Pumpkin Biscoff Bar Cookies

Pumpkin Biscoff Cookies - made October 13, 2012 from Cooking to Perfection

If you notice I've been blogging more than usual lately, you'd be correct.  That's partly because I had some occasions where I needed/wanted to bring baked goods so I took advantage of having a captive audience (psst, guinea pigs) consume the treats to try out some different recipes.  And partly because we're entering the holiday season where I normally don't try out a lot of new recipes and instead stick to the tried-and-true ones so I need to do my experiments now rather than later.

This is another recipe I found on pinterest and I took some liberties with it.  Instead of making drop cookies out of it, the batter seemed a bit too soft for cookies and I was pressed for time so I made most of it into bar cookies.  I couldn't taste the biscoff flavor that much as the pumpkin tended to overwhelm it and I'm not sure baking this as bar cookies was the best choice.  The texture wasn't dry but it wasn't quite cakey and it wasn't quite cookie.  I'm not sure what to make of it.  So I did what any decent baker would do and I frosted it with cream cheese frosting.  While I'm not normally a frosting person, it did make these a bit better to me.  I kept the original directions for cookies below but if you want to make as a bar cookie, pour into a foil-lined 9 x 9 or 10 x 10 pan (depending on how thick you want the bars to be - I made mine in a 9 x 9 pan) and bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs and inserted at the corner comes out clean.  Mine took about 30-35 minutes but every oven is different so I prefer the toothpick test.

P.S. I did reserve the last of the batter and baked them as drop cookies.  Texture-wise, I think these are better as drop cookies than as bar cookies.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup cookie butter spread (Biscoff or Speculoos Cookie Butter)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Add butter, biscoff spread, and sugars to a bowl. Using a stand mixer or hand held mixer, cream ingredients for 1-2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Beat until ingredients are well incorporated. Add pumpkin and blend. Scrape down sides of bowl and make sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix until just combined, careful not to over mix.
4.  Drop large tablespoon size dough onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10-11 minutes, or until cookies are set (they should not brown). Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack and cooling completely.

Chocolate Cola Cake

Chocolate Cola Cake - made October 12, 2012 from mayflaum.com

There are some things you just know are going to be good based on the picture alone.  Click on the recipe title to take you to the original blog I got  this recipe from and you'll see what I mean.  That picture alone hooked me into trying the recipe.  I had made the Root Beer Bundt Cake from the Baked book before so I somewhat knew what to expect from a cola-type cake.  This one was along the same principles of using soda plus cocoa powder for the chocolate flavor.  It wasn't as dark a chocolate flavor as the Root Beer Bundt Cake but it had a nice touch of cinnamon similar to Diane's Chocolate Sheet Cake which I also like.

If you need a simple, crowd-pleaser cake to make when you don't have much time, this is a good go-to recipe.

One tip on the glaze: a lot of recipes like the one below call for sifting the powdered sugar to get out the lumps before you add to the liquid.  I find that more time consuming and still doesn't eliminate all the lumps after you combine the sugar and liquid (even sifted confectioners' sugar can clump when added to liquid). Instead, I strain the completed glaze after I mix it together for a smooth mixture.  Straining is more efficient and doesn't lead to overbeating the glaze which could happen if you were trying to beat out the lumps.  However, putting glaze through a strainer only works for this type of frosting that's fairly liquid and sets after cooling.  It wouldn't work as well for more traditional (thicker) frosting and that's where you may want to strain the powdered sugar first before using as it's not likely to clump if you're using a lesser amount of liquid ingredients that's typically called for in a thicker frosting like buttercream or cream cheese. 

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup coca-cola
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Mix together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon.
3. In a saucepan over medium high heat, add butter, cocoa powder, coca-cola, and buttermilk.  Stir constantly until it boils.
4. Remove from heat and add to the flour mixture; whisk until combined.
5. Add eggs and vanilla extract.
6. Mix until just combined, pour into prepared pan and bake it for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
7. Prepare glaze about 5-10 minutes before cake is done.  Pour warm glaze over hot cake and let cool.

Glaze
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup coca cola
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional)

1. Combine butter, cocoa powder and coca-cola in medium saucepan and stir to boiling.  Once mixture boils, remove and slowly stir in confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Then add in pecans, if using, and stir.  If your frosting has lumps, strain before using.

Also linked to Sweet Treats Thursday

Spicy Cashew Chicken

Spicy Cashew Chicken - made October 11, 2012 from Momma Chelle

You're probably going to see me post a few more chicken dishes because I bought the Costco pack of chicken breasts.  Which means there's enough to last awhile and I'll be cooking with and eating chicken until I start clucking.

