Category Archives: Treats

by | December 24, 2009 · 9:39 am

Christmas Morning Stollen

Every year on Christmas Eve, my dad runs to the nearby bakery to pick up a Christmas stollen. Stollen is basically a German fruitcake, made with dried fruit, nuts and spices. When eaten fresh, it’s a tasty treat. But beware, it can dry out in a few days and then you are cursed with a hard brick of a loaf that no one wants to eat.

This year, I have decided to surprise my Dad, go back to my German roots and make my very own Christmas Morning Stollen.   

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of mixed golden raisins and cherries
  • 1/2 C. Cherry Juice
  • 2 TBSP rum
  • 1/2 C. slivered almonds
  • 2/3 C. whole milk
  • 6 TBSP unsalted butter
  • 1/3 C. sugar
  • Grated zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
  • 3 C flour
  • 1 envelope rapid rise yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  • Pinch of cinnamon
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • Powdered sugar for dusting

Combine dried fruit, cherry juice and rum in saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and stir. Cover and let sit overnight until fruit is plumped. Toast almonds on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Turn off oven.

Place milk, 4 TBSP butter and sugar in a microwavable bowl. Microwave for 3 minutes. Remove from microwave and add orange and lemon zest. Stir to dissolve sugar. Set aside to cool. 

Butter large mixing bowl and set aside. In a stand mixer, or large bowl with electric hand mixer, mix 2 C. flour, yeast, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon until blended. Gradually add milk mixture, mixing on low setting. Slowly add eggs until soft dough forms. Turn off mixer. Add fruit, leftover juices and almonds. Continue to mix on low. Add remaining cup of flour until soft dough forms. Turn out dough on lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Place in buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for one hour. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch out dough. Divide into three portions. Roll each dough out into oval and fold lengthwise to create crescent shape. Cover. Let rise one hour. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Melt 2 TBSP of butter and brush over hot loaves. Transfer to wire cooling rack, cool completely. Dust heavily with powdered sugar before serving. Can be served with butter or jam. 

I hope my dad enjoys this home-baked German treat! 

Merry Christmas everyone! Or as they say in Germany, Frohe Weihnachten!

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by | December 18, 2009 · 8:40 am

Christmas Treats with Mom

Every year as a child, I, like most of you, looked forward to baking christmas cookies and treats with my mom around the holidays. If you ask anyone on the northwest side of Chicago, they will tell you my mom makes some of the best baked treats around. She is never afraid to, what we call in my family, “fuss.” 

So this year, my mom made a trip up to Wisconsin and we spent the day making a few extra Christmas treats that will spice up any holiday cookie platter. These bite sized desserts are easy to make and require very little baking. You can make as many or as little as you want. They are great to fill out a holiday platter or wrap individually to give as a heartfelt Christmas gift, just as Anne suggested in her recent post.

I’ve added them to a cookie platter filled with my Vanilla Spritz Press Cookies, Lemon Ginger Snowballs and Nutmeg Yule Logs. 

Turtle Pretzels


Ingredients:

  • Snyder’s Pretzel Snaps
  • Rolos
  • Whole Pecans

Place pretzel snaps on a foil-lined baking sheet. Place Rolo on top of the pretzel. Bake in oven at 250 degrees for 4 minutes. Immediately press pecans on top of chocolate. Set in refrigerator.

Christmas Mice


Ingredients:

  • Maraschino cherries
  • Hershey’s Kisses
  • Melted milk chocolate
  • Slivered almonds
  • Black and white gel icing

Pat cherries on paper towel. Dip in chocolate and place cherry on its side on a foil-lined baking sheet. Immediately place unwrapped Hershey’s Kiss as the head of the mouse. Set in refrigerator until chocolate hardens. Using black gel icing, attach slivered almonds to top of Hershey’s Kiss to create mouse ears. Use white gel icing for eyes. 

Chocolate Dipped Meringues


Ingredients:

  • Vanilla meringues
  • Milk and/or white chocolate, melted for dipping
  • Christmas sprinkles

Dip store-bough vanilla meringues in chocolate. Immediately dip in shallow bowl of holiday sprinkles of your choice. Set on foil-lined baking sheet in refrigerator until chocolate hardens. 

