Day 35 - Honey Cookies

Saturday, December 17, 2011

I cannot believe that Christmas is a week away!! A Christmas tradition on my Mom's side of the family is to make HONEY COOKIES. My Mom and her sisters all get together and make these cookies that their mother (my Grandmother) used to make every Christmas. My Grandmother passed away when I was a baby but I can remember going to my Grandfather's house at a young age where my mom and her sisters would gather (a few of us kids would tag along) to make the honey cookies.

The cookies are a bit of a project to make so there have been a few Christmases when the cookies didn't get made due to everyone's busy schedules. This year was one of those years and we decided we weren't going to get together to make the cookies; so my Dad and I decided to take it on ourselves. I had to make a few phone calls to figure out who had the recipe and when I finally did get it, it was very vague so I had to ask a bunch of questions to get the details on the step by step process. After all, I've only watched them get made, I never actually made them my self.

So my Dad and I started by making the dough which consists of flour, eggs, baking powder, sugar, and crisco. We made the dough directly on the counter (instead of in a bowl). I poured out all of the flour and made a round shape with a hole in the center (kind of like a volcano). The sugar and baking powder are sprinkled on the flour and the eggs (10 of them) are cracked right into the middle of the volcano along with the crisco. Slowly you begin to work the flour into the eggs in the center until the dough comes together.

Once the dough is kneaded, we each started with a small amount of dough to roll out. I was instructed to cover the dough that wasn't being used so it doesn't get hard. The dough has to be rolled out extremely thin. My Mom actually said to me "just when you think the dough is thin enough, roll it some more."

When the dough is as thin as it can get, we cut long skinny strips of dough which are then folded into "bows." The two shapes we make with the dough are bows and balls. The balls are just small rolled pieces of dough.

Happy camper rolling dough balls

Bows ready to be fried! 

When my Dad and I had all of our bows made and dough balls rolled, we started to fry them. They cook up really quickly in the oil and when they come out they are put on a rack to let the excess oil drip off.

In the meantime while my Dad was doing the frying, I put some honey over low heat to let it thin out. When the cookies are slightly cooled, I dip them in the honey, sprinkle them with nonpareil sprinkles, and set them on parchment paper to cool completely.

Finished Cookies! 

This whole process takes quite a while but it's totally worth it. The cookies are crisp, sweet and delicious. The only down side about making these cookies is that the kitchen becomes a total mess and somehow you become covered in honey and sprinkles!

I'm so glad I got to experience making these cookies first hand and I can't wait to share them with my family, especially my aunts - that will be the real test to see out how they came out!

Stay tuned for next week… I'll be making lots of Christmas cookies!

It's The Holiday Season!

Hello all!

It's that time of year again - the HOLIDAY SEASON! I know I haven't blogged lately but with the holidays here I have to believe that I will  have tons of baking to do! Thanksgiving was this past Thursday and I baked like there was no tomorrow! I asked everyone else in my family to please NOT bring dessert because I knew I could fill a table with treats myself [and I happen to enjoy baking, duh]! Below are the items I made.. most [if not all] I have blogged about:

• Ice Cream Cake [p.s. I made this 5 days in advanced and it was AWESOME.. held up perfectly out of the freezer and didn't melt too quickly! This is always a HUGE hit with the kids]
• Frozen Key Lime Pie
• Apple Crumb Pie [served with vanilla ice cream of course]
• Gram's Cheesecake [with fresh strawberries]
• Mini Cheesecakes [with caramel, chocolate, or cherry topping]
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Cream Puffs - Chocolate and Vanilla filling
• Vanilla Cupcakes
• Chocolate Oreo Cupcakes [actually these were for a family party right after thanksgiving]

I had a great time baking this Thanksgiving… I'm so grateful for all of the many blessings in my life at the moment… I have the BEST family and friends anyone could ask for, and of course I'm thankful for my blog for helping me discover so many wonderful treats that I now have in my back pocket and can whip up at any time!

