Bake Some Therapy...

Classic Shortbread Cookies
3 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt



 

Have you seen some of the shows on HGTV where they try to sell somebody's house? One of they things they do for an open house is bake some cookies, to create a "warm and inviting atmosphere for prospective buyers". Well my friends, If you ever need to sell your house, let me offer my Pumpkin Spice Cookie Guarantee; if baking these cookies during your open house does not indeed cause a bidding war, I shall take full responsibility. 

These cookies will fill your house with the cozy warmth that every house deserves this beautiful fall. So, without further ado, I present to you: Pumpkin Spice Cookies. 

Pumpkin Spice Cookies


Topping:
1/2 Cup Walnut bits
1/4 Cup Raw Sugar

Glaze:
3/4 Cup Powdered Sugar
4 TBSP Milk
few drops maple extract

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients (colored blue) together in small bowl. Mix wet ingredients (colored purple) together in large mixing bowl. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet.

Chill dough for 10 minutes. Use a spoon to scoop dough onto cookie sheet (covered with parchment paper or Silpat). Top with the walnuts and raw sugar. Bake for 12 minutes or until cooked in the middle. Stir glaze together and drizzle on top.

Enjoy...

I had never had a Blondie before. In fact, I had never even heard of one! After watching a Bobby Flay throw down, Blondie throw down, I was very intrigued. I decided to make a batch of these for my Grandma, and see if they were as finger-lickin-delicious as they looked. I will tell you, this was one of my all time favorite things I have ever baked. They were plenty sweet, moist, chewy, flavorful, and a small square is plenty enough to satisfy. Here is my altered recipe from this recipe. Color-coded for easy to see mixing steps.

The Perfect Blondies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together brown sugar and butter until combined. Add eggs and vanilla to mixture and mix well. Take the flour mixture and fold into wet ingredients until combined.

Fold in coconut, pecans and chocolates into batter. Try not to over mix. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and smooth out with a spatula or spoon. Top with extra coconut, chocolate and pecans (optional).

Bake for about 25-28 minutes, or until top light golder brown on the top. Do not over bake!

Cool to room temperature before cutting.

I am very easily bored- this is why I am always wanting to try new things in the kitchen, and keepin' it spicy! We were going to have guests over last Sunday morning, and I decided to make a danish pastry for them. This pastry was delicious! I was a bit worried about the dough rising, because I didn't think it would, but it turned out just fine. It is a lot of work with all of the rolling out and folding, but so worth it. I got the recipe from here . You let the dough chill overnight beforehand. Enjoy this challenge!

Almond Danish Pastry
1/4 C. warm water, 105 to 115°F.
1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 C. milk, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1/4 C. sugar
1 t. salt
2 1/2 C. flour
1 C. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

Pour water into bowl; add yeast and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes until yeast foams. Add milk, egg, sugar and salt and whisk to mix; set aside.

Measure flour into food processor. Cut butter into 1/4 inch thick slices and drop into flour. Pulse 8 to 10 times. Empty flour mixture into bowl with yeast and with rubber spatula, gently fold the two mixtures together just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Don't be too energetic! The butter must remain in pieces so that you will produce a flaky pastry, not a bread dough or cookie. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (or up to 4 days).

Lightly flour a work surface; turn dough out onto it, and dust dough with flour. Using the palms of your hands, pat dough into a rough square. Roll out to a square 16 inches on a side. Fold dough into thirds, like a business letter and turn it so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Roll out again, into a long narrow rectangle, about 10 inches wide by 24 inches long. Fold into thirds again. Roll out to make a 20-inch square. Fold square into thirds again to make a long, narrow rectangle. Then again, fold into thirds to make a square. (If at any point in this procedure the dough gets very soft, cover and chill it for 30 minutes or so.)

Cover and chill the dough before final shaping.


Butter Cream Filling:
1/4 C. soft butter
1 C. powdered sugar
1 t. almond extract
1 C. finely pulverized almonds
1 (3-oz.) pkg. almond paste
1 egg white

Glaze:
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 T. milk or water
Pearl sugar or crushed sugar cubes for topping
Sliced or chopped almonds, optional

Icing:
1 C. powdered sugar
2 to 3 t. warm water
1/2 t. almond extract

Cover baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide chilled dough into 2 parts. Roll out each part to make a 12-by 6-inch rectangle. Place strips on prepared baking sheets. Blend together butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon almond extract, 1 cup pulverized almonds, almond paste and egg white and spread filling down the length of the center of the strip. Cut slanting strips at ¾-inch intervals along both sides up toward the center using a fluted pastry wheel. Fold strips over filling in a crisscross manner.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Let pastry rise for 30 minutes, just until puffy.

Beat the egg with the milk or water and brush pastry. Sprinkle with sugar and/or chopped almonds. Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 2 to 3 teaspoons warm water and ½ teaspoon almond extract; drizzle icing over the braids.

Makes 2 Braids.