The Tale of the Carmelitas. Phyllo Fail..Baklava Success..and a GIVEAWAY! June 27, 2011 at 1:39 am | Posted in Daring Bakers, Dessert, Giveaway, Pastry | 76 Comments Tags: baking, Baklava, Cashew Nuts, cinnamon, Daring Bakers, Homemade Phyllo, Honey, macadamia nuts, Orange, Phyllo Dough, Pistachios, recipes, vanilla, Walnuts Back in 2009, a friend and I were discussing my 1st Daring Bakers challenge hosting gig, trying to decide what I should challenge everyone with. I was throwing out ideas, and like many first pitches in baseball, they were all over the place. Baklava was one of them and then we both joked how hated I would be if I made it a requirement to make the phyllo dough from scratch. I swear on every pair of jeans with broken zippers, I never thought I’d see the day. Well, that day has come, and Erica, nobody hates you, and in fact, I think they’re loving it. Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Okay, it’s official..I suck.
However, I’d never made baklava before, so this was definitely a challenge for me. 2. Lemony Lemon Brownies - Becky Charms. Nanaimo Bars. Pistachio Baklava with Cinnamon Honey Syrup. I have always wanted to make Baklava. I remember my first taste of Baklava, it was amazing – all of those layers of luscious honey and nuts – I couldn’t believe I had been missing out on this secret treat. That was about 10 years ago – and ever since then I have been thinking about how I was going to make it myself. Fast forward 10 years – here I am, with my blog, always looking for the next challenge to post. I saw a recipe in Bon Appetit that Molly Wizenberg posted and I felt like she was writing about me. The thought of making Baklava just scared me! I had to face my fears…but not with that recipe. I needed something with cinnamon and honey – and her recipe was orange cardamom. Then I saw it – another recipe in Bon Appetit – this one with cinnamon honey syrup – that was it – I was going to combine both recipes and come up with a winner.
The final result was INCREDIBLE!!!! Ingredients Place nuts and 2 tablespoons sugar in processor. Preheat oven to 350°F. Like this: Like Loading... Lemon Bars (Gluten Free) | Make it Naked. I’m going to go ahead and say that it’s not right to love a virtual space this much. Look around! Make it Naked is all grown up. I’ll be hanging out right here at makeitnaked.com from now on. Click around. Tell me what you think. Tell me you love it. Here, let me show you around. I also updated the Links page. Oh, I also made some lemon bars to celebrate. Not only are they pretty but they’re gluten free!
So there’s been a lot of dessert lately. Gluten Free Lemon Bars (Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Serious Eats) Makes 12 bars Ingredients: For the crust: 3/4 cup almond flour/meal 1/4 cup coconut flour 1/4 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter (cold and chopped into smaller pieces) 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt For the lemon layer: 2 eggs 3/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon lemon zest (3 small lemons) 1/3 cup lemon juice (4 small lemons) 1/3 cup gluten free oat flour Directions: 1. Notes: My Own Sweet Thyme: The Secret to Soft Snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodle Fiends My children have long been Snickerdoodle fiends. My oldest son, when he learned about cinnamon as a pre-schooler, believed it had the power to make anything from peanut butter sandwiches to fried fish taste extraordinarily delicious.
When my daughter discovered cookies and cookbooks she had a preference for cinnamon too. She made Snickerdoodles and submitted her recipe to a class collection of favorites at her elementary school. In time my youngest son and I would go to the bookstore on Wednesday afternoons when his elementary school let out early. I would have made those wonderful cookies at home but I had no idea how. Then I saw the recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondies. Do Try This at Home My now teenage son can be very picky about the sweets he will eat these days. Just to be sure I'd have some help eating these I tried this recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondies on an evening when my Bible study group was meeting at my house. And guess what? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars. There is no easier way to get your kids to help in the kitchen than to pull out a bag of chocolate chips. Am I right? The highlights of childhood baking are as follows: eating chocolate chips straight from the bag and licking the beaters.
{Your kitty may even try to get in on the action.} These pumpkin chocolate chip bars have been on the blog before, but they are so incredibly good and so incredibly perfect for fall that they needed a repeat. The bars are cake-y, spicy, and studded with chocolate chips. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars {adapted from Everyday Food, Nov. 2004} Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together the flour, spices, salt and baking soda. Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. On low speed, add in the flour mixture in two additions, mixing just until combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter into the prepared pan, an offset spatula is great for this. Cool completely on a wire rack. Yep....they're good.