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October 12, 2012 · 4:41 pm

Chocolate Covered Bat and Mummy Cookies

Mummy Cookies have long been a tradition for Halloween baking at our house. It is our only Halloween baking tradition. Until today! We have now added chocolate covered bat cookies to our short list of Halloween favorites.

I added mint extract to a chocolate cut-out cookie recipe and covered the cookies in a dark chocolate coating. These quickly became the adult favorite. Neither Brian nor I are a big fan of white chocolate. But a cookie that tastes like a Girls’ Scout Thin Mint cookie? Absolutely!

I used an orange gel icing for the eyes, but it didn’t set firmly. Next time I will use a bright orange melted colored candy coating to make eyes. I had a pale green colored chocolate that I thought would look nice, but it was too pale, so I went with the gel icing.

A naked bat ready to take the plunge:

These white chocolate covered chocolate mummies are still the kids’ favorite (except for Little A- I usually make a few vanilla mummies for him, and he picks the eyes off).

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For recipe and details on making Mummy Cookies, click HERE.

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RECIPE:

Chocolate Covered Bat Cookies

Servings: about 4 dozen
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2 ½ cups flour
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
10 Tbs butter, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tsp pure peppermint extract, optional
about 2 pounds dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
colored candy coating or frosting for eyes

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, and add eggs and peppermint extract. Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until just incorporated.

Divide dough in half and place on two large pieces of plastic wrap. Wrap dough securely in the plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1-2 hours, or several days.

When ready to bake, place dough on a new piece of plastic wrap. Press with hands to make a thick disk of dough. Place another piece of plastic wrap over dough and use a rolling pin to flatten dough to about 1/4 inch. Remove top piece of plastic wrap and cut out cookies with a cookie cutter.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes, or until dry to the touch. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to wire racks to cool.

Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave or in a double boiler (melt chocolate slowly). Dunk cookies into melted chocolate. Use a fork to turn the cookie over in the chocolate. Pick up the cookie with the fork, let excess chocolate drip off, and gently scrape bottom against edge of bowl. Place on parchment (or waxed paper)-lined baking sheets. Let chocolate harden. (TIME SAVING NOTE: You can also just use your fingers to hold the cookie and only dunk the top and sides of the cookie, gently scraping the excess chocolate off of the top of the cookie before placing it on the parchment paper) To make eyes, place melted candy coating in a Ziploc or pastry bag. Poke a small hole in the end with a toothpick and pipe eyes onto bats.

Makes about 4 dozen, depending on the size of your cookies.

Cookie dough recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Filed under Cookies, Desserts

Tagged as baking, bat cookies, Cookies, cut out cookies, Halloween, mint chocolate, mummy cookies, recipe

October 2, 2012 · 2:07 pm

Autumn Spiced Fall Leaf Cookies

Leaves are starting to change here in Pennsylvania, so it seems only right to reflect the changes outside with some multi-colored fall leaf cookies made with delicious warm autumn spices.

These cookies are actually easier to make than regular sugar cookies, because you don’t need to frost them. Colorful dough with a shiny glaze makes them beautiful all on their own. And much less sweet than a traditional sugar cookie.

I used a brown sugar cookie dough from Bake at 350 that is spiced with wonderful fall flavors like cinnamon, ginger and allspice. I like this dough for making these leaves because the dough doesn’t lose its shape as it cooks, so the cookies keep their sharp edges and leaf “veins” etched into the top.

To make multicolored leaf cookies:

Separate cookie dough into four portions. Place in Ziploc bags. Add gel food coloring (I like the Ateco brand) to bags and knead until dough is a uniform color.

To make multicolored leaves, place small balls of different colored dough on a floured pastry mat. Press with hands to flatten and fill in spaces. Roll gently with a rolling pin to flatten evenly. Make sure that the seams between the different colors are all sealed.

Cut out leaves with cookie cutters and place on parchment paper or silicon mat lined baking sheets.

Use a sharp paring knife to draw veins into dough.

Baking leaves plain will result in a rustic, matted look to the leaves:

For a shiny finish on your cookies, brush with a glaze (add a little almond or orange extract for a great flavor) before baking:

As you re-roll the dough, the colors take on more of a tie-dyed or marbled look.

These cookies are great fun for kids, and really taste great.

RECIPE:

Spiced Brown Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

Servings: about 3 dozen
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3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
½ cup sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices with a whisk to mix. (The amounts of spices given make a mildly spiced cookie. For a more pronounced flavor, increase spice amounts)

Using an electric mixer, mix the sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Dough will be stiff.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness. Cut out dough with cookie cutters and place on baking sheets. Bake for 9-12 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie cutter. Decorate as desired.

