Quick Fudge

I learned this recipe as a Pampered Chef Consultant.  It was a great, quick way to show off the qualities of the non-stick cookware.  It's not the fanciest fudges and I'm sure those who do make the fanciest of fudges may initially turn their noses up at the idea of quick fudge, but it's a great recipe to throw in when you want to add something more to whatever you've got going but just don't have the time or ingredients.  And actually, when I include this fudge in my holiday gift packages, it's usually the first one that they want the recipe for.  So here goes:

Dish:       Quick Fudge         

Ingredients:

1 12 oz. package semi sweet chocolate chips      

1 container chocolate frosting (not whipped type)

Directions:

Melt chips in a nonstick saucepan over medium-low heat stirring frequently.  Add frosting and stir together in sauce pan until blended. Mix in chopped nuts if desired. Pour into square baker or 8x8 or 9x9 lined with foil and chill in refrigerator until just set. Slice and serve.

Now if you want to change flavors you just match up the chips with the frosting.  For peanut butter I would match up a vanilla icing with peanut butter chips.  Great creative.  I'm thinking of doing a double layer with the chocolate on the bottom and peanut butter on top.  

You can also make this fudge into shapes using a cookie press.  I would recommend placing a cookie sheet in the freezer.  When nice and cold, press the fudge using your cookie press onto the cookie sheet.  Don't use parchment paper, it won't stick and come off the press properly.  Allow them to set up and remove with a small spatula.  Store in an airtight container with the layers separated with wax or parchment paper.  Enjoy!

Peanut Blossom Cookies-Holiday Style!

I'm sure most of you have their own recipe for these cookies.  I'm even starting to see them pop up as chocolate blossoms with a chocolate-mint kiss on top.  But I like to fancy things up come Christmas time and thought I would share my technique with you.  The special ingredient?  Green and Red sanding sugar.  The traditional recipe calls for you to roll the dough into 1" balls and then roll in granulated sugar, but for Christmas I make a mixture of red and green sanding sugar, giving the cookies a jewel-like appearance.  Of course, you can roll yours in whatever color sanding sugar that matches your holiday.

Peanut Blossom Cookies

Ingredients:

·       8 oz. pkg. Kisses chocolates        

·       1/2 cup shortening      

·       3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

·       1/3 cup sugar     

·       1/3 cup light brown sugar    

·       1 egg

·       2 tbsp. milk        

·       1 tsp. vanilla       

·       1 1/2 cups flour

·       1 tsp. baking soda        

·       1/2 tsp. salt         

·       sugar

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 375°.  Remove wrappers from Kisses chocolates. 

    Beat shortening and peanut butter in a mixer until well blended. Add sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well.  Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture. 

    Shape dough into 1″ balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

    Immediately press a Kiss into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

    Variation:  For Christmas, use red and green sugar for the coating.  Sanding sugar will give a crisper bite to the cookie.

Servings:  about 3-4 Doz.      

Enjoy!

I made these cookies for the first time today and they are so good.  They are another cookie from-come on, guess-King Arthur Flour!  I'll bet you didn't see that coming.  I made their Gingerbread cookies last year and while they were good, the flavor was just a bit strong for me.  If you feel the same way about gingerbread cookies, you're gonna love these.  Another beauty about these, all the ingredients can be found at your local grocery store!


They kind of remind me of the Chai Spice cookies my sister made last year for Christmas.  Kind of intriguing when you first bite into them and then they really grow on you.  They are a cutout cookie so you will need to refrigerate the dough, roll it out and then cut it into the desired shape using cookie cutters.  If you're not big on holiday cutouts and want something a bit more formal, I would suggest using a fluted square or round biscuit cutter.  Now on to the recipe!

light spice holiday cookies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice or ground cloves
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

• directions

  1) In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, shortening, sugars, baking powder, spices, and salt until light and fluffy.

  2) Add the egg and molasses, and beat well.

  3) Mix about half of the flour into the butter mixture. When well combined, add the cornstarch and the remaining flour.  The mixture will seem kind of shaggy, but just keep mixing until it comes together real well.

  4) Divide the dough in half, flattening each half slightly to make a disk. Smooth the edges by rolling the disk along a lightly floured work surface. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour (or longer), for easiest rolling.

  5) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  6) Take one piece of dough out of the refrigerator, and flour a clean work surface, and the dough.

  7) Roll it out as thin or thick as you like. For slightly less crisp cookies, roll it out more thickly. We like to roll these cookies 1/8" to 1/4"inch thick. Use flour under and on top of the dough to keep it from sticking to the table or rolling pin.

  8) Alternatively, place the dough on parchment, and put a sheet of plastic wrap or another piece of parchment over it as you roll, pulling the plastic or parchment to eliminate wrinkles as necessary when rolling; this will keep dough from sticking without the need for additional flour.

