Salted Mixed Nut Brittle

I’m here!  I know I haven’t been blogging as much and it makes me sad, but one can only do what they can do, right?  Before Christmas is here (it’s almost here!), I wanted to share this perfectly crispy, but not tooth-breaking-hard mixed nut brittle.  That’s right—mixed nuts.  Why not use other nuts and not just peanuts in a brittle?  I’ll never go back to just peanuts again.  In fact, this brittle doesn’t even have peanuts.  I used a mix that is peanut-free. 

My friend, Paige (chef extraordinaire), who blogs at For Love of the Table first introduced me to this brittle (the link to her blog is the recipe!) and I’ve made it numerous times since.  I used some Planters mixed nuts that have lots of pistachios as well as the usual cashews, almonds, pecans and some Brazil nuts.  Hazelnuts would be so good, too!

This brittle is easy (the stove does all the work).  Some sugar and water, a little corn syrup and butter are dissolved, then brought to a medium boil.  The only difference for me compared to Paige’s instructions is that she says it should take about 10 minutes to come to hard crack temperature and mine took almost 20 minutes.  Just make this when you have some time to hang around the kitchen and babysit it a bit, but you can plan to easily get a few other things done while it’s cooking away.  Check out Paige’s blog post for not only the recipe, but I love that her posts are always so full of the best instructions.  I have never had a “recipe fail” when I follow the directions in her recipes. 

I love Paige’s tip to have the nuts on a baking sheet in a low temperature oven to warm them while the brittle is cooking.  Once the mixture is at the right temperature, you need to quickly add the nuts, stir and spread it on a buttered sheet.  It begins hardening quickly, so to have the nuts warm, it helps the process, rather than if you add colds/room temperature nuts, it brings the brittle to a cooler temperature faster and makes it start hardening before you can even spread it on the baking sheet!  Here’s where I forgot (waaaahhh!) to salt the brittle while it was still soft enough to keep the salt on top, but definitely add it as soon as you spread it because the salt is a great addition, even if you’re already using roasted, salted nuts.  And it looks great with those little white specks on top.  Even though mine was a bit hardened when I remembered, there is still a little finer salt on the top.  I hurried and ground my pink Himalayan sea salt over it, so it wasn’t as course as it should be.  But this brittle sure tastes great!

You know how when you break it in to pieces and smaller bits and chunks break off?  I might have tasted a few of those, but only if there was a healthy nut in them.  ;  )

Here’s the link to the recipe again on Paige’s blog.  If you like or love brittle—make this!  It’s fun and perfect to give as gifts, too.

Peach Cobbler and Blueberry Pineapple Pecan Crisp—Lucky Leaf Pie Filling Giveaway

You might recall back in June with I posted a bunch of delicious recipes and had a giveaway for Lucky Leaf, who make canned premium pie fillings.  I loved trying out some of their fillings and was happy to have a giveaway for a lucky reader as well.  They recently contacted me again and asked if I wanted to try some more of their products.  I received a package with pie fillings, some recipe cards and a nice cloth pie carrier.

I have enjoyed trying a couple of the recipes and now I want to share them with you.  Lucky Leaf has also offered a giveaway again for another lucky winner.  Pictured below is what you could win---some of their pie filling, recipe cards and a kitchen towel.

In two of their recipes I have tried, one for an Amaretto Peach Cobbler and a Blueberry Pineapple Pecan Crisp, I made some adaptations to the recipe.  The cobbler was to be made with a packaged sugar cookie mix while the crisp was topped with a packaged yellow cake mix.  So, again (like I did in my last Lucky Leaf post), I made my own cookie dough and yellow cake mix, since I would rather have homemade than boxed treats.  I know, the pie filling is a canned product, but I really like it and love that it doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup.  I would certainly keep some in my pantry for times when a quick dessert is needed.  While as a lover of all things home baked, I hate to say, but my family almost prefers some canned things—like cherry pie filling.  I still have a can of Lucky Leaf cherry pie filling and will be trying their recipe for Cherry Kuchen soon!

The Peach Cinnacake I made last time was a big hit and Kevin really likes peach desserts, so first up, I made the Peach Cobbler.  The recipe is supposed to have Amaretto in it, but since we don’t use or drink alcohol, I left it out. 

Peach Cobbler, by Katrina, Baking and Boys! adapted from Lucky Leaf

2  21-ounce cans Lucky Leaf Premium Peach Pie Filling

1 recipe for sugar cookie dough (14  1/2 ounces), see recipe below

1 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

Make the sugar cookie dough:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

1/2 a large egg (2 tablespoons or about 25 grams)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 tablespoon milk

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

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream together in a mixer the butter and sugar.  Add the egg, vanilla and milk and mix until well combined.  Scrape the sides of the bowl.  Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix just until combined.

