Blueberry Lime Cobbler

Ingredients:


For the filling:
-16 - 20 oz blueberries (frozen is ok, just make sure to let them defrost at room temp for best results. If you use frozen, set the berries in a colander over a bowl to catch the juices as they defrost, then reduce the juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until slightly thickened, add this to the filling mixture)
-Grated zest of 1 lime + 1 tsp juice
-1/3 c sugar
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- pinch of cinnamon

For the Topping:
- 1 c flour

-1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c sugar
-1/3 c lowfat milk mixed with 1-2 tsp lime juice (whatever is left over from the lime you zested)
- 1/2 stick of melted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract



Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Stir together all the filling ingredients and place in an 8" - 9" pie dish. Bake for 25 mins until bubbling. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, 1/4 c sugar, and baking powder. Add the melted butter and vanilla. It should be the consistency of cookie dough.
When the berry mixture comes out of the oven, increase oven temp to 425.
With spoons or a 2 oz scoop, evenly distribute the dough on top of the blueberry mixture. Bake for 15 mins more, until slightly golden brown on top. Allow to cool 15 mins before serving.


This is my take on "The Best Recipe" version of blueberry cobbler... sort of by accident, because I didn't have all of the ingredients called for. Supposedly blueberry, lime and honey is a flavor affinity. I agree... try this recipe with honey drizzled on top.

Daring Baker's January 2009 Challenge: Tuiles

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Baking Soda and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf.
They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.


I used the recipe from The Chocolate Book:

Recipe: Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example) Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch 65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft) 60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar 1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract) 2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork) 65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour 1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice Butter/spray to grease baking sheet Oven: 180C / 350F Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly. Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable. If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Obviously I didn't make the butterflies. Instead I made a tuile cup and filled it with coconut ice cream, topped with toasted sweetened coconut and drizzled with honey. Oh, and by the way, the practically neon pink cookie was made by taking a few tablespoons of batter and mixing with a few drops of red food coloring. Yes, it is shockingly pink. Not exactly my intention, but what the heck. I need to tackle this recipe again because my cookies came out really bubbly... probably because I got a little too happy with the Kitchenaid.
The tuiles are easy to shape. I made a stencil out of thin cardboard and spread the batter with an offset spatula:




I baked three at a a time. When I took them out of the oven, I scraped them off the parchment-covered baking sheet CAREFULLY with the spatula and draped them over upside down juice glasses. To make a big enough cup for a scoop of ice cream you need to make them at least 5 inches in diameter.
This recipe is delicious!! The tuiles themselves are so so yummy and vanilla-y, you will enjoy them without any extras.

Oatmeal CRAIsin Cookies

Raisins are tired boring old things. Enter the magical, plump, colorful CRAISIN!
As if craisins are something new and unusual. On the contrary, Native Americans gathered cranberries for food a very long time ago, and cranberries made a great (I suppose) addition to something called pemmican, a mixture of animal fat and dried meat. Pemmican was used for centuries as an emergency food. Sir Ernest Shackelton's men survived on pemmican for quite some time on during their 1914 epic voyage/distaster tour of the Antarctic. But I have no idea whether or not their pemmican contained cranberries, and pemmican is a far cry from delicious cookies! Sorry forthis disgusting detour. Back to cookies...

This recipe is based on the Cook's Illustrated Best Light Recipe recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. Yes, it is a light recipe, which leads you to believe, this could either be a miracle: tasty and low calorie, or: a sad, carboardesque excuse for a cookie.
I added walnunts to this batch, but they still have fewer calories than a standard oatmeal rasin cookie recipe that may contain up to 2 sticks of butter. Trust me, they are soft, chewy and delicious!!

Yield 2 doz.


Ingredients:

1 c. old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick of melted butter, cooled
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c packed brown sugar (light or dark, I used light)
1/2 c craisins
1/3 c chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

Directions:

Adjust oven racks to middle and upper middle or upper, just make sure you don't have one on the bottom. Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 baking sheets w/ parchment paper.
Whisk flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine brown sugar and melted butter, beat until it begins to become lighter in color and is well combined.
Ad egg and vanilla, mix on medium speed until well-incorporated. Turn mixer to low and gradually add dry ingredients. Lastly, add craisins and walnuts.
Drop on cookie sheets using small scoop. You should have abougt 12 on each sheet. Bake 11-13 mins, or until cookies begin to lightly brown on edges.

Xmas / Holiday Cookies

Seasons Greetings...




Raspberry Jam Cookies







Left to Right: Coconut vanilla cookies, Raspberry Jam cookie, Chocolate Hazelnut cookie, Double Chocolate cookie sandwiches.


