Ginger Cookie Strips

Let me tell you that these cookie strips are pure genius. I can say this without hesitation because the “strip” concept is not mine, but hails from the mind of Coffeehouse Mystery author Cleo Coyle.  Imagine getting all of the dough cut at once and not having to deal with willful cookie cutters that sometimes fail to release the dough creating a colossal mess. This easy cut method has changed all that.  Simply roll out the dough into a rectangular shape about 1/8" thick, trim off the ends to make them smooth, and then, using a pizza cutter (and a ruler, if you must) cut them into 3/4" wide “strips.”  If you roll the dough directly onto parchment paper, you can slide that onto your cookie sheet, and pop them right into your preheated oven to bake.

 Just remember to run the pizza cutter back over the lines upon removing from the oven, and allow them to cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet.

My favorite recipe for gingerbread cookies goes back to, I believe, an issue of Good Housekeeping from 1984. As I recall, they were doing a feature on Christmas traditions of First Ladies. Mrs. Bush (Barbara, wife of George H.W.) provided this recipe. Her tradition was to make and ice gingerbread Santa cookies, package them up individually and hang them around the mantle for each guest to take upon departing a holiday dinner. It was pretty to look at, and a charming idea (that I have replicated numerous times over the years); the cookies are delicious.  Coyle suggests drizzling them with vanilla glaze, but I melted some white chocolate, and am exceptionally happy with my quicker choice.

Mrs. George W. Bush’s Ginger Cookies

½ cup Crisco

½ cup sugar

½ cup molasses

1-1/2 teaspoons vinegar

1 egg, beaten

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

¼ teaspoon salt

Bring shortening, sugar, molasses, and vinegar to a boil.  Cool; add egg.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Add to first mixture, mixing well.  Chill.  On lightly floured surface roll to about 1/8” thickness.  Cut as desired.  Place on greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375°F 8-12 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes before removing from sheet.

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Thursday Favorite Things

Create It Thursday

Home and Garden Thursday

Full Plate Thursday

Show and Tell Friday 

Friday Unfolded

Foodie Friday

Flaunt It Friday

Fridays Flash Blog
Simple and Sweet Fridays

Baked Eggs with Red Peppers and Boursin

If you made the spinach soufflé recipe from yesterday you’re probably wondering what to do with the other half of the jar of roasted red peppers.  Here is but one of the many answers, Baked Eggs with Red Peppers and Boursin.  This has to be the easiest breakfast dish that I’ve ever assembled, and it is really good.  It also looks quite impressive and I’m guessing could be a real dazzler when serving overnight guests.  It can easily be custom made to fit you or your guests’ interests -- eliminate the bacon for a vegetarian version, change the herbs to suit various tastes, top it with salsa verde for a spicier, Tex-Mex variety, add or subtract cheeses, toss in spinach or kale, or top with chopped ham and hollandaise for a mock eggs benedict.  The combination of ingredients are endless.  Give it a try and let me know.

Baked Eggs with Red Peppers and Boursin

1 t. unsalted butter, softened

3 T. finely chopped Melissa’s fire roasted sweet red bell peppers

1 T. boursin cheese, more or less to taste
1 T. Parmesan cheese, grated
1 T. fresh parsley, minced
2 large eggs
1 strip bacon, cooked and crumbled
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350°F.  Butter one small baking dish. Place chopped roasted red peppers into the baking dish and top with cracked eggs then sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese, and parsley.  Drop small dollops of Boursin in various spots on top of the eggs, sprinkle with a dash of salt, freshly ground pepper, and crumbled bacon. Bake the eggs for 10-15 minutes until the eggs have achieved desired doneness: less time for runny yolks, more time for firm yolks. Serve immediately. Serves 1

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Wow Us Wednesdays

Blueberry Crumble

This is the quickest, easiest dessert you'll ever make.  I call it "Blueberry Crumble" because I used blueberries, but truth be told you can use raspberries and call it Raspberry Crumble, blackberries and call it Blackberry Crumble, a variety of berries and call it Mixed Berry Crumble, peaches and raspberries and call it Peach Melba Crumble, well, you get the idea.  You can pretty much use any berry that you like, or peaches, nectarines, or plums, and come out with a delicious dessert, that will draw both admiration and praise.  I've been known to throw this together as surprise guests are having coffee in the living room, only to serve it an hour later.  The key is simply keeping fruit on hand. (I always have blueberries in the freezer - they freeze beautifully and, as a consequence, I'm never left guessing what to make for dessert when the pressure's on.)

