Earl Grey Shortbread

The holidays are a stressful time, and when I get stressed, I bake. I'm also on a special diet because of some tummy trouble that landed me in the hospital for the last few days, so I decided to make something pretty simple.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (or powdered sugar for a more satiny cookie)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp loose tea leaves
2 cups flour
Instructions:
Cream butter, sugar, and salt
Add vanilla and tea leaves
Gradually add flour until dough comes together
Shape into a log 2-3 inches across (I like to shape mine into squares)
Chill from 30 min to overnight
Slice abt 1/4 inch thick
Bake at 375 for 9-12 min until edges are browned

Drunken S'more Brownies

Ingredients:
Crust:
6 tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crusts
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp brown sugar

Brownies:
1 1/2 sticks butter
3 oz unsweetened bakers chocolate
1 oz semisweet chocolate
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1/4 cup boubon (optional)
1 cup flour

1/2 bag mini marshmallows
1/2 cup choc chips

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350
Combine crust ingredients, and press into baking pan lined with foil and greased
Melt 1 1/2 sticks butter, reduce heat
Melt chocolate then add sugar, salt, vanilla, expresso powder, eggs and optional bourbon
Add flour gradually
Pour over crust
Bake for 25-30 min
Set oven to broil
Take brownies out, top with marshmallos and chocolate chips
Put back in oven until marshmallos toast, 2 min or less
Let cool

A Tale of Two Cookies

I own and love the baking book from Rosies, a local bakery that makes (among other things) the best brownies in existence. I originally had a craving for a Peanut Butter cookie with chocolate chips. I started with her basic recipe

Ingredients
1 stick butter, room temp
1/2 cup + 1tsp white sugar
1/2 cup + 1 tsp brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups + 2tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda

Instructions
combine dry ingredients
Cream butter and sugar
Add egg, vanilla and peanut butter
Gradually add dry ingredients
Chill dough for a few hrs
Bake at 350 for 8-10 min

Alterations
For the peanut butter cookies, I only did a half cup of each sugar, and added a tablespoon of honey (peanut butter and honey sandwiches are a favorite treat of mine). I also added peanut butter anc chocolate chips and an extra 1/4 tsp salt to balance the honey.  Also, to chill the cookies I rolled them into tubes, wrapped them in cling wrap and threw them in the freezer for an hour. Then when you want cookies, preheat the oven, slice and bake

These cookies led to another idea: nutella cookies. I replaced the peanutbutter with nutella, only added 1/2 cup of each sugar, and upped the salt ( I did a whole teaspoon, next time I would do 3/4). I also added an additional 1/2 tsp of hazlenut extract because we had it on hand, a half cup chopped hazlenuts and a cup of white chocolate chips. I am pleased with the result.

http://www.rosiesbakery.com/rosies-bakery-cookbook/

Blueberry Cornmeal Cookies

For some reason, I really like cornmeal and blueberries together. I had some blueberries from the CSA farmshare leftover, so at first i thought i would make Blueberry Cornmeal pancakes or muffins, but then I found this recipe on the Five Star Foodie blog. I made a couple of changes and doubled the recipe. They came out pretty tasty!

Ingredients
1 cup blueberries
1/12 cup cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup flour
pinch salt
1/2 cup softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp almond or hazlenut extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350
• combine cornmeal, baking powder, flour and salt
• cream butter and sugar
• add eggs, extract and zest
• slowly combine dry into wet
• by hand stir in blueberries
• bake 1 tbsp drops in 350 oven for 12-14 min or until edges start to brown

Cream Cheese Stuffed Carrot Cake Muffins

We had some carrots from our farmshare, and I have had a hankering for carrot cake muffins for FOREVER, so I finally decided since it was a bit cooler out, that today was the perfect day for it.

I love carrot cake frosted with cream cheese frosting, but they're difficult to travel with because the frosting can be messy, especially when it's hot out. These bring the frosting, without the mess.