Stir fries are the easiest thing to do and ranks right up there with slow cooker recipes so easy that even *I* can make them without too much mishap.  The key to stir fry recipes is having your mise en place.  Cut up the chicken, let it soak in the sherry/soy sauce while you mix up the sauce ingredients.  Heat up your oil, start frying and the rest comes together very quickly.  I'm happy to say I actually followed the directions and used all the prescribed ingredients to a T.  That hardly ever happens.  This was a good, basic stir fry and perfect to make after a workday and you need something on the dinner table quickly.

4 chicken breast halves, diced
1 tablespoon sherry
2 tablespoons soy sauce
¼ cup oil
1/2-1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
3 green onions, sliced diagonally
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup cashews, unsalted
toasted sesame seeds

Sauce
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
4 tsp sugar
2 tsp white vinegar

1. Combine 1 tablespoon soy sauce with the cooking sherry* in medium sized bowl. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces, put chicken pieces in soy/sherry mixture. Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. In a small bowl, whisk 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp corn starch, 4 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp vinegar. Set aside. Slice the green onions, and measure out the red pepper flakes and minced garlic. 
3. Drain chicken in strainer to get the marinade off as much a possible. Heat oil in a wok over high heat.  Add red pepper flakes to oil,stir a couple times. Add chicken all at once, let sit for a minute or two till golden,then turn chicken. Add garlic to chicken. Cook chicken till golden on all sides and cooked through.  Add cashews. 
4. Move wok off hot stove and immediately pour in sauce while constantly turning chicken over to cover everything in sauce. Sauce should thicken quite a bit, if you want it thicker put it back on medium heat for about 5-10 seconds, and stir. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds and add sliced green onions. Serve over rice.

    

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies - made dough October 9, 2012, recipe adapted from Sunday Baker

I've made chocolate chip cookies with vanilla pudding mix in them before and the hallmark of that kind of cookie is it makes a soft texture.  It's typically not as buttery as a more traditional Toll House cookie but it doesn't spread much, is a bit more cakey and generally still pretty good.  Don't overbake these or they'll just be dry little cakes.  Bake only until the edges are golden brown and the middles are just barely past shiny and not raw-looking.  They'll sink in the middle and will be moist.  These are best eaten the day they're baked when they're at their freshest.  When they start to stale, they'll easily taste more dry.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (3.4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding

2 eggs, room temp

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Stir together flour and baking soda in separate bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter, brown and white sugar. Beat in pudding mix until well blended. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. 
4. When smooth, slowly add in the flour mixture. This can take a little while, but make sure it's well incorporated into mix.  Do not overmix.  Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly brown and the middles are no longer shiny or raw-looking.  Do not overbake.

 

Candy Corn M&M Macadamia Nut Cookies

Candy Corn M&M Macadamia Nut Cookies - made dough October 7, 2012 from Something Swanky

I have a confession to make - I made these cookies last year but they failed on me so I never blogged about them.  This breaks my rule of blogging whatever experiment I try, whether they turn out or not.  My only excuse was I was baking a lot of other things at the time that I'd rather blog about, I don't like failure, and the failure was more my fault than the recipe's.  I first discovered it on Something Swanky's blog last year.  Her blog is so amazing and the recipes always look mouthwatering.  I've tried a few and they have always turned out.  So I was in denial that this one didn't.  The failure part was all mine though because instead of using Candy Corn M&Ms, I used actual candy corn.  Just so you know, when you bake actual candy corn in a cookie, it spreads, the dye color melts all over the cookie and when the now-deformed candy corn cools, it hardens into a sticky, chewy, nasty mess.  It was just wrong.  Epic fail.

First, let's acknowledge the fact that I don't like candy corn.  I like how it looks and I like the orange and yellow colors for fall.  But I don't like that overly sweet, processed sugar taste or texture. I bought some for this recipe and I wish I hadn't.  I really did go looking for the Candy Corn M&Ms but at the time I was looking, it was close to Halloween and either my local stores didn't carry it or they were sold out.  In other words, if Target didn't have any, I wasn't able to buy them.  This year, I saw the packages of Candy Corn M&Ms at Target early on so I invested in a package just for this recipe and to see if I could redeem myself.  Because I wasn't going to try that candy corn debacle again.

