bakingclub

Grandma’s Split-Second Cookies

My title does not lie—these cookies are near and dear to me because the recipe comes from my grandmother. A while ago she wrote down several of her go-to recipes for me in a little journal—the first time she had shared most of these recipes, and now I am sharing this one with you.

These are my absolute favorites of my grandmother’s cookies, and I had never made them myself—I’d been waiting until the right moment. Which was a few weeks ago.

My Grandma must have the magic touch, because hers come out looking way more perfect, and I think they taste better too. But, these were still delicious and a definite crowd pleaser!

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Recipe

(About 50 1/2 inch cookies)

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• About 1/3 cup jam/preserves

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Stir together the flour, baking powder and sugar. In a separate bowl, blend the butter, egg and vanilla. Gradually mix them all together (grandma doesn’t specify wet to dry or dry into wet).
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured board, and divide it into 4 parts.
4. Shape each part into a roll about 13 inches long and 3/4-inch thick. Place on an ungreased bake sheet 4 inches apart and at least 2 inches from the edge of the pan.
5. Use a knife handle to make a lengthwise depression about 1/2 inch deep down the center of each roll. Fill the depression with jam (Grandma uses raspberry preserves but of course you can use any. I used orange marmalade and strawberry). 
6. Bake until brown, about 15-20 minutes. Cut into bars while warm.

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Tags: baking baking club food cookies split second cookies

Date: 04.09.12 Time: 17:37 PM
1 Notes Permalink

Irish Scones, or, Scones.

Many apologies for never, ever, ever blogging here guys. I was eating SUPER healthy all fall and winter and not baking at all, basically. I’ve decided to just post what I’m baking when I actually am, but readers are still welcome to submit “assignments” even if I don’t share recipes ahead of time.

A few weeks ago I finally entered the ranks of ultimate domesticity with my KITCHEN AID MIXER purchase. 

(Excuse overgrown bangs and other general awkward things going on here.)

I made cupcakes right away, but then didn’t use it for a few weeks until last night. In honor of this week’s Irish celebrations (I live in Boston and it gets a little wild here), I’m cooking a ton of Irish food this weekend, and kickstarted it all with scones. This recipe is based off of the Oatmeal Scones recipe in The Commonsense Kitchen, but I modified it and think it came off well!

Tags: scones food irish scones the commonsense kitchen baking

Date: 03.15.12 Time: 09:34 AM
3 Notes Permalink

Assignment 8: Oatmeal Pumpkin Bundt Cake

 The other night I wanted to test out my brand new bundt pan, and trolled around for a recipe that I had ingredients for. I also wanted to use up some leftover pumpkin puree, so this cake looked like it would be perfect for the occasion— Oatmeal Pumpkin Bundt Cake. I made some modifications to the original recipe, which I’ve put as the basic instructions below though you can certainly see the original instructions on DineandDish. 

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Recipe: Oatmeal Pumpkin Bundt Cake

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1/2 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
• 4 large eggs
• 1.5 cups canned pumpkin
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups whole wheat white flour from Trader Joe’s
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan (I use Pam Baking spray).
2. Place 1 cup oatmeal in a small bowl. Pour 1/4 cup boiling water over the oatmeal and stir together. Allow oatmeal and water to sit for 10 minutes.
3. Add sugar and butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat on low until light and fluffy.
4. Slowly add the eggs, one at a time, and continue mixing until well incorporated.
5. Add the pumpkin, oatmeal/water mixture and vanilla, mixing on slow speed until well blended.
6.  While mixer is still going on slow, add the flour, one cup at a time. Next, add the pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt. Blend until well incorporated.
7. Pour cake batter into prepared Bundt cake. Bake for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clear.
8. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes then invert onto a large cake plate. If desired, dust with powdered sugar.

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I felt like the whole adding already-made-oatmeal to the cake batter was kinda weird and didn’t necessarily…add much? I mean, other recipes allow you to just add the oatmeal as you would flour, without first wetting it…. so I’m not sure about the instructions. The cake turned out fine, but it was definitely difficult getting the oatmeal to mix in well since I was doing it all by hand and not with a mixer.

