Homemade Oreos When I was little, my mom never really bought me and my sister many store bought cookies or toaster pastries, or anything like that, as I'm sure I mentioned before in my Pop Tart Pops post. She never really thought cookies and things like that were the healthiest things to give us, and I'm not going to disagree with her. These store-bought cookies became almost a treat for us, that we would only get to enjoy every now and then, which I guess is a good thing, because it's a habit that stuck. To this day, I honestly don't really eat cookies very often, they're really just treats I enjoy every now and then.This does not apply to Oreos though...obviously. Oreos are just too good to pass up. Seriously. I was shocked by how much these cookies tasted like real Oreos...I know that sounds stupid, because after all, shouldn't a recipe for homemade Oreos make cookies that taste like the real thing? For the Cream Filling Directions Position two racks in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 375°F.
MiriSphere Dulce de Leche Imagine a creamy, rich, brown caramel made from the simplest of ingredients — milk and sugar — and involving little more than a pot of boiling water and a couple hours. Hard to believe, but the best way to make dulce de leche is also the easiest way. And tell me you’re not salivating as you eye the caramel I’ve got sitting in a jar in my fridge. This stuff is to die for, people. Ingredients: 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Special equipment: 1 big, tall pot and lots of water Peel the label of the can of sweetened condensed milk. When 2 hours (or your desired cooking time) have elapsed, turn off the heat and leave the can in the water for at least half an hour, to cool slightly. After 30-45 minutes, remove the can with tongs; if it’s not too hot to touch, you can open it with a can opener. Email Print
Sweet Potato Whoopie Pies This may be a tiny bit early but I figure, school's in and the weather is changing... it's time. I've already started Autumnal baking. This means cinnamon scents and pumpkin flavored treats are well underway. Though I'm saving my pumpkin stash for goodies like this, I'll gladly take sweet potatoes as a very Southern stand-in. This was my first batch of Whoopie pies ever. With all the baking I've been doing lately for the book, there's always a bit of extra fondant or nonpareils hanging around here and there. Cakes: 3 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar 3/4 cup sugar ½ cup vegetable oil 3 large eggs 1 ¼ cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes ½ cup milk Nonstick vegetable oil spray Sift first 5 ingredients into large bowl. Arrange 1 rack in bottom third of oven and 1 rack in top third of oven; preheat to 350°F.
A Cozy Kitchen » Churro Tots Happy Wednesday, beautiful people.Factoid for you: Getting my car serviced stresses me.To deal, I totally made Churro Tots. Throw in stress eating and calls to dad, and it some how made everything okay. I encourage it!Last week I went to a cookbook release party at Border Grill and they had churros…in tot form! Grab a baking sheet, line it with some paper towels. Recipe adapted from Dorie GreenspanPrint this recipe!
apple mosaic tart with salted caramel My husband likes to joke that every other comment on this site in the month of October is, “Help! I went apple picking and I brought home 20 pounds of apples and I don’t know how to use them up!” It’s not true, of course; it’s every five or six comments. We mostly have a giggle about it because we didn’t know how one could go to an apple grove and not realize that 20 pounds of apples is an impossible amount to munch your way through, no matter how enthusiastic of an apple-eater you might be. I am kidding, mostly. Are you taking submissions for your new favorite dead simple fall dessert? This tart is, in essence, a French apple tart, a simple affair involving puffed pastry, thin slices of apples fanned this way and that before they are dotted with butter, sprinkled with sugar and baked in the oven until they solder together into an puddled-apple-butter-caramel fusion that is entirely greater than the sum of its parts. The result is a mosaic of fall apple bliss. Heat your oven to 400°F.
