Baking Lessons

Yesterday I spent all day long making these cookies at the bakery. Today I'll be frosting them. Thought I'd share the recipe. :)

Butter cookies

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. almond extract or vanilla
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg and extract. Gradually stir in the flour. Cover and chill dough until firm.Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters or stamps.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Frost when cooled.

Cold-weather goodness

A perfect treat for a cold, snowy day. Yeah, we're still having cold days here in Maine!

Enjoy!!

Cinnamon Babka

Dough:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 pound butter
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup all-purpose flour

Cream the butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until frothy.

Mix the yeast in warm water with the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Add yeast mixture to egg yolks. Then add milk, vanilla and salt.Add the yeast mixture to the creamed butter mixture. Slowly add the flour, mixing until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until dough is smooth.

Cover the dough and allow it to rise in a warm place until it doubles.

Butter a 3-quart pan and shape the dough into it. Allow the dough to rise again for about 2 hours.

Combine topping ingredients, then coat the top of the dough with the topping.

Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for 35 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.

Today's baking lesson

Dream Drops

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, additionally

Combine 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and butter. Heat in microwave until chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk together the egg, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt; whisk into the batter just until blended. Add the nuts and remaining chocolate chips. Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Lightly grease baking sheet. Roll dough into balls. Place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets and flatten slightly.

Bake 13 to 15 minutes.

Baking Lessons

Yesterday I spent all day long making these cookies at the bakery. Today I'll be frosting them. Thought I'd share the recipe. :)

Butter cookies

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t. almond extract or vanilla
2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and extract. Gradually stir in the flour. Cover and chill dough until firm.
Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters or stamps.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Frost when cooled.

Cookies, cookies, cookies!

Egads! We've got cookies every damn place. Really. Really.

If you read this blog with any regularity you know I take baking lessons so I love to bake. I get great recipes from the bakery where I take lessons and I'm always trying new things. But this year, I think I went overboard. It looks like we've been under a Betty Crocker invasion.

Tea, anyone? Hot chocolate? Coffee? And maybe a dozen or two cookies to wash down? Please?

Off to the weekly appointment

Ah, if you don't regularly read this blog you may be imagining I go to some wild, wooly appointment each week. Therapy. Tantric sexual instruction. Bikini waxing. Butt waxing. I don't know, something funky! In truth, I take weekly baking lessons. Really. With an expert baker, the owner of a local bakery, who has patience beyond reasoning because I have been known to, on occasion, burn whatever I'm baking.

Anyhow, today's my weekly lesson. I'm really looking forward to it. Baking relaxes me, especially kneading bread, and gives me a chance to "write" in my mind. See? I work out plot twists and the like while I bake. So really, I guess I'm multi-tasking. And that sounds much more trendy than saying I'm taking baking lessons, doesn't it?

Yeah. I'm multi-tasking. With sugar and flour. :)

Baking Lesson

My true love, baking! I had my baking lesson today with the local baker. It was cool, a day that felt almost like fall, so it was perfect for baking. Here's a recipe for you to try at your house!

Breakfast Bread

Bread:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

Topping:
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Add vanilla, milk and egg. Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Sprinkle topping over top before baking.

Place in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Baking? Nuh uh!

Baking lessons? Today, when it's a gazillion degrees in the shade, even in cooler-than-most-other-spots Maine? Nuh uh, not me! Sorry! If you're here looking for a scrumptious recipe then I'm going to disappoint you. Again, sorry! But really, I just couldn't face the hot bakery ovens today. I just couldn't!!

Instead, I hit the beach. Now, that's more my style for a sweltering Friday afternoon. Lying in my beach chair, a copy of a new romance open in my hand and a tall glass of--well, you'll just have to fill that in yourself. Hey, some info is private! ;)

Hope you're having a wonderful Friday!

~Rusty

Friday's Baking Lesson

Just a quick blog post. Wanted to share one of this week's baking lesson recipes. Thankfully I love beach walking with the dogs or my behind would be huge from eating so many yummy treats!! Enjoy!

Berry Bundles

1 cup softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Glaze:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Cream butter and sugar together. Add extract. Gradually add flour. Cover and chill dough for one hour.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Make an indentation in the center of each ball, then fill with jam.

Bake at 350°F degrees for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Combine glaze ingredients, and drizzle over cooled cookies.