The amount of fruit you use is pretty much up to you.  I grab a bowl the size of whatever amount of fruit I have and dump it in.  Be sure to wash the fruit thoroughly before use and allow it some time to drain (or pat it dry with paper towels if you're in a hurry).  If you're using fruit that has a pit, as in the case of peaches, plums, and nectarines, cut them in half and pit them, then slice them into wedges about a half inch thick.  (I do recommend the peach/blueberry or raspberry combination for both color and taste.)

Wash the fruit thoroughly before use and drain well.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 

Put fruit into any size bowl that happens to be handy and that supports the amount of fruit you have on hand. I used this old favorite 1-qt. oval casserole.

Place the following ingredients into the work bowl of your food processor:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts work well here)

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Pulse a couple of times until nuts are chopped fine and thoroughly blended into the flour/sugar mixture.

Cut 1 stick of cold butter, into 1/2-inch cubes and add to the dry mixture.  Pulse until mixture begins to clump. This will be your streusel topping.

Pour the topping evenly over your fruit, pressing down a bit.  If you have any left over, put it in a freezer bag, label it and freeze it to use for a future crumble, or topping on muffins or baked oatmeal.

 Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the fruit juices bubble on the side.  If the top starts to get too brown, cover it with a piece of foil.

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.  If there are any leftovers, I'm sure you can convince yourself that they would make an excellent breakfast, considering the serving of fruit and all.

Try it, and tell me what you think!

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Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

I have been enormously intrigued by the glut of donut recipes, cookbooks, and other accoutrements that have appeared on the market of late.  All of these new products take me back to my youth when, on the occasional Saturday morning, my mother would make us homemade donuts.  They were a lot of work as I recall.  First she had to make the dough, then painstakingly cut out the donuts and holes, heat up the deep fryer, fry them to a golden brown, and then drain them on stacks of paper towels, all while my nose was as close to the operation as I dared.  But boy, were they good.  Still, all of that just seems like too much work when a Krispy Kreme is a mere two miles away.  So when my cousin offered to loan me her donut pan (thanks, Kel!) I jumped at the chance.  This morning I took it for a spin.  I am sold!  In less than an hour I had a dozen hot, fresh, delicious donuts stacked on a plate.  No cutting, thanks to this clever pan, and no deep frying!  I didn't have a recipe for donuts, so flipped through my files and adapted a cakey muffin recipe.  I can't tell you how delicious these were.  When my husband got home from breakfast with his cronies he asked where I'd gotten the donuts.  He couldn't believe that I'd made them while he was gone.  Yep!

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

 1/3 cup Crisco shortening (not butter flavored)

½ cup sugar

1 extra large egg

1-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

½ cup whole milk (do not use 2%)

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Cream shortening, sugar, and egg together in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.  Sift together dry ingredients.  Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to the shortening mixture.  Fill greased donut pan wells half full and bake at 350°F for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.  (I used a teaspoon to fill the wells, spreading it evenly all of the way around, because I'd run out of pastry bags, but this dough is thick enough to pipe beautifully, so that would be my suggestion.)


While donuts are baking, stir together remaining ½ cup sugar with the cinnamon, to blend.  Melt butter in a wide, microwave-safe bowl.  Remove donuts from pan to wire rack, then immediately dip them one-by-one, first into the melted butter, then into the cinnamon and sugar mixture, coating well.  Place back on the wire rack to cool thoroughly.

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Mocha-Chip Meringues

Amazingly easy and intensely good, this Martha Stewart recipe yields 48 light-as-air cookies that won't last so feel free to gobble them up with reckless abandon.

I seriously have a category in my giant, weighs a ton, three-ring-binder of a cookbook that is called "Quick, Easy, Chocolate." No kidding.  I like to get right to the heart of the matter.  When I want chocolate, I want it now!  And I don't want to have to dig for obscure ingredients, or fuss with utensils.  I want to be able to open one (maybe two) cabinet doors, get the job done, and be able to pop one into my mouth as soon as the coffee has finished brewing.  Okay these do take a little bit longer than that, but I used my time wisely -- while they were baking I made another cookie dough that will make an appearance here later in the week -- but they are well worth it.  Imagine a chocolate cloud and you pretty much get the idea as to what you can expect from this cookie.  Try them, you will not be disappointed.

