Berry Orange Muffins

I made these today when I probably should have been studying... but I decided school would still be there tomorrow and there wasn't anything too pressing... well, maybe not.  Anyway, it was a relaxing Sunday, now I'm back to another week. Hope it is a good one for you too! 

Berry Orange Muffins

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
3/4 cup orange juice
1 orange zest
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup chopped berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries)

Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup whole oats
  1/4 t. cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees 
• Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, orange zest).
• Combine wet ingredients in another bowl. (orange juice, vanilla, eggs, oil)
• Fold wet and dry ingredients and berries together, making sure not to over-mix.  
• Spoon batter into muffin tins to make 18 muffins.  

•  Sprinkle the topping on the muffins

• Bake for 20 minutes (375 degrees). 

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Yesterday was a definite "break and bake" day, I was studying for a test all afternoon and had a long week at school.  These cookies have been on my "to make" list and I have been talking about making them for about two weeks now.  Let me tell you, they did not disappoint! When I tried the first one, I thought "these are some of the best cookies to come from my kitchen!"  How can I describe them to you to make you think "WOW, I'm going to bake these RIGHT NOW!!!"

These cookies are moist, fluffy, cake-like and soft with a perfect balance of lemon zest and sweetness.  They are on my top five favorite list and a great cookie for spring.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! 

Lemon Ricotta Cookies:

1 stick butter, softened (unsalted)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 15 oz carton ricotta cheese

2 lemons (zest and juice)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Lemon Glaze:

1 lemon (zest and juice)
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Dough:  Cream together butter and sugar (about 3 minutes) Add eggs one at a time and mix well.  Add ricotta, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Mix these ingredients (about 2 minutes) then stir in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt).

Bake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spoon dough onto greased cookie sheets (about 1 T. or use a cookie scoop).  Bake for about 12 minutes or until the cookies are set. Remove onto cooling racks.  Let cookies cool about 15 minutes.

Glaze: Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, and powdered sugar in a small bowl and stir until smooth.  Spread the glaze on top of each cookie.  The glaze will take about 2 hours to set, but feel free to try one now :) 

Confession: While the cookies above look beautiful, there were a few (probably 5 out of the whole batch) that spread out a lot and were not like the others... I think as I was baking the temperature of my dough changed and was a little warmer by the time I was finished baking.  Next time I think I will keep the dough in the refrigerator while I am baking... I will let you know how this goes.  (It wasn't so bad that I would not make them again though, they still tasted good, just didn't hold their shape.)  If you have any other ideas of what happened, throw them this way!

I'm back to studying and enjoy the cookies!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A classic favorite!  This recipe is quite good, especially if you want an original chocolate chip cookie.  I think they would also make great ice cream cookies (reminds me of my Ozark days! :)  They have a "secret" ingredient in them... vanilla pudding.  The pudding really creates a smooth texture in the cookie.  Hope you enjoy!

1 cup butter (softened)
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
3.4 oz package of vanilla pudding mix
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions: Combine butter, sugar, brown sugar, and cream together.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Make sure it's smooth!  Combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) and add to the wet ingredients.  Add the chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for 10-11 minutes until the cookies are just set (I know it's a pretty exact time.)  They may seem a little underdone at this time but when the cookies cool they will be really soft and chewy.  Let cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheets then remove to cooling racks.

Chocolate Pecan Cookies with White Chocolate... yum!

These cookies are seriously delicious.  You just must make them to see what I'm talking about.  I made these for my good friend Nic's birthday last week.  Everyone loved them, but what surprised me the most about these are that they stay moist for days.  I usually only eat cookies right when they come out of the oven or the next day, but then they seem to get dry and just not as good (I know I'm a cookie snob), but that did not happen with these.  I had one today and they were still as chewy and moist as the day I baked them.  Not kidding, so go try them!

Note: My friend Rachel says you must eat these cookies upside down so you have the texture of the white chocolate on your tongue.  Good advice :)

Chocolate Pecan Cookies with White Chocolate

1 1/2 cups flour
3 T. cocoa
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter (melted)
1 c. sugar
1 egg
2 T. light corn syrup
1 t. vanilla
2 T. milk
1 c. pecans (you must toast the pecans!)
3/4 c. chocolate chips (optional, but why not!)

1/3 c. white chocolate chips

• Combine dry ingredients and set aside.  In a bowl cream together butter, sugar, egg, corn syrup, vanilla, and milk.  Add the dry ingredients and mix together.  
• Roughly chop the pecans and put on a cookie sheet.  
• Toast the pecans in the oven for about 5-8 minutes or until they become fragrant, but watch so they don't burn! Toasting the pecans very important, it brings out their flavor and it just makes a difference so take the time to do it!  Let the pecans cool a little then add them and the chocolate chips to the dough.  
• Mix well and refrigerate the dough for about 2-3 hours.  The dough will need to harden a bit so you can scoop it.  (You could make the dough a day ahead of baking the cookies)
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
• Use a small scoop and arrange cookies on the sheet.  Use your fingers to flatten a little bit.
• Bake 8-10 minutes then remove from the oven and transfer to cooling racks.  
• Once the cookies have cooled a little bit, melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave (20 second intervals and stirring in between) Pour the melted chocolate into a ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the corner of the bag.
• Drizzle the chocolate over the cookies!

Enjoy!

Brown Sugar-Raisin Bread

This is a wonderful bread recipe.  I made it last week during the snow storm and loved it!  It makes 2 loaves so you can give one to a friend or neighbor too!

