Maple Butter Cookies

I never much liked sugar cookies. They just weren't very exciting and seemed to me to purely be a medium for decoration, the cookie dough itself had no real taste so you had to sugar it up. I discovered this recipe many years ago...it was, in fact, one of my first 'holiday' cookies and remains our standard dough for making cut-outs. The maple flavor gives these cookies an unexpected depth...I love watching peoples faces the first time they try one...they think it's going to be another cardboard tasting sugar cookie...but no! there's actual flavor in there...can I have another one of those?

Maple Butter Cookies

1 cup Butter-soft
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 cup Maple syrup...the real stuff
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour

Cream together butter, sugar and maple syrup
Add egg yolk...mix well
sift flour and salt gether and stir into above
wrap tightly and refridgerate 1 hour
roll out on floured board and cut out as desired.
for the cookies above use two heart cutters of different sizes
and fill the center with crushed hard candy.
Bake at 325 for 10 - 12 minutes.


Commenter CorgiMan just sent me his version of these cookies...so cute! I'm glad you had fun, Skip!

Chocolate and Bacon Truffles

These were the topic of conversation all week and beyond as we watched the varied responses that these little delicasies provoke...

1/2 # Applewood smoked bacon - cut into 1/2 " pcs.
Brown in a large nonreactive skillet until quite crisp
Strain off fat and set aside for use in coating
return bacon bits, (saving out 1/4 cup for the brickle topping!)
to pan and deglaze over low heat with 1/2 cup brandy, careful now!
When most of the liquid has evaporated,
Add 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream.
Heat Cream over med-low heat until it boils stirring up
the brown bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Turn off the heat and let sit 20 minutes.
Before straining, turn heat back on and bring just to slight simmer

Strain this mixture into a large stainless bowl
filled with 1 1/2 # (4cups) chopped semisweet chocolate.
Whisk until well combined. Cover and chill over night.

roll chilled chocolate into balls. (the size of your balls
is purely up to you, I like to keep mine kinda smallish)
lay out on parchment covered sheetpan and freeze while
you are melting the coating.

For Coating: melt 3 cups chopped semisweet choclate
and 1/2 cup of the bacon fat over simmering water until smooth.

For brickle topping: heat together reserved bacon bits with
1/4 cup turbinado sugar and 2 tablespoons water in a small heavy bottom saucepan
boil gently until mixture is carmel colored and thick
pour onto sheetpan lined with parchment paper and spread out to cool.
When completely cool, cover with another piece of parchment and bash with a rolling pin to pulverize.
Sprinkle liberally onto truffles while chocolate is still wet for maximum adhesion and crunch factor.

To Finish: drop chilled truffles one at a time into chocolate coating mixture. ..fish out with a large fork, tapping the sides of the bowl with the handle of the fork to remove as much excess chocolate as possilble. immediatley dress the top with a little of the bacon brickle. chill flat on parchment and move to paper cups once they harden. Best ejoyed at room temp. but keep refridgerated otherwise...have fun with the possibilities! and let me know how they work for you!

Chocolate Fudge

After 20 years of trying to make fudge I finally did it! The answer I'm sure is wrapped in science but it's manifested in the addition of treacle instead of corn syrup...allow me to introduce the magic ingredient: Lyles Golden Syrup!
Here is my formula:
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup treacle
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate- chopped
2 tablespoons butter

Now here is the method:
in a heavy bottomed 3 quart saucepan melt together the milk, cream, sugar and treacle
over medium heat, cook until sugar is dissolved. Add chocolate and stir until smooth.
Raise heat to med-high and attach a candy thermometer. boil until temp reaches 238 degrees
(firm ball stage) turn off heat and leaving thermometer in place put pats of butter on top and
let rest until mixture reaches 120 degrees. Do not disturb or jostle in any way...this is very important! Remove thermometer and using a wooden spoon
beat mixture vigorously (maybe 5 minutes?) until it just begins to loose it's sheen.
Quickly turn out into a buttered 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. Let cool. Wrap tightly
Hide from the kids...Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cookies

One of our favorite Homer gardners, Dave Schroer, is notorious for many things...starting the local golf course (for which my husband is very grateful!) and his amazing sweet pea bouquets at the farmers market, most of all, though, when you mention his name to a longtime local they talk about his pumpkin patch. How he used to let the kids run through and scratch their name in a pumpkin early in the season and collect them up again come harvest time. His lovely wife Beth threw him an 80th birthday party this summer and we were honored to help her with the food. As a tip, Dave dropped off some pumpkins...with his grandkids names scratched in the side. First thing we did was roast them up for...Cookies!

Pumpkin cookies...the best part, besides eating them, is they make your house smell great!

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup white flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teasppon salt 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, beat well, then add pumpkin puree and vanilla...stir to combine.
in another bowl mix together all dry ingredients and toss well to combine thoroughly.
Stir dry into wet until well blended. drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
and bake until center is firm to the touch, 12-15 minutes. Let cool a bit while you mix the glaze.

Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons soft butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup pureed pumpkin
mix with whisk, or even better in a cuisinart or blender
spread on slightly warm cookies
We like to use colorful sprinkles to jazz them up...kids
will pick a cookie with sprinles every time!
Chocolate chips are very popular also...!
enjoy!

Vegan Muffins

Whatever Muffins...they can be whatever you want them to be!

drymix
4c whole wheat flour
1/2 c oats
1t salt
4t baking powder
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1 c granola
1c fruit, carrot, zuke...whatever
3/4 c brown sugar

1 1/3 c rice or soy milk
1 c oil
2 c juice

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl...mix wet in separate bowl and then pour into dry. mix till just combined. spoon into greased muffin tins lined with cups.Top with a little brown sugar and oats.
bake 350 degrees...20 minutes

Chocolate Cake with a secret...

Vegan Chocolate Cake
this cake is so good you won't want to tell...

1- 10” cake-brush a 10" round cake pan with oil and line with parchment paper , preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dry:
3 cups flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoon b soda
1 teaspoon salt
sift dry ingredients into a large bowl and then also whisk to ensure everything is well combined and lump-free BEFORE adding:

Wet: measure together,
2 cups cold water
1/2 cups olive oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons white vinegar
mix wet in measuring cup, then pour into dry whisking very well until all lumps of flour (for some reason the olive oil is very important to a lump free cake...trust me on this one!) are absorbed and the batter is smooth, pour into prepared pan
bake at 325 dgrees for 30 min.
This cake is best with fresh berries and whipped cream, but then it wouldn't be vegan...perhaps a ganache made with milk-free chocolate and soymilk instead...yum!

Turtle Bars

Turtle Bars

Oven 350
9x13 pan
Crust
1 1/2c. Flour
3/4c. butter- cold cut in pieces
1/4c. Sugar
1t salt
This is best done in a mixer,( however I have done this by hand but it requires a lot of elbow grease). Mix until dough holds together in a firm ball when pressed together in your hands.
Press firmly into 9x13 pan and refrigerate while making filling

Filling
5 oz. butter
1c. brown sugar
1 cups granulated sugar
1/4 c. honey
½ c. Heavy cream

Cook all ingredients together stirring constantly with a wire whisk- cool slightly

Scatter 2c. Pecans over cold crust carefully pour filling over nuts. Bake 20-30 min. till bubbly in center.
Cool completely.

Chocolate topping
1 ½ c. semi sweet chocolate
¾ c. heavy cream
Heat cream to scalding and pour over chocolate and whisk until smooth pour over cooled pecan filling and spread evenly. Refrigerate till firm.