MOCHA-CHIP MERINGUES

3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder*
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch; set aside.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt on medium speed until frothy. Beating constantly, add sugar mixture 1 tablespoon at a time; beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, 6 to 8 minutes total (scrape down the bowl halfway through). Add espresso powder and cocoa; beat until well blended. With a rubber spatula, fold in chocolate chips.

Drop batter by level tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart. Bake until crisp, about 40 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Cool completely on sheets, about 20 minutes.

*I used Medaglia d'Oro and make it a habit to always keep a small jar on hand.

Thanks, Martha!

Ritz Cracker Cookies and Cream & Health Bar Cookies

A good advertising campaign is one that we remember.  It's not the flash and dazzle, the talking dogs, the cute babies, or endearing old people.  It pretty much all boils down to a clever slogan that becomes burned into our brains.  One of the best slogans that I can recall was created back in the late seventies/early eighties and spoken by a trustworthy pitchman in the form of Andy Griffith.  We believed him when he said, "Everything tastes better when it sits on a Ritz."  We not only believed him, we remembered him, at least I did.  This is a slogan that I remember to this day, and do you know what?  It turned out to be true!  And this goes for both sweet and savory.  

After the great success I had with the Thin Mint Clones, I decided to continue to experiment and came up with two other recipes that are as least as good as the Mint Cookies, if not better (my husband swooned over the Cookies and Cream).  They are also ridiculously quick and easy.  I made both at the same time I was making a pot of mushroom soup. 

Cookies and Cream Cookies
 Total Time: 25 minutes
 Yield: 10-12 cookies

1 cup Ghirardelli white chocolate chips

1 teaspoon solid shortening (I used Crisco)

2 chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed (I used Oreos)

10-12 Ritz crackers

1/4 cup Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Melt white chocolate chips and shortening in a heat-resistant bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir in crushed cookies. Drop Ritz crackers, one at a time, into the warm mixture, turning to coat. Place on baking sheet to harden (you can expedite this by putting them into the refrigerator for about 5 minutes). After all crackers have been covered in the mixture and have been allowed to hardening, melt dark chocolate chips in a small bowl in the microwave. Using a small spoon, scoop up melted chocolate and drizzle it over the cookies in a back and forth motion.

I made the Heath cookies first and used the extra chocolate to drizzle over the Cookies & Cream.

Heath Bar Cookies

Total Time: 15 minutes
 Yield: 10-12 cookies

1 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

10-12 Ritz crackers

1/4 cup Heath brand brickle chips

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Melt milk chocolate chips in a heat-resistant bowl set over a pan of simmering water. When melted and creamy, drop Ritz crackers, one at a time, into the warm mixture, turning to coat. Place on baking sheet.  While chocolate is still warm, generously sprinkle Heath bits over the tops to cover.  Allow to harden (you can expedite this by putting them into the refrigerator for about 5 minutes). 

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Cookie #5 Salted Toffee-Chocolate Squares

Okay folks, we're into the home stretch.  There's no time for rolling pins, cookie cutters, icing tips, sprinkles, or those cutesy little froo-froo cookies that people ooh and ahh over, but never eat.  It's time for fast and easy and snarfingly delicious.  This cookie fits that category to a "T".  We recently served them for a Rams game and people gobbled them up like popcorn.  So make a batch, maybe two.  You won't be sorry.

Salted Toffee-Chocolate Squares

14 graham crackers

1 bag (8 ounces) toffee bits

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped toasted natural almonds

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup (4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or chocolate chips

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place graham crackers in a single layer on sheet, edges touching. Sprinkle toffee bits and almonds over graham crackers.

In a small saucepan, bring sugar and butter to a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat and cook at a rapid simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is syrupy, 2 minutes. Immediately pour over graham crackers. Bake until sugar topping is bubbling, 12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate and salt over graham crackers. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2-inch squares. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack. (Store in an airtight container, up to 1 week.)

This is linked to Foodie Friday.