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Showing posts with label pecans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pecans. Show all posts

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!!









Ingredients


  • 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup pecans, chopped (I toasted them in a dry pan first until fragrant and then cool)
  • 1 1/2 cups M&M's (I used MINI M & M's)
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate disks
  • Sea salt

Instructions


  1. In a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
  2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
  3. On low, add flour, soda, & salt until just combined.
  4. Fold in toasted pecans, M&M's and chocolate disks.
  5. Scoop dough using a 2" ice cream scoop.  PLace on a parchment lined pan and chill the pan for at least 30 minutes.  Sprinkle tops with sea salt, if desired.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-16 mins.
  7. Recipe adapted from BAKERELLA
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Apple, raspberry and pecan muffin cake + "The Great Australian Bake Off"



After the disappointment with American version of “The Great British Bake Off” I wasn’t sure I would watch “The Great Australian Bake Off”, but when I read that Dan Lepard would be one of the judges I immediately changed my mind: I’m a huge fan of his amazing recipes, each and every one of them I have tried so far turned out delicious. The other judge is Kerry Vincent and the woman is merciless
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Raspberry jam and pecan bars + a discussion about age



Some of my colleagues on Facebook were discussing actresses that actually look their age – the examples given were Charlotte Rampling and Fernanda Montenegro, then someone mentioned Judi Dench. I always say that when I think of myself in my seventies both Fernanda and Dame Dench come to my mind: talented, beautiful women who aren’t ashamed of all the years stamped on their faces, and I find
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MEET THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE THAT WILL STOP YOU IN YOUR TRACKS!

This chocolate chip cookie is so packed with flavors, textures and colors, it just may be your new fave!









 
STOP YOU IN YOUR TRACKS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!!

Ingredients


  • 2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup pecans, chopped (I toasted them in a dry pan first until fragrant and then cool)
  • 1 1/2 cups M&M's (I used MINI M & M's)
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate disks
  • Confetti sprinkles-Mine are from ABC Cake Decorating
  • Sea salt

Instructions


  1. In a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
  2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
  3. On low, add flour, soda, & salt until just combined.
  4. Fold in toasted pecans, M&M's and chocolate disks.
  5. Scoop dough using a 2" ice cream scoop and roll in confetti sprinkles.  PLace on a parchment lined pan and chill the pan for at least 30 minutes.  Sprinkle tops with sea salt, if desired.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 13-16 mins.
  7. Recipe adapted from BAKERELLA

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PECAN PIE MUFFINS SERVED WITH WARM, SALTED CARAMEL

IT'S TIME FOR THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB REVEAL AGAIN!!! FOR THE SECRET RECIPE CLUB, EVERYONE IS GIVEN THE NAME OF A BLOG (SECRETLY) AND YOU CHOOSE ONE RECIPE TO MAKE FROM THAT BLOG. THEN, EVERYONE POSTS AT THE SAME TIME ON THE SAME GIVEN DAY....TODAY!!!! IT IS FUN TO DISCOVER WHO HAD YOUR BLOG AND TO REVEAL THE ONE YOU WERE SECRETLY BAKING/COOKING FROM ALL ALONG!

THIS MONTH, I RECEIVED ANGELS HOMESTEAD.
APRIL HAS SOME FABULOUS RECIPES...THIS BEING ONE OF THEM!!!! PECAN PIE MUFFINS!!! THAT WAS ALL I NEEDED TO HEAR.  I HAD TO GUILD THE LILY A BIT AND SERVE THEM WITH SALTED CARAMEL.  OH YES, MY FRIENDS-WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!  THANKS FOR A GREAT BRUNCH TREAT, APRIL!  
RECIPE BELOW!
 
















Pecan Pie Muffins with Salted Caramel


1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans, (I toasted mine first in a dry skillet until fragrant)
2/3 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten

*I also used coarse sugar & cinnamon for the topping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour, pecans, butter and eggs until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups 3/4 full.  Top with coarse sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes. Cool on wire racks when done.  


 Makes 12 regular size muffins-
I halved the recipe above for a small batch and it worked perfectly!!!!! Serve with salted caramel.

BEST SALTED CARAMEL RECIPE-

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 2/3 cups heavy cream (WARM IT IN THE MICROWAVE FIRST)
2 Tbsp salted butter
3/4 tsp coarse sea salt

Method to make the caramel sauce:

1. Spread the sugar in an even layer in a large metal pot, at least 6 quarts. Set over a moderate heat and cook without stirring, until the sugar near the edge just starts to liquify.

