Showing posts with label cookie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cookie. Show all posts

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

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Posted by Chef Penny | Posted in , , | Posted on 2:08 PM

Whoopie Pies are a traditionally "cookie" made in amish country. I first had them when I worked in pennsylvania a few years ago. Then I lived with someone in france who was from canada and made them often. I decided to find a pumpkin recipe. I love these!!!! They are light and cakey and everyone will find their new favorite food after eating these. And my neighbors/landlord loved them too! heehee

RECIPE:
Pumpkin Cakes:

3 cups (390 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups (410 grams) light brown sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 - 15 ounce (425 grams) can pumpkin puree

Maple Filling:

1/4 cup (55 grams) crisco

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) (55 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) maple syrup


DIRECTIONS:
For Pumpkin Cakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, and salt. Put aside.

Using an electric mixer (preferably using a paddle), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. Beat in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Drop heaping tablespoons of the batter onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. With with the back of a spoon dipped in water, smooth the tops of the cakes and flatten a bit.

Bake for about 10 - 12 minutes or until the tops of the cookies, when lightly pressed, spring back. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely

Filling:

Beat the crisco and butter until soft and creamy. With the mixer on its lowest speed, gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Increase the speed to high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Then, with the mixer on low speed, beat in the vanilla extract and slowly drizzle in the maple syrup. Beat until a bit thicker.

To Assemble:

Take one cake and spread a tablespoon of the filling on the flat side of the cake. Top with another cake. The assembled cookies can be stored, covered, in the refrigerator for several days. Bring to room temperature before serving.


Sorry I didn't take pictures again. I have been so busy....at least im baking :)


Lemon Pistachio (White Chocolate dipped) Biscotti

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Posted by Chef Penny | Posted in , , , | Posted on 1:46 PM

Hi all! Sorry I've been MIA. On monday of this week my catering company asked me if I wanted a short term gig thru November 13th! So I took it, but it requires me to wake up super early and be in Waukegan by 6 am! At least I'm making some money again :)

Anyway, since I'm projected to move Oct 31/Nov 1 I am still trying to use up ingredients! Today's special ingredient was Pistachios! I also am planning on giving this away to my new landlord and the guy who found me the place!

These are super simple and great with coffee and tea!

Recipe:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
6 oz ( 1 1/2 cups) unsalted pistachios
3 large eggs
zests of 2 lemons
3 tbsp lemon juice (had no lemons- i used water)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350* and put rack in the middle.
Mix flour, sugar and baking powder with the pistachios. Mix eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice (or water), and vanilla extract. Mix egg mixture into flour mixture until just incorporated. I did this all by hand! On a floured surface separate dough into to batches rolling into a log. Place on the cookie sheet (with plenty of space in between since they rise a bit) and slightly flatten. Bake for til they feel firm, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

Reset the racks to upper and lower third and reduce oven temperature to 300*. Slice biscotti into 1/3 inch thick diagonal slices. Arrange on a cookie sheet, without leaving space in between them. Bake until dry and slightly golden, about 15 minutes. Remove and cool on a baking rack.
When completely cooled, melt the chocolate (in a double boiler or in the microwave at 15 second increments) and dip 1/4 of the biscotti in the chocolate and place on a piece of wax paper and let cool. You can dip these in dark chocolate as well or not dip them. Your choice! That's the beauty of them. They are fun to make!





Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Posted by Chef Penny | Posted in , , | Posted on 2:50 PM

Since I am taking a mini vacation this weekend with the special person in my life, I decided to make him a special treat! He can't eat dairy so I made a dairy free cookie- and he loves chocolate chip! The recipe I found on the Crisco box! I know...you're thinking gross! But crisco isn't as unfriendly as you think. I have a feeling you will like this recipe very much!

Recipe:
3/4 cup (or stick- it's the same) Crisco Butter flavor shortening
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 T soy milk
1 T vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate (dairy free)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*.

Cream crisco and brown sugar. Add milk, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda. Mix in chocolate chips. Using a tablespoon or an ice cream scooper (what I use) and put on an un-greased (or silpat) cookie sheet with some space in between. I did it two ways- once just dropping them and once dropping and flattening. I think just dropping them is better. Bake about 8-10 min. DO NOT over bake or they will be hard. Enjoy all you lactose free people :)


DROP AND SMASH COOKIES:

DROP COOKIES:

DROP (on left) SMASH (on right):

Hob Nobs

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Posted by Chef Penny | Posted in , , | Posted on 8:20 AM

Ever heard of them? Me either until I went to London! They are very popular there. And since they include all of the ingredients I have to get rid of, I decided to make them. The problem is you can't find the recipe online, so I had to borrow this one from a friend's blog! Keep in mind- these are NOT replicas. They are a recipe someone came up with to make a cookie similar to the Hob Nob! Do not be disappointed when they don't taste exactly the same! But by the way they smell and look, I bet they taste pretty darn good :)

Recipe:
1 1/4 cups oats
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat PASTRY flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
9 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks
1/2 tablespoon corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

4 oz milk chocolate

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.

