Sweetie Pies

 

The Farm Chicks. 

I knew about their book, it’s on my wishlist.  I did not know that Serena from the farm chicks has a fantastic blog but I’m so glad I found it!    She has a great recipe for little hand-held, heart-shaped pies perfect for Valentines day!  Serena filled her pies with seedless raspberry Jam but since I didn’t have any on hand I decided to make apple pie filling.

Apple Sweetie Pies 

• your favorite pastry crust recipe
• 6 granny smith apples
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp apple pie spice
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

Prepare the pie filling by peeling, coring (is this a word?) and dicing the apples.  The size of your dice depends on the size of your pies…my apples were originally cut too large and I had to pulse them in the food processor.

Combine apples with all other ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes until the apples are slightly tender and the sauce begins to get thick.  Set aside.

Roll chilled pie dough and cut with a heart-shaped cookie cutter.

Place hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet and put a spoonful of filling in the center.

 Using a pastry brush and some water, wet the edges of the dough.

Place a second pastry heart on top of the filling and press to seal the edges.  Crimp edges with the tines of a fork and prick the centerof each pie.

Whisk 1 egg until combined and brush the tops of the pies with the egg wash.

Pop pies in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up the pastry before baking.

Bake pies for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.

Apple Ginger Bran Muffins

The inspiration for these muffins came from the recipe for Baker’s best Bran Muffins from A Passion for Baking.  I switched up a lot of the ingredients so I could use what I had on hand and the muffins turned out delicious!

Apple Ginger Bran Muffins

• 2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 4 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil (you could sub half of this with applesauce)
• 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp  molasses
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup bran
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 apples, peeled and diced

Preheat the oven to  400 degrees and line muffins tins with paper liners.

I chose to bake 12 muffins, and reserve the rest of the batter in the fridge for a few days and baked another 9 muffins.

Combine the flours, baking powder and soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg together in a bowl and sift or whisk.  Set aside.

Using a mixer, whisk together oil, sugar, molasses and vanilla.  Beat in the eggs one at a time and then add the buttermilk.    Stir in the bran and oats and let the batter rest for 10 minutes.

Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix until just blended.  Use a spatula to fold in the apples.

Cover batter and let rest in the fridge for 1 hour (or longer)

Fill muffin cups with batter (I used a large ice cream scoop)   Sprinkle some oats on the top of each muffin and place on the top rack inside the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce oven temp to 375 and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

A few good things!

I’m sick.

I feel like my throat is full of razor blades, it hurts to swallow, my head hurts, I still have to look after my two children and I feel super un motivated to get anything done.  I need to think positive.

There were definatley a few good things over the past week…

I won a prize  :)  I can’t remember how I originally linked up to nana’s kitchen but Debbie has an adorable little blog and she had a birthday party give away and I won!  Debbie sent me a fun little party bag in the mail with cocktail napkins, a notebook, some fun stickers, a writing pad and some cute strawberry potholders and a dishtowel.  It definatly brightened my day   Be sure to stop by In Nana’s Kitchen for a visit!

 My Brother Ryan made me potato bread with bacon and rosemary and he tied it all up with Raffia (old skool Martha Stewart style)  He also made a pavlova with a delicious light meringue, cream, strawberries and chocolate!  YUM

Spent some fantastic time with my kiddos and husband exploring some nature trails.

Taco Bowls!  We found these awesome fluted pans at the local thrift shop that my husband thought were for making tortilla bowls!  I’m not sure if that’s their exact purpose but they worked awesome!

I was given a gift of homemade Madeleines.  They were light and sweet and delicious, thanks Emmy!

I also had some help baking miniature heart shaped pocket pies.  Recipe to be posted soon!

And if you’re looking for something else to improve your mood there’s still 2 days left of Pink Partying over at Blooming on Bainbridge!  Lots of wonderful prizes!

