Category: DESSERTS

Tuesdays with Dorie ~ Buttery Jam Cookies


Heather of Randomosity and the Girl chose Buttery Jam Cookies on page 80 for today.

I thought these were going to be too biscuity for my tastes, but hubby loved them. After the sugar cookies last week, this week’s dough tasted so similar even with the apricot jam, but also bland, so I did make a small addition for flavor this week. I added a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and it helped a lot.

Laurie of Quirky Cupcake formed Tuesdays With Dorie as a form of accountability for baking at least once a week using the cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.
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Homemaker Mondays and Making a Happy Home Monday ~ Holiday Bread

Homemaker Mondays is hosted by Robyn at 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven
Making a Happy Home Monday is hosted by LL at As for me and my house…
HOLIDAY BREAD

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon orange peel
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 3/4 cups cool water
3/4 cups golden raisins
1/4 cup orange juice
1/8 cup salted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup minced walnuts

  • In a small bowl pour orange juice over the raisins. Let set 1/2 hour. Pour off remaining juice before using fruit.
  • In a LARGE mix together the flours, salt, yeast and water in a large bowl. Stir until you need to use your hands to form a sticky dough.
  • When the dough is smooth and uniform work in the fruit and nuts.
  • Cover the bowl with press-n-seal and let rest at room temperature for at least 8 hours or better yet over night. Dough will bubble and rise quite a bit.
  • Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into desired shapes to fit lightly greased covered stoneware bakers. I make 2 loaf pan sizes. Place in pan smooth side up.
  • Let rise another 2 hours or until your thumb print remains when you poke the dough.
  • Just before placing in oven slice across the tops several times to allow the steam to escape.
  • Place bread in cold oven and set temperature to 450 degrees.
  • Bake 45 minutes, uncover and bake another 5-10 minutes until golden brown and 205 degrees internal temperature.
  • Cool on rack before slicing.

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Tuesdays with Dorie ~ Linzer Sables ~ OOPS ~ Swearing In instead

I was supposed to post Linzer cookies for TWD last Tuesday and I completely forgot! We received a call from my youngest stepson and he asked that we be present along with his mother and girlfriend for his swearing in as a full time fire fighter/paramedic at 830AM and we live over 4 hours away so we got up really early!! We were so proud and excited for him! I completely forgot about the cookies though!! I’ll have to make 2 different recipes next week.

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Tuesday's with Dorie ~ Chocolate Peach Blackberry Apricot Rugelach

Piggy of Piggy’s Cooking Journal has chosen, Rugelach from page 150 for today. I needed to work with what I had so I did make a few substitutions that hubby, my taste tester, said made a wonderful difference from the traditional. I didn’t have any currants so I substituted dried apricots that I soaked in Rum. We’re not bittersweet chocolate fans either so I substituted semi-sweet chocolate and coarse ground my own. I didn’t have either of the suggested jams as I make my own and didn’t want to buy a jar that would go to waste so used home made Peach Blackberry jam. The recipe called for cutting the cream cheese and butter into four pieces. I think in the future I will cut into eighths for easier handling. Using the fourths was too cumbersome with my older food processor and I eventually finished coarsing it by hand. I also didn’t need all the chocolate or nuts ~ could have gone with half as much as the recipe calls for.

All in all they tasted great and ultimately that is the true test. They weren’t as pretty as they should be, but I didn’t have time to make a second batch of dough! They are all gone though so I guess flavor won over pretty!


Laurie of Quirky Cupcake formed Tuesdays With Dorie as a form of accountability for baking at least once a week using the cookbook, Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. I already love it and hubby isn’t complaining about being my taste taster. In fact he loves to throw in his own suggestions.

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Homemaker Monday, Making a Happy Home Monday & Tips on Tuesday ~ Peanut Butter Crunch Cookies

Homemaker Mondays is hosted by Robyn at 11th Heaven’s Homemaking Haven
Making a Happy Home Monday is hosted by LL at As for me and my house…
Tips on Tuesday is hosted by Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

We love the aroma of fresh baked cookies around here.
Baking is one of the things I try to do regularly.
This week it was peanut butter crunch cookies dipped in chocolate.

This recipe makes 4-5 dozen cookies.

