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Pretzel Peanut Butter Chocolate Chips Cookies

After raiding my granddaughter's trick or treat stash, one small candy bar, got me craving for these cookies.  Ingredients: 1 cup softened unsalted butter 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup molasses  2 1/2 cups AP flour  1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 teaspoons vanilla extract  3 eggs 1 cup milk chocolate  chips  1 cup broken pretzel pieces  1 cup peanut butter chips 1 cup caramel chips  Begin by creaming the butter and sugars. Beat until fluffy.  Add the eggs on at a time. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla extract.  Mix until well combined.  Add the chips and mix until well incorporated. Add the pretzel pieces and mix until just combined.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Scope 1 tablespoon amounts to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating half way through.  Allow to cool several minutes, then transfer to a  ooling rake...

Apple Cider Donuts

My daughter brought home these delicious treats from a recent trip to New England.  Ingredients: 2 cups apple cider 2 tablespoons apple butter 2 cups AP flour  1/2 cup brown sugar  1/4 cup sugar 6 ounces evaporated milk 1 egg  3 tablespoons room temperature           unsalted butter 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon  1/4 teaspoon nutmeg  2 teaspoons baking powder  1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt In a skillet, begin  by reducing the cider and apple butter over medium heat. Reduce to a slightly thickened syrup, about 1/2 a cup.   Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  While that is cooking, add the sugars, and butter to your stand mixer. Cream well. Add the egg and all other ingredients except the flour and cider mix. Mix well. Cool the cider mixture to room temperature.  Add the cider and again mix well. Slowly add the flour until it is just combined.  Using a piping bag, fill the doughnut pans  to...

Sour Cherry Topping with Cinnamon

This is a simple but tasty topping, perfect for waffles or pancakes.  My daughter and son in law frequently shop European markets. On a recent trip I was able to accompany them. I found a couple of jars of sour cherries packed in water. This was the inspiration for the recipe. Ingredients: 1 jar of sour cherries packed in water 2 tablespoons corn starch 2 to 3 tablespoons cane syrup  1/2 teaspoon almond extract.  1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon.  Begin by draining the juice from the jar into a saucepan.  Save about a quarter cup of the liquid.  Mix the 2 tablespoons of corn starch in the reserved juice. Mix thoroughly to prevent clumping.  Add the remaining juice  and all but 1/3 cup of cherries and cinnamon to a food processor.  Pulse several time until pureed. Pure the puree into a saucepan, simmering over medium low heat.  Add the corn starch juice liquid, and continue cooking until the sauce thickens. Stir in the almond extract. Be prepar...

Gingerbread Pancakes

This a great recipe for Christmas breakfast, or any cold, blistery morning. I use evaporated milk for these delicious treats, based on a suggestion by a Williamsburg chef. They use it in their gingercake cookies, one of my favorites.  Ingredients: 2 cups pastry flour 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder  1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ground ginger  2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon all spice 1 12 ounce can evaporated milk. 2 eggs 1/3 cup molasses  3 tablespoons melted butter 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger  1/4 teaspoon keylime or lemon oil In a small bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.    In a separate bowl combine all the wet ingredients making sure the eggs are well beaten. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing thoroughly.  Don't over mix, or the panckes will be tough. Preheat your griddle over medium low heat. Use a quick spray of cooking oil. The cakes need to be grilled over a slightly low...

Cuban Bread

I love the Columbia Restaurant. We are blessed with several in the state to visit. One in St Augustine, that  we frequent with my daughter and her family, one in Celebration, and of course the original in Ybor City. We enjoy their  1905 salad and warm Cuban bread. The bread is amazing. This is my interpretation of their bread. The key to this deliciousness is lard. I read an article on La Segunda bakery that has supplied their bread forever. I saw in the article that they used to use beef tallow in the early day but switched to lard soon after. This recipe uses both. This is not a make in an hour or two recipe, but one that takes 2 days to make. Day one is a prefermentation. Day two is making the bread. Ingredients:  Preferment 1/2 cup bread flour 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast 1/2 cup of warm (not hot) water Dough 2 1/2 cups bread flour 2 1/2 teaspoons sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 2 teaspoons instant yeast  2/3 cup of warm water 100 to 110 degrees ...

New England Style Hot Dog Buns

 When I was growing up, my parents would sometimes take us to Grants 5 and dime. Their hot dogs were served on the most delicious buns. sliced on the top, with the sides toasted in butter, they were amazing. I could never find those buns since they closed.  It was later in life that I discovered, they were actually New England style buns. This is my version of what I remembered as a child. Ingredients: 3 cups bread flour 1 tablespoon potato flour 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons instant yeast 1 teaspoon diastatic malt 2 large eggs 3/4 cup of evaporated milk 5 tablespoons room temperature   unsalted butter cubed ABegin by warming the milk in your microwave, shooting for a temperature of 105 degrees. Add the yeast and sugar, allowing the mixture to rest a few minutes. If its starts foaming, then your yeast is good, and you may continue.  Add the remaining ingredients, except the butter, and mix with a dough hook on low. Once completely mixed...