Snickerdoodles

I’ve always been a fan of snickerdoodles. I don’t know why. I guess it’s the cinnamon sugar coating that does it for me. All this time I’ve had this blog, I’ve never made these, although I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while already. These came out really nice. They had a light and airy consistency to them. The center was nice and chewy, and the cinnamon sugar was just the right touch.

I made these as part of our holiday cookies for coworkers. These were a big hit with my coworkers as well. I was surprised as to how many people said their favorite were snickerdoodles.

I didn’t change a thing with the recipe itself. Why mess with such a high rating recipe right? I did grease the cookie sheets though, even though the instructions said ungreased. I did get slightly less using my cookie scoop, 45 cookies vs. the 48 the original recipe stated.

I also don’t recommend subbing the shortening for butter, as it might flatten the cookies. I think the shortening plays an important part in the crackling of the cookies, as I’ve mentioned here. If you don’t have cream of tartar, you can sub 2 tsp of white vinegar or lemon juice for each tsp of cream of tartar (in this case, you would use 4 tsp). Also, watch the cookies closely, as they easily burn.

*Of course I can’t read and I now noticed that I used equal parts cinnamon and sugar for dipping (2 TBSP each!). I thought the cinnamon sugar coating looked dark, and there was just enough to coat all the cookies too. I don’t think this is a big issue, but I will try to use the correct ratio next time though.

Last post of 2010! See you next year! I hope next year, I’ll have more time to cook and post.

Snickerdoodles
source: allrecipes.com

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

directions:
Preheat oven to 400° F (200 degrees C).

Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop out round balls and dip into the cinnamon sugar. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies. Store at room temperature.

Oreo Cheesecake Bars

Oreos and cheesecake. What could be more decadent? I decided to make these brownie bars for our Christmas dessert. It was sort of similar to the pumpkin swirl cheesecake bars that I liked so much, so I figured, why not with chocolate and Oreos! These were definitely dense and oh so decadent.

I wasn’t sure what dark cocoa powder was, so I assumed it was dutch process cocoa. I reduced this by 1/4 cup, since I thought 1/2 cup was a bit much. I’ve had recipes that call for 1 TBSP and it still comes out very chocolaty. I also reduced it because Jen mentioned the batter seemed thick. I was thinking to myself as I was pouring, OK, I guess the batter doesn’t seem so thick, since I reduced the amount of cocoa powder. That’s when it dawned on me that the Oreos weren’t in there!! The bag of chopped Oreos I had ready for the batter was still sitting there on the counter, staring me in the face! I ended pouring it over the mixture and mixing it in as best as I can. That’s why mine isn’t nicely layered like the source recipe.

Despite the mishaps, it still came together very nicely. Definitely worth trying again, as long as I remember to add the Oreos!

Oreo Cheesecake Bars
adapted from: Beantown Baker

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup dutch process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped Oreo cookies (about one row from a package)

directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour an 8x8 baking pan. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Whisk until combined and set aside.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Whisk in sugar and bring to a boil, whisking frequently; boil for 1 minute. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract, until well combined, about 1 minute.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, until combined. Whisk in melted butter-sugar mixture until well combined. Stir in flour mixture until just combined, followed by Oreo cookies.

Spread half of brownie batter into baking dish, followed by cream cheese layer; dot the top with remaining brownie batter, and spread evenly, as best as you can. Run a knife through batter to make "swirls".

Bake for 23-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out semi clean (there will be residue from the melted cookies).

Cool on a wire rack to room temperature before slicing. For easier slicing, try freezing the brownies for 30-60 minutes.

Makes about 16 squares (more or less depending on how big you want to cut them)

Chewy Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Another recipe my sister brought over was for a chocolate cherry cookie. It was  a nice concept, but I’m not too fond of cherries in recipes. I do eat cherries by itself. I also didn’t want to buy dried cherries to use in just one recipe. I suggested using cranberries instead, since I can at least use those in a recipe later on, or as my niece did (while we were baking away) eat it out of the bag.

