Yogurt and Blueberry Pie with Granola Crust

My Mom and I took my five year old son blueberry picking last week.  We were looking for something to do and we figured we'd give it a try and see if he liked it.  Between the two of us, we had no idea how much he was going to love blueberry picking.  It was actually really funny.  The entire time we were out there picking blueberries he was saying things like "this is the best day of my life" and "blueberry picking is so much fun" and "can we do this all the time".  He was on repeat over and over again and we had the best time. We picked several pounds of blueberries and ate most of them plain, or with whipped cream, or in smoothies.  I saved the rest for this pie.  It's something I've been wanting to make ever since I picked up a copy of Martha Stewart's Pies & Tarts cookbook.

This pie is fabulous.  It's basically a yogurt parfait turned into a pie. You could almost feel okay about eating it for breakfast.  The crust is a blend of granola (buy it or make your own), sugar, cinnamon and butter.  Once mixed, the crust is refrigerated (so that it holds together better) and then it's baked until fragrant.  When the crust is cooled, a cool and creamy mixture of strained plain yogurt and cream cheese is poured in and the whole thing is topped with fresh blueberries and honey.  It's easy, it's beyond delicious, and it's a dessert you don't have to feel too guilty about eating.

Blueberries are in season right now and I would recommend them for this pie, but any fruit (or blend of fresh fruit) would be great.  One of the things I like about this recipe is that you can change it up to suit your tastes.  

 

Yogurt and Blueberry Pie with Granola Crust

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Pies & Tarts

Makes One 9-inch Pie

For the Crust:

1-1/2 cups plain granola

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

1 cup plain yogurt

8 ounces cream cheese, room temp (I used reduced fat)

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Topping:

5 ounces (1 cup) blueberries, picked over

Mild honey, such as acacia

Make the crust:  Preheat oven to 350F.  In a food processor, pulse 1 cup granola with the sugar and cinnamon until fine crumbs form.  Drizzle in butter, and process until combined.  Add remaining 1/2 cup granola, and process until combined but mixture is still crumbly.

Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, and press mixture evenly into bottom and up sides.  Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.  Bake until crust is golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the filling:  Place yogurt in a cheesecloth-lined sieve set over a medium bowl; let drain at least 30 minutes.  Discard liquid.

With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat cream cheese until very smooth.  Add sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.  Add strained yogurt, and beat on low speed until smooth.

Pour filling into prepared crust, and refrigerate until set, 6 hours or up to 1 day.  Just before serving, arrange blueberries on top, drizzle with honey, and cut into wedges.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

I found a copy of Martha Stewart's Cupcake cookbook on sale for $6.99 and I just couldn't pass it up.  It won me over with it's beautiful photography and cute little cupcakes and I couldn't wait to get it home and look it over.  When my daughter saw it sitting on the couch she became interested and asked if she could pick the first recipe, hence these little Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes.  The girl loves Oreos.

The little cheesecakes look so cute in Martha's book and naturally I had high hopes that mine would look as pretty as Martha's.  Let's just say that didn't happen.  The picture at the top of my post is a copy of what they looked like in the book. Naturally Martha and her crew make them look perfect, right?  Well, here's what mine looked like.  Mine are not so cute.  Strike #1.

At any rate, this recipe should be really simple.  One whole Oreo cookie is placed at the bottom of each lined cup in your muffin tin.  A cheesecake filling is made with a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, and more chopped Oreos, then poured over the cookie.  Easy enough, right?  It was easy until I discovered that I only had (2) 6-cup muffin tins and could only make 12 at a time.  Strike #2 (totally my fault). Since the recipe makes 30 cheesecakes that bake for 20 minutes, then need to cool for even longer, the entire process took forever.  I learned a valuable lesson that day, which was that I need to buy more muffin tins and also start paying attention to my kitchen equipment, as well as the ingredients, when choosing a recipe.

