It's 24 degrees out... 24º F... It's officially way too cold out. It hasn't even snowed here in Carbondale, so beauty isn't even an excuse to enjoy the winter weather. However, Josh suggested something that brightens up my spirits during the cold winter months: comfort food! The recipe we have for you is what I consider to be one of the most comforting...Read More
It's getting frighteningly close to Christmas... If you're anything like me, you're ill prepared, and probably have over half of your list of gifts yet to combat. One thing that I know I can always look forward to during the holiday season is cookies! Whether it's eating, or baking cookies, I'm happy to take part. So here we go again with the baked goods; these are flakey, delicious cookies based off of a basic shortbread with a twist to add even more holiday flavor. Lastly, it is dipped in white chocolate to make this treat even more decadent.
Cream the butter before adding in the brown sugar.
Add the flour and beat until a crumbly dough forms.
This recipe is very easy, and requires minimal effort. Use either a hand mixer or standing mixer to mix the ingredients.
What You'll Need:
-1 Cup Unsalted Butter (softened)
-1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
-2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
-1/4 tsp Cardamom
-1 tsp Orange Extract
-Pinch Salt
-11 oz White Chocolate
-Sprinkles (optional)
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350º F. In a bowl off to the side whisk together the flour, cardamom, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter until it is smooth. Add in the brown sugar, and continue to beat together the ingredients until they appear smooth and combined.
2. Add in the orange extract, followed by the flour. Beat over low speed until a slightly crumbly looking dough forms.
3. On a lightly floured surface knead the dough for a few minutes. Add flour if the dough sticks. Separate the dough into bite sized balls and layer on a baking sheet. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until slightly golden and cracking.
4. Let cool completely on a cooling rack. Add a small amount of water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. In a heat safe bowl, add the white chocolate and place on top of the hot water. Allow the chocolate to melt, stirring frequently. Don't let any water into the bowl with the chocolate. The secret to melting chocolate is to go for lower heat. Dip in the cookies immediately, and transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put in the fridge until the chocolate has dried.
Then combine the sugar.
Knead together the dough and form bite sized balls from the dough.
Bake at 350º F for approximately 10 minutes.
Dip the "snow balls" in melted white chocolate...
Throw on some sprinkles to make the cookies even more festive!
I've always had somewhat of an obsession for the area around the Mediterranean Sea. For one thing, Moorish architecture, the ocean, and the food are all incredible! The colors associated with the Mediterranean represent life, and Josh and I try to do the Mediterranean justice with our food. For this sandwich we chose to go all out, we made the pita bread ourselves....Read More
I love Christmas, it's an excuse to bake cookies all day while listening to the classic crooners - I really love the old Christmas songs... there's nothing like Nat King Cole or Dean Martin and the smell of shortbread cookies in the oven.
Today, Josh and I put up my Christmas tree. It's kind of a ritual for me to play Christmas music, admire all my ornaments, and bake cookies on a day as festive as this!
These shortbread cookies are so easy, and using some sprinkles in the dough really adds to the holiday appeal of the cookie.
Today, Josh and I put up my Christmas tree. It's kind of a ritual for me to play Christmas music, admire all my ornaments, and bake cookies on a day as festive as this!
These shortbread cookies are so easy, and using some sprinkles in the dough really adds to the holiday appeal of the cookie.
What You'll Need:
-1 Cup (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter, softened
-2 Cups All Purpose Flour
-1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
-1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 Cup Sprinkles
1. Whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl.
2. In a separate large bowl, add in the butter, cut into Tbsp cubes. Use a hand mixer to beat the butter until it's smooth. Slowly add in the powdered sugar, and beat this together until it is smooth and kind of white. Add the vanilla and beat until everything is mixed together.
3. Add the flour mixture to the bowl and beat it on low speed. The mixture will look kind of crumbly, but the dough should come together when you squeeze it between your fingers. Add the sprinkles, and just mix them in with a wooden spoon until everything is incorporated.
4. Split the dough into two, and form two disks. Cut two sheets of plastic wrap, and cover them with flour. Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.
5. Once the dough is ready to be handled, pre-heat the oven to 325º F. Roll out the dough to be about a 1/4 inch thick. I left the dough in the plastic wrap by leaving some loose edges for the dough to expand into. If you remove it from the plastic wrap, make sure you lightly flour your rolling pin. Cut out the cookies, I used a shot glass because it was the perfect little round size.
6. Bake the cookies at 325º F for about 15 minutes, or until the bottoms and edges of the cookies are golden. Let them cool before enjoying.
Cut in the butter and whip it to a creamy texture
along with the powdered sugar and vanilla extract
Beat in all of the ingredients and mix in the sprinkles.
Separate the dough into two separate disks, and refrigerate for at least an hour!
