12 Days of Cookies – a bon appétit cookie extravaganza! Cranberry-Orange Drop Cookies

This wonderful event, in it’s second year, is the brain child of Andrea of Andrea's Recipes, but this year is being organized and ran by Sandy of At the Baker's Bench.

How I got asked to be involved with this incredible group is beyond me but all the thanks goes to Kelly of Sass & Veracity and after last year I sure earned my way in the hard way! There are 10 of us that have decided to do The 12 Days of Cookies – A bon appétit cookie extravaganza. We will be choosing, baking, tasting, blogging and sharing with you a cookie a day for the first 12 days of December.
These cookies are coming from bon appetit's Holiday Cookie-a-Day Slideshow.

These are my partners in crime. We will all be choosing different cookies and surprising each other. How fun is that???? Be sure to check out their selections for the day!

Andrea of Andrea's Recipes
Claire of The Barefoot Kitchen
Courtney of Coco Cooks
Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook
Kelly of Sass & Veracity
Michelle of Big Black Dogs
RJ of Flamingo Musings
Sandy of At the Baker's Bench
Tiffany of The Nesting Project

For Day 4 of the 12 Days of Cookies I choose to make these flavorful little ones because after Day 3’s disaster with a rolled and cut cookie I was taking no chances at all!

Really glad too.  These are delicious and decidedly a very adult cookie!  They have fresh and dried cranberries in them as well as lots of orange zest and then to top all of that off you add fresh ginger to the mix!  Just a wonderfully full flavored cookie.  The only thing I changed was adding pistachios.  For some reason I can’t find any plain just the really salty ones so I use pecans and skipped the walnuts as well.  I also added more orange zest after reading the other comments on the recipe.

Cranberry-Orange Drop Cookiesyield: Makes about 48Colorful bits of cranberries, walnuts, and pistachios make these simple cookies sparkle for the holidays.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups (packed) dried sweetened cranberries (about 10 ounces)
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup chopped unsalted natural pistachios
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

Directions:

Butter 3 baking sheets. Combine dried sweetened cranberries and orange juice in small bowl. Let stand until dried cranberries soften slightly, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Whisk all purpose flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until just blended.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter and golden brown sugar in large bowl until smooth. Add 1 egg, minced ginger, vanilla extract, and grated orange peel and beat until well blended, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour-spice mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts, chopped pistachios, coarsely chopped fresh or frozen cranberries, and dried cranberries with any juices that have accumulated.

Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets, spacing tablespoonfuls about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake cookies, 1 baking sheet at a time, until golden and almost firm to touch in center, about 18 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; cool cookies completely. (Cookies can be made 2 days ahead. Store cookies in airtight container at room temperature.)

Would I make these again?  Yes I would and that is so refreshing after yesterdays cookie fail!  These were really, really good and quite adult like.  I loved the pecans in them and the fresh cranberries and ginger.  Really good…

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Apple Pancakes for dinner…

We are still in our crazy, running all the time, trying to find some sense of balance in our lives mode.  So I am making dinners in the crockpot or else finding things that I can make ahead of time and just reheat for a quick meal between activities (BMX racing, ice skating, and karate).  I made a really good white chicken chili but ate it all without a single photo.  So will post when I make it again and you can bet I will be making it again, it was just that good.

Anyway, these pancakes came about because I had some fruit that badly needed to be used up or tossed out tomorrow.  There were 6 apples, 4 bananas and 2 pears.  3 of the bananas went into banana chocolate chip muffins (1 had to be tossed), and 3 apples went into the pancakes.  I am going to make apple/pear sauce with the remaining fruit to use as topping for the pancakes!  These pancakes are delicious and a perfect way to use up some of that fruit.  They can be made ahead and just warmed up (for dinner) but of course they are way better hot off the griddle!

