Baking And Boys!

Healthy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins—Secret Recipe Club

2012-02-06T11:00:00.000-06:00

I made muffins from my Secret Recipe Club blog, Veronica's Cornucopia this month. In fact, I liked the muffins so much that I’ve made them twice and they are now definitely a go-to for overripe bananas for me. Veronica’s blog was another new-to-me one to get as my secret blog this month. It was really fun to read through her blog and see all the things she has posted over the years. It was a fun way to feel like I got to know her. If you haven’t seen her blog before, check it out. She’s married and can sing great and has a cute dog that loves to be in pictures with them. ;) Not only does she make and post some great things, but I enjoyed her writing.

Just like usual, I had a hard time deciding what to make. I’d marked a few things that were possibilities and started with these Double Chocolate Banana Muffins. I made a few minor changes to them and LOVED them. The first time I made them, I made six large muffins tops with my muffins top pan.

I’ve had the muffin top baking sheet for a while, but this was the first time I’d actually made muffin tops with it. I’ve only used it for cookies in the past. Sam ate one of the big muffins tops one morning and declared they were the best thing I’d ever made!

Taylor ate one after school that day and also loved them! (These pictures were taken Christmas morning with my new iPhone that Kevin is in love with.)

With that first batch, I made six of the big muffin tops and 11 mini muffins.

That batch of muffins was eaten in no time. I actually found myself impatiently waiting for the bananas on the counter to ripen so I could make them again. You know, usually you turn around and find bananas overripe. This time it seemed like waiting for a pot of water to boil! But as soon as I had more bananas, I made the muffins again. I really only made a few changes from Veronica’s recipe. She used some all purpose flour and some whole wheat flour, but I decided to use all whole wheat pastry flour. You’d never know! I like that these muffins have no sugar (ok, besides the chocolate chips, but you could easily leave those out!). The only sweetener, besides the natural sweetness from the bananas is agave nectar! These muffins are so moist they could easily be used as a healthy cupcake with just a little frosting on top.

Healthy Double Chocolate Banana Muffins, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Veronica’s Cornucopia

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (180 grams)

1/2 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (41 grams)

1 tablespoon ground flax

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup mashed overripe bananas (about 3 medium)

1/2 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup low fat buttermilk

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (and more for sprinkling on tops)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffins tins (or muffin top baking sheet) with cooking spray. (Since there isn’t a lot of fat in these muffins, I decided not to use paper liners, as I find they usually stick. Veronica did line hers with paper liners and didn’t mention they stuck.)

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, flax, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and whisk together to sift. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the banana, agave, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Divide evenly between muffin tin cups. Bake the mini muffins and/or muffin tops for about 12 minutes. Regular sized muffins take about 20 minutes. Remove from muffin tins when cool enough to handle. Let cool completely on wire rack.

The second time I made the muffins, I made them all mini size and put three big, dark chocolate chips on top of each. Made for a fun look to the muffins! These made a great snack or preworkout little energy boost for me. Most of the boys really like them, too! My little non-chocolate liker, Parker, didn’t even try one. Sigh. ;)

I just happen to have three more overripe bananas ready to be turned into some great chocolaty muffins right now!

World Nutella Day 2012—Pretzel Nutella Chunk Cookies and Nutella Frosted Nutella Brownies

2012-02-05T01:00:00.000-06:00

Today is World Nutella Day! Nutella lovers all over the world are celebrating their love of Nutella Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and sharing it on their blogs, on Twitter and on Facebook. I’ve joined in the love the last few years and couldn’t resist doing so again.

Thanks go to World Nutella Day creators Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso. They came up with this great idea and it’s been delicious to participate in it.

I made two delicious Nutella-filled treats to share today. First—Pretzel Nutella Chunk Cookies. Darn—these are GOOD! The only chocolate in the cookies are chunks of Nutella. Chunks, you ask? I never even thought about making Nutella into pieces and recently saw this brilliant idea from Recipe Boy. This cute guy is right now better known as the son of the ever-popular Lori from Recipe Girl. He started his own blog a few months ago and came up with the idea recently of freezing Nutella and cutting it in to chunks. I had no idea that was possible. But guess what—it works!

Spoon some Nutella out onto a foil or plastic wrap lined baking sheet and spread it out evenly, mine was probably between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Set it in the freezer until it hardens. Check out the link above for Recipe Boy’s cookies and tutorial on the Nutella chunks. (I’m giving all credit for this Nutella chunk idea to Recipe Boy because I’ve never seen or heard of it before seeing his cookies recently.) When is Nutella going to come up with Nutella chips in a bag?! These chunks need to be carefully stirred in to a cookie dough straight from the freezer and then immediately baked. They do thaw out a little. I stirred them into the dough, formed them into cookie dough balls and kept the waiting cookie sheet in the freezer while one sheet was already baking. Worked great! Tasted even better! At our house, what goes better with Nutella than dipping pretzels into it? I found the cutest little pretzel balls recently and just knew they had to somehow be part of a cookie—and this was perfect—sweet and salty in a cookie=YUM!

Pretzel Nutella Chunk Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys! (inspired by Recipe Boy)

1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon cake flour*

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons bread flour*

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

5 tablespoons (2 1/2 oz.) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1/2 a large egg (I weigh the egg in grams on the scale and remove half—or you could whisk an egg and remove 2 tablespoons as one egg is 1/4 cup)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup pretzel balls (or broken pretzels)

1/2 cup (4 ounces) Nutella chunks**

**Make the Nutella chunks ahead of time. Spread about 1/2 cup Nutella on a foil lined baking sheet to about 1/8 – 1/4 inch thick. Set in the freezer for about an hour to set. Remove from freezer and cut in to chunks. Keep the chunks in the freezer until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk together.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, then add the two sugars and beat until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and beat just until combined. Stir the pretzel balls and Nutella into the dough. Scoop into about 2 tablespoonsful size dough balls onto baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet a couple minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

*You could probably use just all purpose flour in places of the cake flour and bread flour, but my favorite chocolate chip cookies use cake and bread flours and I love it that way.

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I recently posted some great Nutella Brownies. They were as “plain” as Nutella brownies can be, but they were sure good! In honor of World Nutella Day, I decided to kick them up a notch. A little Nutella frosting and some hazelnuts throughout the brownies did the trick. Wow! These were super rich and even more delicious than the “plain” Nutella Brownies!

Instead of the regular brownie recipe that is made in an 8x8 inch pan, I halved these just to try them out and because I wasn’t sure we could eat all of them at the time. The half recipe was baked in a 9x5 inch bread pan. They were so good and the recipe would be super easy to double for the 8x8 inch pan!

Nutella Frosted Nutella Brownies (small batch), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup melted unsalted butter

1/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Frosting:

1/4 cup Nutella

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon hazelnuts, toasted and chopped for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9x5 inch bread pan with foil, spray lightly with cooking spray. (I love the non-stick foil that is available!). Let the sides of the foil hand over the edge to easily remove the brownies from the pan for cutting them.

Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl, set aside. Let sit to cool slightly while you do the next few steps.

Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the egg, Nutella, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat together for a minute or two. Scrape the side of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour, then half the melted butter. Add the rest of the flour, then end with the rest of the butter and mix just until all combined. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Cool in the pan until completely cool on a wire rack. Then, if you have time, or can wait that long, chill the brownies in the refrigerator for a couple hours. Make the Nutella frosting. Combine in a medium sized bowl the Nutella and powdered sugar. Add the cream and stir together well. If you think it needs a little more moisture, add the milk until desired consistency and spreadable. Spread the frosting over the brownies and sprinkle some hazelnuts over the top. Remove from the pan with the foil edges and cut the brownies still laying on the foil on a cutting board. (I think brownies taste better chilled, but you can also serve/eat them at room temperature.)

Here are a couple of my favorite past Nutella posts!

Nutella Truffle Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies

Homemade Chocolate Graham Cracker Nutella S'mores

Nutella Banana Oatmeal

Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie

Healthier No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Cookies—Low Fat, Low Sugar, Added Flax and Fiber!

2012-02-02T17:32:00.001-06:00

These are really good and I don’t feel guilty about eating them! Yay! If you like those No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, you’ll really like having a healthier version! I find those good old traditional cookies addicting, but they are SO full of so much sugar and lots of butter that I hardly ever make them like the original recipe.

Last year I discovered and posted some very similar No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Cookies that have been quite popular on my blog. I really only changed a couple things on that recipe and now I like these even more! I added more fiber and less sugar—but you’d never know it. These are softer and chewier than the ones I made last year. They are made with dark chocolate, natural peanut butter, oats and some ground flax. I know, you’re wondering now if they are a treat or breakfast?! ;) Sounds like they’d be a great pre or post workout boost or a nice afternoon snack, I’d say. A little dark chocolate is good for you, right!

Healthier No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3 tablespoons butter substitute (I used Bestlife buttery baking sticks)

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 cup skim milk (I used milk made from dry non-instant powdered milk since I was out of skim milk and the dry milk is fat free!)

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 tablespoons sugar substitute (I used Fibrelle, not available in stores yet—hopefully soon! But you could use any sugar substitute.)

1 cup (6 ounces) dark chocolate chips (I used 60% Ghirardelli chocolate chips)

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

2 cup toasted oats (toast on baking sheet in oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes)

2 tablespoons ground flax seed meal

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Melt butter in a medium sized sauce pan. Add cocoa powder, milk and both sugars. Stir until combined. Add chocolate chips and peanut butter and stir until all melted together. Remove from heat and add vanilla, oats and flax and stir to combine. Drop by spoonsful on baking sheet (I got 22 cookies). Let cool in refrigerator 30 minutes until set. They are best chilled right from the fridge and stored in the refrigerator, but not necessary.

Dare ya to try to just eat one!

Cherry Pie Filling Ice Cream

2012-02-02T10:26:00.001-06:00

I made ice cream again. I can’t help it. It’s easy and a family favorite any time of year around here! I had part of a large can of cherry pie filling in the fridge. A few of my boys (Parker in particular), who sadly doesn’t like chocolate, LOVES cherries, especially the canned filling or maraschino cherries. While I know these aren’t real healthy with all the added sugar, a can is used here and there, just to please Parker. ;)

I decided to make the leftover cherry filling into ice cream—and it’s pretty darn good! Parker likes it for sure! I thought about drizzling in some melted chocolate as it finished churning, but left it out because, again, Parker doesn’t like chocolate. But if this had a little chocolate it would taste just like a chocolate cherry cordial ice cream!

For no particular reason than because I had some, I used half and half instead of cream. It think it turned out plenty creamy enough. I also used my recent discovery of homemade sweetened condensed milk made with dry powdered milk. You could easily use the canned sweetened condensed milk for this. With only four ingredients, this ice cream was super simple!

Cherry Pie Filling Ice Cream, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 recipe homemade sweetened condensed milk (*recipe below), or 1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups half and half

about 1 1/2 cups cherry pie filling (you could use a whole small can if you’d like)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

After blending the homemade condensed milk in the blender, add the half and half and blend to combine. Pour into a large bowl and whisk in the cherry pie filling and almond extract. Pour immediately into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for at least a couple hours to firm up.

*Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup hot water

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup dry non-instant powdered milk

1 cup granulated sugar

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until well combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the blender a few times in between mixing. (It’s the same as canned condensed milk!)

Ooh, imagine making some of that homemade Magic Shell-type dipping chocolate and dipping an ice cream cone with this ice cream to make a giant chocolate cherry cordial ice cream cone!

Nutella Brownies

2012-01-24T13:10:00.001-06:00

I made some brownies last week that have Nutella (Chocolate Hazelnut Spread) in them. In fact, the only chocolate in the brownies was from Nutella. I wasn’t sure really what to think, like maybe they wouldn’t be “brownie” enough. But I loved these! And the pan of them was sure eaten quickly by everyone here at our house! One thing I was surprised that I really liked about them is that they are still fudgy and chocolaty, but not grainy/sugary how I sometimes think brownies can be. Brownies often have so much sugar that I think they can be gritty (though don’t get me wrong, still great!). With using Nutella, these just have a little extra brown sugar and I thought that made them have a smoother texture, which I liked.

Not to mention, Nutella is great and I really liked the taste. These were simple to make, almost just like my favorite brownies (this link leads to some brownies I made with chocolate and caramel, but the recipe for just the basic brownies can be used with all kinds of mix-ins). I found the recipe for these Nutella Brownies at I Adore Food. I didn’t’ really change anything from the recipe, but I’ll give you some of the measurements also in grams as well. My favorite way to measure ingredients is with a kitchen scale!

Nutella Brownies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from a couple other sources

1/2 cup (60 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup Nutella hazelnut spread (296 grams)

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed, (110 grams)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup melted butter (I used salted)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 inch baking pan with foil, spray lightly with cooking spray. (I love the non-stick foil that is available!). Let the sides of the foil hand over the edge to easily remove the brownies from the pan for cutting them.

Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl, set aside. Let sit to cool slightly while you do the next few steps.

Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the eggs, Nutella, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix well for a minute or two. Scrape the side of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour, then half the melted butter. Add the rest of the flour, then end with the rest of the butter and mix just until all combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Cool in the pan until completely cool on a wire rack. Then, if you have time, or can wait that long, chill the brownies in the refrigerator for a couple hours. Remove from pan using foil edges. Peel the foil off the back of the brownies and cut into desired size pieces. I think brownies taste better chilled, but you can also serve/eat them at room temperature.

These will for sure be made again (and again) here at our house! If you love Nutella, you’ll really like these. If you’re like my husband, who does like Nutella, but still couldn’t tell they weren’t just “regular” brownies. ;) Yes, I love that man of mine!

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Granola Recipe

2012-01-20T23:36:00.001-06:00

I made some of the most decadent, delicious granola, but it’s still pretty darn healthy. I’m loving having it for breakfast and maybe a little snacking here and there, too. It won’t last long, but you can be sure I’ll be making this Dark Chocolate Raspberry Granola again soon!

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Granola, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut*

1/4 raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup flaxseed meal

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s Dark)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup honey (or agave nectar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped

3/4 cup freeze-dried raspberries**

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, almonds, flaxseed meal, salt, cocoa powder and brown sugar. Mix well. In a medium sized microwaveable bowl, combine the oil and honey. Microwave for about 30 seconds. Whisk until well combined. Add the vanilla and combine. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir well until all is coated. Spread evenly on the baking sheet. Bake for about 22 minutes. Remove from oven and don’t mix the granola. Let cool completely. Break into pieces. Add the chopped dark chocolate and freeze-dried raspberries. Store in an airtight container.

*If you don’t like coconut, don’t add it. You could add a little more oats, or another nut if you’d like to replace it.

**If you don’t have or can’t find freeze-dried raspberries, some dried tart cherries or even dried cranberries would be good!

Every morning for breakfast I have plain Greek yogurt (mixed with a little Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla Yogurt—I just can’t quite do plain Greek), but with this granola on top, it is the bomb! The freeze-dried raspberries have a great light crisp texture and a perfect bit of tart to go with the chocolate. The granola itself is not too sweet at all, in fact I like that it isn’t.

**I have one of these large cans of freeze-dried raspberries, they are a little expensive, but the can is large and lasts a while and they are so good and healthy, it’s worth it. The website, Honeyville Grain also has some smaller bags, too. Freeze Dried Raspberries from Honeyville Grain. One thing I love about Honeyville is that their shipping is always $4.49 no matter how much you order in weight. I ordered a 50 pound bag of whole wheat pastry flour from them and it only cost $4.49 in shipping! Check out all the products they have!

Homemade Three Musketeers Ice Cream and Milk Chocolate Fudge with Walnuts made with Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk

2012-01-18T11:10:00.001-06:00

I made this ice cream recently as an experiment and it turned out delicious. It was going to be called hot fudge ice cream, because hot fudge is what I used to flavor it, but it has an almost light airy texture and tastes just like the nougat of a Three Musketeers candy bar!

I have recently discovered that you can make homemade sweetened condensed milk at home using dry powdered milk—and so far, I cannot tell the difference. I have a nice storage of powdered milk (don’t mistake it for instant dry milk, which isn’t the same)! We were looking through our food storage recently and realized we have a bunch of dry powdered milk that is coming upon it’s “use by” date. I also have a great book, I Can't Believe It's Food Storage, by Crystal Godfrey—who I consider the queen of food storage. She has all the best ideas of things to do with your food storage. Some may not know, but us Mormons try to have many things in our food storage that would be useful if there comes a time of emergency or say loss of job/income. We try to be prepared as you never know what kinds of things can happen. Having seen floods and earthquakes this past summer as well as other times, I’m even more convinced of the importance of having a good supply of things we might need. Anyway, that’s where having “extra” comes in. And long story not so short, that’s why we have a bunch of dry powdered milk.

