Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie - made January 9, 2020 from The Wholesome Dish

Trying to catch up from what I've made earlier but hadn't posted in chronological order. So I'm going back to early January when I was still cooking (spoiler alert: currently in my I-don't-feel-like-cooking part of the program).

I've always liked the concept of shepherd's pie: beef layer on the bottom covered by mashed potatoes on top. I don't eat it "outside", i.e. in a restaurant, that often because an authentic shepherd's pie often has vegetables like peas, carrots, sometimes beans, in the meat mixture. And picking those out of the pie makes the dish more work than it's often worth. But hey, when I make it myself, I can leave out the ingredients I don't like and only include what I do like, e.g. corn. I don't have any good pictures of this dish (ideally, it would be neat little squares with two distinct layers) but don't be put off by how it looks in my pictures. This was delicious. Even though it has two separate components and takes a little time to make, it's pretty tasty. Bonus that I already had those herbs and spices on hand, thanks to my past Penzey's orders.

Meat Filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 pound 90% lean ground beef
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1 cup frozen mixed peas and carrots (I left them out)
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (I used canned)

Potato Topping
1 1/2 - 2 lbs russet potatoes
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until softened.
2. Add the ground beef and break apart with a wooden spoon. Add the parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir well. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until the ground beef is browned, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the flour and tomato paste. Stir until well incorporated and tomato paste is incorporated with no lumps.
5. Add the broth and vegetables. Bring the liquid to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set mixture aside.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
7. Make the potato topping: place the potatoes in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, 10-15 minutes.
8. Drain the potatoes in a colander then return to the hot pot. Let the potatoes rest in the hot pot for 1 minute to evaporate any remaining liquid.
9. Add the butter, half & half, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mash the potatoes and stir until the ingredients are mixed together.
10. Add the Parmesan cheese and stir until well combined.
11. Assemble the casserole: Pour the meat mixture into a 9 x 9 baking dish and spread in an even layer. Spoon the mashed potatoes over the meat and spread into an even layer.
12. Place baking dish on rimmed baking sheet and bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Snickerdoodles from Just So Tasty

Snickerdoodles - made dough January 14, 2020 from Just So Tasty

This is a good, basic snickerdoodle recipe. It puffed up so promisingly in my oven while it was baking but then collapsed to a flattened state when I took it out. Now I expect a little collapse since I underbake my cookies but I wish they hadn't spread so much or collapsed so thinly.

I'm starting to figure out (finally) that it could possibly be baking at a higher altitude and that my oven doesn't get as hot as it should. I did buy an oven thermometer to check and I think my oven bakes unevenly. I need to do a little more testing but in the meantime, I'm starting to preheat it at a higher temperature than the recipe calls for and I keep it on an extra 5 minutes after it reaches the set temperature before I put the cookies in. We'll see if that works any better.

Or sometimes, it really is the recipe. Not sure of the case here. These were still tasty snickerdoodles but for a slightly thicker cookie, I'd probably still go back to my favorite recipe for snickerdoodles from Sally's Baking Addiction.

1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon

3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar until fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cream of tartar, baking soda and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
5. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the butter mixture, 1/2 at a time, just until combined.
6. In a shallow bowl, stir together the 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.
7. Form the cookie dough into golf-ball size balls, roll in cinnamon sugar and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 7-9 minutes or just until the edges are set and the middles no longer look raw. Do not overbake.

Butter Pecan Cookies

Butter Pecan Cookies - made dough January 20, 2020 from Bonjour Cuisine

This is similar to a Russian Tea Cake or the Buttery Tea Balls recipe I like to use in that it's essentially a shortbread cookie with toasted pecans. The main difference is that you roll these in granulated sugar before baking rather than powdered sugar after baking.

For some reason, this cookie seemed sweeter to me than the other ones even though, objectively, this contained less sugar. Weird.

It was good but I think I prefer the more traditional variety of a Mexican Wedding Cake, rolled in powdered sugar right after baking, to give it more of that melting texture rather than the sweet grit of granulated sugar. Regardless of which recipe you use, toast the pecans and let cool before using for optimum flavor.

3/4 cup pecans, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for coating
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and 1/3 cup granulated sugar, until light, about 1 minute.
3. Beat in salt, vanilla and flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl, just until dough comes together. Fold in pecans.
4. Portion into dough balls. Roll in granulated sugar and flatten slightly with bottom of glass. Evenly space on baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake until golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Cool cookies on wire rack.

