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The all time family favorite

December 24, 2011 by Mary Frances Leave a Comment

We LOVE this cookie!!! It is work, but it is worth it! For melt in your mouth pecan heaven, this is the cookie for you. There is not much sugar in the dough, hence the double rolling in powdered sugar. Many cultures have variations of this cookie and they may change the nut to almonds or walnuts, but we love pecans. And the finger shape is a bit more elegant than a fat ball as some folks do.

My mom always made a double batch and it was never enough for all 8 of us. I make a double batch for just the 4 of us, so you can imagine. Mom would enlist my brother Mark and me to help her with the rolling in powdered sugar. Our trick was to purposely break them while rolling – so they were no good and we just had to eat them. That was believable to her, especially in the first rolling while they’re still warm. But she caught on and would just giggle under her breath, unless we started “breaking” too many!

This is the single recipe. I hope it will become your family favorite too!

Baked cookies cooling for 5 minutes

PECAN CRISPS
¾ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup of pecan halves, ground in a food processor
2 cups flour
¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter very well. Add sugar gradually and beat well. Add vanilla. Sift the flour and salt together and then stir in the ground pecans and add this mixture gradually to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix thoroughly. The dough may be crumbly but gather it together with your hands and the warmth from your palms and all the butter in the dough will enable it to hold together.

Finished pecan crisps

Gently squeeze it. Shape dough into finger lengths. Place on greased or Siltpat lined baking sheets about 1” apart. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Then while still warm, roll in sifted powdered sugar. Cool cookies on rack and then roll again in the sugar until they have taken all that they can hold.

Date bars!

December 18, 2011 by Mary Frances 6 Comments

If you like dates, you will love this little bar cookie. It’s easy to make and nice to have in your repertoire. Cut your bars skinny. My mother used to say, “Make your cookies on the small side, because your guests and family will want to sample all of them and you just shouldn’t eat so much!”

DATE BARS
Makes 24 bars

2 large eggs
1 cup of powdered sugar
1 tbs. melted unsalted butter
1/4 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla
More sifted powdered sugar to roll the bars in

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8” or 9” square pan. I use a 9” glass Pyrex pan.

Beat 2 eggs a long time until very light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and melted butter.

Sift together the cake flour, salt and baking powder and add gradually to egg mixture on a low speed. Then add the vanilla, dates and nuts. Stir well. Pour evenly into your prepared pan and bake for approximately 25 minutes, until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool completely. Cut into 24 bars and roll each one in powdered sugar. Store in wax paper lined tin. Make sure the tin closes tight!

A chocolate favorite

December 16, 2011 by Mary Frances 6 Comments

This is a great little chocolate cookie that goes well with rich brewed coffee or a final nightcap of cognac. When my kids were younger, I often had to make another batch of these between Christmas and New Year’s Eve! You can also make these with bourbon instead of the cognac if you like. The original recipe for these came from the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. Once again, I have altered it. I hope you love them as much as we do!

Cognac Sugarplums

COGNAC SUGARPLUMS
Makes 4 dozen

6 oz. semisweet chocolate bits
1/2 cup sugar, plus additional for coating
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup good quality cognac (or you could use bourbon)
2 1/2 cups finely ground vanilla wafers (grind in the food processor)
1 cup finely chopped pecans (grind in the food processor)

Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 1 minute on high power, stir, then 30 seconds more. Stir until all chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup sugar, corn syrup, and Cognac. Stir in the wafer crumbs and nuts to make a paste-like mixture. Roll into 1-inch balls. Roll each ball in additional sugar. Store in an airtight container. These cookies improve with age.

Cookie time!

December 15, 2011 by Mary Frances 12 Comments

So my boys definitely think this is “the most wonderful time of the year” because I bake at least 5 different kinds of Christmas cookies. I’ve got it down pat now. It takes me two days. Three kinds in one day and then the two harder batches – the family pecan crisps and the sugar cookies – on the other day.

Most are my Mom’s recipes, this one included with a really stupid name. But the cookies are really, really good. Okay, so the recipe calls for processed things, usually a no-no for me, but at Christmas, I give in. Here goes.

HELLO DOLLY SQUARES (I told you the name was lame)
Makes 40 bars

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (about 1 1/2 packs, grind in food processor)
1 – 14 oz. can of Eagle Brand or Magnolia sweetened condensed milk
1 – 6 oz. package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 – 3 1/2 oz. can of flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the stick of butter in a 13” x 9” glass Pyrex pan, and put in the oven. Watch it so that the butter just melts and doesn’t boil. Remove pan with the melted butter from oven and swirl around, up the sides of the pan 1/2 inch, and set on a level surface. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs evenly all over the bottom surface. Pour the Eagle Brand milk evenly all over the crumbs. Top evenly with the coconut, chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Press down gently on the top surface.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool thoroughly before cutting. Store in a wax paper lined tin at room temperature.

How to deal?

December 12, 2011 by Mary Frances 5 Comments

I’ve been walking around in circles, trying to make sense of my dear friend’s so sudden passing.

It was a brain aneurism. So quick. So final. So shocking. So unbelievable.

So what does one do to try to heal the pain – for me, for her husband and for her children?

I cooked. I did 3 loads of laundry. I baked 3 different kinds of Christmas cookies.