For the cobbler-- 

Spread the two cans of pie filling into an ungreased 9x13 inch baking dish.  Break the cookie dough up evenly into little pieces and sprinkle it evenly over the filling.  Sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top.  Dot the top with the cubed butter.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown.  Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Ready for the oven—while the Lucky Leaf recipe called for dry sugar cookie mix and I used actual cookie dough, I think it turned out great!

  The BlueberryPineapple Pecan Crisp, which also had crushed pineapple was also delicious and I was very happy with the way it turned out using a homemade dry yellow cake mix!  I looked at different homemade cake mix recipes online, and then adapted a few things to come up with this mixture for sprinkling over the blueberries. 

Blueberry Pineapple Pecan Crisp, by Katrina, Baking and Boys! adapted from Lucky Leaf

For the cake mix--

2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour

1  1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup nonfat dry milk (not instant)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, dry milk and salt.  Pulse a few times to mix together.  Add the pieces of butter and the vanilla and pulse until crumbly and the butter is mixed in to a sand-like texture. 

For the crisp--

1  20 ounce can unsweetened crushed pineapple, undrained

1/2 cup (110 grams) packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1  21-ounce can Lucky Leaf Premium Blueberry Pie Filling

18.25 ounces homemade yellow cake mix (there is about a cup leftover so weigh it if you have a kitchen scale, if not, just measure out a scant cup of the mix—you can use it to make your own microwaveable mug cakes!)*

1 cup pecan halves, chopped

1 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly spray with cooking spray a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Pour pineapple into the dish.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Top with pie filling and spread it evenly (it will not spread perfectly, but that is okay.)  Sprinkle the dry cake mix and pecans over the filling.  Drizzle with the melted butter.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden brown.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if desired.

If you want to win the Lucky Leaf giveaway, here’s what you need to do (you have five entries for chances to win)---

Leave me a comment on this post after visiting the Lucky Leaf Cherry Pie Filling Recipes and tell me which recipe you’d try first.

Like Baking and Boys! on Facebook.  Come back and tell me you did or if you already do, let me know in a separate comment.

Like Lucky Leaf on Facebook.  Come back and tell me in another comment that you did.

Follow Lucky Leaf on Pinterest.  Come back and tell me in another comment that you did.

Follow Lucky Leaf on Twitter.  Come back and tell me in another comment that you did.  #LuckyLeafLuckyMe

The contest is open to U.S. residents only and entries will be accepted until Sunday, November 18 at 7 p.m. CST. 

LET THE HOLIDAY BAKING BEGIN!  Lucky Leaf has lots of great ideas and recipes on their website and Pinterest pages!

Butternut Squash Soup with Pepitas and Ground Pistachios Recipe

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—Coconut Scones with Dried Cherries, Pistachios and White Chocolate

Scones, scones—get more scones here!  Last week we made Dorie’s Cream Scones to which I added chocolate chips and toffee bits.  This week our chosen recipe was for Chestnut Scones, which are supposed to have chestnut flour—which is near to impossible to find and if you do find it, it’ll cost you an arm and a leg.  I have a two pound bag of coconut flour that I’ve barely dipped in to, so I decided that is what I’d use.  If I’m going to make any scones, they can’t just be plain, so I looked through my baking cupboard and decided to add some dried tart cherries, pistachios and some chopped white chocolate.  All were well received to the coconut scones. 

I only made a half batch and ate a couple for lunch (they’re small), along with some snap peas and an apricot.  I always brush my scones with some cream, which is what adds a nice shine to them.  It’s simple to half a recipe when you use a scale, even the egg.  I weighed one cracked egg and it was 50 grams, so I just took out 25 grams of egg (cooked up the other half in the microwave really quickly, let it cool and gave it to the dog to eat—he LOVES eggs.  No really, would it be bad to just feed our doggy eggs and bologna/hot dogs as his main source of food?  Those things are cheaper than dog food and Chip won’t hardly eat any dog food!  By the way, I’m kidding—we wouldn’t only give Chip eggs and bologna, but he sure does love it when one of the boys don’t finish one they’re having and he gets their leftovers!)

 

Back to the scones!  The coconut flour made these just a little bit more crumbly than last week’s cream scones, but they are still good.  I used 1/3 cup of cherries, 1/4 cup pistachios, and 2 ounces of white chocolate. 

This week’s recipe was chosen by Andrea from Andrea In The Kitchen.  She’s got the recipe on the link to her blog.  Not too sure what you think about scones, especially if you grew up with these scones like I did (which are delicious in their own right), but give some like these or last week’s scones a try!  Scones galore over at the Tuesdays With Dorie website.

TWD—Honey Nut Brownies and Orange Berry Muffins

This week the Tuesdays With Dorie group made Honey Nut Brownies chosen by Suzy of Suzy Homemaker.