  9) Transfer the cookies to ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets.

  10) Bake them just until they're slightly brown around the edges, or until they feel firm, about 10 to 12 minutes.

  11) Remove the cookies from the oven, and let them cool on the baking sheet for several minutes, or until they're set. Transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

  Yield: 3 to 4 dozen 2 1/2" to 3" cookies.

  For cutouts during the holiday season, I will make several batches and freeze them.  When I'm ready to decorate with royal frosting, I'll take them out and defrost before decorating them.  Enjoy!

Key Lime Sparkler Cookies

Here's another great cookie recipe I found on King Arthur Flour.  This is how they describe them:  Mouth-puckeringly tart and satisfyingly sweet, these crunchy, sugar coated cookies will become a family favorite.  You might be thinking, isn't that a more summer-type cookie?  Actually it's a great year-round cookie, but when I found it on KAF's site, they were touting it as an alternative Holiday cookie.  This time of year you find a lot of chocolate and gingerbread cookies, but why not slip in one of these snowy and tart cookies to brighten things up?

This recipe does call for a few items that you probably won't have in your pantry.  These items are lime oil, sour salt (citric acid) or tart & sour flavor, and edible glitter.  You can find all of these items through King Arthur Flour.  The lime oil and edible glitter can probably be found at your local cake store or Michael's.  You might even find it at a Williams-Sonoma.  I did a quick search on the sour salt and they have it available at Williams-Sonoma as part of their new spice collection.  It's also available on several spice sites.

One thing I love about these cookies is that they freeze real well, so it's very convenient for this time of year.  Now on to the recipe:

Cookies
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons Key Lime Juice
1/8 teaspoon lime oil
1/8 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid)* OR 1/2 teaspoon Tart & Sour Flavor
1 large egg 2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Coating
1/8 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid*)
1 cup glazing sugar or confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons white edible glitter (optional)

*Sour salt (citric acid) is what gives the cookies their sour bite—if you want less tang, use just a pinch.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, and baking powder till well blended. Beat in the lime juice, lime oil, sour salt (citric acid), and the egg. Blend in the flour thoroughly. 

Roll the dough into 1" balls, and place them on lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake the cookies in the top third of a preheated 350°F oven for 14 to 16 minutes, until the cookies are browned on the bottom. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a rack.

Mix together the sugar coating ingredients in a pan or bag. Gently shake and roll the still slightly warm cookies in the sugar till coated. Allow the cookies to cool completely, then repeat, coating again with the sugar. (If you're freezing the cookies, you may choose to recoat the cookies in sugar once they've been removed from the freezer, before serving.)

Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

To scoop the cookies, I use the small scoop from Pampered Chef.  You bake them until the bottoms are slightly brown.  Watch them carefully because it can sneak up on you.  I would recommend you mix up the powder sugar coating as soon as you put them in the oven.  They cool down pretty quickly and you want to do that first coating when they are slightly warm.  Not too warm or it will become a gummy mess.  If I'm going to freeze them, I do one coating of the powdered sugar mixture and then freeze them in an airtight container.  I keep the left over sugar mixture in an airtight container until it's needed again.  You'll want to separate the layers of cookies with parchment paper.  When you're ready to serve, defrost and do one more coating of the sugar mixture.  

My sour salt is in a medium to large grain so when I mix it with the powdered sugar, I crush it a little bit first so it distributes nicely.  Also, you might be saying, what the heck is edible glitter?  It is flavorless and adds a beautiful touch to your baked goods.  I like to sprinkle some on top of the icing on cupcakes.  Gives it a nice sparkle.  When it first came out, it was on available in white (more like clear).  Now it not only comes in different colors, they are making it into shapes i.e. trees, hearts and stars!  I get mine at Michael's but a good cake shop should have it also.  If not, you can order it though KAF.  The recipe calls for white, but I do a combination of either white and green edible glitter or white edible glitter and green sanding sugar.  Combine all the ingredients for the powdered sugar mixture well and then add the edible glitter.  If stirred too much, it does tend to break down into smaller pieces and loses it's sparkle.  Enjoy!

Vanilla Dreams and Swedish Dreams

I found the Vanilla Dreams recipe on the King Arthur Flour web site and the Swedish Dreams on the community page of the same site.  I've been including these in my holiday baking for several years now.  They are incredibly easy to make and I've been making them in advance this year and freezing them.  Both utilize a little known ingredient found more in Europe than here.  I buy mine from KAF and this is how they describe it:

Baker’s ammonia (ammonium carbonate) is a classic leavener, called for in your grandmother’s or great-grandmother's recipes.

