Sugar Plum

Perennial Artisan Ales & Cheese Pairing

2012-01-26T01:44:00.001-06:00

Last night I attended my first beer and cheese pairing (I’d love to go to a wine and cheese pairing, too!) at the establishment I work at. It was a lot of fun, and there were quite a few beers and cheeses to try. I’d actually tried all of the cheeses before (part of my job is cutting and wrapping cheese – yes, I cut the cheese.), but the beers were new to me.

The beer was from Perennial Artisan Ales out of St. Louis, Missouri - a new brewery that makes rare beers using locally made ingredients. They’re website seems to be having some trouble right now, so I can’t link to it or find out any more information.

Twenty of my closest burly man friends (not really, I didn’t know anyone and sat by myself) and I tried six flights of beer paired with cheese from our store.

And no, I didn’t finish every single glass of beer. I know my limitations. And no, I didn’t finish every single piece of cheese. I know my limitations.

This is a display of all of the cheeses we tried + local Askinosie chocolate.

1. English white stilton with mango & ginger. If you’re going to try a fruit stilton, this is the one. It’s our best selling flavor and probably my favorite. It’s a crumbly sweet cheese with a bite.

2. Fresh goat log. You all know how I feel about goat cheese. Love. It. Sometimes I eat goat cheese straight from the package with a spoon?

3. Barber’s Vintage English Cheddar: a sharp white cheddar with a dry texture. This one is a good cheese as well. Aged cheddars have so much more flavor.

4. Fenugreek gouda: a raw cow’s milk cheese with a hint of maple. This cheese is gouda! I love the maple flavor I get from the fenugreek.

5. Fourme d’Ambert Bleu: a cow’s milk blue from France. This was the only cheese I’m not a fan of. It’s a leeetttle bit too strong for me. I do like blue cheese though. But not by itself. If I’m cooking with it I like to use Maytag or Italian gorgonzola.

6. Askinosie Chocolate Savao Phillipines Bar. 77% dark chocolate. Oh baby. I love all dark chocolate, but especially Askinosie. It’s pretty amazing.

We started off with the Saison de Lis paired with the mango & ginger stilton. “A straw colored Belgian-style saison brewed with chamomile flowers. It’s fermented with a traditional saison yeast that imparts fruity and spicy notes that dovetail perfectly with the tea-like quality of the chamomile. This refreshing brew finishes dry and slightly tart.”

Followed by the Strawberry Rhubarb Tart paired with the fresh goat cheese. “It begins as a Belgian-style witbier, to which strawberries, rhubarb and Indian coriander are added. The result is a refreshingly tart and surprisingly citrusy beer with a subtle essence of strawberries.”

Hommel Bier paired with vintage white cheddar. “Hommel is a dry-hopped Belgian style pale ale which defies tradition by combining Pacific Northwest hops and American malts with Belgian yeast. Earthy hop aroma, spicy yeast character and slight orange notes flavor the beer.”

Peace Offering paired with fenugreek gouda. “An American brown ale brewed with a few hundred pounds of maple-roasted Missouri squash and a dash of cinnamon and clove. This unique brew has a bold, caramel body, and hints of floral, hop bitterness balanced with the savory squash notes.”

Heart of Gold paired with Fourme d’Ambert Bleu. “This well balance wheat wine has a creamy mouth feel, a big hop character and a rich, caramel malt finish. You’ll find that it’s surprisingly smooth for its strength (10% ABV).”

And finally, we ended the tasting with Abraxas paired with Askinosie chocolate. “An American imperial stout brewed to accentuate the sweet chocolate character and aged on cacao nibs, vanilla beans, freshly ground cinnamon sticks and ancho chili peppers.”

Whew. That was a lot of information to throw at ya. I hope you’re not asleep or gone by now. If you are, I understand. Cheese and beer pairing posts aren’t for everyone! I just wanted to share my evening and what I learned with you.

Honestly, I liked every single beer I tried. If I had to pick my favorites I’d probably pick the Saison de Lis and the Peace Offering. I thought the cheese pairing for those was spot on. If you live in the area and would like more information about the beer, cheese, or tastings, feel free to email me.

Okay, that’s all for today. Class is dismissed. I’ll be back with more dessert recipes soon. I’ve also been planning a cheese post for the future; I already took pictures. I’m not sure if you all would like that or not. Sometimes it’s just nice to give myself a little break from all of the desserts.

And by that I mean blogging about desserts – not eating desserts. Eating desserts never gets old. Never.

Cherry-Vanilla Bean Cookies

2012-01-25T09:00:00.001-06:00

I don’t have anything crazy for you today – just some simple cookies. They were very delicious and blog-worthy, though. Cherry-Vanilla Bean Cookies. Isn’t that a good name for a cookie?

These are crisp, yet soft, slightly chewy and full of fun ingredients: fresh vanilla bean seeds, dried cherries, chopped toasted pecans, and white chocolate chips.

I love the flavor combination, I love the name, I’m giving these five stars on the cookie rating system.

I have a distant cousin and her name is Cherry-Marie. I’ve never met her before, but I did hear her name mentioned occasionally when I was growing up. Every time I’d hear it, I’d wish my name was Cherry.

I also wished my name was Victoria, Samantha, Jasmine, and Claudia when I was a kid.
What did you wish your name was? Or was I the only one who did that? I was definitely inspired by American Girl and Babysitters Club books…

Time to go to work! Have a good day!

Cherry-Vanilla Bean Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 a vanilla bean, seeds scraped out
1 large egg
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, walnuts or almonds, toasted
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, sugar and vanilla bean seeds until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in egg, sour cream, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined - about 1 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour, cherries, nuts and white chocolate chips until just incorporated.

Place heaping tablespoons full of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 2 dozen big cookies

Southern Fried Chicken Pot Pie

2012-01-23T13:08:00.001-06:00

I’ve got a very busy day planned today, so there’s no time to dilly-dally.

Checklist for 12/23/12
-Watch as much 30 Rock as possible.
-Buy new DSLR camera.
-Make French Macarons.
-Shred it with Jillian.
-Make orange marmalade.
-Read Room.
-Bake pound cake.
-Make dinner?

Usually my dinners are boring, healthy, and fairly quick. You would be unimpressed if I showed you. There’s a lot of tofu, kale, broccoli, beans, rice and pasta involved.

Every once in a while you have to give yourself a little break and eat something not healthy.

Comfort food is good for the soul. Does anyone like pot pie as much as I do? It’s such a good meal to have in January when it’s freezing outside. This Southern Fried Chicken Pot Pie is my invention. I’m quite proud of it. Let me tell you what’s inside.

The crust is really cool. It’s a pie dough made with cornmeal, buttermilk and butter. Since this is a Southern pot pie, I used a little shortening in the crust, too. Shhhh. I don’t usually do that.
It tastes like a cornbread-pie dough. Yum.

The filling of the pie is pretty easy to throw together. I’m hoping the filling sounds good to you; it sounds good to me, but it’s kind of weird. Onion is sauteed in butter, then milk, flour, and chicken stock is added to the pan to make a cream sauce. Mashed potatoes and sweet corn are whisked into the cream sauce.

This filling is poured on top of the bottom pie crust, and then topped with sliced fried chicken. The other crust is placed on top, and then the pie is baked for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.

And you have pot pie for all of your Southern friends to enjoy! Just don’t invite Paula Deen.

Southern Fried Chicken Pot Pie

Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chilled shortening
1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 cups prepared mashed potato
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup sweet corn
3 cups chopped fried chicken strips

To make the dough, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor; pulse until combined. Add butter and shortening; pulse until crumbly and pea-sized lumps form. Add buttermilk, and pulse until a dough ball forms. Shape dough into 2 discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat; stir in onion and cook 6 minutes, or until tender. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in milk and chicken stock, and bring to a simmer, whisking frequently, until thickened. Whisk in potato, salt, pepper and corn until well combined. Set aside.

Thinly roll out one dough round, to an 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface; transfer dough round to a 9-inch deep dish pie dish, and fit into bottom. Pour creamy-potato-corn mixture in dish, and top with chicken. Thinly roll out additional dough round, to an 1/8-inch thickness, and place on top of chicken. Pinch and crimp dough edges to seal. (Optional - whisk together 1 egg + 1 tablespoon milk until combined; brush over dough for a shiny glaze. Cut 4 slits in center of dough)

Bake 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cover pie with foil, and bake an additional 15 minutes or until bubbly and crisp.

Makes 8 servings

A Date with Mom at the Aviary Cafe

2012-01-20T00:07:00.001-06:00

Greetings and happy Friday! I’m blogging to you from my bedside with a plate full of homemade chocolate dipped-macaroons, and a glass of rye IPA. No, they don’t go together at all. But they’re both delicious when served separately. I only baked three macaroons as a little experiment. They turned out REALLY good! I’ll definitely have to work on the recipe this weekend.

Anyway, we should announce the Driscoll’s berry giveaway winners…

Commenter #12 - Julie from Fruitcake in the Kitchen!

and #53 - Justeen from Blissful Baking!

Congratulations, ladies! I’ll be contacting you shortly about your prize…

Thanks to everyone who commented and entered. I always, always appreciate your lovely comments.

***

This is kind of a different post from me today. On Tuesday I went on a random lunch date with my mom. She was feeling spontaneous that day and asked me to try out a new café in downtown Springfield. “They have crepes,” she said. I grabbed my coat and purse and scrambled out the door. I happen to love crepes.

As shown in this picture from 2010. Nutella crepe in Paris!

We went to Aviary Café and Creperie. If you live in the Springfield-Branson area, it’s located on the corner of Walnut and Jefferson. It’s absolutely beautiful inside. I adore all of the thought that went into decorating this place. It’s decorated with vintage-French theme, and there were little bird and tree nick nacks everywhere. This is what I want my house to look like.

I took these pictures with my iPhone using Instagram. I’ll probably do that more often; it’s fun.

I loved all of the blue, the candles, and the clocks.

Mom and I started out with a bowl of French onion soup. We wanted a little something savory and salty before we ordered our dessert crepes. The soup was delicious, traditional, and served with a crouton and cheese on top. I think the cheese was gruyere, possibly a smoked gruyere. I’ve learned a lot about cheese over the past few months. I think an informative cheese blog post needs to happen.

I ordered the Salted Caramel; crepes served with homemade butter caramel with sprinkles of sea salt, accompanied by whipped cream. I think they may have drizzled crème anglaise on top, too.

Oh my goodness. No words. I could drink the salted caramel sauce.

My mom ordered the Aux Nutella; crepes filled with French chocolate mousse and Nutella, mounded with sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

I think I liked hers even better. I was kicking myself for not ordering them. What was I thinking? I love chocolate and Nutella. Oh well, there’s always next time! Next Tuesday, Mom?

Served with strong coffee. I was jittery from all of the sugar and coffee all afternoon. A good jittery. The kind of jittery that gives you energy to shop until you drop with your mom. We hit the Amish store, the bead store, the incense store, Entertainmart, and Aldi in about three hours.

If anyone wants to try out Aviary, I’m down. I need to go back and try their pommes frites drizzled with truffle oil. Is anyone else crazy about truffles? I love how they smell. I’m like a cochon.

Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake

2012-01-18T01:36:00.001-06:00

I’ll be honest, cheesecake is not one of my favorite desserts. If you’re a longtime reader you already know this. I feel bad because I know a lot of people out there absolutely love it. It’s okay, but I’d much rather have a piece of chocolate cake or a scoop of ice cream. I keep waiting for my opinion to change. 26 years and it hasn’t changed.

I do love the crust and toppings on cheesecake. I just eat around the cheesecake part. Heh.

This cheesecake was pretty good, though. I enjoyed the amaretti cookie crust, the lemon filling, and the fresh raspberries on top. I absolutely love raspberries. They taste so wild and tart.

Do you enjoy berries as well? Would you like to win some coupons for Driscoll’s berries?

I adore Driscoll’s berries. I probably buy their strawberries the most, but I do like their raspberries and blueberries too.

Driscoll’s has generously given me some coupons to give away to Sugar Plum readers. Two lucky readers will receive $12 in savings on all Driscoll’s berries. To enter the giveaway, in the comment section please tell me your favorite kind of berry.

Strawberry? Raspberry? Blueberry? Blackberry? Gooseberry? Huckleberry? Snozberry?

I’ll choose the winners on Friday. This is a berry fun giveaway.

While we’re on the subject of berries, I have to tell you, Berry Berry Kix isn’t as good as it used to be when you were a kid. I threw almost an entire box away in the trash. I’m not one to waste cereal, so this is really something. I felt like Oprah. I bet she has a box of cereal for every day of the year.

Anyway, you must bake this cheesecake. I think it’s more delicious than regular cheesecake because the recipe calls for lots of egg yolks and cream, creating more of a cheesecake-crème brulee flavor. I swirled homemade Meyer lemon curd (recipe to come) into the filling. Mmmm. So what we have here is a lemon cheesecake crème brulee on a bed of buttery-amaretti cookie crumbs topped with fresh raspberries. Perfect for spring, no?

Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake

1/2 cups ground amaretti cookies
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup lemon curd
1 half pint Driscoll raspberries

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together cookie crumbs and melted butter until well combined. Press into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes or until golden and crisp.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese and sugar until fluffy - about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla and cream until combined. Beat in egg yolks until well combined - about 2 minutes. Pour batter over prepared crust. Swirl lemon curd throughout cheesecake batter. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until light golden brown around edges, and no longer wobbly. Turn off oven and allow cheesecake to cool in oven for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or until ready to serve.

Makes 10 servings

Meyer Lemon Angel Food Cake

2012-01-16T12:20:00.002-06:00

I was kinda surprised how flavorful this angel food cake was. It’s been so long since I’ve had angel food cake, I had forgotten how it tasted. And I remember angel food cake not tasting that great in the past. I suppose maybe I’d eaten a plain-jane regular angel food cake – not one made with fancy, exotic Meyer lemons.

Except they’re not that exotic anymore. You can find Meyer lemons in just about any grocery store, and they’re really not that expensive. I’m pretty sure most of you know what a Meyer lemon is, but if you don’t, I will explain. A Meyer lemon is a cross between a lemon and an orange. It’s more lemon than orange. It’s a little sweeter and more flavorful than a regular lemon. They have a nice, lovely floral smell to them. You could display them in your fruit bowl and your kitchen would smell lovely. Better smelling than those old, black bananas that have been rotting away.

You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re going to bake banana bread with them. Just throw them away. You’re attracting gnats.

This cake is a little, errr, rustic looking. I can do better. I can make this look better. I’m going to improve on this recipe. The recipe is good, my presentation skills were not. Late-night baking makes me rush things.

This cake tastes like fluffy, marshmallowy, lemon-vanilla heaven. It’s really nice. You should make it while Meyer lemons are in season.

Side note, whenever I think of angel food cake, I think of that Angel Food Cake Strawberry Shortcake character. Please tell me someone else played with those dolls when they were little. Blueberry Muffin was my favorite.

Meyer Lemon Angel Food Cake

1 cup cake flour
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 egg whites, room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons cream of tartar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated Meyer Lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Meyer Lemon Glaze
5 tablespoons confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons Meyer Lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon butter, room temperature

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, confectioners sugar and salt.
In a stand mixer using the whip attachment on medium speed, beat egg whites until fluffy and soft peaks form. Beat in cream of tartar until combined. Increase mixer speed to high, and gradually beat in granulated sugar until stiff peaks form. Beat in lemon zest, vanilla extract and lemon extract until combined.

Fold dry ingredients into egg whites until combined. Place batter in an ungreased angel food cake pan, and smooth the surface. Bake 40 minutes or until well risen and golden brown. Remove cake from pan and cool completely on a cake platter.

To make the glaze, stir together confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and butter until well combined and smooth; drizzle on top of cake.

Tim’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

2012-01-11T21:24:00.002-06:00

My friend Tim came up with this fabulous cookie recipe. He’s famous for it. I’ve never actually had the cookies before, but I really want to try them. I changed a few things in the recipe: I added browned butter and a couple of fun ingredients. I would have left the recipe the same, but I had a bunch of random leftover ingredients I needed to use up. I’m going to have to try the original version and not mess with it at all.

But the cookie base is the same. Except I didn’t use dark cocoa powder – I used regular.
Come to think of it, these cookies probably aren’t anything like Tim’s cookies.

Oh well, we can pretend. Because today is Tim’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Tim!

We have a lot of good things going on in these cookies. The base is made out of butter, sugar, brown sugar, flour, eggs, dark cocoa and peanut butter. Tim recommends using Reeses Peanut Butter. I looked for it and couldn’t find it anywhere. He said he was having problems finding it too. Anyone else?

I believe he stirs chocolate chips and peanut butter chips into the batter. I used chocolate chips, mini Reeses Pieces, chocolate covered peanuts, and chopped peanut butter cups. I liked having all of the different ingredients in the cookies because it made them more fun to eat.

Reeses Pieces if the most fun candy to eat at the movie theater. Don’t you think? Although, when I was a kid I loved Care Bear gummi bears.

And with that, I’m off to make some cinnamon popcorn. An excellent snack to sneak into the movie theater in your giant purse.

