Search Results for: rosemary

Rosemary and Brown Butter Pecan Blondies

Did anyone else have the post-Thanksgiving blues?  I got home after a week with family and had a rough time adjusting back to normal life.  I wanted to stay in my pajamas and in bed all day.  I scoured the freezer for meals, bought groceries to make pot pies but when it came time to make them I just didn’t want to do it so we ordered pizza, and one night I ate salad straight from the plastic container it came in instead of using a plate.  Keeping it classy, y’all.  I am back from my hiatus and have even cooked a couple of proper meals this week.  Hopefully my post-Christmas blues don’t find me in this same predicament…

Christmas is fast approaching and while my shopping is mostly completed and our tree and lights are up I feel like I have a lot of cooking still to do.  I’m excited to make some of the nostalgic cookies that bring me right back to my childhood, but I always like to try my hand at something new.  So along with some reliable and time-tested recipes, I’ll also share some new ones that would be perfect for the holiday season.

I have a thing for rosemary.  An herb that is lovely in savory dishes but really gets along well with sweet flavors, rosemary is also incredibly easy to grow.  In fact, the rosemary plant I thought was dead and moved to the side yard to die a slow death is doing better than the one I have been caring for on the back porch.  That should give you an idea of my gardening skills.  The blog is already full of sweets that feature rosemary, but that isn’t stopping me from sharing another one with you!

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These blondies were a big hit with my husband, who prefers his sweets more on the savory side.  My 4-year-old was not a fan.  My 2-year old ate them up happily, a girl after my own heart.  It has butter and sugar in it?  We are in.

Brown butter and dark brown sugar make these blondies quite rich.  Add pecans and rosemary to the mix and the flavors are all warm and rich.  The cranberries are a welcomed sweet-tart addition that make these blondies more balanced and super delicious.

I went heavy on the salt and rosemary, but realize that not everyone has my taste buds.  Opt for less salt and less rosemary if you’re skeptical.  Then if you think it needs more you can adjust the next time.  I usually say it’s better to have too much than not enough, but that’s not the case with those ingredients.

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 Rosemary and Brown Butter Pecan Blondies

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1-2 teaspoons chopped, fresh rosemary
  • 1-2 teaspoons salt
  • 8 tablespoons butter
  • 2 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

  1. Brown butter: Place butter in a small saucepan and heat over low-medium heat until butter begins to sizzle and spit.  Reduce heat to low, watch closely and swirl the pan occasionally just until butter smells nutty.  Pour into a bowl and let cool slightly.
  2. Preheat oven to 325°F and butter a 9×13 pan.
  3. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and rosemary together in a small bowl.
  4. Beat cooled butter and brown sugar together.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
  5. Mix in flour mixture and then the pecans and cranberries.
  6. Spread batter into the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
  7. Cool before cutting and serving.

Rosemary and Maple Bacon Green Bean Bundles

I offered to bring a few things to Thanksgiving with my in-laws this year, including these rolls, a pie (still undecided on what I’m going to do) and a green bean dish.  I thought about doing these green bean salads, but my sister-in-law is bringing a green salad and I didn’t want to double up.  So I went in search of a green bean dish that wasn’t a rich heavy casserole, even though I love the stuff, but was still special.  These green bean bundles are the perfect compromise.

Rosemary and Maple Bacon Green Bean Bundles | Hottie Biscotti

I wanted something that wasn’t going to occupy too much stove or oven space and wouldn’t take too long.  You can blanch the beans in advance, and partially cook the bacon beforehand, which means a quick 15-20 minutes in the oven is all you need to finish these off.

The original recipe I found here on Williams-Sonoma’s site.  I changed a few things and was amazed at the results.  The bacon becomes almost candied in the butter and maple syrup sauce, so these are a bit decadent but since you’re eating vegetables you’re going to be fine.  It’s Thanksgiving after all.  Nothing wrong with candied bacon on Thanksgiving.