The key is to rotate it properly. I wasn’t quite up to par with using it, because I kind of grew up having to drink powdered milk and I just don’t care for it. I still don’t think I could just drink it (maybe in an emergency), but I’ve discovered it is so useful and even good in many other things—like this ice cream! Keep on reading, I made fudge, too—and you’d never know it wasn’t store bought sweetened condensed milk from a can!

In Crystal’s book (check out her website sometime at Everyday Food Storage), she gives a recipe for homemade sweetened condensed milk. It could not be more simple.

*Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Crystal at Everyday Food Storage

1/2 cup hot water

1 cup non-instant dry powdered milk

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon butter

Combine ingredients in a blender and mix thoroughly. Scrape sides of blender bowl and continue to blend until well combined. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator

I first made the condensed milk and used it for fudge which turned out fantastic. You would never know it wasn’t canned sweetened condensed milk! I’ll share that with you in a minute.

The ice cream was my second attempt at seeing how the homemade condensed milk would work. I was kind of just making something up as I went along and after looking through the fridge, I found half a jar of hot fudge sauce and decided I’d flavor a chocolate ice cream with it. It was simple and turned out great!

Homemade Three Musketeers Candy Bar Ice Cream, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

*(see recipe above) 1 recipe homemade sweetened condensed milk

1/2 a jar of hot fudge sauce (about 2/3 cup)

2 cups heavy cream

dash of salt

2 ounces dark chocolate, melted (optional)

In a blender, combine the hot fudge and 1 cup of cream and mix until well incorporated. Scraped sides of blender. Add the condensed milk, remaining cream, and salt and blend to combine well. Pour the mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions, about 20 minutes.

A few minutes before it is finished churning, drizzle in the melted chocolate. Store in the freezer in an airtight container.

This ice cream really was light and fluffy with just a hint of chocolate flavor, just like the center of a Three Musketeers candy bar and the bits of chocolate were a perfect addition. Try it! Better yet, try that homemade sweetened condensed milk. Crystal also has a recipe for making your own evaporated milk that I plan to try soon.

Here’s the fudge made with the homemade condensed milk. This is just the same simple recipe you can find at Eagle Brand with sweetened condensed milk and melted chocolate chips. Crystal has a recipe in her book. I’ve pretty much made that same recipe, but adapted it just slightly. I have found with fudge that I like to put extra vanilla in it. I tried it once and found it to be just a little more creamy and I really like the kick of flavor. I think it would be fun to try other flavor extracts, too. I love almond extract and raspberry was well. Wish I could “afford” (my gut and hips) to just make lots of different kinds. Sigh. I was able to take most of this fudge to a ladies church activity after I made it and it was well liked there.

Easy Fudge With Walnuts made with Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3 cups (18 ounces) chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

*(see recipe above) 1 recipe of homemade sweetened condensed milk

dash of salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Line an 8x8 square baking pan with non-stick foil with the edges hanging over to easily removed the fudge from the pan. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Melt the condensed milk and chocolate chips in a medium sized saucepan over medium to low heat. Sprinkle in the salt and stir with a spatula until smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Let set in refrigerator for a couple hours. Remove from pan, peel off foil and cut into one inch squares on a cutting board.

Don’t like walnuts—switch it up to whatever you’d like. If you add other flavorings, I’d still put some vanilla in as well. We have a shindig with friends coming up in a couple weeks and I think I’m going to try a couple other flavors of fudge!

Homemade Ciabatta Rolls

2012-01-14T23:02:00.001-06:00

I recently made homemade ciabatta rolls. They were actually quite simple to make. There are a few steps involved and some time (you start making the dough the day before you want to eat the rolls), but mostly you can do what you want while the dough does “its thing”.

First thing, I didn’t know this, but you start by making a starter called biga. It’s simple. After you mix up a few things, it rests overnight (and you do, too). The biga just has some water, yeast and flour, much like a starter for sourdough. For your enjoyment and learning, I took some photos of the process. You should feel quite special about that. ;)

Here’s the biga ready for it’s sleep time.

The next day, it’ll look kind of soupy (forgot that picture), but you’ll add the biga to some water and yeast and rub your fingers through it and loosen it up into stringy blogs. How fun is that!

After that, you just add some salt and the flour and stir (I let my Kitchen Aid do it all with the dough hook) until it becomes a thick, wet dough. After a short rest, you again let the mixer knead the dough for 15-18 minutes. Go about other business, but stay in the kitchen. With that mixer working away, it gets a bouncing just a little and you don’t want it to walk its way off the counter! That mixer is workin’ it.

After it has kneaded itself into a beautiful dough, cover it and let it rise for 2-3 hours. It’s worth the wait! Here’s the dough after that first rise. I ran to the store when it was almost at the 2 hour mark and by the time I returned, it was ready to go, almost deflated a little, but it worked just fine!

The dough, with the help of a well-floured counter, forms beautifully.

You could actually just bake it like this and cut or tear off pieces if you’d like. I wanted to make rolls, so I just cut it into rustic pieces and carefully moved them to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

The dough is very soft and bubbly. Don’t deflate it, that’s what gives ciabatta that nice airiness. I just carefully moved each one with a flat knife and my fingers. I had two sheets full which was about 18 rolls. Use your fingers to dimple the surface of the dough and let them rise uncovered for just 30 minutes. Here’s a roll all ready for the oven!

They are baked at a high temperature of 475 degrees which helps give them that nice crusty exterior!

These made for some great barbeque chicken sandwiches, but were just as good slathered with some butter!

Wow! That’s a lot of pictures! I won’t do that to you every time. It’s just not me. But that was kind of fun to look back and see the progression of a ciabatta roll. Give them a try!

Okay, that’s all. Are ciabatta rolls ever made with whole wheat? I just might have to try that because I really only took a bite or two of one of these as I try to mostly only eat whole grains. (Oh yes, treats and desserts are an exception there!) More of that coming soon!

Oh, and the recipe for these rolls, I got from The Kitchn and followed it almost exactly, it a well-written post with lots of photos and tutorial that’s easy to follow.

Cool Mint Oreo Cocoa Krispies Treats

2012-01-12T22:46:00.001-06:00

Almost have nothing to say about these latest Rice Krispies Treats creation of mine—because the pictures do all the talking. If you like Oreo cookies and particularly the Mint Filled Oreos, you’ll really like these Cool Mint Oreo Cocoa Krispies Treat!

I was inspired by a couple of things in my pantry. One was a bag of yet another Kraft marshmallows I’d found recently—chocolate mint.

I like them. They aren’t too chocolate minty, but were perfect for making these treats. My family must have liked the mallows, too—as I only had half a bag left because they thought they’d be perfect in their chocolate mint hot cocoa recently. So I made these Rice Krispies Treats with only half a bag of the chocolate mint ones and a whole bag of regular mini marshmallows. I also had some Cocoa Krispies cereal, so I used those, but regular Rice Krispies would be great, too!

So, besides having the chocolate mint marshmallows, I also just happened to have some Cool Mint Oreo cookies, too. I’m working on using things in my pantry! (Oh, I’ve still got lots of sweet goodies in my baking pantry, so stay tuned!) I’d bought the Oreos for just such a treat as these—and then, once again, my family started eating the cookies. So these treats actually don’t have as many cookies as I would have liked to put in them, but still plenty and if you make these—put as many Oreos as you’d like!

Cool Mint Oreo Cocoa Krispies Treats, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

10.5 ounce bag of regular mini marshmallows

4 ounces (1/2 a bag) Chocolate Mint Marshmallows (if you can’t find them, just use more mini marshmallows)

7 1/2 cups, (310 grams) Cocoa Krispies cereal (regular Rice Krispies would be fine, too)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

16 Cool Mint Oreo cookies (or more, if desired), roughly chopped

Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large microwave safe bowl, combine all the marshmallows and the butter. Microwave in 30 second intervals until all melted. (It only takes a minute to a minute and a half.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Add the cereal and stir together until combined. Fold in the cookies. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan and press down evenly. (I use a flat potato masher that is lightly sprayed with cooking spray—it works perfectly!) Let set at room temperature for an hour or two. Remove from pan with foil edges. Peel off foil and cut into desired size pieces on a cutting board.

If you like chocolate mint things, you’re really like these. The mint flavor isn’t too strong and perfectly sweet!

Almost Vegan Gingerbread Biscotti

2012-01-11T20:02:00.001-06:00

For being a non-coffee drinker and never dunking any cookies in anything, I love biscotti. I realize you don’t have to fit that bill to like biscotti, but it is actually one of my favorite kinds of cookies. It has to be made just right though. I don’t like the rock hard kind that would be more suitable for dunking. I like them crisp, but with a little chew. These Almost Vegan Gingerbread Biscotti fit that bill and are actually pretty healthy, too! My kind of treat!

I’ve made these twice and changed a few things the second time---to make them even more healthy. I will admit, the first ones (less whole wheat flour, more oil and real sugar, as written in the recipe), are the better of the two, but I like that the second time around they are a bit better for you.

Here’s the recipe as I made them the first time, which by the way I got the recipe over at Anna’s blog, Cookie Madness. She got the recipe from another site which are from a cookbook called Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. Anna adapted the recipe a bit and I have, too. But check out the original post and Anna’s. She’s also got a number of other gingerbread biscotti recipes on her blog as well!

Almost Vegan Gingerbread Biscotti, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I used 110 grams of whole wheat pastry flour and 110 grams of all purpose flour)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup mild molasses

1/2 granulated sugar (original recipe has 2/3 cup)

2 tablespoons flax meal (ground flax seed)

2 tablespoons fat free milk (original recipe calls for soy, almond or coconut milk—which would make this whole recipe vegan)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the flour(s), baking powder, spices and salt in a medium sized bowl. Whisk together. In another bowl, combine the oil, molasses, sugar, ground flax, milk and vanilla and whisk until mixed well. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet and mix until a dough is formed. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips just until combined.

Put all of the dough on the baking sheet and form into about a 12 inch long log about 3-4 inches wide. Flatten the ends and sides to make them even. Bake for 24 minutes until the log is puffed and firm, but not too brown. It will spread a little and some cracking is fine. Allow the log to cool on the baking sheet for about 45 minutes.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Slide the log off the baking sheet and onto a cutting board. With a large, sharp knife or a serrated knife, cut log into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick slices. Gently move slices to the baking sheet with a spatula or the flat side of the knife all in a row, but not too close together. Bake again for 15-20 minutes (until desired crispiness is achieved). Allow to cool on baking sheet about 10 minutes. Carefully move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

____________________________________________________

I could live off this biscotti. ;)

The second time I made them, I used only 6 tablespoons of oil (instead of 8) and I used all whole wheat flour and a sugar substitute (called Fibrelle—which isn’t available in stores yet. The company sent me some to try out. I really like it, but it’s not available in stores yet, so I can’t really tell you too much about it.) I do like that it doesn’t TASTE like a lot of those sugar substitutes, which I often don’t care for.

The second batch weren’t quite as thick and spread a little more, but were still great and I like that they were all whole wheat.

So there you have it—another healthier treat you can try. I really like ginger and chocolate together. You could leave that out and add some dried cranberries if you’d rather. If you like biscotti, these are great!

Dark Chocolate Coconut Brownies (Mounds Brownies)

2012-01-06T18:45:00.001-06:00

I know, I said healthy treats. Well, stay tuned for more of those soon! I made some goodies for a meeting Kevin was having here (He’s the faculty advisor for Beta Alpha Psi in accounting at UVU.) I made my favorite chocolate chip cookies, some great Rice Krispies Treats that I’ll tell you about soon and these Dark Chocolate Coconut Brownies. I was proud of myself that I didn’t eat any of the cookies or cookie dough! When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, I almost like the dough more than a cookie. I didn’t even taste these brownies, but they sure look great. Besides that, a lot of the people who came to the meeting complimented me about all the treats, but kept referring to the brownies the most.

I actually changed a few things from my popular Almond Joy Coconut Brownies. Besides that recipe being gluten free because I used coconut flour, I also adjusted a few of the ingredients just a little. These Dark Chocolate Coconut Brownies are super moist, thick and gooey and taste perfectly like those Mounds candy bars! They are not gluten free, though you could easily make them with coconut flour or another alternate flour. I used all purpose this time.

Dark Chocolate Coconut Brownies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/4 cup regular cocoa powder

1/4 cup dark cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s)

2 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (45 grams) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups shredded, sweetened coconut

pinch of salt

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 inch square baking pan with foil (I like non-stick foil) so the edges hang over the sides of the pan a little. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and cocoa powders over low heat until all combined and smooth. Remove from heat and let sit five minutes. Add the eggs to the cocoa/butter mixture and whisk until combined. Stir in the sugar and vanilla until well combined. Add the flour and salt and whisk until combined. Pour about half the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the coconut, salt and condensed milk. Stir to combine. Dot the coconut mixture evenly over the brownie batter. Put the remaining brownie batter in a sandwich sized zip top bag with the corner snipped off about 1/4 an inch. Drizzle evenly over the coconut. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Let cool completely on wire rack. Chill in refrigerator for a couple hours (you don’t have to do this step, but I prefer it and think it really adds fudginess to the brownies). Cut into desired size pieces.

If you’re a coconut lover you’ll love these. And you know, sometimes you don’t feel like a nut! If you do, throw some toasted almonds on top of the coconut. Enjoy! (I wish I could have afforded to do so.)

Next up—a yummy healthy treat—for me! And I’ll share the recipe with you. ;)

These brownies are being added to Lisa’s Sweets For a Saturday blog hop. Check out all the delicious looking goodies!

Almond Cranberry Quinoa Oatmeal Cookies (with dark chocolate)

2012-01-04T19:26:00.001-06:00

Welcome to 2012 at Baking and Boys! I’ll be on a little bit of a healthier kick, but don’t worry, that doesn’t mean there won’t be treats and goodies and even some more indulgent ones now and then. While working away on the treadmill early one morning recently, I came across this recipe for these Almond Cranberry Quinoa Cookies in the latest (January 2012) issue of Bon Appetit magazine (Yes, I read foodie magazines while I’m on the treadmill.)

I was intrigued by these cookies having cooked quinoa in them and I just happened to have some leftover plain cooked quinoa in my fridge. That sold me, but so did everything else in the cookies—almonds, cranberries, oats, whole wheat flour, a lower amount of sugar, it all sounded good to me as I start the new year (pretty much always do after the holidays) eating a little better than I had been.

I made the cookies today and think they’re great! I did make one change to the recipe, but I don’t think it really changed them much. I used Bestlife buttery baking sticks (a 50/50 non-hydrogenated butter substitute that I really like). Just decided if I was going to make a healthier cookie, that I’d go with that butter substitute instead of the butter called for in the recipe.

Besides that change, after I baked half the dough as written, I added some dark chocolate to the rest. So some of the cookies don’t have chocolate and some do! Can you guess which I like better? Here’s the recipe with my changes.

Almond Cranberry Quinoa Oatmeal Cookies with Dark Chocolate, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 1/2 cups (180 grams) white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used a coarse grain)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup Bestlife buttery baking sticks (could use butter or another butter substitute like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter)

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

1/4 cup (55 grams) packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

1 cup (80 grams) old-fashioned oats

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup slivered unsalted almonds (I used sliced almonds)

2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (or chips)---optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (I used my convection oven, so I heated the oven to 350 degrees). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat together the butter, sugars and honey in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and almond extracts and beat another two minutes. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined. Stir in quinoa, oats, cranberries and almonds. Add the chocolate, if using. Scoop (about 2-tablespoonsful) dough out onto prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until golden, 12-15 minutes (I did 11 minutes with two sheets in my convection oven at a time). Remove from oven and let sit on the baking sheets for a couple minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and let cool completely. Makes 24-28 cookies.

Serving—1 Cookie, Calories 148, Carbs 21 grams, Fiber 2 grams, Protein 2.9 grams, Sugars 10.7 grams Fat 6.3 grams (that is if you use real butter)

I love the almond extract in these and would recommend it if you’re using almonds. They are a soft, chewy cookie and have many great flavors. You could use walnuts or pecans if you don’t like almonds, or raisins or tart dried cherries instead of cranberries. I think these could easily be a great pre-workout food or even a breakfast cookie (or two). Thanks, Bon Appetit!

My 2011 Top 10 Posts—Happy 2012!

2011-12-31T00:46:00.001-06:00

I thought it would be fun to share what my Top 10 posts were this year (everyone is doing it). Here they are!