(My adapted version) Timothy the Elder's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder (Hershey's Dark)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (Reeses)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini Reeses Pieces
3/4 cup coarsely chopped Reeses peanut butter cups
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup chocolate covered peanuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 2-3 minutes, whisking frequently, until foams and starts to turn golden brown. Transfer butter to a large mixing bowl.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter to bowl with browned butter. Mix together, using a mixer on medium speed, until well combined – about 1 minute. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined – about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in Reeses Pieces, peanut butter cups, chocolate chip and peanuts until just combined.

Drop rounded tablespoons full of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until well risen and set.

Spiced Apple Whoopie Pies

2012-01-09T01:02:00.003-06:00

Whooopie! It’s Monday and time for some whoopie pies. So let out a big whoooop!, pump your fist in the air, and then continue on reading.

Hello and welcome back! You may have noticed I have a new blog design, courtesy of Tiffany of Beautiful Dawn Designs. I think she did a terrific job. Thank you so much, Tiffany! She was great to work with. She knew exactly what I wanted in a blog design and definitely nailed the look I was going for. Tiffany was very helpful and changed/adjusted anything I was unsure about. She’s also speedy! She had this design in no time at all. Check her out if you’re looking to beautify your blog!

Gala apples are reliable. They’re pretty much my go-to apple for sweet or savory recipes. Plus, they’re usually cheaper than other varieties.

The apple is chopped up and mixed into a cookie batter made with butter, brown sugar, molasses, spices, oatmeal, butterscotch chips and toasted walnuts. Doesn’t that sound amazing? Just wait. The filling is made with whipped butter, cream cheese and marshmallow cream.

The cookie is soft and cakey, and the filling is rich and creamy. These are amazing! Probably one of my top favorite cookies of 2011. Yes, I made these in November. I’m always delayed on posting recipes. That’s something I need to work on. Also, I need to work on my commenting. I’ve become a major slacker when it comes to commenting. I used to be so good at that.

I hope everyone has a good day. I plan on doing some baking and preserving today in the kitchen. There’s no place I’d rather be! Well, maybe Key West… eating a slice of key lime pie on the beach.

Spiced Apple Whoopie Pies

2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened, divided use
1 cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons molasses
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup finely chopped apple
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup finely chopped black walnuts or pecans, toasted

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 (7-ounce) jar marshmallow fluff

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and clove. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together 1/2 cup unsalted butter, brown sugar and molasses until creamy – about 1 minute. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in oats, apple, butterscotch chips, and walnuts until well combined.

Drop 24 rounded spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Bake 14-15 minutes or until golden brown and slightly crisp. Cool cookies 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

To make the filling, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together remaining 1/4 cup butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and marshmallow fluff until well combined and creamy – about 2 minutes. Spread a generous amount of filling on top of a bottom of a cookie; press another cookie on top to form a sandwich. Repeat process with remaining cookies.

Makes 12 whoopie pies

Pumpkin Pepita Biscotti

2012-01-05T19:34:00.003-06:00

Sorry, sorry, I feel bad about posting a pumpkin recipe when it’s not really in season. Or is it? This is the last one for the year, I promise. I kinda forgot about this recipe, which is ridiculous because it’s so good. I’ll definitely be making it again in the future.

I was inspired by some crackers I tried at work. They were biscotti shaped, and had rye and pumpkin seeds in them. I don’t think they were actually pumpkin flavored, though. Anyway, I took that idea and ran with it.

After running around with that idea for a while, I was tired, thirsty, and decided I should bake some Spiced Pumpkin Pepita Biscotti.

These are tender, flavorful, crisp, but not super crunchy because of the pumpkin in them. They’re lightly sweetened with brown sugar, and have a nice spicy flavor from the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. The toasted pepitas are so buttery and yummy!

I couldn’t help but dip the ends in some white almond bark and cinnamon-sugar. Definitely not necessary; it just makes the cookies a little more special and indulgent. I think if you left the almond bark off, these cookies might not be that bad for you. Or that’s what I’m telling myself?

What’s the best biscotti you’ve ever baked? I’m a huge fan of biscotti. I baked it non-stop for about three months one time.

Spiced Pumpkin Pepita Biscotti

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds)
1/2 lb. white almond bark
Cinnamon sugar, for garnish

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together butter and brown sugar until well combined. Whisk in egg, pumpkin, vanilla, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined. Stir in flour and pepitas until well incorporated, and a stiff dough is formed.

Pat dough into 10-1/2 x 3-1/2 inch log on cookie sheet. Bake 30 minutes. Cool log for 10 minutes, before transferring it to a wire rack to cool an additional 20 minutes. Transfer log to a cutting board, and slice diagonally, into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place on cookie sheet; bake 10 minutes. Flip cookies, and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until crisp. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt almond bark in a small bowl, in the microwave, for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Dip half of each biscotti into white almond bark; place on wire rack to dry. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top of almond bark, if desired.

Makes about 20 biscotti

Hunka Burnin' Love Cookies

2012-01-03T02:15:00.002-06:00

Did everyone have a good New Year’s Eve? I say New Year’s Eve, not New Year’s Day, because New Year’s Day is never fun. There’s football on (borrring!), you’re hungover, you have to work the next day, and you realize you ate all of the jalapeno poppers last night.

You’re lying to yourself if you say you don’t like jalapeno poppers.

God bless those cheesy little peppers and their crispy fried outer shell. If you’re having a party, and you don’t have poppers, I’m not coming. Sorry to be a party popper pooper.

I actually ate fried food twice today. I tell you this only because I never eat fast food. This was a big deal. I broke new food ground today. I had a chicken strip basket from Dairy Queen with allll the fixins’; French fries, Texas toast, and gravy. It was glorious. I was dunking everything in that gravy. I really like gravy.

Maybe not as much as this guy. Don’t watch that. I’m sorry I brought it up.

Meal number two was a loaded broccoli & cheese baked potato with a side of chicken nuggets from Wendy’s. The potato was borderline-healthy, except for the thick nacho cheese sauce it was doused in. I ate the skin and all. Do you do that? Is that weird? I eat sweet potato skins, too.

In conclusion, I have to say this: fast food isn’t that bad, it can be pretty tasty if you need some comfort food. But it should be eaten in moderation. Also, I’ll save you all some time by adding that Sonic doesn’t have their chicken strip basket anymore.

The irony of me talking about eating a bunch of fast food in the beginning of January. This is diet season! We all need to be eating egg whites and carrot sticks.

I’m not on a diet, though. I’ll just settle for a Kim Kardashianesque figure. I can’t give up cookies. Especially cookies loaded with bacon, inspired by the King, himself.

Bacon, banana, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter, melted marshmallows and chopped peanuts. That’s a lot going on in a cookie, I know. A little indulgent for every-day eating. But treat yourself soon and make these.

These cookies are featured on the Nestle Kitchens Holiday Cookie Favorites website, by the way. I was in the top ten for a contest they sponsored.

Hunka Burnin' Love Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup Nestle Semisweet Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup Nestle White Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup finely chopped cooked bacon
1/3 cup coarsely chopped peanuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 2-3 minutes, whisking frequently, until butter foams and starts to turn golden. Remove pan from heat and whisk in marshmallows until melted; pour into a large mixing bowl.

Add brown sugar, peanut butter and banana to bowl. Mix together, using a mixer on medium speed, until creamy - about 1-2 minutes. Beat in egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt until well combined - about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour, oats, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, bacon and peanuts until just incorporated.

Drop heaping tablespoons full of dough onto cookie sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Bake 11-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Makes 2 dozen large cookies

Gingerdoodles

2011-12-30T01:14:00.002-06:00

The ginger snap meets the snickerdoodle in this scrumptious cookie.

A couple of days ago I was craving a good cookie. I shuffled down to the kitchen and started pulling ingredients out of the cabinets. I wanted a nutty, dark, toasty cookie with lots of flavor. I toasted whole wheat flour, oats and walnuts in the oven, and ground them into a flour.

I browned a little butter… of course. Don’t I always?

Someday on my grave it will say, “Here lies Emily. She liked to brown butter.”

I incorporated the nutty flour and browned butter into a cookie dough, along with brown sugar, molasses, egg, leavening, spices and crystallized ginger.

After a quick chill, the dough gets rolled into balls, coated in cinnamon-sugar and baked. I really can’t think of a more delicious cookie right now. These are so good! Soft, chewy, spicy and sweet.

Ring in the new year with a gingerdoodle! I hope you all have a Happy New Year! Thanks for reading Sugar Plum in 2011. I really appreciate it!

Gingerdoodles

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup walnut halves
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons molasses
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided use
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Evenly place flour, oats and walnuts on a large cookie sheet; bake 10-12 minutes, or until ingredients are lightly toasted and fragrant.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook 2-3 minutes, whisking frequently, until butter foams and starts to turn light golden brown. Transfer butter to a large mixing bowl.

Add brown sugar and molasses to mixing bowl. Mix together, using a mixer on medium speed, until well combined and creamy. Beat in egg until well combined. Beat in vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground ginger and clove until well combined.

Process flour, oats, walnuts and crystallized ginger in a food processor until finely ground. On low speed, beat dry ingredients into wet, until just combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together additional 1 teaspoon cinnamon and granulated sugar until combined. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls, and roll balls in cinnamon-sugar until well coated. Place balls on cookie sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until crackled and crisp.

Cool 1 minute before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Cherry Pistachio White Chocolate Tea Cookies

2011-12-27T22:39:00.002-06:00

It’s a funny thing, having a phone for three years. Part of me hated it because it was so ugly, old, and didn’t have internet. I think most people probably would’ve been embarrassed to be seen with it. I didn’t really mind though. The phone worked just fine, and I got super fast with texting. I could text in my pockets, for crying out loud. That’s pretty, pretty, pretty damn impressive.

As long as it worked, I was perfectly fine with continuing to use it. Until Friday. My phone bit the dust. One minute it worked, the next it locked up, wouldn’t do anything at all, and said DOWNLOAD on the screen. It just gave up on life.

Where am I going with this? Well, I finally gave in and got an iphone. I know, I know. I’m one of the last ones to crossover to the other side. It’s the 3G, and it was free. I don’t know if that’s what it’s called. That’s how much I care about phones.

But now I have internet on my phone! I could blog on my phone if I wanted to! Isn’t that incredible? Ohhh technology. You’ve come a long way. I remember when we used tin cans to communicate.

As far as I can see, there’s only one downfall with the iphone. I’m treating everything like it’s a touch screen now. My computer, Kindle, video camera, TV, you name it. It’s becoming a problem. I’m like, “WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING?!”

These cookies are so very good. So delicious, so cute. So crumbly and buttery and sweet.

They don’t have any egg in them, so they’re more shortbread-like. They’re very similar to a Mexican wedding cookie. But more fun.

There’s a hint of cinnamon in them, along with toasted-salted pistachios, dried cherries, and chopped white chocolate. Yes, these are perfect for Christmas. But they’re also perfect any time of the year, served with tea. What’s your favorite kind of tea? I’m curious.

Cherry Pistachio White Chocolate Tea Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup finely ground salted toasted pistachios
3/4 cup sweetened dried cherries
4 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups all purpose flour
Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in baking soda, vanilla and cinnamon until combined. Beat in pistachios, cherries, white chocolate and flour until a crumbly dough forms.

Take tablespoons of dough and roll them into balls; place on cookie sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown and crisp. Cool 2 minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool.

Dip cookies into confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Almond Toffee

2011-12-26T14:46:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! (Or is having a good Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Boxing Day!)

I participated in the usual Christmas festivities; Eric’s family’s Christmas Eve party, their Christmas Day breakfast, and my family’s Christmas. Lots of good food was to be had; homemade pulled pork tamales on Christmas Eve, along with guacamole, rice, and jalapeno poppers, Honeybaked Ham for Christmas breakfast, along with donuts, cinnamon rolls, biscuits, bacon, sausage, eggs and fruit.

My family had Chinese food for lunch. That’s our tradition now! This is the third year we’ve done that, and it’s worked out well. I’m a fan of it… even though everyone gives me a hard time about ordering “Hunan Bean Curd.” It’s just tofu, people!

I’m also proud to say that I am now an owner of a Kindle! Eeee. I was so excited and surprised when I opened up the package. Thank you, mom and dad! My mom also gave me the complete collection of the Little House on the Prairie books. Haha. You all know how much I love those.

My sister gave me an angel food cake pan, which I didn’t have. Get ready for some angel food cake recipes! January is going to be heavenly.

Let’s see… I’m trying to think what other food-related presents I received… a fancy cheese knife from my dad, and a book on putting up preserves from my mom. I’ll have to do some posts and jams and pickles in the future!

We did not have toffee for Christmas dessert, but we did have French Silk Pie. I used this recipe from Cooks Illustrated. I thought it was really good and I’d definitely use the recipe again. I’d probably use one of my own crust recipes, though. I barely had enough dough to fill the pie dish.

I didn’t take a picture of the pie. Fail. Oh well.

I made this toffee before Christmas, but there’s no rule that says you can’t make toffee after Christmas! It’d be perfect for a New Year’s Eve treat!

I made one batch of almond toffee, and covered it with chocolate and white chocolate. On one half I sprinkled crushed mint cookies and candy canes. Mmm. Both were really delicious! So buttery and crispy.

This is my written version of a combination of Cookie Madness’ almond toffee and another recipe I found online, but I can’t find the other recipe now. Anyway, you’ll have to try this sometime. It’s pretty easy. The most important part is taking the hot syrup off the stove at the right time. I didn’t use a candy thermometer for this because I found it easier just by looking at the color of the syrup. Also, toast your almonds!

Almond Toffee

1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a 13x9-inch baking dish with foil.

Place almonds on a cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Bring butter, sugar, water and salt to a boil, in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Boil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When hot syrup turns light golden brown, stir in almonds. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until syrup starts to turn golden brown. Quickly remove pan from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla until combined; pour toffee into prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of toffee and wait a few minutes for them to melt before spreading evenly. Sprinkle white chocolate chips on top, wait to melt, and swirl into chocolate. Cool completely before cutting into pieces.

To make a mint variation, sprinkle 1/2 cup crushed Thin Mint cookies on top, followed by 2 crushed candy canes.

Hot Buttered Rum Crisps

2011-12-23T01:39:00.002-06:00

Greetings, and Happy Christmas Eve, Eve!

I have to make this post snappy, because it’s late and I have to be up early tomorrow for work. I just wanted to quickly show you a few pictures from the cookie exchange I had with my family last week. We only had five people, but some of us brought two kinds of cookies, so we ended up with a bunch!

I brought the Eskimo sandwich cookies I posted about a few days ago, and I also brought another sandwich cookie, which I’ll be blogging about another time.

My little sister baked a Star Wars cookie – Wookie Cookies. They’re made with cinnamon, milk chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips. They’re sitting on the glass pedestal in the picture below.

My mom made rainbow cookies! This is the second time she’s made them. They’re great! I admire her
for baking these. I’ve never had the nerve to attempt them.

My mom also made peanut butter cookies. Overachiever.

My older sister made molasses cookies! Yum. They were pretty tasty. Those tortillas scoops were also pretty good.

My other older sister baked biscotti and an orange-butter cookie recipe, which were delicious as well. My pictures turned out blurry on those, unfortunately.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. My mom made little snacks for all of us, and we watched movies and drank White Russians like The Dude. Good times.

Now after that heart-warming story, I bring you today’s cookie recipe: Hot Buttered Rum Crisps.

What we have here is a very buttery, very delicious crispy cookie. The batter is made from toasty browned butter, brown sugar, melted butterscotch chips, rum, and spices. Oats, raisins and toasted pecans are stirred in for a little added texture. You could leave out the raisins if you wanted to.
Okay, okay, or the pecans. You’re killing me.

Serve with a glass of hot buttered rum for dunking.

Happy holidays!

Hot Buttered Rum Crisps

1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup butterscotch chips, melted
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons spiced dark rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
1/3 cup raisins

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 2-3 minutes, whisking frequently, until butter foams, and starts to turn golden. Pour butter into a large mixing bowl.

Add brown sugar and melted butterscotch to mixing bowl; mix, using a mixer on medium speed, until well combined. Mix in eggs, rum, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined - about 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour, oats, pecans and raisins until just combined. Chill cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheets before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Peppermint Bark Stuffed Chocolate Chippers

2011-12-22T00:08:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone! I hope you’re doing well! Can you believe we’re only a few days away from Christmas? Yikes! I *think* I have all my shopping done. I’m sure I probably forgot something. I still haven’t decided what I’m making for Christmas. I kinda want to try baking a fruitcake. I have a feeling I’d be the only one who’d like it though. I happen to love dried fruit. Raisins, apricots, cherries, dates… you name it.

I’m craving pie, too, so maybe I’ll go with that. French silk pie?

Or I could bake sticky toffee pudding.

Figgy pudding?

Stollen?

I need to figure this out quickly.

What are you guys baking??

Before I forget, the winner of the retro caramel apple pie apron is….

Commenter #3 – Becki! Congratulation, Becki! I’ll be contacting you shortly about shipping information.
Thanks to everyone who entered! It must be giveaway season, because I have more giveaways coming shortly.

