Popovers - February Daring Bakers Challenge

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

I used a very simple recipe from allrecipes.com:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

They came out very pretty and tasting hot and yummy, but disappointingly plain. I have a recipe for chocolate popovers somewhere... I plan to find it!!!

Trail Mix Bark

Art? Maybe... Leftovers? Definitely! This is what happens when you have left over trail mix and chocolate.

Almond Biscotti Deliciousness

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and modified it for my preferences:

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•   2teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup almonds, chopped

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, almond extract. Mix together the dry ingredients and add to the wet. Form into two logs about 4 in wide, 12 inches long and 1/2 inch thick.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then slice, turn on the side and bake again for another 10 minutes. It really helps to slice the logs with a pastry scraper.

Biscochitos - Sort of...

I live on the border of Mexico so there is no shortage of biscochitos here, but I thought I'd make my own. I found this very high rated recipe and thought it sounded perfect! I pulled an Emeril and spiced it up a bit:

Biscochitos
adapted from allrecipes.com
1 c. butter softened
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cayenne

Preheat to 350. Grease a cookie sheet.

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla then dry ingredients until mixed. Form the dough into small balls and roll them in the remaining powdered sugar, cinnamon and cayenne.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. I baked for 16 and they were perfect! Once they are cool, I put them back in the spiced powdered sugar mix for another coating.

Enjoy!! They are so delicious!!

Pear Spice Cupcakes

I like to surf baking blogs in my downtime and came across this fabulous looking recipe for Pear Ginger Cupcakes on What's Cookin, Chicago? I don't like a ton of ginger so I omitted the freshly grated ginger from the cupcakes. Once I had the frosting whipped up, I thought it was delicious with the addition of the spices from the cupcake and didn't want to go overboard with the caramel sauce so I left them as is. Talk about delicious! The pear is barely detectable and makes the cupcake really moist and light. The whole thing was awesome!!! Thanks for all the baking bloggers out there sharing recipes like this one!

Lately

I apologize to my fellow DBC bakers and readers. I have been MIA lately, but I have one really great excuse... my perfect baby boy! I've spent the last couple of months doing nothing but changing diapers and feeding baby. I'm back! (sort of) I'm very excited about getting back to baking but forgive me if I don't deliver on time.

So... The Baked Brownie...

I made it. I love the cookbook!!! It's fabulous, but the brownie... wasn't what I expected. Please note here that everyone prefers brownies differently. I happen to love moist, chewy brownies with a very thin, haard crust. I am going to admit it now, I love boxed brownies. Easy, simple, moist, delicious and cheap! So I have one X on the Baked cookbook so far, but am confident the remaining recipes will be delicious! I have made chocolate crackers twice since my last blog and of course... no picture! But, I love chocolate crackers so I will make them again just for you, reader, and post for your enjoyment! Stay tuned.

Sticky Oat and Pine Nut Bars

Yummy!!! Husband keeps asking for more of these... he declared they were the best thing he's ever eaten. (so far today anyway, he likes to claim this every time I bake something that turns out delicious)

Sticky Oat & Pine Nut Bars
Food & Wine Magazine
1 stick butter
3/4 c. honey
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 c. old fashioned oats
1 1/2 c. pine nuts (I only had about 2/3 c. pine nuts so I can't imagine what these would be like with the full amount. It might be a bit too much!)
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon (my addition)
Dash of salt

4 oz white chocolate
1/2 tsp canola oil

Preheat the oven to 325. Butter an 8x8 baking dish and line with parchment.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter with the honey and brown sugar. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until an amber caramel forms. (About 5 minutes) Stir in the oats, nuts, pepper and salt. Cook for about 2 minutes. I cooked a bit more at this stage. The nuts are supposed to start to brown and mine didn't...

Pour the mixture into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Make sure to get the mixture nice and smooth and flat on top before you put them in the oven.

Allow to cool thoroughly. This was the hard part since it takes forever and you can't wait to try one! Cut in half, then each half in 6 bars. Warm the chocolate and oil, dip the bars in and cool them on a baking sheet (or some wax paper for super easy clean up)

Refrigerate if you are keeping them 3 - 7 days. They are safe in a plastic bag on the counter for up to three... if yours last that long. I'm sure mine won't!

Apple Chip Madness!!

My father-in-law loves to bring fresh fruits or veggies when he visits. Lately, he's been bringing tomatoes. There's nothing like fresh tomatoes... *drool* but then he surprised me with a bag of apples from a nearby orchard. Crisp, sweet apples that are snack size, perfect right? Until he gave me another bag about a week later. And then 40 pounds a week after that. Um... all these apples and yet I'm not in the mood for apple pie...