Bake, cool, enjoy. :)
Happy Holidays :)
Carbondale has been gloomy since Thanksgiving... Clouds, rain, the whole shebang. The parking lot of my apartment complex was so flooded that the cars parked on the lower ends of the lot had water halfway up there tires. This type of weather doesn't exactly put me in the holiday mood... Regardless, I woke up, put on my ugly Christmas Sweater and headed to...Read More
Did you guys know that a frittata was an Italian dish? I guess it roughly translates to "fried." In my opinion, a frittata is somewhat of an omelet, one that you could totally eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Alright, I guess you could even call it a 'crustless quiche,' but I'm sticking with frittata because it's fun to say! Since the frittata...Read More
The Gilmore Girls reboot is going to be on Netflix in just a few days, if you're a 90s kid like myself, you're probably really excited for this! I remember watching Gilmore Girl's on my sick days home from school, and since Netflix picked up Gilmore Girls I'm not ashamed to say I've binge watched a bit...
The inspiration for this dish is a whole lot of Sookie, some of Luke's Diner, and the girls love of junk food. Bring all of that together to create a to die for "pizza pie!"
Although Josh isn't a fan of Gilmore Girls, he did not complain once while we ate our pizza pie, and played Gilmore Girls in the background, (I'm pretty sure that's a sign that the food was good!)
So you can either buy a crust, a puff pastry would probably do best, or make one. Here's how I made mine, I recommend making your own, because you don't want to miss out on the flakey goodness of a pie crust. This is a simple pie crust, but keep in mind that you'll need to put it in the freezer for at least an hour.
What You'll Need:
-3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
-1 tsp Salt
-1/2 Cup Vegetable Shortening
-1/2 Cup Butter
-8 to 10 Tbsp Ice Cold Water
1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Cut in the butter and shortening using either a dough cutter, or 2 forks/knives, until the mixture kind of resembles a course, grainy mixture.
2. Add in the ice water, one Tbsp at a time, mixing with your hands until dough forms.
3. Separate the dough into two almost equal parts. It's important that one half is slightly larger so that it spreads enough to cover the entire base of the pie pan.
4. Place each dough ball onto plastic wrap covered in flour, flour the top of the dough ball and place another large piece of plastic wrap on top. Do this with both dough balls. Roll out the dough until it is large enough to take on the shape of the pie pan, the other dough ball just has to be large enough to cover the top.
5. Place the larger pie crust, while still wrapped, into a pie pan and into the freezer. Make sure the top crust is left on a flat surface, and placed in the freezer. Leave these in there for an hour, and you can store it in there for up to 24 hours.
When you've gotten to the point where you are ready to make your pie, make sure you pre-bake the crust in a 375º F oven for about 10 minutes, or until the edges start to brown. Take a fork to the pie crust and poke some holes in the bottom before you cook it, this insures that it will cook evenly. If there are any bubbles in the crust, pop them.
Cut in the flour, and shortening until a grainy mixture has formed. (Pictured below!)
Make sure to flour the plastic wrap before you
place the dough on it.
Freeze the dough for at least 1 hour before making the pie.
Moving on to the filling for the "pizza pie!"
What You'll Need:
-1/2 Cup Fresh Basil, chiffonade
-3 Cups Tomatoes, seeded and diced into 1/2" cubes
-2 Cups Mozzarella, diced into 1/2" cubes
-1/2 tsp Pepper
-1/4 tsp Salt
-1 1/2 tsp Olive Oil
-2 Cloves Garlic
-1 1/2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
-1 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese
-Crushed Red Pepper, to taste (optional)
-1 Egg White for egg wash, 1/4 tsp water
1. Chop the basil, mozzarella, and tomato, add everything into one bowl. Add in the salt, pepper, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parmesan, and crushed red pepper (if you so choose,) and mix all of the ingredients together until everything is evenly coated.
2. Spoon in all of the ingredients into the base of of the pie crust. (Make sure that you've pre cooked the pie crust if you've followed my pie crust recipe.)
3. Take the top half of the crust, and cover the pie. Fold the crust under itself and press it to the bottom crust. Cut the top crust a few times, and make a quick egg was and brush the top of the pie.
4. Bake the "pizza pie" at 375º F for about 50 minutes to a little over an hour, make sure the crust becomes slightly browned. Allow the pie to sit for at least 20 minutes before diving in.
I chose to use heirloom tomatoes because they're really pretty, and I felt like Sookie would have definitely appreciated the aesthetic appeal.
Make sure that prep always comes first, just to make your job a lot easier. :)
Be sure to poke holes into the bottom crust before pre-baking to ensure that it cooks evenly!
Then cut into the top crust before placing the pie into the oven.
My pizza pie is tasty enough to transport you to Stars Hollow - it's worth it! Enjoy :)
