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!

King Arthur Flour's Cheddar, Bacon and Scallion Scones

I recently attended two free demos from King Arthur Flour.  I was so excited because this was the first time they had come to Southern Nevada.  For those who think emails don't work, I am here to say yes they do, just be patient because I had been emailing KAF for years to come to Vegas.  I learned so much and even made a new friend!  That reminds me, I gotta email her about the second class.  Sorry, I'm drifting.  Anyways, one of the recipes they made were these scones which are beautiful.  I had seen the recipe on the KAF website before and had been meaning to try them and this was the incentive.

They will be perfect for the holiday season because you can make them up, freeze them and then bake directly from the freezer.  And Susan Reid, who conducted the demo, says they are better that way!  Have out of town guests?  Make these a few days before (or longer) and then simply pop them out of the freezer and bake.  No getting up early to slave away making breakfast.  Matter of fact, that's exactly what I did the other day.  We had our annual Halloween party and my daughter always has a few friends stay the night.  I usually try to make breakfast for them and these were one of the items.  Now on to the recipe:

Unbaked scone ready to freeze

King Arthur Flour’s Cheddar, Bacon and Scallion Scones

Ingredients:

·       2 cups (8 1/2 oz.) flour

·       1/2 tsp. salt

·       1 tbsp. baking powder

·       1 tsp. sugar

·       4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

·       1 cup (4 oz.) very coarsely grated or diced sharp cheddar cheese

·       1/2 cup (about 1 oz.) finely diced scallion tops (green part)

·       1/2 lb. bacon, cooked, cooled and crumbled (about 1 cup)

·       3/4-1 cup (6-8 oz.) heavy cream or milk, enough to make dough cohesive plus more for brushing onto scones

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 425º.  Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment.

    Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. 

    Work the butter into the flour until the mixture is unevenly crumbly. 

    Work in the cheese, scallions and bacon till evenly distributed.

    Add 3/4 cup of the cream, stirring to combine just until it comes together.  Try squeezing the dough together; it it’s crumbly and won’t hang together, or if there are crumbs remaining in the bottom of the bowl, add cream until the dough comes together.  Transfer the shaggy dough to a well-floured surface.

    Pat the dough into a smooth 7" disk about 3/4" thick.  Transfer the disk to the prepared baking sheet.

    Use a knife or bench knife to cut the disk into 8 wedges, spreading the wedges part a bit on the pan.  Brush the scones with a bit of extra cream; this will help their crust brown.

    Bake the scones for 22-24 minutes, until they’re golden brown.  Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the pan.  Serve warm, or at room temperature.

    Note:  You can freeze the scones after shaping and cutting.  When ready to bake, take the scones out of the freezer and place onto baking sheet and bake. 

Servings:  8 large scones

The recipe originally calls for cheddar cheese, but I used sharp because I wanted it to be equal in flavor to the bacon and scallions (or green onions).  You can use whatever kind you like, just depends on preference.  It also calls for cooking the bacon, cooling and then crumbling it.  You can do that also, but I have found that cutting the bacon up and then frying it seems faster.  They also drain better and cool down faster.  Again, it's preference.  If you find that you have difficulty cutting up the bacon here are two tips:  Make sure your knife is honed and sharp and freeze the bacon a bit before cutting.  Will go much easier if you do those two things.  

If you don't have unsalted butter you can use regular salted, just reduce the salt in the recipe by 1/8th tsp.  Every salted stick of butter has 1/4 tsp. of salt.  In this recipe we are only using 1/2 of a stick therefore, reduce by 1/8th.  Honestly, I always keep unsalted butter in my fridge, just not in large quantities.  The reason is that as butter sits in the fridge, it can absorb flavors from other foods in there.  The salt in the salted varieties hides that flavor so you can keep it in larger quantities.  Unsalted doesn't have that benefit so it can develop a odd flavor.  But I believe it's better because it helps you control the salt in your recipe and it gives a unique flavor.  

If you are making the scones ahead of time, do not brush them with the cream before freezing.  I placed them on a cookie sheet and covered well with plastic wrap and then froze them.  Once they were completely frozen, I placed them in a freezer safe container with the stacks separated with parchment paper.  You can bake them directly from the freezer at 425 degrees, but I chose to bake them on convection so I reduced it by 25 degrees to 400. Now normally when baking on convection mode you also reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes, but since they were frozen it actually came out about the same.  I did turn the pan half way through baking. But watch them because every oven is different.

