(Texas) Pecan Shortbread Cookies

I watch the Bachelor.  

I watched when Trista met Ryan, the formerly chubby comedian, Jen, the football player, the actor's brother, the British guy, Brad, Deanna, Jason - paused after Jason because it was so gross - Ali, and now back to Brad.  

I watch with my husband and my sister.  It has become something of a Monday tradition; three otherwise normal people completely engrossed in some producers' idea of fantasy dates, and hanging onto every clue giving goo-goo eyed look, and promise of "I'm here for the right reasons".

Mark likes to call it from the very first episode and on more than one season he has been right.  Julie and I watch for the subtleties (if you can call them that) in each date.

Tonight is the finale, and tonight Brad will follow his heart back to Texas with one girl as happy as can be, and another girl heartbroken - or at least reality tv broken.

Texas Pecan Shortbread Cookies

*Did you know that the Pecan Tree is the state tree of Texas?

1 stick of butter 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup pecans (ground up in a food processor after 45 seconds)

3/8 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinammon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

First I poured the flour into a pan and sort of toasted it a la Dorie Greenspan's Roasted Flour Shortbread cookies.  Whole wheat flour tends to have a nutty flavor and fuller texture than traditional flour but the 5-8 minutes of "toasting" on medium heat seemed to really highlight that flavor.

With the flour off the heat add the the salt, cinnamon and processed pecans.  Pecans add even more flavor, they're a good source of antioxidants and are low in cholesterol.  Hey, when you're making cookies you look for the goodness anywhere you can.

In a medium size bowl cream the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla.  When the butter is sweetly yellow and fully incorporated and smooth add the flour mixture. 

When the flour and butter are fully blended form the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic and refrigerate for about an hour.  Truly, I don't think an hour is necessary - it was late on Sunday night so 40 minutes worked just fine.

With the dough out of the refrigerator is going to be firm and perfect for cookie cutters.  Here is a tip, layer the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and first use your hands to massage it flat and then use a roller to make it thin (about 1/4") and uniform.  The heat of your hands will warm the dough a bit, the roller on the dough, when it is right from the fridge, will crack it up too much.

I chose hearts, you know, Bachelor finale and all.  Set the oven to 300 degrees and bake for about 18 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden brown.

Allow to cool.  Then you can dip into chocolate, drizzle with chocolate or eat plain. 

I have my favorite in tonight's finale, but I'll tell you what these cookies taste a lot better than a rose and come with a lot less heart ache.  Enjoy the show and the cookies (they can both be a guilty pleasure!)

Bleu Cheese and Candied Pecan Savory Cookies

I love cheese, like looooove it.  I love going to a restaurant and getting to order a cheese plate: with beautiful wedges of fragrant cheese, breads, honeys and perhaps some nuts.  The idea of this arrangement of flavors always seems so sophisticated but perhaps a little intimidating to try at home.

I tested this out last night (in two different way), and success!  These Savory Cookies are perfect for when you entertain, as an a pre-meal snack, or as a gift to a hostess packaged in a cute bag.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 Stick of Butter (4 Tbsp), softened

1/3 Cup of Candied Pecans, grounded

1/4 Cup of Crumbled Bleu Cheese

Candied Pecans
1 1/4 cup of Pecans
1/2 tbsp of butter, unsalted
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1/2 tsp of cinnamon

In a non stick pan melt butter, add the pecans and sugar and cinnamon and stir with a silicon spatula over low-medium for 5-7 minutes until the pecans are covered with small flecks of caramel goodness.  Set aside to cool

In a food processor grind up the pecans to a small grind, but now a fine powder.  Set aside.

In a medium size bowl blend the softened butter and then add the bleu cheese, ground pecans and flour.  Side note, you could definitely use regular all-purpose flour, but I opted for whole wheat for its nuttier flavor and texture, and the potential for it to be a little more nutritious.

The dough will be crumbly, and look like a bunch of little tan colored peas.  Sprinkle a little extra flour on your work surface and begin to form the dough into a log.  This is completely visually unappealing.  I'm sorry - please, don't let it dissuade you from making this recipe...

