Happy 2011!

I hope everyone had a safe & Happy New Year. I'm looking forward to catching up on my blog & yours!

Merry Christmas!

Hello, Friends.

For those of you that celebrate the season & reason I hope it was a merry & blessed one! May 2011 be one filled with peace, joy, prosperity, family, friends, good health & good food!

~Luv, Ingrid & family

Lollipies or Pie Pops?

Or how about cuteness on a stick! I’m not usually enamored with things mini or too cutsie but these babies pulled at me once I started making them.  :)  

They’re quite easy to make, especially if you go the semi-homemade route like I did. I used a Pillsbury Rolled Pie Crust and some Lucky Leaf Premium Cherry Pie Filling.  Easy!   And they bake up in only 12 to 14 minutes, so they’re pretty quick, too.  Below is what I did.  It’s more of a method than a recipe.  If something doesn’t make sense leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you.

Lollipies/Pie Pops*

Ingredients/Utensils:

• 1 uncooked pie crust, ready made or homemade
• pie filling of choice
• 1/4 water in a small bowl or 1 egg beaten, I didn’t used the egg
• lollipop sticks, I used 7
• 1 parchment lined cookie sheet
• (1) 2 1/2 in. round cookie
• 1 fork & 1 small paring knife

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll out the pie crust.  Cut out an even number of circles, or what ever shape cookie cutter you’re using.  (I got 14 circles, which made 7 lollipies.)  Working with one mini pie cutout, dip one end of a lollipop stick into the water and press into the mini pie crust.  Top the mini pie crust with a heaping teaspoon of pie filling, keeping the filling in the center.  (I used cherry pie filling so I topped mine with one cherry and a teaspoon of the “jelly”.)  Next, dip your index finger in the bowl of water and rub the edge of the crust.  Place top crust directly over the bottom one and gentle press the edges together.  Dip your fork into the bowl of water and gently press the fork tins into the pie crust edges, sealing them closed.   Cut two small slits into top crust to allow steam to escape.  Place on cookie sheet.  Repeat until you have used all your pie crust. (Instead of using water you can use a beaten egg.  You can also coat the tops of the lollipies with the leftover egg wash.  I didn’t on mine & I also forgot to ventilate them.)

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes (or so, I baked mine on a stone so I removed them from the stone right away to keep the bottom crust from over browning.). Gently remove with a spatula onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature. Note: Until the pie pops are completely cooled do not handle by the stick.  After they completely cooled you can dust with powdered sugar or glaze.

Glaze:

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp extract (I used almond)
• 1/2 Tbs melted butter
• Enough milk or cream to get the glaze to a workable consistency.

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. 

* I saw these many months ago,  I believe, on FoodBuzz Top 9 but do not remember the site nor did I follow their instructions.

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Giveaway Winner

The winner of Tate’s Bake Shop cookies & cookbook is…………….

Pam, who says she is definitely a cookie eater!  For those of you that prefer to bake cookies I would be more than happy to eat any cookies you’d like to share.  :)

Cookies, Anyone?

No, I didn’t bake cookies but the good people at Tate’s Bake Shop sent me 3 packages (Tate’s famous Chocolate Chip cookies, White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut, and Oatmeal Raisin) of them along with their cookbook.  Thank you.   With cookies being sparse around 3B’s they didn’t have to twist my arm to get me to agree to sample their cookies.  :)

I’m not going to twist your arm either but suggest instead, that if you’d like to eat cookies and not have to bake them yourself then leave me a comment for a chance to win Tate’s Bake Shop cookies and cookbook.  For an extra entry hop over to Tate’s Bake Shop Facebook page and become a fan.  And if you don’t want to wait to see if you win, Tate’s has also generously provided you with a discount code (cookies) for 15% off your order, from now until December 31st at tatesbakeshop.com. 

