Cookies

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.

gunnebo-dreams

gunnebo-dreams-6

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.

gunnebo-dreams-7

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.
Share this Recipe

Baking Through Fika: Rustic Almond Cookies

When things don’t turn out as neat and tidy as they were intended to be you can get away with it by calling your product “rustic”.  Which is most of the time just a nice euphemism for “messy”.  These cookies aren’t messy, but they do have “rustic” in the recipe title, which means there need be no anxiety about how neat they turn out, because they’re not supposed to be perfect!  My kind of recipe.

Rustic Almond Cookies

As you can see, my cookies are not the same size.  Precision is not the goal remember, they’re rustic.  So don’t worry about rolling the log into a perfect cylinder, just roughly the same thickness so that the baking time can be the same. If you want to make them perfect, though, then go for it.

These are like sweet almond butter crackers, crisp and with a nice petite size that makes for a treat that satisfies your sweet tooth without making you feel guilty.  As with many recipe in this cookbook they’re perfect with a cup  of coffee.  I stashed what we didn’t eat in the first few days in the freezer.  I simply take a couple out in the afternoon, let them thaw a bit (or not) and enjoy them during the few minutes of calm I get at nap time with my reheated coffee from the morning.  Such is my glamorous life, guys.

This is one of those recipes in FIKA that only has a few ingredients (all of which I almost always have) and has very little hands-on time, making it perfect for a quick treat that can be completed quickly.  Start to finish these take under 2 hours including the hour of chilling time.

Rustic Almond Cookies-4

Another benefit to a short ingredient list is the simplicity of this cookie, which may be another reason it’s called rustic.  Simple ingredients and a simple baking method.  I sometimes feel like if I don’t make something extravagant that’s loaded with a million special and indulgent ingredients that no one is going to care.  But I think there is something refreshing in simplicity in the kitchen, especially in a world where people are making hamburgers with donut buns.  I’m not knocking them, though. I’m from Round Rock originally, and the next time I get a chance I will probably try this hamburger if it’s still on the menu.  I’ll eat the crazy food, I’m just not going to make it.

Rustic Almond Cookies-5

Rustic Almond Cookies

From FIKA

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces butter, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup
  • 1 1/4 ounces almonds (blanched whole or slivered) finely chopped in a food processor
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Beat together butter, sugar and corn syrup until thoroughly combined.
  2. Whisk together flour, almonds, salt and baking soda in a small bowl.
  3. Add flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat to combine.
  4. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a log about 1 inch thick.  Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  6. Using a serrated knife, slice cookie log into slices between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.  Place on prepared cookie sheet, spacing them 1/2 inch apart.  Bake for 5-8 minutes depending on how thick you sliced the cookies.  They should be just golden on the edges.  Let cook on a wire rack.

 

Baking Through Fika: Pepparkakor (Gingerbread Cookies)

When I first bought the Fika cookbook and saw this recipe I knew we’d be making these for Christmas.  But as all things seem to go in my house, I almost forgot to make them!  Here they are just in time.

Pepparkakor-11

I thought it was going to be this perfect afternoon with my two older kids.  All laughter and smiles, Christmas music playing in the background, my little guy playing happily in his high chair watching us and not fussing.  But once I started getting everything together for our cookie decorating I was reminded that rarely does that perfect experience you’ve created in your head actually come to fruition.  Not only is that just the way life goes, but kids are just unpredictable.  My daughter was having a longer than normal nap, and if we wanted to get finished before dinner we had to go on without her.  My son was just impatient with the process of getting it all ready.  I had the cookies made ahead of time, but had to make frosting and gather sprinkles, and then I had to explain to him what to do when all he wanted to do was do it!  A few times while I was getting everything set up he said, “I think I’ll just go do legos/play outside/get my cars instead, mom.”

Thankfully he did sit down with me for a good while and decorate.  And he liked it! He was even bummed when we ran out of cookies to decorate.  I’d love to instill, if not a passion for cooking and baking, at the very least a good understanding of the kitchen in my kids. I recently started participating in Kids Chefs Club.  Every month you receive a cooking tool, a card with activities and recipes, and access to online content to help your child learn about being safe in the kitchen, kitchen tools, nutrition and basic kitchen skills.  The first month my son got the apron he’s wearing in the pictures below.  Every time he helps me cook he wants to put it on.  We are going on our third month.  My kids’ desire to help me with meals has increased a great deal.  That has been both very exciting and very challenging.