Taken from the King Arthur Flour website

filling

• one 8-ounce package cream cheese or Neufchâtel cheese
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• a few drops of Fiori di Sicilia flavor, optional but very tasty

muffins

• 2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup grated carrots, lightly packed; about 2 medium-large carrots
• (I added a half cup of chopped pecans and a half cup chopped dates, tossed with a quarter cup flour)

Directions

• 1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a standard 12-well muffin pan. Or line the pan with paper muffin cups, and grease the cups.
  2) To make the filling: Place the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat on low power for 40 seconds. Stir in the sugar and flavor. Set aside.
  3) To make the muffin batter: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
  4) In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, and oil.
  5) Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
  6) Fold in the grated carrots, stirring to combine.
  7) Drop about 2 tablespoons of the batter (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom.
  8) Dollop on a heaping tablespoon of filling; a level tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.
  9) Cover with enough batter to fill the muffin cups quite full. The batter will come to within about 1/4" to 3/8" of the top of each muffin cup. But don't try to use all the batter; unless you have particularly deep cups, you'll have abut 1/3 cup batter left over. Bake it in a separate custard cup, if desired.
  10) Bake the muffins until a toothpick inserted into the cake part of one (not into the cream cheese filling) comes out clean, about 20 minutes. The tops of the muffins will feel firm to the touch.
  11) Remove the muffins from the oven, and as soon as you're able to handle them, transfer them to a rack. If you serve the muffins warm, the filling will be molten. If you wait for them to cool, it'll firm up.

Cherry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I love summer cherries, and they are wicked cheap at Haymarket, so I've been doing all sorts of things with them. I thought cherry coffee cake would be particularly appropriate for Independence Day, so I made this (picture will post later)

Made Cherry coffee cake this morning:


1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

... 1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup almond flour (or just do 2 cups flour)

1tsp baking powder

1tsp baking soda

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 tsp almond extract 1/4 cup cherry preserves

1 1/2 cup pitted fresh cherries



cream butter and sugar, add eggs and rest of wet ingredients (except cherries and preserves)

sift and gradually add dry ingredients

Stir preserves in by hand and pour into baking pan

top with pitted cherries



Optional Crumb Topping

1 stick butter

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup oatmeal

1 cup brown sugar



Cut butter into dry ingredients until pea sized crumbs, then sprinkle on top of coffee cake



bake at 350 for half an hour

Carrot Cake Muffins with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot Cake Muffins with Ginger Cream Cheese Frosting
Originally uploaded by kel h

we have a TON of carrots in our CSA lately. Now, I love me some carrot soup, but I decided to do something a little different and make some muffins. I had recently watched the Alton Brown ep about muffins, and was reminded of the importance of not overmixing. This recipe is adapted from Joy Of Baking. Their recipe uses coconut, and does not have dates, nutmeg or cinnamon.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

2 cups grated raw carrot (about 2-3 peeled carrots)

1 large apple, peeled and grated

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 cup chopped dates

3 large eggs

3/4 cup safflower, corn, or canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients

1 pkg cream cheese

1 stick butter softened

6-10 tbsp powdered sugar

1 pinch salt

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp vanilla

Comine dry ingredients (including dates and nuts). In another bowl combine wet ingredients (including apple and carrot). Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix just until everything is moist (over mixing=dense muffins). Bake at 350 for 20-24 min

For frosting, cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and ginger, and then add cream cheese.

Daring Bakers' September 2010 Challenge: Decorated Sugar Cookies

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

This was a good challenge for me to start with, because it was pretty straightforward. I've made sugar cookies before (usually for Christmas), but this batch turned out a lot better thanks to the tips I got from the challenge. I'm usually too lazy or rushed to chill the dough after I cut out the cookies, but it really did make a difference (you can see the shapes SO much better this way). Also, while I could have probably used a smidge more sugar in my icing, it definitely worked better than my usual gloppy mess, and I was able to do the flooding technique AND the swirly bits. I also used this as a chance to try cooking with a vanilla bean pod, which I've never done before. I like the flavor of it, and I

am using the used pod to make vanilla sugar (I got the idea from Ina Garten. You take the used pods and put them in a container with white sugar and shake it a bit and let it sit. The longer it goes the more vanilla-y it gets)

I will say that, if I'm really going to get serious about baking, I should probably get a scale, as most really good recipes use weights instead of cups.