Cut the dough into 1/3" slices and lay out on a non-stick cookie sheet or silpat and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. (See those flecks of cheese?  They are going to bubble and melt into amazing deliciousness!)

Let these cool for about 10  minutes after baking and serve with your favorite wine and either a drizzle of honey on top or a small dollop of your favorite pear or apricot preserves (that helps add back the sweetness found on your favorite cheese plates).

 These are great, and they keep nicely, and well, if we're being honest I ate two for breakfast so they're all around perfect snack to bake and share.

Pumpkin Chocolate Nut Squares

This is an adaptation of a recipe my mom has been making for as long as I can remember.  Here is how the adaptation occurred.  I was waiting on my mom for the recipe, and knowing I would need butter I left a stick (1/2 cup) out on the counter to soften.

On the phone with my mom she is reading off the recipe at which time I realize I do not have the necessary two sticks of softened butter, and I was short on brown sugar...  So, this is what happened...

Mom:  The recipe has 1 cup of butter

Carly: One cup... (sigh) I don't have a cup of butter,  I'll use pumpkin

Mom:  No, Carly, you can just follow the recipe

Carly: Mom, I think it will be fine.  I have some pumpkin lying around - it'll be great.

Pumpkin Chocolate Nut Squares

Ingredients

2 Cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1/4 tsp of nutmeg

1 stick of butter (unsalted)

1 cup of pumpkin

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp of vanilla

Frosting:

12 oz. of semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp light corn syrup

With my mom on the phone and my neck cradling the phone, in one bowl mix the butter, brown sugar and pumpkin.  If you want to follow the rules, "cream" the brown sugar and butter first so that it is fully incorporated and then add the pumpkin, then the egg and the vanilla.  For the purposes of full disclosure this is not what I did, but again, really, no stress it all works out.

To this mixture add the flour and the cinnamon and nutmeg.  The dough is going to be pretty sturdy and after working it with a large spoon, you'll find it it most effective to get in there and mix it up with your hands.

Back to mom...

Carly: What is this supposed to look like?  

Mom: Like cookie dough.

Carly:  But, not really like cookie dough, right?  Not like chocolate chip cookie dough (remember we didn't use all of that butter).

....

Mom:  Put the mixer down and do it with your hands - you'll get it right.

She was right!  Okay, so with this dough, press it into a buttered 13 x 9 baking dish (brownie pan/lasagna pan).  This goes into the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

While this is baking head over to the stove top with a small saucepan and a bag of chocolate chips.  Remove 3-5 chocolate chips for taste testing.  Delicious.

On a low heat begin to stir the chocolate chips, and add the butter.  If you have a silicone spatula, use it.  It is easy to use and nothing sticks to it.  When the butter and the chocolate are incorporated, add the corn syrup a tablespoon at a time.  The corn syrup gives it a glossy finish.

After the cookie bottom is out of the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes and then with that silicone spatula scoop and spread the chocolate mixture.  Here's the thing, because you spread the dough with your fingers it might have been uneven, and you might see finger indentations.  And then, because you spread the chocolate with a funny spatula it might also be a little wavy/weird.  Not to worry.

Open the can of nuts you have lying around, or maybe the can that you made a special trip to a grocery store for and spread them all across the chocolate. The bumps and weird waves are completely covered with salty deliciousness.  Because, sometime you feel like a nut, and chocolate, and pumpkin, and cookies!!!

My mom says to refrigerate them over night, so you probably should.  I didn't - sorry mom.

Via text at 10:59 pm

Mom: How did they turn out?

Carly: Pretty good.  Not as good as yours, but I liked it.  

Mom: Good, I am sure they will be well received.  Leave them in the fridge.

Carly: Can they be covered on the counter overnight?

Mom: It says to refrigerate, but if its cold it should be ok

Carly: The pan was still warm so I was afraid to put it in the fridge.

Next day...

Carly: The bars are getting rave reviews, as the best ever

Refrigerate or not, cut them into cute little squares and share with friends.  I am loving this for Thanksgiving, it's a great way to use pumpkin in something that is not a pie - but just as fun, and way easier to make.  