These are some cookies I baked for you. They’re double chocolate cookies; they’re made with cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate. They’re very good on their own, I must say. But I can’t bake an ordinary chocolate cookie recipe and post it on this blog. I have to take it to the next level. Let’s get crazy.
Let’s take a double chocolate cookie and stuff it with….

Homemade peppermint bark.

Peppermint Bark Stuffed Chocolate Chippers

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided use
6 candy canes, finely crushed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup dark chocolate chips, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
Melted dark chocolate, for garnish (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the peppermint bark, in a medium bowl, microwave white chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter until melted - about 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Mixture will start to stiffen. Stir in candy cane until combined. Using hands, scoop out 1/2 tablespoons of mixture, and roll into 28 balls; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together remaining 12 tablespoons butter and sugar until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in eggs until combined - about 1 minute. Beat in melted chocolate, vanilla, baking soda and salt until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in cocoa powder and flour until just combined.

Take a heaping tablespoon of dough and flatten into the palm of your hand; place a peppermint bark ball on top, and wrap dough around cookie. Repeat process with remaining cookies. Place on cookie sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Press down lightly on cookies, to flatten slightly. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until set, and slightly crisp. Cool 1 minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Drizzle melted chocolate on top of cookies, if desired.

Makes 28 cookies

Thin Mint Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

2011-12-20T02:43:00.003-06:00

Here we go. Now THIS is what I’m talking about. Here we have a dark chocolate cookie stuffed with a mint cookie. Thin Mints would be absolutely perfect in these. I actually used a brand of thin mints I bought at Aldi. They were very similar to the real thing. You could also use Keebler’s Grasshopper cookies.

If you don’t bake these for Christmas, I’ll be terribly disappointed in you. These will wow all of your family and friends. They’re good! I received rave reviews on these babies. I liked them a lot, too. Do you know what I did? I made a milkshake with these cookies in it. Oh yes I did.

If you wanted to gild the lily, you could top these cookies with Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Mint Kisses.
Incredible. Just incredible.

I have one more thing for you today before you get to make these cookies. A giveaway!

A giveaway sponsored by Shabby Apple, an online boutique which carries clothing, jewelry, and accessories. I linked to them the other day on my holiday gift guide. I love, love all of their dresses!

They’re very fancy. I wish I had some place to wear one of their nice dresses. The Taco Bell drive through just doesn’t cut it.

They also sell aprons!

Today I’m giving away this retro apron! The Caramel Apple Pie apron is a crisp bib of caramel-colored cotton with a gathered skirt descending from a contrasting tie-waist and pleated detailing at the bust will be sure to keep your favorite silks protected from your favorite sauces.

The best part is that the apron comes with a caramel apple pie recipe. I wish I could enter! To be eligible for this giveaway, you must be a resident of the United States. To enter, “like” Shabby Apple on Facebook, and then leave a comment telling me which dress or item is your favorite.

This giveaway is only good for today! I’ll announce the winner tomorrow. Oh, be sure to leave some way I can contact you if you win.

Tootles.

Thin Mint Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
32 thin chocolate mint cookies

Beat together butter and sugar, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in melted chocolate, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined - about 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in cocoa powder and flour until just combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray your hands with cooking spray. Take a heaping tablespoon of dough and flatten into the palm of your hand; place a mint cookie on top, and wrap dough around cookie. Repeat process with remaining cookies. Place on cookie sheets, spacing about an inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until set, and slightly crisp. Cool 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Makes 32 cookies

Panettone Failure & Other News

2011-12-18T19:04:00.001-06:00

This bread pudding isn’t pretty. I know. I don’t want to look at it either. Bread pudding is just ugly, and there’s nothing I can do about that.

It’s cubed panettone mixed with heavy cream, evaporated milk, eggs, eggnog, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar, and topped with fresh cranberries and almonds.

It was actually pretty good, despite the looks. I would use the same measurements of the ingredients again. The eggnog and spices were right on. The problem was my panettone bread. I actually used a panettone I baked myself. It was an experimental recipe… I wanted to create an easier panettone bread, and made it in the bread machine.

It turned out very dense and almost black on the outsides. So I cubed up the bread and used it in this bread pudding recipe. That was a mistake, because the bread was way too dry for this, and made the pudding dry.

Oh well… you can’t win them all.

These cookies, however, are winners.

They’re Lorie’s Eskimo Crackle Cookie Sandwiches with Coconut-Marshmallow Buttercream.

SO good! I would make these cookies again and again. I made my own buttercream recipe up by using butter, confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and melted down homemade-coconut marshmallows.

On a side note, Chef’s Catalog.com is sending me a few dishes as promotional items. I’ll be using them for my food pictures. I’m sure you all get sick of seeing the same plates all of the time.

In exchange, I’m giving them some link love.

There are all kinds of culinary related items on Chef’s; cookware, bakeware, serveware, cutlery, kitchen tools, furniture, and food. I had no idea they had so much!

I want this Frieling Layer Cake Slicing Kit. Think of how easy it would be to make multi-layered cakes. I have such a hard time with that. I’ve never seen anything like this before.

I also want this Mini Pie Baking Set. Mini pies are cute as can be! You could bake a different flavor of pie for every member of your family.

I also love this beautiful Le Creuset 2-Quart Poterie Stoneware Pitcher. I would pour eggnog from it.

I think I would feel very French if I owned these Egg Serving Cups. Oh la la. You can serve poached eggs in these for a fancy breakfast.

You should definitely check out their website if you love to cook or bake. They have just about everything you could possibly need.

Well, that’s all for today. I’ll be back soon with some cookie recipes!

I leave you with some pictures of The Graduate.

I’m such a dork.

Eggnog Pumpkin Pie

2011-12-16T02:06:00.002-06:00

Happy Eggnog Friday! The eggnog festivities continue. I still have one more eggnog recipe to post, but I guess it’ll have to wait until Sunday or Monday. I’m running out of days before Christmas! Yikes! I have so many holiday recipes to post. I might have to blog every day next week just to catch up. Food blogging really is a full time job!

Before I forget, let’s see who won the Safe Egg prize package!

The winner is….

Jessica and Bruce! Congratulations! If you could just email your information to me, I’ll forward it to the Davidson’s Safest Choice peeps.

Thanks to everyone who entered. I loved reading your opinions on fruitcake! Who knows, maybe I’ll try baking one this year for the first time.

Please don’t tell me you’re sick of pumpkin yet. I still consider December to be pumpkin season. People bake pumpkin pies at Christmas, don’t they?

Well, if you’re wanting to bake a pumpkin pie for Christmas, this is the one. It’s Eggnog Pumpkin Pie!

I really loved this pie. I would bake it again and again. The crust is made out of ground gingersnaps and butter. I think the crust could have used some extra sweetness, so I would add a tablespoon or two of sugar next time. (I already edited that into the recipe.)

The filling is made from canned pumpkin, eggnog, eggs, spices, vanilla and brown sugar, and the topping is sweetened whipped cream. The eggnog is what makes this pie so good.

Very, very good. I guarantee everyone will love this pie if you bake it.

I have another bit of information for you… Eric is graduating from college today with his bachelor’s degree in geography – Environmental and Natural Resources, with his minor in geology. Let’s all give him a pat on the back for his hard work.

Hooray! Congratulations, Eric! I’m so proud of you!

This is the most recent picture I have of him. He just happens to be wearing a little straw hat.
(My grandma gave my baby niece this sheep wearing a hat. So each of my family members took turns wearing the hat and taking pictures. Heh heh. We’re so mature.)

Eggnog Pumpkin Pie

2 cups ground gingersnaps
8 tablespoons butter, melted, divided use
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 Safe Eggs
1 cup eggnog
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, stir together cookie crumbs, 6 tablespoons melted butter, and sugar until combined. Press crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Cool 10 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together eggs, eggnog, pumpkin and brown sugar until well combined - about 2 minutes. Beat in flour, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt until combined. Pour pumpkin filling into pie crust. Bake 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into pie comes out clean.

To make the whipped cream, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, beat together cream, granulated sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream over pie.

Makes 9 servings

Eggnog Chocolate Bundt Cake

2011-12-15T00:26:00.002-06:00

Hi there. Eggnog week continues! So settle in, make yourself an eggnog milkshake, and head on over to Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs website for the 12 Days of Eggnog. My recipe for Chocolate Eggnog Bundt Cake is featured today! It’s a rich, chocolate cake made with eggnog, and drizzled with an eggnog-cream cheese glaze.

In case you didn’t know, Safest Choice Eggs are pasteurized eggs, free from salmonella and harmful bacteria. They’re labeled with a cute little P! Safe Eggs are fine to use in every-day cooking and baking, and they’re also great for raw uses, such as eggnog, cookie dough, mayonnaise, etc. They’re also good in raw cake batter. Mmm cake batter.

To celebrate eggnog week, Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs is giving away a prize pack with the following:
-Giuliano Hazan’s Thirty Minute Pasta book
-Coupons for Safest Choice
-Two spatulas
-Two stress eggs
-Pen

To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment on this post telling me... your opinion on fruitcake. Isn’t that random? I love it. I’ll draw a name and announce the winner on Friday’s blog!

For more information on Safe Eggs, visit their Facebook page and Twitter.

It’s Eggnog Week!

2011-12-12T01:34:00.003-06:00

Happy holidays, Sugar Plum readers!

Have you been doing some holiday decorating and baking? Trimming the tree and listening to Christmas music?

I was going to decorate today, but when I looked for the small box of Christmas decorations that I had, I couldn’t find it. I think I accidentally threw the box away when I was on a cleaning spree a few months ago. How does that even happen? Who does that? That’s something Oprah probably does every year; just throw away her Christmas decorations after it’s over.

Oh well, they were cheap decorations. I have been doing lots of holiday baking. In fact, I’m getting ready to make a batch of toffee and bake some Christmas breads today. I’m also going to a cookie exchange with my sisters and mom this weekend. I think that’ll be fun. There better be eggnog!

I love, love eggnog. Anyone else a fan? I’m pretty obsessed with the stuff. I’ve been buying it since October. I’ve tried pretty much all of the different brands by now. I like Southern Comfort eggnog, Kroger’s eggnog and Hyvee’s store brand eggnog. I’ve even tried soy eggnog and coconut milk eggnog.

Fresh eggnog is always MUCH better, though.

It’s eggnog week on Sugar Plum! I’m featuring three eggnog recipes; one for basic eggnog, a cake, and a pie. I used Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Eggs to make my eggnog. They sent me four dozen eggs to experiment with. Thursday’s recipe will be featured on their website.

I would recommend using their pasteurized eggs for this eggnog recipe, since there’s no cooking involved. Nobody wants salmonella poisoning on Christmas! Heh, heh. Am I right or am I right?

So this recipe is a little lighter than most eggnog recipes, because it uses skim milk, fat-free sweetened condensed milk, and no additional sugar. (A bag of sugar is in the above picture, but I ended up not using any.) Don’t worry; it’s still very rich and delicious. Just more drinkable.

Especially with all that rum. Goes down smooth.

You definitely don’t have to add the rum to the eggnog, though. It’s wonderful without it. But don’t leave the fresh grated nutmeg out!

I like to top eggnog with whipped cream and little more nutmeg. Sprinkles or crushed candy cane might be good too.

P.S. If you haven’t had enough of me today, please check out my recipe for Sweet Potato Pudding Pound Cake on The Bakery Spot!

Eggnog

8 Davidson’s Safest Choice Pasteurized Egg yolks
2 1/2 cups skim milk
1 (14 ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup dark spiced rum
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

In a large mixing bowl using a mixer on high speed beat eggs until frothy - about 3 minutes. Beat in milk, condensed milk, rum, vanilla and nutmeg until well combined - about 2 minutes. Serve!

Cherry Brew Brownies

2011-12-09T01:17:00.002-06:00

My relationship with beer has been a rocky one. We’re on again, we’re off again. We rekindle our relationship every few years or so.

Well, we’re on again. Let me explain: I didn’t start drinking beer until I was twenty-one.
No, really, I didn’t drink beer until I was twenty-one. I entered a recipe contest sponsored by the National Beer Wholesaler’s Association right after I turned twenty-one. I entered the contest even though I didn’t really like beer or know anything about it. I ended up being one of the ten finalists and flew to New York City for the cook-off.

In the two months before the cook-off, I taste-tested a lot of beer, learned more about the brewing process, and practiced my recipe. My parents helped a lot. They know a lot about beer. They like to drink a lot of beer, too. All of that beer practice didn’t help me win the grand prize in the cook-off, but it did help me gain some beer knowledge and appreciate it a little more. And free trip to New York?? Come on.

But not too long after, beer and I broke up when I met sangria. Official drink choice 2007-2008. Evidence is posted in the blog’s archives.

Then wine came along, 2009-present. We’re still canoodling.
But beer is back, baby! I’ve been taste-testing quite a few beers over the past few months. I blame it on working at a beer and wine store.

I’m still figuring out what I like when it comes to beer. I know I love fruity beers like lambics. I adore cherry and raspberry beers. You should try Cherish or raspberry framboise if you ever get the chance. It just so happens they also go well in desserts.

I used Founder’s Cerise in these brownies. It wasn’t quite as sweet as I wanted it to be, but the cherry flavor was there. I’ll probably use Cherish or a cherry lambic when I make these again.

So I’m adding these Cherry Brew Brownies to my collection of beer brownies on this blog. It’s been a long time since I posted a beer brownie! My raspberry truffle beer brownies are still my most popular post!

These brownies are rich and delicious. I was pretty impressed with them. They’re made with lots of butter, sugar, eggs, melted dark chocolate, cocoa powder, dried cherries and toasted almonds... you could definitely leave out the cherries and almonds if you wanted to. I kind of like them in there, though. They break up the richness of the brownie. And then, I thought I’d gild the lily and top the brownies with a buttery chocolate frosting, too.

Amazing! You must bake these for all of the beer drinkers you know!

Cherry Brew Brownies

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided use
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cherry beer (I used Founder's Cerise, but I prefer Cherish.)
5 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped, divided use
1/2 cup dried cherries
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt together 8 tablespoons butter and 1/2 cup beer. When butter is melted, remove pot from heat, and whisk in 3 ounces chocolate until melted and smooth. Whisk in cherries until combined.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together eggs, granulated sugar, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, and melted butter-chocolate mixture until well combined - about 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour until just combined.

Place batter into prepared dish; sprinkle with almonds. Bake 45 minutes, or until well risen and no longer wobbly. Cool completely.

To make the frosting, begin by melting the remaining 2 ounces of chocolate. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together melted chocolate, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, remaining 2 tablespoons beer, confectioners' sugar and almond extract until creamy and smooth - about 2 minutes. Spread frosting over cooled brownies. Lift out foil from pan, and slice into bars.

Makes 12 huge, rich brownies

Sugar Plum’s Holiday Gift Guide 2011

2011-12-08T01:24:00.002-06:00

Hi there! Don’t you love the official title I gave this post? Haha.

This is a list of a few Christmas gift ideas I came up with. These gifts would be perfect for… someone like me that you might know. Or you can get them for yourself. Am I using the smile faces too much yet?

They’re things that I either have and love, or would like to have. I feel like I could have added so much more to this list, but I just ran out of time. Any holiday gift ideas would be greatly appreciated in the comments section.

-Lavanilla Coconut Fragrance
I never knew I wanted this perfume until Angela mentioned it in my last post’s comments section.
“Vanilla Coconut features an exotic blend of young coconut, Tahitian tiare flower and vanilla. “

-Kindle
I may be the last person to own a Kindle. (And an iphone.) I want a Kindle! Think of how convenient it would be to have a whole library in your hands. Downfall: you can’t read a Kindle in the bath tub. Booo. Unless… do they make Kindle water-proof covers? Oh they do!

-Angel food cake pan
I don’t have one of these, and I’m thinking a lot of people probably don’t have one, either. Now you know why there aren’t any good angel food cake recipes on my blog.

-The Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook
Remember when I visited Momofuku Milk Bar and blogged about it? Well, I’m a huge fan of pastry chef Christina Tosi, and I’m so excited about her new cookbook. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. I’m dying for the recipes for Crack Pie, Candy Bar Pie, Cereal Milk Ice Cream, and Compost Cookies.

-These boots from Target
I bought these the other day. They are very, very cute. And very comfy! I’m serious. You need these.

-Bossy Pants
I’ve been wanting to read this book forever; it’s at the top of my reading list. I adore Tina Fey!

-Donut pan
I would use this SO much. I would eat donuts every day if I had this pan. Donuts without the frying? Yes, yes, yes!

-All of the beautiful dresses from Shabby Apple. Gorgeous and unique! This little black number may be on the way to my house right now…

-Julie Anne’s Granola
This is the best granola I’ve ever tasted in my life, no joke. It’s fresh, flavorful, healthy, and gourmet. Julie makes five different granolas, and they’re all delicious. Well, I haven’t tried the Decadent Raspberry Truffle flavor yet… I think it’s time to place an order.

-El Camino
This may be The Black Keys best album yet. Listen to it as loud as possible.

Happy shopping!

Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies

2011-12-05T14:20:00.002-06:00

Here is the cookie recipe I promised you! They’re very, very good, and different because of the homemade peanut butter in them.