Apple Pancakes (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:

2 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
14 tsp nutmeg
3 medium apples, peeled and coarsely grated (I used macintosh and a honey crisp apple.  You could use any)

Directions:

1. Mix the eggs with the milk and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together.
3. Combine the wet and the dry ingredients and stir in the apples.
4. Heat a thin layer of oil in an electric skillet on medium heat. Drop large spoonful of batter into the pan and flatten it out a little (otherwise, you might have trouble getting them to cook in the center) and cook until golden brown underneath. Flip the pancakes and cook them for an additional two or three minutes.

I sprinkled these with cinnamon sugar and topped them with maple syrup but apple sauce will be great on them too!

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Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread

This week we made Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread and this is definitely a bread that I am going to be making again and again.  Everyone loved it.  We loved it toasted, we loved it fresh from the oven and we LOVED it as French Toast!!!  I was a little apprehensive when I went to make it as T. doesn’t like raisins and the kids don’t like walnuts but I forged ahead and added everything as it should be and they ended up loving everything about it!!!

About the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Group: Nicole of Pinch my Salt sent out a twitter message saying “I need a challenge. Am thinking of baking my way through every single recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Anyone want to join me?” Well I jumped right in. Both feet, no thought at all. I think I was one of the first 5 that joined…did I even have the book? Nope but I ordered it that night!!!

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread

We are now over 200 strong with members everywhere on the globe. It’s an incredibly enthusiastic group that wants to share like no group I have ever belonged to before. Awesome!

Our goal is to bake our way through Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. An  intimidating book at anytime but to think that you are going to be baking one of these recipes a week is slightly overwhelming to say the least. But I love a challenge and feel a real need to get out of my comfort zone. Oh yah, I bake all of our bread but I never seem to have the time or the desire to try something new and different. This will change all that!!!

Now my loaves were anything but perfect looking from the outside.  I could have maybe baked them a bit longer to brown them up more and spent a few more minutes shaping them but all in all the rise was perfect and the crumb is wonderful!!! 

I followed the directions on this one exactly (flour, sugar, salt, yeast, cinnamon, egg, shortening, buttermilk, water, raisins and nuts) the only thing I didn’t do was to add a swirl of cinnamon sugar that could be added during the final shaping.  I just thought it would be good the way it was and I was right.  Next time I may do one loaf with the swirl just to test it out!

Will I be making these again?  Oh yes I will!!!  These loaves turned out wonderfully and I will be making this bread again and again!!!

Check out the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Blogroll to see some other really nice Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread!

Want to Bake Along With Us?

There are several ways for you to join in the fun! First of all, you need a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Then just start baking! Even if you are starting late, just begin with the first recipe and start working your way through. There are several ways to communicate with the group as you begin your journey:

Flickr: We have set up a BBA Challenge Flickr Group where you can upload photos, see photos from other members, and even post questions and comments in the group forum. It’s a private group, so you will need to click on the link that says ‘join this group’ if you want to be able to post photos. As long as you are willing to bake bread all of the bread from the book, you are welcome to join the Flickr group!

Twitter: If you use twitter, you can follow what the group is doing by searching for #BBA or #bba using Twitter’s search box. You can join in on the conversation by adding the #bba or #BBA tag to the end of your tweets when you are talking about anything related to the BBA Challenge. For me, following what people are doing on twitter has been the most fun!

Facebook: If you’re on Facebook, you can join the BBA Challenge Group there and share photos, ask questions, and talk about your bread baking experiences with other BBA members on Facebook.

Next up…Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread!!!!

I am submitting this to BYOB (Bake Your Own Bread) hosted by Sandy of At the Baker's Bench. This is a great challenge to get you baking more of your own baked goods. Better for you and cheaper in the process!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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Cinnamon Rolls from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice

This week was a week I was totally looking forward to.  Not only from the BBA perspective – we were baking cinnamon rolls but also from a personal perspective.  My oldest daughter is a 4th of July baby so the 4th is one of those holidays that is near and dear to my heart.  To add the icing to the cake I was going to make Cinnamon Rolls for her birthday breakfast!!!

About the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Group: Nicole of Pinch my Salt sent out a twitter message saying “I need a challenge. Am thinking of baking my way through every single recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Anyone want to join me?” Well I jumped right in. Both feet, no thought at all. I think I was one of the first 5 that joined…did I even have the book? Nope but I ordered it that night!!!

