Brown Sugar Blondies

This is the second dessert I made for my friend’s potluck last weekend. I found the recipe here, and was pretty tempted. I thought the recipe was great. The blondies had a nice molasses flavor, and was excellently moist. Unfortunately, the recipe is largely in grams, and I don’t have a kitchen scale here in DC. I did double the original recipe for baking in a standard US cookie sheet (~11” x 17”, technically a half sheet I believe). The only ingredient I really don’t have a good measure on is the brown sugar. I needed 800 grams, so I just dumped about 8/9 of a 2 lbs (900gram) into the recipe. I thought that these were really good, but I thought it was a little strange that all of the chocolate and nuts were put on top at the end. If I were making this again, I would have stirred the chocolate and nuts directly into the batter.

Chocolate Chip Brownies

Makes 1 cookie sheet worth

¾ Cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter

800 grams (most of a 2lbs bag) dark brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

6 eggs, beaten

5 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

Generous pinch of salt

4 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

4 oz. milk chocolate, chopped

4. oz pecans, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with non-stick foil. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. Over medium heat melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the brown sugar.

3. Remove from heat, and let cool for a moment. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.

4. Sift the flour mixture over the butter mixture. Beat together until just combined.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared cookie sheet. Spread the chocolate and nuts over the batter, and lightly push them into the batter.

6. Bake for 25 minutes, until just firm. Remove and let cool completely before cutting.

Brunch Food

I had friends over for a potluck brunch this morning. Earlier in the week the weather got really nice, and it put me in the proper mood (of course today it was cold and rainy). Brunch is one of my favorite meals, mostly because it is an excuse to eat vastly oversugared breakfast foods, along with some fruit, and call it a meal. In keeping with that theme, I decided to make pecan rolls. I followed Dorie Greenspan’s recipe in “Baking From my Home to Yours.” Her recipe, however, calls for a full recipe of Golden Brioche dough to be made, and then only half of the dough to be used. I was having enough people over that I wanted to use the full amount of dough, so I made one regular recipe of Honey Pecan Rolls, and one recipe of Chocolate Almond rolls. I thought both turned out really well. The pecan rolls were sticky and caramely, and the almond rolls were rich and chocolaty (I didn’t make the almond rolls in a caramel glaze). 

I did find that the rolls baked faster than the recipe called for. The recipe also said to knead the dough until it pulls away from the bowl, and after 20 minutes in the mixer, I found this still hadn’t happened. The rolls tasted great anyway though, so I didn’t worry too much about it. I did find that the almond buns got a little burnt on top, because they didn’t have a glaze to sit in. I’m not sure what can be done about that. Fortunately covering them in glaze helps to hide it.

Golden Brioche Dough

Makes 2 loafs

2 packets active dry yeast (each packet of yeast contains approx. 2 1/4 teaspoons) 

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water 

1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons salt 

3 large eggs, at room temperature 

1/4 cup sugar 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm

1. Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit into the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can-- this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you're doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point, you'll have a fairly dry, shaggy mess.

2. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You'll have a dough that is very soft, almost like batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

3. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.

4. Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap to the bowl. Cover the bowl with the plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the uncovered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight. (After this, you can make the sticky buns or freeze all or part of the dough for later use.)

Pecan Honey Sticky Buns

For the Glaze:

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar 

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces 

1/4 cup honey 

1-1/2 cups pecans (whole or pieces)

For the Filling:

1/4 cup sugar 

3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar 

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Buns:

1/2 recipe dough for Golden Brioche loaves (see below), chilled and ready to shape (make the full recipe and cut the dough in half after refrigerating it overnight)

1. Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a bowl. If necessary, in another bowl, work the butter with a spatula until it is soft, smooth and spreadable.

2.  On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you.

3. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can. (At this point, you can wrap the dough airtight and freeze it for up to 2 months . . . . Or, if you want to make just part of the recipe now, you can use as much of the dough as you'd like and freeze the remainder. Reduce the glaze recipe accordingly).

4. Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this). In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the brown sugar, butter, and honey to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar. Pour the glaze into the buttered pan, evening it out as best you can by tilting the pan or spreading the glaze with a heatproof spatula. Sprinkle over the pecans.

5. With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.

6. Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

7.  When the buns have almost fully risen center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden; the glaze will be bubbling away merrily. Pull the pan from the oven. The buns must be immediately unmolded. To do this, place a rimmed cookie sheet lined with a silpat directly over the baking pan, and flip everything over. The buns should fall out of the pan onto the silpat. Be careful, the caramel will be scalding hot! These are best eaten as soon as they have cooled enough.