Pepparkakor-7

Cooking with kids takes longer and is messier than cooking on your own.  It also takes a good bit of patience and a great deal of letting go!  I like control in the kitchen, so letting my kids help has been tough, but really good for me, and it’s been great for them.  If you’re interested in trying Kids Chefs Club here is a discount code that will give you 20% off any membership plan, either 3, 6 or 12 months.  It’s valid until the end of the year, December 31, 2015!  Just use HolidayFriends15 at checkout.  If you need a last minute gift, this would be a great one.

Pepparkakor-8

Now about these cookies!  They are spiced wonderfully and I really enjoy the crunch they have…if you bake them right 😉  I forget how much I love cardamom sometimes, but then I notice it in something and am reminded of how warm and unique and wonderful it is.  These take a little time and patience.  Instead of simply creaming butter with sugar to begin, you must boil together sugar, molasses and water which you then mix into the butter. After cooling it down, you make the dough.  Then you have to chill the dough for at least 24 hours.  If I’m not in a time crunch, this type of recipe is good for me since I often don’t have the freedom to complete a recipe start to finish without interruption from the kids.  So spreading it out over a couple days was no problem!  I wasn’t stressed thinking, “Oh! I have to finish those cookies!” I was able to finish part of the recipe and think, “Now I just have to wait.  The recipe says I can take a break.  Thank, you recipe.”

My first batch was the best.  Working with a little dough at a time (since it warms up and gets soft pretty quickly) roll and cut your cookies. Bake for 4-6 minutes at 400°F, “but don’t overbake!” says the recipe. I did 5 minutes and they were a teensiest bit dark but good.  My next batch I did for 4 and a half minutes.  They were soft coming out of the oven and I just thought they’d set up nicely after they cooled.  So I did 4 and a half minutes for the rest of them.  After the first batch they did not get that nice crunch that pepparkakor should have. They still tasted great, but were on the soft side.  I tried to bake them more after they’d cooled with not much luck.  Now I know that while overbaking is bad, so is underbaking.  You basically need perfect baking time.  Good luck!  I’d rather have them a little overbaked (but not burnt) to be honest, nice and crunchy.  But that’s just me.

Pepparkakor

Pepparkakor-2

Pepparkakor-5

Pepparkakor-3

Pepparkakor-4

To decorate I used royal icing so that it would harden completely.  It isn’t the tastiest, but you get mostly spice from the cookie and a simple sweet crunch from the icing.  This recipe is what I used.  It’s more than you need, and you will have to add some water to make it more pipe-able.  Just a teaspoon at a time until you get it where you want it.

I’ve seen so many insanely beautiful holiday cookies all over blogs and on Instagram lately that I was feeling like I’d better do something awesome.  But there’s no joy in trying to do something just as or more awesome as other people.  So we had fun with these and didn’t worry about all those other people.  Enjoy and have fun with these!

Pepparkakor-12

Pepparkakor

From FIKA

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 4 1/2 ounces butter cut into pieces
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 tablespoon (equal to 1 1/2 teaspoons) ground cardamom
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 tablespoon baking soda
  • 3 cups flour plus more for rolling

Directions

  1. Combine sugar, molasses and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat and add in the butter, stir to melt completely.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.
  2. Mix flour and the rest of the dry ingredients together.  In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix to combine.  Place dough in a plastic bag and chill for 24-48 hours.
  3. Preheat oven to 400°F
  4. Work with a handful of dough at a time (return what you’re not using to the fridge) and roll out on a floured surface, cut desired shapes and move to a cookie sheet.
  5. Bake for 4-6 minutes, until cookies begin to brown on the edges.

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!

20151208_230608935_iOS

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.

Baking Through Fika: Toffee Cookies

This always happens.  After Halloween things just get a little nuts and before I know it it’s Christmas!  Anyone else feeling like that?!  In a mere 4 weeks we’ll be ringing in 2016.  Crazy.

I’ve been slacking off a little on the blog and on this Fika project.  After a couple of mishaps I got a little frustrated, so I wasn’t as excited about continuing and possibly encountering failure yet again.  And to be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this simple cookie.