The main reason I'm trying this recipe again is because the cookie part (i.e. all the parts without the candy corn) was really, really good.  So I'm back it again, this time with the proper add ins.  This is one of the rare times I'll acknowledge shortening works in a cookie recipe, partly because the recipe also contains butter for flavor and partly because the shortening helps prevent spread and gives the cooled cookie a crunch that's normally missing from an all-butter cookie.  This was pretty good with the proper M&M Candy Corn add-ins and it also pairs well with the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
3/4 cup Candy Corn M&Ms
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

1. Using a paddle attachment in a stand mixer, cream together the shortening, butter, and sugar. Add egg and vanilla.
2. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix until smooth dough forms. Do not overbeat.
3. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in the macadamia nuts, M&Ms, and white chocolate chips.
4. Scoop by the tablespoon, and bake at 375º for 9 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet. (Note: I always form the cookie dough into dough balls and chill or freeze them a minimum of several hours or overnight before baking.)

Pumpkin Poppers

Pumpkin Poppers - made October 8, 2012 from Just The Little Things

This is one of those recipes I saw on pinterest where the picture alone just sucks me in and it gets pinned immediately so I don't lose sight of it and can make it when it's time.  And it's time.  This is very reminiscent of the Apple Cinnamon Bites I've made before that I thought were delicious.  Because anything dipped in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar has some serious game.

This is super easy to throw together - you can mix it up while your oven is preheating and be ready to put the first batch in immediately after.  I skipped the ground cloves and allspice called for in the recipe as I don't like to have too many spices in my pumpkin baked goods; cinnamon and nutmeg are all I mostly prefer.  For the first batch, I only dipped the tops in the melted butter and rolled them in the cinnamon sugar mixture.  You can roll the whole thing but I prefer the coating in moderation.  This was really good, especially when eaten warm. It's like eating little pumpkin donut holes dusted with cinnamon sugar without the fuss of a yeasted dough and deep frying.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup milk

Coating
1 stick unsalted butter, melted (I used less, about 1/2 stick)

2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and spray mini muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine flour, baking powder,salt, and spices in a bowl and whisk until combine.
3. In another bowl, mix oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk.  Pour in flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Fill mini muffin tins until almost full and bake 10-12 minutes. 
4. Melt butter in small bowl.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate small bowl.  After poppers have cooled for a few minutes, dip them in the butter and roll them in the sugar mixture.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Pumpkin Bread Pudding - made October 7, 2012 from King Arthur Flour

Okay, as promised, my baking experiments are turning to more of an autumn theme.  I've had this recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding in my "Still Need to Make" folder since at least last year, maybe even longer, when I saw it from the King Arthur Flour website.  While I've become a recent convert to bread pudding and a recent convert to all things pumpkin (except for pumpkin pie), I was a little leery about trying this one out just in case it was more the texture of the pumpkin pie rather than a bread pudding.

There's an awful lot of custard mixture and I was tempted to cut it in half and use 2/3 of the bread called for.  But some of my problems with bread pudding in the past have been I didn't use enough of the custard mixture and my bread pudding would be a bit dry and seem more like French toast than bread pudding.  So I remained faithful to the original recipe and used all the ingredients in the proper amounts.  And it really does make a big bowl of custard.  I couldn't help but add just a few more ounces of bread than the recipe called for as I was too afraid of having a custard than a bread pudding.

This turned out pretty well.  Bread pudding doesn't look pretty but it tastes good.  The pumpkin flavor was more subtle than I expected but still good.  Although the original recipe recommends serving it warm, this actually tasted better the next day rather than warm out of the oven.  When it was warm, it was a bit too gooey for me.  But at room temperature, it was great as the texture had firmed up and you can taste the goodness of the bread as well as the pumpkin flavor.  I probably would still cut back a bit on the amount of custard this makes or add more bread to it though.

6 large eggs
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
2 cups (16 ounces) light cream
1 cup (8 ounces) milk
3/4 cup (5 7/8 ounces) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
1/4 cup (2 ounces) rum, optional (I left it out)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons vanilla
8 cups (about 18 ounces) bread, cut in ¾" cubes (I used challah)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin, half and half, milk, sugars, rum, salt, spices, and vanilla, stirring to blend. 
2. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish or a 9" x 13" pan; if you’re going to refrigerate the pudding before baking, be sure to use a dish that can go from the fridge to a hot oven. Place the cubed bread in the dish in an even layer, and pour the liquid mixture over it. Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, or for up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. 
3. When you're ready to bake the pudding, stir it together to redistribute the custard; quite a bit of it will have been absorbed by the bread. Sprinkle with grated nutmeg, if desired; and bake in a preheated 350°F oven till set and beginning to brown, about 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream; garnish with minced crystallized ginger, if desired.

 

Better Than Takeout Orange Chicken

Orange Chicken - made October 7, 2012 from The Noshery

When I first discovered Panda Express many years ago, I couldn't get enough of their Orange Chicken.  Even now, although I've cut back drastically on "fast food", every time I go to Panda, I get the Orange Chicken.  I'm sure there are other things on their menu but I don't see beyond their signature dish.  Once again thanks to pinterest, I came across this recipe for orange chicken that looked reasonably easy enough for me to try so I did.  I wasn't consciously trying to make an orange chicken dish a la Panda Express.  But it turns out, true to its recipe name, this was even better than that.