I think these are adorable in their little individual bundles.  It does require more work, but nothing too intense.  With all the other sides you really only need one bundle per person, but make some extra just in case.

Rosemary and Maple Bacon Green Bean Bundles | Hottie Biscotti

With Thanksgiving just a week away I wish you happy and stress free meal planning, traveling, prepping, baking and cooking.  But most of all I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you thoroughly enjoy the day with family and friends!

Rosemary and Maple Bacon Green Bean Bundles

Makes about 12 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds green beans (6-8 green beans per bundle)
  • 8 strips of thick-cut bacon cut in half crosswise, 16 pieces total
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Directions

  1. Trim and blanch the green beans: Trim the end off of the beans.  Boil a large pot of water and prepare a big bowl of ice water.  Cook the beans for 3-4 minutes until crisp-tender.  Drain, then plunge into the ice water.  Remove from the water and pat dry with towels.  Proceed with the recipe or store beans in the fridge for up to 1 day.
  2. Cook the bacon: Heat a skillet over medium heat and fry the bacon partially, about 1 1/2 minutes per side.  Do not let it get crispy or you won’t be able to wrap the bacon around the beans.  Proceed with the recipe or store the bacon in an airtight container for up to 1 day.
  3. Melt the butter and whisk in the syrup, salt and rosemary.
  4. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
  5. Wrap 6-8 green beans in one piece of bacon and lay on the parchment seam side down.  Repeat with all the beans.
  6. Drizzle each bundle lightly with the butter mixture.  You may have some leftover, which you can either drizzle on the beans or toss depending on how much sauce you want.
  7. Bake the bundles for about 15 minutes, until bacon is crisp.  Move to a platter and serve.

Sweet Potato and Rosemary Biscuits

I want to be good at biscuit making.  Really good.  So good that someday my kids or grandkids will say, “These aren’t as good as Mom’s biscuits.” when they have someone else’s.  But I’ve only made biscuits a handful of times, and you can’t get really good at something unless you do it a lot.  So I think I am going to start making biscuits more, and I’m starting with something a little out of the ordinary, but totally delicious.

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This recipe comes from The Kitchn, I just added some fresh chopped rosemary and opted not to make the maple butter, which I am sure is truly heavenly.  But I was looking for something a little more savory to serve with dinner.

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These biscuits turned out very well, although not tall and fluffy like I imagine perfect biscuits to be.  They are moist and the flavor is incredible.  The sweet potato isn’t all that noticeable, but does add a nice sweetness to the biscuit and a lovely orange hue.  The rosemary is just present enough without being overwhelming.

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Serve these with butter, cause you can’t ever have too much.   Enjoy them for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  I think a little bacon and egg on one of these would be a spectacular way to start the day.  With a few slices of ham they’d make nice little lunch sandwiches, and serve them along side soup or whatever you’re having for dinner.  Or just eat one as an afternoon snack.

Sweet Potato and Rosemary Biscuits

From The Kitchn

Makes 9 3-inch biscuits

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary
  • 1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potato (about 1 medium sized sweet potato)
  • 3/4 cup butter milk (you may not use quite all of this)
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into chunks

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside.
  4. Whisk sweet potato, 1/2 cup buttermilk and rosemary together in a small bowl.  Set aside.
  5. Cut butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender, 2 knives, or your hands, until butter is a bit smaller than pea sized.
  6. Fold in the sweet potato mixture, add a little more buttermilk if mixture seems dry.  Bu it should still be a little sticky.  Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
  7. Flour a work surface and turn dough out onto it.  Pat out into a round, about 1 inch high.  Use a 2 or 3-inch round cutter and cut as many biscuits out from the dough as you can and place them on the baking sheet.  Pat the dough scraps together and cut more biscuits.
  8. Bake for 15 minutes, then let cool (or not) and enjoy.

Rosemary Apricot Bars

A while back I posted that I wanted this cookbook from Baked.  So, I armed myself with a Barnes and Noble gift card and went out to fulfill my desire.  My plans went awry when they did not have the book in stock.  I bought the second cookbook from Baked instead, Baked Explorations.


