Saturday, February 23, 2013

No Bake Cookies



I'm missing my mom.  


She's a beautiful person.  She has an amazing heart, and she's kind and good.  She gave my sister and brother and I the kind of start in life that made us 'advantaged'--not monetarily, but in every way that counts.  She makes me feel smart, and strong, and successful.  We live too far apart, and this stretch from the holidays to May is always the time of year we go without seeing each other.

And this has......what to do with no bake cookies?  Well, of course, they remind me of her.  My mama's not a great lover of being stuck in the kitchen.  Growing up, she often made brownies from a box, and cookie sandwiches from saltines and chocolate frosting, and "cherry nummy" from canned cherry preserves and a yellow cake mix.  She went for fast and simple, because she was a working mama too.  When she had free time when we were younger, she often spent it outside in the garden.  She still does.  That's why no bake cookies fit in perfectly with her style.

In the 22 years since I left home, I've never made them.

I set out to rectify that today.  When I landed on this recipe, I knew I had a winner.  Really, when the first ingredients are butter

and sugar
and chocolate
and peanut butter

how could it be anything but good?  Seriously, with the protein (peanut butter) and whole grains (oatmeal), this is almost health food...


And it all comes together in a cinch.  


 
Now, if only my dad would  bring her here so I could enjoy them with her.  Sigh.  I really miss my dad....

No Bake Cookies
Recipe from FoodNetwork.com

2 c sugar
4 T cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 c milk
1 c peanut butter
1 T vanilla
3 c oatmeal
 
In a saucepan, melt the butter, then whisk in the sugar, cocoa and milk.  Bring to a boil, and allow the mixture to boil for about a minute.  Remove from the heat, then whisk in the peanut butter and vanilla.  Stir in oatmeal, then drop by rounded tablespoon-fulls onto a piece of wax paper.  Allow them to cool, or put them in the fridge for a few minutes to help them set up.  Then enjoy.  Mmmmm.  Tastes just like being 12! 
 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Caramelitas


 

The truth is, I'm feeling a lot of pressure at work.  Self-induced pressure, but still--so much I can't control and so much riding on faith.  It freaks me out when I do everything within my power, but I can't guarantee a successful outcome.  

I'm pretty sure that's why I bake.  

I mean really, if it has butter and sugar, it's probably going to turn out good.  It's probably going to make people happy.  People will probably want it.  And throw in caramel and chocolate....how could I go wrong?  

I've had this bag of caramels sitting in my pantry since Christmas.  I think that's a record around here--caramels in the pantry for two months--but I had them kind of tucked away and out of site.  So out of site that even I had forgotten about them until they were uncovered after I grabbed out a bag of chocolate chips for the emergency pan of scotcheroos I had to throw together this week for the basketball concession stand.  But that's a story for another day.  Anyhow.  I had caramels.  And I had chocolate chips.  And I have this old recipe for oatmeal cookies from my sister-in-law Danelle.  An hour in the kitchen, and walla!  Caramelitas!  


Super simple to make.  Whip up the oatmeal cookie recipe, but spread about 1/2 to 2/3 of the dough in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan.


Melt your caramels with heavy cream and whisk until smooth, then pour over the dough and sprinkle with a bag of chocolate chips.  Mmmmmmm, caramel and chocolate......


Blob the rest of the dough all over the top of that.  Yes, blob really is the technical term for this action.



Bake the whole thing for 25 to 30 minutes at 375.  Remove from your oven and allow the caramelitas to cool for as long as you can stand.  You may need to take some of the caramely crust off while you wait, to taste test.  To make sure you don't poison anyone or anything.  To make sure it turned out ok. 



Cut into squares and serve to your loved ones.  Revel in the complete lack of pressure about making amazing caramelitas.  Notice how successful you were.  Appreciate your kitchen prowess.  


Feel safer knowing that even though you can't control what other people choose to do, you can always control the caramelitas.  Thank goodness for that.

Caramelitas

For the cookie dough:
1 c. butter, at room temperature
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder

For the top:
1 bag of caramels
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1 bag of chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet)

Preheat oven to 375.  Beat butter and sugars until well creamed--about 5 minutes, or the time it will take you to peel the wrapper off all the caramels.  Add the eggs and vanilla, beating thoroughly after each.  Add the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.