Thanks mom!  Oh, and enjoy!  And this Thanksgiving make sure you take a minute to thank someone that's always helping you out!

First taste of Fall: Dark Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Cookies

Not too long ago I listed my favorite things about fall, and somehow this got left off the list - very tragic!  I found this recipe last year and made it for my office, and it was a big, big hit.   Pumpkin is a fall mainstay and one that I very much enjoy.  Growing up a favorite smell and surprise was the aroma of a freshly baked pumpkin bread in my mom's kitchen, which I really should get the recipe for.  

In the meantime, we'll have some cookies, Dark Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Cookies

Dark Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients, adapted from Big Fat Cookies by Elinor Klivans

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup white flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp of nutmeg
¼ tsp of pumpkin pie spice
2 eggs
1 cup of sugar
½ cup of canola oil
1 cup of pure pumpkin, pureed
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of dark chocolate chips (or not, totally up to you)

Set Oven to 325 degrees

In one bowl lightly beat the sugar and eggs for a light golden color and slightly frothy texture.  Add to the eggs and sugar the oil, vanilla and pumpkin puree. 

Add to the wet ingredients the white flour and whole wheat flour, baking soda and powder and all of your spices and seasonings.  It will smell like fall, right there in the bowl.  Remember the uncooked eggs?  Don't try the batter yet.

Did you notice that there is more baking powder that is normally required for most cookie recipes?  This makes the batter extra airy and fluffy.  You'll notice this difference in texture as soon as you mix it up.

Orange, pumpkin scented, and delicious...  What is missing?  Chocolate!  Pumpkin is a must for fall, but in our house chocolate chips are a year round staple.  I make no apologies for this confession, besides it is dark chocolate - that has to count as being on the healthy side of the aisle.  I suppose if chocolate isn't your thing, which is shocking in and of itself, you could swap in nuts, or a blend of raisins, or dates?  

I use a large spoon to scoop these out and bake them in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.  As I mentioned, these cookies bake up extra fluffy and high as opposed to baking and spreading on the pan, so no need to worry about crowding the pan. 

When the cookies are out of the oven, these are the critical next steps: find a sweater (to my Florida readers, maybe a light cardigan?), find a cool breeze, a cup of cider/tea/coffee/chai and share with someone you love.  Cookies and cake are delicious, but when you eat them with someone you love, wow, the flavor is x 1000.

Happy Fall!

Everybody's Favorite, with a Holiday Twist

And, I'm back!  Sorry for the absence of postings last week, Mark and I were India - more on that soon, with a travel journal and lots of pictures.  In the meantime, let's get back into the swing of things with an easy, and perfectly delicious recipe.

Like apples and honey, pomegranate seeds are also a symbolic treat for the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  Tradition dictates that you try a new/exotic fruit, which for many a pomegranate qualifies, and also the abundance of tiny pomegranate seeds is symbolically linked to an abundance of goodness in the New Year.  

Image via Vos Iz Neias?

 While working on the whole wheat apple muffins, I thought this would be a fun way to incorporate some extra goodness into the holidays.

Pomegranate Cookies, adapted from Nestle Tollhouse

Ingredients 

1 and 1/8 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, softened

3/8 cup granulated sugar

3/8 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup of fresh Pomegranate Seeds

1/2 cup of Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Seeds

Set the oven to 350 degrees, and bake for about 8 minutes or until browned.

Just like you were making regular chocolate chip cookies, cream the butter and sugars, add the egg and vanilla.  Then add the dry ingredients of flour, baking soda and salt.  

Then add the fresh pomegranate seeds.  You could also you dried seeds, but I found the fresh ones kept the cookies unbelievably moist.  You could stop with the fresh seeds for a healthy, sweet treat, but come on, how could I resist not adding in dark chocolate covered seeds as well?  Dark chocolate is rich with antioxidants, so that counts too!

I found the fresh seeds and the chocolate covered seeds at Trader Joe's, but if you're not so lucky to have a Trader Joe's nearby, you could just use regular chocolate chips and remove the seeds yourself.  To avoid a mess you can open up the pomegranate and pull out the seeds with your hands and the fruit submerged in a bowl of water.

