Rustic Apple Streusel Tart

I cannot believe that I forgot to blog this recipe!  I made this pie for a friend who needed to take a dessert to a Christmas dinner.  He doesn't bake and asked for one of my delicious desserts (which are far better than what you buy in most bakeries, modesty, modesty!)   So, while in reality this pie was made last year (11 days ago), we are going to just pretend I made it today and didn't forget to blog about it!  ;-)

Apple pies are not just for summer time picnics or chilly fall meals!  Apples are available in the grocery stores year round and thus apple pies should be eaten year round!  I make an excellent traditional two-crust apple pie but I gotta tell you that this pie recipe beats every traditional apple pie recipe right outta the water!  This pie reminds me of going to Marie Calenders as a little girl and ordering a slice of Dutch Apple Pie with that yummy streusal topping swirled over the apples (only this pie is even better)!

Don't be intimidated by the long recipe, it is really easy to make and worth every bit of effort!  I always make the crust recipe that is below.  The milk in the crust makes for a more tender crust than traditional pie crusts with water.  If you are not a pie crust maker, feel free to try a ready made crust from the grocery store.  Don't  leave out the apricot preserves!  This thin layer acts as a barrier to the crust from the apple juices while imparting another dimension of fruity sweetness to the pie.

Rustic Apple Streusel Tart

Crust

1 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 tablespoons frozen solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

5 tablespoons (or more) chilled whole milk

Blend first 3 ingredients in processor. Add butter and shortening; using on/off turns, process until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces. Add 5 tablespoons milk and blend until moist clumps form, adding more milk by teaspoonful if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Combine first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Gradually add butter, stirring until moist clumps form.

Filling

4 8- to 9-ounce granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons apricot preserves

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon whipping cream (for glaze)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Stir apples, sugar and lemon juice in large bowl to blend.

Roll out dough on lightly floured sheet of parchment paper to 14-inch round, occasionally lifting and turning dough to prevent sticking. Transfer dough on parchment to rimless baking sheet. Leaving 2-inch plain border, spread preserves over center of dough. Sprinkle preserves with 3/4 cup topping mixture. Spoon apple mixture over topping, mounding slightly in center; sprinkle apples with remaining topping. Using parchment as aid, fold dough border in over apple filling (border will not cover filling completely). Press border firmly to hold shape and keep in place. Carefully peel back parchment. Brush border generously with glaze.

Bake pie until crust is set, about 25 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325°F. Bake until apples are tender, covering topping loosely with foil if browning too quickly, about 20-25 minutes longer. Cool pie on baking sheet at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.  Store leftovers wrapped at room temperature.

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Recipe shared on:
Foodie Friends Friday

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies or as my family calls them, Homemade Nutter Butters!!  These taste like a Nutter Butter only better.  The peanut butter filling is a light and fluffy peanut butter cream that is to die for!!  I love making these, not only because they are so yummy but also because everyone is always so impressed by them.  Little do they know, these are super easy to make.  There you have it...my secret is out!

I found this recipe in a Martha Stewart cookbook years ago and my boys and I have been hooked ever since.  I make them exactly as she does, including the shape, but if it seems like too much work to cut them into rectangles, feel free to use shaped cookie cutters.  I am sure that would be very cute!

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies (Homemade Nutter Butters)

Cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ sticks butter, room temperature

¾ cup smooth peanut butter

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cups packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.  Place butter, peanut butter and both sugars in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the egg and vanilla, and beat to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl.  With mixer on low, add reserved flour mixture and beat just until incorporated, about 1 minute.

Divide dough in half and shape into two flattened disks.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness.  Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 2 ½ by 1 inch rectangles.  Using the floured tines of a fork, score the top of each cookie.  Transfer cookies to baking sheets, placing 1 ½ inches apart, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Bake until edges are lightly golden and firm in the center, about 15 minutes.  Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Filling:

6 tablespoons butter, room temperature

¾ cup confectioners’ sugar

¾ cup smooth peanut butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all ingredients.  Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  Use immediately, or transfer to refrigerator for 3 days.

Using an offset spatula, spread 1 tablespoon filling onto the flat side of half the cookies.  Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.  Once filled, cookies are best eaten the same day, but can be kept in refrigerator for a week.