The cookbook itself is quite wonderful.  The photos are lovely and unique with a rustic appeal.  Beautiful antique plates, platters and serving dishes display the sweet offerings of this cookbook.  Wood grains, and all shades of brown dominate the color scheme with the occasional pop of color and accents of gold and silver.  The recipes are keeping with the feel of this book, which to me feels like the cooler days of autumn.  I can’t wait for it to be cool enough for me to make the whiskey pear tart!  It’s 102° at the moment…

The first recipe I tried was the Rosemary Apricot Bars.  I had one of these from the bakery when I was in Brooklyn last summer visiting my sister.  It was such a great combination of sweet and savory, crunchy and gooey, and totally delicious.  Mine did not quite measure up to the bakery standards, but they were good.  So good that my husband asked for seconds.  This is a rare occurrence, so I know this is a keeper recipe.

I made some mistakes with these bars.  The recipe calls for a 9 inch square pan.  I used an 8 inch, which made the bottom crust a bit too thick, and the topping a bit too thick, but the filling was just right.  I skimped by 1 tablespoon on the crumb topping because that’s all I had left after the 12 tablespoons in the crust.  As a result, a lot of the topping fell off the top of the bars when I cut them.  Don’t skimp on the butter.  My timing on putting these together was also a bit off, so the apricot filling ended up getting too thick and too reduced after sitting in a warm oven for almost 2 hours.  Why?  Well…

Our house is on the market, as of last week, but we hadn’t had any showings as of Sunday.  So yesterday I struggled with myself a bit.  Do I make these bars and risk a messy kitchen when someone wants to see the house at the last minute, or do I not make them and then regret it because no one came to look at the house anyway?  I made the decision to make them.  Having my house on the market shouldn’t mean sacrificing my freedom to baked goods, right?

I’d made all the parts of the recipe…crust chilling in the fridge, filling cooked and ready to be pureed, crumb topping mixed and in the fridge.  Dirty dishes all over the place.  Carson wakes up from his nap.  I get a call from the realtors office that someone wants to come see the house as soon as I’m ready.  I said 30 minutes and the frenzy begins to get things put away.  15 minutes later there’s a knock at the door.  The dog starts barking, so Carson starts crying, so I’m trying to keep the dog from attacking the realtor as I try to get to the door.  She apologized for being early, I asked for a few minutes to at least put my sweet guard dog in the back yard, I swept Carson up and we headed out to run an errand.  I was a sweaty mess and then realized that I was holding a baby who’s diaper was just about at its breaking point.  I was so tired.

I’d stashed the cooling apricots in the oven, which was warm from the beginning of a preheat, so when I get home the apricots were a seriously sticky and overly reduced mess.  I warmed them up again with a little water and then pureed them.  It worked out ok, given the circumstances.

Despite the craziness surrounding these they turned out well.  I might play around with them in a 9×13 to get a thinner crust.  I’ve learned a valuable lesson about using my kitchen and trying to sell my home.  They do not mix.  I think I will try to bake later in the evening instead of the middle of the afternoon to avoid the chaos I experienced yesterday.

Rosemary Apricot Bars

Courtesy of Baked Explorations

Ingredients

Rosemary Short Dough

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced
  • 12 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Apricot Filling
  • 2 cups dried apricots
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons brandy
  • pinch of salt
Crumb Topping
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes
Directions
Rosemary Short Dough
  1. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan and line with parchment, overhanging on 2 sides.
  2. In a medium bowl whisk flour, salt and rosemary.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer beat butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until fluffy.
  4. Stream in the flour and mix on low speed until flour is incorporated, then turn the dough into the pan and press into an even layer.  Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
  5. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes.  Let cool on wire rack.
Apricot Filling (Make while dough is chilling)
  1. Place the apricots, sugar, honey, brandy and salt in a medium saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water and simmer over low heat for 45 minutes, or until apricots are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated and thickened.
  2. Let cool slightly, then puree in a food processor until smooth.
  3. Spread over crust while it is still warm.
Crumb Topping
  1. Combine sugar, flour salt and pecans in a bowl.
  2. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until butter is incorporated and you have a sand-like texture.  (You can store this in the fridge until ready to use.)
  3. Sprinkle crumb mixture on top of the apricot layer and bake at 350°F fr 20-25 minutes.
Let bars cool out of the oven for 30 minutes, then remove using the parchment and cut into bars.