M&M Chocolate Pretzel Rings


Ingredients:

  • Pretzel rings
  • Milk and/or white chocolate, melted for dipping
  • Holiday M&Ms

Place pretzel rings on foil-lined baking sheet. Using small spoon (my mom using one of my old baby spoons!), drop chocolate into pretzel ring. Immediately place M&M, “M” side down, on chocolate. Set in refrigerator until chocolate sets. 

Mom’s Chocolate Melting Tips:

  • Using chocolate squares or chips, place in microwave safe bowl for one minute. Stir. 
  • Don’t let any water get into the bowl – the chocolate will harden and will not go back!
  • Don’t over heat. After one minute, stir. Use 15 second  increments to get to desired consistency. Stirring is the key!
  • Place a 1/2 teaspoon of shortening in with the chocolate before melting to even out the consistency.

From my mom’s kitchen and my kitchen to yours – Merry Christmas!

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by | December 16, 2009 · 8:50 am

Shortbread Cookies

Is this what your kitchen looked like last weekend?

It is that time of year when I decide to bake cookies and bread for all of my friends and neighbors. On Saturday I made 12 loaves of Amish Friendship Bread and 4 batches of shortbread cookies. I always get about half way through this process and question why in the world I am doing so much baking.

Instead of making many different kinds of cookies this year, I decided to make 4 batches of shortbread and added ingredients to make each batch a little different.  I then packaged these up in basic white candy boxes and tied them with sweet red ribbon.  Simply stated, but still something all of my friends and neighbors will enjoy receiving.

Shortbread Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

My optional additions: mini chocolate chips, chopped and toasted pecans, grated orange zest with chopped dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter an 8 1/2-inch round cake pan or a 8 inch square pan.  Sift together flour and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl cream butter until whipped, 3 to 5 minutes. Add sugar, and continue to beat until fluffy, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Beat for about 2 minutes more.

Add flour mixture a little at a time and beat on low until flour is fully incorporated and dough sticks together when squeezed.  Pat dough into pan and prick all over with a fork. Bake until firm in the center and just starting to turn light brown, about 50 minutes.

Take out of the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.  Cut into desired size.  Let cool 15 mins more and then remove the shortbread from the pan and place on a cooling rack.

Cookies will keep, in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 weeks.

Happy Baking!

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by | December 7, 2009 · 9:31 am

Gilded Lavender Butter Cookies

Light and buttery with a hint of “what am I tasting?”, these cookies are elegant enough for a bridal shower or holiday party but simple to make.  I was inspired by Martha Stewart‘s Rosemary Butter Cookies but have been wanting to test out a new recipe with lavender.  With the lavender you not only get the usual aroma of cookies baking, but your house smells like a spa too!

Since this Christmas I’m obsessed with anything sparkly, I used gold sanding sugar to “gild” the edges.  You can find the sugar in a variety of colors at Michaels and the lavender at most spice stores or natural food markets.

Lavender Butter Cookies

Gilded Lavender Butter Cookies
1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp coarse salt
2 1/2 C flour
1 Tbsp dried lavender
gold coarse sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in whole egg and vanilla. Add salt and flour, beating flour in one cup at a time until well combined (dough will appear crumbly). Add dried lavender and mix by hand with a spoon or spatula.

Divide dough in half and place each on a medium sized piece of parchment paper. Roll dough into a log, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Place each log on the edge of the parchment and roll it the paper around the log. Freeze logs for 1 hour.

Golden Butter Cookies

Unwrap the log from the parchment and place the parchment on a cookie sheet. Use a pastry brush to brush frozen logs with egg white. Pour sanding sugar onto a plate and roll dough in sugar, using your fingers to cover the log evenly. Slice log into 1/4 inch thick rounds and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 16-20 min.

Lavender Christmas Cookies

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by | November 11, 2009 · 7:43 am

Browned Butter and Sage Pumpkin Bread

I was so excited to see that pumpkin was our ingredient to use this week. I love cooking with pumpkin because it is so versatile. I have found that using canned pumpkin is just as tasty as steaming and pureeing fresh pumpkin, and it’s a real time saver.