Makes 3 dozen cookie sandwiches

Adapted from marthastewart.com  

Recipe Shared On:
Foodie Friends Friday

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  Yesterday was a lazy day so today is my first post of the year!!  ;)

Last night my youngest son, Max, had a friend sleepover so of course we have to have a special breakfast.  Pancakes were requested by Max and friend but my oldest, Zack, refuses to eat pancakes after a really bad experience in Santa Cruz that we won't discuss here on a food blog.  How to make pancakes not taste or look like pancakes??  I found this great idea on bigredkitchen.com for Cinnamon Roll Pancakes which I modified to our tastes.  Zack LOVES cinnamon rolls so I knew he would approve.

I suppose you could use a box mix for your pancakes, there are some great mixes out there.  I chose to make a very simple recipe for homemade pancakes because I have a lot of flour on hand after my holiday baking extravaganza.  Big Red Kitchen made a cream cheese icing which I would prefer but the boys are purists and only like plain powdered sugar icings on their cinnamon rolls.

As predicted, these were a hit!  Once I was able to surgically remove Zack from Xbox and get him to the kitchen table (no, you cannot eat in your room!)  he ate two and said they were even better than chocolate pancakes!  So far he is keeping them down ;-)!  Max and friend were happy to have sugar (since apparently there hasn't been enough sweets with Christmas and all) and are sufficiently amped up and ready to start a day of legos.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

pancake mix:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

cinnamon filling:

4 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Mix together and pour into a pastry bag with small tip or a strong ziplock bag with one corner snipped off.

icing:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons hot water

Mix together and pour into a pastry bag with small tip or a strong ziplock bag with one corner snipped off.

Use a griddle or nonstick pan over medium heat.  Brush melted butter to keep pancakes from sticking.  Ladle 1/4 cup pancake mix onto griddle.  Swirl cinnamon filling onto pancake.  Cook pancakes until bubbles form evenly on pancake.  Flip and cook another 20-30 seconds.  Remove pancake to plate and drizzle icing over it.  Continue with the rest of the batter, wiping down griddle between each pancake to remove filling drippings.

ENJOY!!

Recipe modified from bigredkitchen.com

Oliebollen

Oliebollen are a Dutch treat that are traditionally made and served on New Years Eve.  These deep fried doughnut balls contain apples and raisins and are dusted with powdered sugar.  Now for our history lesson: They are said to have been first eaten by Germanic tribes in the Netherlands during the Yule, the period between December 26 and January 6. The Germanic goddess Perchta, together with evil spirits, would fly through the mid-winter sky. To appease these spirits, food was offered, much of which contained deep-fried dough. It was said Perchta would try to cut open the bellies of all she came across, but because of the fat in the oliebollen, her sword would slide off the body of whoever ate them, leaving them unharmed. (The moral of the story- eating doughnuts could save your life!)

The Dutch have been eating oliebollen (oil balls) since the mid 19th century.  The Dutch settlers introduced these treats to the U.S. and over time they morphed into what we today call the Doughnut!  Whether all of these stories are true or not, these little balls are lekker (yummy)!!  Hope you enjoy!

Obviously this is a Dutch recipe and so the ingredients are listed by weight rather than volume.  If you do not have a kitchen scale I would suggest you get one (they are necessary for the home baker) or use the internet to convert.

Oliebollen


500 grams flour
100 grams raisins or currents
1 apple, peeled and chopped
zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon yeast
150 grams beer
350 grams lukewarm water
powdered sugar (for dusting the top)


Mix all ingredients together and stir in the water. Cover the bowl and allow to rise in a warm place for one hour.


Bring pot of vegetable oil up to 190 degrees C (375 degrees F).  Using a large ice cream scoop, drop the batter into the oil and fry until golden brown, turning them if necessary.  

Dust with powdered sugar and serve!

Crunchy Granola

I have recently been introduced to the wonderful world of Greek yogurt.  For those of you who have never tried it, greek yogurt is creamy and smooth and thicker than plain yogurt and it is a little bit on the tart side, but in a good way.  My favorite way to eat it is with fresh berries and crunchy granola.  The granola adds a great texture and all the sweetness you will need to balance the tartness of the yogurt.  YUM!  

Of course you do not have to put this granola over yogurt, you could put it over your ice cream, sprinkle it over your pancakes or waffles, sprinkle it on your muffin batter before you pop them in the oven, or you could just eat it as cold cereal with some milk.  Give the recipe a try and tell me what you think!

Crunchy Granola

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2 cup walnut pieces 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons b!utter

1/3 cup honey

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dried blueberries, raisins, chopped dates, cranberries or a combination 

1/2 cup flaked coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large bowl stir together oats, almonds, walnuts, cinnamon and salt.  

