Friday, November 28, 2008

Happy Day after Thanksgiving!


So, I know it's the day after Thanksgiving, and the last thing on everyones mind is MORE food. BUTTTT, although our stomachs are screaming "no more!", our minds are still hungry to see what everybody else was eating.

Hence, I give you this cheesecake...
When I first got the November issue of Bon Appetit, I was soo intrigued to see the different dishes they featured for Thanksgiving. 
Since I was of course in charge of dessert, I wanted to do something big, but different.
Every year we always pick up a HUGE apple, AND pumpkin pie from Urth Cafe, in Beverly Hills, and let me just tell you, their pumpkin pie is one of the most amazing things i've ever had, no joke!

Anyways, we got those...but I still wanted to make something great.
Thats why when I found this Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap crust and a marshmellow sour cream topping, I knew I HAD to make it.

This cheesecake came out SO good. It was so creamy and dense, just the way a good cheesecake should taste.
My whole family said they absolutely loved it, and there's barely any leftover right now!

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!!
You can find the recipe HERE.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

No TWD this week...

Sorry guys, I know I havn't been the best with keeping up with TWD lately.
I've just A LOT of stuff on my plate right now..no pun intended. Haha.

But I am happy to say that I will be back posting more frequently after thanksgiving, and i'll be sharing ALL my wonderful goodies that I making for the big thanksgiving feast this year!

Cant wait!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Chocolate Chip Toffee Coconut Cookies


I was craving cookies, but I didnt want to make A LOT. So I started searching for a small batch recipe, when I found this recipe from Cookie Madness. 
The original recipe had pecans in it, but since I wasn't really feeling in the whole nut mood, I substituted toffee bits instead.

She also said to make these tablespoon sized, and get 12 large cookies. I scooped mine teaspoonfuls at a time, and got smaller cookies. Soo whatever floats your boat, it's up to you.
These cookies definitely satisfied my cookie craving, and I will be making these again for sure.

Small batch Chocolate chip Toffee Coconut Cookies
Adapted from Cookie Madness

1 cup AP flour
1/4 t plus 1/8 t baking soda
1/4 scant t salt
5 T plus 1 t unsalted butter
6 T brown sugar
6 T granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 t vanilla
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup coconut
2/3 cups toffee bits

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheet w/ parchment paper.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
Cream butter and both sugars in mixing bowl; add egg and vanilla, beat until well blended. 
With a mixing spoon, stir in flour mixture, followed by chocolate, coconut, and toffee.

Drop dough by generously rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheets. Press rounds into circles using your palms.

Bake cookies for 15 minutes or until they appear set and brown around the edges.

**Mine only needed 13-14 minutes cause I like my cookies soft, and chewy.

Enjoy !



Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Oatmeal Banana Cake


Every single time I have ripe bananas I always somehow find myself making either banana bread, or banana muffins. Nothing else.
Well today I decided to change some things around...after all, now having a new president who is advertising the whole "change" idea, why not apply that to our every day lives??
That's when this "cake" comes in.

I was looking for something new to make when I found this recipe from a great blog, the pastry studio that has some wonderful recipes.
This cake combines 2 big ingredients that I LOVE to bake with. Bananas, AND oatmeal. YUM!
And it seemed simple enough.

This cake had a great, dense texture with a sweet chewy bite. And it's perfect with a cup of coffee, or tea. Or even just by itself! 
Make this cake, you will not regret it!

Oatmeal Banana Cake

8 T butter room temp.
3/4 C brown sugar
2 eggs @ room temp
2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
1 t vanilla
zest of 1/2 lemon
3/4 C flour
1 1/4 C oats
heaping 1/4 t salt
1 t baking soda

Topping
3/4 C oats 
1/3 C brown sugar
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 t cinnamon
1 T flour
4 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
line a 9" springform cake pan w/ butter and parchment

Wisk together dry ingredients for the topping. Add melted butter and stir with fork till crumbly. Set aside.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and oats.
Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Add mashed banana and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and smooth evenly.

Sprinkle topping over cake batter, press down lightly.
Bake 30-35 min. until toothpick comes out moist but clean. Cool on wire rack. Remove cake pan ring.
Enjoy!!


Tuesday, November 4, 2008

TWD:Rugelach "Bars"

So this week's TWD was chosen by Piggy of Piggy's cooking journal and I wanted to thank her for choosing this scrumptious recipe.
As you can probably see from the pictures, I(with help from the lovely Martha Stewart) decided to turn the traditional Rugelach "cresent"s into Rugelach BARS, or "fingers."

I followed Dories recipe ingredients, but slightly adapted them to fit Martha's directions for the bars. They were SO incredibly easy to make! The only long-ish part was that the dough had to be chilled for a little, but besides that, not time-consuming and VERY easy.

Sadly, we didn't have currants in my house, soo I substituted raisins instead, and they still turned out amazingg. I highly recommend trying this recipe, as I do with EVERY other Dorie recipe, if you're looking for great Rugelach.

Be sure to check out all the other TWD bakers for their lovely Rugelach(es)...?!