Toffe Cookies-3

But these unassuming cookies are quite good and something I see myself making again, especially if I need to whip up dessert in a hurry.  These are great with a cup of coffee or tea (of course they’re included in a book called Fika!) but would also make a nice addition to a cookie platter.  They freeze nicely, so you could make them ahead of time and take them out when you need them.

Since the ingredients are so few the kind of vanilla you use is going to make a difference.  I’ve been partial to this Watkins Clear Vanilla lately, but it isn’t the same as pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, both of which would be terrific.  You could add a touch of almond extract if you were feeling adventurous or play around with all kinds of extracts really…maybe peppermint and then dip these in chocolate?  I might have a weekend project to work on…

I wasn’t sure about why they were called toffee cookies at first.  But the flavor is rich and buttery like toffee.  So I guess the name is fitting.

I made these twice thinking the first time I flattened the logs of dough too much and they spread more than they should have resulting in a pancake-like cookie log.  The next time I chilled the logs and hardly flattened them at all.  There was some change, enough that I’d still chill and flatten less, but not a huge difference that I’d say you absolutely MUST chill the dough.

Toffe Cookies-2

These really are quick, simple and delicious.  This would even be a great cookie to make with young kids.  Put them to work measuring, mixing, rolling and cutting.  I sliced these with a pizza cutter which made it a quick and easy task.  I don’t know about your kids, but mine love the idea of the pizza cutter and might get a little carried away with it so I’d have to do that job myself 🙂

Toffe Cookies-5

Toffee Cookies

Adapted ever so slightly from Fika

Ingredients

  • 1 stick of butter, softened slightly
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Combine butter, sugar and corn syrup in a mixing bowl and beat until thoroughly combined.
  3. Add in flour, salt, baking powder and extract and beat until it the dough together.
  4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 3 equal-sized pieces.  Roll each into a rope about as long as the baking sheet and about as thick as your thumb and carefully transfer to the baking sheet.  At this point you can chill the dough on the baking sheet for half an hour if you have the time.  If not, then just go ahead and put them in the oven.
  5. Bake for 10-15 minutes until they begin to brown.  Transfer the entire piece of parchment to a cutting surface and using a large knife or pizza cutter slice the warm cookies on an angle into pieces 1/2-3/4 inch thick.  Let cool and enjoy.

Baking Through Fika: Checkerboard Cookies

This one was harder than I thought it would be.  It had a simple ingredient list and seemingly simple instructions.  But I just didn’t really deliver on the execution.  Gotta love being humbled in the kitchen!

Checkerboard Cookies-2

As you can see, my cookies are not sweet, dainty squares divided into equally sized plain and chocolate shortbread quadrants.  They are wavy, oddly shaped, and so far from dainty.  BUT they were yummy.  So yummy, in fact, that my son who much prefers a packaged sweet to my baked goods referred to them as the “special black and white cookies” when he told me what he wanted for dessert.  I thought he meant Oreos.  When I gave him an Oreo he says, “No, mom, the special ones you made!”  It was a rare moment, and a good one.

Checkerboard Cookies-3

There is a certain amount of precision required to make these cookies look like they should.  In order to get those straight edges you must really make each part neat, and then piece everything together neatly.  I just made rough rectangles by hand and the results were a more rustic cookie.  Here are some ideas I have for making them better.  Anyone out there have good tips to share?

  • Chill the dough after dividing it so that it’s just a bit firmer.  When I used the dough it was very soft, and too malleable.
  • Use a dough scraper as your straight edge to get neat edges on each piece, then chill them separately before joining them together.
  • Use the dough scraper again after putting the pieces together, and be sure to put them together on a flat surface that you can transfer directly in to the fridge to chill again.
  • When creating the long rectangles of dough, they become long and difficult to move.  If you made two sets of long rectangles, a total of 8 (4 chocolate and 4 plain) they would be easier to move and place together.

I’ll have to give these another go and see if any of those things help!

