Quick Cookies

I have to admit, I have been quite slack on the Christmas and holiday baking this year. For the first time in over a decade, I just have not had the inclination. Perhaps it is a lack of space in my kitchen that leaves me bewildered as to where to prep. I kept delving into my brain to figure out why, as usually it brings me great joy and pleasure.

Typically, I sit down the day after Thanksgiving and start perusing my food magazines, reviewing old recipes, giving thought to favorites, but this year, meh. I just didn’t feel like it. I just wasn’t into it, and for a slight moment, I felt a pang of guilt, but I let it go.

I am only baking a few things (three to be exact this season), these #quickcookies that are chewy, crispy, tinged with cocoa and peppermint, fruitcake (yes, it is true, fruitcake, but not the traditional, hard as a brick kind) and stollen, one of my all time favorite holiday treats.

If you want a quick, simple, easy to please cookie, that packages up nicely as gifts; this one is for you.

PS- I am taking this recipe to the Ronald McDonald House tomorrow in Charleston, SC to bake treats for the families there. I think I can get my cookie mojo back, by giving back to the community! : )

Chocolate Peppermint Crackles

Pre-heat the oven to 350 Degrees. Line 2 cookies sheets with parchment paper.

1. 1 lb. powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
2. 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3. 1/2 tsp. salt
4. 4 large egg whites
5. 1 scraping of vanilla bean
6. 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
7. 1/2 cup chopped dark (70 %) chocolate
8. 1 tsp. peppermint extract

In a large bowl, whisk the powdered sugar with the cocoa and salt. Add the egg whites, scraped vanilla bean and peppermint extract to the mixture and beat until smooth and well blended. Fold in the bittersweet chips and chopped chocolate.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto the parchment lined baking sheets. Bake 13-15 minutes or until slightly crackled. Cool slightly dust with powdered sugar and transfer to a wire cooling rack. Optional is to crush peppermint candies and sprinkle on top along with powdered sugar.

Content and Images Copyrighted by Shell Royster, 2016. May not be used without permission.

Summer Cobbler

It is officially summertime, with temperatures swelling across the country, we are in the thick of it. That doesn’t mean you can’t turn your oven on, thank goodness for air conditioning! Bake up this beauty in no time, a simple, summer classic with fresh fruits and a buttery, crunchy, crumble topping. Take this to the bbq or picnic and it will go like hotcakes.

Summer Cobbler

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

Filling

1. 3/4 cup fresh blueberries
2. 3/4 cup skinned, sliced fresh peaches
3. 1/4 cup fresh raspberries
4. 1 tsp lemon juice
5. 1/4 cup sugar
6. 2 tbs. flour

Topping

1. 3/4 cup flour
2. 1/4 cup oats (pulse in food processor)
3. 3 tbs. unsalted butter (cubed)

In a large bowl, combine fruits, lemon juice, sugar and flour, stir and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine flour and ground oats and mix in cubed butter until mixture is lumpy.

Pour fruit mixture into a 9″ pie round, and top with flour mixture. Bake 40-45 minutes or until topping is golden and fruit mixture is bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

 

Image and text, copyright 2016 and may not be used without permission.

For the love of citrus/Citrus upside down cake

I love citrus. What can I say? If I had to elect one type of fruit group, this is it. From oranges, to tangerines, lemons, limes and grapefruit, I love it all. I was often the source of jokes as a child, as I loved candied citrus peel, my classmates thought it odd. Honestly, for a child of 10, it probably was odd.

My tastes have changed over the years, but they have never strayed from anything citrus. In fact, I just bought a container of blood orange sorbet, made a meyer lemon and basil simple syrup and baked an upside down citrus cake, peel and all.

I loved pineapple upside down cake as a child, the fruit syrup that penetrated the moist cake and the round, slices of pineapple in brown sugar, with a maraschino cherry in the center, was aesthetically and palate wise, pleasing. Canned pineapple however, is not really my style, so I opted for fresh fruit instead, using blood orange, satsuma and meyer lemon slices. Tart and sweet at the same time.