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread

We are now over 200 strong with members everywhere on the globe. It’s an incredibly enthusiastic group that wants to share like no group I have ever belonged to before. Awesome!

Our goal is to bake our way through Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. An intimidating book at anytime but to think that you are going to be baking one of these recipes a week is slightly overwhelming to say the least. But I love a challenge and feel a real need to get out of my comfort zone. Oh yah, I bake all of our bread but I never seem to have the time or the desire to try something new and different. This will change all that!!!

Cinnamon Rolls

I LOVE cinnamon and these rolls were incredible.  I loved the dough and how it came together and felt. 

Peter Reinhart gives us several different options when making these.  We could also make cinnamon rolls or sticky buns.  I opted for the cinnamon rolls but will be trying the sticky buns in the near future! I decided to use buttermilk and lemon extract instead of whole milk and zest.  Also in the fondant icing I decided to use vanilla extract instead of the lemon that was called for.

This is after they have been pulled from the fridge and rested for about 3 or 4 hrs.  See how nice and puffy they look?

Seeing as I wanted to make them for breakfast and not a late brunch I made them the night before.  Shaped them and placed them on the baking sheet and then popped them into the fridge overnight to rest.  This is not a step called for and these wonderful rolls can be made in one day!!!  I pulled them out of the fridge at about 4:00 AM and then preheated the oven about 7:30.  Baked them and iced them and watched them get eaten up.

 Fresh out of the oven and iced!

Will I be making these again?  Oh yes I will!!!  They turned out wonderfully and I will be making these again and again!!!

Check out the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Blogroll to see some other really nice Cinnamon Rolls or Sticky Buns!

Want to Bake Along With Us?

There are several ways for you to join in the fun! First of all, you need a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Then just start baking! Even if you are starting late, just begin with the first recipe and start working your way through. There are several ways to communicate with the group as you begin your journey:

Flickr: We have set up a BBA Challenge Flickr Group where you can upload photos, see photos from other members, and even post questions and comments in the group forum. It’s a private group, so you will need to click on the link that says ‘join this group’ if you want to be able to post photos. As long as you are willing to bake bread all of the bread from the book, you are welcome to join the Flickr group!

Twitter: If you use twitter, you can follow what the group is doing by searching for #BBA or #bba using Twitter’s search box. You can join in on the conversation by adding the #bba or #BBA tag to the end of your tweets when you are talking about anything related to the BBA Challenge. For me, following what people are doing on twitter has been the most fun!

Facebook: If you’re on Facebook, you can join the BBA Challenge Group there and share photos, ask questions, and talk about your bread baking experiences with other BBA members on Facebook.

Next up…Raisin Walnut Cinnamon Bread!!!!

I am submitting this to BYOB (Bake Your Own Bread) hosted by Sandy of At the Baker's Bench. This is a great challenge to get you baking more of your own baked goods. Better for you and cheaper in the process!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Read more »

Cinnamon Chocolate Brownies

The other day I was in a cinnamony mood. I think it’s because first thing in the morning I walked past one of those kiosks that sell the cinnamon pretzels. Poor me it was all I could think about for the rest of the day!!! I was going to make snicker doodles but Lori of The Recipe Girl’s favorite recipe has shortening in it and I was sadly out of shortening! I decided that I would try my hand at Cinnamon Chocolate Brownies and am I ever glad that I did!

I used my favorite brownie recipe and added 1 Tbsp of cinnamon to the batter. This was a really great treat and although it didn’t fully satisfy my craving (really need to get shortening) it was close!

Cinnamon Chocolate Brownies (Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies.)

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 8″square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches hanging over the sides. Butter parchment paper.

In a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir together butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

Combine sugar, eggs, and vanilla using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread evenly with spatula. Bake about 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet. Let cool in pan about 15 minutes.