Lemon Rosemary Madeleines

In honor of Bastille Day…or possibly just an excuse to use the madeleine pan that has been sitting in my cupboard for a few years now? Regardless, these French lemon madeleines are light and lovely.

This was one of those times in the kitchen where you begin to wonder, “Is this just not in the stars for me?”  First the butter exploded in the microwave, with great flair, I should add.  Loud popping clumps of butter going everywhere.  Then I was separating eggs and almost added the whites instead of the yolks to the bowl.  Then I spilled cake flour all over myself and the floor, something I really hate cleaning up for some reason.  Really?  It was just one thing after another.  A lesson in patience and being slow to anger?  Maybe so.

Madeleines are beautiful little treasures, but impossible to make without a madeleine pan.  I only have one small madeleine pan and I didn’t feel like waiting for it to cool, washing it out and re-greasing it before making another batch, so I used my remaining batter to make little lemon rosemary muffins.  Simply grease 24 mini muffin cups, fill them 3/4 full and bake for about 12 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the tops are just beginning to brown.  Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!  They don’t have the same cute little ruffled shell shape, but they are just as good.

Fresh and light lemon flavor with just a subtle rosemary flavor, these little cake-like cookies are wonderful.  I think they’d be perfect for a tea party, baby or bridal shower.

Lemon Rosemary Madeleines

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 3 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • powdered sugar
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter two madeleine pans; set aside. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; Mix in chopped rosemary and set aside.
  2. Put eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and thickened, about 5 minutes. Mix in butter. Using a spatula, fold flour mixture into egg mixture. Let rest 30 minutes.
  3. Pour batter into buttered pans, filling the molds 3/4 full. Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway through, until edges are crisp and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly in pans on wire racks. Invert, and unmold. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.

 

Rosemary Pecan Shortbread Cookies

I absolutely love these crisp, sweet and savory cookies.  I found the recipe years ago in a Martha Stewart magazine and have made them quite a few times since.  The original recipe calls for walnuts instead of pecans, but I’ve found the pecans to be delicious.  So, you choose.  There is not an alternative to the fresh rosemary!  You don’t need a huge amount to make these cookies, so if you have to buy your rosemary plan to make a meal that uses rosemary, like this one, or make a few batches of the cookies and freeze them.  The only other change is the baking time.  My cookies were smaller, so I only baked them for about 11 minutes.  Keep an eye on them.  When the cookies are set, golden around the bottom and still light on top, take them out.

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Rosemary-Pecan Shortbread

 

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup finely ground pecans (or walnuts)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Raw sugar, for decorating

 

 

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Whisk flour, nuts, rosemary, and salt in a large bowl.
  2. Put butter and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until lightened, about 3 minutes. Mix in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture; mix until dough comes together and is smooth, about 3 minutes.
  3. Turn out dough onto parchment paper, and pat into a round. Place parchment paper on top; roll into a 12-inch round, 1/4 inch thick. Transfer to a baking sheet; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
  4. Cut out cookies using various sizes of heart-shape cutters (1/2 inch to 3 inches); transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets. (Keep same-size cookies on same sheet.) Roll scraps; cut out. Gently press raw sugar onto edges of cookies.
  5. Bake until just golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

Puff Pastry Goat Cheese Bites with Rosemary and Lemon

The origins of this hor d’oeuvre are quite interesting.  I am usually very good about not only writing down a detailed grocery list, but also double checking on amounts and types of ingredients I need before going grocery shopping.  This particular Saturday morning I walked in to HEB on the cell phone and spent the next half hour on it…while shopping.  It should come as no surprise that I got home with 4 wrong ingredients…2 of which were needed for this recipe.  Just my luck.