Peanut butter cookies baking in the oven is one of the most amazing smells. I wish someone could catch that scent in a candle. Or better yet, a perfume.

Because I would burn that candle and wear that perfume. I always buy candles that smell like baked goods, and avoid the floral scents. Not that there’s anything wrong with them. I mean, I could go for some lilac scent, lavender scent, and rose scent sometimes. But morning rain, fresh cotton, hydrangea, and beach candle scents? No thank you. I prefer scents of pecan pie, pumpkin spice, hazelnut latte, cake with buttercream, cinnamon roll, coconut, and vanilla bean.

In fact, just the other day, I tried wearing a seeded vanilla bean as perfume. I used a vanilla bean pod that I’d taken the seeds out the day before, and rubbed it on my wrist. It almost worked. Vanilla beans get really hard and dry once they’re split open and seeded. I may have scratched up my wrist a bit.
”Vanilla Blood” – the new scent by Sugar Plum.

I don’t wear perfume because most scents seem too strong for me and make me sneeze. If I did wear perfume, I’d want my signature scent to be vanilla bean or coconut. Do they make coconut perfumes? I already use coconut shampoo, coconut lotion, and coconut chap stick.

This girl loves her coconut.

Coconut is my signature scent, and yes, I always smell like I’ve been sunbathing.
So my question for you today is, what’s your signature scent? Tell me, tell me! I really want to know!

Anyways, these cookies are delicious, and light. They’re not dense like most peanut butter cookies, they’re light, crisp, yet still soft. They’re almost delicate, I’d say; they crumble easily, and that’s a good thing. They’re tender as can be.
They make my heart tender because I love them so much.

The cookies are made with homemade peanut butter, butter, brown and white sugar, and are rolled in cinnamon-sugar before baking. So no, that’s not pepper on the cookies; it’s freshly ground cinnamon!

Homemade Peanut Butter Cookies

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup homemade peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar + 1/4 cup, divided use
1 large egg
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/3 cup granulated sugar until creamy - about 1-2 minutes. Beat in egg, cornstarch, baking soda, salt and vanilla until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour until just combined.

Roll dough into balls. Stir together remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Roll cookie balls in cinnamon-sugar. Place on cookie sheets. Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Homemade Peanut Butter

2011-12-01T21:53:00.002-06:00

And so begins another month of blogging… my fifth December of blogging! Can you believe that?
It makes me wonder… when do food bloggers retire? Do they just stop blogging and move to Florida?
Do they delete their blogs? Do they turn their blog over to their kids or a friend?

I think about that sometimes and ponder it. In the past I’ve read blogs I absolutely loved, and then one day they just stopped blogging. It makes me so sad! It makes me wonder what happened that made them stop.

No plans on retiring from blogging for me, although Florida does sound nice!

I think I could fit in at The Villages. There’s shopping, dining, live entertainment, fitness centers, and more! I really wouldn’t mind living in Florida and being warm all year long. I hate the cold. Hate it.

I have to wear sweat pants, a shirt and hoodie, and booties around the house. I want an electric blanket to wrap myself in all of the time. They’re $70, though. That’s too much to pay, considering I’ll probably spill coffee and cereal all over it.

I’ll settle for hovering by the oven while I bake cookies. It works. It smells awfully good, too.

That’s just a teaser photo; full peanut butter cookie recipe coming to you on Monday.

First you need to make your homemade peanut butter that goes into the cookie. All you need is dry roasted salted peanuts, oil, sugar and honey. I started off by baking the peanuts in a 350 oven for 10 minutes, to get them nice and toasty.

Then I blended the peanuts in a food processor with the remaining ingredients. The honey isn’t necessary, but I love the flavor and sweetness.

I let the food processor run for a while – probably 4-5 minutes.

Then you have delicious, fresh, creamy peanut butter. Much better than store-bought peanut butter with hydrogenated oil. You’ll never go back, I assure you. Okay, you’ll still probably buy jarred peanut butter for convenience, but, BUT, I recommend buying Justin’s or Smucker’s Natural, if you do.

Eat it by the spoonful, make a pb&j, stir it into oatmeal, or bake cookies; the decision is up to you.

Peaaanuuut! Peanut butter and jelly. You remember that old song you used to sing in grade school music class; don’t you pretend that you don’t.

Homemade Peanut Butter

3 cups dry roasted salted peanuts
5-6 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons honey

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place peanuts on a cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes, or until lightly toasted.

Combine peanuts, oil, sugar and honey in a food processor; process until finely ground.

Chocolate Rum Cake

2011-11-30T21:10:00.002-06:00

I had never eaten a rum cake until two months ago. We sell them at the store I work at, and one day I was able to try it when we set out samples for the customers. They’re absolutely delicious! It tasted like a lighter, moister pound cake with a lot of rum flavor.

Then, Tim, my friend and co-worker, brought in two chocolate rum cakes on separate occasions. They were even more amazing! The cakes were rich, full of chocolate, and heavenly. I asked him for the recipe and he told me it was an adapted recipe of Epicurious’ Mocha Rum Cake.

I baked this chocolate rum cake for Eric’s family’s Thanksgiving. I thought chocolate cake would be a good dessert option for non-pie eaters. I used the Epicurious recipe as a start, and then adapted it. This cake is half the size of the original, and it doesn’t have coffee in it. It has lots of butter in it, lots of melted chocolate, and a moderate amount of spiced rum.

And then I brushed more rum on top of the cake, after it was done baking. You prrrobably shouldn’t serve this to little kids. You probably shouldn’t bring it to a Thanksgiving dinner where there are little kids who love to eat chocolate cake.

I was running low on ingredients, so I made up an impromptu glaze for the cake using butter, cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar and corn syrup. It was good, and did the trick, but when I bake this cake again, I think I’ll use a dark chocolate ganache instead.

Thanks, Tim, for the inspiration and recipe! Be sure and check out Tim’s blog – Worst Beer Blog Ever. He started writing it a month ago, and posts frequently about beer, restaurants, and food.

Chocolate Rum Cake

3/4 cup unsalted butter
4 ounces dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup rum
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chocolate Glaze
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat inside of a Bundt pan with butter. Lightly dust with flour.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove pan from heat and whisk in chocolate until melted.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together brown sugar, eggs, milk, rum, vanilla extract and melted chocolate mixture until well combined - about 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture and chocolate chips until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees F., and bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until well risen, set, and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool 30 minutes on a wire rack before running a knife around outer pan edges and inverting onto a platter.

To make the glaze, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk in cocoa powder, confectioners's sugar, corn syrup and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Cool glaze enough for a good "drizzling consistency", and drizzle on top of cake.

Makes 8 servings

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie

2011-11-28T17:10:00.002-06:00

I’m experimenting with using Windows Live Writer, so things might seem a little wonky on here until I figure it out. I’m hoping the pictures look okay, because I don’t think I’m going to renew my Flickr account this year. Also, our Internet has been painfully slow for the last couple of days. If this post gets published, it’s a miracle. This chocolate milk I’m drinking is a little distracting, too. It’s just so darn delicious.

I’m thinking about upgrading my camera now. I’ve used my Nikon D40 a little over three years now, and I think I’m ready for a new one. But I’m sort of clueless on what I should get. It seems like there are a ton of DSLR’s and lenses out there. It’s so confusing! I’d appreciate any advice you could give.

Anyway, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Did you do any Black Friday shopping? Eric and I drove by some stores and looked at the lines wrapped around the building, but we didn’t actually do any shopping. No possession is worth waiting in line outside in the cold!

Our Thanksgiving was good. Good, but uneventful. I baked a chocolate cake and this pie that I brought over to my parents’ house.

I think you officially become an adult when you decorate your house for the holidays. I’m not quite there yet. My mom is….

She did most of the amazing cooking. Look at her sprinkle those onions on the green bean casserole!

This is Eric’s corn casserole he made. It was delicious. Good job, boyfriend.

These are my mom’s famous sweet potatoes with marshmallows. My fav. This is what did me in. I went back for seconds and made myself sick.

We headed over to Eric’s family’s house a little while later for more food. His aunt made these little turkeys out of Oreos, peanut butter cups, mini marshmallows, candy corn and frosting. Too cute!

Mmm smoked turkey legs.

They play a lot of croquet at his family’s house. I didn’t partake because I’m a wimp and couldn’t take the cold. It had nothing to do with my awesome croquet skills, I assure you.

The highlight of my Thanksgiving was eating this pie. I thought it was really, really good. I gave myself a pat on the back for baking it. The crust recipe is my own, but the pie filling recipe is my friend Tim’s recipe(husband of friend Tina. ). Hey look at that! I can add little smiley faces using Windows Live Writer.

Tim acquired the recipe from his mom sometime in the late eighties, but we don’t know the original source.

I did make a few changes: I toasted the pecans and browned the butter for a little extra flavor. Other than that, the recipe is the same. It’s perfect! I’m going to bake this pie every single year because I love it so much.

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie

Pie Dough
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
4 tablespoons cold cream cheese

2 cups pecan halves
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs
1 cup corn syrup (1/2 dark, 1/2 light)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup bourbon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

To make the pie dough, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor; pulse until combined. Add butter and cream cheese, and pulse until just combined, and a dough ball forms. Shape dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Thinly roll out dough on a lightly floured surface; transfer dough to a pie dish, and crimp edges.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pecans on a cookie sheet; bake 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 2-3 minutes, whisking frequently, until butter foams and turns light golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Whisk in chocolate chips until melted.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, bourbon, vanilla and salt until well combined; whisk in chocolate butter mixture until well combined. Whisk in pecans until combined. Pour filling into pie shell. Bake 50 minutes, or until well risen, set, and golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 9 servings

The Hunt for Dark Karo Syrup

2011-11-22T21:38:00.010-06:00

I actually like Tofurky. But I eat tofu and faux meal products sometimes.

I've been looking for dark Karo syrup for a week now. Who knew you had to buy this stuff a month in advance? I was foolish to think I could buy it a week before Thanksgiving. I've been to four different grocery stores and they've all been wiped out.

It's really starting to make me mad. I had to buy light corn syrup... ugh. I always thought light corn syrup was more popular than dark. I thought wrong. So my pecan pie will be without dark Karo this year. Sigh. This is going to be the WORST Thanksgiving ever!

I'm only kidding, of course.

Thanksgiving isn't about Karo corn syrup, pecan pie, the mashed potatoes or cranberry sauce.

It's about giving thanks. Yes!

Giving thanks to your wonderful mother who made mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. (No cranberry salad this year, though. Cranberry salad is whipped cream, cranberries, sugar, pineapple, pecans, and mini marshmallows, and yes, it gives you the diabetes.)

Giving thanks to your dad who made a turkey and a ham. (Oh dear lord, haaam!) I get weird cravings for ham sometimes. And goat cheese.

Giving thanks to your sweet sisters who are always there for you.

Giving thanks to your sweet, perfect boyfriend.

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for many things. I'm thankful for my wonderful family, new friends and old friends, my family and friends' health, my own good health, a place to live, a car that runs, food on the table, and a new job I love.

And eggnog, yoga pants, and Honey Bunches of Oats.

I'm thankful for all of you! Thank you for being you! Thanks for stopping by and reading every day! Or maybe you don't, which I competely understand, because wasn't this post kind of a waste of your time?

What are you thankful for??

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Be safe and don't drink too much Beaujolais Nouveau.

Bananas Foster Peanut Butter Pie

2011-11-21T01:43:00.004-06:00

So I'm guessing a lot of you already have your Thanksgiving desserts planned. But, if you don't, I have another pie recipe for you.

My baking plans aren't set in stone... they could change at any minute. I like to decide what I'm going to bake the day before. Or possibly even the day of. I like to live life on the edge, as you can see.

This pie recipe comes from Taste of Home's Christmas 2011 cookbook

Taste of Home sent me a copy, because this recipe of mine is in it! Except they changed the name to "Bananas Foster Pie", which I think is misleading because it has peanut butter in it. Bananas Foster doesn't have peanut butter in it.

I've been published in magazines before, but this is my first time being published in a cookbook! I was pretty excited when I found out.

Did you know I love bananas? I do. Favorite fruit, right here, ladies and gentleman.

What we have here is basically a spiced peanut butter banana cream pie. The crust is made up of ground up vanilla wafer crumbs or shortbread cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar. The filling is a custard made with egg yolks, milk, brown sugar, spices, rum and peanut butter. In the original recipe, the custard is poured on top of the bananas in the pie shell. When I made the pie last week, I blended the banana into the custard. I kinda prefer it that way. I think it tastes better... although the custard isn't as pretty. Bananas + peanut butter custard=gray

I was in a hurry when I made this and took the pictures, so it's not the prettiest pie I've ever made. Don't let that prevent you from trying it. It's really, really good! Also, I could not get the whipped cream fluffy when I was beating it with a mixer. I don't think that's ever happened to me before. I have no idea what the problem was.

Anyway, then you just drizzle some caramel syrup and sprinkle some peanuts on top to make it a little prettier. If you have peanuts, that is.

Bananas Foster Peanut Butter Pie

1/4 cup unsalted butter, plus an additional 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 finely ground vanilla wafer cookies or shortbread cookie crumbs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon dark rum
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 medium ripe bananas
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped salted peanuts
1 tablespoon caramel syrup

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt 1/4 cup butter; stir together melted butter and crumbs until well combined; press into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes; remove from oven and cool.

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt additional 2 tablespoons butter; cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Whisk in milk, brown sugar, flour, rum, cinnamon, ginger and salt; bring to a simmer, whisking frequently. Whisk egg yolks together in a medium bowl, and gradually whisk in half of hot milk mixture until combined; whisk the egg mixture back into saucepan containing remaining milk. Heat mixture, whisking frequently, until it just comes to a boil, starts to thicken up, and coats the back of a spoon - about 1-2 minutes; strain into a large mixing bowl. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla until combined.. Cool bowl over an ice bath for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Peel and diagonally slice bananas 1/4-inch thick, and layer into bottom of crust. Pour peanut butter filling over bananas, lightly cover, and cool completely in the refrigerator, about 1 hour, or until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, make the whipped cream: combine heavy cream and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, and beat until stiff peaks form - about 1-2 minutes. Spread or pipe whipped cream evenly on pie.

Sprinkle peanuts over the top, drizzle with caramel syrup, and serve.

Makes 8-10 servings

Peanut Butter-Toffee Chocolate Chip Cornflake Cookies

2011-11-17T22:54:00.005-06:00

I've been doing some thinking about what I want to bake in the future, and I've come to a conclusion. I want to only bake and blog about cookies in the month of December. Can you imagine a whole month of cookies?! It's going to be great, I tell you.

I will try and have some creative and different cookie recipes for you; hopefully ones you've never heard of before. Right now I'm baking a small, experimental batch of cookies. Cross your fingers they turn out okay! They're malty, chocolatey, crispy, and filled with a flavored buttercream. That's all I'm giving you right now.

Just a few fun ingredients makes these Peanut Butter-Toffee Chocolate Chip Cornflake Cookies unique. I guess I really don't have to tell you what's in these cookies now; it's all in the title!

Toffee bits, peanut butter, chocolate chips, and corn flakes. Using corn flakes in a cookie is different, but not unheard of. You might have heard of ranger cookies?

I love the texture of the cornflakes in cookies; they make them crispier. Plus I love the corn-flavor they bring to the party.

You could SUBSTITUTE corn chex cereal, as well. Mmm chex mix. That's one of my favorite snacks. I filmed my mom making chex mix at Christmas time one year. She pretends she's Martha Stewart. It's hilarious. I'd show you but she'd kill me.

Peanut Butter-Toffee Chocolate Chip Cornflake Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup finely ground corn flakes
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup toffee bits
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 2 minutes, whisking frequently, until butter foams and starts to turn golden. Pour butter into a large mixing bowl.

Add brown sugar to mixing bowl. Mix, using a mixer on medium speed, for 2 minutes. Mix in peanut butter, egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt until well combined - about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in corn flake, flour, toffee bits and chocolate chocolate chips until just combined. Chill dough in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 10-12 big cookies

Layered Amaretti Apple Pumpkin Pie

2011-11-15T21:46:00.000-06:00

One week until... well, one week until Thanksgiving Eve. Haha. I'm getting very excited. How about you? What are you making for your big feast? I'm baking a bourbon chocolate pecan pie, possibly another pie or pumpkin roll, and maybe some rolls. My parents usually handle everything else. Everything they make is always amazing. I'm pretty excited about the sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows.

Would I chose the sweet potatoes over the turkey? Absolutely. I would chose the stuffing and mashed potatoes over the turkey, too. I love turkey, but my mom's cornbread stuffing is amazing; she uses sage from her herb garden.

I don't want to speak too soon, but I *think* I don't have to work next Thursday! That's good because I have a lot of eating on my agenda that day.

I'm sure a lot of you are planning your Thanksgiving menus this week. If you're looking for a dessert that's different than your typical pumpkin and pecan pies, then you might try this Layered Amaretti Apple Pumpkin Pie.

It all starts with a homemade, buttery, cream cheese pie crust. You could definitely use a frozen pie crust, though. Last week I tasted a pie crust made from Pillsbury's refrigerated pie dough rounds, and it was really good! I'm not going to hate on their pie crusts, because it tasted homemade to me.