#10

Caramel Filled Milk Chocolate Studded Brownies

French Cocoa Macarons with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Butternut Squash Soup with Pepitas and Ground Pistachios

Pumpkin Spice Streusel Rice Krispies Treats

Blessed Bread, No Knead Bread and Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Hot Cocoa Marshmallow Rice Krispies Treats

Baked Alaska With Chocolate Chip Cookie and Chocolate Ice Cream

Healthier No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

Nutella Truffle Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies

And the #1 Most Viewed Blog Post of 2011 is-----

Mini Chocolate Chip Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

That’s it---one savory dish and nine treats—wait, what about that bread, what category is that?! That’s the way I roll—a little bit savory and a lot of sweet. ;) No, really. I actually do eat healthy. In fact, there is some of that butternut squash soup in my fridge right now.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! Be safe and enjoy the day! Thanks for stopping by. I’m so grateful for all my blog readers!

POM POMS Fresh Arils from POM Wonderful

2011-12-29T17:52:00.001-06:00

I was lucky enough to recently be sent a couple of cups of POM Wonderful's POM POMS Fresh Arils to sample. I’m here to tell you they are, well, wonderful!

Photo courtesy of POM Wonderful

I love pomegranates. But I don’t think I’ll be the first to admit they can often be sort of a pain to get to the good part! POM Wonderful has a perfect solution to that. You can partake of those delicious little, juicy arils now with just a cup and spoon! And what more—they’ve provided both of those for you as well! Inside the lid of the cup of arils is a little plastic spoon that folds up and fits in perfectly. It is great for scooping out arils for whatever you wish. Sprinkle them on salads, cereal, whatever you’d like or just eat them right out of the cup! The cups are available in two different sizes—4.3 ounce cups or 8 ounce cups. They are available now through February.

I will tell you a couple of my favorite things I’ve done with them (yes, besides eating them with the spoon right out of the cup!). One thing I have loved putting them on is my morning Greek yogurt and granola.

I often add bananas as well, but not always. At the time POM Wonderful asked if I wanted to try the cups, I actually had 1 3/4 of whole pomegranates in the fridge. They are still there! I will eat them soon, but have sure enjoyed having them ready-to-go in cups! (Thanks, POM Wonderful!)

Another thing I have recently enjoyed them on is some homemade raspberry sherbet with swirled chocolate. What a great combo! Love the extra chew and juiciness from the arils!

I recently made (for the first time) some raspberry jam and canned 10 jars of it! (Go me, Mrs. Domestic!) ;) But I had a couple pints of frozen/thawed raspberries that I’d made the jam with leftover, so I turned that into some sherbet. I didn’t really write down what I did, but used just some agave nectar to sweeten it a little and some skim milk. It’s actually really good! At the end of the churning, I drizzled in a little melted dark chocolate—I love the combination of chocolate and raspberry! Just for a little added umph, I sprinkled it with a bunch of POM POMS! What a treat—and pretty healthy, too!

Thank you, POM Wonderful for allowing me to try the cups of POM POMS. I love them! Want to try them, too? You can get a $1.00 off coupon for them on this link--

http://www.pomwonderful.com/?vopen=coupon_pomidays

A Virtual Blog Party For My Friend Shelby With Mini Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie Bites

2011-12-27T04:00:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate)! We did and are truly blessed! Now, it’s time to par-tay! I’m not just talking about ringing in the New Year, though that is a reason to celebrate. Today I’m talking about a virtual blog party!

My friend, Shelby, at The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch is celebrating her fourth year blogging anniversary. (Mine is coming up, too—in February. My how time flies!) Shelby thought it would be fun to celebrate with a virtual party and word has it, a giveaway, so be sure to head on over and check it out. Besides, she has a great blog with some amazing food and some great stories she shares, mostly about her significant other, Grumpy and their relationship. Shelby’s blog is one of the first I started reading. She used to blog along with TWD (Tuesdays With Dorie), which is how I got to know her.

I recently did a guest post on her blog while she and Grumpy sailed the ocean blue on a cruise. She is such a kind-hearted person, one that I’m sure if we actually ever met face to face would be a great friend of mine. As for now, we are “virtual” friends. Can’t wait to see what else she shares next on her blog. Year number five, here we come! ;)

For the blog party, I recently made some Mini Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie Bites (Tarts) that I wanted to share. Don’t know if you’ll recall, but for Thanksgiving, I made this delicious Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie that was a big hit. I had many people asking for the recipe. I thought it would be really fun to make again, but mini-size. These are great one-bite wonders that are perfect for serving at any party. I love the little mini-tart fillo shells you can buy in the freezer section at most grocery stores (the ones I get are from a company called Athens). At only 15 calories each, they are a great alternative to pie crust. You can use them for all things savory and sweet—but of course, I went with sweet for this party! I just cut the Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie recipe down and piped some of it into each fillo shell. Then I drizzled on a little extra straight-up Nutella and sprinkled on a few chopped hazelnuts. You can leave those off if you’d like, but they added a great texture to the mini pies. I also thought they’d be great topped with a little dollop or piping of whipped cream, but I left that off this time.

Mini Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie Bites, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

30 mini fillo shells (2 boxes)

1/2 cup Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread

4 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened (half a brick)

4 ounces whipped topping or whipped cream (1/2 to 1 cup, to taste)

2 tablespoons more Nutella, for drizzling

2 tablespoons or so chopped, toasted hazelnuts, for sprinkling (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the frozen mini fillo shells on a baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, just to crisp them up a bit. Let cool.

Combine in the bowl of a food processor or mixer the Nutella and cream cheese. Scrape sides of bowl and make sure it is all well combined and smooth. Add the whipped topping or whipped cream and pulse to combine. With a rubber spatula, scrape the filling into a piping bag fitted with about a 1/4 inch flower tip (or you could use a plastic zip top bag and cut off the corner). Pipe some of the filling into each shell. Put some of the extra Nutella into a plastic zip top bag with just a small tip of the corner snipped off and drizzle over the Nutella chocolate cream filling. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts (if using). Refrigerate until serving.

These are perfect for a party. I like little bite-sized things because then you can have more or are able to try lots of different things and not feel so guilty! ;) And try to just eat one of these! They’re really good, especially if you love Nutella! I do! Probably not many treats to make for a party that are easier!

……And many more!!!…..to you, Shelby! Party on! Go to Shelby's blog now!! Check out her virtual party and enter the giveaway!

TWD—The Final Recipe! Kids’ Thumbprints

2011-12-27T00:28:00.000-06:00

Here it is—the last post for Tuesdays With Dorie! Kinda sad, I know. Our last recipe and guess who hosted this one? Dorie Greenspan herself! I’m sure she’ll have the recipe for these fun cookies posted on her blog. Peanut butter and jelly—a classic kids’ favorite. Everyone knows I love cookies, so how fun to end on such a high note for me and with a good little cookie! These were simple to make and taste great.

You can use any jam or preserves you’d like (or that kids would like). I used some lingonberry jam (from IKEA and my friend, Julie!) and some blackberry jam, that Julie also gave me when she came and visited from Kansas this past summer. Thanks, Julie!

The Kids’ Thumbprints are perfect for cookie trays and parties as they are small and the recipe makes a lot.

I took them, along with a bunch of other cookies I’d made, to our family Christmas Eve celebration. Besides jam, you can also play around with what goes in the middle of the thumbprints and what goes better with peanut butter than chocolate?! So I made some of those, too.

The classic Hershey’s Chocolate Kiss would be great in the middle, too. After spending time rolling small amounts of dough into balls, and then dipping them in a frothy egg white, and then chopped nuts, I became a little lazy (though I still had plenty of thumbprint cookies), I started just making the traditional crisscross peanut butter cookies with the rest of the dough.

I ended up with a lot of peanut butter cookies from this recipe and they were all good. And this is for you especially, Kayte, my favorite version were the ones with the jam in the center! (You thought I was going to say chocolate, I know it!)

I really will miss the weekly TWD posting and the visits to some favorite blogs. But the end of TWD doesn’t mean I won’t go to those blogs anymore and a bunch of us will be back together in February as we begin another quest to bake our way together through another of Dorie’s treasures, Baking With Julia.

A special thanks to Dorie for supporting this group and often baking along with us. Also thank you, Laurie, for starting the group, letting it grow as big as it did and for all the others who worked hard each week to keep us going!

Christmas Treats—Bugles Santa Hats and Cookies and Cream Chex Snack Mix

2011-12-21T23:48:00.001-06:00

Y’all ready for the big day? Ready or not, here it comes! I think we’re about as ready as we’re going to be here. I’ve just about made all the goodies I can and happily given most of them away. What you see in the picture above here is some Cookies and Cream Chex Snack Mix I made and some cute Santa Hats made with Bugles. Are you familiar with Bugles?

You know, those crispy corn snacks that look like, well, bugles.

Dip them in red candy melts with a marshmallow on top and some white candy sprinkles around the rim and you have a Santa Hat! Bummer that I didn’t really take any more photos than the one at the top there and almost forgot that one. (*Note, after dipping them in the red melts individually, tap the extra coating off and set them on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Let dry (or chill for a few minutes). Then dip the tip of the “hat” in a little bit of the red candy melt and push a mini marshmallow into the top. Let the tops dry before dipping the bottom into the red and then dunking each into some tiny white sprinkles. I also think (if you can’t find the white sprinkles), use some white candy melts to dip them in and that would be fine. Lay them on a baking sheet to set.)

I saw the cute idea on Studio 5, a local noonday news show that is always full of lots of crafty and foodie ideas. You can see the short video here of the gal who talked about them, as well as some other cute, simple ideas for some holiday treats you can make and/or easily include kids helping with making for some fun activities.

And the Chex Mix Muddy Buddies, also known to some as Puppy Chow—there are now many flavors/recipes of that addicting stuff available. Well, I also happened to notice at the grocery store a limited edition Chex Mix Cookies & Cream. A small bag of it was $2.50, which I thought was a little pricy. So I actually bought a bag of it and took it home and cloned it, which isn’t really all that difficult to do.

I wasn’t quite exactly right on with the Chex Mix in the bag, but I actually liked mine a little better. I made a big old batch of it and bagged it up with those little Bugles Santa Hats and gave the ladies at church a little Christmas treat last Sunday.

Cookies and Cream Chex Snack Mix, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

9 cups of Corn Chex Cereal

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (6 ounces)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 Oreo Cookies, ground into crumbs

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Have the cereal ready in a large bowl. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and butter together until smooth. Melt in 30 second increments, stirring each time. Stir in the vanilla. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle in the cookie crumbs and stir to coat evenly. Sprinkle in the powdered sugar a little at a time, coating the top cereal, then stirring, adding more, and stirring gently until it is all coated in powdered sugar.

Spread the snack mix on a baking sheet and let it cool completely. Try not to eat too much all at once! ;)

TWD Rewind—Cocoa Crispy Peanut Grabbers (Granola Grabbers)

2011-12-20T00:11:00.001-06:00

For Tuesdays With Dorie this week, we could chose any recipe we wanted from the book as a rewind to either something we missed in the past or any recipe we really loved and wanted to make again. While flipping through the cookie section, I found a couple of the recipes I hadn’t made yet, so I decided that I would make one of them. I would still like to eventually try to complete every recipe in the book.

One of the cookies I missed was Dorie’s Granola Grabbers (pages 82-83). I love granola. I eat homemade granola almost every day. However, I was currently almost out and when looking in my cupboard, I saw that I had recently gotten two boxes of Cocoa Krispies and decided I’d try the cookies, but use the Krispies instead. So, needless to say, I ended up making a lot of changes to the recipe because I also altered the amounts of sugar and flour a bit and omitted some of the other ingredients in Dorie’s recipe.

Cocoa Crispy Peanut Grabbers, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Dorie Greenspan

3 cups Cocoa Krispies (I’m sure Rice Krispies would be great, too!)

3/4 cup salted peanuts, chopped

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (regular ones would be fine, too)

1/3 cup wheat germ

14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, minus 2 tablespoons

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

Combine in a medium sized bowl the Cocoa Krispies, peanuts and oats. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, wheat germ and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another minute or two. Scrape sides of bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Stir in the cereal, peanuts, oat mixture. Scoop out rounded tablespoon of dough and form them into balls with your hands. Space them 1-2 inches apart on the baking sheet. Press each ball of dough down slightly. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for a couple minutes. Move cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

I thought these turned out really well (I was a little worried with all the changes I made!) The cookies are crispy but slightly chewy and have great texture with the cocoa cereal, wheat germ and oats, not to mention the peanuts giving them a great chocolate/peanut flavor.

This is it, Friends. One more week of TWD and our last recipe will also be a cookie, hosted by none other than Dorie herself! I wonder what everyone else made for TWD Rewind week this week?

C&H Sugar Cookie Starter Mix—Cookies, Cookies, Cookies—And A $50 Giveaway!

2011-12-17T09:46:00.001-06:00

Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies with C&H Starter Cookie Mix

I have been making cookies! (Surprise!) The folks at C & H Sugar emailed me about a new Cookie Starter Mix recipe they have on their site. You just whip up a few ingredients and are ready to go with the basics for 1000’s of cookies. Perfect for holiday baking. What more—C&H Sugar is having a 1001 Cookie Contest on their Facebook page. They want you to submit your cookie recipes (using their cookie starter mix) and you’ll be entered to win some great prizes as they select their favorites! Their cookie recipe contest goes until January 5, 2012.

So I made some of the cookie starter mix and got to baking. They have a number of recipes to get you started and thinking as you come up with your own recipes using the mix as well. You’ll never guess which recipe I turned to first? Waiting……guesses…..

Chocolate Chip Cookies, of course! Now of course I ended up playing around with the recipe a bit, but I started out by just making the recipe as written. It was so easy I even had a little helper do most of the work!

I decided to mix the dough by hand (or by Sam’s hand). With the starter mix already having the flour in it, I didn’t want to overmix it by using the electric mixer. AND, it was pretty easy to mix by hand anyway. I mean, look at that little helper, he could stir it without even looking in the bowl! ;) In a matter of minutes, we had chocolate chip cookie dough.

Being here in Utah where we’re at a pretty high altitude, I kind of knew this recipe would make flatter cookies, so I actually added some extra flour to the dough. I also ended up turning the oven to a lower temperature than the recipe suggested. After a little test baking, I settled with 350 degrees instead of 375 degrees. Oh, and besides using three different kinds of chocolate chips, I also added some Andes mint chips. These cookies are good, slightly crispy with great chew and flavor!

I also decide to whip up more cookies as I was excited to see more cookies come from the cookie starter mix. The next one I chose to make was the Lemon Sugar Cookies. The cookies also turned out great (but again, I played around with the amount of ingredients a little. I dipped the cookies (or sprinkled them) with some yellow sugar sprinkles.

The dough is quite wet/sticky. But that didn’t stop me from trying a few cutout cookies (with a little extra flour). After making a few of them, I went ahead and made most of them as just round cookies that I rolled in the sugar.

Well that just wasn’t enough. I decided to put my own thinking cap on and create my own cookie with the starter mix. I had biscotti on my mind. I don’t like them super crunchy or hard or really thick as I think that makes them not-so-easy to bite into. Since I don’t dunk biscotti, I made a great cookie perfect for what I was imagining. It was so much easier with the cookie starter mix!

Here’s my Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookie Sticks!

The recipe made about 12 sticks and the ends (which I hear chefs call “cookie butts” and are their snacks in the kitchen ;)) are crispy like biscotti, but the rest of them are chewy in the middle with just a little crunch on the ends. I love the flavor, too!

Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookie Sticks, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 cups C&H Sugar Cookie Starter Mix

6 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

couple grates of fresh nutmeg (or a pinch or two of ground)

2 tablespoons molasses

1 large egg

6 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on dough

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the cookie starter mix, flour, baking powder and spices. In a small bowl whisk together the molasses and egg. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Put the dough on the baking sheet and form into a log about 12 inches long and two inches wide. Use slightly wet hands to form the sticky dough into a log.

Bake for 18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Carefully cut into 3/4 inch slices with a serrated knife. (The cookie will still be a little soft.) Separate each cookie stick and give them a inch or two to bake again. Bake for 15 more minutes. Let cool on baking sheet until room temperature. Store in an airtight container.

The log really spreads out, so don’t freak out or be worried. These are great!

Well, the moment I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for—the giveaway! C&H Sugar wants to give one lucky reader of my blog a $50 gift card to buy all the baking supplies you’ll need to make cookies and enter their contest! (They gave me one, too! Thank you, C&H!)

Here’s what you need to do---one entry per person. First—go to the C&H Sugar Cookie Contest Facebook page and LIKE it. Check out all the cookie recipe submissions, come back here and tell me you liked the page and tell me which cookie entry looks the best to you, all in one comment. I want you to have enough time to bake and enter their cookie contest, so this giveaway goes until Monday, December 19, 2011, 5 p.m. MST. Contest is open to US residents only. A winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, so please make sure I have a way to contact you!