I did a little tweaking and ended up with a decent replacement.  This did not require too much culinary skill due to the use of puff pastry.  I could have put dirt in these pastry shells and they would have tasted good.

The origninal recipe was a goat cheese and rosemary tart.  I was suppossed to buy puff pastry sheets, but grabbed the puff pastry shells; mistake # 1.  Then the goat cheese, which should have been plain, had red piquillo peppers in it; mistake # 2.  The mistakes were worth it, though.  I think these individual pastries were better as an hor d’oeuvre than the tart would have been.

1 package frozen puff pastry shells
4-6 oz. goat cheese (any kind!)
2 tablespoons cream
chopped fresh rosemary
grated lemon zest

 

 

Preheat oven to 400 F

  1. Mix the goat cheese and cream in a small bowl until well combined.  
  2. Prepare the pastries according to the package directions on a cookie sheet.
  3. Halfway through the baking time (8-12 minutes or until pastries have puffed up), remove the shells from the oven and pop the centers out.  
  4. Fill each shell with a rounded teaspoon of the goat cheese.  
  5. Top each with a sprinkle of rosemary and lemon zest.
  6. Bake until shells are golden brown and cheese is warm; 8 minutes more

Baking Through Fika: Gunnebo Dreams

I was able to go out to California last month to celebrate my cousin and his wife who just the month before got married (Congratulations, Peter and Carissa!) and while there I was asked by a few of my family members if I was still baking and blogging and how this particular Fika cookbook project was coming along.  I’d kind of forgotten I even had a blog!  Why is it so hard?!  How can I feel so busy, that I’m always working on something, yet nothing ever feels complete and I just feel like I’m failing at everything?  That sounds dramatic.  But really, the minute I finish laundry there is more to do, I enjoy a clean floor for an hour before someone spills their yogurt or the dog comes in with muddy paws, and why do kids wipe their hands, faces and snotty noses on everything BUT a towel, tissue or napkin?  Why?  What you don’t know or appreciate fully until you’re in it is that being a parent (working or not, mom or dad) is just plain hard, often unrewarding (at least in the short term) and underappreciated work.  Being the cook, the maid, the social coordinator, the chauffeur, the teacher, the disciplinarian, the mediator, etc for a family is time consuming, tiring and never ending.  I didn’t spill all of that to my inquiring family, I simply said “I just haven’t been making the time to blog as much recently.”

I definitely still enjoy blogging, and of course baking, but finding a balance between it and the rest of life’s demands and responsibilities isn’t simple.  I’ve thought about having a certain day and time that I dedicate to blogging, which in theory sounds like a good plan and maybe that will be my resolution for the blog in 2017.  For now I am just going to try to finish this Fika book!  There are lots of yummy looking recipes perfect for the quickly approaching holiday season, and once I’m done this will be the first blog project I’ve actually completed, unlike others that started with the best of intentions and then fizzled out…

Here is my most recent bake from Fika!  This one puts me at 15 recipes completed and 15 to go.  Halfway!  Woohoo!  Hopefully the rest won’t take me quite as long as the first half, but don’t hold your breath.

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Gunnebo Dreams, cookies I have never heard of before, are a basic sugar cookie but with the unexpected addition of lemon balm.  I’d put off this simple recipe from Fika this long only because I couldn’t find lemon balm (and I didn’t look too terribly hard).  My grocery store’s garden section recently had some, so I figured it was a sign.  It’s now planted in a pot in the back yard and is flourishing!  I haven’t tried it in anything else, but found this great list of what is possible with lemon balm.  The honey-lemon nighttime syrup sounds like something I could use…

This recipe comes together so quickly and is simple and straightforward.  The kids can definitely help out!  The mixture of butter and oil gives these a different texture that I quite liked.  The cookie bakes up slightly crumbly and delicate, but doesn’t fall apart, is still moist, and has lovely buttery flavor.