These came out very nice. The cookie had a slight crisp edge with a chewy center. I think many of my cookies were coming out too crispy that day because my oven was running hot. There was a lot going on, so a few things got over baked…not like the recipients cared too much of course! Also, I usually don’t use spoon the flour into a cup to measure. I scooped out a cup of flour and started pouring it into a bowl on a scale. A packed cup of four was about 1-2 TBSP more than a spooned cup.

I noticed the recipe didn’t call for too much sugar to begin with. In the end I noticed it was a Cooking Light recipe. That’s perfect for those who don’t want to over indulge or feel guilty for eating too many treats during the holidays!

Chewy Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
adapted from: Cooking Light, via myrecipes.com

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1  cup  all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
1/3  cup  unsweetened cocoa
1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1  cup  sugar
1/3  cup  butter, softened
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
1  large egg
2/3  cup  dried cranberries
3  tablespoons  semisweet chocolate chips

directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Spray cookie sheets with cooking spray.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup (or weigh on a scale); level with a knife.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat well. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture. Beat just until combined. Fold in cranberries and chocolate chips.

Using a small cookie scoop, drop dough 2 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or just until set. Remove from oven; cool on pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Peanut Brittle

After making the peanut butter chip brittle last month, my family suggested making a regular peanut brittle. I found Martha Stewart’s recipe and decided to use this because it looked so easy.

I’ve always been a fan of sweet and salty things, so this was right up my alley. My sister didn’t like how the original recipe called for whole peanuts. She didn’t want to bite into whole pieces as the original recipe showed, so she chopped them up. I think it actually made it taste better that way if that’s even possible.

While I was working with the sugar in the pan, the liquid didn’t really turn golden to me. It was bubbling a lot, but pretty much remained clearish throughout the whole time, until the last minute. First it was bubbly and boiling. Then after about 7 or 8 minutes, it looked like all the water evaporated and it became dry, grainy sugar again. I thought it was weird, but I kept on whisking away, and it eventually melted again and became amber colored.

The brittle didn’t fill the entire pan as it did last time, but after it was broken up, it was still a good amount of brittle.

In the end, I also had a little bit of dried sugar stuck to my pot. If running it under hot water doesn’t get it off, I recommend boiling a pot of water to loosen it up. It came right off for me that way!

Peanut Brittle
adapted from: Martha Stewart

 printable recipe

ingredients:
Unsalted butter, softened, for baking sheet (use margarine or spray for dairy free)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, chopped (7 ounces)
Vegetable oil, for spatula

directions:
Butter a rimmed baking sheet; set aside. Measure out  1 1/2 cups peanuts and coarsely chop, set aside.

Stir together sugar, 1/2 cup water, and the salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over high heat, without stirring, until sugar begins to melt and turn golden, about 3 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar has melted and mixture turns golden amber, about 10 minutes. Keep stirring, and it will continue to melt the sugar. It will turn into sugar lumps before it liquefies into an amber color.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in peanuts. Immediately pour peanut mixture onto buttered baking sheet. Quickly spread mixture to 1/2 inch thick using an oiled metal spatula. Let cool completely, about 15 minutes. Break brittle into pieces. Brittle can be stored in an airtight container, up to 2 weeks.

Makes about a half sheet pan of brittle.

Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars

Although it’s now officially winter, I’ve still had pumpkin and the fall spices on my mind. When my sister came over to make treats for coworkers for the holidays, she came armed with this recipe in mind. She must have read my mind! I still had one lone can of pumpkin in my pantry from stocking up last year. I wonder if I should stock up for next year now! :)

This recipe turned out very well. The ratio of spices gave it a nice kick. The bottom was a nice layer of pumpkin spice cake with a layer of cream cheese on top. I guess it’s a cheesecake bar, since the ingredients for the cream cheese layer is everything I would add in a cheesecake.