Thursday Baking

Yesterday's baking lesson wasn't so much a lesson as it was...well, it was work, plain and simple. My baking teacher is catering a children's birthday bash this afternoon so I helped prepare some of the food. It wasn't just toil, don't get me wrong. But the kid-friendly cookies aren't going to impress anyone at a fancy dinner or swanky lawn party I may hold. Sometime. In the future. In another lifetime.

Hey, here's the recipe. You decide. Swanky? or comforting? I know what my vote is! :)

Chocolate Pillows

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1-1/2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine brown sugar, butter and chocolate in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until chocolate melts. When mixture is smooth, add milk and mix. Then remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.

Drop cookie batter by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheets. Place sheets into pre-heated 350-degree oven and bake for 12-18 minutes or until cookies are just set. If desired, frost with ordinary buttercream frosting.

Yesterday's baking lesson

Love it that my baking teacher has found her health again. I can't tell you how much I missed my lessons!

Yesterday the topic of study was...drum roll please... Cinnamon Babka.

Cinnamon Babka

Dough:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour

Topping:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 pound butter
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup all-purpose flour

Cream the butter and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until frothy.

Mix the yeast in warm water with the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Add yeast mixture to egg yolks. Then add milk, vanilla and salt.

Add the yeast mixture to the creamed butter mixture. Slowly add the flour, mixing until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until dough is smooth.
Cover the dough and allow it to rise in a warm place until it doubles.

Butter a 3-quart pan and shape the dough into it. Allow the dough to rise again for about 2 hours.

Combine topping ingredients, then coat the top of the dough with the topping.

Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for 35 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack.

Good news

The baking lessons are on again! My teacher is well and back in the kitchen. Yesterday we donned our aprons and baked up a storm. I have to admit, I love baking. It's so calming and the results--well, I love seeing people enjoy what I've made.

Yesterday's recipe. Yep, I'm only sharing one today. The other two? Secrets. Sorry! :)

Almond Biscotti

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 finely chopped cup toasted almonds
1 egg white

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheet.

Combine flour and baking powder; set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the lemon zest and almond extract. Add flour mixture, then stir in the chopped almonds.

Divide dough in two. Shape each portion into a loaf about 12 inches long and 2 inches wide. Place loaves onto the cookie sheet and flatten each slightly. Beat egg white until foamy, and brush over tops of loaves.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until light brown. Cool on baking sheet for about an hour.

Lower heat in oven to 325 degrees F. Cut baked loaves diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay slices cut side down on the baking sheet.

Bake 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Garden woes

All right, the first zucchinis are hitting the kitchen. We all know how it is to have a glut of the green veggies. I have something special that I do with them, and I'm going to share it with you, right at the beginning of zucchini season.

Not-Just-Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated zucchini
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In small bowl, beat eggs, then add sugar and oil.

Melt chocolate.

Dump all ingredients into a large bowl and mix to combine. Pour batter into 2 greased loaf pans.

Bake for 75 minutes.

Cool on wire racks.

Makes 2 loaves.

Enjoy! And yes, my baking lesson was canceled again this week. That's why I'm sharing my own recipe with you. I'm hopeful that by next week my darling teacher will be fully recovered!

In Leiu of Baking...

A few people noticed I didn't post news of last week's baking lesson. That's because I didn't have a lesson. My wonderful teacher was feeling a bit under the weather so we called the lesson off. I missed it, but I'm hoping my teacher and friend soon feels better. Anyway, I'm sharing a recipe I use often here. But let me warn you, it's not your average cookie recipe...

Ice Cream Sandwiches

1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Butter
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 cup Sifted Flour
1/2 cup Chopped nuts (optional)

Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and vanilla and mix. Stir in flour, then nuts.

Drop by small rounded spoonfuls on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350F degrees for 7 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Cool on wire rack.

When cookies are cool, turn over so bottom faces up. Place a scoop of ice cream on half of cookies; press remaining cookies on ice cream, forming "sandwiches" with cookies and ice cream. Freeze before serving. Usually makes a dozen sandwiches.

Enjoy!!

Praline Tart

I didn't forget about this week's baking lesson! Yesterday I went to the bakery and had my lesson...I won't even try and tell you how many of these tarts we made. Let's just say it was more than two, LOL.

I had fun learning how to make this. These tarts are yummy and easy to make so I think you'll enjoy the recipe. At least, I hope you do!