I used much less sugar than the originally recipe called for (am I crazy or does 2 cups seem like a lot? Shows you how little I’m baking lately, I guess), and the cake was still great. It honestly tasted more like a dessert bread than a cake though, so I think depending on your preference using more sugar might or might not be better. My other major alteration, using less butter (by 2 sticks!) seems to be totally fine—using a bit extra pumpkin puree makes up for that and saves a zillion calories.

Anyway, I now have way too much cake to eat and am positive I’ve gained  a pound since I made this cake. It’s yummy and spicy and because I made it lighter I had a slice for breakfast this morning. All purpose cake—what could be better? Cheers!

XO,

Sara

Tags: baking baking club pumpkin pumpkin oatmeal bundt cake bundt cakes cake

Date: 10.16.11 Time: 16:35 PM
11 Notes Permalink

Orange Cardamom Cookies

I love these cookies! They are so light and buttery. The warm flavor and delicate texture are made for each other. I particularly like that these are not overly sweet.

I followed the recipe exactly and didn’t run into any problems. They’d probably be excellent with other citrus zest/spice combos (lemon and ginger maybe?) as well.

Thanks for the great recipe!

Tags: food baking baking club cookies submission

Date: 10.06.11 Time: 13:58 PM
195 Notes Permalink

Assignment 7: Orange Cardamom Cookies

These cookies are delicious.

They come from a beautiful memoir of a chef that includes recipes—Maman’s Homesick Pie. My friend Jackie is doing a giveaway of the book which may be your only chance to win it before the October 11 publication—so make sure you follow her and enter to win!

Anyway, the cookies themselves are gritty from the poppy seeds, citrusy and light from the orange zest, and perfect for tea since they have a shortbread-like consistency. They’re a Persian cookie I’m sure I’ll return to time and time again. They were super, super, super easy to make, and I saved some of the dough and put it in the freezer as Chef Donia notes that the dough keeps well frozen for 2-3 weeks.

BUY this book. It’s a great read and the French/Persian/American fusion cuisine recipes are mouth-wateringly delicious sounding. I can’t wait to try out more of them!

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Orange Cardamom Cookies

Makes 3 dozen

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• Grated zest of 2 oranges
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

(abbreviated instructions)

1. Beat the butter. Add in sugar until creamed. Add egg yolk and orange zest and stir. Combine flour, salt, cardamom, and poppy seeds in a separate bowl and fold in. Form the dough into 2 logs, placing in parchment paper (or wax paper or tinfoil or whatever) and chill for 30 minutes.

2. Slice the logs into 1/2-inch thick rounds and place 1 inch apart on a nonstick pan. Bake 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees F until dough is slightly golden on the edges.

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Bake these cookies. Post your results. We’re waaaaaaiting!

XO,

Sara

Tags: baking club baking orange cardamom cookies cookies assignment 7

Date: 09.30.11 Time: 13:04 PM
151 Notes Permalink

Assignment 6: Zucchini Bread

Inevitably in the fall I have to make at least one batch of zucchini bread. My mom had her own garden for years and used to grow mammoth sized zucchinis… we had baskets and basketfuls so she used to make tons of breads, muffins, and quiches with them, roast them, and still have dozens to give to neighbors.

I decided just to look for a recipe online and pulled this recipe from allrecipes.com. I really love this website because you can see all the comments from users who have made modifications to the original recipe. So, without further ado, here’s the version I made last week in all its veggie glory. The bread turned out really moist, and it made enough for two mini loaves and 12 muffins. I still have some left as well as 6 muffins frozen!

Also, this recipe is a super easy one to modify to be vegan—simply use egg substitutes instead of real eggs et voila!

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Ingredients

• 1.5 cups Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat White Flour
• 1.5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1 dash of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup organic unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups grated zucchini

Directions

1. Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans (or pans of your choosing). Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, nutmeg and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, apple sauce, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

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Anyway, I’m changing things up about from how I was doing the blog last year—I may still post assignments before I do them myself, but obviously I’ve already completed this one. So, get your posts in whenever you can or whenever you bake and I’m sure we’d all love to see what you come up with—you can already see what I made!

XO,

Sara

Tags: assignment 6 baking baking club food zucchini bread

Date: 09.25.11 Time: 16:03 PM
6 Notes Permalink

Zucchini Alert!