TUESDAY’S TIP: I split the dough into thirds and with wax paper makes cookie rolls. I freeze 2 of the rolls for future use and make 1 tray at a time so they are always fresh baked and I only make the mess once for 3 batches.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter*
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 JUMBO eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Cream butter and peanut butter together. Be sure and scrape sides of bowl.
  • Add sugars and cream again.
  • Add 1 egg at a time until well blended.
  • Sift together dry ingredients and add in thirds until well blended.
  • Divide dough into thirds.
  • Roll 12 walnut sized balls.
  • Flatten with a fork.
  • Bake 10-12 minutes.
  • On wax paper roll the other 2 portions of dough and freeze for future use.
  • I sometimes dip them in melted almond bark.

*I prefer JIF or Skippy peanut butter

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The Need to Knead Bread Recipe Round Up Day is FINALLY here!!

It’s here – FINALLY!


Don’t forget to sign Mr. Linky and put your recipe in parenthesis.
Visit everyone you can for scrumptious recipes for the upcoming holiday season.
Joy at Joy of Desserts is co-hosting this with me so be sure and check out her recipes too.

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My recipe is for my favorite ‘toast’ bread.

OAT SUNFLOWER BREAD or SESAME OAT BREAD

3/4 cup old fashioned oats (DO NOT USE INSTANT)
1 1/4 cups very hot water, but not boiling
1/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
3+ cups bread flour
1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds or toasted sesame seeds

  • Using your mixer with dough hook combine the oats and hot water. Allow to stand until soft, 5 or so minutes.
  • While these are cooling whisk together the warm water and yeast.
  • Add the honey, oil and salt to the oats until well blended.
  • Add the yeast and blend together.
  • Add the wheat flour until well blended.
  • Add 2 1/2 cups of the wheat flour and blend well.
  • Add last 1/2 cup as needed until dough forms a smooth mass.
  • Add sunflower seeds until just mixed.
  • Place dough in a an oiled bowl and cover with a light cloth and allow to rise 2 hours or until double in size in a warm spot of your kitchen away from drafts.
  • Punch the dough down and fold dough into itself.
  • Place dough onto a lightly floured work surface . Lightly sprinkle flour over dough.
  • Knead dough until all the air is worked out and you have a nice smooth mass.
  • Split into two loaves.
  • Cover them for 10 minutes.
  • Form loaves into rectangles by folding dough into itself and eliminating excess air.
  • You can either free form these or use 9×5 loaf pans. Seam side down place loaves into pans. Recover with towel.
  • Set aside and let rise another hour until dough rises above the edge of the pan.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Make diagonal cut across the top of each loaf (these allow the steam to escape).
  • Bake on the center shelf in the center for 45 minutes or until golden.
  • Cool completely on a wire rack.
  • Enjoy!

Here are a few of my other bread recipes to entice you.

 

WooHoo the long awaited Bread Round-Up is FINALLY here!!

I’ve been collecting recipes for all my life it seems. When I decided to do this bread round up I scoured my files for every recipe that had been handed down from family or given to me by a co-worker or one that has become one of our family favorites. Ironically I found 4 different recipes for Buttermilk Biscuits. The recipes stem from really easy to more involved and are all slightly different in taste and texture.

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS (most similar to the Colonel’s)
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup club soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups Bisquick baking mix

  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees
  • Combine all the ingredients
  • Lightly flour your hands
  • Knead the dough by hand until smooth
  • Pat the dough flat to 3/4 inches
  • Cut out biscuits
  • Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown
  • Makes about 18 biscuits

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS with MAPLE BUTTER (a little lighter and sweeter with the maple butter)
BISCUITS
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons Crisco
1 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 egg
BUTTER
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons brown sugar

  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  • Spray an 8 inch cake pan with PURE.
  • Sift together the 1 cup of the flour, cake flour, salt, baking powder and soda.
  • With a pastry blender cut in butter and Crisco until mixture is coarse and crumbly
  • Stir in buttermilk.
  • In a mixing bowl add the remaining 1/2 cup flour.
  • Drop the dough 1/4 cup at a time into the flour.
  • Shape into balls.
  • Arrange all the balls in the pan.
  • Beat egg with water. Brush tops of dough.
  • Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
  • To make this ahead of time do all steps except the buttermilk, cover and refrigerate until needed.
  • Stir syrup into butter.
  • Transfer to wax paper.
  • Top with another sheet of wax paper.
  • Press into a 1/4 inch thickness and freeze for 10 minutes.
  • Using a rolling pin roll smooth.
  • Remove top sheet of wax paper and sprinkle with brown sugar.
  • Using small cutouts, cut butter into desired shapes.
  • These can be made ahead of time and frozen.