The recipe indicates that it makes 30 cheesecakes, but I had a lot of leftover filling which meant more batches of cheesecakes, more cooling, and another hour of standing in the kitchen.  Strike #3.  You're out!

In the end I do have to tell you that the recipe made about 42 cheesecakes.  Most of them went to my daughter's Girl Scout Troop, who really enjoyed them.  Some stayed here in the house and the rest went with my Mom to work.  Everyone enjoyed them, but I don't think they were anything to write home about.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Makes over 40 cupcakes

42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped (This  is the equivalent of one pacakage of Oreos) NOTE: I would buy 2 packages though because you will have extra filling

2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275F.  Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.  Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined.  Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  Beat in sour cream and salt.  Stir in chopped cookie by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top.  Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes.  Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely.  Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours (or up to overnight).  Remove from tins just before serving.

Notes/Results:  I learned several things while making these cheesecakes.  Probably the biggest lesson was to give more thought to my kitchen equipment, not only the ingredients, when making a new recipe.  The second thing I learned is that I really don't like it when the food doesn't turn out as pretty as it does in the books.  The difference between the way Martha's look and the way mine look is pretty stark.  Because these cupcakes took so much time and care, tending to the muffin pans and such, it really upset me the way they came out. 

I definitely want to say that I still love Martha's cupcake book and plan on making several more of the recipes in the future.  Overall this is a good recipe, just not the best.  I don't know that I would necessarily recommend it. On the other hand, Martha's book does mention that these are a staff favorite so maybe I just did something wrong.  I'll never know because I'm most definitely NOT making them again. 

Have you had any similar kitchen adventures lately? 

Slow-Cooker Bacon Jam

Each month, either on the 15th or 16th, my new issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine gets delivered to my mailbox. Don't worry, I'm not stalking the mailman. Er....well, maybe I am. He does arrive at my mailbox about 10:15 every morning. Is it bad that I know that?

I cozied up on the couch with my December issue this past Tuesday and quickly noticed this recipe for Slow-Cooker Bacon Jam. I mean....HELLO, Bacon Jam? Where has that been all my life? Then I thought of my friend Beth over at The Seventh Level of Boredom and I knew this recipe would be perfect for her new food adventure, The Bacon Games.


Slow-Cooker Bacon Jam
Adapted from the December 2010 Issue of Everyday Food Magazine
Makes 3 cups
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 4 HR

1-1/2 pounds sliced bacon, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
2 medium yellow onions, diced small
3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup brewed coffee

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until fat is rendered and bacon is lightly browned, about 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet (reserve for another use); add onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent, about 6 minutes. Add vinegar, brown sugar, maple syrup, and coffee and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet with a wooden spoon, about 2 minutes. Add bacon and stir to combine.

Transfer mixture to a 6-quart slow cooker and cook on high, uncovered, until liquid is syrupy; 3-1/2 to 4 hours. Transfer to a food processor; pulse until coarsely chopped. Let cool, then refrigerate in airtight containers, up to 4 weeks

Per 2 tablespoons: 191 calories, 12.6 fat (4.9 g sat fat), 10.8 protein, 8.1g carb, 0.2g fiber

Notes/Results: I think everyone should have a little bacon jam in their life. You can literally put this stuff on anything: bread, burgers, pizza, steaks, sandwiches, eggs, potatoes, chicken, fish....you name it! The combination of the bacon, sugar, maple syrup, onions, and coffee makes a smoky, sweet, tangy combination that is really unique and quite delicious. The jam keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks, but with so many uses it will never last that long. It is best served warm.
Timing Note: I will confess that it took me almost double the time for the prep, more like 50 minutes instead of 30 minutes, but I'm never usually in a hurry when I cook.
Additional Note: My bacon jam wasn't as photo friendly as in the magazine. I added a touch of chopped parsley and a little sprinkling of freshly cooked bacon to spruce up the photo. If you do choose to make this, make sure to use a food processor and follow the directions to coarsely chop the jam.