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I didn’t find the lemon balm to be overwhelming, which was a fear I had initially.  It was just noticeable enough to add some interest to such a simple cookie.  The green specks are nice, too.  You could probably use other herbs, rosemary or thyme, possibly tarragon and mint as well.  Let me know what you try!

The recipe doesn’t call to roll these in sugar before baking, but it just felt right.  And the resulting sweet and crunchy exterior is great.

I’m trying out this new-to-me recipe feature, so bear with me as I figure it out!  And PLEASE give feedback if you have some.  If you like the feature, if not, why, how can it be better (either in appearance or ease of use) and if you use a recipe widget on our blog and you love it, again, PLEASE tell me about it!  I’m all trial and error over here and basically always need help 🙂

Print Recipe
Gunnebo Dreams
Lovely little sugar cookies with a light, airy, dreamy texture and the subtle flavor of lemon balm.
Course Cookies
Cuisine Swedish
Cook Time 12-15 minutes per batch
Servings
dozen
Ingredients
Course Cookies
Cuisine Swedish
Cook Time 12-15 minutes per batch
Servings
dozen
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 300F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Beat butter, sugar and oil together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add in the flour, baking soda, salt and vanilla and mix well.
  4. Fold lemon balm leaves into the batter.
  5. Roll dough into small balls (a rounded teaspoon is a nice size) then roll in sugar and place on baking sheet, leaving a little room between the cookies.
  6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until just slightly golden. Remove from cookie sheet and allow to cool on wire racks.
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Almond Cilantro Pesto and Yogurt Dip

Sometimes I am a good meal planner.  I look through the fridge, freezer and pantry to see what we have, what needs to be used, etc. and plan our week of meals out that way.  Other times I find myself on Tuesday mornings after I drop the kids at school (this is when I like to grocery shop since I only have one child to accompany me) with no idea what we have in the fridge and pantry which leaves me searching for recipes on pinterest and making a grocery list while in the parking lot of HEB.

Thanks to my inabilty to plan, I sometimes come home and discover we already had 8 cans of tomatoes, or goat cheese, or couscous, or a dozen chicken breasts I could’ve thawed out, etc.  Herbs are tricky.  Often all you need is a few tablespoons for a recipe.  Thankfully I’ve managed to keep rosemary and thyme alive in the back yard, but parsley and cilantro are another story and so I have to buy them.  They’re not expensive, but when you don’t need much they often get forgotten in the bottom of the produce drawer.  I bought cilantro for a recipe because I thought rather confidently “I know that I have parsley at home, but no cilantro.”  Not the case!  I had two almost completely full bundles of cilantro at home already, so when I unloaded groceries I now had three bundles.

What am I going to do with all of this cilantro?!  A while back I made a peanut and cilantro pesto, so that’s what I thought of first.  I didn’t have any peanuts.  But I did have almonds…

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At this point I had no plan for the pesto I’d just made, but I knew that I could save it.  Freezing pesto in tablespoons to have on hand for later is a trick I am so glad I learned.  Having something on hand in the kitchen is nice, but having pesto on hand is especially nice because you can incorporate some fresh herby-ness to a meal even when you don’t have fresh herbs or if they’re out of season.

The best way I’ve found to freeze pesto (this also works well for tomato paste) is to line a baking sheet with parchment, use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to divide up the pesto, and then pop the pan in the freezer.  Once frozen solid you can put all the pesto balls into a freezer bag (I learned that labeling your bag is very helpful!) and take one or more out as you need them.  They thaw out pretty quickly.

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Of course I wanted to try some of the pesto right away.  I ate some on a chip and it was good, but strong (like most pesto) and needed to be cut if I was going to eat it as a dip.  Plain Greek yogurt seemed like the perfect choice.

