Pie crust cookies

I saw this recipe on Pinterst a few weeks back and I thought I would give it a try to see if I liked it enough to possibly make and take it somewhere. It was o.k., but not great. I can see where improvement could be make.

You start with two refrigerated pie crusts sprinkle a little flour on your board and lay out the first crust. slightly roll it to get rid of any wrinkle and make it lie flat (wish I could slightly roll my forehead and get rid of any wrinkles).

spray the top of the cookie sheet with a little baking spray and sprinkle with some finely chopped, dried, sweetened cranberries, finely chopped walnuts or pecans and some cinnamon and sugar.

Take the second crust and place it on top of the first covering the cranberries and nuts inside. Slightly roll them together until they form a single crust with the filling showing through. Spray the top with some more cooking spray and sprinkle additional cinnamon and sugar on top.

Then the fun part. Get out your cookie cutter (metal works best) and cut as many possible shapes from the pie crust round. You can wad the pie crust up and roll is out a second time if you need to.

The fun part! Place cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake like you would pie crust.

They turned out fairly good, but if I had them to do over (and I will do them over) I would brush on melted butter instead of spraying cooking spray, brown sugar and cinnamon instead of white (maybe even drizzle a tiny amount of honey, a little fresh orange zest would go a long way in this recipe. The cookies worked but the flavor was lacking. I am not sure if using homemade pie crust would be doable because store bought pie crusts are more resilient.

I have been busy lately and haven't had time to sit down and really think out a recipe and get it together with photos. The bf and I are expecting a (you fill in the blank), and so we are trying to settle or nest rather. Katsu is doing well, but has had his moments where we just look at him and shake our heads. The last episode involved him eating a plastic cone off his head...I didn't blame him, those are not a great fashion statement, but it caused me extreme stress and worry while he slowly but surely passed all of it. My daughter moved out so we have redecorated her old bedroom into my new office/sitting room. We still have a few things to acquire, but it is coming along really well. I refinanced my house, so it looks like the bank is stuck with me for the next 30 years give or take. So between my daughter moving, house refi, dog acting crazy you can see why I didn't have time. Looking forward to the next few weeks to get things completed...Samhain is just around the corner and in case I don't get back here between now and then I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.

Granola in a snap

I haven't made granola in a long time so I thought I should make up a small batch...for one I had oats in the pantry that needed something done with them and two well granola goes so well with everything from milk, yogurt to ice cream.

Into a large bowl pour in 2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats. The dried fruit I added to the oatmeal was 1/2-3/4 cup large shaved flake unsweetened coconut, 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds and a handful of walnut pieces. Into a large measuring cup or small bowl add 1/4 cup honey, 1/4 cup pure maple syrup a good pinch of salt, cinnamon, 2 Tlb dark brown sugar and a 1 tsp. vanilla extract or maple extract or whatever you think might go best with the dried fruit and nuts your adding and 2-4 Tlb of coconut oil. Mix this well and slightly heat if needed to melt the coconut oil. Pour this over your oatmeal, fruit and nut mixture and blend well. Make sure to coat all of the oatmeal. Spread the granola on a cookie sheet and bake in a 300 degree preheated oven for 30 min.? make sure you go in and check the granola and turn it making sure that it all becomes nice and golden brown. When cooled put granola in an airtight jar. It will keep for a couple of weeks...It won't last that long, but it could.

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Muffins

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Muffins Makes 6 servings Ingredients 1 cup mashed sweet potato (or pumpkin puree), 1 cup brown sugar, divided, ¼ cup canola oil (or coconut oil, but if you use coconut oil reduce to 3 Tlb.), ½ cup low-fat milk (I used almond milk), 2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup old-fashioned oats (not instant), 1 tsp cinnamon, divided, ½ tsp allspice, 2 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 3 tbsp chopped walnuts (I used pecan pieces), Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare muffin tin by coating with cooking spray. 2. Whisk together sweet potato, ⅔ cup brown sugar, oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl. 3. In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, ¾ tsp cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, and salt to blend. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the sweet potato mixture. Stir together until just moistened. 4. In a small bowl, combine walnuts and remaining brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside. 5. Spoon batter into muffin tins. Top each muffin with a sprinkle of the brown sugar-walnut mixture. Bake 15–30 minutes, depending on the size of tins, until toothpick comes out clean. 186 (give or take, it really depends on the size of the muffin) calories per serving (one muffin).

These muffins are dense and packed full of flavor. Enjoy your week.

Citrus Upside Down Cake

Many years ago, maybe even in another life, I was told Cardamom was great with hot chocolate. I was a young woman with nothing more than 6 years of home ec. under my belt I went out and bought a bottle of this pricey spice and kept it on a shelf somewhere until my youngest graduated from high school...never used it once. Threw it out never knowing just how wonderful it would be in all manner of foods. I have used it twice in the past three months. in Ginger cookies and now in this fantastic Citrus Upside Down Cake. This cake is the dessert portion of my Valentines Day Dinner.

butter a 9 in. cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a small saucepan combine 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/2 cup light brown sugar (you can use dark), 1 tablespoon honey, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and cut and set aside about 5 thin slices citrus, enough to nearly cover the bottom of an 8-inch cake pan. melt the butter over low heat with the light brown sugar, honey, and lemon juice, whisking until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and pour syrup into the cake pan. Arrange the sliced citrus on the bottom of the pan in a flat even layer. Set aside.