For now I plan on making some breakfast sandwiches and also some cheeseburgers with my bacon jam. Anyone have any fun ideas? I'd be happy to hear all about them!

Shortbread Candy Bars

Rich and buttery shortbread bars, covered in chocolate, and topped with candy bars. Truly the most decadent and indulgent cookie bars I have ever made. We ate them in record time. I've been thinking about them ever since.

You could make these anytime of year, but they were inspired by leftover Halloween candy. I made two batches of these bars for a party. I used Reese's cups, Reese's pieces, Butterfinger, M&M's, Kit Kats, Whoopers, Snickers and Milk Duds. The Reese's cups, as well as the Reese's pieces, the Butterfinger, and the M&M's were all favorites. The others were a bit cumbersome to eat, but we managed.

*photo credit

Shortbread Candy Bars adapted from Everyday Food October 2010 Issue
Makes 16 bars
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1-1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups assorted chocolate candies or roughly chopped candy bars (12 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and salt on medium-high until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. With mixer on low, add flour in three additions and beat until combined (dough will be crumbly). Press dough evenly into an 8-inch square baking dish. Bake until golden brown and firm, 30-35 minutes.

Scatter chocolate chips on top of shortbread. Bake until soft, 1 minute. With the back of a spoon, spread chocolate evenly over shortbread. Scatter candies over top. Let cool on a wire rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate briefly to set chocolate, then cut into 16 bars. (Store in an airtight container, at room temperature, up to 4 days.)

Notes/Results: Absolutely decadent, delicious, addictive, and satisfying. The perfect indulgence. These bars were very easy, but they do take a little bit of time. You could use one type of candy bar to decorate the entire pan, but I think they look prettiest when they are broken into 4 sections and each section is devoted to a different candy bar. It's always good to have a little variation. The shortbread was thick, dense, and somewhat rich with a butterscotch flavor. The scattered chocolate chips melted to perfection and created a wonderful chocolate coating over the shortbread. Top them with your favorite candy bar and you will be in heaven. (My favorite was the Reese's pieces.) Be sure they are cool and set before you cut them.
*Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart website

Everyday Food's Lighter General Tso's Chicken

For about a week now I've been going through my pile of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food Magazine. I grab a stack of them, sit on the couch and get lost. I've always loved this small, little, colorful magazine that is filled with quick, easy and fairly healthy recipes. Somehow this little magazine seems to get lost in my huge stack of large cookbooks and hardly ever finds it way into my kitchen. This week, I made it a point to add several Everyday Food recipes to my grocery list.

This lighter version of General Tso's Chicken comes from the October 2008 edition. Skinless, boneless chicken breast are coated in a light batter of cornstarch and egg whites.

The chicken is cooked in a hot skillet (two batches if necessary) with a minimum amount of oil for 6-8 minutes, or until golden.

Once the chicken is finished cooking, set it aside. The snow peas, aromatics, spices, and a mixture of cornstarch, water, and soy sauce are added to the hot skillet until the snow peas are tender and the sauce thickens. Once the snow peas are tender and the sauce thickens, toss the chicken back in to coat with the sauce and serve over cooked brown rice.

Lighter General Tso's Chicken
Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine, October 2008 Issue
Serves 4 (I say serves 8)
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

1-1/4 cups long-grain brown rice
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 pound snow peas, trimmed and halved crosswise
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
2 large egg whites
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 pound boneless,skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (**I got away with using 1 tablespoon)

Cook rice according to package instructions. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1/2 cup cold water until smooth. Add snow peas, garlic, ginger, sugar, soy sauce, and red-pepper flakes; toss to combine, and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together egg whites, remaining 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken, and toss to coat.

in a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Lift half the chicken from egg-white mixture (shaking off excess), and add to skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until golden, 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a plate; repeat with remaining oil and chicken, and set aside (reserve skillet).

Add snow-pea mixture to skillet. Cover; cook until snow peas are tender and sauce has thickened, 3-5 minutes. Return chicken to skillet (with any juices); toss to coat. Serve with rice.