I’ve made adjustments to the original recipe since the original recipe wouldn’t be clear for beginners. We both read the recipe over many times and we almost made mistakes since it didn’t really call to divide anything in the ingredients list. I’ve separated the ingredients for the pumpkin cake part and the cream cheese mixture below. In the end, I also cut it into 48 pieces instead of the original 24. Since we were sharing other treats as well, a little taste was all you need of this. I think the smaller size is what most people can eat anyway. These fared very well when I brought them to work.

Swirled Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bars
adapted from: Sunset via myrecipes.com

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour
1 1/2  teaspoons  ground cinnamon
1  teaspoon  baking soda
1/2  teaspoon  baking powder
1/2  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
6  tablespoons  butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2  cups  sugar
2 large eggs
1  cup  pure pumpkin puree
1/3 cup water

cream cheese mixture:
1  package (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg
1/4 cup sugar

directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and nutmeg.

In an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar at medium speed until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs, pumpkin, and 1/3 cup water until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stir or beat the dry ingredients into butter mixture until well blended. Spread batter evenly in a buttered and floured 10- by 15-inch baking pan.

Beat  cream cheese, egg, and remaining 1/4 cup sugar at medium speed until smooth.

Drop tablespoon dollops of cream cheese mixture evenly spaced over the batter. Pull a knife tip through filling to swirl slightly into batter.

Bake in a oven until center of pumpkin batter (not cream cheese mixture) springs back when touched, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars. (I actually cut it into 48 and they were still good sized for me)

Store in fridge for up to 3 days.

Vegan Pumpkin Ice Cream

In an effort to use up a can of pumpkin, I decided to make this pumpkin ice cream. Pumpkin pie is one of my favorite pies. It was also requested by Gary during Thanksgiving. Usually I would suggest an ice cream flavor to Gary, and he wouldn’t be interested. I suggested pumpkin flavor, and I was surprised that he actually was ok with the suggestion!

The batter smelled great as I was mixing it. I used all coconut milk in it, but the original recipe called for soy creamer and non dairy milk. Since I’m able to find coconut milk in 8 oz packages at my local Chinese supermarket, I did it this way. I’m so glad I found this too! I hated opening large cans of coconut milk only to use half, and not having a recipe to use the other half. If I didn’t have this, I would use one cup of soy milk instead.

After leaving it in the fridge overnight, the batter was very thick, just like a baked pumpkin pie. I used the spatula to scrape the mixture into the ice cream maker. I’m not sure how thick it would have been if I only left it in the fridge for 3 hours. It seemed to get stuck on the ice cream paddle in the end, so keep a close eye on it after a little while.

Vegan Pumpkin Ice Cream
adapted from: The Vegan Scoop

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 (14-15 oz) can plus 1 cup coconut milk (about 2 3/4 cups total), divided
2 TBSP arrowroot powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
1 TBSP vanilla extract

directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup milk with the arrowroot. Set aside.

Mix the remaining milk, brown sugar, pumpkin, and spices in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat. Once mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in arrowroot slurry. Stir in vanilla extract.

Refrigerate mixture until chilled. Freeze according to your ice cream manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes about 1 quart.

Cathy’s Kitchen Journey is now on Facebook!

Hi there, blog readers!

There’s no recipe within this post, but I wanted to share my new facebook page with you. It’s just started out, but I hope to add more content in the near future.

If you like, you can “Like” my page. Just click on the button on the right hand side on the homepage of this blog, or you can go directly to the page and follow me there :)

As always, if you ever needed to ask me a question about anything, feel free to ask me via email, facebook, or twitter! All the info is also located in the Contact Me tab at the top of the page.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Happy Birthday, Sis!

A few months ago, I asked my sister what birthday cake she wanted. She told me mango cheesecake. One, I hate mangoes; two, are mangoes even in season in the middle of December? Well, she said didn’t really have a preference, as long as it was cheesecake. I bookmarked this recipe a while ago, but I never got around to making it (like the other recipes I have flagged and bookmarked). It wasn’t until Annie had a recap post of holiday treats that I decided to make this once and for all.

