Archives for November 2014

Danish Butter Cookies (Klassiske Vaniljekranse)

November 24, 2014 By Katie 68 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 Butter Cookies(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

Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

November 16, 2014 By Holly 8 Comments

RICH, CHOCOLATE, MOIST, BUTTERY CAKE……I haven’t made this cake in years! When I first got my married my mother-in-law had gotten me a cookbook for Christmas and there was a Texas Sheet Cake recipe in it that I loved. I had forgotten about the recipe for a long time, then I was going through cookbooks to try and find an easy CHOCOLATE dessert to make for Thanksgiving and ran across the recipe. I decided that I better make it before Thanksgiving for a little taste test…..YUM!!

I also use the same saucepan for the batter and icing, just rinsing it out in between, so there are less dished to clean up. I didn’t add the optional pecans to mine either. I’m sure you have heard me say it before, but I don’t think nuts belong in baked goods, unless it’s pecan pie. My mother-in-law totally disagrees with me and puts them in EVERYTHING!!! :-)

Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake Recipe

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

Author: Holly

Recipe type: dessert

Serves: 16

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup water
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Icing:
6 tablespoons milk
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions

preheat oven to 350 degrees
grease and flour 10x15 pan
in large bowl combine flour, sugar, soda and salt
beat in sour cream, eggs and vanilla
in medium saucepan melt the butter on low-med heat
add the water and 5 T cocoa powder
bring to a boil then set aside and allow to cool for 5 mins
slowly mix in cocoa mixture to flour mixture on medium until well blended
pour batter into pan and bake for 20 mins at 350
Icing:
In medium saucepan combine butter, milk and cocoa
bring to a boil then remove from heat
stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until well blended (add nuts, optional)
spread frosting onto warm cake and let cool

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

Double Chocolate Pie Recipe

November 7, 2014 By Holly Leave a Comment

I LOVE Chocolate Pie, it’s up there in my top 3 favorites along with Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brownies! After you bake the pie the top will look bubbly, but don’t worry the ganache will cover it up. Every time I make this pie, it turns out great. It looks pretty and tastes even better.

The only thing that was a bit of a pain in the recipe is trying to add foil to the edge of the crust while it was burning hot. I though that even if I added it at the beginning, it would still be hot since you cook the crust a little before you add the filling. I guess I just need to get a pie crust shield and then there wouldn’t be a problem :)

Double Chocolate Pie Recipe

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 15 mins

Author: Holly

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 10

Ingredients

1 refrigerated pie crust or homemade
1½ cups sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 large eggs
¾ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

preheat oven to 350 degrees
put pie crust in pie pan poke with a fork
cover the edges with foil and bake for 10 mins.
in bowl whisk sugar, cocoa, butter, eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth
pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 45 mins.
check the edges about half way through, if they are browning too much add foil
when done cooking let cool for 30 mins. then add chocolate topping
topping:
in small saucepan heat heavy cream to a boil
remove from heat and add in chocolate chips and stir until combined
pour over the top of the pie and spread around
let cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
top with whipped cream

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.

Archives for November 2014

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