August 18: Chocolate Nut Toasts

Chocolate Nut Toasts

Ingredients:
1/2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons (2 oz) granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon (2 oz) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped almonds or a mix of almonds and other nuts
1/2 cup mixed dried fruit, such as apricots, raisins, and cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line 6 muffin cups with paper liners and spray the liners with flour-added baking spray. Alternatively, you can skip the paper liners and just spray the muffin cups.
2. Melt the chocolate in a small, microwave-safe bowl, using 50% power and stirring at 30-second intervals.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stuff peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, and then beat in the salt, almond extract, and vanilla. With a large scraper, fold in the flour. Fold in the melted chocolate, almonds, and fruit.
4. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups, dividing equally among all six, and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until the "muffins" appear dry and the edges are lightly browned (it's harder to tell with chocolate, but 20 minutes should do the trick). Remove from the oven and let cool slightly, then remove from the muffin cups and pull off the paper liners. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, then wrap loosely in foil and chill for about 4 hours, or until very cold. This makes the "muffins" much easier to slice.
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 200. Lay the cold "muffins" in their sides, and using a large serrated knife, slice them into thin rounds. You should get at least 3 rounds and 1 stubby-looking top per muffin. Arrange the rounds in one big layer on a baking sheet and bake at 200 for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until dried out. They'll dry out even more as they cool, so if the centers aren't completely firm after the full baking time, take them out anyway. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Store in a tightly covered container.

Addition of the sugar to the stiff peaks

Addition of the extracts

Addition of the flour

Addition of the melted chocolate

Addition of the raisins

Addition of the almonds

Thoughts: I was going to use a variety of mixed fruit because I thought I had both dried cherries and raisins, but I could only find raisins. I had a hard time yielding 4 slices per "muffin". It was more like 2 plus one stubby. Otherwise it was pretty straight forward recipe....too bad they were gross. I had a hard time trying to convince Patrick to try one, but once he did, he didn't like it at all. I thought he was being crazy, but then I tried it and felt the same way! Eww.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 8/20

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

Cinnamon Blondies I

Cinnamon Blondies II

Because of our fruit share, I have a lot of peaches....so it's a sugar cookie crust, cream cheese, vanilla and sugar as "cheese" and peach topping. I will have even more peaches tomorrow so I will probably make another pie or cobbler next week.

Peach Dessert Pie

This Week's Concoctions Ending 8/13

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

I forgot to post these last week. I made cutout cookies for my friend's baby shower.

I made this cake for the wrap-up party for one of the kids book club at the library.

Each layer had this look

3 cans of frosting for the whole thing!

August 12: Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies

Ingredients:

Cookies:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (5 oz) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (6 oz) unsalted butter, softened, or 3/4 cup shortening
1 1/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats (not instant)

Filling:
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 (7.5 oz) jar marshmallow creme
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Make the cookies: Mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl; set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed. Reduce the speed to medium and beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture, then stir in the oats. Chill the dough for 1 hour, or until firm enough for you to shape into balls.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line 2 baking sheets with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
4. Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and arrange about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Press down the tops slightly. Bake one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Make the filling: Beat the butter until smooth. Stir in the confectioners' sugar until incorporated. Beat until smooth, then beat in the marshmallow creme and vanilla until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
6. Spread the underside of one cookie with a generous tablespoonful of the filling, then top base to base with another cookie. Repeat until all cookies are sandwiched.

Dry ingredients

Addition of the egg

Addition of the vanilla

Addition of the flour mixture

Addition of the oats

Addition of the confectioners' sugar

Fluff!

Addition of the vanilla

Thoughts: I used shortening instead of butter just because I use butter all the time! I also didn't use freshly grated nutmeg...just the jarred stuff. Its important to put them in the fridge to firm up because the dough will be sticky even after being in the fridge. I put them in for about 10 minutes. I actually really liked the cookie and Patrick thought the filling was too sweet. There was a lot of filling leftover.

August 4: "Big as a Boat" Oatmeal Cookies

"Big as a Boat" Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (6.8 oz) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (3.4 oz) shortening
4 tablespoons (2 oz) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 large egg
1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup raisins or chocolate chips (optional)

1. Mix the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a medium-size bowl; set aside.
2. Place the shortening and butter in a microwave-safe mixing bowl and melt for 1 minute on high. Using a wooden spoon, stir in both sugars and the vanilla, honey, and egg. Stir in the flour mixture into the sugar mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the nuts and raisins.
3. Using a 1/4 cup measure, scoop up the dough and arrange 12 mounds on a foil-lined plate. The dough should be a little sticky at this point, but chilling will fix that. Chill for an hour, or until the dough is firm.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 and place a rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
5. Let the dough balls come to room temperature. Arrange the dough balls about 5 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet and press down slightly to make 2 1/2 inch rounds. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are browned and the middles appear set. Let cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Addition of sugars

Addition of vanilla, egg and honey

Addition of the dry ingredients

Addition of the pecans

Thoughts: These cookies' baking times were not what the recipe said. I had made another batch without nuts that I baked first and they were coming out a little raw after 12 minutes at 350. The book said that it might happen so they recommended lowering the temp and extending the time. I changed the temp to 325 and put them in for about 16 minutes. The cookies were just ok. Patrick didn't like them at first but he ended up thinking they were fine.

This Week's Concoctions Ending 8/6

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

Blueberry Cream Pie with premade crust (of course!). There is a layer of cream cheese and cool whip underneath the blueberry filling.

Blueberry Cream Pie

Nutella brownies which took forever to make....the recipe said to bake them for 30-35 minutes, but I ended up leaving them in the oven for probably 50-55 minutes. They were pure mush when I took them out at 32 minutes.

Nutella Brownies

These were supposed to be peanut butter cheesecake cookies but I couldn't taste the "cheesecake" at all.

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Cookies