Fluffy Japanese Cheesecake When I tried the Japanese cheesecake with the very first bite, I have been fallen in love with it ever since. The velvety smooth, creamy, as well as the fluffy texture makes this kind of cheesecake stand out the crowd. The cheesecake is not too sweet, yet just enough to entertain your sweet tooth if you have one. Mind you, the cooking method makes the cheesecake very light, you’d feel you don’t have enough even after having a big slice of it. A case in point, over half of the cheesecake was gone shortly after I placed it in the fridge. This kind of cheesecake is always a big hit in Hong Kong and other Asian countries. For making this Japanese cheesecake, many people find it’s a bit hard to overcome two common problems that contribute to making unpleasant looking cakes. Japanese Cheesecake (Fluffy & Creamy) (Printable recipe) By Christine's Recipes Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 60 mins Yield:2 baking pans, lined with baking paper, each size 11.5cmx22cmx6cm Ingredients:
Honeyed Pears in Puff Pastry Poaching fruit is one of my favorite things to do when cold weather arrives. It's so warming to stand over a boiling pot of fragrant spices and lose yourself in thought. When I made these, I couldn't help but daydream as I stirred; if I were a pear... I wouldn't want to spend my days on the shelf of a cold produce department. I'd want to be taken to a warm home and placed in a jacuzzi of honey and spices. I'd want to be wrapped in an extra long puff pastry scarf and baked until golden and toasty. That sounds a little silly, but that's what I'd want... if I were a pear. The idea for these came from the Pepperidge Farm website. On a personal note, our Christmas tree is already up courtesy of Mr. Since poaching is a relatively easy task, I'll skip to some helpful tips for wrapping the pears in puff pastry. The poaching liquid has a high concentration of sugar, so your pears will be sticky. When you reach the top, tuck in the end piece of pastry behind the last spiral. 4 small pears 1/2 lemon
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars These caramel apple cheesecake bars made their way around the food blogging sphere not to long ago and they certainly caught my attention! Even just by reading the title, they sound amazing but that is just the start! If you dig a little deeper you will see that they start with a base of butter shortbread which is topped with the cheesecake followed by the apples and then a layer of rolled oat crumbs only finally be topped with the caramel sauce. These bars are like combining shortbread, cheesecake, apple crisp and caramel sauce all into one truly spectacular treat! Given all of the components, these bars require a bit of effort to make but overall everything is pretty straight forward and it so worth it! This recipe calls for lining the baking dish with aluminum foil which I had never done before and it turned out great! When I got up this morning my patience had run its course and I could not resist pulling the caramel apple cheesecake bars out after a night of chilling. Ingredients
Chocolate Brownie Cookies I know it’s hot out and the last thing you want to do is turn on your oven. I get it! But for these little gems I think it’s worth it. These flourless cookies popped up on my radar this past spring when I was really at the height of my low carb experiment. I found them over at Recipe Girl and added them to my long list of recipes to try. The fact that they didn’t have flour intrigued me, and their texture just makes them look ooey gooey good, right? So when vacation time rolled around last month I figured it was the perfect opportunity to make these. Let’s just state something I’m sure most of you already know……wax paper is NOT the same thing as parchment paper. Ten minutes later we were wondering why there was an awful lot of smoke pouring out everytime I opened the oven door. The girls still devoured them though they were STUCK to the wax paper. I didn’t let that deter me though, and the next day I set to making them again. Flourless Chocolate Brownie Cookies Prep time: Cook time:
How to Make Marshmallow Fondant This time I decided to make it with those mini fruit flavored marshmallows. I had to sort them by colour first. I figured they would add a little bit of flavor to the fondant so I wouldn't have to add much flavoring oil. I use gel colours to dye my fondant but regular food colouring will work too. You won't be able to get really dark colours without making your fondant sticky, but for lighter colours you can just even it out with more icing sugar. I also had lemon oil and coconut flavoring on hand.. oh la la the value brand (which still works fine). Step One: Take a couple of handfuls of marshmallows and put them in a microwave safe bowl. I like to make smaller batches because its easier to add the colour to the melted marshmallow than it is to work the colour into the fondant later. Step Two: Stick the marshmallows in the microwave for ten seconds at a time until the are puffed up and easily stir into a goo with a wooden spoon. Step Three: Step Four: Fondant with the icing sugar kneaded in.