Even though these weren’t the prettiest of cookies, they had good flavor, buttery and slightly soft with a subtle chocolate flavor.  They’re nice along side your cup of coffee or tea and would make a nice addition to a Christmas cookie plate.  Not that I’m already thinking about Christmas…

Checkerboard Cookies

Checkerboard Cookies

From Baking Through Fika

Ingredients

  • 7 ounces of butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Directions

  1. Beat the butter and sugar together until combined, then add in the vanilla followed by the flour.  Mix until evenly combined.
  2. Divide the dough into two equally sized pieces.
  3. Mix the cocoa into one half of the dough until it’s incorporated and the dough is a consistent color.
  4. Divide each half in half so that you have 4 pieces, two plain and two chocolate.  If your dough is especially soft, you may want to chill it for 10-20 minutes.
  5. Form each piece into a long rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick.  Make all the pieces the same length and width.  (This is the part where dividing the dough further might be helpful.)  Place one chocolate rectangle next to one plain.  Then place a plain piece on top of the chocolate and a chocolate piece on top of the plain.  Press together lightly, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  7. Remove from the fridge and unwrap.  Slice (a large chef’s knife is good for this) into slice that are about 1/4 inch thick.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.  They spread a bit, but not too much, so space them 1/2 an inch or so apart.
  8. Bake for about 10 minutes, until they are set and the edges are just beginning to brown.
  9. These store very well once cooled at room temperature in a container.  They would also freeze very well.

 

 

 

Baking Through Fika: Chocolate Jitterbugs

I’m continuing my Baking Through Fika project!  My mom and I sat together, looked through the cookbook and marked a few recipes that she and I plan to bake together.  Tackling a daunting project seems less daunting when someone is going to do it with you (the Prinsesstårta is the one I am fearing the most!) so I am looking forward to making some of these recipes with my sweet mom!

When deciding which recipe to make next I looked through Fika and chose the recipe that I had all of the ingredients for and one with a short list of instructions!  I know I’m going to get myself into trouble if I continue on this path, saving all the tougher recipes for the end, so next time I’ll try something a little more complicated.  But this time I went with an easy one.  Chocolate jitterbug cookies!

Chocolate Jitterbugs

I’d never heard of these before seeing them in this cookbook.  Jitterbugs are made by taking a shortbread cookie dough which is rolled out, spread with meringue, rolled up jelly roll style, then sliced and baked.  I’m not sure if these chocolate ones are typical, but in doing a little searching I found them made more often with a plain shortbread cookie dough.  I will have to try them that way sometime…

These aren’t too chocolate-y, and are not terribly sweet.  They are light in texture and pair well with a cup of afternoon coffee or a glass of cold milk.  The cookie is soft and the meringue is slightly crunchy, a great combination.  I brought them to a family weekend and they were finished off quickly.

Chocolate Jitterbugs-2 Chocolate Jitterbugs-3

Here are a few tips not included in the recipe if you decide to make these!

  • When mixing up the chocolate dough you will probably need to use your hands to bring the dough together, it is pretty crumbly.
  • When rolling everything up the chocolate dough might crack, so be as careful as you can be!
  • When rolling the meringue might ooze out, and that’s just fine.
  • When slicing use a serrated knife, and work quickly, but don’t stress about making things perfect.  There will be mess, and that is fine.  After the cookies bake it won’t matter that they looked messy.
  • The ends of the roll (unless you perfectly rolled your dough!) might be uneven and not make the prettiest cookies.  I tossed the ends into the trash, but you can bake them if you’d like!

Chocolate Jitterbugs-4

Chocolate Jitterbugs

From Fika

Ingredients

Cookie Dough

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 3 1/2 ounces (100 grams) butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 egg yolk

Filling

  • 1 egg white
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Directions

  1. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder.  Whisk in a pinch of salt.
  2. With a hand mixer combine butter, sugar and egg yolk and beat together.  Add in the flour mixture and beat until it comes together.  Bring together with your hands, then wrap in plastic wrap and refigerate for an hour.
  3. Right before you remove the dough from the fridge, beat the egg white until it is foamy.  Stream in the sugar and continue to beat until very creamy and thick, 3-4 minutes.
  4. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper.
  5. Roll out the dough between parchment to roughly 8×12 inches.  Spread the meringue onto the dough, then carefully roll up, starting at a long side.  Place on a cutting board and chill for 15 minutes.
  6. Use a serrated knife to slice the log into pieces 1/3-1/2 inch thick.  Place on the baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars

Sometimes you just need to bake something.  Maybe the weather is dreary, you’ve had a bad day, or, if you’re anything like me, you just need a project that has a beginning and an end and tangible (and edible!) results because no other task you’ve attempted that day has been successfully completed.  You want something quick with very little prep and a short bake time so that you don’t have to wait long to enjoy the fruits of your labor.  These oatmeal bars meet every one of those qualifications AND they’re delicious.  They remind me a lot of the oat and honey Nature Valley bars.  Drizzle on some melted chocolate chips to make them a bit fancier, but they are really good just on their own.