Anyway, after making your pie crust, your make the pumpkin filling by whisking up pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cream cheese, egg, and cinnamon, and placing it into your pie crust. <-- Easy as pie.

The pumpkin layer gets a quick bake, and then is topped with the apple filling made out of sliced apples, spices, and brown sugar. I usually use Galas for baking. They're always a reliable apple.

Next comes the amaretti topping, which I think we can all agree on, is the best part of the Layered Amaretti Apple Pumpkin Pie. Can I tell you something important? I had never eaten an amaretti cookie until a month ago. They are good! You have to try them if you haven't already. They are little Italian meringue cookies made from egg, sugar, and ground up almond or apricot kernels.

The amaretti topping is delicious; it's a combination of ground up amaretti cookies, almonds, butterscotch chips, oats, brown sugar and butter, all mushed up together before being sprinkled on top of the apple layer.

Bake for 1 hour and you have pie!! I had trouble resisting this one. I kept picking off the topping and eating it.

That's all I have for today. Are you making any unique pie recipes this Thanksgiving?

Layered Amaretti Apple Pumpkin Pie

Crust
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ounces chilled cream cheese
8 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
2 tablespoons shortening

Pumpkin Filling
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apple Filling
6 cups thinly sliced apples (Gala)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove

Amaeretti Topping
1/2 cup coarsely ground amaretti cookies
1/2 cup coarsely ground almonds
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

To make the crust, in a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar and salt until combined. Add in cream cheese, butter and shortening, and pulse until combined and a dough ball forms. Shape dough into a flattened disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes before rolling out.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll out dough (using a rolling pin) on a floured surface, into a round – about 1/8-inch in thickness. Transfer dough round into a 9-inch deep-dish pie dish; fit into dish, and pinch and crimp dough edges (This doesn't have to be perfect because most of the crust will be covered up anyway.).

To make the pumpkin filling, in a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin, cream cheese, brown sugar, egg, cinnamon and vanilla until well combined. Pour into pie crust. Bake 15 minutes; remove from oven.

To make the apple filling, in a large bowl, stir together apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove until well combined; place apple filling on top of pumpkin filling.

To make the amaretti topping, in a large bowl, stir together amaretti, almonds, butterscotch chips, oats and brown sugar until well combined; knead in butter, using your fingertips, until well incorporated and mixture starts to clump together. Sprinkle amaretti topping over apples. Bake pie 30 minutes, cover with foil, and bake an additional 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.

Maple Nut Blondie Sundaes with Warm Cinnamon Syrup

2011-11-14T01:57:00.002-06:00

Friday night was fun, because I got to see Big Smith, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and The Ozark Mountain Daredevils in concert. It was the Daredevil's 40th anniversary party. Eric's dad bought our (Eric and me) tickets to the show. That was so nice of him! I had to give him a little shout-out. Thank you so much!

Big Smith puts on a great show. They might have been my favorite all night.

The Nitty Gritty Dirty Band played some of their big hits. Fishin' in the Dark, anyone? How about Mr. Bojangles?

The Ozark Mountain Daredevils were last. I loved If You Wanna Get to Heaven... That's just good music right there.

Nothing like some good old hillbilly music on a Friday night! The best part was probably watching all of the drunk people "dancing" to the music.

I have no way to tie all of that in with this blondie recipe so I'm not even going to try. I made these Maple Nut White Chocolate Blondie Sundaes the other day, and they were pretty delicious. The blondies are a little cakey, and a little gooey.

The delicious goo is made from browned butter, brown sugar and maple syrup. I added some chopped toasted pecans to the batter, along with chopped white chocolate. I sprinkled oats over the top of the bars before baking.

These blondies are great as they are, but if you wanted to make something even more decadent, you could top the blondies with vanilla ice cream, and a drizzle of cinnamon-maple syrup. Yum!

*I forgot to mention, I ended up throwing in some chocolate chips, too! Only because I knew I could get Eric to eat them if I did that. Haha.*

Maple Nut Blondie Sundaes with Warm Cinnamon Syrup

10 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup pure maple syrup, plus 1/2 cup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
4 ounces coarsely chopped white chocolate
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Vanilla ice cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil; coat foil with nonstick cooking spray.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook butter, whisking frequently, for 2-3 minutes, or until butter browns and starts to foam.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together melted browned butter, brown sugar, 1/3 cup maple syrup and vanilla until well combined - about 1 minute. Beat in eggs for 2-3 minutes or until well incorporated. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture until just combined; beat in pecans and white chocolate until combined.

Spread batter evenly into pan, and sprinkle with oats. Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into blondies comes out with moist crumbs attached; cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before lifting out foil and slicing blondies into bars.

To make the warm cinnamon syrup, whisk together remaining 1/2 cup maple syrup and cinnamon in a small saucepan over medium heat, until warm.

Serve blondies with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of cinnamon syrup.

Makes 12 servings

Friday

2011-11-10T22:05:00.003-06:00

I'm loving...

these cake-truffle pops I made. Remember that disastrous chocolate volcano cake I mentioned the other day? Well I took the rich, chocolate cake batter, rolled it into balls, and then coated the balls in melted Hershey's candy cane kisses, and Hershey's mint chocolate truffle kisses. I topped the candy cane pops with red and clear coarse sugar, and the mint chocolate with chopped pistachios. Ta da! I was feeling crafty. I even wrapped and tied them with red ribbons.

these shoes. They look like little-man shoes, and I knew I just had to have them. I feel like dancing when I wear them.

this squash. This is my new favorite squash. It's delicata squash. I was told it tastes similar to a sweet potato. I didn't think it tasted like a sweet potato, but it was very, very good. It tasted like a sweeter acorn squash. I sliced it into rings, roasted it, and topped it with a little butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt and pepper.

this book. It's good! I can't believe it took me so long to read it. I love that a lot of the writing is about food.

this plum tote. At first I thought it was too big, and then I realized how much stuff I need to haul around all of the time. I can fit all of my normal purse stuff in there, a magazine, a lunch box, a jacket. It's crazy. It's like that bag Mary Poppins carries around.

this band. I get to see them tonight! :)

Happy Friday!

Mahogany Cake

2011-11-09T00:49:00.002-06:00

Today's recipe is a very special one. Susan is a Sugar Plum reader, and was so kind to email me one of her favorite cake recipes. Thank you so much Susan, and thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe!

This is Susan's husband's favorite cake, and the recipe was his mother's, passed down for several generations. Mahogany cake is also her children's favorite cake to have on their birthdays.

I think anyone who tries this cake will love it. Eric and I really enjoyed it. It's a little more dense than most chocolate cakes, and almost like a brownie. The recipe calls for good old Baker's unsweetened chocolate, butter, sugar, strong coffee, and a few other basic ingredients. Nice and simple and easy to prepare. Perfect.

I topped the cake with a milk chocolate frosting I whipped up. Mmm. I wish I had some of this cake right now. I baked a chocolate cake earlier this evening, and it was a disaster. You have to be careful with how much leavening you use in bundt cake. Haha. I ended up with a bundt cake volcano. The batter kept pouring over the edge of the pan.

If anyone else has a great recipe to share, please email me! I'd love to try baking it. Unless it's croissants. Reader-Shannon emailed me a croissant recipe a while back, but I don't have the nerve to try it. I need to have a whole day free if I'm going to bake that one. Someday I'll attempt a laminated dough. Someday.

Mahogany Cake
From Grandma Adrienne

Ingredients
½ c. butter
2 c. sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 c. strong coffee, hot
½ c. melted Baker’s unsweetened chocolate (4 squares)
1 T. vinegar
1 t. baking soda
2 c. flour
Pinch of salt

Preparation
Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add hot coffee, set aside to cool.
Stir in well beaten egg yolks and chocolate (add a dash of salt).
Dissolve soda in vinegar and add.
Slowly stir in flour.
Finally, gently fold in stiffly beaten egg whites, making sure to incorporate the air.
Grease and flour 2 8” cake pans and pour in batter.
Bake in a slow oven (325°) about 30 – 40 minutes. Test for doneness with a toothpick.

Note: If you want to do three layers, place them all on the same oven rack and cook for about 25 minutes. Test.

This is a (Emily) frosting recipe I created for the cake.

Milk Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces milk chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The Springfield Wine & Food Celebration

2011-11-07T00:53:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending The Wine & Food Celebration for the very first time. The Wine & Food Celebration is a Springfield tradition. In its 24th year, the event boasts over 100 wines from around the world, more than 50 varieties of craft beer, and the area's top restaurants and caterers serving their finest foods. All of the money raised from ticket sales helps fund programming on Ozarks Public Television.

My employer sponsors the event, so I was lucky enough to tag along and run the food booth for them. And get paid! I was paid to attend a food and wine show and sample lots of delicious wine and food.
Have I told you how much I love my job?

Of course I had to do a little bit of work, too. We displayed some of the food products and cheeses we sell in the store. The picture above is triple cream brie (from France) with pepper jelly and nuts on top, served with mini toasts. Perfect for your upcoming holiday parties! I love brie; it's my favorite cheese. Every time we set it out for samples at the store, I always have to have a little taste.

Here we have some triple chocolate cake with milk chocolate glaze, and white chocolate hazelnut cake with caramel glaze and crushed amaretti cookies. So delicious!

Who says cake from a mix can't be good? These gourmet mixes and glazes are a little bit more expensive, but they're worth the price because they use quality ingredients and turn out a better product.

This is a giant tomato pesto cheeseball, using the Wind & Willow mixes we sell. I love that our store sells a lot of locally made products. Wind & Willow is made in Mt. Vernon, Missouri.

Here we have some of the jarred pickles and olives we sell. I noticed people at the event really went for this stuff. I guess they needed something salty to go with all of that wine?

These are Ines Rosales tortas (from Spain), and let me tell you, they. are. heavenly. They taste like a cracker made from a pie crust, if that makes sense. You won't want to go back to your every-day crackers after tasting these. This is the Seville orange, so it's a sweet flavor.

We served white cheddar cranberry cheese, fried & salted Marcona almonds, and Valrhona chocolate all together. I loved the sweet and salty combination of this.

I took a few breaks during the event to wander around and sample some of the food and wine. Which is what I do best, let's be honest.

I stuck with what I was craving: Asian food. I sampled an egg roll, crab rangoon, shrimp tempura, orange chicken and a lettuce wrap.

There may have been some of this, too.

I was also able to taste a riesling, chardonnay, Spanish tempranillo, Malbec and a prosecco. I liked them all. I guess I'm not very picky when it comes to wine, because just about all of it tastes good to me. :)

If you live in the Springfield area, you definitely need to check out this event next year. The ticket price is a great deal; where else would you be able to try such a variety of food, wine, and beer?

I hope I'll be back next year; it was a lot of fun. If I am, come over, say hi, and have some tomato pesto cheeseball. Just don't get cheeseball over the spreader handle.
That's gross.

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

2011-11-03T00:32:00.003-05:00

Kelli, a local reader from Springfield, emailed me a few months ago and wanted to know if I could duplicate a chocolate truffle cookie from the Mudhouse. The Mudhouse is an amazing coffee shop in Springfield. My favorite drink of theirs is the Mocha Nut - frozen coffee with hazelnut, almond and macadamia nut syrups, and whipped cream.

And here we go, talking about coffee again. It's making me sad. Coffee and I had some good times together.

We will meet again, coffee. Probably tomorrow because I received this in the mail!

The beans smell so good. I can't stop sniffing them.

Equal Exchange sent me these beans to promote their Congo Coffee Project. The coffee is a blend of full city roast African coffees, and a portion of the sales from this coffee is donated to the Panzi Foundation which supports the medical programs of the Panzi Hospital in the D.R. Congo which provides life-saving treatments, counseling and aftercare programs to more than 2,000 survivors of sexual violence each year.

It's only $12 for a huge bag of coffee beans, and the money goes towards a good cause. Here's the link to buy the Congo Coffee.

Continuing on with the cookies...I didn't make it to the Mudhouse location that has the cookies, because it's downtown Springfield and I rarely venture down there. But I will, soon! I really need to try one of those cookies, because Kelli says they're amazing.

I made my own version of chocolate truffle cookies using Hershey's Aerated Milk Chocolate Kisses.

They're pretty much like regular Kisses, but they have an airier, creamier center. I pressed the candies into the centers of the cookies after they finished baking.

The cookie dough is rich and chocolatey, and uses very little flour. The main ingredient is ground up chocolate graham crackers. I loved the texture of the graham cracker in these cookies. I also used cocoa powder and melted chocolate chips in the batter. That makes a triple chocolate batter!

Makes these. They'd be great for upcoming cookie exchanges!

Chocolate Truffle Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
2 tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 sleeve chocolate graham crackers, finely ground
1/3 cup all purpose flour
28 chocolate kisses or chocolate truffles

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in egg, cocoa powder, chocolate, corn syrup, vanilla, baking soda and salt until well combined. Beat in graham cracker crumbs and flour until just combined. Chill dough in freezer for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 12 minutes or until well risen, and set. Cool 2 minutes. Press a chocolate into the center of each cookie. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 28 cookies

Tina's Perfect Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes

2011-10-31T22:55:00.004-05:00

Good morning! It's time to wake up and smell the pancakes. Pancakes on a Tuesday morning? Sure, why not? Or you could wait until the weekend to make these. But you must, must make these pumpkin pancakes. They're perfect!

My friend Tina created this recipe the other day, and jotted it down for me. Thank you, Tina! You know how to make some good pancakes! (You all would love her. She has a good aura. She's the biggest foodie I know; she's like a walking food encyclopedia.)

The first step is making your own "buttermilk" by whisking together milk and fresh lemon juice. You set it aside to curdle and thicken up. I hate the word curdle, but that's what's happening there.

Here are the ingredients. You sift together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. After whisking together the milk, melted butter, egg, pumpkin, and vanilla, you fold in the dry ingredients and toasted nuts. I used pecans because that's what I had, but Tina recommends walnuts.

Use fresh eggs if you got em'. These eggs are from Tina's chickens! I've never had a fresh egg before. I made an omelet with them, and they're delicious.

The batter sits for a few minutes to "puff" up a bit before cooking. It will look like this:

Then, you griddle the cakes in some butter. I added some chopped Hershey's kisses to Ericcakes cakes. You could do the same and use left over Halloween candy! Just think of the possibilities... Butterfinger Pumpkin Pancakes, Reeses Pumpkin Pancakes. Sigh.

Serve with real maple syrup...

Real butter, and real coffee. (And no, I didn't drink the coffee. Staying strong!)

Tina's Perfect Pumpkin Spiced Pancakes

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together milk and lemon juice until combined; allow to sit 10 minutes. Whisk in butter, egg, pumpkin and vanilla until well combined.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Whisk in pecans until combined. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined. Allow batter to sit 5 minutes.

Heat a greased skillet over medium heat. Add about 1/4 cup batter, per pancake, to skillet. Cook 1-2 minutes per side, or until golden brown and set. Serve with maple syrup and bacon!

Pumpkin Ghost Cakes

2011-10-31T14:56:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween, everyone! I hope you're having a fun day. Are you eating lots of candy? Preferably not orange and black peanut butter kisses, candy corn, or Smarties. Or are you watching any scary movies? I'm in the mood to watch one. Not IT. No, no. I haven't watched that one since I was about seven years old. Scared the crap out of me.

I have the day off today, so I'm just relaxing, juicing, and blogging. It's also Ericcakes and my anniversary today! We started dating on Halloween, three years ago. Happy anniversary, Eric! I love you! You're the best boyfriend I could ask for.

We went to a Halloween party on Saturday night and dressed up as:

Can you guess who we are?

Eating Bugles and cookies from his baseball glove.

Wendy Peffercorn and Michael "Squints" Palledorous!

Eric came up with the costume idea. He's a genius. The costumes went over well, and everyone seemed to know who we were. My mom made my dress and headband! She's so talented.

I made these little chocolate cakes the other night, and they came out well. I plan on using this recipe again for a one layer 9-inch round cake, or for cupcakes. The title of this recipe is confusing, because there isn't actually any pumpkin in the cake. I called these Pumpkin Ghost Cakes because of their appearance. I used my Wilton Pumpkin-Ghost cake pan. I only get to use it once a year.

I made a cream cheese buttercream icing and used it to decorate the cakes with. It took forever! I don't think I have enough patience for cake decorating. It took a long time just to make the frosting and dye it. I'm really trying to get better at decorating, though.

Happy Halloween!!

Pumpkin Ghost Cakes

1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
2 large eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cream Cheese Buttercream
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 tablespoons shortening
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray desired cake pan with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together granulated sugar, milk, oil, eggs, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla for 2-3 minutes, or until well combined. Beat in flour until just combined.

Divide batter into cake pan. For this pan I baked the cakes for 12 minutes. Cupcakes would take a few minute longer. Transfer cakes to wire racks to cool.

To make the cream cheese buttercream, combine cream cheese, butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl. Mix, using a mixer on medium speed, until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until well combined - about 3-4 minutes. Pipe frosting over cakes.