Yield: about 3 dozen cookies using a 3” cookie cutter

To make Fall Leaves:

Additional ingredients:
Gel food coloring (I used red, green orange and yellow)
Glaze:
½ cup water
½ cup sugar
2 Tbs ClearJel or cornstarch
2 Tbs water
1 tsp almond or orange extract

Prepare cookie dough and divide into four portions. Place in Ziploc bags. Add gel food coloring (I like the Ateco brand) to bags and knead until dough is a uniform color. Place small balls of different colored dough on a floured pastry mat. Press with hands to flatten and fill in spaces. Roll gently with a rolling pin to flatten evenly. Make sure that the seams between the different colors are all sealed. Cut out leaves with cookie cutters and place on parchment paper or silicon mat lined baking sheets. Use a sharp paring knife to draw veins into dough. Baking leaves plain will result in a rustic, matted look to the leaves.

For a shiny finish on your cookies, prepare glaze: combine 1/2 cup each water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; boil 2 minutes. Stir together ClearJel or cornstarch and 2 Tbs water; stir into pan a little at a time until glaze just begins to thicken. Return to a boil and cook 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in almond or orange extract. Brush lightly onto raw cookie dough (after cutting out and placing on baking sheets). Bake as directed above.

Fall leaves inspired by HGTV, as seen on Pinterest

Cookie dough recipe from Bake at 350

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Filed under Cookies, Desserts

Tagged as autumn cookies, baking, clear cookie glaze, Cookies, fall leaves, leaf cookies, recipes, seasonal, spiced sugar cookies

September 25, 2012 · 11:21 am

Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

This is a basic chicken salad recipe with a few extras that add a nice zing. Dried cranberries provide just the right amount of sweetness. Toasted pecans, which I always love paired with cranberries, add the perfect crunch.

This is a very adaptable recipe. I usually have shredded chicken in the freezer, so I often use that. But leftover roast chicken makes a really great salad. And you can’t beat the price and ease of pre-cooked roasted chickens these days!

You can use halved grapes instead of cranberries, but if you haven’t tried chicken salad with cranberries, it really is amazing. I have also made this with walnuts or slivered almonds. Be sure to toast the nuts first. This keeps the nuts from being bitter and helps them retain their crunch when mixed with the dressing.

Crumbled bacon is listed as an optional ingredient in the recipe below, but around here it is mandatory. My family always wants crumbled bacon sprinkled on the top of their sandwiches, but “Did you make bacon?” is a pretty standard question around here, regardless of what the meal is.

RECIPE:

Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad

Servings: 12-16
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4 cups shredded or diced cooked chicken (about 2 lb)
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 green onions, sliced
½ cup dried cranberries (or use 1 cup halved grapes)
½ cup chopped pecans (or use walnuts or slivered almonds), toasted
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
3 Tbs white balsamic vinegar (or white wine vinegar or lemon juice)
1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp dried dill (or tarragon)
¾ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
6-8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, optional

In a large bowl, mix cooked chicken, celery, green onions, cranberries or grapes, and toasted nuts.

In a small bowl mix dressing ingredients: mayonnaise, sour cream, vinegar, parsley, dill, salt and pepper. Pour dressing over chicken until salad is desired consistency. There may be a little extra, depending on how moist you like your chicken salad.

Garnish with cooked and crumbled bacon, if desired. Do not mix the cooked bacon into the salad. It becomes too soft and mushy. Sprinkle over individual sandwiches just before serving.

NoEmptyChairs.me

Triple Chocolate Nutella Zucchini Muffins

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We are still working on getting through the numerous monster zucchini that came out of our zucchini forest this summer.

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After a fall at a church young women camp, I spent most of the summer in this:

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I had spent a good portion of spring digging out old dirt and hauling in new topsoil to help rejuvenate our garden. The new soil made a huge difference and we ended up with zucchini plants that were almost as tall as me. I realize that at 5’2”, that is not a huge accomplishment, but for zucchini, I thought that was pretty impressive. Our garden is planted on a tiered hill, which was impossible for me to navigate in my new fashionable summer footwear. The plants were so tall that I had a really hard time getting my kids to wade through the jungle looking for squash. For some reason ratatouille and zucchini fritters (some of my favorites) were not a huge motivation for them to risk life and limb in the outback. However, when I switched to making zucchini brownies, pumpkin zucchini muffins and these chocolate zucchini muffins, I found I had ample volunteers!