BUTTERMILK SPOON BREAD (more like a souffle – light and fluffy)
7 large eggs
1/2 cup whipping cream
4 cups water
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups yellow cornmeal

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray 9×13 baking dish with PURE.
  • In a large bowl whisk the eggs and whipping cream together until smooth. Set aside.
  • In a large sauce pan bring the buttermilk, water, salt, pepper and butter to a boil.
  • Gradually whisk in corn meal.
  • Reduce heat and and simmer until thick and smooth, stirring frequently.
  • Remove from heat and gradually whisk the cornmeal mixture into the egg mixture.
  • Transfer the batter to the baking dish.
  • Bake uncovered 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
  • Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
  • Serve warm.
What makes biscuits rise?
Baking Powder and Baking Soda are both leaveners and when activated creat carbon dioxide which produces the rise. Baking Soda aka sodium bicarbonate has been commonly used for 200 years and works by simple chemistry. It’s reaction is immediate, but does not continue once the biscuits are in the oven. Ironically Baking Powder is the main ingredient in Baking Soda, but baking powder also includes an acid or two. Double acting baking powder is the perfect one for biscuits because it has the immediate acting acid as well as the heat activated acid. In order to use baking powder alone you have to use way too much and it dries out the dough. So finding the perfect combination of baking powder and baking soda is the key to tall and fluffy biscuits.

PERFECT TALL & FLUFFY BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
2 cups flour + 1 cup flour
1 tablespoon double acting baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons butter, diced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/3 cups low-fat buttermilk

  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
  • Spray a 9 inch cake pan with PURE.
  • In a food processor pulse dry ingredients several times to combine.
  • Add butter pieces scattered over dry ingredients and pulse until crumbly.
  • Transfer to a medium bowl.
  • Stir in buttermilk. (Dough will be wet and lumpy).
  • Spray a 1/4 cup measure with PURE.
  • In a mixing bowl add the remaining 1 cup flour.
  • Drop the dough 1/4 cup at a time into the flour.
  • Shape into 12 balls. Shaking off excess flour.
  • Arrange balls (9 around the perimeter and 3 in the center) in the pan.
  • Brush tops of dough with melted butter.
  • Bake 5 minutes.
  • Reduce oven temperature to 450 degrees.
  • Bake another 15 minutes.
  • Cool 2 minutes.
  • Invert biscuits into a clean towel, turn right side up breakaing them apart and cool another 5 minutes.

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Then Need to Knead is this wednesday

It’s almost here!! Don’t forget.

The need to knead is almost here. I thought maybe it was time to share with you some food for thought (Pun intended) with a few great resource sites for baking.

  • Recipe Curio has a lot of wonderful tips as well as many vintage recipes
  • Yeast Dough gets down to the basics of the ingredients and how to work with them.
  • Bread World is Fleischmann’s Yeast site for recipes and baking tips.
  • Bread Baking 101 is all encompassing site of information and recipes.
General Tips to remember:
  • Baking in a high place, a dry place or in a place that can have sudden changes in barometric pressure. All these factors can alter how yeast breads knead, rise and bake.
  • To determine if your yeast is still active, dissolve 1 tsp. sugar in 1/2 cup lukewarm water in a see-through measuring cup. Sprinkle 1 tbsp. yeast slowly over the water. Stir and let stand for 10 minutes. At the end of this time, the yeast should have foamed up to reach the 1 cup mark. Yeast that does not reach this mark in 10 minutes will not produce a good loaf and should be discarded.
  • Water can replace milk. The texture will change a little, but the bread will still be very tasty and good to eat.
  • White sugar, brown sugar, honey and molasses can be interchanged equally in bread dough. The sugar in bread dough supplies the tiny yeast plants with instant food and gets them off to a fast start. Artificial sweeteners are not recommended for yeast breads because they cannot be used by the yeast as natural sweeteners can.
  • Fats can be replaced with applesauce or prune puree. The texture of the bread will be more dense. A general rule of thumb is to substitute 1 1/2 tablespoons of applesauce/prune puree for every 3 tablespoons of fat.
  • Salt is added to yeast breads not only for flavor but also to keep the yeast fermentation in the bread dough under control. Too little salt will allow the yeast to push the dough so high that it may even collapse. Too much salt will keep the dough from rising enough.

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The Knead to Need is almost here!

The need to knead is almost here. I thought maybe it was time to share with you some food for thought (Pun intended) with a few great resource sites for baking.

