Almond Butter Cookies

I am happy to say my little recipe experiment worked.  Since Hunter is allergic to peanuts, I was wondering if I could use other nut butters in various recipes.  I finally found an almond butter that was not made on the same machines as peanuts, and it happens to be the Blue Diamond brand, which is the only nuts we could find not made with peanuts. **Note - the nuts and butters from Blue Diamond are made on the same equipment as other tree nuts. We tried dipping celery in almond butter, no luck.  We tried it spread on toast, no luck.  Hunter can be incredibly picky at times, and since he's never had a peanut butter sandwich, he doesn't get the whole texture thing, which is a smidge less creamy in the almond butter.

So, I moved on to cookies.  Macarons are made from almonds, we like spritz cookies with almond flavoring, why not try almond butter cookies? It should be easy, and it was.  I took my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe and substituted almond butter for the peanut butter.  The hubby and both mini men are quite happy.  I know for sure that the hubby isn't just being nice because he stole the bag of remaining cookies and took it with him.

Here's the recipe, adapted from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook.
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup creamy almond butter
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar (optional, I did this even though it's not in the original recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together butter, sugars, egg, almond butter, and vanilla.  In a small bowl, blend flour, salt and baking soda.  Add flour mixture to butter mix. Mix until thouroghly combined. 
Scoop out by rounded teaspoon size and roll in a small bowl of powdered sugar before baking. Press down the tops to flatten slightly. Bake for 15 - 20 mins.  Cool on a wire rack and enjoy, with milk was the preference at our house.

Another option for finishing the cookies is to add white chocolate chips to the mixture.  These were Henry's favorite.

mini white chocolate cupcakes

I love finding pretty cakestands. Yet another obsession of mine.  My collection is right about 15 (disclaimer - four are just individual cupcake stands.) I have found more...and they are darling. But first, a snack...

mini white chocolate cupcakes (adapted recipe from cupcakes by Shelly Kuldunski)


1 ¼ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup sugar
4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg, room temperature
½ cup 1% milk (recipe recommends whole milk)
3 oz white chocolate chopped (plus extra for snacking)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a mini muffin pan with cute little paper liners.

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the mixer, blend butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, mix well. Add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with milk. Mix until combined, scraping down sides as necessary. Add chocolate and mix until combined.

Scoop into paper liners about 2/3 full. I used a small cookie scoop, way easier (thank you Ina!)

Bake for about 15 mins. Cool and enjoy! YUM!

Makes about 30 mini cupcakes (or 12 regular sized)

Sneak peek for the cakestand roundup...

Yes, it is made of candy.  Found this at Fancy Flours, but sadly, no longer available.

Farmer's Market Blueberry Cupcakes

I am a sucker for cupcakes.  My favorite is Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle. Their icing is divine, so smooth and yummy.  I have tried many recipes for icing, searching for the perfect one.  This is my winner for buttercream. (ain't nothin' can compete with Ina's cream cheese, sorry) This blueberry cupcake is purple.  It's the perfect cupcake for a muffin lover.  It tastes just like a blueberry muffin, but better.  As I marveled at the pretty color of the blueberry puree, I envisioned this recipe as a perfect starter recipe for a variety of fruits.  Need a different flavor? Change the puree.  Easy peasy.  Peach, mango, strawberry...you choose.  Me? I am so doing mixed berry...

Here's the recipe from the Seattle PI.

Blueberry Cupcakes:

Makes 12 cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line cupcake pan with paper liners

2 Cups + 2 tablespoons sifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 cup of unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 1⁄2 cups of Sugar
2 large eggs
1⁄4 cup of whole milk
1/2 cup of blueberry puree (recipe follows)
1⁄2 teaspoon of pure Vanilla extract

Blueberry Puree:
Bring one pound of blueberries (fresh or frozen) to a boil in a sauce pan (preferably organic and from your local farmers market). Reduce heat to low and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated (about 1⁄2 hour) and the mixture is thick (stir occasionally). Cool the blueberries slightly and place in a food processor. Mix until smooth. For an extra smooth puree pass mixture through a fine sieve before using. Makes about 1 1⁄4 cups.

For Cake: Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Sift dry ingredients into a separate bowl. Mix milk with 1⁄2 cup of blueberry puree and vanilla. Add wet and dry ingredients alternately to butter, sugar mixture starting and ending with the dry ingredients in three additions.
Mix until just incorporated after each addition. Do not overbeat batter. Fill cupcake liners 3⁄4 full of batter. Spoon 1 teaspoon of blueberry puree into the center and mix in slightly with a wooden skewer or small spoon. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until cake springs back to the touch. Cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely before frosting. Frost with Blueberry Swiss Meringue
Buttercream. Top with a dollop of puree or a fresh blueberry.

Blueberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

5 egg whites (I used the meringue powder equivalent as a substitute - worked fabulous)
1 1⁄4 cups sugar
2 cups room temperature unsalted butter (4 sticks or 1 pound)
1⁄4 cup + 2 tablespoons of blueberry puree
Pinch of salt

Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth. Transfer bowl to mixer stand. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff
and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes. Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. The buttercream may appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add blueberry puree and salt and beat just until combined. Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using
buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.

YUMMY! Enjoy!

yummy, ready-to-bake goodness

Thi is La Boulange, Cafe and Bakery (shop in SF) carton of ready-to-bake oatmeal raisin cookies. Delicious and ORGANIC! This (and the Pleasanton, CA Flea Market, end of May) seals the deal of a visit across the mountains this summer- road trip!
The main reason that made me try these delectable little guys? The packaging, I am a sucker for pretty wrap.

