Katie – Page 38

Christmas Tree Spritz Cookies

December 4, 2014 By Katie 14 Comments

Buttery, Sugary Christmas Tree Spritz Cookies!

These are my favorite Christmas Cookies! Every Christmas Eve we make these Christmas Cookies. When I was young I used to make them in the afternoon then take them over to my Grandma’s house because it was a family tradition to spend Christmas Eve there. Then of course we would leave some of these cookies out for Santa when we got home later that night.

It’s funny my Dad never did a lot of baking but for some reason he’s the one that taught me how to make these. I was probably 8 or 9 years old when he first taught me how to make them. As a matter of fact my 8 year old niece made this batch with me, she had a lot of fun learning how to make them. When we were halfway through I asked her if she wanted me finish making the rest & she quickly replied with a “No”. So she made all of them & I think she did a great job with them!

These cookies are simple to make. You will need a cookie press to make them & the tree pattern disc. Be careful that you push out enough dough for each tree or it will not stick to the cookie sheet like it should. If the dough is giving you problems you could try chilling it for 20 minutes or so in the refrigerator. I never have any trouble with mine coming out nicely but I know some people do. A whole batch makes about 4 cookie sheets worth of cookies depending on how big of trees you make. I forgot to count how many it made but it makes a lot!

If your looking for a cookie press Amazon has the Oxo Good Grips Cookie Press & the Wilton Cookie Press both come with a tree pattern disc.

Christmas Tree Spritz Cookies

Prep time

8 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

16 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened (I used salted)
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
¼ teaspoon salt
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
a few drops of green food coloring
sprinkles for decorating

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix butter & sugar together. Stir in egg, vanilla, & almond extract (optional). Add flour, salt, & baking powder & mix well. Add a few drops of green food coloring & mix in.
Scoop dough into cookie press fitted with tree pattern disc. Press cookies onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Decorate with sprinkles.
Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. If you like your cookies soft then bake until cookies are set, if you want them crisper bake until edges are starting to brown.

This post contains amazon affiliate links.

Danish Butter Cookies (Klassiske Vaniljekranse)

November 24, 2014 By Katie 66 Comments

Danish Butter Cookies (Klassiske Vaniljekranse). Crispy, buttery goodness in each bite.

At Christmas time I was always a fan of those Danish Butter Cookies made by Royal Dansk .(amazon affiliate) You know the ones that come in a blue tin with several different shaped cookies in them? Some are sprinkled with coarse sugar on top & some are plain. I searched the internet looking for a similar recipe & I finally found one that I liked. However the measurements were listed using the metric system & the conversions didn’t come out evenly so I tweaked the recipe to make it work in the U.S.

This recipe is supposed to be close to a traditional Danish Butter Cookie. The cookies turned out crisp & loaded with butter flavor which was just what I was hoping for. I didn’t add any coarse sugar on top of the cookies but only because I didn’t have any on hand. These would also be cute decorated with colored sprinkles on top.

I piped the dough using Wilton disposable decorating bag with a Wilton 1M open star tip. My cookies turned out a little flat but I like them that way, if you want them a little thicker try adding 1-2 tablespoons more of flour to the recipe.

Danish Butter Cookies (Klassiske Vaniljekranse)

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

8 mins

Total time

13 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 35-40

Ingredients

1 egg
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 F. degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on low speed until well combined.
Fill a pastry/piping bag fitted with a star tip with dough. (I used a Wilton 1M tip).
Pipe the dough onto the cookie sheet forming a circle.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges are turning golden brown.

Recipe adapted from Travelling Foodies. (post contains amazon affiliate links)

Parker House Dinner Rolls

November 16, 2014 By Katie Leave a Comment

The Famous Parker House Dinner Rolls: the inside is so soft, tender, & buttery!

Have you ever heard of Parker House Dinner Rolls? They are actually named after the historic Parker House Hotel located in Boston, Massachusetts. The original Parker House Hotel opened in 1855. Not only is this hotel known for inventing the Parker House Roll but also for perfecting the Boston Cream Pie. I actually found this recipe posted on the Parker House Hotel Website. They share it as the original Parker House Roll Recipe.

For Thanksgiving it’s usually my family’s job to bring the bread & over the years I’ve tried several different roll & bread recipes. This recipe is by far my favorite. I knew there had to be a good reason as to why these rolls have been famous for a very long time!

I love how you can tear one open & easily butter the middle because of the split. The inside is so soft, tender, & buttery! These rolls are definitely Thanksgiving Table worthy.

I used a bread machine to mix the dough (for 10 minutes) but you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook or knead by hand. In the end you want a ball of dough that looks similar to the above photo.

You divide the dough into 2 balls. Then you roll out each one to form a rectangle (mine were more of an oval, I’ve never been great at rolling out dough ha). Then you want to slice each one into 8 pieces. I used a pizza cutter to cut the dough, you can also use a knife or pastry cutter.

Then it’s BUTTER time. You want to take your melted butter & brush the top of the dough. Then you fold each piece so it’s almost in half. (If you just fold it in half odds are your rolls with flip open while baking). To prevent the rolls from popping open in the oven you don’t fold then all the way in half, you leave one side about 1/4″ shorter. The shorter side faces down & the longer side faces up in the pan. I got the idea for making the rectangular shaped Parker House Rolls from King Arthur Flour.

After the rolls have been rising for 40 minutes they are ready to go in the oven. They wont be quite double in size.

