Dorie Greenspan's Sables

Before I left for home for winter break (I'm home now) I made 4 batches of cookies. One was the chocolate chip recipe I tried before and loved, and then I made Dorie Greenspan's Sables. The recipe can be found here or in her book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. I made them festive only by using red sprinkles on the edges, because red was the only kind I had at college. I really liked the texture of these and they were pretty straight-forward to make.

Cinnamon Swirls

Yum. These were so good. The other people who tried them said they were a little different from what they were used to, probably because these cookies had no eggs and lots of cream cheese. They were flaky and perfect! Mine, of course, didn't turn out as perfectly shaped as I would have liked, but most of them still turned out great.I made these for a friend last week as a sort of goodbye/goodluck gift. I don't know if he really liked them, and maybe I should have stuck with making something more traditional and more cookie-like, but I had cream cheese and wanted to use it before leaving for winter break...and these were good. Try them out! I'd probably chill them in the fridge for more than just 1 hour, or chill them in the freezer.

Cinnamon Swirls
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home by Linda

1 cup butter, softened
One 8-ounce pkg cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a large bowl beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until fluffy. Combine the flour and salt and gradually beat it into the butter mixture.

Divide dough in two and wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour. Combine cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a rectangle - about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the sugar mixture to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Roll up tightly - starting at either the short or long edge. (Starting at the short edge will give you a fatter log, and bigger cookies.) Wrap log tightly and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice logs into 3/8 inch slices and place two inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

Dorie Greenspan's Corniest Corn Muffins

Another Dorie Greenspan recipe...anyway, I also made this on Thanksgiving. I made 1.5 batches of this recipe by doubling the whole egg but not the yolk and it turned out fine, and I got like...about 20 good-sized (not large) muffins. You can find the recipe here, or find it in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. People really liked these. Real cornbread, real corn...I could have done without the actual corn myself, but everyone else loved it!

Dorie Greenspan's Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie

No post in a while because I've been busy, but luckily for Thanksgiving I had time to bake more! First thing I made was my first pumpkin pie, which I was really nervous about...it turned out okay but I did way too many substitutions and I think they made it lose a bit of flavor. I used pumpkin pie spice instead of most of the spices, and then didn't have cloves so had to leave that out. And I didn't have rum (because I'm not 21) so I left that out, too. But I did make my own whipped cream, which people liked.

I made Dorie Greenspan's Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie (recipe found HERE, and originally made Dorie Greenspan's Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough (also on that same link), also available in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours. But this pie crust kinda freaked me out--I didn't know I wasn't supposed to add ALL the ice water, just enough to make the dough pliable, so my dough ended up looking like this:

So, unsure about whether it would work out, I whipped together a different pie crust that turned out a bit small but was looked a little better. I'll post that recipe below. Anyway, when I prebaked Dorie's pie crust as she instructed, the edges turned a little dark...but I still poured the batter into this one because the pie crust worked out anyway. It turned out, Dorie's recipe had enough for both of my pie crusts to be filled!! I don't know if that was because she intended it for deeper pie dishes or what, but it worked out and I used both my pie crusts.

My friend hosted Thanksgiving to 20 people, and about one and a half to three fourths of my pies were eaten. I didn't think it was GREAT, but it was good.

Basic Flaky Pie Crust
From Allrecipes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water


Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour. Toss mixture with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.

Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

Roll out dough, and put in a pie plate. Fill with desired filling and bake.

(Above) The first pie crust
(Above) Second pie, unbaked

Texas Sheet Cake

My friend Jack's birthday is today, and yesterday me and my roommate Lucy hosted a party for him in our apartment (we live right across from each other, and our apartment is bigger). For his birthday I made him a cake--I was kind of afraid of making a sheet cake, and this was the first cake in this oven that I baked, so I was a little nervous, but it turned out fine. Everyone thought they were brownies, but it tasted cakey enough.

I made a Texas Sheet Cake because Jack's from Texas...yeah I'm clever, I know. I just looked up the reason for it being called "Texas" sheet cake, and apparently it got its name for the chocolatey taste being as big as Texas...? Interesting. Anyway, yeah it was chocolatey. I wish I had a mixer to mix it though, because the chocolate mixture didn't mix completely with the flour mixture, which wasn't a big deal--it just looked like it had white-cake sprinkles in it or something.

Lucy loved the icing, and coming from someone who absolutely detests frosting, I guess that's a good thing. This isn't my ideal cake--I'd prefer to have a layered cake that you need some skill in making, not just mix, pour, heat the icing, pour immediately, and serve in the pan...but what can you do? At least it made this super easy!

Texas Sheet Cake
Recipe from Allrecipes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 cup butter
1 cup water
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons milk
5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10x15 inch pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat in the sour cream and eggs. Set aside. Melt the butter on low in a saucepan, add the water and 5 tablespoons cocoa. Bring mixture to a boil then remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly, then stir cocoa mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing until blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the icing: In a large saucepan, combine the milk, 5 tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 cup butter. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla, then fold in the nuts, mixing until blended. Spread frosting over warm cake.

Chocolate-Pumpkin Layered Brownies

Last Saturday I made these to bring to my friend's Halloween party. I didn't have a square pan, so I stuck them in a 9-inch round pan and they worked fine. I also cut the brownies smaller and it made a lot more that 16--they were pretty tall brownies so it didn't matter that I cut them smaller. They were a big hit! I thought the pumpkin flavor was the perfect amount!