2. Use a wooden spoon and begin stirring, encouraging the melted sugar around the edges toward the center, delicately stirring up any sugar melting on the bottom as well. The sugar will start to look pebbly as it cooks, but keep going until it is melted completely and an amber color. If you think it is cooking too fast, lower the heat and keep stirring. Be patient.

3. Continue to cook until the sugar turns deep brown. Once brown, take it off of the heat!!!!

4. Time to add the cream but here is my trick....only add a DROP at a time and stir, stir, stir.  This will eliminate the seizing of your caramel and you will love me for this trick. Keep adding a drop at a time and stirring until all of the cream is mixed in.  Be patient...you have a lot of cream so this will take a few minutes.  Once smooth, add butter and salt. Let cool. Will store in fridge up to one month. HA! As if it will last that long...ever!!!! TOO delicious!! Makes 2 cups.


HEAT GENTLY IN MICROWAVE WHEN READY TO SERVE WITH MUFFINS!
  




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ROLO PECAN PRETZEL BITES-A MUST FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS PLATTERS!!





  
SO SIMPLE, SO DELICIOUS!

 ALL YOU NEED:
PRETZELS
UNWRAPPED ROLO CANDIES
PECAN HALVES
SEA SALT

PREHEAT OVEN TO 300 DEGREES.  LINE A PAN WITH NONSTICK FOIL.  LAY OUT YOUR PRETZELS AND TOP EACH WITH ONE UNWRAPPED ROLO CANDY.  LAY PECANS ON THE PAN TOO BUT NOT ON TOP OF THE ROLO.  PLACE IN OVERN 4 MINS. REMOVE AND PUSH EACH PECAN GENTLY ON TOP OF THE ROLO CANDIES. SPRINKLE WITH SEA SALT!




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Spiced orange and currant rolls and another food show disappointment



Once again I watched a TV cooking show only to get disappointed with the winner – I should have learned from “Top Chef”, shouldn’t I? :/

* spoilers of “The Great British Bake Off” seasons 2 and 3 *

Choosing John over Brendan was completely unfair – Valentina thinks they went for the one who would look better on TV and cookbook/magazine covers, and I agree with her. I own John Whaite’s
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Pecan Pie Bars Dipped in Milk Chocolate & Drizzled with Dark Chocolate


Ingredients (This is a LARGE batch-I halved this and used a 9x13 pan.  Below is the FULL recipe)
 
Crust:

1 1/4 pounds unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1 pound unsalted butter
1 cup good honey
3 cups light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 pounds pecans


For dipping:
10 OUNCES CHOCOLATE FOR DIPPING (DARK OR MILK)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
For the crust, beat the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs and the vanilla.  Add flour, baking powder, and salt.  Press into an 18 by 12 by 1-inch baking sheet lined with nonstick foil and build up the sides a bit.   Bake for 15 minutes, until the crust is set but not brown.  Cool.

For the Pecan Filling:  Put butter, honey, brown sugar in a saucepan. Cook on low heat until melted. Raise heat and boil 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in heavy cream and pecans. Pour over the crust carefullyBake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Remove and chill to cool.  Cut into bars and dip half of each bar into melted chocolate! Add a drizzle if desired.  Adapted from Ina Garten


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German chocolate cheesecake bars



I love making cheesecakes but hardly ever remember to buy cream cheese. And there are times when I happily bring home cream cheese packets only to remember, upon arriving, that there are no cookies for the cheesecake base. That's me - I can remember lines from a movie I saw 10 years ago but can't write a proper grocery list. :)
Last week, however, I managed to buy all the necessary ingredients
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Sour cream dulce de leche swirl cake + "Midnight Cowboy"



I watched many wonderful movies when I was younger – that was when I started paying attention to the directors, and not only to the cast – and many of the movies I saw back then have become classics; however, there are still many to be watched, and a couple of days ago I gladly crossed another name off my list – the fantastic and brilliant “Midnight Cowboy”. Up to this moment I’m amazed by Jon
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TLCs (pecan oatmeal cookies)



When it comes to buying new cookbooks I usually have a hard time choosing from my ever expanding wish list but upon returning from my trip to NY last year I knew for sure that Thomas Keller’s “Bouchon Bakery” would be included on my next purchase – after having some of the delicious baked goods served at the beautiful store at Rockefeller Center there was no doubt in my mind. :)

These
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Cocoa brownies with brown butter and pecans



Whenever I feel the urge to bake something delicious but am out of time I bake brownies: they’re super easy to put together, there’s not need to wait for the butter to soften – and in this recipe not even the eggs need to be at room temperature – and once in the oven all you need to do is decide whether to eat them still warm with ice cream or plain, after they’ve cooled down. :)

These
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MELT IN YOUR MOUTH PECAN LINZER TARTS!







