Dessert

Ingredients
¹⁄₂ cup butter, at room temperature
¹⁄₂ cup brown sugar
¹⁄₄ cup molasses, preferably unsulfured
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour

Instructions
1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and baking soda together until the mixture is smooth. Blend in the flour and mix to make stiff dough. Roll out into logs roughly 1-1 ¹⁄₂ inches in diameter.  Wrap with plastic wrap or foil and chill 30 minutes or until firm in the refrigerator. 

2. Preheat oven to 375*F.

3. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  (You can skip this and just use greased baking sheets, but I love parchment paper for baking.)  Slice logs into disks ¹⁄₄-¹⁄₂ inch thick and place on baking sheets about 1 inch apart.  (The cookies don’t spread out much.  The thinner you slice them, the crispier they will be.)  Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. 

4. Slide cookies and parchment off the baking sheet onto the counter to cool.

Note: With the substitution of Earth Balance (or other vegan “butter”) for the butter in this recipe, they become delicious and simple vegan cookies. 

Comments
This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies and I have no idea where it is from.  I found this recipe during last year’s cookie baking when Art requested a “hard gingerbread cookie.”  Not only do these fit that bill, but they remind Lance of cookies of his childhood so they’re a double win.  If you were feeling very creative, you could always roll the dough out and use cookie cutters to make gingerbread men or other shapes.  I, however, don’t own cookie cutters and prefer the sliced log method.  They’d look even prettier if I managed to make a round log instead of a lopsided square shaped one!

Unknown

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
¹⁄₂ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder (I can’t seem to find Dutch-processed cocoa at my stores, so I used Hershey’s Special Dark instead.)
2 teaspoons baking powder
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
16 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 ¹⁄₂ cups brown sugar, packed
¹⁄₂ cup granulated sugar

Instructions
1. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Place the chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted; set aside to cool slightly. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a medium bowl, sprinkle the coffee or espresso powder over the top to dissolve, and set aside.

3. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars at medium speed until combined; the mixture will look granular. Decrease the speed to low; gradually add the egg mixture, and mix until incorporated. Add the melted chocolate in a steady stream and mix until combined, scraping down the bowl and beater as needed with a rubber spatula. With the mixer still running on low, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overbeat. Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is scoopable and fudge-like, about 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 350*F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough into portions, each about 2 tablespoons, and roll them between your hands into balls about 1 ³⁄₄ inches in diameter. Set the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 ¹⁄₂ inches apart.

5. Bake two sheets at a time, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time, until the edges have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes; using a wide spatula, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Comments
This recipe makes around 3 dozen and is from The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook.  I chose it for my holiday baking project because I wanted to have a rich, chocolaty cookie.  This certainly fits the bill.  These cookies are a bit crisp around the edges, but ooey, gooey and fudgy in the middle.  Very delicious!  These would make perfect ice cream sandwiches.

I also learned, the hard way, that while a triple batch of some cookies will fit in my mixer all at once, a triple batch of these cookies will not.  Oops.

The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook

Ingredients
Cake
³⁄₄ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder plus extra for dusting pan
¹⁄₂ cup water, boiling
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or equal amount of chips
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups pecans or walnuts, chopped fine (optional)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
³⁄₄ cup light brown sugar, packed
2 ¹⁄₂ sticks unsalted butter, softened

Chocolate Glaze
³⁄₄ cup half and half
¹⁄₄ cup light corn syrup
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped, or equal amount of chips
¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 *F. Grease 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder.

2. Pour boiling water over chocolate in medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

3. Whisk cocoa, flour, nuts (if using), powdered sugar, and salt in large bowl.

4. Beat eggs and vanilla in large measuring cup.

5. With mixer on medium-high speed, beat sugar, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On low speed add egg mixture until combined. Add chocolate mixture and beat until incorporated. Beat in flour mixture until just combined.

6. Scrap batter into prepared pan, smooth batter, and bake until edges are beginning to pull away from pan, about 45 minutes. (Due to the fudgy center, testing the cake with a toothpick doesn’t work well.) Cool upright in pan on wire rack for 1 ¹⁄₂ hours, then invert onto serving plate and cool completely, at least 2 hours.

7. For the glaze: Cook cream, corn syrup and chocolate in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Stir in vanilla and set aside until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Drizzle glaze over cake and let set for at least 10 minutes. (Cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.) 

Comments
This recipe is from the 2007 Cook’s Country Annual and it is rich!  It was hard to finish the pieces I cut because of how rich this was!  The fudge center/layer was hard to see at first, but after a few bites it became clear that the cake had separated, leaving a delicious fudgy center in the middle.  It was absolutely delicious and I served it with vanilla ice cream on the side. 

Apparently this is the cake that is credited for the success of Bundt pans in America.  The original recipe was a Pillsbury contest winner and Nordic Ware quickly sold out!

Cook’s Country 2007

Ingredients
Cooking spray
³⁄₄ cup bittersweet chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup almonds, slivered
1 cup amaretti cookies (about 2 ounces)
¹⁄₂ cup butter, room temperature
²⁄₃ cup sugar
4 large eggs
Nutella, warmed in microwave

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350*F.