Nutritional Info (based on 4 servings, reduce in half if serving 8): 532 calories; 10.4g fat; 36.5g protein; 72.2g carb; 5g fiber

Notes/Results: This was a great recipe and the entire family enjoyed it. The recipe indicates that it serves 4, but it really does make a huge amount of food. I think it easily serves 8, which makes this a great dish if you have a large family and/or if you enjoy leftovers. We enjoyed this meal with some fresh pineapple on the side and found it very filling and satisfying. This is one of those meals that you actually feel good about serving your family because it is full of lean protein, whole grains, and veggies. I would definitely make it again.

Raisin-Oat Cereal Bars

One of my new projects is cleaning up my cookbook and magazine collection so that I can fit everything on my bookshelves. As if my three bookshelves weren't enough, they are also scattered under the bed, on the couch, piled by the couch, in the kitchen drawers, and on the stairs. It's definitely time to streamline them and get organized.


Just yesterday, I started with my cooking magazines. Years upon years of subscriptions to Martha Stewart's Living Magazine.

My husband conveniently said "Just throw them away."

"Yeah right", I thought to myself. As if.

At any rate, I got them all out and littered them all over my living room floor. Martha's shining face was everywhere. I don't think my husband was very pleased to spend a Sunday afternoon in this fashion, but I know that I sure enjoyed myself! Sitting on the living room floor, I leisurely perused magazine after magazine, page after page, reveling in the idea of recipes and how they've changed over the past two decades. Some of the magazines predated the start up of the Food Network, back before food and cooking were as popular as they are today. It was fascinating and nostalgic, kind of like flashing back at food and how it's changed over the years.

Along the way, I found several more recipes to try, one of them was this recipe for Raisin-Oat Cereal Bars. I'm not sure why hours of looking at magazines resulted in me fixating on this one simple recipe, but it did. I dogeared this page four years ago, back before my son was born and also back before I even knew what a blog was. Back then I was just as passionate about food, but had no one to share it with. As I made these bars, I was thinking about how grateful I am to be part of the food blogging community, where others share the same passion as I do.

In a large saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and a 10 ounce bag of marshmallows over medium heat; stirring occasionally, until marshmallows have melted,about 5 minutes. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Once marshmallow mixture has melted, remove from heat and add in 6 cups of Cheerios and 1 cup of dried cranberries or raisins.

Quickly incorporate the Cheerios and dried cranberries/raisins.

Pour the mixture into a 10x15 rimmed baking sheet (I used a 9x13), that has been lined with waxed paper and has either been sprayed with cooking spray, or coated in butter. Let sit for up to 1 hour before serving.

Notes/Results: Move over Rice Krispy Treats! These are just as tasty and a little healthier. The whole family enjoyed these and I can see myself making these often. So glad I took the time to go through those old cooking magazines and remove the recipes I want to try.

Nutritional Info (Makes 24 bars), Per Bar: 97 calories, 2.4 grams fat, 1.1 grams protein, 19.3 grams carbs, 1.2 grams fiber
WW points = 2

I wanted to take this time to say Thank you! It really means a lot that somewhere out there, there are people who feel just like I do. People who would be just as floored at the suggestion of throwing away cookbooks or cooking magazines. Those of you who would be just as excited to sit on the floor and go through decades of old cookbooks and cooking magazines. I wish we could sit together and point out recipes, the ones we wanted to try and the ones where we would laugh and say "what were they thinking with that one?" I thought of all of you yesterday. Yesterday, when my husband and my Mom laughed at me for hoarding cookbooks. When they called me ridiculous and laughed in unison. I thought of all of you and I was so happy. So happy that somewhere you were all out there and understood exactly.