Thomas Keller's Nutter Butters

2011-10-27T00:09:00.004-05:00

I'm on day two of not drinking coffee. Cold turkey (Mmm turkey!!). I had this brilliant idea to try and not drink coffee for one week. I don't think it's really that bad for you, but I don't like the idea of being addicted to it. I feel like I'm kind of addicted to coffee. I always drink a huge tumbler of it every day. And oh man is it good. Just thinking about it makes me want some right now. Piping hot with a little Bailey's Irish creamer stirred in.

Instead of drinking coffee, I've been juicing. (Not that kind of juicing.) I've had two big glasses of fruit and vegetable juice the past two days. I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the week.

Anyway, where I was going with this is, I have a headache. I've had terrible headaches both days. I get headaches often, and now I'm wondering if it has to do with the caffeine....

A friend from work told me about Thomas Keller's famous Nutter Butter Cookie recipe and how good they were. (I love having foodie friends at work.) I got home, googled the recipe and discovered a lot of bloggers out there had already made the recipe. So, I guess I'm a little late to the party. But at least I'm here now.
And I brought the booze.

This is my slightly adapted version of the recipe, and they came out quite well. I thought they turned out pretty. I proudly took them into work, and they were devoured shortly after.

I loved, loved this recipe. These cookies are amazing. Just amazing. I don't know what it is about them... the delicious peanut butter buttercream? The toasted ground oats? The perfect marriage of butter, sugars and egg?

I do know that a stack of these would cure my coffee withdrawals.

Thomas Keller's Nutter Butters

Cookies
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups coarsely ground old fashioned oats (toast them for more flavor)
1 cup all purpose flour

Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

To make the cookies, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy - about 3 minutes. Beat in egg, baking soda, baking powder and vanilla until combined. Beat in oats and flour until just combined.

Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool cookies on sheet for 5 minutes, before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

To make the filling, in a large bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, peanut butter and confectioners' sugar until well combined and creamy - about 2 minutes. Spread filling in between cookies.

Makes about 12 big cookies

Dark Chocolate-Pumpkin Spoooky Pies

2011-10-24T00:12:00.002-05:00

Good morning! Today I have created a spooooky Halloween (It's only a week away!) treat for you. Dark Chocolate-Pumpkin Spoooky Pies.

But first, I have to tell you about something magical that happened last week. The Fairy Hobmother from Appliances Online visited me. Her mission is to bring joy and happiness to the world’s bloggers by providing treats for great, hard work in the blogosphere. She saw my comment on another blogger's post, and decided to email me and grant my wish. She gives bloggers $50 Amazon gift vouchers to buy a new appliance. I know, right? So if you leave a comment on this post, she might visit you!

I bought a new juicer with the gift voucher. My hand-me-down Jack LaLanne broke over a year ago and I've been juice-less. Not anymore! I'll have to give you a full review of the juicer and some juice recipes. I have the ingredients to make some apple-orange-carrot-kale-ginger juice. Mmm so healthy. I have to balance out all of my cookie eating.

Aren't these cookies so spooky? They've been giving me nightmares.

They're actually whoopie pies. I adapted a recipe from The Neely's. I saw in Food Network Magazine. I'm not one to make The Neeley's recipes (In fact, I never have.), but this one looked good. I changed a few things, but it's about the same.

Dark chocolate sandwich cookies are filled with a mixture of cream cheese, pumpkin, butter, powdered sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Yum! These are delicious! I'm a believer in the chocolate-pumpkin combo. I don't know why it took me so long to love it.

I decorated the tops of the whoopie pies with melted white almond bark and chocolate, and made little ghosts. This is my attempt at making something cute.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. And Aldi has pumpkin now; ninety-nine cents a can. I thought you should know. I stocked up and bought five cans. Teehee.

Dark Chocolate-Pumpkin Spoooky Pies

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 cups confectioners' sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and sugar until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in egg, buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Beat in cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low; beat in flour until just combined.

Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 8 minutes or until set and slightly crisp. Cool 2 minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool.

To make the filling, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, butter, pumpkin, confectioners' sugar, cinnamon and vanilla until well combined and creamy - about 2 minutes.

Fill cookies with pumpkin filling.

Makes 10 whoopie pies

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Butterscotch-Pumpkin Glaze

2011-10-20T23:33:00.004-05:00

It's Friday! Yaay. I hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm looking forward to doing some baking; I've had that baking itch all week, but have been resisting it. There may be a trip or two to Hyvee in my future, too. :)

I can't believe I don't have a recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls on my blog. I searched and searched, and couldn't find one. Well today is the day. You have to make these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Butterscotch-Pumpkin Glaze.

They're amazing! I actually tested this recipe a couple of times before I got it right. They're flavorful, flaky and moist. The dough is a sweet yeast dough made from pumpkin, milk, yeast, sugar, oil, eggs, flour and lots of spices.

The dough is rolled out and slathered in brown sugar-cinnamon butter, then rolled up, sliced and baked. The glaze is made from melted butterscotch chips, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, milk, vanilla, and a little bit of pumpkin. I love that the glaze uses pumpkin, too.

These rolls would be perfect for an autumn weekend brunch, served with coffee. Or pumpkin spice lattes. They're great as a dessert, too. I had one for dessert one night. Later on I found cinnamon roll icing in my hair. I hate when that happens.

Oh! I forgot to tell you the most important part! These are no-knead cinnamon rolls. No mixer or kneading required!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Butterscotch-Pumpkin Glaze

Dough
1/3 cup warm milk (not hot) (around 100-110 degrees F.)
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons oil
1 large egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze
3 tablespoons butterscotch chips
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 tablespoon pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon milk
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the dough, in a large mixing bowl whisk together 1/3 cup milk, yeast and granulated sugar until well combined. Allow to sit for 10 minutes until yeast is activated and bubbly. Whisk in pumpkin, oil, egg, baking powder, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove until well combined. Stir in flour until combined, and a dough ball forms. Lightly cover and allow to rise in a warm area for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. (I used my oven. I preheated it on the lowest temperature, turned it off, then allowed my dough to rise in there.)

On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness, into a rectangle. In a medium bowl, stir together butter, brown sugar and 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon until well combined; evenly spread on top of dough. Roll up dough, jelly-roll style. Slice into 10 equal pieces. Place in a greased 9-inch cake pan. Lightly cover and allow to rise in a warm area for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake rolls for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool pan on a wire rack. To make the glaze, in a medium bowl, stir together butterscotch chips, cream cheese, 1 tablespoon pumpkin and 1 tablespoon milk until combined. Microwave for 30-60 seconds, stirring frequently until melted (It doesn't take long! Don't scorch your butterscotch!). Whisk in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Drizzle glaze over cinnamon rolls.

Makes 10 cinnamon rolls

Hyvee Opens in Springfield, Missouri

2011-10-19T00:13:00.008-05:00

Today I had the pleasure of visiting the newly opened Hyvee grocery store in Springfield. I've only been to one other Hyvee, and it was only a few months ago when we visited Columbia. Have you ever been to a grand opening of a grocery store in your town? I hadn't and didn't know what to expect.

There wasn't a spot in the entire parking lot. There wasn't a parking spot in the parking lots of nearby businesses. It was packed!

Our first stop was Caribou Coffee when we got inside. YIPPIE. I love Caribou Coffee! My family drank it while we were on vacation one year in Chicago. I've missed it. We had pumpkin lattes, and they were okay. Starbucks makes a better P.S.L., I think.

Yup, that's my mom. You've probably seen her before. She was on my Food Network video and she was on a news segment I linked to one time. She's awfully cute!

I went with my sister, Hannah, too. They're both good food shopping companions; they never make you feel rushed. She's holding a baby pineapple! Isn't it cute? I wanted one, but I think they were $6.

I'm so thankful we have this Hvyee now, because the produce was amazing! You wouldn't believe it. I had no idea there would be so much variety. They had different types of baby squash, baby artichokes, mushrooms, yellow carrots, Buddah's Hand, heirloom tomatoes...

Kiwi berries. I died.

Dragon Fruit. It's so pretty. Does it taste good?

Oh hey there, Sleepy. Is that a Gold Nugget squash in your hand?

(I'm bringing back the old hairstyle; I missed it. The bangs + the blond = too much maintenance. Now I just need my bangs to grow out so they don't look so awkward.)

I adore cauliflower.

Mom picking out her produce.

Starfruit! I've never had this one, either; is it good?

Radishes, beets, squash...

They had a lot of deals going on, so it's worth stopping by if you live in the Springfield-Branson area. The bakery had a good selection, as well as the cheese case and deli. They also had some Chinese food that smelled delicious. I wanted some. Maybe Ericcakes will take me there on a hot date some night.

Look how full the aisles were. It took ten minutes to get to the end! We weren't in any hurry so it wasn't a big deal, but it did make us feel claustrophobic.

This Hyvee had a huge liquor department in a separate room. I didn't buy any, but I did see some wines I might want to try in the future. Are The Naked Grape wines any good?

Hannah and I ran in to the Pillsbury Dough Boy. He was pretty nice. Didn't say much. I asked him why Pillsbury doesn't allow food bloggers with advertising on their sites to enter the Pillsbury Bake-Off. He didn't have an answer for me.

My teeth are the same color as my hair. Note to self: tone down blond hair color, buy white strips, drink less Caribou Coffee.

And that concludes my trip to Hyvee! It was a nice little afternoon. I got to spend time with my mom and sister, and I learned some family-Hyvee secrets: my Grandma knew Charles Hyde when she was a little girl and lived in Lamoni, Iowa. She was friends with his daughter. She used to go over to their house for dinners, and the food was always good. Haha. She used to call him Charlie. (I'm just repeating everything my Mom told me today.) My mom also told me that my Grandpa worked as a butcher in the Hyvee in Lamoni when he was going to school, and my great uncle was a general supervisor of all the Hyvee stores, back in the day.

So much family history at Hyvee! Who knew? Hyvee is in my blood! That's why I love it so much. It's all making sense now.

The damage.

Pumpkin, brown sugar, pecans, chocolate chips, strawberry-raspberry granola, cream of wheat, pom Naked juice, pretzel bread, oranges, apples, ginger, goat gouda, Gold Nugget squash, maple syrup, baby kale, and boxed mac and cheese. One of these things is not like the other.

Crispy & Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-10-17T00:00:00.006-05:00

Good morning! First off, I have to say something. Go Cardinals!!
The St. Louis Cardinals are playing in the World Series this year! Eric is a big fan, so I've been watching some of the playoff games with him. I've learned quite a bit about baseball. Common knowledge that most people know, but regardless...

Also, Lance Berkman is my favorite player.

(source)

Last year around this time I baked some cookies: Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. The recipe received a lot of comments. Most of the reviews were good, but I had about five people comment and say that their cookies didn't turn out like mine. That rarely happens to me, so I knew I had messed up when typing out the recipe.

I had to figure out what went wrong, and decided to go over the recipe and improve it a bit.

-The orginal recipe calls for:
-Browned butter
- A mixture of "crumbs" stirred into the cookies that makes them chewy; the crumbs is a combination of dried milk, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and cornstarch.
-Evaporated pumpkin (Pumpkin that is cooked over the stove to evaporate some of the moisture.)
-Toasted pecans

I kept the browned butter and the "evaporated pumpkin", but I switched the nuts to walnuts, and I changed up the crumb mixture. The crumb mixture contains ground up gingersnaps, oats, walnuts, sugar and melted butter (no cornstarch, dried milk, or graham crackers).

The ground up gingersnaps add a nice spicy flavor, the oats and walnuts create an interesting texture, the browned butter adds complexity...I could go on and on. These cookies are good. I mean, really good.

This version of the cookie is spicier. I absolutely love it. I love the hint of clove in these. I love the hint of pumpkin flavor. I love, love the chewy and crisp texture. The secret is the corn syrup in the batter! Their texture is almost like a florentine cookie when they come out of the oven.

So try this recipe and report back! I hope they turn out well for you.

P.S. Check out the black walnuts my parents picked up from their backyard! Multiply this by ten, and that's how much they still have in their yard.

Crispy & Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup ground gingersnaps
1/3 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (You could sub. 1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice for all of these spices)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon clove
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together melted 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, walnuts, gingersnap crumbs, and oats until well incorporated. Place crumbs on a cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes or until very light golden brown and toasted; set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees F.

Melt 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until butter foams and turns golden brown. Pour into a large mixing bowl and cool for 5 minutes.

Place pumpkin in a small saucepan over medium heat, and cook 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until some of the moisture evaporates from pumpkin.

Place pumpkin, brown sugar, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, corn syrup and egg in bowl with browned butter; mix together using a mixer on medium high speed for 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla, baking soda, salt and spices until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour until well incorporated - about 1 minute. Stir in walnut-gingersnap crumbs and chocolate chips until combined.

Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Drop tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 6-7 minutes before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Sparkling Apple Butter Martini

2011-10-14T00:00:00.007-05:00

Happy 4th Blogiversary, Sugar Plum! I can't believe it has been four years. I hope there are many years to come. I absolutely love the baking, the recipe writing, and the photography that comes along with blogging. And of course I love the taste-testing. That's probably the best part.

Thank you so, SO much for stopping by and reading, and for all of your lovely comments. I really appreciate it! Thank you and I love you! Oh, also, thank you for your show recommendations in the last post. I'm definitely going to watch a lot of those.

I made us a drink to celebrate with: a Sparkling Apple Butter Martini. It tastes like apples, butterscotch, cinnamon and spices. Yum! Perfect for fall.

We have a variety of liqueurs in this drink recipe. Here's our lineup consisting of Goldschlager (mmm cinnamony!), Captain Morgain Spiced Rum, bitters, butterschnapps, and sparkling apple cider.

Ah, the Captain. Duuuude. It reminds me of that one time in college when I woke up at the zoo wearing a toga with a new tribal tattoo and I couldn't walk straight for days. It was totes epic awesomesauce.

Just kidding. I've never had Captain Morgan before. Hello, Captain! It's nice to meet you! Do you know Cap'n Crunch? I'm a little more familiar with him.

This buttershots really tastes buttery. I was thinking about baking a butterscotch cake with it. Eh, eh? Do you like that idea?

Mix all ingredients in a Foodbuzz Tervis Tumbler with ice, and serve. The Tervis Tumbler was a gift from Foodbuzz; it's indestructible - they won't crack, melt, shatter, or chip, and they come with a lifetime guarantee. The double-wall insulation means hot drinks stay hot and cold drinks stay cold.

I guess now I'll have to stop drinking out of my cup that I got from the pork chop tent at the Missouri state fair.

This drink was good! You should definitely try it. Feel free to play around with the measurements. You might like less or more of the liquors.

Sparkling Apple Butter Martini

2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons butterschnapps
2 tablespoons spiced rum
1 tablespoon Goldschlager
3/4 cup sparkling apple cider
2 dashes of bitters

Fill a Tervis tumbler with ice. Add all ingredients and stir well.

Honey Pumpkin Bran Muffins

2011-10-12T21:46:00.002-05:00

Hello! I have thirty minutes before Top Chef Just Desserts. Let's see if I can get this posted before it starts. And make cinnamon rolls.

Speaking of Top Chef Desserts, it definitely is one of my favorite shows. I was thinking about it, and it's really only the reality show I watch. Wait, does Real Housewives count? That's not real, and I mostly used that for background noise.

Anyway, I've been thinking about TV shows lately and which ones I should start watching. I feel like a lot of my favorite shows have ended, or aren't in season.

I love, love Breaking Bad and Mad Men. Those are my absolute favorites. If you haven't watched Breaking Bad yet - you must! It's soooo good. It's going to be a long wait until the next season premieres in July.

Right now I also like Curb Your Enthusiasm and True Blood. I really miss some of my old favorite shows... Big Love, Arrested Development, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Freaks and Geeks.
And Ultimate Recipe Showdown. Just kidding.

So, friends, what shows would you recommend watching? What shows do you miss?

I made you some muffins. They're pretty healthy. They're pretty delicious, too. They're made out of butter, brown sugar, honey, pumpkin, spices and bran.

I know people eat wheat bran because it's healthy and has some added benefits (*cough*), but I also really like its flavor.

It's a good flavor! Give it a chance. Now I need to think of other ways to use up this bag of oat bran. I guess I'll bake more muffins.

I decorated the tops with melted butterscotch chips. The muffins needed a little extra something to make them look special. Also, I like butterscotch and pumpkin together. Mmm. Okay, that's all.

Honey Pumpkin Bran Muffins
Printable Recipe

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup bran
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar and honey until well combined. Whisk in egg, pumpkin, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg until well combined. Whisk in bran, flour and milk until just combined.

Drop batter into muffin cups. Bake 25-30 minutes (time is longer than a usual muffin, because we're baking at a lower temp.) until well risen, set, and a toothpick inserted into muffin comes out with moist crumbs attached.

Makes 12 muffins

Cinnamon-Sugar Kettle Corn

2011-10-10T12:53:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I went to Apple Butter Makin' Days in Mt. Vernon, Missouri. It's an apple butter festival with tables set up selling crafts, jewelery, candles, soap, and apple butter. Supposedly they make the apple butter in big kettles while the festival is going on. I didn't see any apple butter makin' going on. How disappointing. Oh well. I did buy some.