2. Spray a 9-inch springform pan cooking spray and place it in the refrigerator. Microwave the chocolate until melted and smooth, stirring every 20 seconds, for about 1 minute.

3. Combine the almonds and cookies in food processor. Pulse until the almonds and cookies are finely ground. Transfer the nut mixture to a medium bowl. Add the butter and sugar to the processor and blend until creamy and smooth. Add the eggs 1 at a time. Blend until the eggs are incorporated. Clean the sides of the mixing bowl and blend again. Add the nut mixture and melted chocolate. Pulse until blended. Clean the sides of the bowl. Blend again.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the center puffs and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes.

5. Transfer the cake to a platter. Frost with a thin layer of Nutella.  

Comments
This recipe is from Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis and it’s one of my favorites.  I can only find amaretti cookies at my local butcher which has some specialty Italian ingredients.

Everyday Italian

Ingredients
2 ¹⁄₄ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking soda
¹⁄₄ teaspoon white or black pepper, ground
¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground cloves
¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground ginger
¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks
¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350*F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or spray it with cooking spray. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Whisk the sugar, eggs, and yolks in a large bowl to a light lemon colour; stir in the vanilla extract. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the egg mixture, and then fold in until the dough is just combined.

3. Halve the dough and turn each portion onto the prepared baking sheet. Using floured hands, quickly stretch each portion of dough into a rough 13 by 2-inch loaf. Place the loaves about 3 inches apart on the baking sheet; pat each one smooth. Bake until the loaves are golden and just beginning to crack on tp, about 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place it on a wire rack.

4. Cool the loaves for 10 minutes. Carefully transfer the loaves to a cutting board. With a serrated knife, cut each loaf into ³⁄₈-inch-thick slices. Lay the slices about ¹⁄₂ inch apart on the baking sheet, cut-side up, and return them to the oven. Bake, turning over each cookie halfway through baking, until crisp and golden brown on both sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a wire rack and cool completely. (They can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 month.)

Comments
I wasn’t sure what to serve as dessert with my loosely Italian-themed meal, so I turned to The New Best Recipe for inspiration.  I found this recipe for biscotti and decided to give it a go.  All of the spices reminded me of pumpkin bread as well as chai and I was pretty happy with the results.  

Biscotti are very hard, so be sure to serve them with something for dunking.  We had coffee and green tea, but I think that a black tea would have worked really well with this spice combination and milk would have been nice as well.  Make sure that they’re completely dry before sealing in a container, otherwise the residual moisture will be damaging.

The New Best Recipe

Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup whole milk
6 large egg yolks
³⁄₄ cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
³⁄₄ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Instructions
1.  In a medium saucepan, gently warm 1 cup of heavy cream, milk, sugar, and salt, until the sugar has dissolved. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warmed mixture and add the bean as well. Cover the saucepan, remove from heat, and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, pour the remaining cup of heavy cream into a large bowl and set a strainer on top. Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl (one that can fit the bowl with the 1 cup of heavy cream) with ice and water.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.

4. Slowly pour the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Then carefully pour the mixture back into the saucepan.  

5. Set the saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. Heat until the custard thickens. When it’s ready it will coat the back of the spoon and when you draw your finger across it, it should leave a definitive trail.

6. Pour the custard through the strainer, into the heavy cream. Stir the cream and custard to incorporate. Take the bean from the strainer and add it to the final mixture. Add the vanilla extract.  

7. Put the bowl into the ice bath, and stir until the mixture has cooled.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a lid) and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.  I recommend chilling it overnight.  

8. Freeze the ice cream according to your ice cream machine’s instructions.  (Mine, which is a Cuisinart, takes about 20-30 minutes.)  

9. If you prefer soft serve, eat at this point.  Otherwise freeze until hardened, about 3-4 hours.  

[photo forthcoming]

Comments
This is the ice cream base from the delicious Stracciatella recipe.  It’s fantastically rich and just about the perfect vanilla ice cream, in my opinion!

Unknown

Ingredients
For the Crust
³⁄₄ cup graham cracker crumbs
¹⁄₂ cup pecans, finely chopped (Replace these with additional graham cracker crumbs if serving someone with a nut allergy)
¹⁄₄ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
¹⁄₄ cup white sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the Filling
1 ¹⁄₂ cups pumpkin (Not pumpkin pie filling)
3 large eggs
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons cinnamon
¹⁄₂ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground ginger
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
3 (8 ounces each) packages cream cheese, cut into bits and softened
¹⁄₂ cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions
1. Make the crust: In a bowl combine the cracker crumbs, the pecans, and the sugars, stir in the butter, and press the mixture into the bottom and ¹⁄₂ inch up the side of a buttered 9-inch springform pan. Chill the crust for 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350*F.  

3. Make the filling:  In a bowl whisk together the pumpkin, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and brown sugar. In a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and the white sugar, beat in cream, cornstarch, vanilla, and the pumpkin mixture, and beat the filling until it is smooth.

4. Pour the filling into the crust, bake the cheesecake in the middle of the oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the center is just set.  Let the cheesecake cool in the pan on a rack and chill it, covered, overnight. Remove the side of the pan and serve.  