In a food processor, grind the oats til fine.

Mix both flours, baking powder, soda, and both sugars into the oats. Add the butter to the flour mixture until it looks crumbly. You can do this by hand or with a mixer using the paddle. Or you can do all of those steps above in a food processor. Add corn syrup and vanilla. The mixture will look dry and that is ok.

Separate the dough into to 2 balls and place in between two piece of plastic wrap. This makes it easier to roll out. Roll out til 1/4 inch thick. Cut with a cookie cutter into circles. I chose to make small ones, but you can make them as big or as small as you want them. You could also probably use different shapes ;)

Bake until slightly brown. When you remove them from the cookie sheet to put on the cooling rack, be very careful because they are fragile and can fall apart easily! Let cool on a rack completely.

Melt the milk chocolate. Once cookies are cool, spoon some chocolate on top of them and spread around. Once the chocolate starts to cool (make take a while) you can mark them like the original Hob Nobs. Or you can be lazy like me and only do a couple for the pictures ;)

Online Picture:

choc-hob-nob.jpg

Mine:




Brown Sugar Cookie

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Posted by Chef Penny | Posted in , | Posted on 10:07 AM

I love using ingredients that I have an abundance of in the house. Brown sugar happens to be one of them and I am not sure why. As most of you know, brown sugar gets hard (dry out) if you don't store it properly so here are some tips on how to store brown sugar:

-using a terra cotta clay disk (found in kitchen type stores)
-put an apple or a piece of bread (change often) in a tightly sealed plastic bag with the sugar
-never store in fridge! (can freeze!)
-always put in a non rusting bowl and seal TIGHT!

If it becomes hard do NOT throw it out. You can revive it by:
-put into an oven at 250*. Watch carefully as you don't want it to start to melt, just to get warm
-put in a microwavable bowl with a damp paper towel on top and cook for 30 seconds stopping to see if it's soft yet. Repeat til soft.
-if you have time, put sugar in non rustable bowl with damp paper towel and then plastic wrap or foil and seal tightly. After two days or so the moisture should have kicked in!

Now onto the recipe. I made brown sugar cookies which are very similar to sugar cookies but the recipe uses brown sugar! This can be made with light or dark, but I used light because that is what I have!

Cookie Recipe:
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger

raw sugar for rolling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*. Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda and ginger and mix until combined. The ginger in this recipe is not for flavor, it's to enhance the flavor of the brown sugar! Roll in plastic wrap into a log. Chill til cold. Remove from plastic wrap and roll in the raw sugar. Slice and lay out on baking sheet. Bake til edges are slightly brown. Over baking will result in a hard cookie instead of chewy!

According to Bob (my theatre/date nite buddy) he loved them! Here's to more shows/dinner with you Bob! (and to many more blogs! heehee)

Enjoy!
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Happy Birthday Dad!

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Posted by Chef Penny | Posted in , , | Posted on 12:42 PM

In honor of my dad's bday I decided to make his favorite- milk chocolate chip cookies with walnuts! No one makes MILK chocolate chip cookies anymore AND with walnuts, so I treated him :) He was very happy. And to top it off, I was too! I used to nestle recipe and it's super easy! Thank you Nestle for providing this delicious recipe for us!!!



Ahh Sweet Madeleine.

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Posted by Chef Penny | Posted in , , | Posted on 11:52 AM

The madeleine is a traditional "small cake" from France. It is basically a sponge cake into a special shell like mold- pictured below.















Madeleines come in various sizes and flavors. The choice I made today was honey rose!

Batter:
1 stick (112 g) butter, softened or melted
1/3 cup honey
2-4 (depending on ur taste) tsp rose water (can replace with any kind of flavoring agent)
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour (200 grams)
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 yolk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*. melt some butter and brush the inside of madeleine pan. Sprinkle with flour to coat. Shake off excess flour. It should be a very thin layer. (my apologies I didn't take a picture!)

Using a mixer, (paddle) mix the eggs, yolk and sugar until pale and fluffly- about 5 min. (see below)














Mix together flour and salt. Melt butter (or use softened butter) and mix in honey and rose water. Set aside til cool. This is why I prefer to use softened instead of melted.

Fold in flour to egg mixture. Fold means to use a spatula and gently mix in to the eggs. You will notice the mixture looks like it's breaking down. Do not over-mix or you will have a very dense product. Then proceed to fold in butter mixture. Then you can pipe in, using a piping bag or a ziploc bag, or you can spoon in the batter into the prepared pan. Then tap the pan lightly on the counter to prevent bubbles.














The pan goes into the oven until golden brown. I'd give you a time...but as they say in baking "it's ready when it's ready!" (approx 8-10 min)

When it comes out of the oven, the madeleines should just pop right out. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve! Best when eaten with ice cream :)






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