No added sugar or sweetener! I love that. That's how it should be, I think.

I bought some locally grown apples, too. What should I make with them? Don't answer that. I already have too many ideas swirling in my head. It's enough to make a girl go crazy.

I bought George Harrison earrings, too. ? Random, I know. But I must honor the Quiet Beatle by wearing his face on my ears.

They had a lot of food there, too. Nachos, brats, funnel cakes, barbecue, apple dumplings, apple cider, root beer, ice cream, and kettle corn.

That's Mom, up ahead. She bought some kettle corn at one of the stands. I told her she could have saved some money and made her own. Then I proceeded to tell her how I made kettle corn at home, a few days earlier.

I dedicate this recipe to you, Mom. Thanks for going to the festival with me!

I think making kettle corn is easy and difficult. It's difficult because it burns easily, yet it's easy because you throw just a few ingredients in a pot and let it go.

I used some cheap store-brand popcorn kernels. You can order a special type of Mushroom Popcorn, which creates a better kettle corn. The mushroom popcorn pops a fluffy, big kernel. I'm tempted to order some. It's what the pros use.

I popped my popcorn in clarified butter, because I thought it would give the kettle corn a better flavor, and it did. But I think using oil might be the way to go, because it has a higher smoke point. I had trouble skimming off all of the fat solids from the butter, so I had a little bit of smoke.

Anyway, you could use butter or oil for this. Just stir together the clarified butter or oil, popcorn and sugar in a pot, cover, and cook over medium heat until it starts popping. Then I picked up the covered pot and shook it about every 20 seconds, so the popcorn wouldn't burn. When the popping slowed down I knew it was done.

Then you just sprinkle the kettle corn with salt and ground cinnamon. Cinnamon-Sugar Kettle corn!

Random, but, yesterday my mom and I were walking from booth to booth, and some guy walked over to my mom and asked if he could try some of the kettle corn she was eating. And she gave him a handful of popcorn!! Wasn't that nice of her? She's even nice to complete strangers. I can't get over it.

I wouldn't have given him any. I'm selfish when it comes to kettle corn.
Don't you know what happens when you give handfuls of kettle corn to strangers?! They grab the whole bag from you and run off. Never open up your bag of kettle corn around a stranger. Always hold your bag of kettle corn in front of you, firmly against your belly. If a stranger asks you for a sample of your kettle corn, make no eye contact and walk briskly to a well populated area.

Cinnamon-Sugar Kettle Corn
Printable Recipe

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/2 teaspoon salt
Ground cinnamon

Melt butter in a large pot over medium-low heat (not a dutch oven). When butter has slowly melted for a while, skim solids off the top of butter and discard. Increase heat to medium.

Stir in sugar and popcorn until well combined. Cover, and cook popcorn until it's done popping, shaking the pot often (about every 20 seconds). Transfer kettle corn to a large bowl. Sprinkle salt and cinnamon over the top, and stir until well combined.

October Top Five Foodie Finds

2011-10-05T21:29:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a good day!

This day started out badly. I got into my car to go to work this morning, and it wouldn't start. I immediately started sweating, panicking, and texting everyone I knew. Lord help me if I'm ever in a real emergency. I'll probably just pass out.

I think I was worried because I didn't want to be late to my (newish) job. Anyway, I have to give a shout out to my friends Tina and Tim for picking me up and taking me to work. I owe them one. I'll bake you whatever you want! Thank you so much!

I also have to give a shout out to Eric, because he picked me up from work AND fixed my car with a new battery! Thank you, Ericcakes! You're the best. I will take you out for a Chinese dinner. You can even order the duck, if you want.

My day ended well, because when I got home, I discovered I was nominated for a Foodbuzz award for Best Baking and Pastry blog. Yaaaay! This made my day! I'm honored. And excited.

If you're not too busy (Update: Anyone can vote! I didn't know that!) I'd love your vote! Thank you, guys! I appreciate it.

Anyway, before I get to the foodie finds, I wanted to tell you about a few food-related contests in case you're interested in entering them.

-Little Crow Foods is sponsoring a photo contest called “Good Never Gets Old”, celebrating the classic taste of its breakfast foods (CoCo Wheats and Fast Shake), the great memories of family enjoying them, all while introducing these great products to a whole new generation. The contest asks folks to submit photos of families enjoying CoCo Wheats and Fast Shake to get a chance to win a trip to New York City and other prizes. Info on the promotion can be found on Little Crow's Facebook page.

-Pilgrim’s, one of the largest chicken producers in the country, would like to invite you to submit an original chicken recipe to their 22nd annual Winning Taste Recipe Contest. The grand prize winner receives an all-inclusive 4-day spa package to Lake Austin Spa, which includes a cooking school “The Culinary Experience,” a KitchenAid Mixer, a Wusthof Knife Set, and a KitchenAid Blender. You can find the details of the contest and enter here.

October's Foodie Finds are all sweet, not savory. First up, Blue Bunny's/Duff Goldman's I Do, I Do wedding cake ice cream. "Celebrate the marriage of sweet buttercream frosting flavored ice cream and white cake pieces all wrapped up in delicate ribbons of raspberry sauce." Mmm. I love wedding cake, I love buttercream frosting and I love raspberries. This ice cream is dangerously delicious. I ended up turning it into a dessert recipe for the blog (stay tuned!). Duff's Red Velvet cake ice cream is good, too.

2. Nutella has created the perfect indulgent treat for when you're on the go: Nutella & Go!. The container holds a generous amount of lightly sweetened breadsticks and Nutella for dipping. Yesss! Truth be told, I wasn't "on the go" when I ate this. Just in my bedroom watching Real Houswives. Heh heh heh.

3. Blackcurrant preserves. It tastes like blueberries! But mainly it tastes like blackcurrants. I adore anything black currant or cassis flavored. My first bottle of liqueur I ever purchased was a bottle of crème de cassis. From the store I work at right now! How do you like that?

4. Pillsbury Sweet Moments (found in the refrigerated section in your grocery store). Pillsbury sent me a few packages of the Caramel Cheesecake flavor to try. Oh my goodness... so good. It is really, really difficult to eat just one. They're little brownie squares with a layer of cheesecake and caramel, covered in chocolate.

I'm looking forward to trying the raspberry cheesecake flavor, next.

5. Okay, this isn't a new product or anything, but it's something that I'd forgotten about. Chocolate graham crackers. I mean, come on! They're so good!

Think of all the desserts you could make with these. Or you could eat them as they are. They're a good, healthy, cheap snack. Healthy? In my eyes they're a healthy snack.

Carmelita Tres Leches Cake

2011-10-04T01:15:00.006-05:00

Hi there! It's been a while, hasn't it? I attempted to blog the other day, but I just wasn't feeling it. So I unplugged from the blog, Facebook and Twitter for a few days. I need to do that more often. Then I tried to blog earlier today, and decided I'd rather go shopping. And so I did. For art, pillows, tablecloths, vases and lighting.

A year and a half later, Eric and I are finally decorating our townhouse a little bit. I'm not sure why we didn't do this when we first moved in. I'll have to show you a picture once we get it fixed up. Don't expect much! Have low expectations.

We don't really know what we're doing. We know we want a tree/nature theme. Maybe with some maps thrown in? We like old maps and globes. We like owls, too. And wine. I think maybe I need to give in and watch some HGTV.

Anyway, this past week has been full of shopping, fishing trips (I caught eight fish!), birthday parties and new nephews.

My nephew, Eian, was born on Wednesday evening. He is very, very cute. He's quiet and mellow. I like him quite a bit.

I didn't even mind when this happened.

I've never had a baby do that to me before. I didn't know it had happened until his dad lifted him up to take him. I seriously thought he was just kinda sweaty. Haha.

My other nephew, Jayden, turned four the other day! I love that little guy. We had a birthday party for him and it was a lot of fun. He enjoys Mickey Mouse, drawing, and singing loudly to Adele while riding in the car.

My niece, Madeline, riding a tiger. She's adorable. She enjoys taking long walks, coloring, and Elmo.

It's fun being Auntie Em.

I baked this cake a while back... I think for my sister's birthday? It's delicious! It's a chocolate tres leches cake. It's a basic chocolate cake made from cocoa powder and melted chocolate chips, baked in a 13x9-inch pan.

After baking, the cake is poked with a wooden skewer, and sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and coconut rum is poured into the holes. Did I catch your attention with the coconut rum? Yes, I know, I love coconut rum, too.

The milks make the cake extra moist. Chilling the cake in the refrigerator allows the cake to soak up all of that moisture. Whipped cream sweetened with dulce de leche and cinnamon is spread on top of the cake, and sprinkled with toasted coconut.

Amazing. My only criticism is I think I would have liked more chocolate in the cake. So feel free to bump up the amount of cocoa powder or chocolate chips if you decide to make this. You can never, never have enough chocolate.

Carmelita Tres Leches Cake
Printable Recipe

4 large eggs, separated
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided use
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup cake flour

1 cup sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon coconut rum

1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup caramel sauce or dulce de leche
1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 13x9-inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, beat egg white and cream of tartar until soft peaks form; add 1/4 cup sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form.

In an additional large mixing bowl, beat together butter and remaining 1/2 cup sugar until creamy. Beat in egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla, baking powder and salt until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and melted chocolate until well combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in 1/4 cup cream and flour until JUST combined. Fold in egg whites until just combined. Place batter into prepared baking dish.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until well risen and no longer wobbly. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Stir together sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and rum in a liquid measuring cup. Poke holes all over cake using a wooden skewer. Pour half of milk mixture all over top of cake. Wait 1 minute to allow the milks to soak in. Pour the remaining milk on top. Chill cake for 1 hour before spreading whipped cream on top.

To make the whipped cream, in a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on high speed, beat together 1 3/4 cups heavy cream, vanilla and cinnamon until stiff peaks form. Beat in caramel syrup until well combined. Spread caramel whipped cream on top of cake. Process coconut in a food processor until finely ground; sprinkle coconut crumbs on top of whipped cream.

Cover and chill overnight.

Makes 10 servings

Whipped Banana-Cashew Butter Chocolate Chip Chippers

2011-09-28T01:55:00.003-05:00

My family is on baby watch today. My sister is being induced this morning, and hopefully we'll have a new member of our family in a few hours. Or maybe it takes longer than a few hours? I have no idea. I guess it could be tomorrow before she has her baby boy.

It's very exciting! I hope I get to meet him after work today. Anyway, I must hurry along with this recipe... I stayed up too late baking a cake that was a failure, and biscuits for Eric. I used a biscuit recipe from Allrecipes, and it was only so-so. I feel like I could have made better biscuits on my own. And the cake was just weird... I used yeast in it as an experiment. It's bread-cake. It's very confusing. It tastes good, but I don't know if any of you would actually bake it, so I probably won't bother posting it.

These cookies are on the healthier side. Only because I used very little butter - I mostly used cashew butter for the fat. I also used oats, banana, and whole wheat flour, so I guess they're pretty nutritious.

These cookies are delicious! They're actually pretty crisp for a banana cookie. I took a few extra steps, when making the dough, to make them very flavorful. I toasted the oats and browned the butter. It only takes an extra ten minutes, and it's worth the time.

I took these into work and didn't tell everyone that they were "healthy", and everyone seemed to really enjoy them. Of course they have chocolate chips in them, though. Everyone loves chocolate chips.

I love this recipe because it uses cashew butter. You can find some good cashew butters out there to use, or you could make your own by pureeing cashews. Mmm cashews <--- Might be my favorite nut.
Feel free to use peanut butter or almond butter, as well.

Whipped Banana-Cashew Butter Chocolate Chip Chippers
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cashew butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cook oats in a small saucepan, over medium heat, for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant and light golden brown.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook 2-3 minutes, whisking frequently, until butter browns and starts to foam. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Add melted browned butter, banana, brown sugar, granulated sugar and cashew butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat ingredients together, using a mixer on medium speed, until well incorporated - about 1-2 minutes. Beat in vanilla and egg until combined - about 1 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in oats, all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt until combined. Stir in chocolate chips until combined.

Chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets, about an inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown around edges; cool 1 minute before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Favorite Fall Recipes

2011-09-25T14:38:00.011-05:00

Hi there! Welcome back, everyone! Friday was the first official day of autumn, a season I adore. Pumpkin, leaves falling, apple cider, squash, Halloween, cooler temperatures, bonfires, Thanksgiving, Sugar Plum's blogiversary, pumpkin spice lattes... what's not to love? Especially the pumpkin spice lattes. I could go for one of those right now. I think you start seeing eggnog in stores around Halloween, too. Eeee!

It's exciting because we're starting to get in some different fall food products at the store I work at: maple pumpkin butter, caramel apple butter, pumpkin cake and cobbler mixes, cheeses with nuts and fruit in them, even Halloween pastas. It's a lot of fun.

I thought I'd link to some of my favorite fall recipes I've made in the past. Hopefully this will be useful to some of you who want to bake something with apples, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, cranberries or persimmons. I definitely need to make more desserts with pears; I'm lacking in that department.

Apple Butter Apple Pie

Apple Cranberry Cobbler

Persimmon Cookies

Butterscotch Apple Cake

Pumpkin French Toast Breakfast Braid

Caramel Apple Thumbprints

Spiced Sweet Potato-Snickerdoodle Milkshake

Pumpkin Gingersnaps

Pumpkin-Maple Glazed Pumpkin Doughnuts

Chocolate Dipped-Sweet Potato Macaroons

Spiced Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Frosted Pumpkin Bars

Lemon-Ricotta White Chocolate Cookies

2011-09-23T00:59:00.002-05:00

I would say 50% of my recipe creations are inspired by whatever leftover baking supplies or produce I have, hanging around the kitchen.

I had some leftover ricotta cheese from my white pizza that needed to be used up. It was the Kroger brand, and it was pretty good. Better than Walmart brand and Sargento. But I know there are amazing ricotta cheeses out there that exist, and I want to try them. I wonder if I could order ricotta online... hmm. Any recommendations?

Anyway, I knew I wanted to use the ricotta in a cookie. Of course! What else would I make? And guess who else has a lemon ricotta cookie recipe? Giada!

I have to say, these cookies were GOOD. I mean, one of my favorites I've ever made. I loved the soft, slightly chewy texture of these. My dad told me they were the best cookies he's ever had in his life. That's a compliment!

I think what I love about these cookies, is that they have ground almonds, lemon zest, lemon and vanilla extract, and white chocolate chips in them. And butter, of course. Some of my favorite ingredients!

I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top of the cookies, once they were finished baking. I love powdered sugar on lemon cookies. Mmm.

Hey, by the way, this is my 100th cookie recipe! Yaaay! Happy cookieversary.

Lemon-Ricotta White Chocolate Cookies
Printable Recipe

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup finely ground almonds
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat cookie sheets with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, ricotta, lemon zest and granulated sugar until creamy - about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla, lemon extract and eggs until well combined - about 2 minute. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture, white chocolate chips and ground almonds until just combined.

Freeze dough in refrigerator or freezer for 30 minutes. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto cookie sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Baklava

2011-09-21T01:53:00.002-05:00

I recently have been emailing back and forth with a woman named Mandy. Mandy from Iowa! Hi Mandy!

We discussed instant coffee, movie theater pizzerias, and baklava. Mandy told me she had a killer baklava recipe that she bakes all of the time. Of course I had to have the recipe. Luckily, she was kind enough to share it with me, and you. Thank you, Mandy!

I thought it would be fun to do this more often.

So, if you have a favorite recipe, a secret family recipe, a unique recipe, or a recipe you've always wanted to make yourself and want me to make it, please email it to me! It can be sweet or savory. Each month I'll pick one of the recipes to make, and blog about it (and give you a shout out, of course!).

Just email me at sugarplumblog (at) yahoo (dot) com

This recipe for baklava is excellent. Mandy has given us all some very detailed instructions. Which was good for me when I made this, because I hadn't ever made baklava before. I think it turned out perfectly, except for one thing - I don't think I chopped up the nuts enough. I would have liked a finer chop on them.

The flavor and texture of this baklava was wonderful... so crispy and buttery, drenched in honey syrup. Yum! It's very rich, though. Even rich for me!

Baklava isn't that difficult to make, so do not fear! You basically layer a baking dish with phyllo dough, butter, and chopped up nuts, and bake it in the oven before pouring a honey syrup on top. Easy peasy. You can do it! Just follow the instructions closely.

I took this baklava to my employers on one of my interviews for my new job. I think that's why they hired me. Always, always bring baklava if you're going on a job interview. That's what I always say.

Mandy's Baklava
Printable Recipe

2 1/4 cups caster sugar (Superfine)
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 TBS orange blossom water
7 oz walnuts, finely chopped
7 oz shelled pistachios, finely chopped
7 oz almonds, finely chopped
2 TBS caster sugar (Superfine), extra
2 tsp ground cinnamon
7oz unsalted butter, melted
13 oz filo dough pastry (Athens phyllo dough is what I use)

(personal notes)
I'm sure you've used caster sugar before, but in case you haven't, it usually comes in like 1 quart milk carton looking container. And ultimately, if you can't find it, not that big of a deal. It gets dissolved into water and mixed in with the nuts so its not like you need it for texture...
The orange blossom water - never been able to find it. But I have been able to find orange blossom HONEY which actually has a great fruity floral scent and flavor so I sub out the two TBS orange blossom water for extra honey. If you really want to, I've done the water with a few drops of orange extract. But I like the honey option.
The nuts - drop all of them into a food processor and pulse. You want the nuts somewhere inbetween sunflower seed size and pea size. Any smaller and you loose texture and the little bit of crunch from the nuts. And larger and you won't have enough nuts for two layers. But you can always chop more nuts.