Flavor of the Month ~BOOZY~

The Flavor of the Month at Bake at 350 is Boozy!    I’ve made  delicious Kahlua cupcakes in the past and also a cake truffle made with Kahlua but this time I thought I’d pair my new found love of cinnamon and chocolate with Kahlua.  It’s a perfect fit!  (and I had a huge bottle of kalhua)

These delicious chocolate, cinnamon sugar cookies are sandwiched with a kahlua chocolate ganache and they’re incredible!  The inspiration for this recipe comes from a book titled Celebrating Cookies.

I didn’t measure the ingredients for the ganache (if you’re a regular reader this shouldn’t surprise you!)   Just omit the butter and work in enough kahlua to achieve your desired flavor! 

Chocolate Sugar Cookie Sammies

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa (more flour may be required)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• cinnamon/sugar for rolling cookies

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large bowl, beat the oil, eggs and vanilla until blended.  Add the sugar and beat until smooth.  In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix to combine. 

At this point my dough was WAY too sticky to roll or scoop into balls.  Slowly add more flour until you have a dough that can be rolled into balls but is still soft. 

Using a cookie scoop, scoop or roll into small balls.  (make sure they are all the same size)

Roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture and place on a lined cookie sheet.  Flatten cookies with the bottom of a glass that’s been dipped in sugar

Bake for 5-7 minutes.  Remove cookies to wire rack and let cool.

Ganache

• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Lindt dark chocolate 70%, it was delicious)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tsp vanilla

Heat the cream, pour over chopped chocolate and let sit for 1 minute.  Whisk until the cream and chocolate come together and add flavoring such as vanilla or kahlua.

Cool the ganache in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until it’s firm enough to be piped or spread on cookies.    Pipe or spread ganache on the bottom of a cookie and sandwich together with another cookie.  YUM.

 

 

Cherry Cheesecake Brownies

This was Party dessert #3!

I’m not going to give you a recipe for these Cherry Cheesecake Brownies but I will give you some inspiration!

• you need brownie batter
• cheesecake batter
• a can of cherry pie filling

Line a 9X11″ cake pan with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Take your favorite brownie recipe (or use a boxed brownie) and prepare as directed.    

Use some leftover cheesecake batter from Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecakes and dollop it on top of the brownie batter.  Swirl it around with a knife.  

(If you don’t have any leftover cheesecake batter hanging out, just use the cherry pie filling and make black forest brownies!)

Scoop the cherries from a can of cherry pie filling and dot the top of the brownie/cheesecake batter with cherries.  Swirl the knife.

Bake until brownies are set.

Chill thoroughly and cut into squares.

Bring on the Cheesecake!

Party dessert #2 – Miniature Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake

The inspiration for this recipe comes from a  book called “Junior’s Cheesecake cookbook” by Alan Rosen & Beth Allen that I borrowed from the library.  They call their miniature cheesecakes ”little fellas” and they are the perfect little serving size!  I used the original little fella cheesecake recipe and made 12 cheesecakes but probably had enough batter leftover to make 4-6 more but I reserved it to use in another recipe!

Miniature Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

• 2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• chewy chips ahoy cookies
• chocolate syrup
• 1/2 recipe chocolate ganache

The first thing you need to make these delicious little cheesecakes….a package of chewy chips ahoy cookies.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line muffin tins with paper liners and place a cookie in the bottom of each well.

If you find that your cookies are not covering the bottoms of your muffin tins, just break off an extra piece of cookie and squash it into the bottom

Take about 6 cookies and roughly chop them into small pieces.  Set aside.

Do you have a mixer?   My mom bought me this awesome attachment for Christmas that scrapes down the sides of the bowl as it mixes.  It’s perfect for cheesecake batter!  If you don’t have this attachment, make sure you scrape the bowl often.

Mix one package of cream cheese with 1/3 cup sugar and the cornstarch and beat until smooth.  Add the second package of cream cheese and 1/3 cup of sugar and beat until the mixture is smooth.  Add the Vanilla.

Add eggs one at a time mixing until they are fully incorporated.

Beat the cream into the cream cheese mixture until it’s blended.  Be careful not to over mix.

Spoon batter into the cookie lined muffin cups until they are half full.

Add chopped cookie and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Top with another spoonful of batter.