Irish Potato Bread

Irish Potato Bread - made January 10, 2020 from Bunny's Warm Oven

This recipe happened because I bought a bag of potatoes from Costco for the mashed potatoes at Christmas lunch and still had more than half a bag left over. I've always liked potato bread from when my mom made it as a kid. But her recipe used those mashed potato flakes and I wanted/needed to use real potatoes.

I also like baking bread in my cast iron skillet because a) I don't use my cast iron enough and b) cast iron skillets make great crusty bread. I was also going for that rustic, homemade look, not a neat Wonder-bread-loaf style of bread. Rustic and homemade are definitely what I got with this recipe. It has the added advantage of being no-knead so it was easy to mix together and bake. I think I could've baked it a little longer though as the inside was a bit heavy and mushy. But, still, it was pretty good even warm and slathered in butter. What bread isn't?? Next time though, I'd bake it a little longer.

3/4 cup cooked mashed potatoes
3/4 cup raw grated potatoes, skins peeled, grated, drained
1 egg
1 egg white
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
3 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place the mashed potatoes and raw grated potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until well combined. Add the egg, egg white, grated Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, milk and oil to the bowl. Whisk until completely combined.
3. In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir to combine. Add to the wet ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms.
4. Lightly flour countertop, place the soft dough on top of it and knead 6-7 times. Gather the dough up and form into a ball. Place in an oiled 8-inch cast iron pan. Using a serrated knife, cut an x on top of the dough.
5. Bake for 45-55 minutes until golden brown on top.

Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sweetest Menu

Chocolate Chip Cookies - made January 12, 2020 from Sweetest Menu

This recipe is a slight departure from the regular chocolate chip cookie recipe in that it only has brown sugar and not granulated sugar as the sweetener. That (obviously) gives it more of a brown sugar/caramel flavor rather than just a sweet flavor.

As you can see, it also spread less. The addition of cornstarch makes for a softer texture but the edges crisped up just fine and still made for a chewy cookie.

I'll say this was good but it's hard for me to dislike a fresh, homemade chocolate chip cookie. Really.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
1 cup (190 grams) brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups chocolate chunks, roughly chopped

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and egg, beating until just combined; do not overmix.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch and baking soda. Add to butter-sugar mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Fold in chocolate chunks.
3. Form dough into golf-ball-size dough balls, cover and chill or freeze for several hours or overnight.
4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 360 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges are golden and middles no longer look raw. 

Browned Butter Salted Cowboy Cookies

Browned Butter Salted Cowboy Cookies - made dough January 17, 2020 from Lemons for Lulu

This is what I refer to as a "hearty cookie". Not only do they have the standard chocolate chips but they're also fortified by coconut and oats. Not a dainty tea cookie for sure.

But I deliberately chose them to send in the next care packages I sent for Soldiers Angels. You're going to see a lot of baking for those care packages from now on as that's how I'm trying out new recipes. I've actually baked more than I've blogged recently but many of those are recipes already up on my blog so I haven't re-posted them again.

This was a pretty good cookie if you like coconut, oatmeal and chocolate chips. It's pretty filling since it's such a substantial cookie (hence why they're good for mailing) so make them small if you wish. As always, I freeze the dough and bake from frozen dough so they don't spread too much. That also helps keep them thick.

1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
7 ounce dark chocolate chips
1-2 tablespoons sea salt

1. Melt butter in saucepan over medium high heat. Stir constantly, until melted, butter foams, brown bits form and a nutty fragrance arises. Pour into mixing bowl and refrigerate until butter solidifies but is still soft.
2. Cream butter with brown sugar and granulated sugar until fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until combined.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to batter, mixing until just combined. Stir in oats, coconut and chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Portion into golf-ball size dough balls, cover and refrigerate or freeze for several hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space chilled dough balls on baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of sea salt. Let cool on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes before removing cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cookie Butter Rice Krispie Treats

Cookie Butter Rice Krispie Treats - made February 8, 2020 from Mallow and Co

One of my guilty pleasures is Rice Krispie Treats. I don't make them that often because I'd eat them. Yes, Virginia, there is logic in that. I still remember when I worked at Yahoo!, they'd have these big blocks of Rice Krispie treats at the cashier checkout station in the cafeteria. More often than not, one of those blocks would be in my tray as part of my lunch. The block was so thick, it was hard to take a full-on bite. I had to nibble around it sometimes. But ask me if I minded. Heck, no.

But it had to be "homemade" Rice Krispie treats (I count whoever made it in the Yahoo! kitchen cafe as an extension of my home kitchen because they got it right). I tried the packaged ones at the store. Um, no. Too sweet (yes, the irony) and too processed-tasting. And, although there are all sorts of different varieties and flavors of Rice Krispie treats, I prefer them plain. Butter, melted marshmallows, vanilla extract and Rice Krispies. That's all you need.