Oikos Greek Yogurt Week #1

Today is the perfect day to Go Greek!! At work today, we had a toga party and celebrated all of the Greek ingredients in our products. We wore togas and the florist made all of us girls very pretty wreaths to wear on our hair. It was so much fun. When I came home, I noticed that even Ina Garten went Greek today cooking all kinds of Greek goodies. I decided it was the perfect day to start my posts about Oikos Greek Yogurt.

A couple weeks ago Kristina at Stonyfield Farm contacted me about trying Oikos Greek Yogurt. I was very interested and welcomed the package with open arms. Kristina was so sweet...she sent me tons of coupons and a very cute Stonyfield reusable bag. In the package were also coupons for five FREE 5.3 oz. greek yogurts! I also received another packet of coupons for some of their other products. I was so excited to receive this package and try the yogurt!!

Oikos Greek Yogurt comes in a variety of flavors: plain, vanilla, blueberry, and honey were all available in my supermarket. They use a centuries-old straining process to remove the whey (liquid) from the yogurt which leaves the end product both rich and creamy. The Oikos Greek Yogurt is organic and has twice the protein of normal yogurt. There is 0% fat, and each 5.3 oz. container has just 80 calories! The very best part is that the Oikos Greek Yogurt is deliciously creamy and seems very decadent! Not only is it great to eat on its own, it is also great to bake with PLUS use in smoothies, salad dressings, frozen yogurt...you get the idea : )

I've been dreaming up recipes and ideas for posting and have decided that each Sunday, for the next 4-6 weeks, I will post a new recipe using the Oikos Greek Yogurt. In the meantime, have fun thinking of ways that you might like to use Oikos Greek Yogurt. At the end of my 4-6 week series, there will be a very generous giveaway!! Kristina at Stonyfield Farm will send one lucky winner the following:

2 FREE 16 0Z. OIKOS COUPONS
4 FREE 5.3 0Z. OIKOS COUPONS
$4 WORTH OF STONYFIELD COUPONS
OIKOS SPATULA AND RECIPE CARD SET

This is definitely something that you would want to win!!

Now, onto the food!!

Tip # 1 - Use greek yogurt in place of sour cream when baking! It is delicious and much healthier!

I chose Martha Stewart's Date-Bran Muffins and replaced the sour cream with the Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt. The muffins were moist from the yogurt and delicious with a hint of orange flavor. I would recommend baking with the greek yogurt anyday! This recipe makes 1 dozen, but I halved the recipe and everything worked out just fine.

Date-Bran Muffins- Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp, plus more for pans
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups wheat bran
1/4 cup plus 2 TBSP packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups sour cream OR Oikos Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses (do not substitute sulfured of blackstrap)
1-1/2 cups (8 ozs.) pitted chopped dates
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

Preheat the oven to 375F. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin. *I used muffin/cupcake liners.** In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and bran; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar on med-high spped until light and fluffy; 2 to 3 minutes. Scrap bowl as needed. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add greek yogurt/sour cream and molasses; mix on low speed until just combined.

Using a rubber spatula, fold in the reserved flour mixture, dates, and orange zest until just combined; do not over mix. Divide and fill muffin pans. Bake, rotating halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, 22-25 minutes. Transfer the pan to wire rack and let rest for 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

The next morning, I served these date-bran muffins alongside Tyler's Greek Yogurt with a Fig, Date, and Honey Swirl. Do yourself a HUGE favor and find the recipe here. It was heavenly, creamy, crunchy, sweet and just plain delicious. I couldn't even believe it was healthy!! I am already craving more. Plus, this is probably the easiest Tyler recipe that I have ever made!! If you don't believe me, check out Beth's post at The Seventh Level of Boredom. Beth and I both loved this creamy and decadent breakfast treat!!



Come back next Sunday for more recipes using greek yogurt!!

Blackberry Roulade For Mother's Day

I have been trying blackberry desserts lately in favor of my Mom. She loves desserts containing lime, lemon and blackberries. I found this recipe in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and it is not online. It is a basic recipe for a sponge cake that is baked in a 17 x 12 inch rimmed baking sheet for about 10 minutes and then immediately laid out on a powdered sugar covered kitchen towel. Once the cake cools it is filled with a creamy blackberry filling. The cake is then rolled back up and coated with more powdered sugar.