If you love citrus, this is for you.

Citrus Upside Down Cake

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

1. 3 tbs butter
2. 1 tbs water
3. 3 tbs packed brown sugar
4. 1 blood orange sliced into thin rounds (remove seeds)
5. 1 meyer lemon, sliced into thin rounds (remove seeds)
6. 1 satsuma tangerine, sliced into thin rounds (remove seeds)
7. 1 1/3 cups of flour (I used Swan’s Down)
8. 2 tsp baking powder
9. 1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
10. 2/3 cup of sugar
11. 1 egg
12. 2/3 cup milk
13. 1 tsp lemon extract
14. zest of orange, lemon and tangerine

In a small saucepan, melt butter, add in water and brown sugar and blend until warm. Pour the mixture into a cast iron skillet. Arrange fruit slices in the mixture, overlapping, until the bottom of the skillet is covered in one layer.

In a small bowl, blend flour and baking powder, set aside.

In a medium bowl, with a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar. Mix in the egg and add in milk and mix until well blended. Fold in lemon extract and zest of citrus. Blend in flour mixture until well incorporated and batter is smooth.

Pour the cake mixture, slowly over the fruit slices and syrup in the skillet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until golden on top and cake tester comes out clean.

Set aside and cool for an hour. Invert onto a serving platter and serve with whipped cream.

 

I baked, I shot, I ate it!

Copyright 2016, Shell B Royster – Images may not be used without permission.

Grana Padano Mac and Cheese

Baby it is cold outside! Winter has finally arrived, and naturally my body craves fat and carbs, so I indulge every now and then, because denial is unhealthy! ; )

I am a bit of anomaly, as a child I actually disliked mac and cheese. My dad made homemade mac and cheese with cheddar cheese and my siblings loved it, I scoffed. Perhaps it was a cheddar overload that turned me off, or the orange, ersatz color of the cheese that came in standard, packaged boxes.

That said, I decided to explore it in a different, slightly more sophisticated version then what my Dad made. I used what pasta I had on hand (elbow and shells, because, really, does it make that much difference?) and used a combination of white cheddar, and grana padano. Here it goes….

1. 10 ounces of pasta (shells, elbows) cooked and drained
2. 1/4 cup of butter
3. 2 tbs flour
4. 2 cups of milk
5. 1 cup of light whipping cream
6. 1 cup white or yellow cheddar cheese
7. 1 cup of grated grana padano
8. pinch of saffron
9. 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
10. Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sauce pan melt the butter and whisk in flour. Pour in milk and cream and blend well, add in cheeses and saffron and continue stirring until melted.

In a dutch oven or ovenproof pan, pour mixture over pasta and top with bread crumbs and salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes. Turn oven to low broil, and broil until bread crumbs are toasted and brown.

ibakedishotiateit….

imaged copyright 2016 by shell b royster, may not be used without permission

Simple Shortbread

I am all about recipes that are versatile, especially when it comes to cookie versions. This shortbread is easily adjusted to fit your tastes, whether chocolate chips, dried cranberries, the subtlety of lavender, it is sure to impress! I dipped mine in white chocolate covered with snowy coconut for the look and feel of the season.

Snowy Shortbread

1. 1 cup of flour
2. 1/3 cup of powdered sugar
3. 2 tbs cornstarch
4. 1/2 cup of unsalted butter
5. 1/2 tsp coconut extract
6. 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
7. 6 oz. of white chocolate melted
8. 6 oz. of shredded, sweetened coconut

Mix the flour, powdered sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl cut in the butter and add coconut and vanilla extracts until well blended. Press into a cookie sheet or square pan.

Bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and cut into desired squares or oblong pieces.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate for 15 second intervals until well blended and smooth. Spread shortbread with chocolate and sprinkle with coconut.

 

Cookie Bake Off

Every year, (for decades) I have a holiday bake off  that commences immediately after Thanksgiving. I pour through recipes to incorporate new ideas into my repertoire, and of course, have my staples that are always included.