***The giveaway is now closed and a winner was randomly chosen! The winner of the gift card from C&H Sugar is Barbara Bakes!

Barbara Bakes said...

I like C&H on Facebook and the Turtle Cookie Bars sound pretty amazing. Love all the different varieties you whipped up.

December 19, 2011 7:34 AM

Congratulations, Barbara! I’ll be contacting you via e-mail!

Chocolate Cinnamon M&M’s Blondies—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2011-12-15T00:03:00.001-06:00

I’ve found these new Cinnamon M&M’s a couple weeks ago and wanted to use them, but make sure it was something really good. And I think I did just that!

The M&M’s are good with more of a subtle cinnamon taste. They are good just for munching. They are perfect in these blondies. I don’t know if you’ll be able to find the Cinnamon M&M’s (I got them at Target), or if they’ll only be available during the holidays, but try to find them if you can. If you can’t find them, if you like cinnamon and chocolate, I still think these blondies would be really good with just the addition of ground cinnamon in them. Try these, they are a fun little twist on blondies.

I have found it is definitely worth it to gather all your ingredients and measure out and prep each thing before beginning.

Here’s what the blondies looked like ready for the oven.

After 35 minutes baking they are ready to cool--

Cut the bars and they are ready to devour.

These are dangerously good!

Chocolate Cinnamon M&M’s Blondies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

Cinnamon Streusel Filling:

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup (2 oz.) good quality chocolate, chopped (or mini chocolate chips)

Blondies:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

Scant ½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup (3 ounces) good quality chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)

½ cup Cinnamon M&M’s (chopped—optional) plus more for the top

½ cup pecans, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8x8 baking pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. (Foil is optional, but my preferred way to then just lift the blondies out of the pan and cut on a cutting board.) Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the 1/3 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon and 2 ounces of chocolate. Set aside. In another small bowl, combine the 1 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Since the M&M’s are kind of big (they’re bigger than plain M&M’s, I carefully chopped each one. A little tedious, but didn’t take too long. Plus, the bars are easier to cut without the big M&M’s throughout. You could easily make these blondies with plain M&M’s if you can’t find the cinnamon ones. Chop the chocolate if not using chips.

Beat together the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until creamy. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in the chocolate, M&M’s and nuts. Press about 2/3 of the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top and press it down a little. (I didn’t quite use all of it.) Dot the rest of the batter over the top. (It will not completely cover the top and that’s okay!) Sprinkle with extra chopped M&M’s if desired.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without raw batter on it. Cool the blondies in the pan on a wire rack until completely cooled. Remove from pan and peel the foil off the back. Cut into squares.

Package up a few of these to give as a holiday gift for your friends or neighbors. They are my final pick for the 12th week of The Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies! Anyone else feel a little sad it’s over? I will still be baking, so I don’t really feel sad. I do feel like yelling “Ahhhhh” that Christmas is so close! I should probably do a little shopping for it—soon! ;) Check out the other 12 Weeks bloggers final goodies!

Special thanks to Brenda at Meal Planning Magic for heading up and leading this group this year. Great job. Happy Holidays, Everyone! May they be sweet for you!

Wayfair Giveaway Winner and A Guest Post for Shelby

2011-12-14T16:52:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to let you know that a winner was randomly selected (www.random.org) for the giveaway from Wayfair for the Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender. There was 103 comments and #20 was chosen.

Max and Deborah said...

I liked Wayfair on FB

December 08, 2011 10:43 PM

Max and Deborah are the winners! Please contact me and send me your mailing addresses as soon as you can and I’ll have the folks at Wayfair send you your new blender! Congratulations and Enjoy!

_______________________________________________

Also, check out my guest post over at The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch! Shelby and Grumpy are currently on a cruise and she asked if I’d post something for her while she’s off sailing!

A little sneak peek--

I thought it wouldn’t be fair if Shelby was out enjoying a refreshing drink, so we made our own (non-alcoholic, of course) pina coladas. Easy and good!

We made churros and bunuelos (similar to deep fried scones/sopapillas) to go with the Mexican theme. Shelby’s cruise involves being in Mexico!

I hope she’s having a blast, she’s been looking so forward to this vacation and deserves it! We had fun making some treats she might be enjoying herself.

TWD—Unbelievably Good Chocolate Blueberry Ice Cream

2011-12-13T01:00:00.000-06:00

Tuesdays With Dorie—Unbelievably Good Chocolate Blueberry Ice Cream

Simply made with a custard-style chocolate ice cream and blueberry preserves stirred in at the end. I made my own blueberry preserves since I didn’t have any store bought preserves.

I used--

1 pint of frozen blueberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

a splash of lime juice

a pinch of salt

Cooked in a saucepan over medium heat until it thickens. Stir often. Remove from heat. Let cool. Blend in a blender or food processor for a minute or so. Strain over a fine mesh strainer (optional).

This made a heaping 1/3 cup of blueberry goodness.

I didn’t quite add all of it to the ice cream, though I should have.

That picture at the top is the ice cream freshly churned and still soft (that’s the way I like it). I tasted a tablespoon or two of the ice cream. It IS unbelievably good.

Here’s the ice cream after its half day stint in the freezer.

Laurie (our fearless TWD leader) has the recipe on her blog, Slush. Next week, because of Christmas, we can do a rewind recipe if we’d like. And then if you can believe it, the week after that we’ll be making/posting the last recipe in the book. sigh

The other recipe chosen for this week is a Puffed Plum Tart and Jules Someone will have the recipe on her blog, Someone's in the Kitchen. No plums around here.

Hey, while you’re here, if you haven’t, enter the giveaway I’m having here--Wayfair Review and Giveaway for a Cuisinart Handheld Immersion Blender. Entries are good until 5 p.m. tonight when one winner will be randomly selected. Thanks to Wayfair (formerly CSN Stores).

Marbled Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge

2011-12-12T15:16:00.001-06:00

Oh yes I did! I made fudge and marbled it with edible (no-egg) chocolate chip cookie dough. Mmmm!

Merry Christmas! This is perfect fudge. Actually, I would prefer some walnuts in the cookie dough as well. I just always worry that some are either allergic or don’t like nuts, so I often leave them out when I’m making something that many people will be eating. Walnuts would have really made this fudge though! I came up with this idea myself, but I’m sure someone somewhere has probably already thought of it and done it. I didn’t bother looking over the world wide web. I just took two simple, often-used recipes and combined them to make this. I’m not sure who the credit for the edible cookie dough goes to, but the fudge is from Eagle Brand as this is the simple sweetened condensed milk added to chocolate version of fudge.

The cookie dough actually also has sweetened condensed milk in it as well, so I suppose credit for that also goes to Eagle Brand (though I didn’t find a recipe for it on their website).

Marbled Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Fudge, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

Fudge:

3 cups chocolate chips

1—14 ounce can fat free sweetened condensed milk (makes them healthy! ;))

dash of salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cookie Dough:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

7 ounces fat free sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Make the cookie dough first. Beat together the butter and brown sugar until well mixed. Add the vanilla and combine. Add the flour and salt and beat just until combined. Beat in the condensed milk then stir in the chocolate chips and the nuts, if using. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. After the dough has chilled, take pieces of it and put them on waxed paper, about 20-30 pieces differing in sizes from about a teaspoon to a tablespoons.

For the fudge—line a 9 inch square pan with non-stick foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Set aside. Melt the chocolate chips, salt, vanilla and sweetened condensed milk in a medium sized saucepan until smooth. Spread half of the fudge in the bottom of the pan. Dot the fudge with the cookie dough pieces. Take a butter knife and swirl it around the cookie dough and fudge. It won’t mix in totally and you don’t want it to. Top it with the rest of the fudge and smooth the top. Let chill for a couple hours. Remove from foil and cut into desired sized pieces on a cutting board.

(I actually made double the amount of cookie dough and only used about half of it for the fudge, so you could easily double it and make two batches of fudge. I’m about to use the rest and add some walnuts to the leftover cookie dough first.)

Good stuff!

Wayfair Review and Giveaway!

2011-12-08T18:10:00.001-06:00

Just in time for the holidays—wouldn’t you just love to get something like these Baker's Corner Play Kitchen items for your kids this season? I think it would be great and I’d probably end up taking over playing with it myself! :) I have a couple boys around here that would love to play in a kitchen of their own! The generous people at Wayfair (formerly CSN Stores) have offered for me to review another product on their website and offer one to you as well!

One thing I’ve always wanted in my kitchen is a handheld immersion blender. So a Cuisinart Smart Stick Hand Blender in Brushed Chrome is on its way for me to try out and there will be one on the way to one lucky Baking and Boys! reader (randomly chosen) as well!

I can’t wait to puree soup, make smoothies or pancakes and crepes without having to lug out my big ol’ blender every time! Would you like one, too?

You have four entries to increase your chances of being randomly selected to win!

1—Besides a handheld blender of your own, what one other kitchen item do you hope to find wrapped up as a gift for you this holiday season? Leave a comment telling me.

2—Become a fan on my Baking and Boys! Facebook Fan Page. (Link on the right.) Leave a comment letting me know you’re now a fan! Thanks!

3—Leave a status update on your own Facebook page about the giveaway and come back and let me know you did.

4—Like Wayfair on Facebook and come back leaving me a comment telling me you did so.

On your mark, get set, go! The giveaway will close Tuesday, December 13th at 5 p.m. MST. (Contest open to US and Canada residents only.) A winner will be notified by email, so make sure I have a way to contact you.

Thanks to Wayfair for allowing me to do this review and giveaway!

Gingerbread Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies (Attune Foods Product Review, too)

2011-12-08T00:25:00.001-06:00

It’s no secret that I really like Rice Krispies Treats. When I saw in the store recently a new flavor of marshmallows, I had to get them. Besides the flavor gingerbread sounded great in marshmallows, aren’t they also just so cute!

A flavor combo that I really like is ginger and chocolate. So I knew in my playing around that these would ultimately have chocolate.

I was lucky enough recently to be given a bunch of coupons for Attune Foods. Have you heard of them or seen these? (Thanks to Anne-Marie from This Mama Cooks for the coupons for Attune Foods!)

There are some other products, too. But these are the ones I got when I redeemed my coupons (plus a second box of Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice not pictured). I actually have been buying the Uncle Sam Toasted Whole Wheat Berry Flakes for a while now. I spotted them in the store (Walmart) in the cereal aisle a few months ago and have been putting them in my homemade granola since. I love the little flakes and they also have added flaxseed with them.

I eat granola everyday for breakfast and nonfat Greek yogurt and some fresh fruit.

I can’t wait to try the New Morning Graham Crackers! But I must tell you—I made these fabulous Gingerbread Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats and used the Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice and they taste great! I’m always happy to make a treat just a little bit more healthy with certain ingredients and I would totally make rice crispy treats again and use this cereal from Attune Foods. So lets get back to those Gingerbread Chocolate Treats!

Great mallows, great Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice Cereal, all set. I did want to bump up the chocolate and ginger flavor so I added lots of chocolate melted in with the marshmallow and with mini chocolate chips throughout and on top as well. I added more ginger and a couple other spices as well. Then while I was at Whole Foods (where I found the Attune Foods products), I also found a bunch of different flavored candy canes all with natural coloring and flavorings and lo and behold one was gingerbread flavored. HAD to get one!

The candy cane tastes great. I like that it has a little kick from using tumeric and paprika for the coloring. Check out all the flavors of candy canes at Hammond's Candies, like cranberry, pear, sugar plum and much more! Each one is 2 ounces!

I crushed the gingerbread candy cane and sprinkled it over the top of the rice crispy treats. It adds some great flavor and crunch—but don’t think that is necessary to make these treats. I’m sure they are still great without the crushed candy cane, so don’t let that stop you. ;)

Gingerbread Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

10 ounces Gingerbread Mallows (you could probably use regular marshmallows and up the ginger and spices if you can’t find these)

6 cups Erehon Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice Cereal (Kelloggs’s Cocoa Krispies would work, too)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2/3 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

2 ounces gingerbread flavored candy cane, crushed

In a large, microwave safe bowl, combine the marshmallows and butter and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Add the chopped chocolate and spices to the hot melted marshmallow and stir until all the chocolate is pretty much melted.

Stir in the Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice Cereal until all combined. Spread into a 9 inch square pan that is lined with nonstick foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Push it all down evenly with a potato masher. Sprinkle the top with the crushed candy cane and the mini chocolate chips. Let set for an hour or so. Remove from pan holding the foil edges and cut into bars.

These are perfect for the holidays, so they are my choice for the 11th week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies.

Hop around the blog hop and check out all the other treats for the second to last week of all this cookie and candy madness!

TWD—Honey Almond Apple Tartlets

2011-12-06T01:00:00.000-06:00

One of the recipes for TWD this week was for the Honey-Almond Fig Tart, which was chosen by Kayte the Great from Grandma's Kitchen Table. She’s posted the recipe along with an alternative to figs using grapefruit. Her tart looks delicious! I wouldn’t say my laziness got the best of me, as you can see my little tartlets with those premade mini phyllo shells, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to find figs—and I actually looked and did not find them. But I also knew I couldn’t subject myself to eating another tart. I love the crust, not to mention whatever happens to be inside one!

These apples were not even the size of golf balls. And they really taste great!

So I improvised and made half the recipe of almond cream. While looking for the figs at Whole Foods, I came upon some of the cutest little apples I’ve ever seen called Lady Apples. So I bought a bunch and thought these would be perfect for adding to the tarts. I then topped them with a couple of pomegranate arils for some color.

I only made 15 tarts with the mini phyllo cups so it only took a couple of apples to fill the tarts. I sauteed the apples in a little butter and brown sugar first.

I put the almond cream in a pastry bag and piped some of it into each tart. I just put one slice of apple on the top of each one.

Ah, those look nice—all ready for some apples and a little baking.

I know what you’re thinking—those look great, Katrina. Well, I wouldn’t want you to think I’m perfect or anything, so here’s the deal. I filled each tart with a bit too much almond cream—so they overflowed a bit.

Evidence ;)

All was not lost. I think I made them look alright.

And what was even better—they taste great! And I don’t feel quite so guilty about eating one or two rather than a slice or two or three of a real tart‘

What great thoughts Kayte also shared about baking along with this Tuesdays With Dorie group. And I totally agree—it’s been so fun to learn new skills with baking and to “meet” so many wonderful people! We’ll be starting the new group as we start another of Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful books, Baking With Julia in February next year!

In the meantime, we’re gearing up for Christmas around here, including this little Bad Boy!

Check out Kayte's post for the recipe for this tart. The other recipe that was chosen for this week was Earl Grey Madeleines and you can get the recipe for those from Nicole at Bakeologie. Since we just recently made some madeleines, I decided not to again, but Nicole’s look great!

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip or Raisin Cookies—Secret Recipe Club

2011-12-05T10:00:00.001-06:00

It’s Secret Recipe Club time again! Swiftly fly the weeks…….! It’s a fun group and really does make you branch out and 1—”meet” new people and find new blogs and 2—find great new recipes and try new things! I say that and this month I went with kind of “good old” recipes. That’s not entirely true, my secret blogger was Lesa from Edesia's Notebook made her own version of these two faves and I was drawn in by the photos as well as needed to use up some things I had and these two recipes were perfect for that.

Lesa is a stay-at-home-mom with two girls (girls, what is that?) ;) She loves to cook and bake and find new recipes to try out on her family. Sounds familiar! I liked the simplicity of her blog and recipes and actually had a hard time deciding what to make until the boys were begging for chocolate chip cookies one day. (I have a little secret confession, with every new blog I find or am assigned for SRC, the first thing I do is search for cookies.)

I found some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies that are Lesa’s spin on the famous Neiman Marcus cookies and decided they must be made to make for some happy campers ‘round here.

I added chocolate chips to half the dough and baked a couple dozen. Then I added just raisins to the other half of the dough for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

The recipe made a lot of cookies! And was perfect for after school snacks for the boys.

That seemed a little like a cop out for the SRC though and I fully intended to fix that by making something else from Lesa’s blog. After a little more searching and realizing I had some of Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice that only has a couple more months fridge life, I stumbled upon some Key Lime Cheesecake Bars that Lesa made back in August of this year. Oh, I also had about 4-5 packages of cream cheese in my fridge—so these became the perfect thing to make. I included these on a tray of goodies I took to our Thanksgiving dinner (as well as a couple pies, like this Nutella Pie, and a pumpkin cheesecake swirled pie and my favorite sweet potato casserole).

I would have to say pie is definitely a Thanksgiving favorite of most people and since that is what most people had, I ended up taking home quite a few of the key lime cheesecake bars. And actually, that was okay with us, especially Scottie, who I believe ate almost all the bars over the next couple days after Thanksgiving! He really liked them! I did, too! I thought they really were perfectly limey and creamy. I also loved the crust Lesa made with ground up graham crackers and almonds!