Stay tuned - I hope to bake some more soon and then of course put out another crazy spread for Christmas :) Can't wait to try out some new Christmas Cookie recipes!

xoxoxo

Day 34 - Bite Size Apple Pies

Day 34

Friday, November 11, 2011 (11/11/11)

Even though its only Friday, I decided to do some baking. I was off of work so I had lots of time on my hands. A friend recently told me about a website called Pinterest.com, which is a site for people to share pictures and links - everything from clothes, shoes, recipes, home decor ideas, quotes, anything you can really think of. It's AWESOME and it's my obsession of the moment- I'm on the website at least twice a day!

Anyways, I have found some amazing looking recipes on the website and I cannot wait to try them. I think this may be just the first of many baking sessions this weekend. Tonight I wanted to try a recipe for bite size apple pies - I figured it went with my apple theme lately. The recipe looked really simple and so cute!

The only ingredients are apples, a frozen pie crust, sugar, cinnamon and butter - all things I happen to have at home except for the apples! I started by rolling out and preparing the pie crust (which I defrosted in the fridge before hand). Next, I melted some butter and mixed together the cinnamon and sugar - some of the butter gets brushed over the dough and then some of the cinnamon sugar gets sprinkled over the top of that. The dough is then cut into long strips and ready for the apples to be placed in them.

The apples just get peeled and cut into wedges and they are ready. I put 2 wedges in each strip of dough and rolled it up. Before these go into the oven, I brushed a little more butter and sprinkled a little more cinnamon sugar over the top.

These only bake for about 15 minutes until the dough is nice and golden brown. I was concerned because I wasn't sure that the apples were cooked through but when I tried a piece of one, they were perfect - it actually tasted like apple pie! The recommendation is to serve these warm with vanilla ice cream so I'll have to try that when I serve it to my Dad later :)

Stay tuned for next time… probably sooner rather than later!

Day 33 - Apple Crostata

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Today is the last Saturday in October and it is SNOWING! Not just flurrying either, there are a good few inches on the ground. Anyways, I decided I'm not going to let that stop me from making a delicious fall dessert! I am making an apple crostata [which is kind of like a free form tart] and fortunately I was able to get out to the farm to get some apples before the snow started.

I've seen crostata's made by some of my favorite Food Network chefs before but I have never tried one myself. While it is similar to an apple pie or apple crisp, the recipe calls for homemade dough so I was excited to try that.

I started out with the dough because it has to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The dough consists of flour, sugar, salt, butter and ice water. The dough came together quickly in the food processor and I let it rest in the refrigerator while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

I started by peeling and slicing 5 apples including a macintosh, a macun, a golden delicious and an empire [I'm a big believer in using a variety of apples when baking]. The apples are tossed with some orange zest and set aside. The next step is to make a little crumble [also in the food processor] using butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt.

Finally, when the dough was ready, I rolled it out into a large circular shape [sort of] and started filling the center with the apples, making sure to leave a border of dough along the edges. I sprinkled the crumbs over the apples and folded in the extra dough to create a crostata.

The crostata baked for a good 45 minutes at 350 even though the recipe only called for about 20-25 minutes. It looked good though when it came out - the dough was nice and golden brown[and made the whole house smell amazing].

Can't wait to try this tonight! Stay tuned for next time!

***Ok I just looked at the recipe again and I realized it should have baked at 450!! NOT 350!! Still haven't tried this yet but I wonder if that changes the taste at all…. yikes! This might have to be a re-do!

Day 32 - Creme Brulee & Apple Crumb Cake

Sunday, September 25, 2011

I can't believe it's officially autumn! It's my favorite time of year and I am so inspired by all of the fall flavors [apple, pumpkin, etc]! This weekend I had a few different baking sessions. The first one was on Friday night in preparation for my brother Anthony and his friend to come for dinner on Saturday night. I wanted to make a special dessert and Creme Brulee seemed like the perfect option - it's easy to make but looks really fancy! The only ingredients in it are heavy cream, egg yolks, sugar and a vanilla bean. I started by heating the heavy cream and vanilla bean until it came to a slight simmer. I then mixed the egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer until they became thick and light yellow. I slowly added the heavy cream and vanilla to the eggs [slowly so the eggs don't scramble!] and I poured the mixture into ramekins which I had in a baking pan filled with about an inch of water.