General Tips to remember:

  • Baking in a high place, a dry place or in a place that can have sudden changes in barometric pressure. All these factors can alter how yeast breads knead, rise and bake.
  • To determine if your yeast is still active, dissolve 1 tsp. sugar in 1/2 cup lukewarm water in a see-through measuring cup. Sprinkle 1 tbsp. yeast slowly over the water. Stir and let stand for 10 minutes. At the end of this time, the yeast should have foamed up to reach the 1 cup mark. Yeast that does not reach this mark in 10 minutes will not produce a good loaf and should be discarded.
  • Water can replace milk. The texture will change a little, but the bread will still be very tasty and good to eat.
  • White sugar, brown sugar, honey and molasses can be interchanged equally in bread dough. The sugar in bread dough supplies the tiny yeast plants with instant food and gets them off to a fast start. Artificial sweeteners are not recommended for yeast breads because they cannot be used by the yeast as natural sweeteners can.
  • Fats can be replaced with applesauce or prune puree. The texture of the bread will be more dense. A general rule of thumb is to substitute 1 1/2 tablespoons of applesauce/prune puree for every 3 tablespoons of fat.
  • Salt is added to yeast breads not only for flavor but also to keep the yeast fermentation in the bread dough under control. Too little salt will allow the yeast to push the dough so high that it may even collapse. Too much salt will keep the dough from rising enough.

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Favorite Ingredient Friday ~ Bread Edition ~ Bubble Bread

BUBBLE BREAD
BREAD
1 cup scalded milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1teaspoon salt
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup rum
1/2 cup minced walnuts
2 packages dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 Jumbo eggs, beaten
4 1/2 – 5 cups flour
TOPPING
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick butter, melted
OPTIONAL GLAZE
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup powdered sugar

  • Soften the yeast in the warm water.
  • Stir together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
  • Soak the raisins in the rum until needed. Drain before adding to the bread.
  • Combine the milk, shortening, sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm.
  • Add yeast to milk mixture and then the eggs, the raisins and nuts.
  • Add the flour. Mix to a soft dough.
  • Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl. Turn over once, cover with a cheesecloth and let rise until double in size.
  • Punch down and let stand ten minutes.
  • Roll into many small balls about the size of golf balls.
  • Dip each one in the melted butter and then the cinnamon topping.
  • Grease a bundt cake pan.
  • Arrange the balls haphazardly in the cake pan.
  • Allow to rise until double in size (about 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours)
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
  • Glaze if you choose.
  • Enjoy
For the updated & much quicker version visit Overwhelmed with Joy for her Monkey Bread Recipe.

Have you heard about the Need to Knead Bread Roundup? We will roundup all types of bread recipes. We already have a number of people signed up and it promises to be great. You are all invited to participate. We would love it if you would join us, and we would love it if you would help us spread the word by putting this button in your sidebars or even writing a short post about the roundup. Just come back here on October 15th & sign Mr. Linky. We’ll see you then.

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Needing to Knead is almost here…

Have you heard about the Need to Knead Bread Roundup? I wanted to do a bread round up and Joy at Joy of Desserts, another Scrumptious Sunday offered to make this great button and co-host this bread Roundup on October 15th along with the help of Barbara at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers who has so generously offered to be our Mr. Linky person. We will roundup all types of bread recipes. We already have a number of people signed up and it promises to be great. You are all invited to participate. We would love it if you would join us, and we would love it if you would help us spread the word by putting this button in your sidebars or even writing a short post about the roundup.

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Weekend Chocolate Attack ~ Just Stirrin' Something Up ~ Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Clusters

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUP CLUSTERS

1 sheet puff pastry
1-2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
12 teaspoons creamy peanut butter
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup mini marshmallows

Thaw pastry sheet for 40 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine sugar and cinnamon.
Unfold pastry sheet onto lightly floured surface.
LIGHTLY spread butter across entire sheet.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Cut into 12-3 inch squares.
Press 1 piece into each muffin cup.
Place 1 teaspoon of peanut butter in center.
Top with a chocolate pieces, raisins and 3-4 marshmallows.
Bake 12 minutes or until golden.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Remove from pan and cool another 10 minutes.

BEFORE AFTER

Hubby gave them 2 thumbs up!! I think next time I’ll spread the peanut butter out a little more.
OPTIONAL: bits of peanuts, craisins, etc… or whatever else you may like!
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