GUYZ—I’m going to bake Zucchini Bread for the first time in foreeeeever pretty soon. 

So stay tuned!

Tags: zucchini bread baking bread

Date: 09.14.11 Time: 17:33 PM
3 Notes Permalink

PIONEER WOMAN FAIL (Assignment 5)

YOU. GUYS.

I made the assignment, and I absolutely hated these little cakes. I have no idea what Ree Drummond is up to, and this is my second recipe fail from her in a row! Frankly I don’t think this recipe was too complicated at all, so I really don’t think I messed it up—I just think the flavor is AWFUL and I have no idea at all why anyone would eat these lemony herb nuggets.

Now I have 11 of these suckers (after the first bite I threw out the twelfth)  and I have no idea what I’ll do with them, since neither Tom nor I plan on eating them and I can’t imagine offering them to my friends!

Anyway, the baking quest continues… after the last two recipes (that didn’t work out at all, clearly), I’m hoping what we go with next will be a brilliant enough success to make up for it!

Let me know if you make these (and if you like them? I promise not to make fun!) and how it goes… I know they won’t be finding a home in my recipe catalog, that’s for sure!

Happy baking,

Sara

Tags: assignment 5 pioneer woman baking bakingclub cake

Date: 05.07.11 Time: 16:10 PM
1 Notes Permalink

Assignment 5: Pioneer Woman’s Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon and Thyme

This week we’re doing another Pioneer Woman recipe that looks just scrumptious as the last but will hopefully come together a little better (at least for me). Ree mentions in her recipe for these suckers that she was enticed by the mysterious ingredients of these simple muffin/cakes/whatever they are. I am too.

(Photo via Ree Drummond)

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Recipe: Olive Oil Cakes with Lemon and Thyme

Prep Time: 15 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 20 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon Melted Butter
• 1-⅓ cup Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Grated Lemon Zest
• 2 whole Eggs
• ¼ cups Olive Oil
• ⅔ cups Whole Milk
• 1 cup Flour
• ½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoon Minced Fresh Thyme
• —-
• FOR THE GLAZE:
• 1-½ cup Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice, Or More As Needed

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a muffin pan with melted butter and then dust with a little bit of flour.
3. Pulse the sugar and lemon zest in a blender until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, then gradually pour in the olive oil and milk, pulsing until emulsified into a thin batter, about 30 seconds. Don’t overblend or the cakes will be too puffy.
4. Whisk one cup flour, the baking powder, salt and thyme in a small bowl. Add to the blender in 2 batches until just combined.
5. Pour the batter unto the prepared pan and bake until the cakes just start to pull away from the sides of the pan and spring back when lightly touched, about 25 minutes depending on your oven.
6. In the meantime, make the glaze: whisk the powdered sugar, melted butter and lemon juice until smooth, adding more lemon juice if too thick. Drizzle over the cooled cakes and garnish with a thyme sprig.

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Due date: Saturday, May 14! 

Happy baking!

Sara

Tags: baking baking club the pioneer woman ree drummond

Date: 05.02.11 Time: 11:05 AM
6 Notes Permalink

The smell of disaster.

My bread smelled soooo good, wafting through the apartment. And so little did I suspect what a complete and utter failure I had created!

Yes, this was my finished product. Weirdly crispy on the edges, a bit too salty, and looking like a pile of something no one should eat.

Granted, I didn’t follow the instructions perfectly, and suspected I might have a mistake on my hands when it came out of the oven. I accidentally dripped with olive oil and salted before letting it rise for an hour pre-baking. I also forgot to cover with plastic wrap! Bad baker! I presume my problem lies therein, but don’t know for sure.

What I do know is that my “focaccia bread” got dumped in the trash unfortunately! Tsk tsk, Pioneer Woman, for making believe this would be the easiest recipe ever. I don’t think it was just me—but some combination of the not actually very lucid instructions along with my lack of experience in bread baking (and anything involving yeast).

Anyway, I am disheartened and won’t be trying my hand at any breads for a while probably!

 Love,

Sara

Tags: baking bakingclub bread assignment 4

Date: 04.25.11 Time: 13:38 PM
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