But, I did spread my taste-bud wings to allow for the addition of cookie butter in these Rice Krispie treats. Because...cookie butter. And I wasn't wrong. If you didn't know there was cookie butter in these, you might not recognize the flavor or you might think it was just a really good Rice Krispie treat. It is because, once again....cookie butter. So easy to make and one of my fellow Angel Bakers from Soldiers Angels confirmed they're good to send in care packages and are a popular item among the deployed service members. So into the vacuum seal bags and USPS flat rate boxes these go. Otherwise I would've eaten the whole pan. No joke.

4 tablespoons butter
3./4 cup cookie butter
6 cups mini marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 cups rice krispies

1. Line 9 x 9 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. (If you want thinner treats, use a 9 x 13 pan like I did.)
2. Pour the rice krispies in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Melt the butter and cookie butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Once melted and whisked together, add the marshmallows. Stir until they are mostly all melted then stir in vanilla.
4. Once fully melted, take off the heat and pour over the rice krispies. Stir slightly to combine then dump into prepared pan. Spread into an even layer.  Cool then cut into squares and serve.

Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies

Chocolate Chip Treasure Cookies - made dough February 5, 2020 from Together as a Family

Unfortunately I have to confess I didn't love these like I thought I would. You have to click on the recipe title link to go to the original blog where I got the recipe. You'll clearly see from that blog's pics that mine didn't come out like hers. And her pictures are what sucked me in.

Don't get me wrong; these were still good. But they spread more than I expected and I'd wanted them thicker and more dense. I think part of the problem is I didn't follow my cardinal rule of chilling or freezing the dough first then baking from frozen dough. That helps with the spread issue.That was just greed on my part because her pics looked so good that I wanted to try the cookies as soon as I made the dough. My sin of gluttony was not rewarded in this case.

P.S. After I wrote the above, I did bake the remaining dough after freezing them. While they didn't spread as much, they still didn't look like the original blog pics from Together as a Family. If you like coconut, these are still good cookies. They're not as pretty as they could be. I always wonder if baking at slightly higher altitude is ruining my cookie game. Mine took over 15 minutes to bake to this state and they're weren't overbaked. They could've even used another minute in the oven.

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cups shredded, sweetened coconut
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder and salt; whisk to combine and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine sweetened condensed milk and butter. Beat together for 1-2 minutes or until completely combined and creamy.
4. Add the dry ingredients, mix to combine. Add coconut, chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Mix with wooden spoon just until combined.
5. Roll dough into golf-ball-size balls and evenly space on cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes (mine took about 15 minutes). If you want uniformly flat(ter) cookies, press bottom of glass in the center of each cookie while hot. Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Double Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies

Double Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies - made dough February 2, 2020 from Sugar and Soul

You might be seeing more cookie recipes coming up as that's what I've been baking a lot for the care packages I'm sending to deployed military service members as part of the Angel Baker team of Soldiers Angels. 

Now that I got a food vacuum sealer for Christmas, I've been making more and more cookies to put in the care packages since vacuum sealing will keep them fresh for the longer mailing time. For the two packages I planned on sending, I wanted to do a chocolate chip cookie palooza and did some of my tried and true favorites like Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies and Alton Brown's Chocolate Chip Cookies.

But I also tried out a new recipe for double chocolate chip cookies. It had the addition of chocolate pudding mix and past experience says that helps keep the cookies moist and fudgy.

This didn't disappoint. It doesn't spread much as I mounded up the cookie dough and froze them first then baked from frozen dough.

And as I always say, don't overbake. It's hard to tell when dark chocolate cookies are done so you do have to time these or keep checking them. They'll be done when the outside doesn't look raw anymore. Don't wait for dry fissures or cracks to appear in the middle. You might be past the fudgy stage by then. The cookies will continue to cool on the hot baking sheet and the chocolate will set when it cools. Be sure to cool completely so you can enjoy that moist, fudgy texture properly. 

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 3.4-ounce chocolate pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dark chocolate chips (I used all milk chocolate)
1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Cream together butter and both sugars until combined and fluffy. Add pudding mix, eggs, egg yolk and vanilla. Mix until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add in thirds to butter mixture and mix after each addition until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Portion dough into golf-ball size dough balls, cover and chill for several hours or overnight.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Evenly space dough balls about 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are set and middles no longer look raw. Do not overbake.
5. Remove from heat and let cool for several minutes before transferring cookies to wire rack to cool completely.