For these cookies I used a teaspoon sized scoop.  The cookies came out to be size of an Entenmann's cookie, which is pretty much the perfect 2-bite size. 

Eat and enjoy, and share with a friend.  Wishing you all great things for fall and the start of the New Year!

Less Sweet Sweet Stuff

To work in my office is to experience a constant parade of sweets.  They come in all shapes, store bought treats from a coworker's vacation, classic baked goods from a family baking adventure, ice cream parties to celebrate jobs well-done, and everyone's favorite, snack on Friday.

On one particular day my office had an extra large Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Chocolate Bombe cake (that was nearly a foot tall), and Ben and Jerry's Make Your Own Sundae in the lobby.  After partaking and indulging that afternoon I decided to start skipping the sugar, or at least be more selective.  I've since realized that having it less often really does make it more of a treat.  Have no fear, sugar isn't banned - I have enjoyed a few s'mores since our fiesta - I had to make sure their deliciousness wasn't a fluke.  It wasn't!

Cutting back on traditional sugar though didn't mean I was cutting back on baking.  Looking in my refrigerator for inspiration I found these carrots.  They were too soft to dip, it's still too hot to consider roasting root vegetables, so obviously there was no better place for them that in a cookie!

Sugar Free Carrot Cookies

Ingredients:
¾ Cup of Whole Wheat Flour
½ Cup of Cake Flour
1 Cup of Whole Oatmeal (dry)
1 tsp of baking powder
A dash of sea salt

1 Cup Shredded Carrots
½ Cup of Olive Oil
½ Cup of Maple Syrup
Spring of fresh grated ginger

First mix all of the dry ingredients (flours, oatmeal, baking powder, and salt) and then pour in the shredded/grated carrots.  (You can decide how finely grated you want your carrots to be, but keep an eye on them, you do not want carrot juice.)  You can mix these all with a fork, or have one less thing to wash and mix it with your fingers (that's what I did).

Then pour in the wet ingredients (oil and syrup).  We're you going to plug in your mixer?  You can skip that to.  I used a soup spoon to mix this together - a soup spoon!  Nothing is easier than that.

Then just roll them out into little balls, about the size of a tablespoon.  I used a Silpat mat on one sheet and a piece of tin foil on the other.  The tin foil cookies' bottoms were darker, some might say a bit on the burnt side, but they still got rave reviews - I think the extra color caramelized that sugars in the syrup.  Either way, I don't think you can go wrong.

When they are out of the oven you are going to want to eat them all.  We did do that, so I speak from experience.  They are delightful plain, but they are decadent with a little swipe of cream cheese. These made a terrific guilt-free mid-week dessert, and I can foresee them making an appearance at future brunches and snacks.

Kicking it old school, an Elementary classic

What is better than this? Ok, so this is better, and really good at disappearing (really fast)! So what could beat the world's best sandwich that is also appropriate for lunch, dinner, midnight snack? Peanut Butter & Jelly Cookies!

I don't know why I felt the need to move beyond the peanut butter & jelly sandwich, because truthfully I could eat it any day, at any time but sometimes you feel like a sandwich, and sometimes you feel like eating a bunch of cookies. Sometimes I feel like eating both, so that's just what I did. Here's what you will need:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
• cinnamon and sugar for sugaring the cookies
  
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam

Recipe only slightly adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes about 30 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie, roughly tbsp sized.

Wow, butter is delightful - but not worth taste testing, yet!

Butter and peanut butter and sugar, and more sugar - getting closer!

Vanilla and egg are added. I do taste the dough here. I know raw egg - yikes! - but I do it anyway.

Add in the flour and dry ingredients, and look at this crumbly, buttery deliciousness! Taste away - still raw egg if you're squeamish!
Ball up those cookies and throw them in with some sugar (I added cinnamon because I like it). I also like how they look like little mini donuts.
Bake at 350 - after ten minutes you pull these guys out of the oven and make a little dip in the top of the cookie, bake for another 6 or 7 minutes. Then fill the little dip with your favorite jelly, jam, marmalade.

And then pour a big glass of milk.

It's mandatory.
Peanut butter and jelly really loves milk.