Bread

Quick Breads are a staple in my house because they can be make quickly and eaten at any time of the day. I found this recipe from Martha Stewart and was instantly intrigued by the use of fresh sage in this pumpkin quick bread. The result is a delicious sweet bread that has a savory and nutty undertone.

Browned Butter and Sage Pumpkin Bread

6 ounces unsalted butter
1/4 cup fresh sage, chopped
1 and 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1 cup solid packed pumpkin (from can)
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs

Heat oven to 350. Grease 8 mini loaf pans (2  1/2-by-4-inch each) or 1 large loaf pan (9×5) with butter and dust it with flour.

bread collageMelt butter on stove top on medium low heat. Add fresh chopped sage and cook till butter turns golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. Let cool slightly.  Feel free to strain the sage from the butter at this point if you prefer to have just a hint of the fresh sage or leave it in, like I did, to have bits of sage throughout the bread.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk pumpkin, eggs, sugar and the browned butter with sage. Once smooth and well mixed, add flour mixture gradually until incorporated.

Divide evenly among mini loaf pans or pour into one large loaf pan. Smooth top and bake for about 30 minutes for mini loaf pans or 50 minutes for one large pan.

Let cool for 15 minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack. Garnish with  fresh sage leaves.

Enjoy!

anne

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by | November 9, 2009 · 9:17 am

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple-Bourbon Frosting

It’s reader’s choice week again on HAP and this time you picked a Thanksgiving classic: pumpkin! Since pumpkin pie recipes are on the back of nearly every can of pumpkin, we’ll be serving up some variations on the popular ingredient.

For my Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple-Bourbon Frosting, I started with Martha Stewart‘s pumpkin cupcakes, amped up the spices a little and then whipped some fall flavors into my favorite cream cheese frosting.  Although I don’t actually like drinking bourbon, the hint of flavor it adds gives the frosting great depth and pairs nicely with the spicy cake.

pumpkin cupcake recipe with cream cheese frosting

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES:
2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1+ tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/3 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 C brown sugar
1 C sugar
2 sticks butter, melted
4 eggs
1 can pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine flour, spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs, beating one at a time. Working in thirds, add dry ingredients to sugar mixture and beat well. Beat in pumpkin.

Spoon batter into lined cupcake tin, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 min for standard size cupcakes or 28-30 min for Texas sized cupcakes. Cool completely before frosting.

MAPLE-BOURBON FROSTING:
1 stick butter, softened
1 8oz pkg reduced fat cream cheese
3-4 C powdered sugar
2 Tbsp good bourbon, such as Maker’s Mark
1/4 C real maple syrup OR 1/2 tsp maple extract
*optional melted chocolate for fleur de lis

Beat butter and cream cheese until creamy. Beat in one cup of powdered sugar. Add bourbon and maple syrup and beat well. Beat in remaining powdered sugar. If frosting is not thick enough to your liking, beat in 1/4 C flour or additional sugar to thicken.

NOTE: I used maple syrup but didn’t get quite as much maple flavor as I wanted. If you can find maple extract I would try using that instead to get a stronger maple flavor.

chocolate drizzle fleur de lisCHOCOLATE
FLEUR de LIS:
Microwave 2/3 C chocolate chips in a small Ziploc bag for 1 minute. Spread parchment or wax paper on a cookie sheet. Clip off a tiny bit of  the bottom corner of the bag and  pipe chocolate into shapes on the parchment. Freeze for 2-3 hours.

katie

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by | November 6, 2009 · 8:59 am

Amish Friendship Bread

Nothing says friendship like cinnamon sweet bread. While I cannot find anything in my Internet research truly validating the fact that this recipe was indeed started by the Amish, it is fun and delicious nonetheless.

Amish bread1

The bread recipe is a type of sourdough bread, made in a ten-day cycle, originally started through the old fashioned chain letter. To make this recipe, one must get a starter bag, which I was lucky enough to come across from my friend, Corinne. However, I was able to dig up the recipe to create a starter bag. I haven’t tried this myself, so don’t send blame this direction if it doesn’t work.