Yep, it's that time of year again! Bust out your cookie cutters and rolling pins. Spread cheer to your friends and neighbors in the form of butter cookies and drippings of chocolate and white vanilla glaze!
Cut-out cookies can be finicky. If the dough gets too soft or too dry you're in trouble. Either your cookies will be poorly shaped or the dough won't hold together when you roll it out. I used (of course), the America's test kitchen butter cookie recipe for these cookies. Don't trust any other recipe for something as technical as christmas cookies! You want a butter cookie recipe that has been tested over and over again. The only advice I can give when using this recipe is that if you have granite countertops, do not sandwich the dough between two pieces of parchment paper as directed. It will slide efverywhere and you will feel like a total baking reject! Instead use plastic wrap.
Make whatever fillings you want. The Baking Illustrated cookbook has recipes for things like vanilla glaze and coconut lime. I used nutella and toasted hazelnuts. Go wild! Go crazy! Happy Holidays. :)

Way Better than a Reeses...

Baking Illustrated's Chocolate Icebox cookie recipe w/ Peanut Butter filling...





Let's face it. Either you love peanut butter or you hate it. Australians hate peanut butter, but I'm not about to make a Chocolate Vegamite sandwich cookie.
This recipe is a cinch. Make the dough, roll it into logs, refrigerate it, take it out whenever you feel inclined, slice and bake.

Rosemary Raisin Walnut Bread

I got this rosemary olive bread recipe when I took a bread-baking class at CSCA. If you live in the Boston area, I highly recommend taking one of their recreational classes.

Although this time I baked the bread as a loaf, it is a great recipe for fancy dinner rolls too. It lends itself to many different flavor combinations. For example, subtract the rosemary and add dried apricot and pecan, or dried cranberry walnut. You could do basil and sundried tomato, or candied shallots and thyme, the list goes on.


*Warning: allow at least 3 extra hours beforehand to make the sponge...



Ingredients:


Sponge:

2 tsp dry yeast
1/2 c warm water
1/2 c milk, room temp
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
2 c all purpose flour


In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water, stir to dissolve. Add sweetener, milk, and flour. Whisk ingredients until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temp for 3-12 hrs. Refrigerate up to 1 week.


Dough:

1 tsp dry yeast
2 c warm water
1 Tbsp salt
2 eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 c olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 c raisins, plumped for about 10 mins in a dish of very hot water, then drained
3/4 c toasted walnuts (toast them in a frying pan over low heat or toasted oven at low setting for a few minutes until fragrant)
5-6 c all purpose flour

Egg Wash:
1 yolk
1 Tbsp milk


To make bread dough:

In a large bowl, sprinkle the 1 tsp yeast over the 2 c warm water and stir to dissolve. Add eggs, salt, sugar, oil and 1 + 1/2 c flour. Whisk to combine, then add the sponge. Whisk again. Add rosemary.







Add remaining flour 1 c at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon. The dough will be sticky. Flour your work surface and keep extra flour on hand to prevent dough from sticking.
Knead in walnuts and raisins. Knead dough until soft but elastic, adding small amounts of flour to prevent sticking.
Put dough in a large bowl or rising container and let rise until tripled in bulk, about 2 hrs.
Turn dough out onto floured surface and gently deflate. Shape into 2 rounds or small rolls. Place on parchment covered baking sheet or 9x13 glass baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Colver in plastic wrap.
Allow dough to proof x 30-45 mins.
Meanwhile, prepare egg wash and preheat oven to 400.
When dough is proofed, slash tops, glaze with egg wash and bake x 40-50 mins.

Dark Chocolate Explosion Cookies- for the True Chocaholic!!

An Evie's Kitchen original...




Ingredients:

2 c bread flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 c cocoa powder
2 sticks melted butter
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 c light brown sugar
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp instant coffee
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (I recommend 2 x 4 oz bars of Ghirardelli 60% cacao)
4 oz semisweet chocolate (again, a 4 oz bar of Ghirardelli)

Directions:

Finely chop 4 oz bittersweet and 4 oz semisweet chocolate as shown. Set aside.




Break remaining 4 oz bar of bittersweet chocolate into about 20 pieces. This will be used as molten chocolate centers later.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugars in a standing mixer. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, milk and instant coffee. Slowly add dry ingredients. Add the 8 oz finely chopped bittersweet and semisweet chocolate.
Refrigerate dough for at least 20 mins to chill. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Remove dough from refrigerator, scoop out 8-10 cookies on each sheet. Flatten gently and place a small square of chocolate in the middle as shown:



Then place another flattened dough ball on top of that, press gently so they stick together:




Press each cookie in a small dish of granulated sugar if desired to coat the cookie tops. Bake at 350 for 12-15 mins until tops look dry and slightly cracked.
Serve warm, or allow to cool and store in tupper ware at room temp, but microwave at medium power for 20 seconds before eating to enjoy the molten centers!