Chocolate-Pumpkin Layered Brownies
Recipe by Martha Stewart

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups solid-pack pumpkin
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts or other nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan or dish. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; butter lining.

Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, cayenne, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Put sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat until fluffy and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in flour mixture.

Divide batter between two medium bowls (about 2 cups per bowl). Stir chocolate mixture into one bowl. In other bowl, stir in pumpkin, oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer half of chocolate batter to prepared pan smoothing top with a rubber spatula. Top with half of pumpkin batter. Repeat to make one more chocolate layer and one more pumpkin layer. Work quickly so batters don't set.

With a small spatula or a table knife, gently swirl the two batters to create a marbled effect. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake until set, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into 16 squares.

Chocolate Truffles

This isn't a very good Halloween-y post, but I guarrantee I'll post some of those starting next week. For now, I made these on Sunday. I halved the recipe without any trouble, though that did mean that things cooked faster. I used vanilla extract, and just used toll house chocolate chips because that was what I had. If I make them again, I definitely want to use better quality chocolate, but they were still good and the recipe still worked!

I put them in a cute, handmade box and gave them to my boyfriend for our 6-month anniversary :)

Chocolate Truffles
Recipe by Martha Stewart

8 ounces best-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon liqueur, such as triple sec or framboise (optional)
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for rolling

Put chocolate into a large heatproof bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over chocolate in bowl. Stir in liqueur, if desired. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 10 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let stand until thick, about 15 minutes.

Pour chocolate mixture into a shallow 8-inch dish or pie plate. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until mixture is very cold and set but still pliable, about 30 minutes.

Using a teaspoon or a 1/2-inch melon baller, scoop balls of chocolate mixture, transferring them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as you work. Refrigerate truffles 10 minutes.

Using hands dusted with cocoa powder, dip each truffle in cocoa powder to coat, then quickly shape truffle into a rough round. Refrigerate truffles in an airtight container until ready to serve, up to 2 weeks; before serving, reshape into rounds, and roll each truffle in cocoa powder, if desired.

Dorie Greenspan's Chewy, Chunky Blondies

Finally I baked again. I'll probably bake once a week and update on the weekends from now on until I get a break from school. For this recipe I used butterscotch chips, left out the walnuts, and for the chocolate used chopped up pieces of Ghiradelli 70% cacao for 4 ounces that was the bar, and then about a fourth a cup for semi-sweet chocolate chips. I'd been wanting to make something with coconut and butterscotch for a while, so I'm glad I finally got around to doing it!

Chewy, Chunky Blondies
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's
Baking: From My Home to Yours
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 1 cup store-bought chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath Toffee Bits
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and put it on a baking sheet.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing just until they disappear into the batter. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chips, nuts and coconut. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even the top as best you can.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the blondies comes out clean. The blondies should pull away from the sides of the pan a little and the top should be a nice honey brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies to room temperature right side up.

Cut into 32 bars, each roughly 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

My New Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my first CCC recipe I'm posting. I used to only make the original Toll House recipe, and then found a great recipe that I thought would be my favorite, and then I decided I wanted to find a crispy chocolate chip cookie recipe and found this. Although not crisy entirely, it's crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside...and oh my god, this is the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever made. EVER.

After the first bite I thought I was dreaming. And then got scared that I would end up eating the entire batch (all 15 monstrous cookies), but remembered that they had to go somewhere (to my friends...) so that I couldn't eat anymore. Good excuse. Plus, honestly, this cookie filled me up. Just one cookie...albeit the size of 3 or 4...so good. I honeslty don't want to find out the nutritional value of these suckers.

I didn't have any cake flour so I substituted with 1/8 cup cornstarch + 7/8 cup AP flour.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from My Madison Bistro

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325*F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and position oven racks in the middle of oven.

Sift together dry ingredients into a small bowl. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter and sugars, and stir with a wooden spoon until mixed. Add the egg and yolk and stir until well mixed. Add vanilla, stir to combine.

Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, stir until just a trace of flour remains. Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine. Using a large spoon, mound about 1/3 c of dough (these are large cookies) onto the baking sheet, about six cookies per sheet.

Bake for 16-19 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Cool for five minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack.

Banana Bread

I've been wanting to bake banana bread for a while, so as soon as my landlord claimed my oven fixed, I started gathering the ingredients I needed for when I had time. So on Saturday I finally made it! And it worked! Actually, I was impatient and so the bananas weren't really overripe and it still worked great. It wasn't sweet, which I didn't want anyway. My oven still has a lot of kinks that I don't understand yet so after 50 minutes the top got a little overbrown in some places but that's okay that was my fault. Next time if I make this recipe again, I want to try adding the walnuts (and using reallly ripe bananas)! I used Fage 0% greek yogurt because I forgot about buying plain yogurt and that's what I had. Next time I might want to try using not low or nonfat yogurt, but I love greek yogurt so I might still have to use that.

Banana Bread
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated by Christina

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped coarse (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 tbsp of unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Turn on the oven to 350F.

Butter and flour the bottom of a loaf pan.

Mix the mashed banana, eggs, yogurt, melted butter and vanilla in a large bowl.

Stir the walnuts into the banana mixture (doing so will reduce the risk of over-mixing).

Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking soda into the banana mixture.

Using a rubber spatula, very, very, very gently mix the flour with the wet ingredients. Stop as soon as the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter should be chunky instead of smooth.

Bake for 55 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean after inserted into the bread.

Let the bread cool in the pan; slice and serve.