Starter Bag:

  • 1 package of active dry yeast
  • ¼ C. of warm water
  • 1 C. all-purpose flour
  • 1 C. white sugar
  • 1 C. milk

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes. In large plastic, glass or ceramic bowl (NOT METAL!), combine flour and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Slowly stir in milk and yeast mixture. Transfer to one-gallon plastic bag.

Once you make your starter, or even better, receive one from a friend, its time to start the 10-day process. Please note that once you receive a starter in its first day, you can freeze the bag and use it when you want.

amish bread 2

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe:

  • Day 1 – receive the starter and do nothing
  • Day 2 – Mush the bag.
  • Day 3 – Mush the bag.
  • Day 4 – Mush the bag.
  • Day 5 – Mush the bag.
  • Day 6 – Add to the bag 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk. Mush the bag.
  • Day 7 – Mush the bag.
  • Day 8 – Mush the bag.
  • Day 9 – Mush the bag.
  • Day 10 – Follow these instructions:

Pour the entire contents of the bag into a non-metal bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups milk and stir. Measure one cup batter into four 1-gallon Ziploc bags and give to friends along with a copy of the recipe. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Add to the remaining batter:

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 C. oil
(or 1/2 C. oil, 1/2 C. applesause)
  • 1 C. sugar
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/2 C. milk
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 C. flour
  • 1 large box instant vanilla pudding
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Grease 2 large loaf pans. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2-cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Dust the greased pans with 1/2 of this mixture. Pour the batter evenly into the 2 pans and sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the top. Bake 1 hour. Cool the bread until it loosens evenly from the pan (about 10 minutes). Serve warm or cold.

amish bread 3

This recipe makes cinnamon sweet bread, however, a mess of other recipes exist using the same starter bag. With my next starter, I plan to make banana nut bread substituting the vanilla pudding for banana cream and adding 2 mushed bananas and walnuts. I also plan to add chocolate chips in the future. For more variations on this recipe, click here and scroll to the bottom.

All the HAP girls have starter bags, so contact us on our contact page if you are in the Milwaukee area and want to try this for yourself!

stef

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by | September 18, 2009 · 8:30 am

Caramel Apple Pie IN la mode

When fall comes around, there is no reason to abandon one of the best things about summer…ice cream! Instead of meeting up for a cocktail, my girlfriends and I love to gossip with a good dish of our favorite flavor. Making ice cream at home is much easier than I ever thought; you just need the right appliance. I have the ice cream attachment for my KitchenAid standing mixer and I adore it.

I love to experiment with different flavors and mix-ins. My latest creation is Carmel Apple Pie ice cream. Follow these steps and use the instructions for your own ice cream maker to enjoy this fall treat.

applepie1

Ingredients:

Ice Cream:

2 c. half & half

2 c. heavy whipping cream

1 c. sugar

6 egg yolks

3 TBSP pure vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

Mix-ins:

6-8 graham crackers broken into pieces (I use a food processor)

1 can of apple pie filling, chopped (again, I use the food processor)

Half a jar of caramel topping

To make the ice cream:

In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat the half and half until hot, but not boiling. Stir often. Remove from heat.

Mix egg yolks and sugar with mixer (hand or stand) thoroughly for about 30 seconds. Gradually add the half and half mixture until blended.

Return the mixture to the medium saucepan, cooking over medium heat until steaming. DO NOT BOIL.

Transfer mixture into large bowl and stir in whipping cream, vanilla and salt. Cover and chill thoroughly for at least 6 hours.

Use ice cream maker instructions to churn mixture into ice cream. In the last 3 minutes of freeze time, slowly add graham crackers and apples.

Layer one-third of mixture into a freezer safe container. Drizzle caramel over layer. Repeat for 2 more layers.

Place in freezer until ice cream is of a harder consistency.

applepie2

Results: My professional ice cream taster at home gave Carmel Apple Pie IN la mode two resounding scoops up!

stef

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by | September 16, 2009 · 9:09 am

Apple Tart

I love everything about fall; the leaves changing color, the beginning of football season, rediscovering my boots that I have missed so much. But most of all, I love fall cooking. I can’t get enough of soups, stews and chili and I especially enjoy saying goodbye to the fear of overheating my house by simply turning on the oven. Apple season marks the beginning of fall cooking and apple season has arrived!