Lift brownies out of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

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Christkindl Market's Bavarian Style Pecans

Today was a fun day where I checked out the Chicago holiday happenings downtown. Every year the Christkindl Market sets up shop near the city center and brings in a taste of Germany to Chicago. There is so much to see, smell, taste, hear... it's almost like walking around in a European city during the holidays.

Visitors from all over the world come to the Christkindlmarket Chicago annually and the numbers continue to grow every year. It is so popular and loved by all that any Chicagoan will tell you that they could not imagine the city without it. It is no longer just a German tradition - it has become a Chicago institution. ~ Christkindl website

One of the main smells of the market were of cinnamon glazed nuts. There were several kinds of nuts available and it seemed as though everyone around me had some to snack on as they walked through the market. Once I got home, I was inspired to make some. The recipe that inspired me was from here. I adapted it to give it some more flavor using Pumpkin Pie spice to make it as close to the Bavarian Style pecans and they came out just as good as the ones in the Market!

Bavarian Style Cinnamon Pecans
original Joelen recipe

2 egg whites
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or extract)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups pecans halves, divided
2 quart sized resealable bags

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.

In a bowl, combine the egg whites, vanilla and water. Whisk until frothy and place in 1 resealable bag.

In the other resealable bag, combine the sugars, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix thoroughly to fully combine.

Place 1 cup of pecans in the egg white mixture. Seal bag and toss to coat. Remove only pecan halves and place in a medium bowl. Be sure to keep any remaining egg white in the bag.

Coat the remaining pecans with the egg white mixture in the sealable bag and set aside in the bowl.

Place 1 cup of the egg white coated pecans in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Seal bag and toss to coat. Remove pecan halves and place in a medium bowl. Be sure to keep any remaining sugar in the bag.

Coat the remaining pecans with the cinnamon sugar mixture in the resealable bag and set aside in the bowl.

Pour any remaining cinnamon sugar mixture from the resealable bag into the bowl of nuts.
Stir all the nuts once more in the bowl to thoroughly coat.

Place coated pecans on parchment lined baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour - stirring every 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

Here are some pictures from the Christkindl Market...

So many trinkets!

Here's where you can get some authentic Beer Steins!

Gifts all made with honey...
Russian & Ukranian gifts & ornaments...
I don't think I've seen so many ornaments in one booth!

Ahh... lots and lots of German sausages...

A very cold Russian vendor with his Babushka Dolls...

Any one need a Nutcracker?

Interesting candy treat... a Marzipan Pig complete with a candy man riding it?
Creepy Witch Castle (Hansel & Gretel scene)...

Mmm.. Chocolate Clogs!
Truffles are a weakness of mine...

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Cobblers, Crumbles & Crisps Round Up!

Today friends came over for a cooking class where we focused on Cobblers, Crumbles & Crisps. We all made our own using either apples, pears, and peaches. But before we get into the recipes, do you know the difference between a Cobbler, Crumble & Crisp? If not, here's some helpful info to figuring out the differences (which I found HERE) :

Cobblers - American cobblers are considered “fruit stews with dough dropped on top before baking” (ochef.com) They involve a bottom layer of fruit that is then topped with ingredients for a biscuit dough. The result is a dense, rich dessert. Not to be confused with British cobblers (made with meat), popular cobbler ingredients include: apples, peaches and cherries.

Crisps - Crisps also have a bottom layer of fruit, but their topping is much more crunchy than cobblers. Instead of a dough-like pastry that rises, the crisp is topped with a different proportion of butter, sugar and flour that is sort of crumbly, and only briefly browned in the oven. Crisps might include oats or granola in their topping as well.

Crumbles - The crumble also begins with fruit at the bottom, but is topped with a different butter-flour-sugar mixture called a ’streusel’. The three ingredients are mixed just until crumbly and then poured on top of the fruit. This dish is very similar to a crisp but the crumble originated in Britain whereas the crisp is seen as more American. Crisps are also more rich than crumbles with higher amounts of sugar, butter and flour.