I went to the supermarket the day before to pick up the remaining ingredients for baking. While I was about to open the door to the house, I realized I forgot the chocolate graham crackers! I didn’t want to go back to the store, so I thought about using the honey grahams I had in the pantry. In the end, I ended up running an errand near the supermarket so I went to pick up some crackers. They were not on sale…and it was too expensive at regular price…especially since I was only using 1/3 of a box. I bought a package of chocolate sandwich cookies since they were on sale. I remember Annie used chocolate sandwich cookies for the crust, and I also did that for the chocolate marble cheesecake I made a while, back so I knew it would work.

After mixing everything, I noticed that the batter for this cheesecake was a little bit runny. It could have been because I was not paying attention to the amount of buttermilk that was supposed to be added. I ended up adding 1 full cup of buttermilk so I tried to add 2 tablespoons of flour to try to thicken it up. There seemed to be a lot of batter, and when it was done baking, the cake rose up past the rim (but didn’t spill). Once it cooled down, it sunk back down.

After baking, I had to run, so I left it in the oven for a few hours to cool down, with a wooden spoon propping the oven door open. It still cracked (as in Grand Canyon crack!), as did my last cheesecake. Good thing there was frosting going over it!! I’m wondering if it was because I used my 10-inch pan for this again, since the 9-inch one I ordered didn’t arrive in time. Nonetheless, this still came out great, even though I made some mistakes. If I make this again, I’m definitely going to pay attention!

Red Velvet Cheesecake
adapted from: Southern Living, via Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

 printable recipe

ingredients:
18 chocolate sandwich cookies, crumbled
3 TBSP  butter, melted

cake:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2  cups  granulated sugar
4  large eggs, lightly beaten
3  tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa
1  cup  sour cream
1/2  cup  whole buttermilk
2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
1  teaspoon  distilled white vinegar
2  (1-ounce) bottles red food coloring

frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4  cup  butter, softened
1  cup  powdered sugar
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Garnish: fresh mint sprigs (optional)

directions:
Stir together cookie crumbs and melted butter, press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.

Beat 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs and next 6 ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.

Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. Run knife along outer edge of cheesecake. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Beat remaining 4 oz cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cheesecake. Remove sides of spring form pan. Garnish, if desired.

Vanilla Bean Cake with Lemon Curd Filling

I hate it when a recipe calls for only egg yolks (or whites) because I end up stuck with finding another use for the rest of the egg. Many times, end up throwing it away. I was going to bake a cake for Gary’s parents’ birthday, and I started off looking for a filling. The lemon curd was what I went with, but now I had to find something to use up the 5 egg whites. I then saw that Martha’s vanilla bean cupcake recipe calls for 5 egg whites exactly. Perfect!

The cake came together very well. It wasn’t too sweet, just like his parents like it. The cake was light and almost angel food cake-like. Since this made a tall layer cake, I probably add another filling between the layers (I heard raspberry is nice with lemon curd), or half the cake recipe.

I used the same frosting I used for the Japanese Strawberry Shortcake for this, and it worked very well.

Vanilla Bean Cake with Lemon Curd Filling
cake adapted from: Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
lemon curd filling from: Williams Sonoma
frosting as see in previous recipe

 printable recipe

ingredients:

cake:	lemon curd:	frosting
3 1/4 cups sifted cake flour	5 egg yolks	1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 TBSP baking powder	1/2 cup sugar	4 tsp cold water
1/4 tsp salt	1/4 cup fresh lemon juice	1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
1 TBSP pure vanilla extract	Grated zest of 2 lemons	1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 cup plus 2 TBSP milk	6 TBSP (3/4 stick) unsalted butter	1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites at room temp

directions:
prepare lemon curd:
In a heavy saucepan before turning on the heat, combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk vigorously for 1 minute.

Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk for 1 minute more. Set the pan over low heat and cook gently, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Cover tightly and refrigerate before using. Makes about 1 cup.

bake the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°. Butter and flour or spray two 9-inch round cake pans. Set aside.

Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir vanilla into milk.

Cream butter in your mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed. Gradually add sugar, beating until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture to batter, alternating with the milk, and betting until just combined after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites in 2 batches.

