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Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our church is hosting a Harvest Festival and we've invited World Relief to attend. They are bringing three bus loads! We are busy preparing for this influx of visitors, many of whom are of different faiths and do not speak English. We will have games and things for the kids to do, among which is a cookie walk. I baked 4 dozen cookies for it. Boy are they yummy!
A great way to fit more cookies on a pan: stagger them!
I based it on this recipe but made a few modifications. In retrospect, I would cut back on the amount of sugar as they are rather sweet or, at the very least, use unsweetened coconut flakes. I might also try using half coconut oil and half butter. But they were quite delicious, I must say! Here's my version:

Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups flaked sweetened coconut
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14/ teaspoon salt
1.5 cups packed brown sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Arrange coconut in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 6 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring once. Set aside to cool.

3. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour,  baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir until well blended.

4. Place sugar and butter in mixer bowl and beat until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla then add the flour mixture, beating at low speed until combined. Stir in toasted coconut and chocolate.
So much yummy goodness!
5. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls (or do like I did and use a small cookie scoop) 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, a silpat mat or coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire racks. Yields 4 dozen cookies (if you don't sample too much cookie dough!)
Perfect size using small scoop.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Make your own baking powder

I was baking something and noticed that I was running out of baking powder and I had read that you can make your own. A quick internet search led me to a recipe. I increased the quantity by using ratios (math lesson!) and came up with the following recipe:



·         1 T baking soda
·         2 T cream of tartar
·         1 T cornstarch

Mix all ingredients together using a mini whisk until well combined. Store in a plastic container.

I think it's much cheaper and it contains no aluminum! Happy baking!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Pumpkin Scones!

I was browsing some blogs last night and found a recipe at Bakeaholic Mama who had adapted the recipe from Brown Eyed Baker (who apparently adapted from another blogger but I stopped the hopping with BEB).


I had already defrosted some homemade pumpkin mash that I usually use to make these delicious muffins. But we had some leftover mash so when I saw this recipe I knew I had to make them! (I really really love scones!)


I had gone for a five mile run this morning so I thought I was entitled to them (big grin!) but after reading through the recipe I thought I could lighten the recipe a bit (thank you Cooking Light for teaching me a few things!) So I decreased the 6 T of butter to 4T and increased the pumpkin to 3/4 cup (to make up for the lost moisture the butter decrease and increase the "good for you" part of the scone). They came out beautifully! I wish I had a picture to show you but we devoured them hot out of the oven. 


The other adaptation I made was to use my large pampared chef scoop to drop them by scoopful instead of shaping, cutting, etc.


Here is my adaptation of the recipe in case you want to give them a try. They were quick to mix and bake. Dangerously quick. I haven't calculated the calories on them yet. Kind of afraid to...



Pumpkin Scones with Spiced Glaze
Yield: 12 scones (actually only yielded 11 for me using the scoop)
For the Scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
7 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
4 Tablespoons cold butter
¾ cup canned pumpkin
3 Tablespoons half-and-half
1 large egg

For the Powdered Sugar Glaze:
1 cup plus 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
2 Tabelspoons milk

I made it with the Powdered Sugar Glaze. But these sound yummy too:

For the Spiced Glaze:
1 cup plus 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch ground cloves

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with Silpat mat or parchment paper; set aside.
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbly and no chunks of butter are obvious; set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, half-and-half and egg. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients. When sufficiently combined, drop by scoopful onto prepared pan. 
Or if you prefer the traditional way, form the dough into a ball. Pat out dough onto a lightly floured surface and form it into a 1-inch thick rectangle about 3 times as long as wide. Use a large knife or a pizza cutter to slice the dough twice through the width, making three equal portions. Cut each of the portions in an X pattern (four pieces) so you end up with 12 triangular slices of dough. Place on prepared baking sheet. 
Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until light brown. Place on wire rack to cool.
4. To make the powdered sugar glaze, mix the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. When scones are cool, use a brush to spread plain glaze over the top of each scone. I just used a spoon and put the glaze on when it was still warm. I placed the scone on the plate first so that it would melt onto the plate and we could lick it up all that delicious sweetness.
5. To make the spiced glaze, while the powdered sugar glaze is firming, combine all of the ingredients for the spiced glaze. Drizzle over each scone and allow the icing to dry before serving (about an hour). I did not try this but it sounds good for another time.
This went tremendously well with a cappuccino using Lavazza Blu. Che delizia! 
Be sure you let me know if you make them! Post in the comment section.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Cioccolata calda and Ciambellone

Yesterday my mother invited us over for an Italian hot chocolate. Italian hot chocolate is nothing like Swiss Miss. It is dense, dark and delicious! She had a little surprise for us though: ciambellone!

She served it in small bowls instead of mugs so that you could dip the ciambellone in it. The kids got to calling it "chocolate soup." Whatever the name...it was delicious! 
Going, going...

She found the recipes online. Here's the hot chocolate recipe. It's in English. The ciambellone recipe (which is a light cake-like treat) is in Italian.

If you are experiencing cold weather and are looking for a way to stay warm, this is one delizioso way!