I only ever so slightly adapted the cheesecake bars recipe. The cookies, too, I lowered the amount of sugars and baking soda. I’m finding that helps a bit with the higher altitude here.

Key Lime Cheesecake Bars, adapted from Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Edesia’s Notebook

Crust:

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 6 rectangle crackers)

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:

1 can (14 ounces) fat free sweetened condensed milk

8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

2 large egg yolks

zest of one lime

1/2 cup key lime juice (fresh or as I used as a great alternative-Nellie & Joe’s Key West Lime Juice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have an 8x8 inch baking pan ready.

Grind the graham crackers in a food processor until almost crumbs. Add the sliced almonds and sugar and pulse until finely ground. Pulse in the melted butter until all combined. Spread the mixture evenly into the baking pan. Set aside.

Wipe out the bowl to the food processor. Add the cream cheese and pulse until smooth. Add the condensed milk and pulse to combine. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg yolks, lime zest and key lime juice and blend together. (This can also be done in a mixing bowl.) Pour the mixture into the baking pan over the crumb crust.

Bake for 25 minutes until the filling is just set. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Chill for at least 3 hours.

____________________________________

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and/or Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys! adapted from Edesia’s Notebook

1 1/4 cups (100 grams) ground oats (grind in a food processor or blender)

1 1/4 cups (100 grams) old fashioned oats

2 cups all purpose flour (240 grams)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 grams)

3/4 cup brown sugar (165 grams)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine the ground oats, oats, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium sized bowl. Whisk to sift and combine. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined. Scrape sides of bowl again. Add the dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Remove half the dough to a medium sized bowl and add the chocolate chips. Add the raisins to the other half of the dough. (Or just double the chocolate or raisins if you only want one kind of cookie.)

Scoop the dough onto baking sheets two inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies sit on baking sheets for a couple minutes, then remove them to cool completely on wire racks. Makes about 4 dozen.

Delicious Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Dip

2011-12-02T17:07:00.001-06:00

I made a most delicious Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Dip today. I like it so much, it’s a must-share! I actually spread some on a flattened whole wheat pita topped with a little extra cheese and broiled for a quite low fat personal pizza for lunch also—but didn’t photograph it. Trust me—it was so good!

Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Dip, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

9 ounces fresh spinach, stem removed and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 can small artichoke hearts, chopped

½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt

¼ cup light sour cream

¼ cup grated low fat mozzarella cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated (a little extra for sprinkling on top, too)

2-3 dashes of Tobasco sauce (optional)

8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

A few shakes of dried oregano and basil (optional)

Saute the spinach (with a little salt and pepper) for just a minute or two until it starts to wilt in a large nonstick skillet with one tablespoon EVOO. Add the minced garlic for just 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

In the meantime, combine the yogurt, sour cream and cream cheese. Add the mozzarella, parmesan cheese, Tobasco and dried oregano and basil (if using). You can also add another shake or two of salt and pepper if desired. Stir in the now cooled spinach and the artichokes. Put the mixture in a glass/Pyrex baking dish (I used one that is 8 ½ x 6 ½ inches). Sprinkle with a little extra mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until bubbly. Put the oven on broil and move the dish to the top rack and broil for 3-5 minutes with the oven door open and watching, so it doesn’t burn. Let cool enough to serve with crackers or fresh cut up vegetables.

(Or spread some on a flattened whole wheat pita, sprinkled with a little extra mozzarella and parmesan cheese and broil—so good!)

And then Kevin came home from work and asked about the dip and I told him it’s low fat and so good. He said, “Someday you can make some that isn’t low fat and just think how good it would really be then,” and I won by telling him, “Yes, and then WE wouldn’t be low fat!” I like when something is still really good, but you can have more of it rather than “splurge” with a whopping crackerful and that’s it. Just saying.

Mini Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond (Or Not) Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2011-12-01T01:00:00.000-06:00

I’ve never been so torn over what to call a cookie or which photo to share first, but these cookies take that prize! Similar to the recent Mini Chocolate Chip Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, I think I’m on a little kick to see all the different things I can put into these mini chocolate chip cookie cups. I began dreaming of coconut, so these Mini Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups hailed from the oven.

After making these, I decided these would be my choice for the tenth week of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies. I think a fun idea for a Christmas cookie plate is to make a bunch of these with unlimited possibilities of candy to put in the middle. They would be really fun and colorful with all the different Hershey’s Kisses now available or even M&Ms. I also think Peppermint Patties would be great. The cookies are baked for 8-9 minutes, then removed from the oven and the chocolate/candy is added for another 2-3 minutes, which makes for perfect chocolate melting but not so much that the candy becomes an unrecognizable puddle of goo.

It goes to say---

“That sometimes you feel like a nut……..”

“sometimes you don’t.” I realize that it seems people are either in the “hate coconut” camp, or “love coconut” camp. So be it. It’s a winner at our house!

This recipe for chocolate chip cookies seems to work great with coming out of the mini muffin tin. I have found that just going around part of the edge of each cup with a sharp knife releases the cookie with no problems.

Mini Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond (Or Not) Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

17 ounces all purpose flour (3 2/3 cups minus 2 tablespoons) (lightly spooned into the measuring cup and swept level with a knife—kitchen scales are best!)

1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt

2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups or 10 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature

10 ounces (1 ¼ cups, packed tightly) light brown sugar

8 ounces (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

about 15 ounces mini chocolate chips (1 package is 12 ounces and would probably be fine)

Dark Chocolate Candy, such as Dove or Hershey’s Bliss, unwrapped

2 cups sweetened flaked coconut

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

pinch salt

1/2 cup whole almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have mini muffin tins ready. No need to grease.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl with a wire whisk. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, combine the coconut, pinch of salt and sweetened condensed milk.

Fill each muffin cup about half full with cookie dough, about a tablespoon of dough per cup. Indent the center of each cookie cup and fill it with about 2 teaspoons of the coconut mixture. Top with an almond if desired. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and place a chocolate in the center of each one and push down slightly. Return to oven for 2-3 minutes. Let cool in muffin tin on wire rack until they are set and cool, you can even set the tin in the fridge for 15 minutes or so after they have cooled about 10 minutes. With a sharp knife, pry each cookie out of their cup—they come out quite easily, just be careful as the peanut butter cup is still soft. Feel free to try other chocolate/candies in the center.

For the fun and deliciousness of it, I filled one giant cookie with some of the coconut, almonds and chocolate. The cookie was probably six inches in diameter. You could make some of these to give as holiday gifts as well. They would be the type to wrap individually, rather than put on plates.

You know you want a bite! Anyone else starting to really freak out about how fast Christmas is coming now?

TWD—Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie (or Tart)

2011-11-29T00:09:00.001-06:00

Mini Sour Cream Pumpkin Tartlet

I really wanted to get both recipes made for TWD this week, but I was not able to get to the Normandy Apple Tart! I have two apple tarts on my must-make list soon. The week before last there was an Alsatian Apple Tart and this week’s apple tart was chosen by Tracey from Tracey's Culinary Adventures. She has the recipe on the link to her blog. And how pretty does her tart look! I’ve had a similar tart before and it was so good—the applesauce on the bottom was great. I even bought the apples I wanted to use for the tart, but just ran out of week for making both.

After all the Thanksgiving goodness and still having these pies/tarts on the need-to-make list, I decided to make just half the recipe for the pumpkin pie and I used the leftover pie crust dough from a couple pies I’d made for Thanksgiving. It was just the right amount of pie dough to make two four inch mini tarts. After halving the pumpkin pie filling, it was enough to fill the two tarts and two ramekins (without crust). Yum to both!

The pumpkin pie is simple and classic with just an addition of sour cream. My only adaptations to the recipe were that I used lowfat evaporated milk instead of the heavy cream and I used lowfat sour cream. I also omitted the dark rum. I would use this recipe again for pumpkin pies in the future.

Kevin and Scott both like pumpkin pie and happily ate some of this. And I enjoyed it, too, you know, since I did use some lowfat ingredients, it’s probably not all that bad for ya—especially the ones with no crust. This recipe was chosen by Judy of Judy's Gross Eats and she’ll have the recipe posted on her blog.

Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie

2011-11-26T21:15:00.001-06:00

I made this Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie for Thanksgiving and I would have to say, though there were many yummy pies, this one was the hit of the party (it was also the only pie with chocolate, maybe that’s what it was). I posted a picture of it on Facebook and was bombarded with people begging for the recipe, as well as those who got to taste it at our Thanksgiving dinner—so here it is!

And I must tell you—it IS really good, especially if you like Nutella (chocolate/hazelnut spread). The pie on Thanksgiving sat out on the dessert table for a while—and while the pie was still good at room temperature, it is much better having some chilled right out of the fridge. This pie is a simple combination of Nutella, cream cheese and either whipped cream or Cool Whip. I actually was planning to make it with whipped cream and for some reason at the last second I used Cool Whip (I had both on hand). The pie can also be made with any crust you’d like. I used a homemade graham cracker crust. You could use an Oreo or chocolate crust to really bump up the chocolate or I thought it would even be good in a regular pie crust (kind of like French Silk Pie).

I also decided at the last minute to drizzle some warmed Nutella over the top of the pie and sprinkle on some chopped, toasted hazelnuts. I was so happy with how easy the pie was to make and how good it is!

I was lucky enough to get the one picture of the slice of pie and that it came out so nicely, since the pie was room temperature and it was one of the last pieces after everyone took their own slices off the pie. I will be making this again soon just to try for better pictures! Oh okay, and maybe to eat more of it! ;)

Nutella Chocolate Cream Pie, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from my friend Anne’s recipe which was adapted from Plain Chicken

Filling--

1 cup Nutella (chocolate/hazelnut spread)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I always use the 1/3 less fat kind)

8 ounces Cool Whip (you can also use fresh whipped cream)

extra Nutella (about 1/4 cup) for drizzling (optional)

1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped (optional)

Graham Cracker Crust--

1 sleeve (about 1 1/2 cups) graham cracker, finely ground into crumbs

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. After grinding the graham crackers into fine crumbs in a food processor, add the sugar and pulse a few times. Then add the melted butter and pulse until all of it is moist. Dump it into a pie plate and press down evenly, including up the sides of the plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese. Add the Nutella and beat until all creamed together. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat a little more to make sure it is all incorporated. Add the Cool Whip or whipped cream and mix again to combine. Scoop the Nutella mixture into the cooled crust and spread evenly. Drizzle the extra Nutella (warmed in a small glass bowl in the microwave for about 20 seconds to thin it out slightly) over the pie. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts around the edges of the pie (or however you’d like).

Chill for at least a couple hours (I made it the day before serving it and it was great!).

This pie is quite rich, but oh so delicious. I’m going to make mini graham cracker crusts and pipe the Nutella cream into them for a perfect smaller treat. Can’t wait!

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies—TWD Rewind

2011-11-25T01:00:00.000-06:00

Today for Tuesdays With Dorie, we got to choose any recipe in the book that we wanted as a special rewind week. That helps a lot when TWD falls so close to a holiday. So you would think since Thanksgiving is right around the corner I would have picked a pumpkin pie or something perfect like that. But if you know me, I went straight for the chocolate! ;) I really just thought I would pick something from the book that I’d missed and these Quintuple Chocolate Brownies were picked the second week after Tuesdays With Dorie began back in January of 2008! I joined the group in October of that year.

For the brownies, Dorie’s recipe has five different kinds of chocolate—cocoa powder, unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate! Whew! The only thing I wasn’t too sure about with the brownie recipe was the white chocolate ganache that should have been on the top. I like white chocolate okay, but find it rather overwhelming and too sweet at times, so I switched things up a bit.

I didn’t realize until I started making the brownies that I was out of unsweetened chocolate, but I technically still used five kinds of chocolate—actually six if you count that I also added some chocolate extract! In place of the unsweetened chocolate, I used a 70% bittersweet chocolate, but lowered the amount of sugar in the brownies slightly. And instead of a white chocolate ganache on top, I made a ganache with 60% chocolate and put some white chocolate chips in the brownies. I decided not to add nuts to the batter, but put a toasted pecan on the top of about half of them. I prefer nuts in brownies, but the boys don’t. These are, of course, super rich and can be cut pretty small. They are a very dense brownie with chocolate times five!

Laurie our fabulous Tuesdays With Dorie leader chose these brownies the second week ever of baking through this cookbook. I’ve left you the link to the original recipe. I feel like I made enough changes, so here’s the recipe as I made it.

Quintuple Chocolate Brownies, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Dorie Greenspan

1/2 cup all purpose flour (60 grams)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (20 grams)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup (6 ounces) bittersweet/dark chocolate (used 70%), chopped

3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 grams)

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract (optional)

1 cup (6 ounces) milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup (3 ounces) white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9 inch square pan with foil, spray with cooking spray. Set the pan on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, cocoa and salt. In the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over a pan with about one inch of simmering water, melt the butter and the bittersweet chocolate. Heat and stir just until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture until incorporated. Stir in the eggs one at a time, whisking each one until mixed. Add the vanilla and stir. Switch to using a spatula and gently stir in the dry ingredients just until they are incorporated. Stir in the milk chocolate and white chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Let the brownies cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Make the glaze--

1 cup (6 ounces) semi sweet chocolate (I used 60%), chopped or use chips

1/3 cup heavy cream

Put the chocolate in a medium sized bowl. Bring the cream just to a boil then pour it over the chocolate. Wait about 30 seconds, then gently stir with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Let the ganache sit for about 10 minutes to thicken. Spread it evenly over the brownies. Chill the brownies for at least 20 minutes, but an hour or two is great!

Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil edges. Peel the foil off the brownies and cut into squares on a cutting board.

Optional **Places toasted pecans on the top of the brownies.

I took these along with lots of other goodies to our Thanksgiving dinner. They are super rich and fudgy and were gobbled up quickly.

I wonder what all the others in the TWD bloggers made this week.

Peppermint French Macarons—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2011-11-24T00:58:00.001-06:00

My Thanksgiving baking is in full swing ahead, but I wanted to share these Peppermint Macarons with you today for the ninth week of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies. I’ve been wanting to make macarons again since I made Cocoa Macarons with Dark Chocolate Ganache back in July. In trying to decide what flavor to make, I ran across these and decided peppermint was the way to go!

French Macarons seem intimidating, but they really are quite simple to make if you follow the instructions. I may not have them down perfectly yet, but these turned out well and I was pleased. I made half of them with a peppermint white chocolate ganache and half of them with a chocolate ganache with some almond extract added. I actually liked the chocolate ones better. Following the recipe for the white chocolate ganache on the link, it had too much cream with the chocolate, so it didn’t get quite as thick as I would have liked. It also didn’t have enough peppermint. I wish I would have added more and will next time—and use less cream as well!

The cookie itself is just the usual macaron made with almond flour. I think it would also have been good with some peppermint extract. But the ones I made with the chocolate ganache with some almond extract added were really good. It was my friend’s birthday Wednesday, so I packed up most of the chocolate ones and gave them to her.

These would be perfect to give as Christmas gifts. Who wouldn’t love a gift box full of macarons? I like that you can make these pretty much any and all colors and flavors you’d like, so you could really kick up the festive holiday look with these.

I didn’t give my friend any of the ones with the white chocolate peppermint because it just wouldn’t quite stay firm enough and was squishing out of the cookies too much. They will get eaten here!

Peppermint Macarons, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Foodness Gracious

1 cup (110 grams) powdered sugar

3/4 cup almond flour

2 large egg whites, room temperature

pinch of cream of tartar

1/4 cup (50 grams) superfine sugar (granulated would be fine)

red food coloring (optional)

Sift the powdered sugar and the almond flour using a fine mesh strainer. Set aside.

Whisk the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the wire attachment until they become foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat a little more. Add the superfine sugar gradually while beating on high until stiff peaks form. Add the red food coloring if doing so.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold the almond flour/powdered sugar into the egg whites with a spatula, mixing just until all incorporated. Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and pipe about a quarter size cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Once they are all piped, if any of a point on the top, tap it down gently with a damp finger. Leave them sitting at room temperature for about 45 minutes, until you see them become dull on top.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. When the oven is ready, put the baking sheets (this made enough to fill about 1 and a half sheets) in an turn the oven down to 325 degrees. Leave the door open slightly with a wooden spoon holding it open. Bake for 10 minutes, turning the sheets after five minutes. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes when they come out of the oven and then gently lift the whole paper sheet from the tray to the counter.