The most important thing about this recipe is to make sure you have your mise en place ready.  I would put together the sauce first so you can boil it a bit longer and let it reduce and thicken before relying on the cornstarch to do the job.  Once you do the prep work of cutting up the chicken, getting the bowls of cornstarch, beaten eggs and panko crumbs ready, everything goes very quickly.  While your sauce is simmering, you can be frying the chicken pieces and by the time you get all the frying done, your sauce should be good to go.

This dish is best served immediately.  The panko coating on the chicken remains crisp even after you first pour the sauce over it and the taste is divine.  A true orange flavor comes out.  Best of all, the breading isn't very thick so you can enjoy more chicken than breading.  Thumbs up on the recipe from The Noshery.

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-1/2” cubes
1 ½ cups corn starch
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Oil (for frying)

Orange Sauce
1 ½ cups water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest, grated
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon ginger root, minced
½ teaspoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons green onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

1. Combine corn starch, salt, and pepper.  Prepare a bowl with beaten eggs, another with panko bread crumbs and another with corn starch. Dip chicken in egg mixture, dredge in cornstarch, then again in the eggs and finally in the panko bread crumbs, set aside.  Heat pan with vegetable oil to 375 degrees, fry chicken in batches until completely cooked.
2. In a large saucepan combine 1 ½ cups water, orange juice, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Blend well over medium heat for a few minutes. Stir in brown sugar, orange zest, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.
3. Combine 3 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and mix thoroughly. Slowly stir cornstarch mixture into sauce until it thickens. Pour sauce over breaded chicken, and if desired garnish with green onions.

 

Carmelitas

Carmelitas - made October 5, 2012 from Lulu the Baker

As someone who likes caramel a lot, it's surprising I don't make carmelitas more often.  Maybe because I've already tried different recipes for them and think they're all good so I don't go searching for other ones to try out.  Maybe because they seem "too easy" to make and I need more of a challenge.  But whatever the case, they're a crowd pleaser and I needed some for a crowd so I tested out this recipe from Lulu the Baker.

It's a basic carmelita recipe.  I did have to gauge the caramels as I don't buy the squares anymore and instead buy the caramel bits for faster melting and so I don't have to spend time unwrapping all those squares.  I ended up using the full 11-ounce package of caramel bits with the 1/2 cup of heavy cream and that might've made a little too much caramel and one that was a little too liquidy.  It firmed up okay when it cooled though so it worked out.  This was pretty buttery and gooey when it was still slightly warm.  I recommend making sure you bake the bottom layer long enough and don't underbake the whole thing either.  It'll still taste good but you won't get a texture contrast of a somewhat crisp top layer if you take it out too soon and the top oatmeal layer will be just as gooey as the caramel and melt-y chocolate chips.  That's not necessarily a bad thing so bake according to your preference.

32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

1. Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. 
2. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. 
3. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
4. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. 
5. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.

Slow Cooker Potato and Ham Soup

Slow Cooker Potato and Ham Soup - made October 6, 2012 from Saving Cents with Sense

We still weren't quite having cool fall weather when I made this soup but I made it anyway, maybe in the hopes that autumn weather would arrive.  Plus I love potato soup.  When Marie Callendars used to be nearby (it's been closed for awhile in my area), I would always order the potato cheese soup.  I love the creamy texture and it was comfort food all the way.  At Red Lobster, my guilty pleasure is the creamy potato bacon soup they serve in a toasted sourdough boule (little bread bowl).  Talk about cardo loading.  But it's so good.

Similar recipes on pinterest caught my fancy and I tried this one out.  I modified the recipe slightly to get the thick, creamy texture I prefer and added cheddar cheese to make it more of a potato cheese soup.  Please click on the recipe title above to get the original recipe.  To serve, I hollowed out a mini sourdough boule, toasted it in the toaster oven and filled it with the soup.

4 cups diced potatoes (I used Yukon Gold and Russet)
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can cream-style corn
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 cup diced ham
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Spray a slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.  Put all ingredients except the ham and cheese in a slow cooker.
2. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours (or 6 to 8 hours on low) or until the potatoes are tender.  30-45 minutes before the soup is done, remove 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the mixture (potato chunks, corn and all) and puree in a blender until a thick paste consistency.  Return to the slow cooker, add the chunks of ham and cheddar cheese and continue cooking.  Stir to incorporate the melted cheese into the soup.
3. Season with optional salt and pepper when you serve.