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars | Hottie Biscotti

This recipe is from a cookbook I have baked from a lot, but it’s been a while, Rebecca Rather’s Pastry Queen.  It is one of my favorite dessert cookbooks.  Most of you probably scrounge around on the internet for recipes, like I do.  But then you browse an old cookbook and find a real gem and you tell yourself you’ll do it more often.  But you somehow find yourself going back to the computer or pinterest the next time.  I urge you to go to your cookbooks!  I have so many of them, some I have never even cooked from.  And that’s a shame.  I vow to do more cooking from physical cookbooks.  You should join me.  Back to the bars.

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars | Hottie Biscotti

If you bake at all, then you have everything you need for these bars.  They come together in a snap and bake up in a mere 20 minutes.  After cooling they are very crunchy, so slicing them is really more like sawing or chopping.  If you’re not so concerned with appearance you can just break them apart into pieces.  Those pieces might be amazing along with a bowl of vanilla ice cream…and some hot fudge…

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars | Hottie Biscotti

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars | Hottie Biscotti

Crunchy Coconut and Oat Bars

From The Pastry Queen

Ingredients

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon corn syrup
  • 2 cups old fashioned oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 pan.
  2. Melt butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over medium heat.  Stir until sugar dissolves, 1 to 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat.
  3. In a large bowl stir together oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and coconut.  Pour melted butter over and stir to combine thoroughly.
  4. Press firmly into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
  5. Cool for 20 minutes before cutting into bars.
  6. Melt chocolate and drizzle over bars or dip them.

 

 

Caramel Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookies

At my bi-weekly trip to Target I found a bag of Nestle chocolate chips that are filled with caramel!  Of course I bought them.  There was no other choice.  They played a big part in making these chocolate chip cookies super delicious.

DSC_0737

I’ve had the recipe for Big and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies marked in my Test Kitchen Family Cookbook for a while now. I’m not sure why it took me so long to make them. I finally made them when I needed a quick dessert to include with a meal for a friend who just had a baby. The casserole I made for them was really simple, quick, delicious AND kid friendly.  I’ll have to share that one soon.

DSC_0706

Along with the heavenly filled chips I added some crushed up pretzels to these cookies.  They didn’t stand out in flavor but definitely added a different texture to the cookies which made them extra special.  These are truly thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies, so if you’re looking for a thin variety look here or here.

One thing I love about these cookies is that you don’t have to soften butter! You just have to melt it.  This makes the interior of the cookie chewy.  I also love the extra yolks, for two reasons. One, it makes the cookie soft and tender. Two, I have extra whites ready to add in to my scrambled eggs.  I hate using just the whites and throwing away the yolks.  So this way I get to use the whole egg and not be wasteful.  Win-win.

The base of this cookie is just begging for some different mix-ins.  What are your favorite things to add in to your chocolate chip cookies?

DSC_0732

Caramel Chocolate Chip and Pretzel Cookies

From America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

 

 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

This is my husband’s favorite cookie.  I made 200+ of them as favors for our wedding guests.  After trying many recipes I found that the one on the bottom of the lid of the Quaker Oats container was my favorite.  But when I saw this one in my Test Kitchen cookbook I thought I’d give it a try.  You know, for research.  They are quite good and may give the Quaker recipe a run for its money.

oatmealraisin7

But really a fair comparison can’t be made.  I’d probably have to have them side by side to decide which is better.  These are puffier and more tender than the others, they are more full of oats and are flavored with nutmeg instead of cinnamon.  I kind of missed the cinnamon, so I’d add some the next time.  I might also add more raisins.

(more…)