White Chocolate Peppermint Ganache

5 ounces white chocolate, chopped or you can use chips

1/4 cup heavy cream (my adjusted amount)

3/4 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract (or to taste)

Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just boiling. Pour it over the chocolate in another bowl. Let sit for a couple minutes. Stir gently with a spatula until smooth. Add the butter and stir again until smooth and shiny. Add the extract and stir together. Let cool and thicken. Put the ganache in a piping bag (or a plastic zip top bag with a corner snipped off) and pipe a mound of ganache onto one cookie. Top it with another cookie and continue to finish the remaining ones.

Dark Chocolate Almond Ganache

4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped or you can use chips

3 tablespoons heavy cream

3/4 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or to taste)

Heat the cream to just boiling, pour over the chocolate and let sit for a minute or two. Gently stir together with a spatula until smooth. Add the butter and flavoring and stir until smooth and shiny. Put the ganache in a pipng bag (or a plastic zip top tab with a corner snipped off) and pipe a mound of ganache onto one cookie. Top it with another cookie. Continue to fill other cookies.

You will probably have some leftover ganache. I waited until it hardened a little more, then rolled it into balls and tossed it in some crushed peppermint candy for some quick, tasty truffles! These would also be great for your holiday gifts! You can roll the balls of ganache in any thing you want—finely chopped nuts, cocoa powder, powdered sugar, colorful sprinkles, etc.

This post is also being added to Lisa’s Sweets For A Saturday at Sweet As Sugar Cookies.

Check out the other 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies blog hoppers!

A Little Cute Boys Photo Intermission And A Fantastic Craft Idea

2011-11-22T12:40:00.001-06:00

Little Pilgrim Sam wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesdays With Dorie has been postponed (for convenience sake) until Friday. We can make and post any TWD recipe we’d like, one we’ve missed or that was made before we joined the group and we aren’t posting until Friday in case it was something we want to make for Thanksgiving.

So I thought I’d post some fun photos of my boys, since my blog is called Baking AND Boys! and sometimes I don’t put enough of “the boys” on here. (There might also be a picture or two of our doggy, Chip, but never fear, he’s also a boy!) ;)

Chip can often be found longingly looking out the window wishing he was outside in the cold. So we bought him a little gated pen that he can go out and sit in (and not run away or get eaten by wild, ferocious beasts!

He gets to go out quite often, but he has to share the “pen” with a couple others who need corralled! ha

Poor little doggy, gets so much attention. It’s a tough life! (His little face looks like he’s saying “help”.) (Fencing our property is at the top of our list come this next spring/summer so the pup can have free run outside.)

The boys have taken up playing with clay (not Playdoh), the real stuff. Parker has a project for school and needed to sculpt a few things. I got out some old clay I had that was probably more than 6-7 years old. It was a little tough, but still workable. They liked it so much, we bought them another pack of 30 colors of new stuff. They have created quite the creatures and spent lots of quality time playing with it (instead of electronics, which drive me crazy!).

**On a side note, smartest idea I had (I think I should get paid for my idea—ahaha)—take an old plastic shower curtain (that isn’t yucky), or even buy a new one-they are cheap, and cover your table when the kids want to paint, use markers, play with clay, etc. It perfectly protects the table and wipes clean with no problems! Fold it up when done and put it away for the next time. I don’t even care if anyone else comes along and tells me they already thought of that—I thought of it all on my own and am pretty proud of myself. (It doesn’t take much, ha.)**

Yes, I do have one more son, the oldest, Scottie, age 13, is often not found when I have the camera out. Little stinker! (He is in the picture with the dog in his pen and is actually a big help when the dog needs to be taken outside.)

We kind of like our little Chippy Poo. (He’d be so mad if he knew I put that in here---haha.)

Kevin had a birthday back in October. I didn’t post any pictures then, but I love this one that looks like the house is going to burn down while he’s blowing out candles. ;) He’ll be delighted that I posted this---or maybe moreso this one---

He really likes cheesecake!

We had our first real snow of the season last week. It was still only about an inch or so. But that didn’t stop Taylor. He built a castle out on the deck that he was pretty proud of.

Chip is often found sitting with his little paws crossed. Cracks me up. That or he’ll run ahead of me into the room and get a ball in his mouth and just sit there like he’s been waiting for me to play ball with him. He acts like he’s been sitting there waiting all day when he really just got there a second before me. Such a funny doggy!

Okay, I think I’m done for now. Stay tuned for more delicious treats—coming right up! Wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday season. I’m so grateful for my family, they mean the world to me! We have been given so much, our home, our health, great family, friends, etc. Thank you also all for reading my blog, I feel that it is often my sanity in life! ;)

Mini Chocolate Chip Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2011-11-17T01:03:00.001-06:00

I’ll let you in on a little secret—I kind of cheated this week for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies. I offered to help a friend with cookies for her daughter’s wedding reception that is tonight. She was going to make hundreds of cookies herself (four different kinds). I offered to help and so did some others. These cookies are the ones I’m making 100 cookies for her. So while I didn’t come up with this week’s cookie, I did use my own chocolate chip cookie recipe, but with mini chocolate chips. These Mini Chocolate Chip Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies are made simply by putting some cookie dough in mini muffin tin cups and baking them until they are almost done. Then when they have 1-2 minutes left, put a frozen mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in the center then finish baking. That’s it!

What I really like while making these and deciding this would be what I’d post for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies is that they really would be perfect to add to your holiday baking/sharing. A few of these added to a plateful of other goodies would make a perfect addition. Or if you know someone who is a real chocolate/peanut butter lover, a nice tin full of these would be a great holiday gift!

I adapted my favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe for these. Those cookies are made especially good by using some cake flour and bread flour instead of just all purpose flour. I really believe that is one of the things that sets my chocolate chip cookies apart from others. But for these mini muffin cookies today, I went ahead and just used all purpose flour, which does work just fine for the chocolate chip cookie recipe if you don’t have cake and/or bread flour.

Mini Chocolate Chip Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

17 ounces all purpose flour (3 2/3 cups minus 2 tablespoons) (lightly spooned into the measuring cup and swept level with a knife—kitchen scales are best!)

1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt

2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups or 10 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature

10 ounces (1 ¼ cups, packed tightly) light brown sugar

8 ounces (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

about 15 ounces mini chocolate chips (1 package is 12 ounces and would probably be fine)

Miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, about 50-60, unwrapped and frozen

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have mini muffin tins ready. No need to grease.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl with a wire whisk. Set aside.

Fill each muffin cup about half full, about a tablespoon of dough per cup. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and place a mini Reese’s cup in the center of each one and push down slightly. Return to oven for 1-2 minutes. Let cool in muffin tin on wire rack until they are set and cool, you can even set the tin in the fridge for 15 minutes or so after they have cooled about 10 minutes. With a sharp knife, pry each cookie out of their cup—they come out quite easily, just be careful as the peanut butter cup is still soft. This recipe makes a lot—4-5 dozen.

This is week 8 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies! Need I say more?

HAPPY NATIONAL BUNDT CAKE DAY!

2011-11-15T01:15:00.001-06:00

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cookie, Ice Cream Sundae!

Today is a big day—definitely a day to celebrate—it’s National Bundt Cake Day! Do you like big bundts? Check out Mary’s amazing 30 Days of Bundts leading up to this special day on her blog, Food Librarian. This gal has some serious bundt lovin’. This is the third year in a row she has posted 30 bundts in 30 days leading up to this big day—THAT is some major bundt love! She says this will be her last year doing that but we now have at our fingertips at least 90 bundts to try out! I love her breaks from the usual when she posts things like The Rice Krispie Bundt or The Broken Glass Jello Bundt. Fun yum!

Over the last couple weeks, I made a couple bundts. I shared one with you recently for a recipe I made up for Banana Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake.

We liked this bundt so much that I made a couple weeks ago, so I made it again on Sunday! We seem to always have overripe bananas (I do that on purpose), so it needed to be made again. I especially love the dark chocolate ganache glaze that is on half the bundt, but a couple of the boys prefer the vanilla glaze, which is why I will now always make the cake this way.

I made another bundt cake a couple weeks ago that was also well liked, but I hadn’t gotten a post up for it yet.

I made this Spiced Apple Cider Bundt Cake found at Feast On The Cheap blog. This cake was dense and quite flavorful. Especially with the extra spice from my using some spiced cider I’d made to drink as well as more spices in the cake like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. This cake was really good! We had some family over for dessert which included this bundt and the banana chocolate one. One of our nephews (age 15) who cringed at both cakes decided he go ahead and try the apple cider one, after which he ended up having three pieces of it!

For the glaze, I made it a little different than the recipe linked over at Feast On The Cheap, I added some powdered sugar to it. It was good!

Are you all bundt-ed out? Well wait—I’ve saved the best for last (although the photo is at the very top)! Here at our house, cake is not a favorite dessert, though I love making them—which is why when I do we have company over to help eat it. But today, it hit me—we love chocolate chip cookies—why not make Chocolate Chip Bundt Cookies. So I did—I happened to have some of my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough in the freezer. I thawed it out and made the cutest little mini cookie bundts! I was happy that they came right out of the pan (with just some slight prying around the edges with a knife) and that they really look liked bundts.

These became a little pre-birthday treat Monday night. Oh yeah, did I mention today is my birthday? Celebratin’ the bundt cake way!

Chocolate Chip Bundt Cookie

While the cookies are delicious as is in bundt form, they were just screaming for some ice cream—with the works, of course.

Have you had enough yet? Okay, one more--

Okay, okay, I’m done. Make a bundt today! Heck, you could even make a meatloaf bundt :(, whatever you choose. For my birthday—I’m choosing the cookie bundt! I’m making lasagna for dinner, hmm, I wonder how that would turn out in a bundt? ;)

You won’t regret checking out all of Mary’s bundts over at The Food Librarian!

TWD—Bittersweet Brownies

2011-11-15T01:00:00.000-06:00

Check out my post for National Bundt Cake Day today—and oh yeah---it’s also my birthday! I’ve made the last few weeks fun having excuses to make a couple bundt cakes, you know, to honor the day.

But I do want to tell you about this week’s TWD. Once again, we had two recipes to choose from or we could make both. I wanted to make the Alsatian Apple Tart (page 314), but I wasn’t able to get to it. Will have to do that sometime though! If you’d like the recipe for the tart, it was chosen by Jessica of cookbookhabit and she’ll have it posted.

I did make the Bittersweet Brownies that were chosen by Leslie of Lethally Delicious. They’re brownies, how could I not do that one? The recipe would have made a 9x13 pan of brownies and I decided to halve it because when I made them, we already had a couple other goodies to consume as well. I followed the recipe exactly, using some 70% Lindt Excellence dark chocolate (one of my very favorites!). The only thing I did different was leave out the espresso powder, which was optional anyway.

These brownies, that Dorie suggests only bake for 20-22 minutes and no more, are very fudgy. I chilled them in the fridge overnight—which is a perfect way to “set” brownies. I liked them. I like fudge. Kevin thought they were TOO fudgy. With all this baking I’ve been doing over the last few years, he has come to realize and appreciate that he is learning what he likes and doesn’t really like in baked goods. He strongly dislikes fudge. So he didn’t care for these brownies. He has learned he prefers dense but chewy brownies. Good for him! These brownies really were like baked fudge—is there such a thing? These would be good cut into one inch squares as they are rich and a little bit will do you at a time.

As much as they were not Kevin’s favorite kind of brownies, I believe that between he and Scottie, they ate probably 90% of the 8x8 inch pan. Please pass the fudge!

By the end of the year, we will be finished with Dorie’s Baking From My Home To Yours and that is very bittersweet, too! Never fear the Tuesdays With Dorie group will be starting another Dorie Greenspan favorite, Baking With Julia.

Two posts in one day—check out my post in celebration of National Bundt Cake Day!

Mini Dessert Burgers

2011-11-12T17:02:00.001-06:00

Doesn’t that look like a delicious burger? I’m not a big burger/meat fan, but these are really good! Why? Because they are made with Nilla Wafers and chocolate burgers, then garnished with green coconut “lettuce” and ketchup and mustard frosting! These just might be the cutest, funnest things I’ve ever made.

Taylor checked out a book at the school library that had all kinds of fun foods to make in it. We made a couple things in it as he rechecked it out for three weeks! It was called Fun Stuff Silly Snacks and is by “Editors of Favorite Brand Name Recipes”. These burger cookie treats were in the book and we finally made them today.

They really look like real mini burgers. I love how they look! The recipe made 24 burgers.

They taste pretty good, too!

Hungry? Want one? Or ten? Taylor had a great time helping me. He put all the condiments on after I got the patties on the bun. I would say if anything, the chocolate wafer mixture for the burgers was the hardest thing to deal with. I would just tweak it a little when I make them again. The “meat” was a little too wet, so I would use less chocolate/milk mixture, which is added to crushed Nilla wafers and some powdered sugar. I just happened to have some buttercream left over in the fridge from earlier in the week, so I tinted it really red for the ketchup and I had some yellow decorator’s icing premade that made a perfect mustard. After tinting some coconut green, we were all set. The sesame seeds on top of the “buns” were a perfect ending to really make these look just like real burgers!

Mini Dessert Burgers, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 box (12 ounces) vanilla wafer cookies, divided use

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup milk (original recipe says 1/3 cup, which I think is too much)

1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 teaspoon water

3 drops green food coloring

red and yellow decorator’s frosting (in tubes)—or homemade in plastic zipper bag with the corner snipped off

1/4 cup powdered sugar—for glaze to make the sesame seeds stick (optional)

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)

Reserve 48 wafers for bun tops and bottoms.

Place remaining wafers in large resealable bag. Crush into small pieces using a rolling pin. Combine wafer crumbs (about 1 1/2 cups) with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl.

In a microwave safe glass bowl, combine the chocolate chips and milk and melt in 20 second intervals, stirring in between each time until all combined and smooth (takes about 1 minute).

Pour chocolate mixture into wafer mixture and stir until combined. Cool until mixture is easy enough to handle and roll into balls that fit on the wafer/buns. (Recipe says cool 10 minutes, but I ended up putting it in the fridge for a good 20 minutes hoping it would set up more, it was way too goopy to form into balls, but worked fine to scoop with a spoon onto the buns—and there is quite a bit of the chocolate mixture left over.) Once the balls/burgers are on the buns, flatten slightly to form patties, as you make them, place them on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.

Combine coconut, water and green food coloring in small, resealable plastic bag. Seal bag and shake to coat evenly with color.

Top each wafer and burger with some coconut, then squeeze red and yellow frosting on top. Top with remaining wafers for the bun tops. Brush tops of wafers with powdered sugar glaze made with powdered sugar and water–it can be pretty runny, it just acts as a great glue to hold the sesame seeds in place. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.

Sink your teeth into one of these ~~big~~ juicy burgers! Now THAT is my kind of burger!

White Chocolate Cranberry Pecan Cookies—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2011-11-10T01:00:00.000-06:00

I had a hankerin’ for cookies with white chocolate, dried cranberries and pecans. So I made some. These would be perfect for the holidays, so they are my pick for the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies this week.

The cookies turned out great and just how I wanted them. I made up the recipe by tweaking my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and adding the mix-ins I wanted. Use pistachios instead of pecans for an even more festive cookie!

White Chocolate Cranberry Pecan Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

2 cups all purpose flour (240 grams)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (5 ounces), room temperature

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar (135 grams)

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (112.5 grams)

1 large egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (2 ounces) pecans, toasted and chopped

1/2 cup (2 ounces) dried cranberries

4 ounces white chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars together for a couple minutes, scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Add the chocolate, cranberries and pecans, stirring them in with a spatula.

Roll 2 tablespoons of dough into balls (make them smaller if you’d like and adjust the baking time) and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 12-13 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for a couple minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 3 dozen.

These are just what I wanted. I tasted one and as soon as they were cooled, I stuck the rest in the freezer for a church activity on Friday, and so I didn’t eat more. ;) Week 7—did you hear me, week 7 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies. Kind of like having just made another orthodontist appointment for Scott six weeks from now and the appointment is December 20. Any way you look at it—the holidays, they’re upon us, Folks.

Check out the blog hop for many more ideas for your holidays baking!

Banana Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake

2011-11-09T00:08:00.001-06:00

Please pass another slice of this bundt cake! Finally writing this post after making this cake a couple weeks ago and seeing these photos makes me really want to make the cake again. What? You say my birthday next week just happens to be on National Bundt Cake Day, November 15. Well, then making another bundt must be in order! Check out the link for Mary, at The Food Librarian and her 30 days of bundt cakes leading up to her favorite “holiday”, National Bundt Cake Day. This is her 3rd year in a row (and she says her last)—it’s amazing the amount of bundts you can turn to for ideas there. Yet despite that, I made one up! This is a task I have not always been able to do, so it’s kind of fun to actually create my own recipe, especially when it turns out well!

