Fall Sugar Cookies

A few weeks ago my mom bought me some really fun fall cookies cutters (includes different types of leaves, apple, pumpkin, acorn, squirrel). I used them to make and decorate sugar cookies this past weekend as part of a birthday gift for someone. I actually used this sugar cookie recipe for the first time last Christmas (before I was blogging). These were the best sugar cookies I've ever had so it was an easy choice to make them again when I wanted to make sugar cookies. I think the thing I love most about these cookies is the hint of almond flavor in every bite. It's just enough to differentiate these cookies from your typical sugar cookies but not so much that it's overwhelming.















Sugar Cookies
from Annie's Eats

1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups sifted flour

Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm. Roll to ¼” thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with floured cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 F for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool.

Yields ~40 cookies.

TWD: Caramel Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake

This week's TWD was chosen by Tammy of Wee Treats by Tammy: caramel peanut-topped brownie cake. There is a gorgeous photo to accompany this recipe and it has definitely caught my eye every time I flip through Dorie's book. That said, I've never felt compelled to make it. I think that's mainly because it involves making caramel, which to be quite honest, scared me. There are certain cooking/baking challenges I look forward to, but making caramel is not one of them.















Things just didn't go well for me with this one. I decided to scale down the recipe and just make one smaller cake in my 4-inch springform pan. I wasn't sure, however, how high to fill the pan with the batter. I thought I left plenty of room for the cake to rise but I definitely didn't. By about 20-25 in, my cake had completely cooked over the top of the pan and started spilling over. Luckily, I took Dorie's advice and baked the cake on a baking sheet so chocolate cake did not wind up all over my oven. I managed to salvage the cake when it finished baking and set out to make the caramel. And then I failed. It took longer than Dorie said it would for my caramel to turn amber. I wanted to make sure it was dark enough that it wouldn't be bland but somewhere along the way I crossed the line from amber to burnt. The sauce looked fine but it definitely smelled and tasted a bit burnt.



Thanks Tammy for this pick and forcing me to step outside my comfort zone. Perhaps I'll have better results next time! If you're interested in the recipe for this cake, check out Tammy's blog and as always, head over to TWD to see all of the wonderful treats that were made this week!!

Chicken Taquitos

Occasionally, I'll watch Rachel Ray's show on the Food Network. I'm not into her talk show at all, but some of the cooking shows have good recipes. This was one that intrigued me when I saw it. We don't eat fast food much, but we do have a weakness for Taco Bell. I'm not sure Shane's ever had the taquitos at Taco Bell, but I love them, so I'm sure that's what made me want to try this recipe. I'm posting Rachel's original recipe below but we changed it up a bit. Shane had only chicken and cheese in his while I added some salsa and sour cream to mine. I really wanted to give this recipe a rave review but I can't. While the taquitos were quite delicious, ours didn't stay together (with the exception of the three that I salvaged for a photo). Some of them broke open right when we rolled them and put them on the baking sheet and others broke apart as they baked. I'm not sure what we did wrong but maybe we'll have more luck next time!

Chicken Taquitos
from Rachel Ray, FoodNetwork.com

2 cups shredded chicken (Rachel used rotisserie to make it quicker)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper
1 can chopped green chiles, 4 ounces
a few leaves fresh cilantro or parsley, finely chopped
vegetable or canola oil, for frying
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Season the chicken with cumin, oregano, salt and pepper and mix in the chiles and cilantro or parsley. Dip the tortillas in 1-inch of warm oil to soften. Tightly roll a couple of forkfuls of chicken up in the tortillas. Place filled tortillas seam side down on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes.

Chicken Wings in Teriyaki Sauce

A few weeks ago I made buffalo wings for Shane. While I enjoy buffalo wings (as long as they're not too hot), I also really love anything teriyaki. So, when I saw this recipe for chicken wings in teriyaki sauce that was Weight Watchers friendly, I had to make it. This recipe really couldn't be any easier. It utilizes the crock pot so you just throw the wings in the crock pot, mix up the sauce, pour it over the wings and you're done. About 5 hours later we had delicious chicken! Our wings were so tender that the meat was falling off of the bone. I thought they had great flavor...sweet, but not too sweet. When I went grocery shopping this week I grabbed more wings just so I could make this again soon!

Chicken Wings in Teriyaki Sauce
from LaaLoosh

3 pounds chicken wings — about 16 wings
1 large onion – chopped
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry — or chicken broth
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic – minced

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Cut off and discard wing tips. Cut each wing at joint to make two sections. Place wing parts on broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat 20 minutes, 10 minutes a side or until chicken is a light, golden brown. Transfer chicken to Crock-Pot Slow Cooker.

Mix together onion, brown sugar, soy sauce, cooking sherry (or chicken broth), ginger, honey, and garlic in bowl. Pour over chicken wings. Cover and cook on Low 5 to 6 hours or on High 2 to 3 hours. Stir chicken wings once to ensure wings are evenly coated with sauce. Serve.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

A few weeks ago Martha Stewart devoted an entire show to bloggers of all types...it was great! I was familiar with several of the bloggers but was excited to be introduced to a great new food blog: Smitten Kitchen. I've enjoyed reading through her many, many recipes. One in particular, which was featured on that episode of Martha Stewart, is this chocolate peanut butter cake. It looked so decadent and delicious that I knew I needed to make it asap. Plus, it's the sort of thing I knew Shane would love.