  THESE TASTE LIKE A TRULY AUTHENTIC LINZER TART COOKIE! BETTER THAN THE BAKERY ONES!!!!

Ingredients


  • 1 1/4 cups butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 cups ground pecans
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • jar of seedless raspberry jam
  • confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions


  1. Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, the pecans and cinnamon, and continue beating until the mixture becomes a slightly stiff dough.
  2. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in wax paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about one hour.
  3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
  4. On a lightly floured surface, roll the 1/2 of the dough into a sheet 1/8 inch thick. With a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut as many circles (OR HEARTS LIKE I DID) from the sheet as you can. Knead the leftover scraps of dough into a ball and roll it out again into a 1/8 inch sheet. Cut out more circles (HEARTS). You should now have about 12 circles (HEARTS).
  5. Arrange them on a parchment lined sheet leaving about and inch of space between them.
  6. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the other half of the dough, but before placing the second batch on the baking sheet, cut out the center of each circle with a 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Bake both batches for 10 - 15 minutes or until light brown. Cool on cake rake for 20 minutes.
  7. Lay hearts upside down and top with with a coating of jam on each.  Heavily dust the cut out hearts with powdered sugar and then sandwich the 2 halves together.   
  8. NOTE: Keep dough as cold as possible for easier handling. You may have to chill it after rolling it out so that it will be easier to cut. 
Recipe given to me by a former student of mine!
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    Coconut and pecan bars



    Besides the urge to go to the kitchen, Nigella Lawson’s TV shows also bring me the thought of having kids – luckily for me the first is easy to deal with and the latter goes away after I finish watching the episode. :D
    Right before I purchased Nancy Baggett’s beautiful cookbook on cookies I watched the lovely video posted on Amazon’s website and boy, not only did it have the same effect on me
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    Maple pecan chiffon cake with brown butter icing



    Much the same way I bought Alissa Huntsman's latest cookbook because of her beautiful previous one, I could not wait to get my hands on Julie Richardson's new cookbook since I adore her "Rustic Fruit Desserts" so much - a book full of cake recipes? You know I like that a lot. :D
    I first thought of making an angel food cake - because of the insane amount of egg whites in my freezer - but when I
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    Apple, pecan and gingerbread loaf + "Top Chef"



    There are shows and series I adore but never have the time to watch; “Top Chef” is one of them – I watched the first season back in the day but then never got to watch the following seasons, therefore it’s been wonderful to watch the reruns at Sony for the past months.

    * spoilers – seasons 1 through 7 *

    Apart from Howard, which I thought truly deserved winning “Top Chef”, I did not like all
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    Rugelach - the cookie nightmare of perfectionists



    I guess that this recipe tried to teach me a lesson: nothing worse for a perfectionist/control freak like me to realize that no, I won’t be able to shape all the cookies the same way and yes, some will be tiny and others will be huge. At least I waited for a cold day to make these (after the other rugelach fiasco) and despite the problems with the rolling and shaping of the cookies they turned
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    Banana blondies



    I don’t bake blondies very often, but so far the recipes I’ve made turned out delicious – Martha’s gingerbread blondies I made back in 2010 were just irresistible. When I saw Dan Lepard’s banana blondies I had to make them: not only because a blondie made of banana made me curious but also because I’d be able to use up some of my banana overload; oh, and before I forget to mention, there’s
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    Rocky road brownies



    I bought a bag of mini marshmallows last week with these cookies in mind – I found the recipe going through my folder of torn magazine pages and thought it would be great to use whole wheat flour in my baking (haven’t done that in a while now). But the reviews discouraged me to make the cookies. :(

    Luckily, Alice Medrich – a.k.a. the Chocolate Queen – came to my rescue and I ended up with
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    Apple pie bars + a disappointing cookbook



    I have got to tell you something: I’ve removed Leila Lindholm’s book from my favorite cookbooks list – I’d placed it there because of the beautiful photos and delicious-looking baked goods, but then, reading the recipes thoroughly, I noticed that they seemed a little strange. It suddenly hit me: it must be a translation problem, an idea confirmed by the customer review section at Amazon (which
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