Why the half chocolate and half vanilla glaze over the cake? I did that just for my one son who doesn’t care for chocolate. No, he didn’t eat half the cake. ;) Besides, I think it looks pretty cool! I’ll be making it that way again. And that chocolate glaze—best chocolate ganache glaze icing frosting I’ve ever had. It wasn’t quite what would be ganache (just chocolate and cream), but I’ll be making it this way for many things from now on.

I found this chocolate glaze recipe on the Food & Wine website. I only made half a recipe, since I would only be glazing have the bundt cake with it—and it’s a good thing I did that because I would have eaten way too much of the leftovers with a ~~shovel~~ spoon. Here’s the half recipe as I made it.

Dark Chocolate Glaze, adapted from Food & Wine

1 ounce dark, bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 1/4 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped

6 tablespoons heavy cream

7 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

Place the chopped chocolates in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, combine the heavy cream with the sugar and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate and let stand until melted, about 2-3 minutes; whisk until smooth. Whisk in the butter, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Let the dark chocolate glaze cool until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. (Double this recipe to glaze a whole bundt cake.)

Which would you prefer—the chocolate side or vanilla? I have to admit, I don’t believe I even tasted the half with the vanilla glaze. The boys helped me gobble this whole cake up, which is always nice.

Banana Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (180 grams)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (180 grams) (You could use all 3 cups all purpose flour)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) Bestlife buttery baking sticks (or any butter substitute or regular butter would be fine)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300 grams)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups pureed banana (about 5 small or 495 grams)

1 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt (227 grams)

4 ounces dark chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Be ready to spray a preferably non-stick bundt pan with cooking spray (but don’t spray it until just before putting the cake batter in the pan). Set aside until that time.

Begin by melting the 4 ounces of chocolate in a microwave safe glass bowl in 20 second intervals until smooth. Set aside to cool while making the batter.

Combine the flours, baking soda and salt in a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter for a minute or two. Add the sugar and continue to beat for another 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla. Mix in the pureed banana and beat until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix until combined, then add half of the yogurt and beat until combined. Continue alternating with another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, the rest of the yogurt, and ending with the dry ingredients, just until combined.

Take half the batter (about 600 grams or 3 cups) and put it in a separate medium sized bowl. Fold in the melted chocolate. Spray the bundt pan well with the cooking spray. Add the two batters by heaping spoonfuls alternately around the pan in layers until both batters are used. Swirl all the way to the bottom of the pan carefully with a knife to marble the cake. Don’t swirl too much! Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes or until a sharp knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean with just a few crumbs on it. Set the cake on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Then turn the cake out of the pan onto the rack to cool completely.

You could serve it as is, or with just a dusting of powdered sugar—but both the dark chocolate and vanilla glaze and fantastic!

Vanilla Powdered Sugar Glaze, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

3/4 cup powdered sugar (82.5 grams)

8 teaspoons heavy cream

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted

Combine the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla and begin adding the cream a couple teaspoons at a time, whisking to combine. When you get a consistency you like, whisk in the melted butter. Drizzle the glaze over half the bundt cake. (Double the recipe if you want to glaze the whole cake.)

Seriously—a great bundt cake!

TWD—It’s a Twofer: Mini Madeleines and Depths-of-Fall Butternut Squash Pie

2011-11-08T01:00:00.000-06:00

Do those look mini to you? They’re not. I don’t have a mini madeleine pan, but decided to make the cookies in my regular madeleine pan anyway, I missed the week for TWD when they made the Traditional Madeleines (page 166). The recipe for the minis turned out well. I liked the lemon flavor. The only thing I thought was that they needed to be a little sweeter. So, I made a simple lemon glaze (with just fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar until it was the consistency I wanted). Ah, better! ;)

The recipe made about 16 regular sized madeleines. The very last one was made with just a little bit of the remaining batter and turned out well as a mini. It would have been fun and worked well to have made a bunch of them with the smaller size. They were good either way.

A few of them, including the mini in the front there were baked more since it was smaller and was in the same pan as the rest of them, but I preferred the ones that were just slightly more crisp on the outside.

Want the recipe for these? Di at Di's Kitchen Notebook will have the recipe on her blog.

___________________________________________

Next up—Depths-of-Fall Butternut Squash Pie, chosen by Valerie whose blog is une Gamine dans la Cuisine. She’ll have the recipe on her blog.

I decided to only make half the recipe. But how would I make half a pie? I made a galette!

I used a different pie crust recipe instead of Dorie’s, which IS a good recipe and makes great crust. I used this pate brisee recipe (basic pie dough) from Paige’s blog, A Cooking Life. She gives a wonderful tutorial on how to make a perfect tender, flaky all butter pie crust. I’ve made it many times, but now she has recently put a step-by-step on her blog that is so helpful and informative. (Check it out.)

I made enough dough for one pie crust. Knowing I was just make a smaller galette, and that Dorie’s pie has a top and a bottom, I knew this would be enough dough to almost completely cover it and I was happy with the way it turned out. I thought the flavors in Dorie’s pie were interesting with butternut squash, pear, dried cranberries, cinnamon and nutmeg and walnuts. I made the recipe just as it was written.

Don’t get me wrong here. I like the pie. It’s good. But I decided something while tasting it—I prefer squash in savory foods. I think I would like pumpkin or maybe even sweet potatoes in this instead of the butternut squash. Actually, what I really think would be best for this pie is just pears (or apples) and cranberries and walnuts. So there. ;)

Check out Valerie’s gorgeous pie, especially if you want the recipe (linked above).

Tuesdays With Dorie is coming right down to the wire!

Raspberry Almond Meringue Cake (Gluten Free)—Secret Recipe Club

2011-11-07T06:00:00.002-06:00

It’s not a secret anymore! Today is the November reveal day for Group A in The Secret Recipe Club. The club has gotten so big that there are now four groups that each post on certain Mondays of each month! It is fun to be assigned (randomly) a different blog each month—some you already know and some are new to you/me. It’s a great opportunity to find new recipes and try them out. Enough chit-chat you’re thinking. Fine, I’ll get to this month’s blog/recipe!

The blog I was secretly assigned this month is Dee’s blog, Deelicious Sweets. This was a newly discovered blog for me and I was happy to spend time browsing around. Dee and her husband and two kids live in St. Louis, Missouri and she used to have a baking business called Deelicious Sweets, but needed to put that aside to be more available as a wife/mother, so she started a blog to share all her sweets and recipes with the world. But she doesn’t only post sweets because I just saw a new post for some great looking tomato soup as well as other great looking savory food.

There were a number of recipes I wanted to pick to make, but settled on this Raspberry Hazelnut Meringue Cake (except I couldn’t find hazelnuts around here close by, so I used almonds). The cake intrigued me with it being a meringue and I loved the look of it with so many fresh raspberries. It’s gluten free as well, since there is no flour in the cake. It’s simply egg whites, sugar, some flavoring and ground nuts. My cake is not as thick as Dee’s since the recipe says to use 8 inch round cake pans and I only have 9 inch pans.

I could have pressed the top cake down onto the bottom more, but I didn’t want to smash those beautiful red raspberries. As I mentioned, since I couldn’t get some hazelnuts, I used almond meal that I already have. The recipe with the hazelnuts, has you roast them to get the skins to peel off, then grind them up in the food processor. My method of just using almond meal/flour worked great and was not as time consuming. Though I do think hazelnuts would have been delicious!

The cake is chilled for an hour before serving, which just happened to be the amount it got in the refrigerator when I made it, but I think it could and should be chilled for even longer. Maybe the meringue is supposed to be crispy, but I liked when it was chilled for a couple hours and made it just a little less crispy. The most difficult part of the whole cake was slicing it nicely without the whipped cream and berries sliding out. But that didn’t stop it from tasting great!

Here’s the recipe as I adapted it, but be sure to check out Dee’s cake made with hazelnuts and her blog for a lot more “deeliciousness”! Dee got this recipe from a 2001 publication of Baking—Easy To Make Great Home Bakes. She found it at an antique mall to add to her cookbook collection. I love that kind of thing—even though 2001 would not be considered antique. ;)

Raspberry Almond Meringue Cake, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, from Deelicious Sweets

1 cup almond meal/flour (100 grams or 3 1/2 ounces)

4 large egg whites (130 grams or 4 1/2 ounces)

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams or 7 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-3 pints fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Butter the bottom of two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper. Butter the paper and sides of the pan. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites and salt with the wire whisk attachment on high speed until they form stiff peaks. While they are beating, add two tablespoons of the sugar. Once they have formed stiff peaks, turn off mixer and fold in the remaining sugar a few tablespoons at a time with a rubber spatula. Then fold in the vanilla and almond meal.

Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and spread level.

Bake for 50-60 minutes for the 9 inch pans or 1 1/4 hours for the 8 inch pans. If the meringue seems to be browning too much, cover it lightly with foil. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes then carefully run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen. Transfer to the rack to cool completely.

While cake is cooling, beat the cream on high speed, add the powdered sugar gradually as well as the vanilla and continue to beat until fluffy. Spread half of the whipped cream in an even layer on one meringue round. Top it with half the raspberries.

Place the other meringue cake on top of the cake layered with whipped cream and berries. Spread the remaining cream on top and arrange the rest of the raspberries over the cream. Refrigerate for a few hours, covered with plastic wrap. Slice with a serrated knife.

Chocolate Caramel Chews—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2011-11-03T01:07:00.002-05:00

I’m not sure if these should be called candy or a no-bake cookie, but they are good and are my choice for this week’s 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies. They were super simple to make and really would be something perfect to add to your holiday goodies. The original recipe are just called Caramel Chews and as written, don’t have chocolate, but while I was rolling them into balls, I couldn’t help but think they should be dipped in chocolate, so they are Chocolate Caramel Chews. I actually made some of them “plain” (no chocolate) and I covered some of them completely in chocolate and just drizzled some with chocolate as well.

I have a two sided sheet of paper with a bunch of no-bake cookie recipes on it, it looks older, like it was from years ago (70’s/80’s?) and says “Dorothy Dean’s No-Bake Cookies”, recipes from Dorothy Dean’s Taste Testing Kitchen, from The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). I have no idea where I got this sheet of paper. I looked online for information about Dorothy Dean and found an obituary (just from this past April) for someone who was dubbed “Dorothy Dean” as she was the head of the Homemaker’s Services for the Spokesman-Review. The thing that sort of baffles me about this paper full of recipes is that I really have no idea where it came from and even why it just showed up here. Did my mother give it to me years ago? Hmmm. Whatever the case, it’s got a number of fun recipes on it and I do like that it is a good no-bake go-to page. Some of the recipes are Chinese Ting-a-lings, Skillet Date Cookies, No-bake Brownies, Porcupine Cookies and the Caramel Chews were among them and some others as well.

Here’s the recipe and my only adaption was just adding the chocolate to some of them

Chocolate Caramel Chews

36 caramels, unwrapped

3 tablespoons cream

1 cup crushed corn flakes

1 cup Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

4 ounces chocolate, melted (I used almond bark, but any chocolate would be good)

Melt the caramels and cream in the top of a double boiler, stirring frequently until smooth. Put the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Pour the caramel over the mixture and stir well until everything is coated in the caramel. Shape into 1 inch balls and set on a waxed paper lined baking sheet. Melt the chocolate in 20 second intervals in the microwave in a glass dish, stirring in between each time. Dip the chews one at a time in the chocolate and spoon it over to completely cover them. Set on a lined baking sheet until chocolate is hardened. Put a small amount of the melted chocolate in a plastic zip top bag and snip off a little corner and drizzle chocolate over some of the chews. Optional—set each in a mini muffin paper liner to serve them. Makes about 3 dozen.

I love the combination of flavors in these and the texture with the crunch from the corn flakes, Rice Krispies and nuts and the chewiness from the caramel and coconut. If you don’t like coconut, you could leave it out and just add an extra cup of Rice Krispies. I think it would even be good to just use all Rice Krispies. These make a great 1-2-3 bite treat!

Try them with your upcoming holiday goodies! This is Week 6 of the 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies!

TWD—Honey Nut Scones

2011-11-01T01:00:00.000-05:00

For the month of November, we have the option of two recipes each week for Tuesdays With Dorie. We are so close to finishing all the recipes in her book, Baking From My Home To Yours, that we’re trying to get the last few done by the end of the year. The group (and others who want to sign up) are planning to start baking from Dorie’s book, Baking With Julia. I’m excited because I’ve had the book for a few years now and have often been intimidated with many of the recipes enough that I haven’t made much from it.

This week we had the choice (or could make both) of Honey Nut Scones (page 31) and Far Breton (page 202-203). I was going to make both and plan to make as many of the remaining recipes I can, but this week flew by me and I just barely got to the scones Monday afternoon. So, no Far Breton here. I do want to check out on the TWD website any others who did make it and see how it turned out.

The scones were easy to make and I whipped up half a recipe in no time. I followed the recipe, okay, well almost. The recipe called for some all purpose flour and some whole wheat flour, but I just went ahead and used whole wheat pastry flour for all of the flour—you know, so the scones are healthy. And Dorie’s recipe called for whole milk, but I just used 2%—see, more healthy. ;) Just before baking the eight smaller scones, I brushed them with cream and sprinkled them with turbinado sugar. Love that extra sweet crunch and pretty much always do that with scones. I baked them for 15 minutes (the recipe says 20).

Now I have scones that I just have to be careful and not eat too many at once. Couldn’t resist (or disappoint certain people) and not put a little chocolate love into the scones. So I spread some Nutella on one. GOOD stuff.

This scone recipe was chosen by Jeanette at The Whimsical Cupcake and you can get the recipe on her blog. Check out that girl’s mad baking and photography skills!

If you’d like to see the Far Breton and get the recipe, you can find it at Nicole’s blog, Cookies On Friday. It’s not something I’ve ever seen or heard of before and there isn’t a picture in the book, so I’m intrigued with this one.

A lot more goodness to gawk at over at Tuesdays With Dorie!

Pumpkin Cake with Browned Butter and Pecan Streusel

2011-10-31T11:45:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween!

I HAVE to share this cake with you and then you HAVE to make sure you have everything and make it right away. Ok, go trick-or-treating first, but you’ll for sure want to make this cake soon! I love it. And guess what—you know I really love something when I just made it last night and am hurrying to get this post off to share it with you all. And you also know I really love something when I actually follow a recipe exactly! I must say, it sure is easier to share a recipe with you when I didn’t make so many changes!

This pumpkin cake is SO good. It’s moist, (especially if you eat it still-warm, we had company over and it hadn’t even finished cooling all the way_. Only problem with that is it’s hard to cut nice pieces when it’s still warm. You also know something was really good when I didn’t even remember to get pictures of the whole cake and was lucky enough to snap these few I’m sharing with you.

The star of this cake is the browned butter pecan streusel! I would have thought it wouldn’t make much of a difference, but the browned butter gives this that little bit more of a kick that is just so delicious. I had the pleasure of being served this cake back in Kansas when we attended one of my favorite chef’s classes, Paige, at A Cooking Life. (You’ll learn so much from her blog.) When Paige shared this cake, it was in one of her classes that we (Kevin and I) went to that was called Dinner With Class. Five star, three course meal, prepared in front of you (with instruction and conversation) by Paige, then served in a date-like setting with just a few other couples also taking the class. Loved those dinner classes! I loved this cake when Paige made it and FINALLY more than a year later got my act together and made it again. It was just as good as I remember it (although her nice serving always looks better than what I can do). The cake is simply served with a dollop of whipped cream (or you could also serve vanilla ice cream). That said, I think it is just as good as a snack like a coffee cake. Most of the boys and even the company really liked it, too. Winner!

Here is Paige’s recipe as written by her with no adaptations from me. I have a great big three-ringer binder full of all the recipes I got from taking Paige’s classes and I make many of them often and try new ones I haven’t made yet as well! Check out her blog for more deliciousness and GREAT instruction (link above for A Cooking Life).

Pumpkin Cake with Browned Butter & Pecan Streusel, by Paige Vandegrift

Pecan Streusel:

½ cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, browned (*see instructions below), then cooled

½ cup pecans, lightly toasted and coarsely chopped

Combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Drizzle the butter over and stir with a fork until the ingredients are combined and have formed clumps. Stir in the pecans and chill until ready to use.