This cake was everything I expected it to be. First, it was a lot of work. Between making the cakes and the frosting/ganache and assembling the layers, I spent many, many hours working on this one. It probably wouldn't have taken as long if I had ANY skills when it comes to frosting layer cakes. No matter how many times I watch someone frost a layer cake, it never seems as easy when I do it myself. That problem aside, I still thought this cake looked pretty awesome when I finished (despite what my less than stellar pictures show :)). Shane brought the cake to work last week and it was a big hit. Shane said it was moist, rich and had just the right peanut butter flavor. Shane even sent pictures of a slice back so I could have one for the blog since I didn't try a piece. I would definitely make this again but maybe only for a special occasion.















Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
from Smitten Kitchen

Cake (makes an 8-inch triple-layer cake)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch process
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup neutral vegetable oil, such as canola, soybean or vegetable blend
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter the bottoms and sides of three 8-inch round cakepans. Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine them well. Add the oil and sour cream and whisk to blend. Gradually beat in the water. Blend in the vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs and beat until well blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and be sure the batter is well mixed. Divide among the 3 prepared cake pans.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Let cool in the pans for about 20 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, carefully peel off the paper liners, and let cool completely.

4. To frost the cake, place one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or large serving plate. Spread 2/3 cup cup of the Peanut Butter Frosting evenly over the top. Repeat with the next layer. Place the last layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.

5. To decorate with the Chocolate–Peanut Butter Glaze, put the cake plate on a large baking sheet to catch any drips. Simply pour the glaze over the top of the cake, and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the top just to the edges so that it runs down the sides of the cake in long drips. Refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes to allow the glaze and frosting to set completely. Remove about 1 hour before serving.

Peanut Butter Frosting
Makes about 5 cups

10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably a commercial brand (because oil doesn’t separate out)

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Glaze
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

8 ounces seimsweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup half-and-half

1. In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over simmering water, combine the chocolate, peanut butter, and corn syrup. Cook, whisking often, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

2. Remove from the heat and whisk in the half-and-half, beating until smooth. Use while still warm.

Crash Hot Potatoes

This is another recipe from the Pioneer Woman. I've seen a number of bloggers raving about this recipe so I knew I wanted to try it eventually. Recently when we've had potatoes, I've just been cutting them into quarters, adding some olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary and roasting. We really like them that way but it's good to break out of a rut and try something new. Final reviews? Shane liked these better than our usual potatoes, and while I liked them, I didn't enjoy them as much as our roasted potatoes. The outside just wasn't crispy enough for me but I will definitely make these again and see if I can improve on the result.

Crash Hot Potatoes
from Pioneer Woman Cooks

new potatoes (or other small potatoes)
olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper
rosemary (or other desired herb)






Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them until they are fork-tender.

On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil. Place tender potatoes on the baking sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.

With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, then rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again. Brush the top of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.

Sprinkle potatoes with kosher salt, black pepper and fresh chopped rosemary (or whatever herb you have available - I used dried rosemary).

Bake at 450 F for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

So Many Posts, So Little Time...

I have fallen behind on posting. I have a backlog of about 7 or 8 things I need to get up on the blog so I'm going to try to get multiple posts up tonight. This first one is going to be carrot cupcakes. I made these a few weeks ago for our neighbor's baby's birthday. We were both out in our yards and our neighbor mentioned that she was going to make some cupcakes for her son's birthday but couldn't find the cake mix she bought. I offered to make some cupcakes from scratch.....it was his first birthday and all! She's not a huge baker so she was thrilled by the prospect of homemade cupcakes.

We decided to go with carrot cupcakes which I was excited about because I'd seen this cool recipe/technique I wanted to try! The thing I like least about baking is all the dishes I have to do when I finish, so this recipe, which can be made entirely in the food processor, was right up my alley. It basically uses an emulsion technique and resulted in some really moist and delicious cupcakes! These were so good! I must confess that we frosted these with store bought frosting as my neighbor had her heart set on her Duncan Hines buttercream. Next time I make these (and I will make them again - and soon!!) I will absolutely try the maple cream cheese frosting
suggested.















Carrot Cupcakes
from Nook & Pantry

1 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 1/2 cup lightly packed finely shredded carrots (I used 2 carrots)
1/3 cup dried cranberries (or raisins or omit)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease them.

Shred the carrots on a box grater or in a food processor with a shredding disc, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together.

In a food processor or blender, blend the granulated and brown sugar with the eggs until thoroughly combined. With the machine running, slowly pour in the oil and continue to mix until the mixture has lightened in color and is somewhat thicker, about 30 seconds. Pour it into the dry ingredients and add the shredded carrots and dried cranberries (or raisins) and mix until no streaks of flour remain.

Divide the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 17 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake in the center of the pan comes out clean. Rotate the pan halfway into baking time. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and cool on a rack to room temperature.

Makes 12 cupcakes