Along with the cookies I also received Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook by Kathleen King.  I really enjoyed it and have several recipes bookmarked to try.  The recipes are straight forward and the ingredients are ones readily available.  My only complaint about the cookbook is, photos are sparse.  There is a section in the middle with 8 photos.  Eight photos and yet there is over a 100 recipes?  I don’t know about you but I’m of the opinion that a cookbook should include photos for at least 25% of the recipes.  (Can I get an Amen?) I know what a chocolate chip cookie looks like. I wanna see your Lemon Cream Cheese Tart (pg. 82) or your Lime Mousse Cake (pg. 129).   And for you chocolate lovers, how about the Chocolate Mousse Cake (pg. 109)?  Wouldn’t you like to see that beauty?  With mousse in the title even I would like to see a photo of it!

With Kathleen famous for her cookies I probably should have tried one of the cookie recipes but you know me.  I dived into a bar one instead and whipped up the White Chocolate Brownies (pg. 58).  Kathleen says, “They are like a dense, yummy vanilla bar with cranberries and almonds.”  I agree except without the cranberries.  You can see from my bottom photo the texture and crumb is reminiscent of a pound cake.  The “brownies” are extremely dense but tender and surprisingly moist.  I thought perhaps I had over cooked them and that they would be dry but they were perfect.  To kick things up a notch I drizzled warm raspberry jam over individual pieces. Yes, I’ll definitely be making these again.  They were a great change from our usual banana, caramel, butterscotch, or cinnamon filled dessert!

White Chocolate Brownies, adapted from Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook, by Kathleen King

• 9 Tbs. butter, cut into pieces
• 9 oz white chocolate; I used Valrhona, which I had saved for a special occasion.
• 1 Tbs. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup dried cranberries;  I left out
• 1/2 cup of almonds chopped; I used sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray and place waxed paper in a 9 inch square baking pan. (I used an 8 inch pan and lined it with aluminum foil that I lightly sprayed with Pam. I suggest sticking with the 9 inch pan.)

In a small pot combine the butter  and white chocolate. Over low heat melt the butter and chocolate slowly.  Remove pot from heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.  Add the vanilla. (Normally I would take the easy route and use the microwave but I’ve over heated white chocolate too many times that way.  On the stove I have more control and can tell when to take it off the stove.)

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.  With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together until they are thick and pale.  Add the chocolate mixture and mix until it is combined.  Add in the flour mixture and mix until it is combined.  Stir in the cranberries and almonds if adding.

Spread evenly into the pan (or sprinkle sliced almonds evenly across the top of batter, as I did) and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Don’t under bake. 

Refrigerate the brownies overnight. Remove them from the pan and cut into squares.

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Giveaway Rules & Info

• For the first and main entry, answer this question, “Are you a cookie baker or eater?”
• For a second entry, become a “fan” of Tate’s on Facebook. Come back and leave a comment telling me.
• The giveaway ends on Saturday, December 11th and a random winner will be selected on Sunday, December 12th. 
• Please leave an email address where you can be reached.  Once a winner has been selected he/she will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be randomly selected.

At this time the giveaway is only open to U.S residents.

For a 15% discount at tatesbakeshop.com use the discount code, cookies.  Offer good through December 31st, 2010.

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Disclosure:  I received Tate’s cookies and cookbook free of charge.  The opinions stated here are completely my own.

Pecan Cutie Pies

I first saw these “cuties pies” on Monica’s blog months ago and had every intention of making them straight away.   I didn’t.  By the time I got home, cooked dinner, helped with homework, and was ready to bake I had forgotten about them. It’s usually the last recipe I see  before I head into the kitchen that winds up being pulled out of the oven.  Does that happen to you, too? Or is just me?  Sometimes I even have this nagging feeling that I wanted to make something but can’t think of what it was.

Unlike myself Avril didn’t wait so long .  After hearing her rave about them I added pecans to my grocery list.  I bought the pecans but promptly forgot about making the cutie pies. Again.  It wasn’t until rearranging the fridge and freezer last week that I came across the bag of pecans. This time I was gonna tie the bag around my neck and wear it as a reminder to make the kids and I some pecan cutie pies.  Okay, so I didn’t tie the bag around my neck but I did set it on the counter as a reminder to make them.

