Loaded Blondies

Based on Blondies with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8" x 8" pan with parchment paper.

1 stick butter, melted 1/2 c brown sugar 1/4 c sugar	Mix together
1 egg 1 tsp vanilla	Add and mix well - fluff that egg!
1 c flour 1/4 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt	Add and mix until just combined
1/2 c chocolate chips 1/4 c shredded, sweetened coconut 1/4 c chopped walnuts	Add and mix in
1/2 c chocolate chips 1/4 c chopped walnuts	Spread batter into pan, sprinkle over the top

Bake for 30-35 minutes.
After fully cooled, cut into 16 squares.

(Vegan!) Applesauce Cake

I didn't take a picture, but we ate more than half of it at Women Who Hack today, and the recipe was requested.

1/2 c oil
1 1/2 c sugar (sometimes I make these scant half cups as I'm measuring)
1 1/2 c applesauce
2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 handfuls of raisins

45 minutes at 350 degrees in a greased bundt pan.

My actual recipe just says "spices" but the cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg combo above is what I used this time.
It's great with vanilla or cream cheese frosting. It's great plain. You can keep all this stuff in your pantry, especially if you can find canned applesauce (it uses just under a can worth.)

How Pasta Causes Biscuits

I have a few recipes that I keep supplies for on hand all the time. This Baked Ziti is one of them. Of course, you have to make a few substitutions for this - I use dried basil, and I was using powdered milk as a sad stand in for the cream. (I also use the pre-diced canned tomatoes. But that's because I'm lazy.) Since moving to Portland, I've been able to make a better version because Trader Joe's carries shelf stable heavy cream. But my baked ziti only uses half the box! The first few times, I just stuck the other half in the fridge for a week and hoped inspiration would strike. It finally did! Last night, I suddenly remembered there was such a thing as cream biscuits.

And here is a scaling down of the recipe I used and some notes, so that I don't have to do that math in the morning again. 

1 scant cup of flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup of heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

I recommend decanting the cream from the box first - it's hard to get it all out of the tetrapak. It's almost lumpy, but that seems to be a feature. Though it adds to the removal from box difficulty.

Stir together the dry ingredients, then stir in the cream until the dough comes together. If you need more liquid to get everything to hold, more cream is great if you have it, but in my case, I used a little water - added to the cream holding measuring cup in hopes of getting any bits of cream that clung to it involved. Knead for 20-30 seconds, getting the dough fairly uniform.

I rolled out and cookie cuttered this time, but I think rough balls would probably work great too. I made four - three actually rolled and cut, and then shoved all the last scraps into the form of the cookie cutter.

Bake for 15 minutes.

They are a different wonderful from the buttery flaky biscuits I also like (but still pretty flaky!) and it's amazing how much faster and less messy they are to make. And the cream doesn't go to waste!

Convoluted Cranberry Sauce

It's actually really easy to make, but how I got to it is a bit strange.

I found it via Neil Gaiman, who got it from Beat This! a hilarious cookbook (I read it cover to cover, laughing the entire way, but have made no other recipes.)

I've been attributing the orange juice to Neil. But now that I actually look up the post, apparently not. So here's how I make it. Two years in a row, and now it's a necessary part of the holiday for me.

1 lb fresh cranberries
2 c orange juice
1 1/2 c sugar
pinch of salt

Bring the orange juice to a boil. Stir in the remaining ingredients. To make a jelly that will set into a solid (what I got last year) boil for about 30 more minutes, stirring frequently and skimming the foam off. To get a more jelly jelly, something pourable but syrupy, simmer for 30-40 minutes. (what I did this year in hopes of not boiling over everywhere this time. ) Either way, you're waiting for it to get noticeably syrupy and reluctant to drop off the spoon. If you're determined to get a solid, do the ice water test (drop a bit in, see if it becomes solid.) Pour it into a wet mold (that's sitting in the bottom of the sink, because it WILL splash everywhere) refrigerate over night at least. 

Strawberries and Yellow Cake

We could call it strawberry shortcake, but then I feel I'm misleading you about what kind of cake it is. And everyone I talk to has a different idea about what the cake for strawberry shortcake should be. So this is just an easy yellow cake that I think goes well with the strawberry goo.

Strawberry Goo
(a much simplified version of the one found on epicurious)
2 lbs strawberries, cored

1 Tblsp sugar
2 Tblsp sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 c water


One pound of strawberries is going to get smashed and cooked, the other is going to swim in bite sized hunks in the sauce created from the first. I usually put one pound directly into the saucepan, one directly into a mixing bowl with a lid, cutting it up to however small seems forkable. (This can be done days ahead of time, so it's likely to live in your fridge for awhile.)

Toss the bite-size strawberry bits with 1 Tblsp of sugar in their mixing bowl and let them sit.

In the saucepan, use a potato masher to destroy the other pound of strawberries. Mash them up completely. Add the water, lemon juice, and remaining 2 Tblsp of sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let this cool, add to the mixing bowl of strawberry bits, store in the fridge until needed.


Yogurt Cake
(almost precisely from theKitchn)
1 1/2 c (12 oz) yogurt
2/3 c olive oil
1 1/4 c sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
----
2 1/2 c flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a bundt pan.

Mix together all the stuff above ----, then stir in the dry ingredients until there are no lumps.

Pour into the bundt pan and bake for about 40 minutes. 

Bacon Cheese Puffs (Gougeres)

This is a combination of a recipe from the Seattle Times and one from French Women Don't Get Fat.*
yields about 40 puffs

4 strips of minced, raw bacon

4 Tblsp salted butter
1 c water

1 c flour

4 eggs
4 oz grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cook the bacon until crispy, set aside on a paper towel. Collect 2 Tblsp of bacon grease and put into a saucepan. Add the butter and water, bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to medium.

Remove from heat, add flour, stir til becomes a ball. Return to heat and stir for 10 seconds.

Transfer to a mixing bowl, cool 10 minutes.

Add eggs, cheese, and bacon. This will be a super gooey mess. Keep stirring and it will become a more homogenous bacon-flecked mess. Still pretty gooey.

Deposit in spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. I used one of the ice cream style scoops, but I think two spoons would have been easier since it's so very gooey.

Bake 20 - 25 minutes.

I'm not sold on pre-mincing the bacon. I still chopped it a bunch after - it's hard to cut it up small when it's raw!

* I remember enjoying reading the book, but my main takeaways were her Gougeres recipe and a belief that champagne DOES go with everything. Including pizza.

Black Pepper Chocolate Coffee Cake

Is largely this recipe and most of the modifications are via MJ

Ingredients
Batter
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt (none if using salted butter)
1/4 cup cocoa
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon espresso powder
Filling
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Spread 1/2 of batter in the prepared pan.

Mix together filling ingredients. Sprinkle cake batter with 1/2 the filling. Spread second half of batter over the filling, and top with remaining filling. This is harder than it sounds since the batter is just as thick as you'd expect once you realize that no actual liquids are involved.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

My pepper is super finely ground, which makes these measurements too much. It's still yummy though. I think I will successfully manage to feed most of it to coworkers.