I made a half recipe of the brownies in a 9x5 loaf pan.  Yay me, I followed the recipe as written.  For fun, I used pistachios.  While I think they add nice shape and color, I think for flavor pecans or walnuts would be better.  Because of the honey, these are cakey, but I knew they would be.  So I just wouldn’t call it brownies, I’d call it snack cake. ;)  Glad I put the frosting on top.  It was the star of the show. 

You can get the recipe for these on Suzy’s blog.  As always, you can also see other baker’s creations on the TWD website.

______________________________________________

We have company staying with us this week.  On Sunday I decided to make muffins to go with breakfast.  I made Dorie’s Orange Berry Muffins.  I used some frozen blueberries.  These muffins are great.  (I've had them before.)  This time, I didn’t even taste them.  I think Kevin ate most of them as well as our company.  The muffins got rave reviews!  I was just “being good” and not having a muffin for breakfast, but granola and yogurt instead.

 

You can get the recipe for these muffins here.

I still need to get with it and post pictures of Sam’s birthday that was last week.  My baby is four!

Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies—Soft Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies, Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti, Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies and Chocolate Spritz Cookies

Whew!  We’re coming down the home stretch, Friends.  Christmas is just around the corner.  I’m SO not ready.  But I do manage to keep baking away.  I’ve got three cookies to share with you for week 11 of Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies. 

First up—Soft Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies.  I made these cookies once last year after my pal, Amanda from Amanda's Cookin' blogged about them.  They were a big hit when I made them for a Christmas party.

Amanda had mentioned wanted to try the cookies with a little more Nutella than she’d used, so I went for it and made them with half a cup of Nutella instead of the one-quarter cup she’d used.  I can’t find my notes from last year, but I know I also added some chopped hazelnuts then.  These cookies really are soft and chewy and I plan to try them with just peanut butter as Amanda mentioned this was the recipe she has used and loved for peanut butter cookies for years.

I made the cookies again last week and they were just as good, though I didn’t add the chopped hazelnuts this time.  Check out the link for the cookies on Amanda's Cookin' for the recipe.  My only change was like I mentioned I added 1/2 cup Nutella and only 1/4 cup peanut butter.  The first two photos were from the cookies I made last year.  Here’s the latest.

Next I wanted to share with you some Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti that I’ve wanted to make for a while now and finally did yesterday.  I actually always thought biscotti was for dunking in coffee and since I don’t drink coffee, I had never even tried it until we made Dorie’s Lenox Almond Biscotti for TWD two years ago and loved it.  Then I had this Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti from one of Chef Paige's classes also about two years ago and it was delicious.  I consider myself one who prefers softer, chewy cookies, but there’s just something about biscotti that I really like.  I’ve tried a number of other recipes since then and they have been okay, but this one is my favorite so far.  Paige credited this recipe to her days working as a pastry chef at The Pastry Goddess in Kansas City. 

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti, from The Pastry Goddess, Kansas City

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (270 grams)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 ounces (3/4 cup) toasted pistachios, coarsely chopped

3 ounces (1 cup) dried cranberries

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (175 grams)

2 large eggs

zest of 1 orange (I used the zest of 2 clementines)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, nuts and cranberries; set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.  Beat in the zest and the vanilla.  Stir in the dry ingredients just until incorporated.

Divide the dough into two pieces.  On a lightly floured work surface, form each piece into a 1- to 1 1/2 inch log—each log will be about the same length as the cookie sheet.  Set the logs on the parchment lined cookie sheet.  Flatten slightly.

Bake in a 325 degree oven until set and golden brown—about 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Slice on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices.  Lay the slices on their sides and return the sheets to the oven for another 5 minutes.  Turn the cookies over and bake for another 5 minutes.  Cool completely before wrapping air tight.  Makes about 50 cookies (I only got 30 as I probably sliced them more into 3/4-inch slices.

I must give these away so I don’t eat them all.  Kevin doesn’t like crunchy cookies and the boys think they are strange.  Whatever, I love them.

And we’re not quite done yet.  A couple weeks ago I was shopping and saw a cookie press.  I’ve always wanted one and decided to grab it so I could make spritz cookies.  I could fill and shoot that spritz gun for a long time.  It’s so fun. 

I made this Cream Cheese Spritz Cookies recipe from the Wilton website.  The cookies call for lemon zest, but I left that out and added 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.  I colored some of the dough green, some red and left some of it white.

I also made the Chocolate Spritz Cookies from Wilton.  The only change I made to the recipe was I used salted butter and omitted the salt in the recipe.  I had fun just shootin’ away with the cookie gun.

