a tablespoon of ice water at a time until it does.
Divide the dough into two discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour.

Stir the nectarines, raspberries and 3/4 cup of sugar together in a large bowl. Let sit for 1 hour or until fruit has released it’s juice.
Drain any excess juice in a large colander (reserving 1/4 C of juice) and toss the fruit with the lemon zest, juice and cornstarch. Taste a piece of the fruit. If it is tart, add an additional 1/4 cup of sugar.

Roll one disc of dough into a 12-inch circle, and carefully fit the dough into a 9-inch pie plate, leaving the overhang. Cover with saran wrap and freeze, about 30 minutes. Fill the crust with the fruit mixture.
Roll out the remaining dough into a 12-inch circle, and carefully fit the dough over the pie plate.
Trim the excess of dough to about a 1/2 inch, press two doughs together and fold under. Crimp to form a neat edge.
For lots of great pie crust ideas – click here! As you can see, I went pretty boring with mine today. I didn’t have a whole lot of time for fancy-pants crust.

Golden Crust

Beat the egg white and brush it on top, sprinkle with the sugar.
Bake at 425 F for 25 minutes, then reduce to 375 F and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes.
Let cool at least two hours before serving. Cover loosely with saran wrap and store at room temperature.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Posted on by
Reply

This is one of my all time favorite cookies to make. First of all, peanut butter cups are like the perfect treat. Bite sized, chocolate/peanut-y deliciousness. The only thing that could make them more perfect is to wrap them in a peanut butter cookie. I once had to remake these cookies three times between Thanksgiving and Christmas because the batches kept being devoured anytime I had guests over…finally, I put them in the freezer to keep them from being eaten. Which reminds me – these freeze beautifully for up to a month.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 48 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
4. Use a 1 inch melon baller to scoop dough and drop into an ungreased mini muffin pan. No need for rolling into balls – they’ll get all craggy and messed up when you press the peanut butter cups into them.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool completely and carefully remove from pan. I use a butter knife to remove these – slide it down one side of the muffin pan and then pop out gently. Be patient! If you try and get them out too soon – you’ll just end up with a big mess!

Crispy Peanut Butter Balls

Posted on by
Reply

A few days before any family trip I turn into somewhat of a baking monster. Something inside my brain clicks over into crazy bakerlady mode and I make piles of food. Seriously – if the end of the world happens when I’m away somewhere camping, my family will survive for at least 3 months just with the food on hand. This weekend we’re hanging with some friends and today began the baking craziness. First on the docket, my peanut butter balls. Part rice crispy treat, part peanut butter cup, they are completely addictive! I mean really, does it get any better than peanut butter and chocolate?

Crispy Peanut Butter Balls

Crispy Peanut Butter Balls

  • 1 cup peanut butter*
  • 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
  • 1 1/2 cups crisp rice cereal
  • 1 C milk chocolate chips + 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1 T shortening

Directions

  1. In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter and marshmallow creme; add cereal and stir until well coated. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and shortening. Microwave, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes or until chips are melted; stir until smooth.
  2. Roll cereal mixture into 1-in. balls; dip in chocolate. Place on a waxed paper-lined pan. Refrigerate until set. I like to melt some peanut butter for a few seconds in a plastic ziploc baggie and drizzle it on top. Mmmmmmm.

*Reduced-fat or generic brands of peanut butter are not recommended for this recipe.

Christmas in a Cupcake

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday, I spent the day at the hospital. It was a very long day. In the morning, my pastor and his wife came down to pray with my Poppa before surgery and to be of tremendous comfort to me. Pastor Phil offered to buy me a coffee, but since I don’t drink it, I declined. Then he offered a chai latte – something I’ve never had, but know is what Phil drinks. My sister happened to have just purchased one and was standing next to me with her aromatic steaming cup in hand. As I took a sip, I realized Leslie’s (Phil’s wife) description was perfect – “like Christmas in a cup” she’d called it. It was really amazingly good. Filled with holiday spices. Mmmmm. Since I have been diagnosed with addictive food disorder (I totally just made that up), I still didn’t take Phil up on his offer. The last thing I need it to become hopelessly in love with a calorie laden beverage. However, it reminded me of a cupcake I’d seen in one of my cookbooks. Chai Latte Cupcakes. I’ve adapted the recipe, made some tweaks and have come up with what I’m going to call (love you Leslie for giving me this name) “Christmas in a Cupcake”. Today was the perfect day to try them out – because it’s Pastor Phil’s birthday! :)

Christmas in a Cupcake

Christmas in a Cupcake

1 1/2 C cake flour*
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 C whole milk
1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 T instant chai tea latte mix

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pan with baking cups
-In large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and chai latte spices.  Set aside.
-In bowl of stand mixer, beat butter on high until soft, about 30 seconds.
-Add sugar and beat on high until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
-Add eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition.
-Add innards of vanilla bean and extract.
-Turn mixer to low and alternatively add milk and flour mixture until fully incorporated.
-Using spoon or scoop, divide batter evenly among baking cups (should fill about 3/4 full).
-Place in oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcakes comes out clean.
-Remove from oven and let cool completely before icing.

*If you don’t have cake flour, make your own using the following quick substitution! The easiest way to do this substitution is to put 2 tbsp of cornstarch in the bottom of a 1-cup measuring cup, then fill the cup as usual with all-purpose flour and level top. Repeat process to get two cups of cake flour. If you only need 1/2 cup of cake flour, put 1 tbsp cornstarch in bottom of 1/2 cup measuring cup, then fill and level as above.

Frosting & Garnish

4 oz white chocolate chips
1/3 C butter, softened
4 C powdered sugar
1/4 C milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Ground cinnamon, if desired

Using a double boiler, melt chocolate chips until smooth. Whip butter and sugar together, add milk, chocolate and vanilla and whip until fluffy. Spread frosting on cupcakes and sprinkle with cinnamon.

I think next time I make these I’ll tweak a little more and add some additional spices – some cinnamon, or maybe even pumpkin pie spice. I wasn’t sure how spicy the chai mix was going to be and didn’t want to over do it the first go round. Tasty, moist and spiced – but not quite as pungently spiced as that sip of latte I had yesterday.