Comments
I’m not entirely sure where I found this recipe, I’m sure it was online somewhere.  Pumpkin pie is one of those things that I love in theory, but in actuality it’s never that fantastic.  This has all the best aspects of a cheesecake combined with the parts of pumpkin pie I do like, and the results are delicious.  The tang of the cream cheese and the lightness of cheesecake combine very well with the flavors of pumpkin and pie spices.  

I make the crust without nuts so that there is at least one dessert Lance is able to eat.

Shown here with Pecan Pie.

Unknown

Ingredients
1 cup all purpose flour
³⁄₄ teaspoon baking powder
¹⁄₂ teaspoon baking soda
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
14 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 cup granulated sugar
¹⁄₄ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¹⁄₂ cups old-fashioned rolled oats

Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350*F. Line 1-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl.

2. In standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars at medium-low speed until just combined. Increase speed to medium and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes longer. Scrape down bowl with rubber spatula.

3. Add egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low until fully incorporated. Scrape down bowl again. With mixer running at low speed, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated and smooth. With mixer still running on low, gradually add oats and mix until well incorporated. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

3. Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons (or use a #30 cookie scoop), then roll between palms into balls. Place cookies on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 ¹⁄₂ inches apart, 8 dough balls per sheet. Using fingertips, gently press each dough ball to ³⁄₄-inch thickness. (I find that if I use the #30 disher, I do not get quite 24 cookies per batch.  If this matters to you, don’t use the disher.)  

4. Bake 1 sheet at a time until cookies are deep golden brown, edges are crisp, and centers yield to slight pressure when pressed, 13-16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely on sheet.  
Note: If reusing a baking sheet, allow cookies to cool 15 minutes on the sheet before removing.

Comments
This recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated and it is everything I want in an oatmeal cookie.  I am not a huge fan of raisins and it is always so hard for me to find a recipe that doesn’t call for them.  I know I could just omit them, but it’s not the same.  These, however, are amazing and perfect.  They’re buttery, crispy, full of delicious oatmeal flavor, and simply perfect.  

I admit that I’m not sure if some of the more finicky parts of this recipe are necessary, like only baking one sheet at a time, but I haven’t bothered to experiment.  I trust Cook’s Illustrated.  What I don’t trust is the yield for this recipe.  I sextupled the recipe and it should have yielded 144 cookies but only gave me 116 with my #30 disher method.  But that’s okay, since they’re very large.

Cook’s Illustrated

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
¹⁄₂ cup powdered sugar
1 cup cold butter or margarine
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
6 ounces Skor or Heath bars, chopped
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F (325*F for glass dish).

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Press firmly on bottom of ungreased 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake 20-25 minutes.  

3. In another bowl, beat condensed milk, egg and vanilla. Stir in pieces of Skor bars and pecans. Spread evenly over baked crust.

4. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and chill thoroughly before cutting into pieces.  Store in refrigerator.  Eat.  

Comments
Years ago, one of Art’s coworkers brought these bars into a holiday function at work.  He knew that I would love them and brought me home the recipe a few days later.  I made them the next week and, sure enough, loved them and love them still.  When I don’t want to go through the time intensive process of making proper pecan pie, these are a quick and easy almost-substitute.

Unknown

Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₃ cup sugar
5 cups raw, unsalted nuts in large pieces (Whole almonds, walnut halves, or pecan halves work well)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 300*F. Generously spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. (I used a sheet of aluminum foil on the baking sheet and sprayed that with cooking spray to make for easier cleanup.)

2. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat well with a fork of whisk. Add the vanilla, cinnamon, salt and ¹⁄₃ cup sugar, and beat until blended.

3. Add the nuts and stir until they are thoroughly moistened. Let stand 5 minutes.

4. Transfer the nuts, plus any remaining liquid, to the prepared baking sheet, and push together into a single layer, so the nuts are touching, but not piled vertically. (It should be one large, flat mass.)

5. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 15 minutes, then use a spatula to scrape the nuts and their coating from the bottom of the baking sheet, and rearrange everything, so nothing is sticking and the nuts get moved around a bit for even cooking.

6. Bake another 15 minutes, and then remove from the oven. If your taste runs sweet, you can sprinkle the nuts with 1 to 2 teaspoons additional sugar while they are still hot and on the baking sheet. Let the nuts cool completely on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a container with a lid for storage or just transfer them into your mouth.  

Comments
Being a fan of Mollie Katzen I recently picked up a copy of Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less which includes recipes that she contributed.  I found this recipe for spiced nuts and thought it would be great for an appetizer at a Game Day.  

I made the recipe with a mix of pecans and almonds.  Both were delicious but I think I might stick just to the pecans next time since the pecans were just transcendent.  

I get some spiced nuts at the Ren Faire every year and, while I like them quite a bit, I find them to be a bit too sweet.  The candy aspects tend to outweigh the nut characteristics that I enjoy.  This recipe had a nice, light coating.  It had the right amount of flavor and I’m extremely pleased with how they turned out.  

Sadly, I forgot to take a picture and they were all gone by the time I remembered.  I have a feeling I’ll be making them again.  Maybe for the holidays!

Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less