Divide batter evenly into prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out cleanly when inserted in the center. Allow to cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

make the frosting:
Place mixing bowl in the fridge to cool down.

Put the cold water in a small saucepan.  Sprinkle the gelatin over the surface of the water and let stand for 5 minutes (do not stir).  Place the saucepan over low heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon just until the gelatin dissolves.  Remove the saucepan from the heat and cool to room temperature.

In a cold mixing bowl and using a the wire whisk attachment, combine the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla and beat until slightly thickened.  Reduce speed of mixer and gradually pour the gelatin into the whipped cream mixture.  Then whip the mixture at high speed until stiff.

assemble the cake:
Place one layer on a cake board. Place some frosting in a piping bag or freezer bag. Pipe a line of frosting along the edge of the cake layer.

Pour lemon curd in the center and spread into an even layer. Place other cake layer on top.

Frost cake with remaining frosting and decorate as desired.

Store in fridge until serving.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

 

A long while back, I bought a small jar of pumpkin pie spice. My only intention was to use it for pumpkin pie, which I would probably do only once at most twice a year. I don’t remember exactly how much it was, but it must’ve been on sale or something, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought it. Since then, I’ve found recipes that don’t even call for pumpkin pie spice, just a mixture of spices that are pretty much the same as the spice blend.

I actually never got around to using the little jar and ended up throwing away the contents. I did keep the  jar it came with, as well as wrote the ingredients down on the cap so I never forget, although it’s pretty easy. I’m pretty sure I would forget how to make it again next year when the season rolls around once again.

The first time I made it, I ran out of cinnamon so I only had enough to make half. This recipe is easily halved, doubled, tripled, or whatever. Although I don’t think you would ever need that much at one time.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice
source: Simple Mom

 printable recipe

ingredients:
2 TBSP ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves

directions:
Combine all ingredients in a bag or jar. Shake to combine evenly.

Peanut Butter Chip Brittle

It’s that time of year again when I’m searching for treats to make and bring to work to share. Although I made this peanut butter chip brittle for Thanksgiving, I think it’s a great addition to your cookie or candy gifts this year.

I came upon this recipe because I had purchased 2 bags of peanut butter chips on a whim. I needed to use them up, so this was one of the recipes that caught my eye. It was fairly simple to make, although I may have gotten a little whisk burn on my hand from standing over the stove so long.

This came out beautifully, and it didn’t call for a lot of ingredients. Although some thought this was a bit sweet, well candy is sweet! It reminded my family of the filling in Almond Rocas, one of our favorite candies growing up. I brought a tin to work once, but I was surprised many people didn’t know what it was.

The recipe indicated that I would be stirring for about 30-35 minutes. The gauge on the thermometer seemed to rise pretty fast…until it hit 220°. After that, the temperature seemed to slow to a crawl, but it eventually got there. At 260° the mixture started to look like sweetened condensed milk. At about 280°, it started to look like dulce de leche. It was a nice and brown, and bubbly when it finally hit 300°!

Since my family liked it so much, I’m planning on making a batch of peanut brittle over the holidays.

Peanut Butter Chip Brittle
source: Hershey’s

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 2/3 cups (10-oz. package) REESE'S Peanut Butter Chips, divided
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons water

directions:
Butter 15-1/2x10-1/2x1-inch (preferably nonstick) jelly roll pan. Sprinkle 1 cup peanut butter chips evenly onto bottom of prepared pan; set aside.

Melt butter in heavy 2-1/2-quart saucepan; stir in sugar, corn syrup and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture reaches 300°F. on candy thermometer until thick, brown and bubbly, can range from 30-50 minutes. (Bulb of thermometer should not rest on bottom of saucepan.)

Remove from heat. Immediately pour mixture evenly into prepared pan; sprinkle with remaining 2/3 cup peanut butter chips. Cool completely. Remove from pan. Break into pieces. Store in tightly covered container in cool, dry place.

Makes about 2 pounds brittle.