Made ‘em.  Ate ‘em.  All gone.

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The Giveaway winners are #18 Sherry G. & #38 Lorie.  Congratulations!  Please email me your info.  If I don’t hear from you by Saturday.  I’ll have to chose another winner.

Thanks to everyone that entered!

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Program

 

I was just sent this email from a board member of ITMS PTSA.  I know many of you have school age children and even if you don’t, you know of  a local school that could use the help.

Borders will donate $15 gift card to the school of your choice for any in store purchase you make regardless of amount of purchase. It doesn't even have to be a book - food items count as well. Please take advantage of this on Saturday and Sunday. See details below.

Borders gives schools free gift cards worth $15 The much discussed documentary "Waiting for Superman," which offers a harsh portrait of the country's public schools, has inspired a promotional collaboration among the Borders Group superstore chain, an education fundraiser and the publisher of the movie's companion book.

On Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, any Borders customer making an in-store purchase, whether of a book or a bagel or a latte, will receive a $15 gift card to donate to a public school of choice through DonorsChoose.org, an Internet-based charity.

Anyone purchasing the book "Waiting for 'Superman': How We Can Save America's Failing Public Schools" will receive a second $15 card. The companion text was published by PublicAffairs, part of the Perseus Books Group, which along with Borders and DonorsChoose.org announced the campaign Sunday.

Thanksgiving Desserts

Libby’s Pumpkin Roll

Brownies with PB Chips, Mini PB Cups, & Chocolate PB Ganache

Cherry Almond Pie Bars

Here are the three desserts I made for Thanksgiving.  They were all very good but the surprise standout was the almond cherry pie bars.   Everyone thought thought they were amazing.  Even those that normally go for the pumpkin or chocolate desserts went back for seconds of the pie bars.  Another plus, besides their overall deliciousness they are also waaaay easier than baking an actual pie!

This recipe comes by way of Amanda’s Cookin’ and her blackberry pie squares recipe.  (If you haven’t yet, check her out.  I’ve made a few of her recipes and have been please with each one.  She also has a pretty cool craft blog. )  I’ve adapted her recipe twice now.  The first time I used Lucky Leaf’s blueberry pie filling and upped the lemon factor by adding the zest of one lemon to the sugar. This time around I used Lucky Leaf’s cherry pie filling and subbed in almond extract for the vanilla. 

Almond Cherry Pie Bars, adapted from Amanda’s Cookin'

Bars:

1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), room temp
4 eggs, room temp
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
30 ounces cherry pie filling,* (21 oz. is one can of pie filling but I added another half a can)

Glaze:

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

2 tablespoons heavy cream, enough to make the glaze pourable

1/4 teaspoon of almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream sugar and butter in mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add the almond and beat well. Whisk together flour and baking powder. Turn mixer speed down to lowest setting and slowly add flour mixture until completely combined.

Spread half of mixture onto an ungreased 15x10 jelly roll pan. (Amanda weighted hers out.) Spread pie filling over the top of the batter. Drop remaining batter onto the pie filling layer by spoonfuls.  Spread gently.  (I use a damp offset spatula to do this. Don’t worry about it not being perfect.  It all works out.)

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. (I took mine out at 38 minutes. Do not under bake. Remove to a wire rack.

Whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, and heavy cream.  Drizzle over warm bars. (Toasted almond slices would be nice sprinkled on top.  I didn’t add them because my Dad doesn’t care much for nuts. He’s weird! :))

Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Printable recipe

*Note:

I have been very fortunate to receive Lucky Leaf’s pie fillings.  Each one I have tried has been wonderful.  In the past I’ve never cared for the other brands I’ve tried. I found that they were too sweet and artificial tasting.  Not so with Lucky Leaf.  And for those of you staying away from high fructose corn syrup you’ll be happy to hear that Lucky Leaf’s does not contain any!

Disclosure:  While I received Lucky Leaf pie fillings to try.  The opinions expressed here are all my own.

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If you haven’t yet, click here to enter my Thankful Giveaway! 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope it was a delicious one!