TWD: Thanksgiving Twofer Pie (A Bit Late)

If you love pumpkin pie and pecan pie, then why not have the two together!!



For this past week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, Vibi from La Casserole Carrée selected Thanksgiving Twofer Pie from page 321 of Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours. And for our Thanksgiving Dinner, it was the perfect ending! This may just become a Turkey Day tradition for our family.

I was going to do mini pielets with this recipe, but because of the pipe busting under the kitchen sink on Wednesday night (it has been fixed), I didn't have much time for that. So I just made the standard 9-inch pie version, which was devoured among all of the other desserts we had! So matter what twist is done with serving, Dorie has given us another amazing dessert!

Check out Vibi's version with her Twofer tart and the recipe for the pie by clicking here.

Read the Full Story

Coconut Macaroons from the Barefoot Contessa

Carlo's family loves macaroons. So I was going to make some peppermint ones from a Paula Deen recipe. However, Carlo thought it would be better to just do traditional ones. So I found a recipe from another Food Network fave, Ina Gartner, whose recipes I absolutely love. Speaking of which, I have to her new book soon!



I don't know what it is about Ina and her recipes, but every single one I've ever tried has been spot-on. The macaroons are of no exception. I only brought over a dozen of them, and wished I had made more, because they were gone so fast! These will be made again for the holidays. I may also give these as gifts for Christmas!

Coconut Macaroons
Source: FoodNetwork.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or two teaspoons. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Read the Full Story

Coconut (Almond) Graham Cracker Crust

While gathering recipes for Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law made a request for Carlo's aunt: A Coconut Custard Pie. Since I had a little more than a pack of graham crackers laying around, I figured I'd make a graham cracker crust for it, but wanted it to be different.



The crust recipe is full of coconutty goodness, perfect for a coconut pie. However, it could be used with other fillings, such as chocolate pudding. Following the recipe below, I did my twist by adding toasted 1/2 cup of toasted almonds to the recipe. I also didn't have any coconut extract around. So I used a teaspoon of sugar-free coconut syrup to the mixture. It turned out really well.

Here's the recipe below which I got from Recipezaar.com. Try it out for yourself!!

Graham Cracker Coconut Pie Crust
Source: Recipezaar.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 11 whole graham crackers (to yield apprx. 1 1/3 cups crumbs)
• 1/8 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 teaspoon pure coconut extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.
2. Place graham crackers in food processor and process until finely ground.
3. Can also put them inside plastic bag and use a rolling pin to grind down by hand.
4. Combine crumbs, butter, coconut, coconut extract and salt in bowl, stirring until crumbs are moistened.
5. Press mixture evenly across 9-inch pie plate.
6. Bake crust until crisp, about 7 minutes.
7. Let cool completely before filling.
8. Crust may be tightly wrapped in plastic and frozen up to one month.

Read the Full Story

Yummy Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

As the temp drops, and winter nears, what a better way to stay warm than curled up with a nice big mug of hot cocoa. Considering the cost of GOOD hot cocoa mixes going up, I decided to try to make my own, not just for myself.



I used the recipe below is a guide and added my own flavor mix to it with 1/4 cup of crushed candy canes and and 1/2 cup of chocolate malted powder. It is oh so good!!!

Just to note: Want to make a "No Sugar Added" version, use 2 cups of Splenda or 1 cup of Splenda Baking Blend. Be sure to run it through a coffee grinder to get a powder consistency.

Hot Cocoa Mix
Source: Recipezaar.com

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 1/2 cups dry milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 cup powdered coffee creamer
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a mixing bowl combine dry milk powder, powdered sugar, creamer, and cocoa.
2. Store in airtight container.
   

READY FOR A CUP?
For each serving, place 1/3 cup of the mix in a mug and add 3/4 cup boiling water.

Read the Full Story

Operation Baking Gals - Round 4 & A New Cookie Recipe

Round Four of Operation Baking Gals is just about completed.



This time around, Carlo and I decided to bake cookies for two female soldiers stationed in the Middle East. With that, I created a new cookie recipe that so far has been a hit with my family. So I hope they really enjoy them!

Our soldiers are Debbie, who is stationed in Qatar, and Crystal who was deployed to Iraq. Normally, when one thinks of a soldier, the face is a male. So seeing that Kim of Your Place Gourmet had 2 female soldiers for Round 4, I just had to share goodies with them.

For both women, I made what I've called Nutty Pumpkin Spice Chipsters. I think they are lovely cookies loaded with autumn flavors. There's a nice combination of vanilla, almond and pumpkin spice with smatterings of raisins, butterscotch and chocolate.



I also baked some Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, using a greate recipe I found at Allrecipes.com. I replaced the semi-sweet chocolate chips with 1/2 white chocolate and 1/2 milk chocolate chips. If you love chocolate, then you'll devour these.



I hope both ladies and their fellow soldiers (if they choose to share) enjoy the cookies!!

Below is my recipe for the Nutty Pumpkin Spice Chipsters.

Nutty Pumpkin Spice Chipsters
Source: Our Kitchen

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¼ cup butterscotch chips
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup sliced almonds


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.
2. Using a stand mixer at medium speed, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then mix in the vanilla and almond extracts.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
4. Set the mixer speed to low, and gradually mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Then, fold in the chips, raisins nd almonds.
5. Scoop out dough into 1 to 1 ½-in balls and set on prepared cookie sheet. Then use the back of a spoon to slightly flatten and shape the cookies.
6. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes. When done, cool completely on a wire rack.

Read the Full Story