These cookies are called English Toffee Cookies in the cookbook, but I took the liberty of changing their name to be more descriptive.  They are a little like toffee with their salty sweetness, but not sticky or chewy like toffee.  These cookies are crispy and light.  They are sweet, but not too sweet.  The cinnamon is wonderful.  I think a little nutmeg would be nice as well.  They are quite tasty on top of vanilla or coffee ice cream, next to a cup of coffee or tea, or all alone.

So very easy.  Mix up the dough, roll it out in one big slab on a cookie sheet (use parchment or a silpat to avoid sticking) brush with egg white, sprinkle with pecans, bake, cut and enjoy!

Crispy Cinnamon Pecan Cookies

Courtesy of The Collection from the Junior League of Austin

Ingredients

• 1 cup shortening
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup ground pecans

Directions

1. Cream shortening and sugar.
2. Add beaten egg yolk and vanilla.
3. Sift dry ingredients together and blend into creamed mixture.
4. Roll dough out onto a cookie sheet to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness.
5. Coat with egg white then sprinkle with pecans.
6. Bake at 300°F for 25-30 minutes.
7. Let cool, then cut into squares or break into pieces.

Back to the cinnamon bread.

I made this for a neighbor who I made some cinnamon Amish friendship bread for a while back.  He kept asking me to make more of it, but I’d let my starter die and couldn’t do it.  I found this to be a great substitute and I can make it without having to keep feeding the friendship starter and making more loaves than I could ever hope to eat.

The recipe is from allrecipes.com, here is the link to the original recipe.  I changed the method for mixing the batter together to something I was more comfortable with.  I doubt it makes much of a difference, if any.  For the topping I used 2 tablespoons of melted butter and about 3 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar I already had mixed up.  Maybe this mixture swirled on top of the batter made it rise up all weird in the center but not on the edges?  I don’t know.  It isn’t pretty, but it is good.  Enjoy.

Cinnamon Bread

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and sugar one 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. Beat the oil and sugar, then add in eggs and vanilla.
3. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and salt then mix into wet ingredients, followed by the buttermilk.  Beat 3 minutes. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Smooth top.
4. Combine 3 tablespoons white sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and butter. Drizzle topping over smoothed batter. Using knife, cut in a light swirling motion to give a marbled effect.
5. Bake for about 50 minutes. Test with toothpick. When inserted it should come out clean. Remove bread from pan to rack to cool.

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

I managed to get the coffee cake made this week despite the fact that my son has not been a fan of napping for more than 30 minutes at a time.  At the moment I am trying to get this post written before he wakes up!  So, forgive me if this one is short and sweet.

The dough wasn’t too difficult to put together, but even after an hour and a half rise it hadn’t really doubled in bulk.  I do not have a great relationship with yeast.  I added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 3/4 teaspoon of cardamom to the flour mixture.

The filling.  Oh my goodness.  The filling.  How can you argue with this?  Sweet meringue, chopped pecans, cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips.  I did one ring with chocolate, and one without.  I prefer the one without if I’m enjoying this for breakfast.  I found that the chocolate hides the other flavors too much.

Rolling this up was easy, but when I went to form the ring I couldn’t get the edges to completely seal together.  I also didn’t have much filling on the edges, so a section of my ring was just bread…which still tasted delicious.

After baking, the meringue puffed out of the vents and got nice and brown.  It is so lovely!  I couldn’t resist breaking off a piece of it to enjoy.  Yummy.

I made the coffee cakes the day before and sent half of each one to work with Ben the next morning.  I was worried that it wouldn’t stay fresh overnight, but I had a piece the next afternoon and it was quite good.

Here is the link to the recipe.  I am too pressed for time to put the recipe on this post!  Ok, now off to get the kitchen cleaned before the little man wakes!  Enjoy!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

There were quite a few donut options for this deep-fried challenge.  All the Daring Bakers could choose from a yeast donut, a buttermilk cake donut, filled bomboloni or pumpkin donut.  I was quite close to choosing the pumpkin since I have been on a pumpkin kick lately, but chose the buttermilk cake donut and added some grated apple and cinnamon to the dough.