 Chocolate Almond Buns

For the glaze:

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar 

2 T milk 

½ t vanilla extract 

¼ t almond extract 

Slivered almonds

For the filling

¼ cup granulated sugar 

3 T brown sugar 

¾ blanched almonds 

¾ cup mini chocolate chips 

3 T butter

1. Put the sugars and blanched almonds into a food processor. Pulse until mixture is coarse. Stir in the chocolate chips.

2. On a flour-dusted work surface, roll the chilled dough into a 16-inch square. Using your fingers or a pastry brush, spread the softened butter over the dough. Sprinkle the dough with the almond-chocolate mixture, leaving a 1-inch strip bare on the side farthest from you.

3. Starting with the side nearest you, roll the dough into a cylinder, keeping the roll as tight as you can.

4. Generously butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is perfect for this). With a chef's knife, using a gentle sawing motion, trim just a tiny bit from the ends of the roll if they're very ragged or not well filled, then cut the log into 1-inch thick buns. (Because you trim the ragged ends of the dough, and you may have lost a little length in the rolling, you will get 15 buns, not 16.) Fit the buns into the pan cut side down, leaving some space between them.

5. Lightly cover the pan with a piece of wax paper and set the pan in a warm place until the buns have doubled in volume, about 1 hour and 45 minutes. The buns are properly risen when they are puffy, soft, doubled and, in all likelihood, touching one another.

6. When the buns have almost fully risen center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the sheet of wax paper and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Bake the sticky buns for about 30 minutes, or until they are puffed and gorgeously golden. Unmold by placing a rimmed cookie sheet over the top of the baking dish, and then inverting.

7. Mix together the sugar, milk, and extracts until smooth. Drizzle the tops of the buns with glaze, and sprinkle with slivered almonds.

 

Brownies for Dorie

Happy New Year! A friend of mine threw a holiday party the other night, so I decided to put together some brownies to bring along. Dorie Greenspan’s recipe for “Chipster-Topped Brownies” looked pretty tempting. The idea behind these brownies is that they are brownies topped with chocolate chip cookies. I didn’t think they quite turned out that way, the cookie top wasn’t really distinct from the brownie base. That said they were absolutely delicious. They take a little bit of work to make because you really have to make two separate batters, but I didn’t think it was too bad. Overall these were definitely a crowd pleaser, and made a nice, very chocolaty brownie.

Chipster Topped Brownies

Makes a 9x13 pan

For the Brownie Layer

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut up into chunks 

1 2/3 cups sugar 

4 large eggs 

½ tsp salt 

½ tsp vanilla 

1 cup AP-flour 

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped (I used pecans, because they’re what I had)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 cake pan, line it with parchment paper, and butter the paper.

2. Over a double boiler melt together the two chocolates and the butter, stirring just until smooth. Remove from heat.

3. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat the sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes, until thick and pale. Beat in the salt and vanilla.

4. Reduce speed to low and mix in the melted chocolate until just incorporated. Scrape down sides of the bowl with a spatula. With the mixer on slow add the flour and mix until just incorporated.

5. Fold in the walnuts. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, and level with a spatula.

 

For Cookie Layer

1 ¼ cup flour 

½ tsp baking soda 

½ tsp salt 

¾ cups (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar 

1 large egg 

1 large egg yolk 

1 tsp vanilla 

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips1. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.2. Beat together the butter and the sugars in medium high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.

3. One at a time add the egg, then the egg yolk, beating for a minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla

4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips.

5. Drop the cookie batter on top of the brownie batter by spoonfuls. Using a spatula, gently spread the cookie layer out over the top of the brownie layer.

6. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the top is a deep golden brown and a knife tester comes out with only faint streaks of moist chocolate.

7. Remove the pan from the oven, let cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, invert onto a cutting board, then flip back to right-side up. Cut into bars and serve. 

Rugelach

Amongst the cookies I made for my holiday party last week (the third, some roll out sugar cookies, won’t be featured because they got eaten before I could take pictures) were rugelach from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours. I thought of all the cookies I made for that night, these were my favorite. I didn’t use currants in this recipe, because I didn’t have any, but I think they would have been good.