When working the butter into the flour, you can use a pastry blender.  In the demo, she used one initially and then worked it in a bit more with her hands.  In a way she was incorporating the laminated technique in a much smaller way.  Laminated is when you are rolling butter into between pastry as in croissants or between flour as in pie crusts.  You are creating a layer of butter that is encased with flour/pastry.  When it bakes, the moisture from the butter evaporates pushing those layers apart therefore creating a crust.  The flavor of the butter is left behind but with little or next to no moisture.  This will create a flakier scone. By the way, did you know that in spite of the spelling they really are pronounced scawns?  

We had a good little laugh in the demo when Susan was stirring the cream into the dough.  We here in Vegas have a tricky little thing we deal with, no moisture.  When we joke about a "dry" heat, we ain't kidding.  For my baking recipes I consistently have to add 2 tbsp. to 1/4 cup more moisture, which is why I have adjusted the recipe to 3/4-1 cup cream because it really depends on how dry it is that day.  Another little trick she taught us?  Use a spray bottle with water.  You know when you dump that biscuit, pie or scone dough onto the counter and you have some areas that have just enough moisture but some are more dry and shaggy?  Just give those areas a little squirt and you're not water logging the perfect areas!  That is major for us desert people!

When I mention to not overwork the dough, that is a common mistake with scones and biscuits.  When you work the dough you are forming gluten strands.  That's ok for breads, but not so much with flaky pastries.  Just work it until comes together, no more!

Don't mean to overwhelm you all with details, but I feel it's better to be armed and ready when those uh-oh's happen as they almost always do when trying out a new recipe.  Enjoy!

Disney Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

As much as I love to cook and bake, I'm really weird sometimes about new recipes.  I enjoy collecting them but sometimes it takes a few years before I get around or get in the mood to try them.  I know I've had this recipe for at least 3-4 years because that's the last time I was an annual passholder at Disneyland which was included with a Fall email newsletter.  This is a treat that is offered in the park only during the Fall, although I have to admit I've never tried them (even though I looooove pumpkin).  We've been experiencing semi-Fall weather here in Las Vegas and I was staring at some cans of pumpkin in my pantry when this recipe popped into my head!  And everyone who has tried them raved about them.  So on to the recipe!

Disney Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

  

Ingredients:

·       15 oz. pumpkin purée (not pie filling), canned

·       1 1/2 cups sugar

·       3 large eggs                                

·       3/4 cup canola oil                      

·       1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

·       1 cup flour

·       3/4 tsp. salt                                 

·       1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

·       3/4 tsp. baking soda                   

·       3/4 tsp. cinnamon                      

·       3/4 tsp. ground cloves

·       1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg             

·       1/2 cup raisins, optional

·       Cream Cheese Icing:               

·       1/2 cup unsalted butter              

·       6 oz. cream cheese

·       1/2 tsp. vanilla                           

·       1 cup powdered sugar               

·       1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 325º. 

    In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla until well blended.  Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and add to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just blended. Over mixing may result in less tender muffins.  Fold in the raisins (if adding) until consistently distributed.

    Using a large scoop, portion mixture into muffin pans and bake, checking after 25 minutes. Insert a toothpick into center of muffin and remove. If toothpick is clean, the muffins are ready. If not, allow muffins to cook an additional 1-2 minutes or until toothpick is clean. 

Remove pans from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool on rack for another 30–60 minutes until completely cooled. 

    Allow cream cheese and butter to soften at room temperature for about an hour.  Mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  Add vanilla extract, powdered sugar and cinnamon, and mix until well blended.  Remove from mixer, and cover and refrigerate until needed.

    Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with icing.  Poke a hole into the center of each cooled muffin and squeeze icing directly into the middle of the muffin, finishing with a rosette on the top.