Bake for 20 minutes or until cakes are set.

Cool to room temperature and then transfer cakes to the freezer.

Once cakes are frozen, remove paper liners and top with Chocolate Ganache.

Enjoy!

Remember last week I sent you here for a pink party?

Well the party was delayed but it’s happening this week and for 10 days!!!

Pop over to blooming on bainbridge  to check it out!

Dear Cinnamon and Chocolate.

Dear Cinnamon and Chocolate,

I knew you were acquaintances and sometimes hung out together but I didn’t realize that you were actually bff’s (best friends forever!)  Cinnamon and Chocolate, you are my new favorite combination and I will forever blame my weight gain directly on you!  

 I came across this incredible dessert yesterday on I am Baker.  Amanda, you rock!   I was in the midst of putting together some desserts for a party and this dessert was not on the list.  I revisited Amanda’s blog probably 5 times to drool over the photos of this sweet creation and decided I had to make it NOW.  

  The cookies are light and crispy and full of cinnamon and sugar sandwiched with vanilla whipped cream and then drizzled with hot fudge!   This cookie was made last night and I didn’t photograph it until this morning.   I stabilized the whipped cream with some gelatin and I was super surprised by the fantastic result!  The whipped cream held its shape but it’s texture wasn’t compromised at all by the gelatin, I will definitely be using this trick often! 

I ate this for breakfast.

Cinnamon crisp cookies transformed into amazing dessert recipe from I am Baker

for the cookie

• 3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (I used a silpat sheet)

Cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy.  Add the egg.

sift flour and cinnamon together and beat until dough is well combined.

There were a few methods suggested to make the cookies, I decided to use my dough scoop.

Scoop one teaspoon full of dough

ooh, maybe this is more than a tsp…the important thing is that they’re all the same size!

Roll the dough in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

Use a flat bottom glass to squash the dough as flat as you can make it!

Bake for 6-8 minutes and immediately transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

For the whipped cream:

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 4 tsp powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp unflavored gelatin
• 1 tbsp cold water

Soften 1 tsp of gelatin in 1 tbsp cold water for 1 minute.  Microwave for 20-30 seconds until the gelatin is in liquid form.  Cool slightly. 

Whip the cream until soft peaks form.  Add the powdered sugar and whip until cream is stiff  (careful not to over whip)  Mix in the gelatin and vanilla and beat until combined.    Fill a piping bag with a large star tip and fill with whipped cream.

Pipe cream in between cookies (you can add as many layers as you want)  and top with hot fudge sauce!

Enjoy!

OOOH I almost forgot….wanna go to a birthday party??

Debbie at nana’s kitchen is having a birthday AND birthday giveaways!  Head over and check it out!

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

This is a simple biscotti recipe using few ingredients that you could adapt to include all sorts of great things!   It is chocolatey and has a  crisp dry texture that longs to be dunked in a cup of hot coffee or tea.   The next time I make this recipe I will add some chopped hazelnuts to the dough so there are more hazelnuts throughout the biscotti and I’d also add some chocolate chunks.  The dough is sticky, and it’s supposed to be!   Make sure to really flour your work surface and your hands before working with the dough.

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti  recipe from Smitten Kitchen  

• 1 cup whole hazelnuts
• 2 1/2 cups flour, plus more for your work surface
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp espresso powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Toast the hazelnuts by spreading them out on a baking sheet and baking for 10-15 minutes until the skins begin to crack.  Remove them from the oven and place them in a clean tea towel.  Rub the warm nuts until the skins come off (I know…rubbing hot nuts… I’m laughing too) 

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, salt, baking powder and soda.

In another bowl, beat the eggs until they’re combined.  Remove 2 tablespoons full off egg to a dish and set aside (you will use this to brush the tops of the biscotti before baking)  Beat the sugar into the remaining eggs until well blended and stir in the flour to create a soft (sticky) dough.

Flour your countertop and your hands and divide the dough into two sections.  Pat one section of the dough into a 6 inch square.