I used blood orange and tangelo.

Looks so pretty. Next time I am going to overlap a few slices to fill it in a bit more.

In a bowl combine 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon cardamom.

In another bowl combine 4 eggs, 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup orange or blood orange juice, 1/4 cup citrus juice of your choosing, 3 tablespoons whole milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon grated blood orange zest. Whisk until blended.

Gradually add dry mix to wet mix.

Pour batter onto cake til pan is 3/4 of the way full. If you have batter leftover (I did) I made a small 6 inch layer cake. That I cooled and froze for a later use.

Bake for around 30 to 40 min. or until cake tests done with cake tester. Cool for at least 30 min. before flipping cake out of pan. Make sure you loosen the edge first.

Look at how pretty that is. It was really delicious and I am looking forward to having a reason to make it again. The little layer cake is going to be carefully cut to make two layers and frosted with a yummy orange buttercream frosting for friends dessert following a dinner I am making for them.

We had a lovely Valentines Day dinner as well, as usual the bf handled the grill masterfully and everything was spectacular. I hope everyone had a wonderful day. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Blueberry Cake

Late last summer the bf and I went to one of my happiest places on earth (we actually go there often). I have been going here for the past 19 years to pick berries and buy produce of all descriptions over the years some things have changed, but some things have not. The friendliness of the people who love what they are doing, the welcoming feel you get when you drive into the farm, and the serene peace you get when out in the fields picking berries. I love this place and I am very glad that through the years I have been able to share it with my children and close friends. Last summer we were out to get our annual fix of berries, and last year blueberries were on the top of my list.

Blueberry Cake 101 This recipe is so simple it is scary, yet scrumptious enough to impress friends and complete strangers if you take it to a dinner or potluck...that is if you don't eat it all your self. Nobody has to know that you put it all together and in the oven in less than 30 min.

Into a large bowl add 1 cup of white sugar and 6 Tlb. of very soft unsalted butter.

Cream the two together until fluffy.

Add one room temperature egg.

Add the zest and juice from one medium lemon (fresh is best), and whip it all together.

Into a bowl sift together 2 cups of flour, 2 tsp. baking powder and a pinch of Kosher salt. Into another bowl combine 1/2 cup of whole milk and 1/4 cup cream. Note I did use 2% milk, but I also used heavy cream.

Alternate the addition of the flour and milk while combining in with the butter and sugar until you get a very thick batter.

My favorite part...fold in 2 cups of blueberries. Frozen or fresh either way this is going to be good.

Really beautiful.

Spread batter into a greased and floured 8 x 8 baking dish.

Sprinkle the top of the cake with a mix of cinnamon and sugar before you slide it in to the oven.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for roughly 30 or 40 min. Keep an eye on this cake you do not want to over bake it. Mine took almost an hour due to the fact that I used frozen blueberries. I pulled it from the oven the very second it was done. Cool cake completely before cutting.

Delicious, decadent and seriously delightful this blueberry cake stands alone, of course you could dress it up with a dollop of whipped cream sweetened with some honey or even some creamy ice cream, but you know what you don't need to. This cake was moist and magical all by itself.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend.

Dessert in a Pinch

The other night the bf's cousin came to dinner. There wasn't a lot of notice, so I didn't have time to fuss over making a dessert like a cake or pie or some other confection worthy of company.

I went through the list of ingredients I had on hand and the time frame I had to work with, and then remembered this wonderful recipe from Ann Burrell for Palmiers. This is a quick and tasty little dessert that can be served up for just about any occasion that you need something lightly sweet. These little Palmiers are not too filling (unless you eat a dozen and I have...in one sitting) and you can add a couple of things to the cinnamon and sugar to dress it up.

Ingredients 1/2 cup white sugar, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, zest from one medium/large orange, 1 sheet puff pastry. Now here is the fun part you could cut out some of the sugar (like one or two tablespoons)and mix in some finely ground pecans or walnuts. You could also scrape a vanilla bean into the cinnamon and sugar along with the orange zest. Just don't overdue it go easy and keep the flavors light.

The next step is you take your cinnamon and sugar mix and spread half of it onto your work surface and place your sheet of puff pastry on top.

Sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top.

By rolling out the puff pastry lightly you embed the cinnamon and sugar mixture into both sides of the pastry dough.

Roll the puff pastry up from each of the short sides keeping each roll tight and the same size, pinch each roll together so it holds it shape.

Cut 1/4 in. slices and place each slice on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees. Bake for about 10 min. on one side then flip the cookies over and bake an additional 8 min. or so depending on your oven. You want them to be golden brown.

Now admittedly I have to sorta play with mine after I slice them to get them to hold their shape and look good, so feel free to do the same.

But in the end you are going to end up with a plateful of happiness. These cookies are best if allowed to cool completely. They crip up the cooler they get, which makes for a really delightful cookie that is perfect to serve.