Servings:  24 muffins

For those who watch cooking shows, I know they are always saying the quality of the ingredient affects the taste so use the best you can find.  You might be taking that advice with a grain of salt wondering what products are they promoting or is a sponsor telling them to say that.  Well, I have no sponsors and I'm not paid to promote any certain brand.  So here's my advice-use the best product you can find!  It really does give more depth to dishes, especially baked goods.  I love King Arthur Flour (KAF)and the products they sell.  I also frequent Williams-Sonoma (WS), but more so their outlet store.  I have really noticed a difference in my baked goods since I started using KAF products especially their flours. Also, I highly recommend their Vietnamese cinnamon.  When you smell it, it smells like Red Hot candies!  It's that strong.  I always grate fresh nutmeg using a microplane grater.  Again, it will add more depth to the flavor.  Another ingredient I love to use is vanilla bean paste which I usually find at the WS outlet.  It's a thickened version of vanilla extract and includes the vanilla bean seeds.  If a recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla extract, you use a teaspoon of the paste.  Please NEVER use imitation vanilla, it has a weird after taste.  I almost always use Nielsen-Massey (NM) vanillas.  Even if you're a die-hard Mexican vanilla user, I would still only use NM (they have every flavor).  They have found arsenic in many brands made in Mexico and have found that brands touted as genuine vanilla were in fact imitation.  NM uses vanilla beans from Mexico, but process it themselves.  I sometimes use a product by Sonoma Syrup Co. called Vanilla Bean Crush.  It's a combination of Madagascar Bourbon (Bourbon refers to the island, not the alcohol) and Tahitian vanilla beans.  And it also has the seeds!  When you make the cream cheese icing, the tiny little seeds in the vanilla bean paste will give it a cute look (although you may have to explain to some people that they are vanilla bean seeds).  Ok enough of me espousing the benefits of great ingredients:

Disney Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients:

·       15 oz. pumpkin purée (canned)

·       1 1/2 cups sugar

·       3 large eggs                                

·       3/4 cup canola oil                      

·       1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

·       1 cup flour

·       3/4 tsp. salt                                 

·       1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

·       3/4 tsp. baking soda                   

·       3/4 tsp. cinnamon                      

·       3/4 tsp. ground cloves

·       1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg             

·       1/2 cup raisins, optional

·       Cream Cheese Icing:               

·       1/2 cup unsalted butter              

·       6 oz. cream cheese

·       1/2 tsp. vanilla                           

·       1 cup powdered sugar               

·       1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

    Preheat oven to 325º. 

    In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin, sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla until well blended.  Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and add to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just blended. Over mixing may result in less tender muffins.  Fold in the raisins (if adding) until consistently distributed.

    Using a large scoop, portion mixture into muffin pans lined with cupcake liners and bake, checking after 25 minutes. Insert a toothpick into center of muffin and remove. If toothpick is clean, the muffins are ready. If not, allow muffins to cook an additional 1-2 minutes or until toothpick is clean. 

Remove pans from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes.  Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool on rack for another 30–60 minutes until completely cooled. 

    Allow cream cheese and butter to soften at room temperature for about an hour.  Mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  Add vanilla extract, powdered sugar and cinnamon, and mix until well blended.  Remove from mixer, and cover and refrigerate until needed.

    Fill a pastry bag fitted with a star tip with icing.  Poke a hole into the center of each cooled muffin and squeeze icing directly into the middle of the muffin, finishing with a rosette on the top.

Servings:  24 muffins

The first batch I made, I used golden raisins.  I tried them at room temperature and didn't care for the texture of the raisins in the muffin.  After refrigerating, not only was the texture of the raisin better, but the overall taste was better.  With muffins and cupcakes, sometimes waiting really is better (I didn't say it would be easy!).  I do find with certain flavors, they do intensify when at room temperature or cooled, especially with pumpkin and banana.  Also, these are very moist muffins and refrigerating them gave them more structure.  

When filling the wells, I use my the large size scoop from Pampered Chef.  I use this same scoop for cupcakes.  With the raisins fill the scoop and maybe slightly rounded, but without the raisins, you want a level scoop.  Another tip I learned from KAF is to spray the inside of the cupcake liners with nonstick spray.  Ever take the liner off the muffin or cupcake and half of it went with the liner?  This will prevent that from happening.  

Even though you are keeping the cream cheese icing in the refrigerator until you're ready for it, you'll want to let it sit out to soften before using.  I would say 15-30 minutes depending on the temperature in your house.  Enjoy!