Scatter half of the hazelnuts on the dough and press them in

Roll the dough up and roll and press it into a cylinder 2 inches in diameter and 12-15 inches long.  Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with the second section of dough.  Brush the tops of the dough with the reserved egg.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until they feel firm to the touch.  (I forgot to take a photo)

Let cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cutting board.  Using a serrated knife, cut the biscotti on an angle into 1/2-3/4″ slices.  Place slices cut side down on a baking sheet and return to the oven for an other 20 minutes.

Let cool completely.

Dunk into a cup of hot coffee and enjoy!

They’re not pink, but they are peanut butter!

 

I’ve posted a peanut butter cookie recipe before but these peanut butter cookies are extra special!  They’re chewy but with a crispy exterior and filled with chocolate chips they’re oh so delicious!  The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips but I didn’t have any on hand and I used 1/2 cup milk chocolate and a half cup semi sweet chips.

Peanut Butter Cookies recipe from Smitten Kitchen, originally adapted from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

• 1  1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky works)
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 lrg egg, room temp.
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup peanut butter chips
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (for rolling cookies) 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment.

Combine flour, sal, baking powder and baking soda and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy.  Add both sugars and continue to mix until smooth.  Add the egg and mix followed by the vanilla and the milk.  Add the flour mixture and beat well until all the flour has been combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoonful into the sugar and then onto the parchment lined baking sheet.  Flatten slightly with a fork.  Bake 10-12 minutes until the edges of the cookies are just beginning to turn light golden brown.  The cookies will appear to be a bit underbaked….this means they’re perfect!  

Let cookies cool slightly on the sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

If you’re looking for something PINK

head over to Blooming on Bainbridge for

some awesome inspiration and

a week full of pink inspired giveaways!

 

And now for something totally different!

DINNER!

I don’t usually take photos of dinner, they never do the food justice and I don’t often cook with a recipe or measure ingredients.  Yesterday I was feeling ambitious and decided to break out the old hand crank pasta maker that’s been collecting dust in my cupboard and the pasta turned out incredible!

(See what I mean, not pretty!)

Homemade Pasta

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup semolina flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs + 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp water (add more or less as required)

You can do this on the countertop, I started in the mixing bowl and had to move my dough onto the countertop to be kneaded.   Combine the flours and the salt.  Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, extra yolk and olive oil.   Begin by mixing the eggs and slowly working the flour in them.

Drizzle water as needed until you have a cohesive dough.  It will be really tough!    Turn the dough onto the countertop and knead the heck out of it!  The dough needs to be kneaded for at least 10 minutes, it’s a good workout!

Once the dough is kneaded, it will be smooth but still feel tough.  Place the dough under a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

After the dough’s rested cut it into 8 portions.  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to 1/4 inch thick and begin using the #1 setting on the pasta machine.  (OR you may continue with a super workout and roll the dough by hand with the rolling pin)

I rolled the dough through the machine up until the #6 setting. 

From this point you can cut the dough into your desired pasta shape.   I decided to make Ravioli and Manicotti.

Bacon, Spinach and Ricotta Manicotti (or Raviolli) 

• 2 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 bunch of fresh spinach (or 1 box of frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained)
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 400 grams Ricotta cheese
• tomato based pasta sauce

In a heavy bottom skillet, cook bacon on medium high heat.  Once bacon is almost done add the onion and cook until onion is soft and translucent.  Add garlic and cook 30 more seconds.  Add the spinach to the pot and cook until the spinach has wilted down.   Season with Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. 

Using a food processor, pulse the spinach mixture 3-4 short pulses.  Stir in the Ricotta cheese.

 

Using a sharp knife, cut the pasta into rectangles. (size is totally up to you!)

Place a few tablespoons of filling on the sheet of pasta.  Using a pastry brush (or your fingers) wet the edge of the pasta so it will seal when rolled.

Coat the bottom of a casserole dish with sauce

Roll up the pasta and place it seam side down in a casserole dish leaving a bit of room for expansion.

Cover the top with sauce and cover the casserole dish with tinfoil.   Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes removing the tinfoil after 20 minutes.