The filling was the easiest part of this recipe. It is simply 1 pint of blackberries smashed with a fork. I strained my smashed blackberry mixture to remove most of the seeds (Martha does not call for straining). Beat 1 cup of cream with 3 tbsp. powdered sugar and fold into blackberries. This is a lovely light purple color and delicious on its own.

The cake batter was a little frustrating make. For the first time, I didn't feel like the recipe was written clear enough. There was one list of ingredients and several steps and I ended up adding sugar to wrong mixture. There was an egg yolk mixture, an egg white mixture, and a dry mix that is folded together and baked. In the end, the cake turned out to be a dream to work with as far as rolling is concerned.

This is a huge cake that would easily serve 12-18 people. I cut the cake in half and took half to my mother-in-law and half to my mom. Everyone really enjoyed the light and airy aspect of this cake. They said it had a melt-in-your-mouth quality. My husband also enjoyed it and he doesn't even like blackberries. I didn't really know what to think of it. I realize that it is a "sponge cake" but it was very spongelike. It seemed like the cake was lacking flavor and was rather light and mild. Maybe this is someone's idea of a fabulous dessert, but I want my desserts to be sinful, rich, and decadent : ) I don't know if I would make this one again.

Pecan Sandies - Everyday Food

These were the first of the four cookies that I made today! I simply made these cookies to use up my last bit of pecans that were laying around. They were a cinch to make and were also very, very quick. There were very few ingredients needed. The dough was a little on the crumbly side and just a tad hard to roll into a ball. I used my little ice cream scooper and it managed the dough a lot easier. These cookies really grow on you as you eat them. By the time you are finishing your first cookie you are wanting another one!

My husband and I both thought that this was a really good recipe when you want to stray from the old standby cookie. We even said that this would make a great ice cream sandwich with some vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between two cookies!!

You can find the recipe here on Martha's site.

Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies - Everday Food

This is another great recipe for cookies from the newest copy of Everyday Food. These sandwich cookies were a lot easier to make than the "oreo" type posted earlier. The dough is simple and is rolled in cling wrap and then tucked in the freezer for an hour. Once the dough is removed from the freezer it is much easier to slice and bake. Mine are a normal cookie size and round in shape. It looks like they are more log shaped in the magazine. It didn't really matter to me (especially after making four types of cookies- LOL). In fact, when I was adding the filing I was practically falling asleep. It didn't matter to me how pretty they looked!!

This is a very tasty and addictive cookie and it should come with a warning!! The recipe makes about 30 sandwiches and I would advise you to have lots of company to help gobble them up!! If you are a peanut butter lover than this is your cookie!!

Chocolate N' Cream Sandwich Cookies - Everyday Food

I baked four types of cookies today for a Derby party tomorrow. Of all the cookies I baked, these ones were the most time-consuming, the most messy and the biggest pain. I had to add more butter to the cookie dough because it was too crumbly. Then I had to mop the floor and clean off all the cookie crumbs everywhere. They are very, very good though. I have seen all kinds of homemade oreo type cookies on blogs this year. I am very excited and happy to say that I tried these today. We loved them and are excited to share them tomorrow at the Derby party. I don't think they'll last long!!

This recipe was found in the latest edition of Martha's Everyday Food Magazine, or you can go here and see the video and recipe. These cookies are made with butter for the cream filing and let me tell you that I love that!! I have been avoiding these cookies simply because I am not a fan of shortening. I don't want to eat it and I don't even want to think about eating it! It's not that I'm really trying to be healthy, it just makes me nauseous!! These cookies are delicious and rich and I'm happy to say that I really felt fulfilled after eating just one!