Ingredients Used:

To create our Cobblers, Crumbles & Crisps, we started by slicing the fruit of our choice into slices and placing them in a greased baking dish. From there, we topped our fruit with one of the following adapted recipes to distinguish them from Cobblers, Crumbles & Crisps:

Cobbler Recipe
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1 egg, slightly beaten

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Place fruit in the bottom of a baking dish and sweeten, to taste, with a little sugar depending on ripeness. In medium mixing bowl, sift all dry ingredients. Cut in butter and add beaten egg. Mix until crumbly and sprinkle over fruit, covering all exposed fruit. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden.

Crumble Recipe
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Place fruit in the bottom of a baking dish and sweeten, to taste, with a little sugar depending on ripeness. In medium mixing bowl, sift all dry ingredients and cut in butter. Mix until crumbly and sprinkle over fruit, covering all exposed fruit. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden.

Crisp Recipe
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup instant oatmeal or rolled oatmeal

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Place fruit in the bottom of a baking dish and sweeten, to taste, with a little sugar depending on ripeness. In medium mixing bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Blend the butter into the mixture until it forms pea size lumps. Stir in pecans & oatmeal and sprinkle over filling. Bake crisps for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Some of the finished ones while others were baking:

To join in the fun, my fellow bloggers have submitted their favorite Cobbler, Crumbles & Crisps recipes! As I do with each blogging event I host, a lucky blogger receives a giveaway related to the food theme. This event's winner is Shayne of One Bite At a Time! Shayne has won a Stoneware Mini Baker to continue baking throughout the fall, compliments of Pampered Chef. Congratulations Shayne and thanks to all that participated in the blogging event! Read on to check out the recipes submitted by my fellow bloggers...

Karen of Loves To Eat Weblog
from Florida
PB&J Crumble Bars
Everyone is familiar with the classic peanut butter and jelly combo... but Karen puts a twist on it by incorporating the flavors into PB&J Crumble Bars! Check out her blog for the recipe and where she found it!
Shayne of One Bite At a Time
from New Jersey
Quick Apple Crumble for Two
Shayne makes these wonderful individual Apple Crumbles for her and her husband to enjoy. I love that these are perfectly portioned and each person gets just enough crispy, crumbling topping all to themself! To find out what inspired Shayne to make these, check out her blog and get the recipe too!
Becke of Columbus Foodie
from Ohio
Caramel Apple & Pear Crisp
How often do you try recipes from brand names? Well Becke did and she submitted this Caramel Apple & Pear Crisp recipe from Pillsbury. Doesn't it look amazing? You know you want the recipe... so check out Becke's blog for it!
Kristina of About a Bit of Everything
from Illinois
Apple Crisp
When you're invited to dinner, one of the best things to bring is a dessert... and Kristina did just that with her Apple Crisp. It's a great dessert for fall that involves using some common pantry ingredients so you have no excuse not to make this! Check out Kristina's blog for the recipe!
Kayla of Central Cooking
from Illinois
Apple Cinnamon Cobbler
Kayla
Therese of In the Kitchen
from Illinois
Blueberry Crumb Bars
Therese created these fabulous bar treats which are a cross between a blueberry crisp and lemon bar. They look delicious and were inspired by her favorite cooking blog. To find out what that blog is and to also snag the recipe, check out her blog!
Therese
Kelly of Kelly Cooks... and Other Amazing Feats
from Pennsylvania
Southern Peach Cobbler
With quite a few peaches to work with, Kelly creates this delicious Southern Peach Cobbler. It was definitely the best she ever had and suggests that the recipe can be made with other fruits as well. Even better is that the top crust maintains its texture for several days without becoming soggy! Check out Kelly's blog for the recipe!

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Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins

The following recipe was featured in my Muffin Swap event. You can read about it and view other muffin recipes HERE.

Stacey's Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins

Recipe adapted from HERE (?)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 3/4 cups pumpkin
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 cups nuts, optional
2 cups butterscotch chips/morsels

1. Combine all dry ingredients. Add pumpkin, eggs, and oil. Mix until smooth. Add nuts if desired and the butterscotch chips.

2. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until done.

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