Dorie Greenspan’s Rugelach

Makes 32

Dough

4 oz. Cold Cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces 

8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces 

1 cup AP flour 

¼ tsp salt

Filling

2/3 cup raspberry or apricot jam, or marmalade 

2 T sugar 

½ tsp cinnamon 

½ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup plump, moist dried currants 

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 2/3 cup mini-chocolate chips

Glaze

1 large egg 

1 tsp cold water 

2 T coarse decorator’s sugar (or regular)

1. Make the dough: Let the cream cheese and butter soften on the counter for 10 minutes (you don’t want them fully softened). Put the flour and salt in a food processor, scatter the butter and cream cheese over them. Pulse the machine 6 – 10 times, then scrape down the sides of the bowl and run the bade until the dough forms large curds. Don’t work it so long that it forms into a ball on the blade.

2. Divide the dough in half, flatten each half into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

3. (These things are mixed in three separate bowls, don’t mix them all together) Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat until it liquefies. Mix the cinnamon and sugar together. Mix the nuts, chocolate and currants together.

4. Take the dough out of the fridge, let it rest just until it is soft enough to roll out. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half the dough into an 11-12 inch circle. Spoon or brush a thin gloss of the jam over the dough. Sprinkle have the cinnamon and sugar mixture evenly over the jam. Scatter half the chocolate mixture over the dough. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough.

5. Use a pizza cutter to divide the dough into 16 triangles. The easiest way to do this is to cut the dough into quarters, and then cut each quadrant into 4. Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up until each cookie becomes a little crescent (like a crescent roll). Repeat with the remaining dough half. Refrigerate the rolled up cookies for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the egg and water together. Brush the cookies with the glaze. Sprinkle a little sugar over each cookie. Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are puffed and golden, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Let cool completely on wire racks.

Praline Pumpkin Pie

This recipe for Praline Pumpkin pie probably predates my birth. My mom has been making it for as long as I can remember, and easily from before then. My mother’s copy of the recipe resides on the torn out page of the magazine she originally got the recipe from, she thinks it was Food and Wine. The recipe is by far my favorite for pumpkin pie. The pumpkin filling is nicely spiced, but not overly sweet. This is contrasted by the buttery praline at the bottom of the pie. In addition the smoothness of the pie combines wonderful with the mild crunch of the pecans and praline. I just can’t imagine a pumpkin pie that’s better.

As far as crusts go, the original recipe comes with a recipe for a hot water crust, which we don’t use. I actually bought my pie crusts this time (horror of horrors) because I just didn’t feel like I had the time to make them (I am preparing for finals after all). A regular pie crust should do though, or, my mother has had success using this unusual pie crust made with Vodka.  

Praline Pumpkin Pie

Makes 2 nine inch pieswe

Pie Filling:

½ cup sugar 

½ cup light brown sugar 

1 T flour 

1 T Bitters (optional, but we always use it) 

1 t ground cinnamon 

½ t ground ginger 

½ t salt 

¼ t nutmeg 

½ t cloves 

1 egg, lightly beaten 

2 T butter 

1 29 oz. can pumpkin puree 

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk 

¼ cup milk 

1 cup water1. In a bowl whisk together the first 9 ingredients (sugar through cloves), whisk in the egg and set aside.

2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add the pumpkin puree and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the pumpkin puree to the sugar mixture. Gradually stir in the evaporated milk, followed by the milk, and then the water. At first it may seem like they won’t come together, just keep stirring. Set the mixture aside.

 

Praline

4 T unsalted butter, softened 

2/3 cups light brown sugar 

2/3 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

1. Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the pecans.

 

Assembly.

2 9 inch pie crusts 

Praline mixture 

Pumpkin filling

1. Use a fork to poke holes all over the pie crusts. Freeze them for ten minutes.

2. Divide the praline mixture in half, and spread half in the bottom of each pie. Make sure to cover the whole bottom of the pie. Bake the pies in the 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove the pies

3. Turn the oven temperature down to 400 degrees. Let the pies cool for a few minutes. Divide the pumpkin filling between the two pies (you may have a little extra filling). Smooth the surface of the pies with a spatula. Bake the filled pies for 50 minutes to an hour, or until the center is firm and the crust is golden. Let cool completely before serving

 

