This Week's Concoctions Ending 6/25

Here is the highlight that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

Cake Mix Fudge

The only thing I made this week was this cake mix fudge. It didn't harden properly so it was a little mushy and messy.

June 23: Slice-and-Bake Pecan Sandies

Slice-and-Bake Pecan Sandies

Ingredients:
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar, plus 1/4 cup for grinding with the pecans
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks
2 1/2 cups (11.25 oz) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 pecans, toasted and cooled
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1. In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and 1 1/3 cups of the confectioners' sugar on medium speed until creamy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat in the baking powder, salt, vanilla, and egg yolks. By hand or using the lowest speed of the mixer, stir in the flour.
2. In a food processor or coffee or nut grinder, coarsely grind the pecans with the remaining 1/4 cup of confectioners' sugar. Stir in the pecans into the batter. Divide the dough into two equal portions and shape each portion into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs tightly in waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours, or until the dough is very firm.
3. Preheat the oven to 325 and place a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
4. Using the serrated knife, slice the logs 1/2 inch thick and arrange the rounds about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Brush the rounds with lightly beaten egg white. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Adding the vanilla, salt and baking powder

Adding the egg yolks

Adding the flour

Made the pecans a little too fine...

I put them in overnight

Thoughts: I have a hard time shaping cookie dough into logs (see above), but other than that, this cookie was pretty easy to make. Brushing the top with egg whites was a nice little touch. Patrick and I are not crazy about pecan sandies so I think we only ate one whole cookie between us.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 6/18

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

This week I forgot to take pictures of a couple of things that I made....like sweet and sour beets and peanut butter lush (cake bottom, chocolate pudding middle and peanut butter-cool whip top).

Kit Kat Cake

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pizza

June 17: Carrot and Oat Cookies

Carrot and Oat Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (3.25 oz) whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/3 cup carrot baby food
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup toasted and chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
2. Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a bowl; set aside.
3. Mix both of the sugars, the vegetable oil, maple syrup, carrot baby food, and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in the oats, followed by the raisins and pecans, and let sit for 10 minutes. Scoop up tablespoonfuls of dough and arrange about 2 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
4. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5-8 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I had to buy another small jar of carrot baby food because it only yielded about 1/4 cup

Dry ingredients

Addition of flour mixture

Addition of oats

Addition of golden raisins

Thoughts: This is definitely not a sweet cookie. It is more like a sticky granola. I cooked them for a full 14 minutes because at 12 minutes, they looked a little undercooked. I felt like it was a tad too healthy for me. Patrick liked it and had almost a whole cookie where I probably had a bite or two.  I also hate carrots.

June 9: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Bars

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Bars

Filling:
1 1/2 cups frozen unsweetened rhubarb
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon key lime juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Crust:
1 1/2 cups (6.8 oz) all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
12 tablespoons (6 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a 9x13 metal pan with nonstick foil.
2. Make the filling: Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and lime juice in a large saucepan. Cover; cook over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Remove the cover and cook, stirring constantly, for about another minute, or until the rhubarb has thawed and the sugar is dissolved. Add the cornstarch and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the sauce is bubbly and translucent. Remove from the heat.
3. Make the crust: Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Add the oats and pulse to mix. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture for the topping; press the remaining crumb mixture onto the bottom of the pan. Spread the filling over the crust. Sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture.
4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool completely in the pan. Lift from the pan, set on a cutting board, and cut into 32 bars.

I switched to doing it by hand because my food processor wouldn't fit any more ingredients

1 1/2 cups crumb reserves

I used fresh rhubarb

Thoughts: These bars taste exactly how they sound like a pie. I was very surprised that they were delicious. Patrick and I both loved them. If you have a food processor that is too small, then just use a large mixing bowl. My food processor holds 4 cups, which I am finding out might be too small because this has happened to me a couple times where the food is overflowing. So I just transferred everything to a large mixing bowl and stirred it by hand. I didn't read the directions correctly so I added the cornstarch at the same time as everything else for the filling. I couldn't find frozen rhubarb so thanks to a fellow schoolmate, she gave me some from her garden.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 6/11

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

We had guests over on Sunday which included a child so I wanted to make something that was attractive to her...as well as use some of my cream top whole milk.

Dirt Pudding Dessert:
-Bottom layer: Devil's Food cake
-Middle layer: whole milk, 2 boxes of chocolate pudding, cream cheese, cool whip
-Top layer: Oreos and gummy worms

We started our vegetable share this week so this recipe includes the arugula, spinach and beets that we got and uses the goat cheese we got from the dairy share. It also has an orange vinaigrette made with juice from oranges, dijon mustard, olive oil, and white wine vinegar.

Roasted Beet, Orange and Goat Cheese Salad

This Week's Concoctions Ending 6/4

Here are some highlights of items that I made this week other than the "Weekly Cookie"

Frosting Cereal Bars

This is a chocoholic's dream...1 tub chocolate frosting, 1/2 stick butter, 11.5 oz bag of chocolate chips, 5 cups Cocoa Puffs with M&Ms sprinkled on top

Bacon Swiss "Cheesecake"

Chocolate Cupcakes

June 3: Mud Bars

Mud Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 3/4 cups butterscotch chips
1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
2 cups, dry roasted lightly salted peanuts
2 cups mini marshmallows

1. Line a 9 inch square pan with nonstick foil.
2. Combine the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and peanut butter in a large saucepan; heat on medium-low heat, stirring often, until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the peanuts and marshmallows.
3. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan and chill for at least 2 hours. Grasp the foil, lift from the pan, set on a cutting board, and cut into 30 pieces. The mud should remain stored in the refrigerator and will keep for a couple of months in an airtight container.

Thoughts: This was a VERY easy recipe. The only variation that I made was that I topped it with peanuts instead of mixing them in. It makes a very rich and thick piece of chocolate. It was good. It tasted mostly of chocolate (obviously) and peanut butter...not so much butterscotch. Patrick didn't think he would like it because of the thickness and texture, but it got a thumbs up!