• Baker's Ammonia (ammonium carbonate) makes extra-crisp cookies or crackers.
• Use in old-fashioned recipes calling for it (or for hartshorn).
• Yes, it has a very strong smell when baking; don't worry, it totally dissipates by the time the cookies are done.

The Swedish Dreams are a variation on the vanilla dreams by replacing 1 tsp. of the vanilla extract with either orange or lemon extract.  I use Fiori di Sicilia in mine and it smells like heaven in my kitchen whenever I use it in my baking.  It's another item I get from KAF and here is it's description:

Here at The Baker's Catalogue, we have to restrain ourselves from using Fiori di Sicilia in EVERYTHING! We think it's second only to vanilla, as far as flavorful multi-tasking goes.

• A Baker’s Catalogue exclusive!
• A combination of citrus and vanilla with a pleasingly floral aroma.
• Use about 1/2 teaspoon in a typical recipe for cookies, pound cake, pie, meringues, sweet bread, etc.
• Italians use Fiori di Sicilia ("flowers of Sicily") to scent their panettone and pandoro.
• For best freshness, refrigerate after opening. And caution, don't spill it on the counter, please – it stains.
• TEST KITCHEN TIP: You know that wonderful marriage of flavors you taste when you combine vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet in the same bowl? That’s what Fiori di Sicilia tastes like. We find that using it in just about anything mild and sweet–anything where competing flavors, like chocolate, don’t interfere–adds a wonderfully mysterious taste. Your friends will be guessing just what you’ve done to your sugar cookies or yellow cake or sweet bread to make them taste SO good!

I also use this in my homemade Angel Food Cake and it is devine!  Now on to the recipes!

Vanilla Dreams Cookies

  

Ingredients:

·       1 1/4 cups sugar

·       1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

·       3/4-1 tsp. salt*   

·       2-3 tsp. vanilla   

·       2 cups flour        

·       1/2 tsp. baker’s ammonia or 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

·       coarse sparkling sugar for coating

·       *If you use salted butter, reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.  Place sparkling sugar in a bowl. 

    In a mixer, beat together the sugar, butter, salt,  and vanilla extract. Add the flour and baker's ammonia, and beat until the dough comes together, scraping the bowl once; it'll seem quite dry at first, but keep beating, eventually it'll become chunky and cohesive.

    Scoop the dough by teaspoonfuls (a teaspoon cookie scoop works wonderfully well here) into the bowl of sparkling sugar. Roll the dough balls in the sugar to coat.

Put them on the prepared baking sheets, and use the bottom of a glass, dipped in sugar if necessary to prevent sticking, to flatten the balls to about 1/4" thick. 

    Bake the cookies for about 20 to 25 minutes, until they're a very light golden brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

Servings:  4 doz. cookies

Swedish Dreams Cookies

  

Ingredients:

·       1 cup (7 ounces) sugar         

·       2 sticks unsalted butter

·       1 tsp. salt*

·       2 tsp. vanilla extract    

·       1 tsp. orange, lemon or Fiori di Sicilia extract, optional    

·       2 cups (8 1/2 oz.) flour

·       1/2 tsp. baker's ammonia      

·       coarse sparkling sugar, for topping

·       *If you use salted butter, reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp.

Directions:

    Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.  Place sparkling sugar in a bowl. 

    In a mixer, beat together the sugar, butter, salt, vanilla, and orange or lemon extract. Add the flour and baker's ammonia, and beat until the dough comes together, scraping the bowl once; it'll seem quite dry at first, but keep beating, eventually it'll become chunky and cohesive.

    Scoop the dough by teaspoonfuls (a teaspoon cookie scoop works wonderfully well here) into the bowl of sparkling sugar. Roll the dough balls in the sugar to coat.

    Put them on the prepared baking sheets, and use the bottom of a glass, dipped in sugar if necessary to prevent sticking, to flatten the balls to about 1/4" thick. 

    Bake the cookies for about 20 to 25 minutes, until they're a very light golden brown around the edges. Remove them from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

Servings:  4 doz. cookies

To flatten the cookies, I use the plunger from my Cuisinart food processor.  It gives the cookies a pretty swirl design.  When I do the Vanilla Dreams I use white sparkling sugar and for the Swedish Dreams, orange sparkling sugar to tell the different flavors apart.  Sparkling sugar is a larger grain of sugar than sanding sugar and doesn't melt in the baking process.  It also gives a nice crunch to your baked items.

If you are going to store or freeze them, store the two flavors apart to keep the orange flavor from being absorbed into the vanilla ones.  Enjoy!

All About Vanilla!