The chocolate cookies are good, but they spread a little more than the others.  I like when cookies you give away, especially on plates/trays with variety have a lot of color, so into the freezer these went and they will be used to jazz up some Christmas cookies plates.

I had two little helpers decorating the Christmas tree the other day and they sure did a fine job.  Check this out.

Who do you think did the most?  Some would say I should just leave it that way, but I just couldn’t do it, at least I’ve got photos.

 

Ah, now I can sleep at night. ;)  Check out all the other cookies this week for Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies by clicking on all the links below.

Also a quick reminder to enter the giveaway I’m having right now for a $75 CSN Stores gift code.  Leave a comment on this post to enter.  You have until tonight, (Friday), December 10 at 10 p.m. MST to enter.

Twelve Weeks of Christmas Cookies—Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters and Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters and Pistachios Cookies

Sunset at our house, Thursday, October 28, 2010—gorgeous! (snow capped mountains)

Here we are again with the weeks just slipping by.  It’ll be Christmas before we know it.  Never fear, I’m here to help, along with another 50 others or so (links at the end of this post) who are all sharing ideas with you for your holiday baking this year.  Every Friday we’re posting treats you, too, can make to share with those on your goodies list.

This is week five.  One of my favorite fruits is in season right now—pomegranates!  Sure, they might be a little work, getting all those ruby red arils out of  their skin, shell, what is the protective outer part of the pomegranate called?  Anyway, they are worth it to me.  We ended up with 13 POM’s this week and are loving having them.  After removing the arils from one pomegranate and having a good heaping cupful, and knowing we still have a lot left, I decided to try something. 

I melted some good dark chocolate, dumped in some pomegranate arils and stirred it to coat them all.  Then I spooned a good teaspoon sized mounds onto a wax paper lined baking sheet.  I stuck them in the fridge for a few minutes to let the chocolate harden.  I wasn’t sure what they would be like.  But I’m here to report I think they taste great.  I think the chocolate goes great with those little red, juicy jewels.  And I think just as is they would be fun to put some in a nice cellophane bag tied with a red ribbon to give away.

Before the chocolate hardened, I set an aril on top of each one.

I froze some of them, I just wanted to see how pomegranates are frozen and then thawed.  They are really good frozen, kind of like eating frozen grapes.  And they were just as good thawed as they are fresh.  I’m going to have to freeze more of the arils.  I’m not sure we can eat through 13 of them fast enough.

After making the clusters, I had another idea.  I made another batch of the chocolate covered arils, but made them much smaller.  (And then I took some horrible pictures of them.)

 

All this so I could make cookies with the chocolate covered pomegranate clusters.  I’d never baked arils in anything before either, so I wasn’t sure how this would work, but decided to try it anyway.

Cookie success.  Most of the arils didn’t pop open, they stayed in their ruby shape, full of juice.  Some of the chocolate covered ones did come out of the chocolate, but it was all there in the cookie, so I thought it worked well.  I added pistachios as well (going for the red/green theme there.)  I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Here’s the recipe I made.

Chocolate Pomegranate Clusters and Pistachios Cookies, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

6 ounces dark chocolate, melted

1 cup pomegranate arils

8 1/2 ounces all purpose flour (240 grams)

1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 heaping teaspoon salt

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, still cold, but slightly softened

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) brown sugar

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

1 large egg, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate covered pomegranate clusters

1/2 cup roasted, salted pistachios

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Prepare the clusters by mixing the arils in with the 6 ounces of melted chocolate and spooning little mounds of them on a wax paper lined baking sheet.  Set the sheet in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets parchment paper.  Combine the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and whisk together.  Set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium high for 2 minutes, add the sugars and continue beating 2-3 minutes, until fluffy.  Scrape sides of bowl.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat 2 minutes.  Then add the dry ingredients and blend on low just until mixed.  Stir in the chocolate covered pomegranates, pistachios and chocolate chips with a wooden spoon or spatula. 

Put heaping tablespoonfuls on baking sheet (eight at a time).  Bake for 14-16 minutes.  Let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Makes 18-24 cookies, depending on size.

Here’s one of my favorite things to do with chocolate chip cookie dough—put a good amount in a small four inch individual baking pan, top with two big chocolate/POM clusters, add more cookie dough to cover the clusters, bake for 20 minutes.  Mmm, ooey, gooey chocolate chip cookie!  I’ve done this with many other things hiding inside.  Molten Lava Chocolate Chip Cookies, Mint Chocolate Chip Truffles Molten Lava Cookies, Hunky Chocolate Chip Cookies to name a few.  You could try any chocolate Halloween candy in the center—these are perfect cookies and great with a big scoop of ice cream.  Or just stack up a few of these big cookies and wrap nicely for holiday gifts!

Check the links at the bottom for lots of other holiday ideas and get ready to bake, bake, bake.  The holidays are comin’……