The recipe says the dough will be sticky.  I was not prepared for the level of stickiness.  Use as much flour as you need to keep the dough from sticking to the cutters and your counter.  I even found that after my first cutting and re-rolling the donuts cut and handled much better thanks to the additional flour that had been incorporated.  Do not be shy with the flour.

After frying these beauties to a golden brown, let them drain on paper towels.  After cooling you can glaze them.  I used a simple glaze of powdered sugar, cinnamon and milk.  If you don’t want to glaze, you could dip the donuts in cinnamon sugar while they’re still warm and get a nice crunchy exterior.  Or just sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

My only mistake here was choosing to make some extra donut holes that I knew would be ugly.  When you have ugly scraps of food, you know what happens, don’t you?  You can’t give them to anyone or serve them, so your only other option is to eat them.  And if you’re anything like me you will walk by that plate of ugly donuts and take a nibble here, a nibble there, and before you know it you’ve eaten the equivalent of about 5 full sized donuts.  Then you feel very happy and full of sugary, deep-fried goodness.  Pure donut bliss!

The apples provide a nice texture to the interior and made for some funky looking donuts, but don’t add an incredible amount of flavor.  I would maybe try applesauce in addition to the apple pieces if I try these again.  These really come together quickly, so they would be do-able on a Saturday morning and a much appreciated change from cold cereal I am sure.  Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Buttermilk Donuts

Adapted from Nancy SIlverton

Ingredients

• Sour Cream ¼ cup
• All Purpose Flour 3 ¼ cup
• White Granulated Sugar ¾ cup
• Baking Soda ½ teaspoon
• Baking Powder 1 teaspoon
• Kosher (Flaked) Salt 1 teaspoon
• Nutmeg, grated 1 ½  teaspoon
• Ground Cinnamon 1 ½ teaspoons
• Active Dry Yeast 1 1/8 teaspoon
• Buttermilk ¾ cup + 2 Tablespoon
• Egg, Large 1
• Egg Yolk, Large 2
• Pure Vanilla Extract 1 Tablespoon
• Grated apple 1 ½ cups

Directions:

1. Microwave sour cream on low power for 20 seconds.  Keep heating on low until sour cream is lukewarm.
2. Heat vegetable oil in large pot to 375°F/190°C.  Oil must be at least 3 inches deep.
3. Over a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon; make a large well in the center. Place the yeast in the well; pour the sour cream over it. Allow it to soften (if using packed fresh yeast), about 1 minute.
4. Pour the buttermilk, whole egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract into the well. Using one hand, gradually draw in the dry ingredients. The mixture should be fairly smooth before you draw in more flour. Mix until it is completely incorporated. Mix in the grated apple.  The dough will be very sticky. Wash and dry your hands and dust them with flour.
5. Sift an even layer of flour onto a work surface. Don’t be afraid to use a lot of flour. You don’t want the doughnuts sticking to your counter. Scrape dough out of bowl onto the surface; sift another layer of flour over dough. Working quickly, pat dough into an even 1/2-inch (12.5 mm) thickness. Dip cutter in flour and, cutting as closely together as possible, cut out the doughnuts and holes. Place holes and doughnuts on a floured surface. Working quickly, gather scraps of dough together, pat into 1/2-inch (12.5 mm) thickness, and cut out remaining doughnuts and holes.
6. Drop three to four doughnuts at a time into the hot oil. Once they turn golden brown, turn them and cook the other side. Cooking times may vary.  Watch them closely, but 20-30 seconds per side should be enough time.
7. Once cooked, place on a baking sheet covered with paper towels to drain.

I found the recipe on Group Recipes, but used melted butter instead of the oil originally called for in the recipe. Here is the link to the original recipe. The oil would probably make them more moist, so I might try that the next time I make these…and there will be a next time.

These are great when enjoyed warm, but also great at room temperature.  I warmed mine in the microwave for about 15 seconds each morning as I enjoyed them all week.  That’s just one of those things you must deal with while living with only one other person, leftovers always last a long time.  Sometimes this is a good thing, like with these muffins.  Other times I wish I had more people to eat the last couple servings of a dish.  Our family is growing, but Baby won’t be enjoying these muffins for a while!

Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon shopping list
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup, 1 stick, melted butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Mix first 5 ingredients together, then add egg, milk and butter.
2. Mix until almost blended, adding pecans. Do not over mix batter.
3. Fill greased and sugared muffin pans two-thirds full.
4. Bake muffins at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes.

The moment I saw this challenge I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.  Steamed pudding.  As in British steamed pudding.  Really?  And get this.  I was supposed to use SUET!  Where would I find suet?  A better question is, what exactly is suet?

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Esther explained on the Daring Bakers site that suet “is the hard but flaky fat found on the inside of a cow or sheep around the kidneys and that area of the body. Suet in its raw form crumbles easily into small chunks so much so that my butcher says it covers his floor in bits if he doesn’t have it taken out as soon as possible. In fact unless he knows he has a customer for it he has the abattoir take it out and throw it away and when I want some he gives it to me for free! It also melts at quite a low temperature, which has an effect on how it works in cooking. In some places such as the UK it is sold processed which basically means it is grated and combined with flour to keep the individual pieces from clumping together, and it becomes a sort of dried out short strands, almost granular in texture.”

I’m pretty sure that I didn’t follow all the rules of this challenge.  I didn’t use suet.  I used butter.  My pudding did not have a crust with filling.  It was more like a cake with fruit topping.  I did not use a traditional pudding mold.  I just used a bowl.  I did, however, steam my pudding just as instructed.  So, if I failed in all other categories, at least I did one thing right.

Overall I was very pleased with the outcome of this pudding.  I found the recipe on the blog “In My Kitchen“, but the recipe originally came from Martha Stewart.  Here is the Martha link.

There are quite a few components to this dessert, and trying to complete them all AND steam the pudding in one evening after you’ve gotten home from work and cooked dinner isn’t exactly easy.  I was a bit frazzled, as my husband will attest to.  But everything worked out and we ate pudding at 9:30pm last night.  The final product was worth the work and the wait.

The flavors are quite autumnal; caramelized apples, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and molasses.  Despite this I had absolutely no problem enjoying this dessert in late April.

The first step is making caramel and pouring it in to the bottom of your dish.

Then you create an applesauce using half of your chopped apples, sugar and spices.

Next, sauté the other half of the apples in a little butter and sugar.  These apples go on top of the caramel.

The applesauce you made earlier gets mixed into your cake batter and spread on top of the apples.

I didn’t make any changes to the ingredients.  I did have to make do with the baking vessels I owned.  A pudding mold is not something I have in my kitchen, and I probably never will.  In a search for pudding mold substitutes I discovered that I could use any kind of bowl that would be safe to sit in simmering water for close to 2 hours.  Most of my glass bowls were too wide to fit inside my largest pot.  So, I was forced to use a 2 quart Corningware casserole.  It was a bit too small for all the filling, so I had to use about 3/4 of a cup less batter than the recipe made.

I used a circle of buttered parchment on top of the pudding, then covered the bowl with two layers of foil.

When it came time to lower this into the pot of simmering water I realized that this task could not be accomplished unless I had something to help me lower the bowl without burning myself.

As advised by Esther, I made a handle out of kitchen twine and used that to lower the bowl and then to remove it after cooking.

This made my life much easier than it would have been if I’d tried to use my hands or a variety of utensils.  I highly recommend this if you do not have a pudding mold with a lid and handle.

Here is the pudding after its 1 hour and 40 minute steam.  Thanks to my trusty twine handle, it was a cinch to remove.  I was worried that it would still be gooey in the middle since it is hard to tell by looking if it is baked through.  Thankfully it was perfect, and came out of the bowl without any issues.  Isn’t it just beautiful?  The apple chunks on top covered in caramel are so pretty and mouth watering.  I couldn’t wait to dig in.

If I had been really on top of things, I would have served this with fresh whipped cream.  Not being prepared, I only had Cool Whip to serve along side the warm pudding, so that is what I used.

The pudding by itself doesn’t really need a dollop of anything though.  The caramel apple topping is delectable, and the soft pudding below is delicious and full of spice.  Altogether yummy.

Thank you again, Daring Bakers (and Esther!), for making me bake something I would never have thought to try otherwise.  And, to be quite honest, I kinda thought I was going to hate it.  How wrong I was.  The results were delicious!