Pumpkin Cake:

2 cups cake flour (256 grams)

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup solid pack pumpkin (or use freshly roasted and pureed pumpkin or winter squash--**see below)

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar (220 grams)

½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)

2 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch round (or 9-inch square) cake pan, line with a round of parchment paper, butter the paper, then flour the pan. Set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, milk and vanilla. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides. This will take 2-3 minutes at medium-high speed. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition. Increase the speed to medium-high and briefly beat until the mixture lightens in color and expands in volume. By hand, fold in half of the dry ingredients, followed by all the liquid ingredients, followed by the remaining dry ingredients.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the cake. (Always start putting the streusel around the edges so the middle isn’t weighed down.) Bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake by running a thin knife around the edges of the pan. Turn the cake out of the pan. Cool the cake, streusel side up, on a wire rack.

Serve the cake with whipped cream or ice cream.

*To “brown” butter, place the butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat. As the butter begins to sputter and pop, whisk occasionally. The butter solids will begin to turn brown. When the solids are a deep golden brown and the butter has a pleasantly nutty aroma, transfer the butter to another container to stop the cooking process.

**Roasted pumpkin puree: Use a sugar pumpkin. Choose one that feels heavy for its size. Cut the pumpkin in half horizontally and scoop out the seeds. Place the pumpkin halves cut side down on a greased rimmed baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven until very tender (pumpkin may begin to collapse)—about 1 hour, depending on the size of the pumpkin. Remove from the oven and turn the halves over so the flesh is exposed. Allow the pumpkin to cool. Puree the flesh in a food processor or pass through a food mill fitted with the fine disc. Dry the puree further by spreading in a shallow pan and baking at 300 degrees, stirring occasionally, until the desired consistency is reached—it will darken a little and will no longer “bleed” water. A medium-sized pumpkin (2 ½ to 2 ½ lbs.) will produce 10 to 12 ounces, or about 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups of puree.

I made the cake in a 9-inch square pan since I don’t have a 10 inch round pan (same volume)—either way—it’s so good. You need to make this cake—it’s the perfect time of year!

Healthier Mini Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2011-10-27T01:00:00.001-05:00

The cookie I’m sharing with you this week for 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies is one that came about when I was just having fun throwing things together with a peanut butter and oatmeal cookie in mind and I didn’t even know if these would turn out. I think they turned out great and decided to share it here for reference when I want to make them again. These Healthier Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies just happen to be whole grain, lower in fat and they have flax meal (and some water) in place of the egg.

I’ve never used flax instead of egg before, but wanted to try it and these seemed like a great cookie to try it with. I would never know these were missing an egg. I wouldn’t even know these had whole wheat (pastry) flour. They are wholesome with oats and also use a natural peanut butter and Bestlife butter. I didn’t think of it in time to try some alternatives for the sugar, but I think I’ll do that another time for sure.

After making the dough, I decided to make them quite small and then thought it would be fun to put a little chocolate M&M in the center of each one. I think I started thinking about small cookies after seeing Anna’s recent post for these mini peanut butter chocolate chip toffee cookies at Cookie Madness. I have made mini cookies before and love most of all that there are so many. That is what I think makes them perfect for holiday cookie trays. A few on each plate go a long way!

I made a smaller batch (since I wasn’t sure if the amounts of things I was using was going to work out) and still got about 40 cookies. These are perfect one-bite cookies, though they work in 2-3 bites for me. You could add some mini chocolate chips instead of the M&M or Reese’s Pieces would be good, too. They are small enough that I would just put one on top like I’ve done with the M&M. If you left the chocolate out (which I did on some and they were great), would these be vegan? I’m not sure about the Bestlife butter, I believe it is vegan, but I’m not sure. I also made these in a bowl, stirring by hand, easily without having to use an electric mixer.

Healthier Whole Grain Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

4 tablespoons Bestlife buttery baking sticks (or another butter substitute), softened

4 tablespoons natural peanut butter (64 grams)

1/3 cup granulated sugar (

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon flax meal (in a small bowl, combine the flax meal and water)

3 tablespoons water

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 cup M&Ms or other candy or mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine the Bestlife butter and the peanut butter and whisk together until combined. Add the sugars and stir until well incorporated. Add the vanilla and flax/water mixture. Next add the remaining ingredients—flour, baking soda, salt and oats, and stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed.

Taking about a teaspoonful of dough, roll it into a ball with your hands. Set them on a baking sheet (probably 20-24 cookies per sheet). Flatten each ball of dough just a little and press a candy in to each one. Bake for 12 minutes for crisp-chewy cookies or for only 10 minutes for a softer-chewy cookie. Let sit a couple minutes on the baking sheets, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes 40-48 cookies.

It’s week 5 already! Are you ready for the holidays? Our weather is getting colder so it’s just a matter of a few shorts weeks and we’ll all be jingle belling—ready or not!

Butternut Squash Soup with Pepitas and Ground Pistachios Recipe

2011-10-25T20:02:00.001-05:00

I don’t often post meals or savory dishes here, but it’s not because I never make them. I just can’t seem to get decent pictures when trying to get dinner on the table and I find photographing savory food is a lot harder than snapping a couple photos of some delicious cookies or a piece of cake. It’s just me though because there are some beautiful savory pictures out there in food blogging land. After making this Butternut Squash Soup today though, I was pleased with the pictures and even more happy about how delicious it is, so I decided I had to share it.

I watched The Rachael Ray Show today and she made this soup. I just happened to have half a butternut squash in the fridge and decided to make the soup. Even though I knew no one else at my house would eat it. It worked out well for me to have this soup and make a frozen pizza for the boys. Kevin is out late helping Scott get caught up on some math at school and they are going to stop and grab something for dinner. Win win.

You’ll think win-win, too, if/when you make this soup. Here’s the link for Rachael Ray's Soup, but I made some changes, so I’ll write up my version for you. Can you guess what might be different from her soup? What? Did you say onions? Well, then you’re right. Rachael’s soup has two onions in it. And while I feel that I’m really branching out now and then when it comes to onions, I do not like when onions take over the whole flavor of something like butternut soup. I’ve tried a soup once and actually braved it and put the onion in and did not like the soup at all. It tasted more like onion soup with a little squash in it. But to each his own. I do have an aversion to onions and you might feel different.

That said, I did put one medium shallot in my soup—so there! ;) Here’s my recipe.

Butternut Squash Soup with Pepitas and Ground Pistachios, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Rachael Ray

half of a large butternut squash (or a small one)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

pinch or two of cayenne pepper (optional).

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 medium shallot, peeled and chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 quart (32 ounces) chicken stock

2 pinches saffron threads (optional)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

pepitas, roasted—for garnish

1/2 cup pistachios, ground—for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and cut squash into chunks (about 2 inches pieces). Toss the squash with extra virgin olive oil, lay pieces flat on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and cayenne. Roast in oven for 30 minutes, until soft all the way through and the pieces are beginning to brown.

In the meantime, in a large pot (saucepan or Dutch oven), heat a little more olive oil and add the celery and carrots. Salt and pepper them and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the shallot and cook another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and saffron and saute another minute. Pour in the chicken stock and lemon zest and stir to combine. Let simmer over medium heat until the squash is finished roasting.

Add the squash to the soup and put through the blender in increments, you don’t want to fill the blender too full with hot liquid. You can also use a handheld immersion blender if you have one. Blend each amount until smooth and return all of it to the pot, simmer on low until ready to serve. Fill soup bowls with soup and garnish with pepitas and pistachios. Serves 4-6.

Rachael Ray mentioned that the pepitas and especially the ground pistachios make all the difference with this soup and I have to agree—it really added something and tastes fantastic. But if you don’t happen to have the nuts, don’t let that stop you from making the soup! You could also add a little cream once it’s blended, but it really doesn’t need it.

I can’t wait to have some more of this for my next lunch and/or dinner!

TWD—An Apple Cake For Fall

2011-10-25T01:00:00.000-05:00

This week’s recipe for Tuesdays With Dorie was for A Fig Cake For Fall (pages 198-199). I could not find any figs around these parts.

I decided to make half the recipe and use apples with some added spices, I added some cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves to the cake batter. In place of the ruby port, I used some spiced apple cider, which along with the honey, reduced down beautifully and tasted sweet and good. I baked the half recipe in a six inch round cake pan.

I baked the cake for 30 minutes and the toothpick was still covered in moist batter, so I baked it another five minutes and thought it still had more time to finish. So I baked the cake a total of forty minutes and sadly, the cake turned out super dry. :( I’m pretty sure it was just because I ended up baking it a little too long. I brushed the baked, warm cake with the spiced apple cider syrup.

If you want to make a fig cake, Alvarosa at Cookie Rookie will have the recipe on her blog. I followed the recipe except I only made half the recipe and added some spices as I mentioned and used apples. Wish I wouldn’t have baked it a little too much!

Wait until you see what we’re about to do for Tuesdays With Dorie in November! We’re doubling up on recipes each week! We’re so close to finishing the book. New plans are being made to begin baking along in another one of Dorie Greenspan’s books, Baking With Julia!

Homemade Tootsie Rolls Candy Recipe

2011-10-22T15:58:00.004-05:00

You know them and admit it, you love them, too! Tootsie Rolls Candy—hard to resist, especially out of the kiddie’s trick-or-treat stash while they’re away at school. ;)

Well, I’ve cloned them homemade and darn it all if these are just about the closest candy I’ve made that is so very close to the original Tootsie Rolls. And so super easy to make as well. No, I didn’t invent the idea or recipe, I knew it had most likely been done before. I’ve been hankering to give them a try and I’m glad I did. After Googling for recipes, I actually ended up trying two different ones that I’d found. One that I tried was from Paula Deen (thought I couldn’t go wrong). Her recipe is just melted chocolate chips and corn syrup with some added flavoring. Then that mixture just sits covered for 24 hours to set up. The taste was not right on with Tootsie Rolls and they never did set up the same. Strike one. But never fear—I wasn’t about to throw out all that chocolate—I put it in a saucepan with some cream and melted it back down. Then added the warm chocolate to more cream and some milk and made a fabulous base to some great chocolate ice cream. Nothing wasted and some great ice cream to boot!

I made some the regular size, but remembered the big thick sticks you can get in a package? I had to make some of those, too.

I was going to take the time to make some cute wrappers for them, but well, that’s just not me. Give me the ingredients to make the candy and I’ll be happy as can be. Tell me to be crafty—and not so much me. So they are just wrapped in waxed paper, which is fine because they are a hit around here and are getting eaten pretty fast! Like I said, they taste almost just like the Tootsie Rolls you all know and love. The texture is just every so slightly softer, which is actually fine since sometimes Tootsie Rolls can be just a little too chewy. These might “harden up” like that over a little time—if they last that long. Looking for a quick, easy treat to surprise someone with or to give away? These are great!

Homemade Tootsie Rolls, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Allrecipes

2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup (42 grams) cocoa powder

3 cups (330 grams) powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup (108 grams) dry milk powder (not instant powdered milk)

1/2 cup light corn syrup and an additional tablespoon or two

pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl until well incorporated. If the dough isn’t coming together after 2 tablespoons of butter are added, add more until it starts to stick together, do the same with corn syrup, alternating the butter and syrup. It just might need a little extra. Knead into a firm dough and shape into ropes and cut to desired size. Wrap individually in waxed paper. Makes—a lot.

*Don’t use your stand mixer, it will have a hard time mixing the stiff dough. I also read that someone put all the ingredients in a gallon sized plastic bag and let kids take turns kneading it all together.

You’ve got to try these!

This post is being added to a blog hop, Sweets For A Saturday at Lisa’s blog, Sweet As Sugar Cookies.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies Gifted Three Ways—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

2011-10-20T01:01:00.002-05:00

It’s Week 4 of 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies. You might be thinking that seeing just another chocolate chip cookie is boring, been there, done that. Well, here’s the thing—Chocolate Chip Cookies really are probably my favorite cookie to make and give away. They are easy (I know this particular recipe by heart) and they are chocolate and taste great! What’s not to love?

So I believe that some kind of chocolate chip cookie should always adorn a Christmas cookie tray. But here’s what I like to do even more sometimes, especially with this particular recipe, which has been my go-to chocolate chip cookie for a couple years now. I was even asked to figure out a way to ship frozen cookie dough once we left Kansas and start a business selling just these cookies. The person who made that suggestion wasn’t kidding, they would really miss my cookies, but I have yet to figure out a way to make that work and be profitable. Whenever I make these cookies, I am always asked for the recipe and told these are the best chocolate chip cookies they’ve had. Brag, brag, blah, blah, blah. I have adapted this recipe enough that I do call it mine, but the true credit for it goes to Jacques Torres. I believe that his use of cake flour and bread flour instead of regular all purpose flour and thinner (than chips) good quality dark chocolate disks are what set this recipe apart from other chocolate chip cookies. So I make these often. The family loves them. And I often have cookie dough balls frozen and ready to go for all kinds of occasions or if I just need to give someone a few as a gift or thank you.

These cookies are BIG (but I make them all different sizes). A nice stack of big cookies are a great idea for kid’s teacher gifts, neighbors, friends, etc.

Sometimes during the holidays, people often feel like they just couldn’t eat another cookie, candy, etc. So another thing I’ve done in the past is give people a tub of frozen cookie dough balls and a note letting them know how to bake them and that they can save them for a time when they NEED a treat.

Stack another layer on top with waxed paper in between (the cookie dough is already frozen). I like to put another five on top of the eight and give a baker’s dozen.

Just like I love having cookie dough frozen and ready to bake, I’m sure anyone you give some to for the holidays will love it, too.

Finally, if you really don’t feel like scooping cookie dough balls out onto a wax paper lined baking sheet and freezing them for gifts, I’ve also done it by just forming the dough into a log and freezing it. You can give the gift also with a note letting someone know they can thaw, scoop and bake whenever they’d like. I like to give the cookie dough log on a cute, festive tray.

After reminding myself that I’ve done this in the past, I will for sure be doing this for some of the holiday gifts I plan to give this year. You can certainly make any other kind of cookie frozen ahead as well. As much as I love all the holiday goodies, I would love having the options to save some for later.

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies ;), by Katrina, Baking and Boys!, adapted from Jacques Torres

8 ½ ounces cake flour (2 cups minus 2 tablespoons) (lightly spooned into the measuring cup and swept level with a knife)

8 ½ ounces bread flour (1 and 2/3 cups) (lightly spooned and swept)

1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt

2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups) unsalted butter, room temperature

10 ounces (1 ¼ cups) light brown sugar

8 ounces (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ¼ pounds chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips are what I always use, which is what makes these cookies so good)

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl with a wire whisk. Set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until very light, about five minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips with rubber spatula. Optional--Put dough in a plastic container and refrigerate for at least a couple hours, but ideally 24 to 36 hours! (You think it won’t make a difference, but it’s really good! Although, I often only chill for a couple hours and these are still excellent cookies. Though it is not necessary to chill the dough at all—make, bake and eat!)

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and scoop dough into balls on sheet. Bake 9-15 minutes depending on size. ½ ounce cookies (small) baked 9 minutes. Regular sized cookies are about 1 ½ ounces and baked 11-13 minutes. (Made 9 ½ dozen ½ ounce cookies!) 2-3 oz. cookies are huge and delicious and more like NYT.

TWD—Ginger-Jazzed Brownies

2011-10-18T01:00:00.000-05:00

Thank you for the chocolate, Clivia from Bubie's Little Baker! I needed a little. For Tuesdays With Dorie this week, she chose the Ginger-Jazzed Brownies (page 101), get the recipe for them on Clivia’s blog. I knew I would have liked the ginger-jazzed part, but the others in the house wouldn’t have, so I decided I’d better halve the recipe and only use ground ginger. Dorie mentioned in her Playing Around note that you can omit the fresh ginger and just use ground, so I did, but I left the amount the same as if I’d made the full recipe, even though I halved it and made the brownies in a 9x5 inch bread pan.

I was a little bummed that you still couldn’t really taste the ginger, but the brownies were good. I did jazz them up a bit more with a chocolate gananche on top. (2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, about 1 1/2 ounces hot cream—stirred together until melted and smooth—then with some added ground ginger). Still couldn’t really taste the ginger. If I made these again, I’d try the freshly grated ginger and make some just for me. ;)

Since they don’t have much of a ginger flavor, they are definitely getting eaten here! They are better chilled and fudgy (as are all brownies), but are still good at room temperature and almost have more of a dense moist cake texture then. No complaints with this one!

Here’s the TWD Link so you can go and gawk at the other brownies—and hey, while you’re at it, get the recipe from Clivia and see what you think of brownies with ginger!

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A Little Cute Boys Photo Intermission **And A Fantastic Craft Idea**

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Butternut Squash Soup with Pepitas and Ground Pistachios Recipe

TWD—An Apple Cake For Fall

Homemade Tootsie Rolls Candy Recipe

My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies Gifted Three Ways—12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies

TWD—Ginger-Jazzed Brownies

A Little Cute Boys Photo Intermission And A Fantastic Craft Idea