Sugar Cookies

1 stick + 6 tbsp butter (room temp)

3 cups + 3 tbsp flour

1 cup sugar

1 lg egg (lightly beaten)

1 tsp vanilla extract OR seeds from 1 vanilla bean pod

cream the butter, sugar, and flavorings together (don't overmix. It will add air to the dough which will cause your cookies to spread when baking. See? helpful hints)

Beat in egg til combined

Add sifted flour and mix until dry dough forms.

Roll out dough into small 1/4 inch thick sheets and chill for at least 30 minutes (you want to chill the dough before you cut the shapes, and it's easier to roll it out now while it's soft and THEN chill it. I stacked mine between sheets of tin foil in the freezer for 15 minutes as a cheat, but it worked)

after your dough is chilled, cut out the shapes and chill again for 30 min

Bake at 350 for 8-12 min, until just starting to brown around edges. It helps to have cookies of all the same size on one sheet because the smaller cookies will bake first.

Royal Icing

3 cups powdered sugar

2 lg egg whites

2 tsp lemon juice (approx juice from 1/2 med lemon)

1 tsp almond extract (optional, but i used it)

mix the egg whites, sugar, and flavoring (you are not making them frothy, just mixing them)

add powdered sugar and combine

you want to keep this in airtight containers because it thickens up quickly.

Since the theme of the challenge was Fall, I got some owl, pumpkin/apple, and leaf shapes.

I had my roommate G, and my friends Krysta and Lee help me with the decorating.

To flood a cookie you outline it with the royal icing and then pipe some more inside the outline and use a toothpick or knifes edge to spread it out evenly.

You can make a cool spider web pattern by flooding an area, then imediately piping a spiral of a contrasting color on top. then drag a knife tip or toothpick from the center of the spiral out several times.

Lee's Cookies

Krysta's Cookies

Geoffrey's Cookies

Banana Yogurt Muffins

Banana Yogurt Muffins
Originally uploaded by kel h

One of the things that are pretty much in EVERY Trader Joe's pick up is bananas. I usually pick up a couple to make smoothies or muffins. I also usually have fat free plain yogurt in the fridge for said smoothies. And now I can use it to make the muffins too.

This recipe is based on one from AllRecipes, with some changes by me

Banana Yogurt Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 4)
plus one banana sliced for garnish
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat together banana, sugar, egg and vanilla. Stir in the sour cream.

Stir banana mixture into flour until just combined. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Top each muffin with a banana slice

Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Let cool before serving. For best flavor, place in an airtight container or bag overnight.

These came out super moist and tasty. I want to figure out how to sub honey for sugar and still account for the liquid. Also, I might add some orange zest next time to add a smidge of brightness.

Lemon Rosemary Scones

Lemon Rosemary Scones
Originally uploaded by kel h

I got a bunch of rosemary with my trader joes pick up this week, and I decided to make Lemon Rosemary Scones. I really like lemon and rosemary together, and this sounded like a good way to combine them

based on a recipe by Martha Stewart

Makes 8

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup plus 3 tbsps buttermilk
Juice of one lemon
3 large eggs (2 for scones, 1 for egg wash)
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (abt 1 lemon)
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary (about 1 sprig)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix at low speed until the mixture resembles wet sand.

In a separate bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp lemon zest, rosemary, and vanilla. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture, and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, and form into a flat disc, about 8 inches across and 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into 8 wedges and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

In a small bowl, whisk together remaining egg and 3 tablespoons buttermilk to make an egg wash. Brush scones with egg wash. Combine 3 tbsp sugar with 1 tbsp lemon zest and sprinkle scones with lemon sugar.

Bake until the tops are golden brown and firm, 40 to 50 minutes.

The colder the butter, and the less you mix the scones, the better they turn out

Cinnamon Bun Bread Pudding

Cinnamon Bun Bread Pudding
Originally uploaded by kel h

I got some Cinnamon Bun Bread in my Trader Joe's charity pick up. It was a bit stale, so I decided to make bread pudding out of it. I used Paula Deen's recipe, but I forgot to account for the fact that it was already sweet, so I'm posting it with the sugar cut in half (and a few other changes). I also made a simple cream cheese glaze.

