White Chocolate Macadamia Coconut Cookies

See? I should stick with baked goods.

Recipe:
6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons shortening, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
6 oz white chocolate chips
2 oz macadamia nuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream butter, shortening and sugars until well blended. Add the egg and vanilla extract and blend well. Add flour, baking soda and salt to creamed mixture till dough forms. Stir in coconut flakes, chocolate chips and macadamia nuts. Drop teaspoonfuls of cookie dough onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 13 minutes. Cool slightly and transfer to cooling racks.

Quickie Palmiers

Just three ingredients - Pre-made puff pastry dough, sugar, and ground cinnamon. Yum!

The Transition From 2007 to 2008...

2007 ended with a post about a batch of delicious mandelbrots I received from my partner in a cookie swap. It is only fitting that my first post for 2008 shows a batch of mandelbrots I made from the very same recipe. Here's to a year of great food and new discoveries in the kitchen!

California Deluxe Mandelbrots

These cookies are awesome! I love biscotti-type cookies, and these are sorta like that, but not quite as dry. Can't wait to experiment with other add-ins (such as chocolate chips, almonds, toffee bits, lemon zest, etc.). Oh the possibilities!




California Deluxe Mandelbrots

INGREDIENTS
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of oil
4 large eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 drops orange extract
1 cup whole unsalted pistachios

DIRECTIONS
Mix wet ingredients with nuts then add dry. Preheat oven to 350°F. Make two dough logs on greased sheet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes then cut into biscotti-like mini shapes. Bake more until golden brown.

Grandma's Gingersnaps

I love gingersnaps! These were baked for a cookie exchange of sorts. Simple, but delish!

Rock Buns

This was one of the first things I learned in Home Ec.! After a bit of trial and error, I think I've managed to duplicate the recipe!!!



Ingredients:
200 g all-purpose flour
100 g brown sugar
Generous pinch of salt
100 g butter, cut into pieces
150 g dried currants
1 egg, beaten
Enough milk to bind the mixture

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix flour, brown sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Rub butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Add currants.
4. Add egg and enough milk to form a sticky dough.
5. Place tablespoonfuls of dough on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Remove promptly from the oven and cool on rack.

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

What sort of dessert does one bring for an office potluck? Who knows. For some reason or other, I decided to bake a carrot cake cheesecake. Not that I've ever made one in my lifetime. Actually, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. Both of the cake batters were a breeze to assemble, but the frosting recipe didn't look quite right to me. Uh-huh. If anything, I'm a frosting sorta girl. Hence, I was forced to come up with an alternate concoction! Picture time!!! Here's a shot of the cake, sans frosting.


And here's a shot of the frosted cake...after I've done my bit of decorating!

Making Whoopie...

Well...whoopie pies, actually. Pillowy chocolate shells with a rich cream cheese filling. A colleague brought this in for my birthday treat. They were scrumptious!

Chocolate Rum Hedgehogs

The nondescript lump of cookie dough I previously blogged about has blossomed! After allowing it to mature in the fridge for three days, I worked on it this evening. Voila! Chocolate rum hedgehogs - the perfect touch of whimsy and indulgence for the adults who remain kids at heart.



While the hedgehogs were chilling in the fridge, I assembled a bunch of supplies to package them. I thought about poking holes in the plastic baggies to let the hedgehogs breathe, but decided it might not be a good idea to let the rum vapours escape! All done and ready to be handed out tomorrow!


A forlorn hedgehog, waiting to meet its new owner...

A Cookie Teaser...

This is one of my favourite holiday recipes. Hence, I prepped a double batch of it this weekend!!! For optimum results, the mixture needs to hang out in the fridge for a couple of days before consumption. Rats. I'm not a patient person, and I'll admit that I've been sneaking a few bits, erm, for quality control reasons...obviously.

A Sprinking of Powdered Sugar...

Does wonders! It transforms mounds of pale, ugly cookies into snowballs! These cookies are also known as Russian Teacakes! For this batch, I chose finely chopped pecans as the nut component in the cookie mixture. In the past, I've experimented with finely chopped almonds, pistachios, and walnuts. Honestly, I can't pick a favourite out of the lot...they're all good!

Let Us Give Thanks...

For family, good friends and good food. Thanksgiving 2006 was a quiet and laidback affair. Just two people...and plenty of leftovers!

We uncorked this while cooking!

Out of the oven, and ready for the tummy!

Savoury sausage apple cornbread stuffing

Fat-free and giblet-free turkey gravy

Garlic mashed potatoes

Herbed Green Beans

Orange Cranberry Compote

We cooked all morning but we were done eating in half an hour.

Last but not least, a slice of sweet potato pie!

Tea Shortbread

Well, it's not tea AND shortbread. It's tea flavoured shortbread! Brilliant, no? I baked half batches, using three types of tea: Double Bergamot Earl Grey, Jasmine Green Tea and Masala Chai. As I was preparing the cookie dough, I couldn't resist sampling the goods. They were very good. The finished baked versions are just as awesome!! Each cookie is buttery, fragrant, and crisp. I can't wait to experiment with other varieties of tea. Perhaps I should also consider replacing the tea leaves with flowers (rose, lavender, linden)!

Lemon-Raspberry Squares

While browsing the Williams-Sonoma site, I came across a recipe for these gems. Since I already possess a coveted tried and true recipe for lemon bars, I thought it might be worthwhile to experiment with modifying my favourite recipe to include the raspberry bits. The result was a luscious batch of tangy lemon bars with the added zing of raspberry preserves (note to self: use seedless preserves for future batches!). In the morning, I brought a bunch with me to the office. At the end of the day, there was a lone cookie* left on the plate. Verdict? It was a success!!!

*The folks in my office suffer from the "last cookie" syndrome (i.e. everyone is too polite to finish the last cookie).

You Can't Have Your Cake And Eat It Too!

A rich, fudgy Bailey's Irish Cream Chocolate Bundt Cake...made specially for the neighbourette who mowed my lawn.