Steamed Caramel Apple Pudding

Ingredients

• 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 9 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)

Directions

1. Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon water in a small, heavy saucepan; set over medium heat. Cover, and cook until sugar has melted. Remove cover, and continue cooking, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar turns a deep amber. Carefully pour caramel into pudding mold; tip so caramel coats mold evenly. Set mold aside.
2. Place half of the apple chunks in a small saucepan, and add 2 tablespoons water, 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Place saucepan over low heat, and cook, covered, until apples fall apart, 10 to 12 minutes. Uncover, and cook 5 minutes more, stirring often. Set the applesauce aside.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small saute pan; add remaining apple chunks and remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Cook over medium-high heat until apples turn brown on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes. Place apples in the bottom of the mold, distributing evenly so they reach up the sides.
4. Choose a pot large enough to hold the pudding mold with a 2-inch space all around. Place a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel in the bottom of pot; fill with enough water to reach halfway up sides of mold. Cover pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.
5. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together 8 tablespoons butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs and molasses; mix well. Add the reserve applesauce, and mix well.
6. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir in breadcrumbs. Add to the applesauce mixture. Stir batter until just combined.
7. Fill pudding mold with batter; clamp on lid. Place mold in a pot of simmering water. Cover pot, and cook until a toothpick inserted into middle of pudding comes out clean, about 1 hour 40 minutes. Check water often, keeping it at a steady, low simmer. Transfer mold to a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes.
8. When ready to serve, invert the pudding onto a serving plate. If any of the apple chunks stick to the mold, remove them, and rearrange them on the top; slice.

I found these donuts to be very simple and delicious.  The texture was delicate and sweet.  I liked the coating of cinnamon sugar and the contrast of soft donut to crunchy sugar.  The slight nutmeg flavor is perfect.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com and I followed it word for word.  Well, I guess I refrigerated the dough for more than an hour.  It was more like 2 hours.  But I don’t consider that a modification.  I consider it more like bad planning.  With the good results I got with the increased chilling, you could probably make the dough the night before and use it in the morning.  I love things you can make ahead of time.

Cinnamon Sugar Cake Donuts

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 quarts oil for deep frying
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ cup white sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, salt, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and nutmeg.
2. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg, butter, and vanilla. Mix until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Heat oil in a deep heavy skillet or deep-fryer to 370 degrees F (185 degrees C).
4. On a floured board, roll chilled dough out to ½  inch thickness. Use a 3 inch round cutter to cut out doughnuts. Use a smaller cutter to cut holes from center.
5. Fry doughnuts in hot oil until golden brown, turning once. Remove from oil to drain on paper plates.
6. Combine the remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon and ½ cup sugar in a large re-sealable bag. Place a few warm donuts into the bag at a time, seal and shake to coat.  Enjoy with a nice cup of coffee.

A bushel of apples picked at an orchard in New Mexico arrived at Ben’s office last week, courtesy of a client.  Ben came home with about a dozen of the cute, little, red apples.  I’m not sure what kind they are.  Originally Ben thought we could make a pie, but I wasn’t sure how the apples would bake.  Quite frankly, I did not want to put in the effort necessary to bake a pie just to have it be less than delicious thanks to shoddy apples.  So, applesauce it is.

This recipe comes from Cookin’ Canuk.  I hadn’t ever read this blog before yesterday, so naturally I spent some time perusing the recipes and enjoying the step-by-step photos accompanying each tasty blog post.  Some other recipes I would like to try are the crock pot gingered chickpea and spicy tomato stew, and the pine nut and brown sugar ice cream.

The applesauce was a nice combination between chunky and smooth.  The cinnamon gave it a warm and satisfying flavor.  The apples were not too sweet, not too tart, and make a delicious, warm, comforting applesauce.  I think this was a great choice for using our plethora of apples.

Crock Pot Applesauce

• 10 medium sized apples (gala, golden delicious, granny smith, fuji, whatever you have)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• a pinch cardamom
• 1/4 cups water or apple juice

1. Peel, core, quarter and slice the apples.
2. Combine apples, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a large bowl and stir to combine.
3. Pour water or apple juice on the crock pot, then add apple mixture.
4. Cook on low, stirring occasionally, for 8 hours.
5. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.