And when they came across this little guy hiding out in the cucumber plants, they spent a good portion of the rest of the summer searching for living, crawling things in the garden.

If you still have zucchini that you are working your way through, these muffins, spiked with Nutella and chocolate chips, make for a great breakfast (especially for a couple dozen awesome teenagers at 6am!) or a much appreciated lunchbox addition.

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RECIPE:

Triple Chocolate Nutella Zucchini Muffins

Servings: 36
Print

3 eggs
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 cup Nutella
1 ½ cups brown sugar
½ cup buttermilk or kefir (or sour milk**)
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
3 ½ cups flour
½ cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp cardamom or nutmeg
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line regular muffin pans with paper or foil cups. Or use large Reynolds Foil 3 ½” baking cups (these are self-standing-just arrange on a baking sheet).

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil, Nutella, brown sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in zucchini.

In a separate bowl, use a whisk to mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cardamom or nutmeg. Add mixed dry ingredients to wet ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into muffin cups (fill about 3/4 full).

For regular muffins: Bake 15-18 minutes.
For large muffins: Bake 20-25 minutes.

Yield: About 36 regular muffins or 20 large muffins (made with 3 ½” baking cups)

**To make sour milk: place 1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar in a ½ cup measuring cup. Add milk to ½ cup line. Let sit 5 minutes.

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Filed under Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts

Tagged as baking, chocolate, muffins, Nutella, recipe, zucchini

April 18, 2012 · 11:14 am

Beachcomber Rainbow Cupcakes

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It’s Great to be Eight!

Especially when turning “8” comes with edible flip-flop adorned rainbow cupcakes.

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Earlier this month was my baby girl’s eighth birthday. Unfortunately, due to a bout of the flu on birthday party day, we had to postpone celebrating until last weekend. With these cute cupcakes, our Hawaiian luau was a great success!

We used this Vanilla Frosting Recipe to frost the rainbow-sprinkle-filled cupcakes. Buttercream or Swiss Meringue Buttercream would also work well. The swirl was made using a Wilton 1M tip.

How to make Rainbow Frosting

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Prepare frosting and divide into 3 bowls (or as many colors as you are using). Tint each bowl with paste or gel food coloring. Place each color in a separate piping bag (or use Ziploc bags). Don’t fill bags all the way. An easy way to fill piping bags is to place the empty bag in a tall drinking glass and fold the top of the bag over the edge of the glass. Spoon frosting into the bag. Rainbow Cupcakes 112-1

Secure tops of the filled bags using a rubber band or clip. You can secure them together or separately. Cut ends off of the bags. DO NOT put a piping tip on these bags.

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Place a large tip (I used a Wilton 1M) on a separate clean bag. Place your frosting filled bags into the empty bag with the tip. Make sure that the ends of the frosting filled bags go into the tip of the empty bag. Don’t fill the frosting-filled bags too full, or they will not fit well in the empty bag. You will probably need to refill the bags before you are done frosting all of the cupcakes. To refill bags, place the entire set of frosting bags (leave them inside the bag with the tip) in a tall drinking glass. Remove rubber band or clip. Fill each bag with an equal amount of frosting. Re-secure the ends of the bags.

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This technique also allows you to easily switch the frosting-filled bags to a different sized tip, if you want to create different effects on your cupcakes.

Happy Birthday Little J! Love you always!

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Filed under Desserts, Kids' Cakes, Tips and Tutorials

Tagged as birthday, birthday party, cupcakes, flip flops, Hawaiian, how to make rainbow frosting, luau, multi-color, rainbow frosting

March 13, 2012 · 1:39 pm

Indian Samosa with Mint Cilantro Chutney

Indian Samosa are delicious, but I find the homemade dough a little bit difficult to work with. So these are “Cheater Samosa” made with wonton wrappers. Be sure to use the small sized wrappers, about 4” squares.

Samosa are a fried Indian pastry, filled with everything from minced chicken or lamb, lentils, vegetables, or potatoes. The most common ones in the United States are Aloo Samosa, stuffed with a spiced potato and green pea filling.

The traditional triangular shape of samosa is easy to make when using wonton wrappers:

Working with one wonton wrapper at a time (keep remaining wrappers covered or they will dry out and become brittle), place about 1 Tbs of potato filling in the center of the dough.

Use your fingers to shape filling into a triangle shape.

Use your finger to slightly dampen all of the edges of the wonton wrapper with water. Fold the bottom edge of the dough up over the filling (it should overlap the filling by about 1 cm).