The recipe -
1) put the 2 1/4 cups sugar, lemon zest and 1 1/2 cups water in a sauce pan and stir over high heat will the sugar dissolves, then boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until the syrup has thickened slightly and just coats the back of a spoon.
Add the honey, lemon juice, and orange blossom water and cook for two minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely. ( At this point, to save time later, run it through the strainer now to remove zest and lemon bits/seed if you used fresh. The liquid will be hot and runny and less like syrup. So you can just pour it on to the hot baklava later. I put it right into the fridge to cool down. Overall you are looking for a finished texture a lot like the honey once it cools.)

2) preheat the oven to 325.
Combine the nuts, extra sugar and cinnamon.
Grease an 9x13 baking dish with melted butter
(I use my glass 9x13 pyrex. You can see all the pretty layers and check that you've sliced all the way through to the bottom layer once you get to that part at the end. You'll have to fold the edge of your filo unless you have an 11x12 pan. Also get a pastry brush that doesnt shed! Regular paint brushes are great actually)

Cover the base with a single layer of filo pastry and brush lightly with butter, folding over any overhanging edges. Continue to layer the filo, brushing with butter between each layer and folding the edges until you have used 10 sheets. (Keep the rest of the dough under a damp tea towel to prevent them from drying out. Otherwise, when they dry they will just shatter...and if the tea towel is too damp...they will stick together.)

3)Sprinkle half the nut mixture over the pastry and pat down evenly.
repeat the layering and buttering of 5 more sheets of dough and sprinkle the rest of the nuts. Then layer and butter 10 more sheets of filo dough, brushing the top layer with butter. press down the pastry with your hands so the pastry and nuts adhere to each other. Using a very sharp knife, cut into diamond shapes, ensuring you cut through the bottom layer. Pour any remaining butter evenly over the top and smooth with your hands.

(side note: You will have extra dough sheets I believe in this package, as well as an additional package in the box. Since I've read you like to get the most out of your ingredients, you may want to look up an additional recipe that uses the dough and make it right after this so you don't waste the remaining sheets) The other package will keep in the freezer till you need them again. Just give them a day or two to thaw in the fridge. You cannot use this dough frozen = tiny little pastry dough shards.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 and bake 30 minutes more.

4) Remove from the oven and immediately cut through the original diamond marking and then pour the strained honey mixture evenly over the top. To achieve the right texture, its important for the baklava to be piping hot and the syrup to be cold when your pour the syrup. Use all the syrup. It will seem like you have alot but because the pastry is pretty dry and hot it will soak up and give you a great rich dense dessert.

Cool completely before serving.

Dried Cherry Scones with Lemon-Mascarpone Glaze

2011-09-19T15:58:00.004-05:00

Hello there! I thought I'd take a break from cleaning the house and pop in and say hello.

I haven't actually started cleaning yet, though. I don't want to do it! Don't make me do it!

I have to tell you something. I have a problem with pumpkin. I have an addiction to pumpkin. An intervention might be necessary. I've been going crazy with the pumpkin lately. Yesterday (like I mentioned on Facebook), I made a pumpkin waffle and pumpkin coffee with pumpkin spice creamer in it. Today I had pumpkin oatmeal + a pumpkin spice latte. And don't get me started on the baking.

Lots and lots of pumpkin recipes coming your way. First, I need to clean out and blog about the rest of the recipes I made this summer.

Dried Cherry Scones with Lemon-Mascarpone Glaze are appropriate all year long. They'd be perfect for a fancy breakfast or brunch, served with mimosas. You could substitute cranberries or raisins for the cherries, and orange for the lemon, if that suits you.

These scones are crisp, crumbly, and biscuit-like, which is how a scone is supposed to be. These have a little more sugar than traditional scones, though. The glaze is made with confectioners' sugar, mascarpone cheese, honey, lemon zest and vanilla.

The scones actually have lemon zest and mascarpone in them as well. Double the lemon and mascarpone, double the deliciousness. That's what I always say.

Okay, it's time to clean the bathroom. Ugh. I'd rather bake a pumpkin roll.

Dried Cherry Scones with Lemon-Mascarpone Glaze
Printable Recipe

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1 large egg
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried cherries

Glaze
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt until well combined. Using fingertips, knead in butter and mascarpone cheese until well incroporated. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla until well combined. Gently stir egg mixture and cherries into flour mixture, until JUST combined. Dough should be very crumbly and dry. Pat dough into two discs, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Place dough discs on floured counter; slice into 8 equal triangles. Transfer triangles to cookie sheet. Bake 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool.

To make the glaze, in a medium bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar, mascarpone, honey, lemon zest and vanilla until well combined. Spread glaze evenly on top of scones.

Makes 8 scones

Italian Black Forest Cookies

2011-09-15T19:39:00.003-05:00

Happy Friday! Today I wrote a post for Jen of Beantown Baker, featuring my recipe for Italian Black Forest Cookies. Mmm cookies.

Go head on over for the recipe! It's the weekend - you defnitely have some time to bake.

Georgia Peaches 'N Praline Cream Pie

2011-09-14T20:30:00.003-05:00

Hopefully I'm not too late with this peach recipe. I think locally grown peaches are pretty much done around here, but you can still find them in the grocery stores for a reasonable price.

Last week, I knew I wanted to make a pie with some peaches I bought from the market. I didn't want it to be an ordinary peach pie, though. I wanted it to be unique, interesting, and southern.

I dedicate this pie to Eric's home state - Georgia!

This pie reminds me of something Paula Deen would make. Can't you imagine her making this on her show? I bet she'd add an extra stick of butter to the crust and topping though.

I made a homemade pie crust, but you could use pre-made Pillsbury pie dough rounds, or a store bought pie shell. I like making my own, because I can control what goes in it. I use butter only for my pie dough. I always avoid shortening, if I can.

The pie shell is filled with sliced peaches, sour cream, sugar, spices and flour. Don't let the sour cream scare you! It actually tastes really mild when mixed with the other ingredients. I topped the pie with a praline-streusel type mixture made up of brown sugar, butter, flour and pecans. I think some oats would be lovely in there too.

The topping gets crispy, buttery and caramelized. The crispy topping complements the creamy peach filling underneath. Make this summery pie while you can!

Yummm. So good. Time for Top Chef Desserts! Have a good night!

Georgia Peaches 'N Praline Cream Pie
Printable Recipe

1 (9-inch) pie shell, unbaked
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided use
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
4 cups thinly sliced peaches
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Place pie shell on a cookie sheet.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sour cream, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger until well combined; stir in peaches until combined. Pour filling into pie shell and bake 15 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together remaining 1/2 cup flour, pecans, brown sugar, and salt until well combined; knead butter into mixture, using fingertips, until combined and clumped together. Sprinkle evenly over top of pie. Return to oven and bake an additional 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack completely before slicing. Serve warm or chilled.

Makes 8 servings

Chocolate Dipped-Sweet Potato Macaroons

2011-09-12T01:27:00.001-05:00

Good news, everyone! My ghost cupcake liners are back in season again. Let the next seven weeks be full of ghostly treats! It's going to be a spooky September.

I just baked Ericcakes some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins in my ghost cupcake liners. Using the Pillsbury pumpkin bread mix, of course. It's his favorite. I don't know what that says about my baking.

Here's an early autumn treat for you: Chocolate Dipped-Sweet Potato Macaroons. Let's pretend it's not ninety degrees outside. Let's pretend it's chilly, there are leaves falling from the trees, and Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the corner.

Use fresh sweet potato for these macaroons... preferably from your local farmers' market. I bought two huge sweet potatoes the other day for a dollar. They're pretty, too. Prettier than supermarket sweet potatoes.

This recipe is easy as can be. Whisk up some egg whites, ground coconut, grated sweet potato, pecan chips, brown sugar, flour, spices, salt and vanilla. Drop the batter onto cookie sheets and bake 30 minutes. Voila! Macaroons!

Dip in melted chocolate, if desired. And I think that's something you desire.

Chocolate Dipped-Sweet Potato Macaroons
Printable Recipe

2 cups shredded sweetened flaked coconut
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated peeled sweet potato
1/2 cup pecan chips, toasted
3 ounces orange flavored dark chocolate
1 tablespoon oil

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with foil, and generously coat with cooking spray.

Process coconut in a food processor until finely ground.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together egg whites, brown sugar, flour, vanilla, cinnamon and salt until well combined. Stir in coconut, sweet potato and pecans until well combined. Drop golf ball sized mounds of dough onto cookie sheets, using an ice cream scoop. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer macaroons to wire racks to cool.

Heat chocolate and oil in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Pour chocolate into a small bowl or ramekin. Dip half of each macaroon into chocolate. Place on waxed paper to dry.

Makes about 16 macaroons

September Top Five Foodie Finds

2011-09-08T20:26:00.005-05:00

Hey there! Happy Friday!

I have a quick little post for you today. I have to get to work on baking some Peter Rabbit sugar cookies for my sister's baby shower tomorrow. I'm bummed because I have to miss it; I'll be at work on Saturday afternoon. I'm sure it'll be a good time. Rumor has it there's going to be Peter Rabbit cake, brownies and mini quiche. Mmm.

I can't believe my sister is due in a few weeks! She's the sister who has this precious angel. She's going to have a boy! Baby Eian... as of now.

Anyway, on to this month's Foodie Finds, where I blog about a few new products I try each month. I accidentally missed August's Foodie Finds. Whoops. Hey, I'm human, not a food blogging machine. I have emotions, I make mistakes, sometimes I spill bacon grease in the bottom of the oven.

1. Mrs. Field's Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Ohhh yes. This ice cream was delicious. It was loaded with tasty little cookie dough pieces. I ate this container in a week, I bet. Ice cream is my weakness.

2. I haven't met a mascarpone cheese I didn't like. This one by Crave Brothers is particulary scrumptious. It's very creamy and fresh tasting. I used this mascarpone in some of my recipes. (For glazes, frostings, etc.) Hopefully you can find this brand in your area.

3. GINGER CATS!! I love Ginger Cat cookies from Trader Joes. They're gingersnap cookies shaped like cute cats! I want a cat. There's a $250 pet fee where I live. So no cat for now. At least I can have my Ginger Cats.

15 cats is a serving size. Yippie!

4. Harvest Grains Blend from Trader Joes. Yup, another product from Trader Joes. You won't be seeing any more items from there in the future. I was able to visit the Kansas City location a month ago, so I stocked up on stuff while I was there.
I love whole grain mixes like this. This one has Israeli couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa. How much fun is that? Who knew you could eat baby garbanzo beans?!

5. Local produce from the farmers' market. You can't beat it this time of the year. I picked up some beautiful eggplant and grapes the other day. Both were very good. The grapes were kind of amazing.

I love that pumpkin is coming into season now, too. I can't wait to bake pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie!

Miss Manners & White Pizza

2011-09-08T00:29:00.005-05:00

I forgot to tell you two things about my recent trip to Boston.

1. On one of the flights to Boston, Eric and I sat behind a man who had the worst breath I have ever smelled in my life. It was awful. I've never experienced anything like it. He slept most of the flight with his mouth open, and Eric and I could hardly breath. It smelled like an animal crawled into his mouth and died. We literally were about to get sick because of the smell.

I was this close to offering him a piece of gum. Do you think I should have? Would that have been horribly rude? Have you ever been in that situation before?

2. In Boston, at Pizzeria Regina, we had one of the worst servers we've ever had before. Maybe the worst. She was extremely rude, practically threw our food at us, threw the check down at us, and spent at least fifteen minutes getting us drink refills. Eric and I were watching her the whole time as she held our glasses and talked to one of her co-workers. We were polite to her and still left an okay-tip, but I regret that now.

Should we have been rude to her? Should we have left a tip? How would you have handled the situation?

I think I'm too nice and polite. I complain about living in the Springfield area sometimes. Sure, we don't have Italian bakeries, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, decent concerts, Indian food, Greek food, fresh figs, or a beach, but we do have a lot of nice people who live here. Usually you're treated with respect and kindness when you're in restaurants, shops, businesses, etc.

At least the pizza at Pizzeria Regina left me with a good impression. I had the white pizza, and I still can't stop thinking about it. I think about that pizza pie at least once a day. I knew I had to recreate a version of the pizza at home.

I made my own pizza crust. Oh so good. I may not be able to make a pot roast or roast a turkey for you, but I can make a good pizza crust. I used bread flour, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, yeast, honey, butter, and salt in the dough. Usually I would use olive oil in the dough, but I wanted this crust to be buttery and delicious.

This is your dough ball before kneading.

This is your dough ball after five minutes of kneading.

Then you let your dough rise, rise, rise. Do not hurry your dough ball. Go pick some basil while you're waiting.

This is my basil plant. I know.

I can't believe it's alive, either.

Then comes the fun part of assembling your white pizza. First you heat your oven to 450 degrees. Roll your dough out and transfer it to a pizza stone or cookie sheet. Roll your dough out with love and patience. That's why my pizza crust is so good. (Says Eric)

Brush with gaaalic butter. Cancel your date tonight. Top pizza with ricotta cheese and slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. Take break to eat a spoonful of ricotta cheese. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Bake 15-18 minutes. Top with chopped fresh basil.

Eat! This pizza was so very good. I think it's my favorite savory recipe I've ever posted on here. I hope you all like it!

White Pizza
Printable Recipe

3/4 cup warm water (not hot)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons honey
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided use
1 1/4 cups bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup cornmeal, plus additional for rolling

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh basil

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together water, yeast and honey until well combined; rest for 5 minutes. Mix in salt, 2 tablespoons melted butter, bread flour and whole wheat flour until well combined and a dough ball forms. Turn out dough onto a work surface, and knead in cornmeal. Knead dough for about 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

Lightly cover bowl and allow to rise in a warm area for 1-2 hours or until doubled in bulk.

Heat oven to 450 degrees F.

Roll out dough to a 1/4-inch thickness on a work surface. Transfer to a pizza stone or greased cookie sheet. In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter and garlic powder until combined; brush over pizza dough. Spread ricotta cheese on top of dough. Evenly top with mozzarella. Sprinkle sea salt and pepper on top.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Sprinkle basil on top.

Peach Cobbler

2011-09-06T02:12:00.003-05:00

Hey youuu. It's good to see you again. How was you Labor Day weekend?

I'm sad that summer is ending. I'll miss the tomatoes, the berries, the sweet corn. I'll miss swimming at the pool. I'll miss wearing my white shoes.

Nahh, just kidding! I don't wear white shoes. That's a silly rule anyway, if you want to wear white shoes past Labor Day, I say go for it. This is 2011. I will miss wearing my white shorts, though.

I had a good weekend... I baked a cake and a cobber, I read in the tub, I ate some frozen custard and ribs, I drank some bad $6 wine, and I went fishing using my new fishing pole.

I didn't catch anything but moss and scum, but I had fun trying. Actually, I take that back; I was so cold! A cold front moved through and it was seventy degrees on Sunday. I wanted to wrap myself in a quilt. I think maybe I'm destined to live in Florida or the desert.

This guy makes it look soooo easy. It's not fair. He caught three fish in about twenty minutes. He's been fishing since he was two. I'm not kidding about that, either. He's like Jeremy Wade... he knows where the fish are, what the fish are, what they eat, and on and on.

I am not a natural fisherwoman, but maybe someday I'll improve.

I am a natural born bakerwoman.

I know where the flour, sugar and baking powder are in the cabinets. (Ha! Take that, Eric! Bet you don't know where the cornmeal is, either! Whahaha) I know how long it takes to brown butter on the stove (2-3 minutes). I know the fastest way to peel a peach (cut an X on the bottom, boil for 1 minute, shock in cold water).

I know the best dessert you could possibly make with peaches.

This recipe is easy. Very easy. Don't tell the people you serve this to that it's that easy. You want to impress them don't you?

You will impress them with this peach cobbler. Especially if you use ripe, juicy peaches from the farmers' market. Get them while you can!

This recipe is like magic. I've never made anything quite like it before. You melt butter, pour it in a baking dish, whisk up milk, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, and pour it on top of the butter. Then you bring peaches to a boil with some sugar, and pour them on top. Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes.

The peaches sink to the bottom and the buttery, cakey crust rises to the top. Amazing, magical dessert. I want to try it with apples now.

Serve with vanilla ice cream! This is a must. I used Blue Bell. It's from Texas, my homeland.

Peach Cobbler
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
4 cups fresh peach slices
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt butter; pour into a 13x9-inch baking dish.

Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt; add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter (do not stir).

Bring peach slices, brown sugar and lemon juice to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly; pour over batter (do not stir). Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 6-8 servings

Adapted from Southern Living
JUNE 1997