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I played around a little with the ratio but found a 2:1 yogurt to pesto was pretty good.  Of course you could start there and add more yogurt or more pesto depending on your tastes.

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The same thing could be done with mayo to make a nice sandwich spread.  You could also spread the pesto on chicken breasts before baking, stir in to hot pasta, use as a dipping sauce for grilled meats or serve with grilled vegetables.  Excited to try some of those out as summer and grilling season get underway!

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Almond Cilantro Pesto

Ingredients

  • 2 cups packed cilantro leaves, rinsed and dried
  • 1 cup almonds, raw, skin on, toasted if desired
  • 2-3 large garlic cloves
  • 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/3 cup olive oil (up to 1/2 cup if desired)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
  • ground pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Combine cilantro, almonds and garlic in a food processor and puree until smooth.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  2. Add the Parmesan and salt and pulse a few times to combine.
  3. With processor running, drizzle in the oil and process until smooth.
  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cilantro Pesto Yogurt Dip

How much of the ingredients you need depends on your taste and how much dip you want to make.  Below are the amounts I used to make dip for 2-4 people as an appetizer serving.  Increase or decrease as desired.

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) cilantro almond pesto
  • 8-10 tablespoons (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) plain Greek yogurt (full fat or 2%)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Tortilla chips, pita chips, grilled bread

Directions

  1. Combine both in a bowl and mix well to combine.
  2. Serve immediately or chill until 5-10 minutes before serving, it gets thick when chilled so let it warm up at room temperature for a bit before serving.

Swedish Spritz and Christmas Cookie Trays

While I love this time of year I must admit that it stresses me out!  I start to get bogged down in the to-do lists and parties and gifts and travel arrangements and forget to savor the season and really focus on Christ and the miracle of his birth and the wonder of it all!  I’ve been trying to reinforce with my kids that Christmas isn’t just presents, Santa, cookies and Jingle Bells, but I’m not being the best example by stressing out about all of those things.  Does anyone else have this problem?!  Any advice on how to find balance?

Today is the last day of preschool before Christmas break and I’ve tried this year to keep things simple for teacher gifts.  A cookie tray and a gift card to one of their favorite stores.

Cookie Tray-2

All of the cookies on this tray can be made ahead of time and frozen for at least a couple of weeks which makes them great for the craziness of this time of year.

Here is the link for the Molasses Cookies and here is the Rosemary Pecan Shortbread.  Both of these are wonderfully spiced and amazingly delicious.  My husband does not like sweets and the molasses cookies are some of his favorites.

Cookie Tray

And here is the Spritz recipe!  It’s a family recipe that my mom, aunt and grandmother used.  These are straightforward butter cookies.  If you don’t have a cookie press you could maybe roll them in to balls and then roll them in sugar, but I haven’t tried that before.  Don’t be scared of a cookie press, though!  My mother in law passed down to me the one pictured below a few years ago and I just now worked up the courage to use it.  I wish I’d not waited so long!

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A few tips:

  1. Use an ungreased cookie sheet!  I used parchment for my first batch, which was a mistake.  The dough didn’t stick to the parchment, it just stayed on the press!  Very frustrating.  There is enough butter in these that sticking shouldn’t be an issue 🙂
  2. Watch these carefully in the oven.  If they burn they’re just not very good.
  3. Place the red hots on the cookie in such a way that they’re not too close to the edge.  If they get too much heat from the metal of the pan they’ll melt.

SWEDISH SPRITZ

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • coloring (optional)
  • red hots or sprinkles

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. Cream butter and sugar together thoroughly.  Add in the egg and extracts and beat well.
  3. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together, then add to the butter mixture and beat until combined.  At this point you can color some of the dough if you want to.  The green trees have always been a favorite of my family!
  4. Fill cookie press with dough and fit with a plate.  Force dough out according to the directions for your press on to an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart.  Press red hots into cookies if using.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven for 7-10 minutes.  You may need to rotate them if you oven bakes unevenly.
  6. Cool and serve.  These freeze very well.