Making Homemade Sorbet: Blueberry & Orange *Martha Stewart*

Lately I have become obsessed with making everything myself from scratch. Has anyone read the book Eat This, Not That? Well, if you have then you understand where I'm coming from. If you have not, and you care about what you put in your body, then you should read it. Now I am by no means a health junkie, but I really don't want to be eating pesticides, manmade chemicals, dyes, or preservatives if I don't have to. And I especially do not want my children to eat them. What does all that mean? Well, my kids love ice cream, sherbet, sorbets, and of course, popsicles. I bought an ice cream machine a couple years ago and I did make some homemade ice creams. Then I packed it up and put it away because we were eating too much ice cream. Last week I had an overabundance of fresh fruit, which I did not want to go to waste, and I was inspired to make several fresh and homemade sorbets. This was relatively simple and fun, thanks to Martha's new book, Cooking School.

I knew I wanted to make several different flavors of sorbet so I began by making some simple syrup. I consider myself "experienced" in the kitchen, however everytime I've tried simple syrup it has failed. I had just borrowed Martha's Cooking School from the library so I figured I'd give her simple syrup a try......and it was a HUGE SUCCESS!! This recipe is simply 3 cups of sugar and 3 cups of water. I used a big stockpot because I didn't want to risk a sugar burn. You just bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until sugar is dissolved for about 10 minutes. Then you need to let it cool. You can keep this in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. **You can also flavor the simple syrup with aromatics such as: mint, basil, ginger, citrus peel, cinnamon, vanilla and the list goes on and on. You would just get about 1/2 cup of any aromatic and pour the desired amount of simple syrup over it. Let it steep for about 2 hours and then remove the aromatics or strain to remove small pieces. This would allow you to create all kinds of wonderful flavor profiles.

Now that you have made the simple syrup, you are over halfway there. If you are lucky enough to have the syrup in your fridge, then making sorbets is a real cinch. A sorbet is simply a mixture of fruit juice and simple syrup. Here are Martha's guidelines for different types of fruit sorbet. I like to try and cut back the amount of syrup I add to the fruit juice, but you can compromise the final product. The correct amount of simple syrup helps the mixture to freeze and become more solid.

NOTE: Buying this much fresh fruit can be expensive. You can absolutely use frozen fruit that has been thawed. I have tried this with the same results and it is much more economical and just as healthy. I have also cut the recipe in half with great results. Each batch will make 2 cups of sorbet. For now on, I will refer to simple syrup as SS.

Blackberry - 4 cups of blackberries and 1/4 cup water pureed together and strained. Add 2 cups of SS.
Strawberry - 5 cups of chopped strawberries and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water pureed and strained. Add 1 and 1/4 c. SS.
Raspberry - 6 cups of raspberries and 1/2 cup plus 4 tablespoons water pureed and strained. Add 1 and 3/4 cups SS.
Blueberry - 5 cups blueberries and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water pureed and strained. Add 1 and 1/4 cups SS.
Lemon - Juice of 8 lemons and 1 and 1/2 cups SS.
Orange - Juice of 5 oranges and 1 and 1/4 cups SS.
Lime - Juice of 8 limes and 1 and 1/2 cups SS.
Grapefruit - Juice of 2 and a half grapefruit and 1 and 1/4 cups SS.
Mango - 6 cups chopped (3 mangoes) and 1/4 to 1/2 cup water - depending on juiciness. Puree and strain fruit mixture and add 1 and 1/4 cups SS.
Kiwi - 4 cups chopped (16 kiwi) and 1/2 cup water + 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice. Puree and strain mixture and add 1 and 1/4 cups SS.
Pineapple - 3 cups chopped (2/3 pineapple) + 1/4 cup water + 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice. Puree and strain and add 1 and 1/4 cups simple SS.

After you have made your mixture, pour into the ice cream maker and turn on. My ice cream machine took about 30 minutes for each sorbet.

As the warm weather comes upon us this is something that I will be making a lot!! I am getting ready to experiment with passion fruit, guava and also some chocolate sorbet.

Enjoy!!