I don’t know what possesses me to go on this mad, extended multiple day bake off, but perhaps it is just the gift of giving, the unfettered joy it brings me? Well that, and I love raw cookie dough!

Whatever your pleasure in baking, I hope you find some new ones here, as well as some tried and true recipes to inspire your bake off!

I will start off with one of my favorite butter cookies, checkerboard cookies.

1. 2 cups of flour
2. 1/2 tsp baking powder
3. 1/2 tsp salt
4. 1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
5. 1 cup of unsalted, softened butter
6. 1 cup of sugar
7. 1 large egg
8. 1 tsp vanilla
9. 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg and set aside.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, mix butter and sugar, beat in egg and vanilla until well blended. Gradually add in flour mixture until well incorporated. Separate half the dough and set aside.

In a microwaveable bowl, or over a double broiler, melt chocolate and remove immediately, allow to cool for a few minutes. In the bowl with half of the dough, fold in chocolate and knead until mixed thoroughly.

Remove the doughs and roll vanilla dough into 4-5, small,  1/2 inch ropes. Repeat with chocolate dough.

On wax paper lay down 1 vanilla rope and flatten each side, continue with remaining ropes. Place 3 alternating ropes against each other, stack three more on top, pressing rolls together (alternating vanilla and chocolate) and finally a third layer, you will have 9 rolls in total. Wrap wax paper around entire roll and slightly flatten each side of the roll. Refrigerate the entire roll for at least 30 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and slice into squares. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

It’s not pumpkin, its chocolate! A chocolate tart.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the season of pumpkin. But after being inundated with everything from pumpkin lattes, to pumpkin pie, cookies, pumpkin flavored everything, by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, I am burned out.

So, this Thanksgiving, I am making a staple of my dessert repertoire, a bittersweet chocolate, cointreau tart, but with a gluten free crust. With all those carbs (mashed potatoes and stuffing), who needs more?

This crust is made with Bob’s Red Mill, organic, brown rice flour. I am a big fan of Bob’s and this flour bakes up well. Just be sure to grease your tart pan liner first.

Crust

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

1. 1/2 cup ground almonds
2. 3/4 cup of Bob’s Red Mill, organic brown rice flour
3. 4 tablespoons of sugar
4. 6 tbs. unsalted butter
5. 1 large egg yolk
6. 3 tsps. Siggis vanilla yogurt

In a large bowl, combine ground almonds, rice flour and sugar. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and yogurt and set aside.

Cut butter into flour mixture until it looks like coarse meal. Mix in egg yolk and yogurt and mix until well incorporated. Form a large round and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out. Grease tart pan and place rolled crust into tart pan, covering sides, pressing into the sides if necessary. Blind bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until light golden brown. Set aside to cool.

Chocolate Mixture

1.  10 ounces of bittersweet chocolate
2. 7 tablespoons of unsalted butter
3. 2 tsp. cointreau liqueur
4. 6 large eggs

In a small sauce pan over a pan of a larger pan of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter, stir in cointreau; do not allow mixture to boil.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs at medium speed until light and fluffy. Fold chocolate mixture into egg mixture and blend until well incorporated. Mixture will turn dark, like the color of chocolate.

Pour the mixture into pre-baked tart crust and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Center will look shiny and slightly wobbly. Allow to cool and top with orange zest or powdered sugar.

Ibakedishotiateit – all!

All images copyright Shell B Royster 2015 and may not be used without permission

 

Holiday Happiness

Although I loathe the cold, I take comfort in knowing that the holidays bring special feelings, despite the (cold) air. It is the height of the baking season for me. A time to start planning my holiday baking, collecting recipes, tweaking old ones and sticking with a few tried and true favorites. A time to share food with loved ones and to give as gifts.

I baked this salted, mixed nut tart, modified from an old pecan pie recipe. It is a bit lighter and not as sweet as traditional pecan pie. I served it with cranberry cheddar cheese and glasses of ruby port.