My boys promised to help me put up the Christmas tree on Sunday. The older one arrived with a Santa hat and proceeded to make eggnog from scratch before taking a nap and then decorating the tree a little. His brother did more. Football was also a big component with everyone yelling for Tebow and then the Giants.

But the eggnog was so, so delicious!! You take heavy cream, whole milk, egg yolks, vanilla, fresh nutmeg and cinnamon and beat it all up, add the bourbon, then whip the egg whites separately and fold in.

I’m telling you, it was so light and delicious!! Unlike any goopy store-bought eggnog. This is a completely different animal. I told him I wish my father were still alive. He loved eggnog and to see him doing this! Well, he said, he could see. (He even looks like him!)

I made a 3 course meal for my family on Sunday. Baby artichokes to start with a hot mustard mayo dipping sauce. Then I made a tandoori chicken recipe from a Weber Grill cookbook, with cous cous, a cucumber onion salad and steamed buttered carrots. The whole meal was really delicious but the chicken did not taste like tandoori chicken. It tasted like an interesting, Middle Eastern spiced chicken, but that’s about it. So I’ll just have to rename it to manage expectations, if I should make it again.

Then, for dessert, I made a German chocolate cake that was divine. I used a Duncan Hines boxed cake mix. I followed the directions exactly. I used my mother’s heavy duty bundt pan (my layer cake pans are at the country house so that was out) and really, this cake was spectacular. So light and fluffy – just a beautiful texture. I’m thinking it was this pan that made it so.

However, I had to cut the thing in 2 layers to properly distribute the topping and it was so light, delicate and fresh, that it was a hard thing to do and in the end, it didn’t look so pretty. My mother would not have been proud. But it was yummy! My husband and Zach each had 2 pieces and and the older son took a big chunk home with him this morning.

So here’s the recipe from my Mom for the topping that “makes” it a German chocolate cake!

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE TOPPING
Makes enough for two 8″ layer cakes or one bundt split horizontally

1 cup of evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1/4 lb. unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cups of coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
Sprinkling of fine sea salt on top at the very end.
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chip pieces (optional)

German Chocolate Cake

In a saucepan, combine the evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter and vanilla. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer strongly over medium heat for about 12 minutes until mixture thickens. Use a whisk to stir throughout this process.

Remove from heat and add coconut, nuts and a sprinkling of fine sea salt. Beat until cool and thick enough to spread between 2 layer cakes and on the top. Do not ice the sides. After spreading the topping on the first layer, I sprinkled about 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chip pieces on top, before covering with the second layer. Just a little extra surprise touch that everyone loved!

What a difference a pie makes…

December 4, 2011 by Mary Frances 4 Comments

So we had our friends Wayne and Margaret over for dinner last night and I decided to make a pecan pie (Mrs. Fowler’s recipe, of course – in an earlier post) for dessert, since I didn’t make one for Thanksgiving.

Margaret is a terrific, accomplished baker – she makes the greatest sticky buns and coconut cakes. But I’m telling you, make a pie from scratch and everyone loves you. First thing they said when they walked in the kitchen – “oh you made a pie!!”

As I was cutting the pie into eighths, after I had served the guys, Margaret puts her hand on mine (I didn’t know if this was going to be sexy or not – just kidding) and says, “Now cut this half in thirds.” I was floored and delighted that tiny Margaret wanted a bigger piece! While eating, she then proceeded to give me her mother’s secret for her pie crust and then asked to take another piece home! I loved it!

I used the recipe from my mother for my crust. Everyone thinks making a pie crust is a super big deal. It isn’t. You need to practice a little, follow instructions closely – this is baking – so it’s different from cooking as it’s much more exacting. But boy, do it, and everyone loves you!

We brought the two pieces home tonight (Steve had another piece before breakfast) and Zach was like, “Oh you made a pie!!!”

Here’s the recipe and hopefully some helpful photos.

BASIC PIE CRUST for Two 9” Single Crusts (cut in half for one bottom crust)
2 cups flour
1 scant tsp. salt
2/3 cup of Crisco or unsalted butter, cut into very small chunks
6 or less Tbs. ice water

Whisk together flour and salt. Cut in Crisco or butter until it forms “peas, “ using a fork or two knives or a pastry thingy. Sprinkle on ice water a tablespoon at a time, tossing lightly with a fork, or even better, with your hands, combining everything well after each addition. Press dough together and form 2 flattened rounds. Wrap each round in plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour or two. Roll out quickly and lightly on a floured pastry cloth or floured board and then fold into thirds and place and shape into pie pan, fluting the edges as shown. Refrigerate overnight for a flakier crust, if you have time, or even for a couple of hours.

Line crust with parchment paper and fill with dried peas or beans. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.

Carefully remove parchment filled with peas. Let cool for 15 minutes before filling. You’re a hero – you just made a crust from scratch!

Now Margaret says to take out 1/4 cup of the flour-salt mixture and mix it with 1/4 cup of ice water to make a slurry and then add that back in gradually to everything. I will try this the next time and see. Margaret has this German heritage and you know they know everything about making great pastries!

Unbaked pie crust

Pie crust with dried peas

Partially baked pie crust on a white table.

Partially baked crust

Finished pecan pie