I like desserts that can be thrown together quickly, especially when they look as pretty as this one. This apple tart is essentially a deconstructed apple pie and can be made in about a quarter of the time. Best of all, it is equally delicious.

appletart1 small

Apple Tart

2-3 medium sized apples

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 sheet frozen puff pastry

Take one sheet of puff pastry out of the freezer and place it on a greased baking pan. Let it sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes or until it is completely thawed. Wait to unfold it until the dough is thawed or it will crack on the seams.

Next, core, half and thinly slice the apples.

Put the apples in a bowl, add about 1 tbsp of the fresh lemon juice to the apples and then add the brown sugar. Set that aside and let it sit while you prepare the dough.

Once the dough is thawed, unfold it so you have one large rectangle. I usually roll it out a little just to make it bigger, but feel free to keep it just this size. Next you will want to score the dough. This is so your edges will puff up around the apples. Just drag a knife around the edge of the dough, about a half inch from the side. Do not push down enough to cut that part off, just push hard enough to make a definition. Next, take a fork and prick holes all over the middle of your tart, leaving the edges clean.

finished1 - smallThen layer your apples, slightly overlapping, in the middle of your tart. You can also brush a beaten egg along the edges if you so desire.

Now, just bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until the puff pastry is completely cooked and slightly browned.

Simple and delicious!

anne

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by | September 14, 2009 · 7:24 pm

A Slice of Garden? Yes, Please!

Zucchini can be a crazy little plant. Last week, after zucchini pasta, zucchini quiche and eight loaves of zucchini bread, I found myself wracking my brain for ways to use the unending pile of squash sitting on my counter. Desperately I wondered “if it works in bread, could it work in a pie?”

A pure zucchini pie seemed like a stretch so I strolled around the farmer’s market until I came across a bag of small baking apples.  Yes!  It would be apple pie but not! Toss in some fat, juicy raspberries and suddenly it would be not only a great use of my garden bounty, but a “haute” apple pie for my first post – slightly offbeat and definitely desirable.

091409-1Apple-Raspberry-Zucchini Pie

Double Pie Crust:
(or feel free to use your own crust!)
3C flour
1 1/4C shortening
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vinegar
1C ice water (you may not use it all)
1 egg, beaten

Filling:
1 bag of small, tart apples; peeled, cored, thinly sliced
3-4C zucchini; peeled and thinly sliced
2 pkgs raspberries
1/2C sugar, plus extra for dusting
¼C brown sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375. Peel, core and slice apples and zucchini, keeping slices of similar thickness for even baking.  Place on baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine sugars, cinnamon, salt and lemon juice.  Toss over zucchini and apple slices, coating evenly and bake for 15-20 minutes or until fruit is slightly soft.  Let cool while making your crust and gently stir in raspberries.

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.  Separately, combine vinegar and ice water.  Cut the shortening in grape-sized chunks into the dry mixture. Begin adding water to the dry mixture, 1-2 Tbsp at a time as you use your hands (take off any rings first!) or a scraper to work the shortening into the flour.  Continue adding water until all the flour is worked in and dough holds together but is not  sticky (you may not use all the water).  If dough gets too sticky, dust in more flour.  Divide the dough into 2 balls and place each ball between 2 sheets of floured waxed or parchment paper.  Roll out each ball with a rolling pin until it is flat and large enough to cover a pie dish.091409-2

Place one rolled crust in the bottom of the pie dish and pour in the fruit filling.  Gently place the second sheet on top.  Pinch together the edges of the two crusts using your thumb/forefinger and other thumb to push the crust into a “U” shape.

Use a knife to create 6 ventilation slits in the top crust.  Brush a beaten egg over the crust and dust with sugar.  Bake at 375 for 45-55 min. until crust is lightly golden in color, rotating the pie after 25 minutes for even baking.

The verdict: Delicious!  The zucchini really takes on the flavors of the other fruit and has a consistency that’s nearly identical to the apples.  It received positive reviews from my husband’s pleasantly surprised family.
katie

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