Spread 1/2 to 2/3 of the dough on the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.  Melt caramels with the whipping cream--I put them in the microwave for about 2 minutes.  Whisk until smooth, and pour over the top of the dough in the pan.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.  Scoop rounded tablespoons of the remaining dough and place randomly on top of the chocolate chip and caramel layer, making sure there is about an even amount around the pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool.  Then enjoy!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Pumpkin Pie



Sometimes I wonder about the person who coined the phrase "easy as pie."  Maybe the person who had no qualms about using a premade pie crust, dumping a can of pie filling in it, then calling it good?  Sometime in the last few years I've gone from preferring to make my own everything, to having somewhat of an aversion to anything premade or processed by a manufacturer.  There will be no premade pie crusts in this house.

In the past, before the era of the KitchenAid mixer and the Cuisinart food processor, I avoided making pies because I can't stand the sticky, floury mess on the counter caused by rolling pie crust.  But then I did get the mixer and the food processor.

And then I had a stroke of genius.  Granted, I'm sure I'm not the only person who has thought of this, but still.  Instead of coating my countertop with flour, I cover it with some saran wrap.
Then I plop the dough onto the saran wrap and cover it with another sheet of saran wrap.
Then I roll.  It's genius.  No mess anywhere. 
From here it's a total cinch to get it into the pie plate.  I peel off that top layer of saran wrap and let the pastry fold in the center (not in so the pastry touches itself, but out so the wrap touches itself.  I lay the half on the pie plate, then unfold the dough, then peel off the other layer of wrap.  Like so:
Easy peasy, right?  No muss, no fuss.  And it tastes like you made a big flour-y mess all over your counters.  

I need to use up all of the pumpkin saved in my freezer from last fall before we start growing more pumpkin.  I really would have loved to make some kind of pumpkin and cheesecake layered pie to fill this lovely pie crust, but the child who loves pumpkin loathes cream cheese, and I swear he can taste it in anything.  So I just went with a pumpkin pie that has a light crumb crust on the top.
In the spirit of being as manufactured-processed-free as possible, I also used eggs from our hens.  The side benefit being that we have egg cartons full of these puppies taking up an entire shelf in my refrigerator, so using them up is always good.
 A few turns in my handy dandy Cuisinart...
......and walla!
 
Of course I forgot to take pictures of making the crumb topping, but I describe it in the recipe below.  If you go that route, you'll end up with pumpkin pie with a crumb crust.  Kinda like this one.


YUM.  In case you've been inspired to try this 'easy as pie (crust)' approach, here is the recipe.

Pumpkin Pie With Crumb Crust
Loosely adapted from Taste of Home recipes here and here.

Pie crust:
2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 c shortening
6 - 8 T ice water

In your Cuisinart (or whatever), combine the flour and salt.  Add the shortening, and pulse until the mixture is crumbly.  Add in the water and combine until a ball of dough forms.  Roll out however you like, but I'd recommend the saran wrap approach!

Pumpkin filling:
2 cups pumpkin 
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
12 oz evaporated milk
1 T flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt

Wipe down your Cuisinart bowl (or get a fresh bowl, or use your food processor, or whatever!).  Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.  Pour into the prepared uncooked pie crust.

Crumb topping:
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 T cold butter
1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Wipe down your Cuisinart bowl (or whatever!).  Add all crumb topping ingredients and pulse until the butter is well incorporated.  This tends to pulverise the walnuts, so if you'd prefer the walnuts be more chunky, add them after you've incorporated the butter.  Sprinkle over the top of the pumpkin filling.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature of your oven to 350 and bake for another 50 to 60 minutes until the pie is set.  Mine came out of the oven in a dome shape, but settles down nicely within a few minutes as it cools.  Though this is good warm with whipped topping, I prefer it after it refrigerates for a while and is cold.  In fact, I think it's best after it sits in the refrigerator for a day.  However long you can stand to wait before digging in, I guess!  Enjoy!