How incredibly charming and lovely!
Yes, the first photo is a bite out of a raw cookie.  The first step in addiction is admitting it. I love cookie dough, oh well.  Here's the cookies baked, they didn't last long either...

THE most yummy delicious chocolate cake

Whilst flitting around looking for a recipe to cook pork ribs on the barbie with maximum flavor and minimal effort (recipe under progress) I saw this little number on the sidelines of the Serious Eats site. As a girl who has issues with chocolate baked goods (as in love 'em, but can't make them not taste like I dipped a spoon in cocoa powder and licked it), I am always willing to try new recipes.
This lovely has mayo in it. Not  the usual sour cream, which for some reason we never have in our fridge, I thought, hey, this might be easy. After foraging for enough cocoa powder, I had to use half Hershey's and half Penzeys Natural Cocoa Powder, I had exactly enough. This cake was super simple to make. It made two nine inch rounds (one of which I banished to the other side of the fence, for pants sake- mine not Ms. Dylan's). Absolutely the best chocolate anything I have ever made. Super easy, only takes 40 mins tops(mixing and baking) and totally passes the cake sans frosting test, as in you don't think of frosting while you eat it. Although next time, it's gonna get it.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake via Serious Eats
(my piece for the picture got devoured, sorry)

Makes 2  nine inch rounds.

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon dutch-process cocoa powder (I used 1/2 Hershey's Cocoa Powder and 1/2 Penzeys Natural Process Cocoa Powder)
1/2 teaspoon salt, generous
1 1/3 cups hot water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray cake pans with baker's spray (the kind with flour in it, I recommend Crisco or Pam).
3. Using mixer, mix eggs and sugar.  Mix until it changes color and is smooth.
4. Add mayo and vanilla.  Mix until combined and smooth.
5. Add the rest of the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, and salt), mix until combined and smooth (it will be thick).
6. Microwave the water until almost boiling. Pour into mixing bowl slowly and mix until super smooth and until its a thinner even consistency.
7. Pour into cake pans and bake for 20 - 30 minutes.  I checked mine  at 20 because I have a crazy oven, but it was done about 25 mins. 
8. Let cool on a wire rack in the pan for 10 mins, then turn out and let cool completely on the rack.

Delish!
BTW on the site there are comments about mayo having pepper and stuff in it,thus making the cake wierd. So please, use mayonnaise.  Plain, regular, normal mayo.  None of that Miracle Whip or flavored stuff, okay?

I am a cake girl. aka Thank heavens for Ina...

The infamous cake or pie debate. I am getting older and have grown to love fruit and pastry. YUM. Delicious. But if you had one last dessert to eat, or you had to choose one to eat for the rest of forever, for me, cake wins. hands down. I just found the best recipe for cake that I have EVER made and its all I am ever gonna eat. It would be my last dying food wish. Thank heavens I ran half of the cake over to Miss Dylan, cause I would eat it all, and my hips would torment my pants that are already a smidge too tight, and my hubby would be mad that he 'got two bites and that's it?'
The recipe is the Carrot and Pineapple Cake from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. I love her. I want to win the lotto so I can buy a house on her block in the Hamptons. I bet if you lived next to her, you might get a "welcome to your new home" baked good. Or at least, when the ocean breeze wisps by you'd get a whiff of deliciousness.
Ahhh, Ina, I love you so. When I found your Coconut Cupcakes, I rejoiced. Now, they are a delicious but distant second to the luxury of Carrot Cake with Pineapple, with cream cheese icing. Oh heavens...

the BEST chocolate chip cookies ever - classic style

These cookies are not helping my new years resolutions. But the boys love making them, and I love eating them. They turn out perfect every time, use salted butter (always have in the fridge), and are always soft and chewy (quite a feat considering I am cooking them, and in the desert.) Here's the recipe - you have to try it out. Its from Mrs.Fields Cookie Book, by yes, that Mrs. Fields.

Blue-Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup salted butter, softened

2 large eggs

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 ups (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips (I use milk chocolate)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In medium bowl combine flour, soda and salt. Mix well with wire whisk. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer blend sugars at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until just blended. Do not overmix.

Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips, and blend at lo sped until fully combined. Do not overmix.

Drop by rounded tablespoons (I use a small cookie scoop) onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.

YUM!

Let the new year begin!

It's supposed to snow again today. It has been quite cold, frigid to be honest. Two days left until the new year - you absolutely must make this recipe from Southern Living today (before the diets er... eating healthfully... begin) - DELICIOUSNESS. divine and easy. oooooh.

PRALINE PULL-APART BREAD

(Dec 2009 Southern Living)

1 cup sugar

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 (2 lb.) package frozen bread roll dough (used Rhodes)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup chopped pecans

3/4 cup whipping cream (whipped)

3/4 firmly packed brown sugar

1. Stir together sugar and 3 tsp. cinnamon. Coat each roll (still frozen) in butter and dredge rolls in sugar mixture. Arrange in a lightly greased 10" tube pan, sprinkle with pecans. Cover and chill 8 - 18 hours in fridge (overnight.)

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Stir in brown sugar and remaining 1 tsp. cinnamon. Pour mixture over dough. Place pan on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.

3. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes; invert onto a serving plate, and drizzle with any remaining glaze in pan.

So easy, so delicious!