Salted Mixed Nut Tart

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Roll a large round of dough (or use 1.5 pre-packaged dough rounds, I used Pillsbury) and line a 14.5″ by 4.5″ tart pan, refrigerate for 15 minutes and then blind bake for 25 minutes.

1. 1/2 cup sugar
2. 1 tablespoon of almond or rice flour
3. 3 large eggs
4. 2 tablespoons of melted butter
5. 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
6. 2/3 cup corn syrup
7. 2 cups mixed, salted nuts (I toasted mine for 5 minutes in a cast iron skillet)
8. 1 tsp. sea salt
9. 1 tsp coarse sugar

In a medium bowl, mix sugar and flour. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Blend in corn syrup. Add sugar and flour mixture to the egg mixture and incorporate well.

Pour the mixture into the pre-baked crust and top with mixed, toasted nuts. Sprinkle with sea salt and coarse sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool completely and remove from the tart pan. Serve with cheddar cheese, or creme fraiche.

Holiday Happiness is a baked good!

All images copyright, 2015 by Shell B Royster and may not be used without permission.

It’s Pie Time 2!

I wrote a column last year, titled, “It’s Pie Time” in honor of my late Father, who was always up for pie. He never met a pie he didn’t like, don’t think I have either.

I baked up a storm of pies this weekend, as a harbinger of the holidays, doing a little test recipe tweaking in my kitchen.

Thought I’d start of with a timeless classic, pumpkin pie with cinnamon whipped cream.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Pie

1. 1/2 cup sugar
2. 1 tsp cinnamon
3. 1 tsp ginger
4. 1/4 tsp ground cloves
5. 2 large eggs
6. 1 tsp vanilla, or bourbon
7. 1 – can of pumpkin
8. 1 can evaporated milk
9. 1 pie shell, 9 inch, uncooked

In a small bowl, mix sugar and spices. In a separate, large bowl, beat eggs, gradually stir in pumpkin and sugar mixture, mix well, add in vanilla/bourbon. Stir in evaporated milk until well blended. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, lower oven temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 40-45 minutes. Cool on a rack and allow to sit at room temperature.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream

1. 1 cup heavy whipping cream
2. 1 tsp vanilla
3. 1/4 cup sugar
4. 1 tsp cinnamon

In a small mixing bowl, beat whipped cream and vanilla until thick peaks form, about 5 minutes, beat in sugar at low speed and add cinnamon. Serve immediately.

Yum!

Image copyright Shell Royster Photography 2015, may not be used without permission.

Comfort Food and Meatloaf

What is it about comfort food that is an attraction to us? Comfort is defined as: to soothe, or console. Do we seek this comfort food to drown our sorrows? Heal our wounded bodies or souls? I have another reason.

I find myself longing for foods that are hearty, at the first sign of fall. I believe it is my body’s natural response to the change of season, and a way of alerting me that colder temperatures are in store.

I tend to run cold, which makes me uncomfortable, and my body needs more fuel in winter to conserve heat. So perhaps, comfort food is for me, to make me more comfortable. It’s time to hunker down and prep for winter, so in that spirit, I cooked up a meatloaf recipe that I have had for over 25 years, passed down from my family. No matter what your reason to partake of comfort food, this classic recipe is always a good source of comfort.

Meatloaf                                                                                                   Oven 350 degrees

1. 2 eggs
2. 3/4 cup milk
3. 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
4. 1/4 cup chopped onion
5. 2 tbs. snipped parsley
6. 1 tsp. salt
7. 1 tsp. garlic powder
8. 1/2 tsp. ground sage
9. 1 1/2 cups of ground beef
10. 1/4 cup ketchup
11. 2 tbs brown sugar
12. 1 tsp. dry mustard

Combine the eggs and milk, stir in bread crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, garlic powder and sage; mix we’ll. Pat into a 8 x 4 x 2 inch loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees. In a small sauce pan, heat ketchup, brown sugar and mustard, pour over meatloaf and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Served with mashed potatoes…..of course!