Fold the two sides of the dough down over the filling, creating a triangle (the top corners should meet, slightly overlapping, in the center of the bottom folded edge). The two sides should overlap about 2 mm in the center of the samosa and where they meet the bottom edge of the dough. Pinch corners to keep filling from leaking during cooking. Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers.

Stand each samosa triangle up on their bottom edge and press down slightly so that the samosa are self-standing.

To keep the samosa from sputtering while cooking and to help keep the edges sealed, let the water on the edges of the dough dry before cooking. This should only take 2-3 minutes. If you fry them in the order that you made them, the first samosa should be ready to cook by the time you have finished making the rest of the batch of samosa.

To cook, heat 1-2 inches of cooking oil in a skillet until hot. Reduce heat to medium and carefully place several samosa in the hot oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown, turning once.

Use tongs to remove cooked samosa from oil. To keep samosa from getting soggy while draining excess oil, place a wire baking rack (like you use to cool cookies) over a baking sheet. Place samosa on the baking rack while cooking remaining samosa.

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Serve hot with mint or other flavored chutney.

Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the samosa with the mint cilantro chutney, but you can see it HERE served with grilled chicken. Samosa are best eaten just after cooking, but they can be prepared ahead and reheated just before serving.

TO PREPARE AHEAD: Prepare and cook samosa as directed. Cool and refrigerate. Reheat in a single layer on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes, or until hot. (You can also refry the cooked and refrigerated samosa for 1-2 minutes to reheat.)

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RECIPE:

Indian Samosa

Servings: 12-18
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2 potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1 cup diced potatoes)
¼ cup onion, finely chopped
1 Tbs oil
½ tsp grated fresh ginger
½ tsp Ancho chili powder
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp garam masala
¼ tsp kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves)
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbs green peas
1 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs finely chopped cilantro (optional)
1 package small (about 4” square) wonton wrappers (12-18 squares)
Cooking oil
Mint Cilantro Chutney (or other flavored chutney), for serving

Cook diced potatoes in a small amount of salted water until cooked through. Drain.

In a small skillet, heat oil until hot. Sauté onion until soft. Stir ginger, Ancho chili powder, coriander, garam masala, kasuri methi, salt, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper into onions in the skillet. Cook for 1 minute. Add cooked potatoes to the skillet. Use the back of a wooden spoon or a potato masher to coarsely crush the potatoes. Mixture should be mashed enough to hold together, but not smooth. Stir in peas, lemon juice and cilantro. Remove pan from heat. If potato mixture is too dry to hold together, add about 1 Tbs of water and stir into the potatoes.

Working with one wonton wrapper at a time (keep remaining wrappers covered or they will dry out and become brittle), place about 1 Tbs of potato filling in the center of the dough. Use your fingers to shape filling into a triangle shape. Use your finger to slightly dampen all of the edges of the wonton wrapper with water. Fold the bottom edge of the dough up over the filling (it should overlap the filling by about 1 cm). Fold the two sides of the dough down over the filling, creating a triangle (the top corners should meet, slightly overlapping, in the center of the bottom folded edge). The two sides should overlap about 2 mm in the center of the samosa and where they meet the bottom edge of the dough. Pinch corners to keep filling from leaking during cooking. Repeat with remaining wonton wrappers. Stand each samosa triangle up on their bottom edge and press down slightly so that the samosa are self-standing. Let samosa sit for 2-3 minutes while heating cooking oil. This will allow the water to dry so that the samosa do not sputter when cooking.

Heat 1-2 inches of cooking oil in a skillet until hot. Reduce heat to medium and carefully place several samosa in the hot oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until golden brown, turning once.

Use tongs to remove samosa to a wire baking rack (placed over a layer of paper towels) after cooking. Serve hot with mint or other flavored chutney.

Makes 12-18 Samosa

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Mint Cilantro Chutney

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
½ of a small onion
½ – 1 fresh hot chili pepper (remove seeds if desired)
6 cloves garlic
1 tsp fresh ground ginger
3 Tbs fresh lemon juice
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp garam masala
¼ tsp ground cumin (or 1 tsp whole cumin seeds)

Using a blender, food processor, or mortar & pestle, blend all ingredients until finely chopped. Add water 1 Tbs at a time (usually about 2-3 Tbs total) until chutney is desired consistency.

Makes about 1 cup chutney

NoEmptyChairs.me

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Tagged as aloo, Appetizers, how to form samosa, Indian, mint chutney, potato, recipe, samosa, wonton wrappers