Egg and Sugar Mixture

Ramekins ready for the custard!

The creme brulee's baked in about 40 minutes until they were set around the edges and still slightly loose in the center. This is the only tricky part about making these… knowing when they are cooked enough but not too much. Once the creme brulee's came out of the oven, I let them come to room temperature and then put them in the refrigerator to set completely. These are best made a day ahead so they have time to chill in the fridge.

After dinner on Saturday night, I took the creme brulee's out of the refrigerator and was ready to prepare the best part - the hard sugar topping. To do this, I sprinkle a thin, even layer of sugar over the top, then use my mini torch to caramalize the sugar creating a nice, hard top. The best part of eating a creme brulee is cracking into the top with a spoon and scooping out the delicious vanilla custard.  The hard sugar on top gives a nice contrast in texture to the creamy center. You can't beat that!

Chilled Creme Brulee - ready for the sugar topping! 

Getting Torched! 

Finished Creme Brulee!

Today, my friend Sheila is coming over to bake with me. We are going to make an apple crumb cake and then she wants me to show her how to make my mom's sheet cookies that are made with saltine crackers.

We started with the apple coffee cake. To start, I creamed unsalted butter and brown sugar and added 2 eggs once the mixture was smooth and fluffy. Next, I sifted the dry ingredients together [flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda] and added them slowly to the wet ingredients. In between adding small amounts of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, I added sour cream and vanilla which makes the cake moist. Finally, I folded in chunks of apple [and I used both a green and red apple].

Apples ready to go!

Dry Ingredients

 I spread the batter in a baking dish and was ready to make the crumb topping. The crumb topping was really simple. I just mixed together softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour until it formed coarse crumbles. I sprinkled the crumbs over the top of the batter and put it in the oven to bake for about 40 minutes.

Ready for the oven!

While the cake baked, I made a glaze for the top consisting of brown sugar, vanilla and water.

Glaze

When the coffee cake came out of the oven, it looked and smelled delicious! We poured the glaze over the cake and let it cool for about 20 minutes. Of course we couldn't wait until after dinner, so we cut into the cake to give it a try and it was AMAZING! Probably one of my favorite things I've made in a long time! This is a MUST try!

Just out of the oven

SO YUMMY!!!

Lastly, Sheila and I made my Mom's sheet cookies which is a simple and delicious treat that everyone loves. We started by lining a cookie sheet with unsalted saltine crackers to cover every inch of the sheet. Next, we melted butter and sugar until the butter was completely melted and the mixture came to a slow boil. The mixture is then poured over the saltines and placed in the oven until the cookies start to bubble. Next, we sprinkled semi-sweet chocolate chips over the top and put the tray back into the oven so the chips could melt. Once the chips were soft, we spread them with a knife to create a smooth chocolate layer. Finally, chopped walnuts are sprinkled over the top of the chocolate and the whole tray is put into the refrigerator to harden. Once the cookies are hardened, you just need to cut them up and enjoy!

Sheila preparing the baking sheet!

Finished Cookies :)

I think I am officially baked out for this weekend! Stay tuned until next week :)

Day 31 - Chocolate Chip Muffins

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Today I decided to make a nice warm breakfast treat - chocolate chip muffins! It's starting to feel like fall [already] and nothing beats a nice warm muffin for breakfast with a cup of coffee! Keep in mind chocolate chip muffins certainly are a treat for a special occasion - you can't always have chocolate for breakfast :)

This recipe was so easy and I had all of the ingredients on hand! I literally whipped up the batter, baked the muffins and cleaned up in less than an hour. All this recipe takes is 2 bowls - one for the dry ingredients [flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder]; and one for the wet ingredients [sour cream, milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla]. I combined the wet and dry ingredients together, added the chocolate chips and they were ready to be put into the muffin tins!

After about 20 minutes the muffins were ready to come out. They looked and smelled great.

Finished Product!

I tried one warm and it was pretty good- I mean you can't beat melted chocolate. The only thing is that you probably have to serve them warm because when they cool down there will be whole chocolate chunks, which might not be as good when they aren't melted. The other thing I wasn't crazy about was that the muffin itself wasn't all that flavorful without the chocolate.