Double Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

It looks like I’ve finally got a recipe ready to get in before this month’s cupcake hero. This month’s theme was squash, a suitable fall theme, and I decided to go with Pumpkin (like pretty much everyone else). Finding inspiration for these cupcakes was easy. Every Thanksgiving my mother makes a pumpkin pie that has a layer of pecan-praline at the bottom, and it is delicious, and the inspiration for these cupcakes. These are pumpkin cupcakes, filled with pumpkin pie, and frosted with a cream cheese frosting flavored with pecan-praline powder and maple syrup. The result was delicious. When I served these last night a number of people told me that these were the best cupcakes I’ve made yet, and while I don’t know that I agree (I find it hard to accept anything without chocolate in it as a “best”), they were certainly very good. At least one person said the cupcakes reminded him of cheesecake, probably because of the cream cheese frosting. This is also one of the only times where I’ve ended up with the right amount of everything (I usually end up with too much or not enough of some part of the cake, like the filling or the frosting)

A note on the frosting: it is not nearly stiff enough to be piped as written. You could probably solve this problem by adding powdered sugar, but I wanted the sweetness to come from the praline and the maple syrup more than I wanted a pipe-able frosting.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Makes 1 8x8 pan

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs, separated

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg

½ tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 425. You will not bake the pie at this temperature, but do want a hot oven. In a large bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree, the sweetened condensed milk, and the egg yolks.

2. Whisk in the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture.

4. Pour the filling into an 8x8 baking pan (I used Pyrex). Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake the filling until it has set, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool fully. While the filling is baking, prepare the other parts of the cupcakes.

Pumpkin Cupcakes (recipe from marthastewart.com)

Makes 24 cupcakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs, lightly beaten1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl whisk together the sugars, the butter, and the eggs.

2. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Once they are fully combined, mix in the pumpkin puree.

3. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full using a ¼ cup measure. Bake the cupcakes for 20-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

Praline Powder

Makes 2 ½ - 3 cups

1 ½ cups sugar

6 T water

1 cup pecan halves

1. Put the water and sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium high heat. Stir briefly so that the sugar is mixed with the water.

2. Let the mixture come to a boil. Continue heating. Eventually the mixture should begin turning an amber color. When the mixture reaches a light to medium amber (around 300 degrees on a candy thermometer) remove the mixture from the heat. Immediately pour the nuts into the caramel and shake to combine.

3. Pour the caramel onto an oiled cookie sheet or a silpat. Set aside and let cool and harden (this won’t take too long).

4. Once the praline has hardened, break it into chunks and put it into a food processor. Use the food processor to grind the praline powder until it resembles a coarse sand.

Maple – Praline Frosting

8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened

4 T unsalted butter, softened

2 cups praline powder

½ cup maple syrup (Grade B)

½ cup powdered sugar

1. Beat together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Beat in the praline powder, maple syrup, and powdered sugar.

Assembly

1. Use the cone method to hollow out the cupcakes.

2. Spoon a healthy amount of pie filling into each cupcake. Place the top back onto the cupcake.

3. Frost with the Maple – Praline Frosting.

4. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Pecan Bars

This is number three in the set of recipes I’ve made Martha’s Cookies book. I actually made these at the same time as I made the chocolate malted sandwich cookies, but it took me awhile to get around to posting them. These cookies were pretty tasty, but I was expecting the layer of caramel to be a little thicker from the picture in the book. I also thought the shortbread part of the cookie could have been a little thinner. If I were going to make the cookies again, I think I would make ¾ of the shortbread, and 1 ½ times the caramel. I also thought the caramel tasted a little strongly of honey at first, but that flavor mellowed. Even so, these cookies were definitely worth making, and got rave reviews from all my friends. This Cookie book has definitely been worthwhile, the recipes are a little truncated in their explanations, but they’ve all turned out very tasty.

Pecan Bars

Makes 1 13 x 9 pan, about 36 cookies

Crust:

1 cup plus 2 Tbs (2 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
½ tsp salt
3 cups AP flour

Filling:

½ cup (1 stick) unstalted butter
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup plus
2 Tbs honey
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs heavy cream
¼ tsp salt
2 cups pecan halves
½ tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cream the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the salt.

2. Add the flour 1 cup at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each addition. Continue mixing until the dough comes together in large clumps.

3. Press the dough into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Pierce the dough with a fork. Chill the dough until firm, about 20 minutes.

4. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, and reduce the oven temperature to 325.

5. To make the filling (wait until the crust is mostly cooled to do this): place the butter, brown sugar, honey, granulated sugar, and heavy cream in a saucepan over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 1 minute.

6. Remove from heat, and stir in salt, nuts, and vanilla. Pour the filling over the cooled crust.

7. Bake at 325 degrees until the filling begins to bubble, about 15-20 minutes.

8. Allow the cookies to cool completely. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, and invert onto a cooling rack, and then flip back over onto a cutting board. Use a serrated knife to cut into 1 x 3 inch bars.