Praline Tart

1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream, liquid
6 tablespoons butter
2 1/4 cups chopped pecans
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
10-inch pre-baked tart shell
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1/4 cup bourbon
14 toasted pecan halves

Place liquid cream, sugar and butter in large pot and stir until sugar dissolves. Then, boil mixture rapidly, stirring until it reaches soft-ball stage (236 degrees F on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat. Add the chopped pecans and vanilla extract. Whisk until mixture is creamy. Pour mixture onto a baking sheet to cool.

When mixture is cool, tear off pieces and chop them in a food processor. Press the praline mixture into the tart crust, making an even layer.

Before serving, add bourbon to the whipped cream and spread on top of the praline layer.

Decorate top with pecan halves which have been toasted 5 to 10 minutes in a hot skillet or oven.

Weekly lesson

I didn't forget. Really. All right. I forgot. Not to go to my baking lesson, because that would cause chaos in my world, but I forgot to share my recipes with you. This week there's only one, as I admit I blew the hot kitchen early in favor of going to the beach and swimming. Yes, the Atlantic is heinously cold this time of year but I went swimming anyway. Maine is not for sissies, I assure you.

So here it is. The one recipe I snatched this week from the bakery before hitting the waves. It is a simple one, and pretty common, I think. But man oh man, are these good!

Enjoy!

Walnut Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup milk
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar
walnut halves

Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs. In a small bowl, dissolve soda in milk, then add to mixture. Add flour, salt and chopped walnuts. Place by heaping spoonfuls on ungreased baking sheet. Sift sugar over top and press walnut half into each cookie. Place in pre-heated 375-degree oven and bake for 8 minutes.

This week's lesson

Let's just say I was baked under the table by a little old lady, okay? In the hot kitchen I wilted while my baking mentor merely glowed. I'm sure I ate more of these cookies than we had left for the bakery racks, but here are the recipes. They're all good...

Sprinkle Cookies

Dough:

6 eggs5 cups all-purpose flour2 cups confectioners' sugar2 tablespoons baking powder1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder1 cup melted butter11/2 tablespoon almond extract1 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Glaze:
1/2 cup warm milk1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 (1-lb) box confectioners' sugarColored sprinkles (jimmies)
Beat eggs until light and foamy, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder. Add shortening and extracts. Gradually add beaten eggs and mix until stiff dough forms. Roll dough into 1" balls. Place on ungreased baking sheets and place in preheated 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.
Combine all glaze ingredients in small bowl. Dip warm cookies into glaze, top with sprinkles. Allow to set on wire racks overnight.

Hazelnut Puffs

1 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, divided
1 tablespoon milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts or filberts

Cream butter with 1/2 cup of the confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Add milk or cream and vanilla. Mix well, then gradually add flour and hazelnuts. Again, mix well. Chill until dough gets firm, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Shape dough into 1" balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, then place in preheated 375° oven for 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool for 10 minutes, then roll in remaining 1 cup confectioners' sugar.

Thumb Cookies

8 oz. softened cream cheese
3/4 cup softened butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 tsp vanilla
fruit preserves

Mix cream cheese, butter and sugar until well blended. Add flour and soda; mix well. Add vanilla and pecans and mix well. Chill dough for 45 minutes, then shape into 1" balls.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Indent centers; fill with about 1 teaspoon preserves. Bake at 350° 14 to 16 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Little Known Fact (Or, what I hide from the world)

One thing that I don't generally tell people is that I take baking lessons. I don't hide this for any particular reason...it just seems sort of dull. Baking lessons? Who on earth does that, right? But I have a fab little bakery near where I live. Its owners are an older couple, Italian, and they know all kinds of mouth-watering recipes. I'm fortunate in that I've made friends over the years with them and a few years ago I expressed an interest in learning to bake--something that didn't begin in a box. So I began going there one afternoon a week, usually Thursday or Friday, and baking.

Want to know some of what I've learned? Today we made cream puffs, among other things. Here's the recipe. It's really not hard at all.

Cream Puffs

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 pint heavy cream
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Bring water to a boil. Add butter and return to a boil. Combine flour and salt and add to boiling water. Stir briskly until mixture forms a ball.

Remove from heat and add eggs, one at a time, stirring briskly after each until mixture is smooth.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a cookie sheet, keeping "blobs" 4 inches apart.

Bake 15 minutes before reducing heat to 325 degrees F. Bake for an additional 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

Whip cream with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Stir in vanilla and sugar.

Fill puffs with whipped cream.

Drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired, or garnish with chopped nuts. Pistachios look festive and taste great, too!