In a small saucepan melt butter with honey and brown sugar over low heat, stirring.  Add vanilla and pour mixture over oat mixture and stir until combined well.

On a large baking sheet, spread the granola evenly in a thin layer.  Bake, stirring every 5 minutes to keep from sticking or burning, until golden brown and crisp, about 20 minutes.  (Do not overcook; the granola will crisp more when cooled).  Cool the granola on the pan and then stir in the dried fruits and coconut.  Granola may be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

Makes about 5 cups

Lavender Shortbread

Lavender is one of my favorite flowers and a fabulous herb to cook with.  It is  is a member of the mint family and is close to rosemary, sage, and thyme.  I have been cooking with it for years in my favorite, Herbs de Provence, but have never baked with it before today.  I was inspired to make these cookies by my favorite caterer, Monica Hobbs of the Nimitz Mansion on  Yerba Buena Island, because she makes a fabulous Lavender Shortbread with a maple and mascarpone glaze that is to die for.  I am still trying to find where I put her recipe but until I do I am playing around with other recipes that are on internet and twisting them to make them my own!

This recipe is what I have come up with after a bit of trial and error.  I considered a shortbread with just the lavender but I have so many lemons right now and truthfully I love how lemon zest looks and the tartness it adds to a cookie. This recipe is made in a food processor but feel free to make it in a stand up mixer or even a bowl with a hand held mixer.  Just make sure that after you form your logs they stay in the freezer until they are nice and solid, otherwise I found them to spread a bit.  You can roll the logs in sugar and lavender before you slice them but watch to make sure this doesn't cause the edges to brown more quickly.  I hope you enjoy the recipe!  I will keep looking for Monica's recipe and we can give that one a try when I find it!

LAVENDER SHORTBREAD

2/3 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1 tablespoons dried culinary lavender
½ teaspoon salt

Zest of 1 lemons
Juice of ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon real vanilla extract
2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:
Add the butter and sugar to the food processer bowl and mix until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the salt, lavender, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and pulse until combined and the lavender is chopped scraping down the bowl as needed, about 20 seconds. Add the flour and pulse until just combined.

Turn dough out onto a clean surface and knead a couple of times to combine. Cut dough in half and form into logs.  Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze until solid.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Take a sharp knife and slice ¼ inch thick. Place an inch apart on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes until golden around the edges. Let set one minute and transfer to a cooling rack.

Think ahead: Shortbread logs can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw slightly before slicing. Baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.

(can roll logs in a sugar/lavender mixture before slicing if you choose)

Adapted from Thecookingphotographer.com

If you are looking for the best caterer in the world with the most beautiful venue - http://www.nimitzmansion.com/

Chocolate Chip Cookies

During my baking extravaganza with Max he decided he really needed to make "his" chocolate chip cookies.  Really this is MY recipe but with the addition of his secret ingredient.  I'm not sure if it's normal for a 12 year old boy to think of Espresso as a good secret ingredient but Max likes to be different so here you have it.  My  recipe is similar to every other recipe out there for chocolate chip cookies except that I use a lot more brown sugar than regular sugar and I also add more flour.  I like a thick, chewy cookie instead of a crispy cookie.  I would like to say that I'm famous with all the kids in town for these cookies but the truth is I am famous for this cookie dough.  It is the most requested thing I make by all of the kids and there is rarely enough dough left over to bake any of them.  It is DELICIOUS!!   

I have given you my recipe below and added Max's "secret" to the end.  The pictures are all from his batch so I will have to add photos later when I make a regular batch.  Feel free to make them plain or with the addition, either way they are super yummy!  I will warn you that if you add the espresso you might not want to eat these late at night or you will never get to sleep!  btw- I did warn you all that he was trying to overthrow me from the blog, if I'm not careful it will happen!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

12 oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks (my favorite)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixer, cream butter with the two sugars until fluffy and light.  Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until fully blended.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add to the creamed butter mixture just until mixed.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

Scoop cookies using a large ice cream scoop onto a silpat lined baking sheet leaving 2 inches between cookies.  Bake until golden brown and set approximately 13-15 minutes (depending on the size of your scoop). 

To make these Max's cookies- Add 1-2 Tablespoons of instant espresso powder into the batter when you add the eggs.  Try not to eat too many or you will never get to sleep again!