Recipe from Williams-Sonoma Bread cookbook :)

Dough:
1 T. active dry yeast
3 T. sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 cup warm milk
3 T. unsalted butter, melted
1 T. salt
1 large egg, slightly beaten
6 cups bread flour, plus extra as needed (I used one cup of wheat flour)
1 cup raisins

Filling:
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
4 1/2 t. ground cinnamon. 

• In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of the granulated sugar over 1/2 cup of the water and stir to dissolve.  Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. 

• In a heavy-duty mixer or bowl, combine remaining water, milk, melted butter, remaining sugar, salt, egg, and 2 cups of flour.  Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute.  Add the yeast mixture and 1/2 cup of flour, beat for 1 minute.  
• Add the raisins, then mix in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough forms a ball.

• Knead bread then transfer to a greased bowl and turn once.  

• Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1- 1 1/2 hours. 

• Lightly grease two 9-by-5 inch loaf pans.  
• Turn dough onto a floured surface, divide in two, and roll each into a rectangle (8-by-12 inch)

• Sprinkle each rectabcle with half of the filling, leave a 1-inch boarder on all sides.

• Roll the dough into a tight log, starting at the narrow end.  Pinch the ends to keep the filling inside.

• Place each log, seam side down, into the prepared loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until about 1 inch above the rim of each pan, 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

• Preheat oven to 350.  Bake until loaves are golden brown, about 35-50 minutes.  
• Turn onto racks and let cool completely.

ENJOY!!!

Bagels

Stephen and I decided to venture out today... Not into the snow, but to make bagels!  We've always talked about making them and this was a perfect day to do it.  I had all the ingredients on hand, so if you do too I would reccommend making these, it is really fun!  This process took us about 3 hours total (that includes rising time too), and was a pretty easy process which I was quite surprised about since I always heard bagels were difficult to make.  It's a great dough recipe though and that helps a lot.  So here it is...

Step 1: Mix your dough

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon salt
5-5 1/5 cups bread flour (I used about 1 cup of whole wheat flour in the mixture)
2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten

• In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of sugar in 1/2 c. of the warm water and stir to dissolve.  Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes
• In a stand mixer or bowl, combine remaining water, oil, sugar, salt, 2 cups flour, and the gluten.  Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute.  Add the yeast mixture and 1 cup of flour, beat for another minute.  Beat in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a ball.  
• Knead for about 6-10 minutes, add flour as needed until the dough is smooth and elastic.
• Put the dough in a bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap, let the dough rise about 1 hour or until it is doubled in size.  

Step 2: Forming the bagels

• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and spray with oil.  Take the dough and divide it into 4 portions then divide each portion into 3 pieces (12 bagels total) 
• Shape each piece of dough into a smooth, round ball and flatten with the palm of your hand.  Poke a finger through the middle of the ball, stretch the hole to about 1 inch in diameter.
• Continue to work the dough into a nice bagel shape, make the hole a little bigger than you would think because it will shrink slightly when you stop.
• Place the bagels on the baking sheets, spray with oil and cover with plastic.  Let the bagels rise at room temperature until puffy, 15-20 minutes.  

Step 3: Boiling the bagels

• While the bagels are rising, prepare the water bath.  In a wide pot bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil over high heat.  Add 1 Tablespoon of baking soda to the water and reduce the heat to medium to maintain a gentle boil. 
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
• Once bagels are puffy, lower 3-4 bagels into the water.  (The recipe says they will sink to the bottom then rise back up... ours did not do this)
• Boil for 2 minutes on each side.
• Take the bagels and transfer to a dry kitchen towel to drain for a moment. 
• Place the bagels back on a greased baking sheet (no parchment paper now)

Step 4: Bake the bagels

• When all the bagels are boiled, brush with egg whites and sprinkle with desired toppings.
• Bake until deep golden brown, 16-20 minutes.  
• Remove from oven and transfer to racks to cool completely.  

Plain Bagels

We used sea salt, poppy seeds, and chives for the toppings.  Sesame seeds or minced garlic would be good too!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Another Snow Day!  A blizzard hit us last night so Stephen, Lilly and I have obeyed the warning to just stay inside, and we have been happy to do so too!  There is so much snow, more than I have ever seen in Oklahoma.  Lilly loved playing outside, well not really... but we made her.  It's been a wonderful day and productive too!  Sounds like a good day for soup :)

This picture was taken this morning before we got the second round of snow!

Lilly

This soup recipe is one of our favorites!  It is easy, healthy, and quite tasty!  (Note: Look for red peppers on sale, they are often expensive but we love making this soup when they go on sale!)

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

4 red bell peppers (roasted)
1 onion
1/2 c. celery
1/2 c. carrots (I don't really measure these, the measurement is for you to get the idea... just toss it in!)
3 - 4 small Yukon gold potatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon fresh or dried parsley
1 teaspoon herbs de provence
3 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper

Roast the bell peppers (see Stephen's blog for more details, he's the one in charge of this).


Chop the onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes.  Saute onion, garlic, carrots, and celery in a little butter or oil.  Add the herbs and continue to cook until the mixture becomes fragrant.  Add the broth, potatoes, and red peppers.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.  Puree the soup with a immersion blender (or a regular blender will work too, just let the soup cool a little first).  Add salt and pepper to taste.   

You may want to add a little cream or cheese to make the soup creamier but it's not necessary.

This soup is especially good with some homemade croutons! Just cut up some leftover bread, toss it with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for about 10-15 minutes at 400.