We are on a semi-health kick right now and the kitchen is partially demolished since my husband decided to stain all the cabinets so I broke out the dehydrator and made apple chips!

Apple Chips
5 apples
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
lemon water

Ok... it's really this easy:
1. Slice the apples thin with a mandolin.
2. Toss them in the lemon water while you finish the rest.
3. Layer them on the dehydrator trays, not touching.
4. If you want the cinnamon option, mix the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle over the slices. I did half plain, half cinnamon.
5. Dehydrate at 155 degrees for about four hours. If your slices are thicker, you will need to leave them on for a bit longer.

Do not share... everyone will want them! So after devouring the first batch of these, I used the rest of the apples and made batch two. Then I went to the store and bought more apples to make more chips... I think I'm a bit obsessed right now. On top of all these apples, my father in law is going to bring me a 30 lb box of "not so pretty" apples. Apparently you can buy less than perfect looking apples at a discount. Yummy!!!

Chocolate Crinkles

Betty Crocker is my hero. Seriously... she is so much better than Martha Stewart! I received the Betty Crocker Bridal Edition cookbook for Christmas one year (no, I was not getting married at the time!!) and have since used this cookbook a million times. Every time I make something from it, delicious results ensue. Today, I was craving these little brownie imitation cookies. At only 70 calories a piece, who wouldn't?!?

Chocolate Crinkles (all credit to Betty because there's absolutely nothing to modify here)
2 cups sugar
1/2 c. canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla
4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
4 eggs
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. powdered sugar (have more just in case)

Mix the sugar, oil, vanilla and chocolate. Add the eggs one at a time. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate minimum 3 hours. (this is the terribly torturous part since you're already craving them and now you have to wait 3 hours... seriously??)

Ok, back business - Preheat your oven to 350.
Grease cookie sheets.
I use an ice cream scoop to drop balls into the powdered sugar and roll them around. Place them on the cookie sheet with room for some expansion. Betty says 2 inches... I think I got away with less.

Bake the little balls of deliciousness for about 10 minutes. My recipe made almost 5 dozen, Betty says she gets 6 so I'm assuming a little smaller cookie would take 8-9 minutes. Let them cool!!!! Sort of important since they really are mini brownies and will fall apart on you if you're impatient. Use a spoon if you can't resist. :)

Eat!!! Have a glass of milk ready... Betty says 70 calories, 3 g fat per cookie.

Doughnuts!! Or are they...?

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

Bomboloni:
Preparation time:
Hands on prep time - 35 minutes
Rising time - 1 1/2 hours plus overnight
Cooking time - 10 minutes
Yield: About 32 Bomboloni
Ingredients
Water, Lukewarm 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon
Active Dry Yeast 3 ¼ teaspoon (1.5 pkgs.)
Honey 1.5 Tablespoon
All Purpose Flour 3 cup
Milk 3 Tablespoon
Egg Yolk, Large 6
White Granulated Sugar 1/3 cup + more for rolling
Kosher (Flaked) Salt 2 teaspoon
Butter, Unsalted 3 Tablespoon
Canola Oil 3 cup  (Or any other flavorless oil used for frying)
Raspberry Jam, Seedless ¾ cup (or any flavor jam, preserves, jelly)
Directions:

1. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, mix the water, yeast, honey and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (160 gm) of the flour. (Alternatively, whisk the ingredients by hand.) Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until foamy, about 1 hour.
2. Return the bowl to the mixer, fitted with a dough hook. Add the remaining 1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons (260 gm) of flour, along with the milk, egg yolks, 1/3 cup of granulated sugar and the salt. Mix at low speed until blended, then add the butter and knead at medium speed until silky but sticky, about 5 minutes; the dough will not pull away from the side of the bowl.
3. Using an oiled spatula, scrape the dough into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
4. In a large saucepan, heat the canola oil to 360°F/180°C. Line a rack with paper towels. Fill a shallow bowl with 1/2 inch (12 mm)of granulated sugar. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough a scant 1/2 inch (12 mm) thick. Using a 2-inch (50 mm) round biscuit cutter, stamp out rounds. The original recipe said to not re-roll the dough, but I did and found it to be fine. Fry the rounds, 4 to 5 at a time, until they are browned, about 4 minutes (mine only took about a minute each – try to go more by sight). Be sure to keep the oil between 360°F and 375°F 180°C and 190°C. Drain the bomboloni on paper towels.
5. Roll them in the granulated sugar.

Filling Directions:
Fit a pastry bag with a plain donut tip (or a 1/4-inch (6 mm) tip) and fill with the preserves (you can also use a squeeze bottle). Poke the tip three-fourths of the way into the bomboloni and squeeze in the preserves, pulling the tip out slightly as you squeeze to fill them as much as possible. Serve warm.