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
5 large beaten eggs
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups cubed cinamon raisin bread that is stale
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp maple syrup

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan.

Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, and milk in a bowl; add vanilla. Pour over cubed bread and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, mix and crumble together brown sugar, butter, spices, syrup and pecans.

Pour bread mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over the top and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven.

Frosting
1/2 pkg cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp maple syrup

combine cream cheese and sugar
add milk and syrup until smooth

Blueberry Lemon Scones

Blueberry Lemon Scones
Originally uploaded by kel h

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup fresh blueberries
2 2/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and chilled in the freezer 5 to 10 minutes
1 large egg
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
zest of 1 lemon divided
PREPARATION

1.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour and the cinnamon. Set aside.
2.
In a large bowl, combine the 2 2/3 cups flour, all but 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the baking powder, half of the lemon zest and the salt and mix well. Using a pastry cutter (or in my case, your new food processor), cut the well-chilled butter into the dry ingredients, working quickly, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat the egg with 1/2 cup of the milk and, using a fork, combine this mixture with the flour and butter mixture.
3.
Divide the dough into 2 balls. Lightly flour a work surface and roll each ball into a 7-inch circle. Sprinkle the blueberries across 1 circle. Top with the second circle and use your hands to carefully mesh the circles together. Pat or lightly roll the dough out until the circle is about 12 inches across. (Don't mush the berries.)
4.
Cut the circle into 10 wedges. Brush the tops of the scones with the remaining milk, dust with the remaining sugar and lemon zest (mix it together with a fork first) transfer to 1 or more ungreased baking sheets, leaving an inch between each scone. Bake 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Jasmine Raspberry Cupcakes with Honey Frosting

Jasmine Raspberry Cupcakes with Honey Frosting
Originally uploaded by kel h

I made these cupcakes for my friend Julia's Birthday party last night: (I got the idea from The Cupcake Project)

Jasmine Rasberry Cupcakes with Honey Frosting

Cupcakes
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
5 jasmine teabags
2 tbsp raspberry vinegar

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In a saucepan scald milk and steep teabags in milk. The longer you steep the better. I did 15 minutes, but it could have been longer

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl; add to sugar mixture alternately with milk and vinegar, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat a medium-low speed just until blended after each addition. (batter will be thick)

Honey Frosting
cream 2 sticks butter at 2/3 c honey. Add 4-5 cups powdered sugar. Add 1-2 tbsp milk depending on consistency you desire.

Pina Colada Bread Pudding

If you like pina coladas, and have leftover bread...add eggs, milk, sugar, and some more stuff...bake it up and you're fed

From the Delicious Disney Desserts cookbook my dad got me for Christmas (thanks Dad!)

Ingredients

-10 slices bread cubed and put in the broiler on a sheet until golden brown (or, in my case, one extraordinarily stale baguette)
- 1/2 c fresh pinapple finely chopped (I subbed most of a can of chunk pineapple drained)
-2 tbsp melted butter
-2 c milk
-6 beaten eggs
1/2 c heavy cream (I used buttermilk for both dairy items because it's the only dairy I keep in the house)
-1 c sugar (I used brown because I like it better)
-4 tbsp coconut milk (be sure to shake the can before you open it, I forgot)
-2 tbsp rum

Directions
-preheat the oven to 350
-toast the bread in the boiler and toss in a bowl with the pineapple
pour into a greased pan and drizzle the melted butter over it
-toss the eggs into a mixer
-heat up the milk (don't boil) add the milk, sugar, cream, coconut milk and rum to the eggs to make a custard.
-Pour the custard over the bread. You may need to stir to get it all covered
-Bake in an oven at 350 for 35-40 min when it springs back when you push down in the middle

The cookbook has a recipe for vanilla rum sauce, but I just used ice cream

Rum Sauce
Combine 2 egg yolks, 2tsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp milk, 1 tsbsp sugar in a mixing bowl til smooth
combine 1 c milk, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract in a sauce pan and boil
whisk egg yolk mixture into boiling milk (stir quickly)
Immediately pour into a bowl that is nestled inside of a larger bowl filled with ice water so it doesn't curdle. Add 1 tbsp coconut rum and whisk thoroughly