Parker House Dinner Rolls

Prep time

3 hours

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

3 hours 15 mins

Recipe type: Bread

Serves: 16

Ingredients

1 cup very warm water
2¼ teaspoons dry active yeast (1 packet)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened - (1/4c. used for dough, ¼c. reserved for brushing)
1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour (maybe ¼c. more)

Instructions

Bread Machine/Stand Mixer with Dough Hook Method: Add very warm water & yeast. Then add 3 cups flour, sugar, salt, egg, & ¼ cup softened butter. Start mixing.
Check dough after 2 minutes. If it's too wet add up to ¼ cup more flour & continue to let it knead for 8 more minutes.
Shape dough into a ball & place in a large greased bowl, turn to grease all of dough. Cover with towel. Let rise until doubled in size. About 1½ hours.
Punch dough down & push dough in towards center. Turn onto lightly floured surface. Shape into ball. Cover with bowl for 15 minutes & let dough rest (so it's easier to work with).
Grease a 9x13" baking dish.
Divide the dough into 2 balls. Using a rolling pin or by hand flatten out the first ball of dough to form a 8"x12" rectangle. Melt butter & brush top of dough with butter. Cut the dough in half lengthwise, to make two 4” x 12” rectangles. Working with one rectangle at a time, fold it lengthwise to about ¼” of the other edge, so the bottom edge sticks out about ¼” beyond the top edge. (see photos above). Cut into 4 pieces to form 4 rolls. Now do the same with the other rectangle. Place in a greased 9x13" baking pan with the smooth (longer side) facing up.
Repeat for the 2nd ball of dough. You should end up with 16 rolls total.
Let rise for 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Brush top with remaining melted butter (you may have to microwave the remaining butter to melt it again after its been sitting).

Recipe source: Omni Parker House

Fudgy Brownies Recipe

November 10, 2014 By Katie 14 Comments

The New York Times Best Chewy Fudgy Brownies with a flaky top!

I love brownies! I know there are so many different kinds of brownies out there but sometimes it’s nice to keep it simple & just make a traditional brownie. I once read that a traditional brownie should be chewy, fudgy & moist (my favorite kind). So what makes a traditional brownie this way? Well the fact that it doesn’t have any leavening in it (like baking powder or baking soda) & it only has a minimal amount of flour. With recipes like this one you end up with a good old fashioned fudgy chewy brownie!

I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips for this recipe but you can also use the bittersweet chocolate baking bars.

Fudgy Brownies Recipe

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

40 mins

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 24

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
8 ounces (1 cup) bittersweet chocolate
4 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup flour
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions

Grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In microwave safe bowl or dish microwave butter & chocolate together until melted. I started with 30 seconds, stirred, then microwaved for 15 more seconds & it was fully melted. Cool slightly.
In a large bowl or mixer, whisk eggs then whisk in salt, sugars & vanilla.
Whisk in melted chocolate mixture. Fold in flour until just combined. If adding walnuts, stir them in. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until top is shiny & beginning to crack on top. Cool pan on rack.

Adapted slightly from The New York Times

Easy Cheddar Cheese Biscuits Recipe

November 2, 2014 By Katie Leave a Comment

An easy cheesy biscuit recipe from scratch! Makes moist, cheesy, tall biscuits.

When it comes to biscuits I am a huge fan! I have to admit though I have had many failed attempts at making biscuits. Sooo many of my batches in the past have turned out hard, dry, flat, & not tasty. I’m happy to say that I have two go to biscuits recipes now though & this Easy Cheddar Cheese Biscuit Recipe really is easy & one of my favorites! So if your like me & have had no luck in the past with biscuit recipes don’t give up! I urge you to give this one a try. It really is possible to make moist fluffy tall biscuits!

These cheddar biscuits make for a tasty appetizer & go great with soup & salads! I ate 3 warm biscuits practically straight out of the oven. Then later in the day I ate one when it was cold & it was still just as good. These biscuits grew nice a tall in the oven. They turned out soft, moist, & cheesy (my idea of the perfect cheese biscuit).

You can make half a recipe if you don’t want to make a large batch. Also if your not a big fan of salt you might want to cut back on the salt a little with this recipe because the cheese gives these a salty flavor (but I like salt so I’m not complaining).

Easy Cheddar Cheese Biscuits Recipe

Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

20 mins

Recipe type: Bread

Serves: 25

Ingredients

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon + ¾ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
2¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1¾ to 2 cups heavy cream
1½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Preheated oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or nonstick baking mat.
In a large mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, & sugar. Add salt, 1¾ cups heavy cream, & the cheeses & stir to combine. Then use your hands to finish incorporating the ingredients. If it's too dry add the remaining ¼ cup of cream. (It may seem a little dry but if all the flour is mixed in it should be good, you may have some crumbs left in the bottom of the bowl, that's ok).
Place the dough a lightly floured surface & gently pan down the dough making a 8x8" square that is 1" thick. You can pat in the edges to make them a little straighter if you want.
Using a floured knife cut the dough into 1½" squares. Place on cookie sheet about 1-2" apart. (You don't want them to be too close together).
Bake 15-20 minutes or until the edges are starting to turned golden brown. (If your using more than one cookie sheet, place the 2nd in the frig while the first batch bakes). Biscuits will continue to cook for a few minutes once they are removed from oven. Let cool for 5-10 minutes then enjoy!

Adapted slightly from Old-School Comfort Food by Alex Guarnaschelli.

Black-Bottom Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

October 28, 2014 By Katie Leave a Comment

Ever since I split a slice of peanut butter pie with my friends at a girls night I have been craving more. I have a recipe for a peanut butter pie that I really like but I was really needing something chocolate that day too, that is how this recipe came to be.

The peanut butter filling is rich and creamy and there is just the right amount of chocolate.

Again, I am lazy so I just used a refrigerated pie crust from the grocery store. I followed the directions on the pie crust box and baked it first, then made the fillings. This recipe was a big hit in my house and think I will be making it again for Thanksgiving.

Black-Bottom Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie