The cafeteria at my office has these wonderful cookies called English Toffee Cookies. They only make them once a week, and I can never remember which day of the week that is, so a few months ago I decided I should try to recreate them at home. I searched the internet and found a few recipes that seemed similar. Luckily, the first one I tried out was right on! These cookies are so easy to make and I really enjoy the fact that you only have to get two measuring utensils dirty – just the one-cup measure and the teaspoon measure. That helps my tidy kitchen stay tidy!
The recipe makes a ton of cookies – perfect for sharing. I’d normally just cut the recipe in half, but it calls for 3 eggs, and last time I tried to split an egg in half, it didn’t go so well. So, I brought half the batch over to my family the first time I made them. This time I think I will share with coworkers! You could also just freeze half of the dough and take it out of the freezer next time you feel like having freshly-baked cookies.
I love cookie dough, how about you?
Here they are in the oven. If you are baking two sheets at a time, make sure to rotate them halfway through.
See, it makes a ton of cookies. There are two racks here
Coconut Toffee Cookies
Makes 5 dozen
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cup coconut
1 package (10 oz.) English toffee bits
Preheat oven to 350º F. Beat sugar, brown sugar and butter in large bowl at medium speed until creamy, about 1 – 2 minutes. Add eggs, almond extract and vanilla. Continue beating until well mixed. Add flour and baking soda. Reduce speed to low, beat until well mixed. Stir in the coconut and toffee bits. Drop by rounded tablespoon on cookie sheet (I used my Silpat liners, but you could cover the baking sheets with parchment paper too). Bake 8 – 11 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Let cool slightly on cookie sheet (about 1 minute), then move to wire rack to cool completely.
I’m not sure what the deal was Saturday morning when I really wanted waffles, but my waffle iron did not want to cooperate! I’ve never had issues before, but this time they either kept cooking too quickly, even when I turned the heat down, or they kept getting stuck to the iron. After getting seriously cranky, I finally got a few good ones out of the batch. Since there’s only two of us at home, usually there are extra waffles since we each eat only one or two. I’ve found that if you cool the leftover waffles completely in a single layer, then stack and put in a freezer bag, they keep well in the freezer. Don’t stack them while cooling or they’ll get mushy. Then you can pop them in the toaster to warm them whenever you feel like having a waffle! In my opinion, it’s a healthier version of an Eggo. And waffles are so easy to make from scratch. Don’t bother with the boxed mixes!
As promised, my next few posts will probably be about strawberries. I went to the Minneapolis Farmers Market on Friday and picked up some strawberries. I knew they’d make a great topping for my waffles. Here’s an Emily-original recipe for strawberry sauce, which has been deemed “Zesty Strawberry Sauce” by John. The “zesty” part comes from the added lemon zest.
Waffles From Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, makes about 8 waffles
2 eggs
2 cups flour (all-purpose or whole wheat, I used all-purpose)
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Heat waffle iron. Beat the eggs in a large bowl until fluffy, then add in the remaining ingredients and beat just until smooth. Pour about 1/2 cup batter onto your waffle iron (you may need to adjust, depending on the size of your waffle iron). Close lid and bake until light golden brown. Repeat until you’ve made all your waffles.
Zesty Strawberry Sauce
1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced into quarters
3 tablespoons of sugar (you may need more or less, depending on how sweet your strawberries are)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
Juice of one lemon
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Put all ingredients into a medium saucepan and stir. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until thickened. Top the waffles with the strawberry sauce and then with whipped cream (if desired). Enjoy!
Consider yourself warned – the next few posts just might be recipes all about strawberries! I am currently obsessed with strawberries and I’m dying for them to be ready at our local apple orchard where you can pick your own. For now I have to settle for the ones from the grocery store. Last Friday, John and I went over to my cousin Roxanne and her husband Dan’s house and I volunteered to bring dessert. Dan loves dessert. I thought these cupcakes would be the perfect thing to bring. They turned out really well! We thought the frosting tasted a lot like strawberry ice cream.
I added some chopped strawberries to the frosting, which changed the texture of the frosting. If you do add chopped strawberries, make sure you dry them well and you will probably need to add extra powdered sugar to stiffen up the frosting. As you will see, my frosting looks more runny than the picture with the original recipe. It still tasted great though.
Cupcakes 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
Frosting 6 tablespoons butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons milk or cream
Strawberry jam (I used Smuckers Strawberry Spreadable Fruit)
Directions Make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil muffin cups. Mix together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla with an electric beater until thick and smooth (about 3 minutes). Add the butter and oil and mix well. Slowly add the milk and dry ingredients. Fill the muffin cups about 2/3 full with the batter.
Bake for 20-23 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool slightly then transfer to rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting: Beat softened butter with electric mixer until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until smooth then add the milk or cream and beat until fluffy. Mix in the strawberry jam (I used about 3 tablespoons but add as much or little as you like). Optional: finely chop a few strawberries and mix in! Or you could slice and add on top!
After graduating almost a month ago (wow, time flies), I have found myself with some extra free time until my full time job starts on June 22. I have been finding lots of food blog posts lately about bagels, so I thought that’d be fun to try!
I’m by no means an expert bread baker. In fact, the only bread I’ve ever made is banana bread, which is technically a “quick bread” so it doesn’t even count. So, instead of posting the recipe and instructions, here’s a link to the recipe I used so you can follow more expert instructions.
Since I’ve never made bread before, so I’m not even sure if my bagels turned out correctly, but they tasted pretty good! We made bagel sandwiches the first day, and I ate the rest of the bagels toasted with cream cheese and a drizzle of honey – yum! They last about a week stored in a plastic bag at room temperature. Good luck and let me know how yours turn out!
Last weekend, John and I made the trip out to South Carolina for his brother Jim’s wedding. We were only there for the weekend, so we didn’t really get to explore SC much, but the wedding was beautiful.
Does this ever happen to you: you’re traveling, staying in a hotel, and you get cravings for random foods? It happens to me all the time on trips. I tend to crave fruit and veggies because when you travel, you tend to eat all meals out, and most restaurants don’t make a point of serving good fruits and vegetables with meals (well, at least they don’t serve ones that are worth eating). Last summer when we visited Seattle, we were lucky that our hotel sat atop a Whole Foods Market. For breakfast each day, we just went down and were able to purchase fresh fruit and pastries for breakfast.
Anyway, on this trip, we made a stop at Atlanta Bread Company (which was really similar to Panera Bread we have here in MN). They had one shortbread cookie left on display. I really wanted it, but the service was so slow that I didn’t want to go back to the register to get the cookie and chance missing our plane. So, we stopped at Starbucks on the way to the airport, and I was lucky that they had shortbread cookies! However, this cookie did not satisfy my craving. It was pre-packaged, dry and crumbly. Not the kind of cookies I normally enjoy.
So, after arriving home, I just had to make shortbread cookies! These were especially good, moist and flaky (maybe due to the 3/4 pound of butter), and they were dipped in chocolate! Chocolate makes everything better. You might be like me, and hate making cookies that require rolling out, but these are worth it! These cookies sure satisfied my craving!! Make sure you eat them all within a few days, or they will get kind of dry. And if you are concerned about the amount of butter in these cookies, you can just eat one and give away the rest.
3/4 lb butter (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp salt
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate (chips, or chocolate bar, finely chopped) I use Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add vanilla. Sift together the flour and salt, then add gradually to the butter mixture, mixing until the dough comes together. Shape into a disk shape, then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This makes the dough easier to roll out.
Roll the dough out into 1/2 inch thickness, then cut out with cookie cutter. I used a 2 1/2 inch fluted round cookie cutter. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I always use my Silpat) and bake for about 12 minutes until edges are just barely starting to turn golden brown. If you like soft, not crispy, cookies (like me), take them out before they start to turn golden. Cool on cookie rack completely.
Place chocolate in microwave safe bowl and microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until chocolate is just melted. Dip half the cookie in the chocolate, then let harden on the cookie rack or on parchment paper.
Ah, summer. The season for grilling. I’ve recently realized that potatoes are one of my favorite foods. Roasted, mashed, fried… it’s all good! One of my favorite things in the summer is grilled veggies. I scored some fingerling potatoes (my favorite) at Cub on sale for $2.50 for a bag! I thought that grilled veggies would go great with a fun steak recipe I found on Mark Bittman’s blog, Bitten. You can visit his blog for the steak with shallot-thyme butter recipe that I made for the main course. (Note: we used filet mignon instead of skirt steak because we like that cut better.)
Fire up the grill! Here’s how you make them. There’s no actual recipe, so go ahead and add your favorites.
First, take two pieces of tin foil.
Then, wash the potatoes and cut them up so that they are similar sizes. That way they cook evenly. The smaller they are, the quicker they cook, and the sooner you can eat them!
Next, take a shallot or two and slice thinly. I prefer shallots to onions due to their milder flavor, but you could certainly add onions instead.
Now, cut up some green beans and mince some garlic. Throw it all onto the tin foil sheets. Sprinkle on some of your favorite herbs. I chose rosemary and thyme. Add salt and pepper too.
Then drizzle on some olive oil. And, then add some butter for good measure. Butter makes everything better.
Fold up the sides and close the packages tightly to seal. Throw them on the grill at medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. In the meantime, you can add the steaks to the grill. If you are lucky like me, you have an awesome grill-master husband who can get perfect grill marks on the steaks.
Look at that steak!
And here’s the finished product… it was delicious! Sprinkle a little lemon juice on the finished veggie packets to lighten up the flavor a bit.
So, it’s been a while since my last post! It’s not that I haven’t been cooking, it’s just that I finished graduate school last week, so I was busy with finals! I’ve actually been cooking more than normal, I just haven’t had time to write. Last weekend, I hosted a bridal shower for my brother-in-law’s fiance, Sarah, and then also hosted Mother’s Day breakfast for the in-laws the next day. So, I don’t think I will be entertaining for quite a while!
John and I had a little get-together at our house yesterday with friends to celebrate my graduation. We had burgers, veggies, chips and chocolate chip cookies. And for dessert: CREAM PUFF CAKE! I got this recipe from my grandma, who is a wonderful cook, and the party was a great excuse to make it. Cream puffs are always a hit, and it’s just way easier to make them in cake form.
Note: my grandma’s recipe calls for Cool Whip, but I prefer real whipped cream. So, if you don’t feel like making real whipped cream (but you should, because it’s so much better!), go ahead and substitute a tub of Cool Whip. You can refrigerate any leftovers for a day or so (although you probably won’t have any leftovers!).
Cream Puff Cake Adapted from Grandma Jurek, serves approx 15
Cake:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup water
1 cup flour
4 eggs
Spray bottom of 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Melt butter with the water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Add flour. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon or spatula until dough forms a ball. Remove from heat. Let cool slightly for 1-2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Stir until dough is completely combined. It should be smooth and light yellow-colored. Spoon dough into prepared pan and smooth out to coat pan evenly. Bake for 30 minutes or until puffed and golden brown and no longer wet on the inside. Cool before topping.
Topping:
1 package vanilla pudding
3 cups cold milk (or whatever the pudding box calls for)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Chocolate syrup, for serving (optional) Recommended: Guittard Dark Chocolate syrup
Prepare the vanilla pudding according to package directions. Once set, spread onto cooled cake. Beat the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla together until soft peaks form. Spread on top of pudding. An offset spatula works great for this. Cut cake into 15 pieces. Top with chocolate syrup. Enjoy! (Believe me, you will!)
Try not to open the oven while the cake is baking. You will get a cream puff steam facial.
The finished cakes. They look like a cream puff mountain landscape.
Making the pudding in the Kitchen Aid mixer. Best wedding gift ever - thanks, Jeff!
The finished whipped cream.
Ta-da! The finished product! Make sure you get a piece before it's all gone!
About once every few weeks or so, I make pretzels as a late night snack. I recently came across a new pretzel recipe that called for boiling the pretzels before baking, and I was curious to see how that would change the finished product. So I invited my friend Lauren over to try out the new recipe.
The original recipe is Martha Stewart’s Hot Buttered Pretzels. The challenger recipe is also from Martha: Soft Pretzels. Side note: the Martha Stewart Original Classics and New Classics are wonderful cookbooks. I received both as Christmas gifts from my husband. Everything I’ve made from them has been a hit! Ok back to the pretzels.
After baking both recipes, there’s no clear winner. Like the Coleman-Franken senate race, maybe we’ll need a recount of the votes and an appeal. The Hot Buttered Pretzels are more bread-like, pale and more doughy on the inside. The Soft Pretzels have a darker, crustier crust (due to the poaching I believe) and chewy inside. You’ll have to make them for yourself and decide which one you prefer. Believe me, they are worth it!
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for and for work surface
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons regular instant yeast
About 1 cup warm water
Kosher or sea salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk to combine flour, salt, sugar, and yeast in a bowl. Slowly add water. Depending on the humidity, I usually end up adding about 1 1/4 cups of water. Knead until soft and smooth, about 5 minutes.
Dust the dough with flour and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long thin rope. Twist each rope into a pretzel. Dip each pretzel in warm water. Place on prepared baking sheets lined with parchment paper or baking mat (I use a Silpat). Sprinkle with salt. Let rest, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and brush with melted butter (a “butter wash” as John calls it). Serve warm. You’ll want to eat them all right away.
Waiting for the dough to rise - longest 30 minutes ever!
2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3 tablespoons baking soda
1 tablespoon pretzel salt
Mix yeast, coarse salt, sugar, and warm water in a small bowl, whisking until sugar dissolves. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Mix flour and cayenne in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Pour yeast mixture over flour mixture, stirring to combine. Using your hands, gather dough together. Knead dough until it is no longer sticky, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic, and let rise for 30 minutes.
Cut dough into 12 pieces, and roll each into an 18-inch rope. Form a U shape with 1 rope, and twist ends together twice. Fold twisted portion backward along center of U shape to form a circle, then gently press ends of rope onto dough to seal. Transfer to an oiled baking sheet, and repeat. Let rise for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add baking soda. Boil pretzels in batches until puffed and slightly shiny, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to wire racks to drain. Return to baking sheet, sprinkle with pretzel salt, and bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 15 minutes. The recipe doesn’t call for melted butter, but we did brush butter on top.
Are they ready yet?!??
The finished soft pretzels - see, they are darker and look more like pretzels
I’m not sure what all the hatred about Earth Day is all about. I feel like all I read about today was people joking that they would engage in earth-unfriendly activities out of spite that Earth Day is not a “real holiday.” I’m not sure why that’s necessary. What did the earth ever do to you? If you don’t think it’s a real holiday, then don’t celebrate it. That’s just my opinion.
I decided to “celebrate” Earth Day by vegging out. No, not veg out as in sitting around (I actually did a lot today), but by being a temporary vegetarian today. Not that I’m a big meat-eater by any means, but I’ve lately been thinking more about the meat I eat. I’ve read a lot about the benefits (both for you and the environment) of vegetarianism, grass-fed beef, and other organic and free range meats. I’m just finishing up Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma which is a great narrative of where our food comes from. It’s a great read and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about food and where it comes from. I don’t desire to become a total vegetarian but I am trying to cut out some meat from my diet, and reserving meat consumption for when I actually will enjoy it (like cooking it myself for my husband and me).
Since I don’t work Wednesdays, I had lots of free time to cook since grad school is slowing down a little bit (less than a month until graduation). For brunch I made lemon-blueberry pancakes, and for dinner, quinoa-stuffed peppers. Quinoa is a grain that is gluten-free and high in protein and other nutrients, which makes it a great substitute for meat. (Note: I had trouble finding quinoa – turns out, it’s next to the couscous at my grocery store).
I really enjoyed the pancakes – the lemon zest added an fresh flavor and they were so light and fluffy, due to the beaten egg whites. The warm blueberries exploded in your mouth – they were like nature’s syrup! The stuffed peppers were pretty good, although slightly disappointing because they weren’t as good as the first time I had them prepared by my good friend Sara Beth. See below for the recipes.
Lemon-Blueberry Pancakes Adapted from Bobby Flay, but I was too lazy to do the blueberry syrup and compote. Click here for original recipe. Serves 4.
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch cream of tartar
2 cups fresh blueberries
Butter
Maple syrup
Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, oil, buttermilk, lemon zest and vanilla extract.
Fold the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix together until flour is just incorporated.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter just until incorporated. Let set for 15 minutes and gently fold in the blueberries.
Heat a nonstick pan or cast iron griddle over medium heat. Brush with the butter and heat until the butter just begins to sizzle. Scoop scant 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan or onto the griddle and cook until bubbles appear on the top surface and the bottom is golden brown, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Flip over and cook until the bottom is lightly golden brown, about 45 seconds. Remove to a baking sheet and keep warm in a low oven. Serve with maple syrup.
Sorry for the poor quality - this was taken with the iPhone.
Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1/2 tablespoon olive oil, plus a few drops for baking pan
1/2 shallot, diced
1/4 pound small mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1/4 pound baby spinach
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
4 bell peppers (any color), tops removed and reserved, seeds and cores discarded
Cook the quinoa according to package directions. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat 1/2 tablespoon of the oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook the shallot, mushrooms, carrots, and chopped red pepper until softened. Add the spinach and garlic and cook until spinach is wilted. Add cooked quinoa and toss gently to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Divide quinoa mixture evenly between bell peppers, gently packing it down and making sure to fully fill each pepper. Top each with its reserved top and arrange peppers, so that they’re sitting upright, in a greased deep baking pan. Cover the pan, bake for 45 to 50 minutes, then check for tenderness. Peppers are done when there is just a slight give to the flesh. Transfer to plates and serve. Serves 4.
I found this recipe on the Smitten Kitchen and just had to try it. Chocolate and caramel: what’s not to love? I have made a recipe similar to this in the past (with a cookie crust), which I will have to write about some other time. I omitted the optional nut topping from the original recipe; I thought that it might be good topped with toasted coconut (think: Girl Scout Samoa cookies).
The original recipe calls for saltine or matzo crackers, but while standing in line at the deli at Kowalski’s, I found some water crackers (Minnesota Flats brand) that looked like they’d be perfect.
About 40 saltine crackers or one package of water crackers
1 cup unsalted butter, cut into a few large pieces
1 cup packed light brown sugar
A big pinch of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup toasted coconut (optional – see below)
1 cup toasted chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts or a nut of your choice (optional)
Extra sea salt for sprinkling (optional)
Line a 11×17 rimmed baking sheet with foil, then top with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread out the crackers into a single layer onto the prepared pan. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar. When the mixture comes to a boil, stir and cook for 3 minutes. Take the mixture off the heat, then add a pinch of sea salt and the vanilla (I used the vanilla my grandma brought me back from Mexico – thanks, Grandma!). Pour the caramel quickly onto the crackers, then spread evenly onto crackers with a spatula. Bake the crackers for 15 minutes (caramel will bubble) and make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. If it starts to brown too quickly, turn the heat down. Once you remove the crackers from the oven, immediately cover with chocolate chips. Let sit for 5 minutes so the chocolate can melt, then spread the chocolate evenly over the caramel. Top with nuts or toasted coconut. Let sit until hardened (or put in refrigerator to speed up the process). Once hardened, break into pieces and enjoy! The crack will keep for a few days.
Toasted Coconut
Spread coconut onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, toss, then bake 5 more minutes, until golden brown and toasty.