As those of you who know me well have experienced, I do tend to ramble on a bit about baking.  One of the things I like to tell people about is genuine, high quality vanilla and the difference it will make in your baking.  I found this article on the King Arthur Flour site and on the back of the vanilla sampler from Nielsen-Massey I picked up today from Williams-Sonoma.  And, I thought I would share it with you all:

Vanilla, one of our favorite baking flavors, is anything but plain. Vanilla’s exotic yet comforting combination of floral and spice is sought after by cooks worldwide. Pure vanilla (synthetic versions just don’t compare) is derived from the vanilla bean, fruit of an orchid plant.  Vanilla originated in Mexico and was brought to Europe about 1520 by the explorer Cortez.

Today, most of the world’s vanilla comes from Madagascar and the surrounding Bourbon Islands, off the coast of Africa. Smooth, mellow Madagascar Bourbon vanilla is an all-purpose vanilla, ideal in everything from cookies and sticky buns to cake and ice cream. It is considered to be the highest quality pure vanilla available.  It takes the name "Bourbon" not from Kentucky Whiskey, but from the French Bourbon court that ruled Madagascar in the 1800's.  Mexican vanilla, derived from a thicker and darker bean, has a stronger, spicier taste. It pairs well with cinnamon and other assertive flavors.  Beware of vanillas claiming to be from Mexico.  You want to buy only from a reputable dealer of Mexican vanilla as they have found arsenic in quite a few and many that were advertised as genuine were in fact imitation vanilla.  Tahitian vanilla is less intensely flavored but known for it's aromatic, fruity, cherry-like flavor and ideal for light, fruit-based desserts and sauces.  This is a favorite of pastry chefs and performs best when used in low or no-heat applications as it's delicate flavor can become weakened in the presence of high heat.  Also ideal for refrigerated and frozen treats, cream fillings, smoothies and shakes.

While pure vanilla extract is familiar to bakers everywhere, vanilla comes in other forms as well, including vanilla paste, a thickened vanilla extract; and vanilla bean crush, an extract with crushed pods and seeds, which makes elegant-looking ice cream, whipped cream, and frosting, with its dark flecks of bean.

Seeds scraped from the interior of soft whole vanilla beans impart pleasingly strong flavor when steeped in custard, milk, cream, or syrup. Vanilla powder, made by grinding dried whole beans, offers robust flavor in hot drinks. And delicately infused vanilla sugar is a distinctive condiment.

Martha Stewart's Basic Shortbread

I love shortbread, but for some odd reason I have never baked any until recently.  But I have to admit that only until a few years ago, I just wasn't that big on cookies, period.  As I've said before, I give credit to my new love of baking cookies to King Arthur Flour.  I think what helps is not just their pictures but of the descriptions of them, their taste and their texture.  More cookbooks need to include the author's personal experience and history with that recipe.  That's what gets me excited to try it.  Sometimes I am rewarded, and rarely it falls flat.  But that's the way the cookie crumbles (insert groans here).


Anyways, back to the shortbread.  This past weekend I made Martha's shortbread which I saw on one of her shows.  The unique thing about shortbread is if you store it right, it actually gets better!  Store it in an airtight container and it will last for 30 days.  This recipe hasn't had a chance to last 30 days as I took them to my daughter's softball tournament and shared them with the parents and the girls.  Hey, if I can keep pushing my baked goods on other people, my hubby doesn't mind me making all this stuff because then it's not sitting around the house tempting him.  Ya baby, I'm your pusher, baby!  This recipe is very easy and very tasty.  I want to try it dipped in chocolate next.  Here you go:

Martha Stewart’s Basic Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

·       1 1/3 cups (2 sticks plus 6 tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans

·       2/3 cup sugar

·       3/4 tsp. salt

·       3/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

·       3 1/3 cups flour

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 275º. Butter a 9x13x1" baking pan, and line bottom with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add salt and vanilla, and beat to combine. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, beating on low speed until just combined.

    Press dough into prepared pan, leveling and smoothing the top. Using a dough scraper or the back of a knife, cut dough lengthwise into nine strips, each slightly less than 1 inch wide. Cut the strips crosswise into 4 strips creating 36 3" bars. Using the tines of a fork or a wooden skewer, create a decorative pattern on the surface.

Bake shortbread until evenly pale golden, but not browned, 70 to 85 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool slightly, around 5 minutes. Invert pan, and remove parchment. Turn shortbread over, and carefully break, or cut with a serrated knife, into bars. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

Servings:  36 bars

These are quite simple to make and store.  You can even freeze them if you want to make extra and need them to keep for more than 30 days.  If you want to make them fancier, you can dip half of each cookie in melted chocolate and allow to cool on wax or parchment paper.  Or you can finely chop pistachios, almonds or pecans and roll the chocolate covered cookie in the nuts.  Get creative and enjoy!