Cream-Filled Oatmeal Walnut Raisin Cookies with a Twist

The twist. Ahh the twist is the addition of Maple Extract. I don't bake with it often enough, and it's the perfect addition to so many fall and winter dishes (both sweet and savory).

I know some people are not fond of maple anything, and then some go wild over maple everything. Both my parents were fanatics about maple walnut ice cream and maple walnut coffee cake. So that was my inspiration when I decided to put this experiment together last night. There are a few steps to making these little darlings, but the results are so worth it. And as usual, I've tried to cut some calories and sugar. There might be some future tweaking, but for now...this is a yummy cookie your maple lovers will adore.

Cream-Filled Oatmeal Walnut Raisin Cookies
makes approximately 20-22 sandwich cookies

Filling
8 oz Neufchatel cheese softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter softened (1 stick)
1/2-3/4 cups confectioners sugar
1 T Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (or 2 T regular brown sugar)
1 tsp natural maple extract
1/3 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts

Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter softened (2 sticks)
1 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (same amount if you're using granulated sugar)
1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (or 1 cup regular brown sugar)
2 large eggs at room temp
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp natural maple extract
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1cup rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup finely chopped or ground walnuts

I like to make my filling first. In medium size bowl, combine your butter and Neufchatel. I use a hand mixer. Now add your sugars and maple extract.

And fold in your ground nuts.

Wrap filling in plastic wrap and set aside in your refrigerator to set up and let the flavors meld.

Let's make the cookies. Pre heat your oven to 350 and line baking sheets with parchment. In medium size bowl, combine salt, flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk with a fork or spoon to incorporate. No need for any sifting. Set aside.

On to the batter. Place butter and sugars in a large bowl. With hand mixer combine sugars and butter until smooth. Add eggs and both extracts and incorporate.

 
Now add the flour mixture in two batches to the wet ingredients and combine. And fold in the oats, raisins and chopped walnuts.

I usually just plop my oatmeal dough by teaspoonfuls onto the parchment paper, but since I was filling these little beauties, I decided to make them into 1 inch to 1-1/2 inch balls, so they would all be pretty uniform in size.

Bake each cookie sheet 9 minutes. Let cool on cooling rack and remove cookies to paper towels to finish setting up. And amazingly enough, the cookies are all pretty much the same size. I lucked out on that one.

While cookies are cooling, remove the filling from the fridge, let it come to almost room temp so filling the cookies will be a snap. Lovingly pile a teaspoon to a tablespoon of the maple infused filling on to the bottom (flat side) of one cookie and top with a second. Keep going, and be sure to sample at least one (or two). They really are yummy.

Lemon Explosion

I love when a new cookie idea works, and this one did...like a dream. I had a jar of lemon curd in my pantry and wasn't sure if I was going to use it in an experiment that involved French toast, something savory or maybe another version of my famous cream-filled cookies. Well you know me, I dove head first into the cookie project. Let's make some creamy, dreamy, lemony cookies.

Lemon Cream Filled Lemon Cookies
Makes 16 2 inch sandwich cookies
 
Filling:
8 oz Neufchatel cheese softened to room temp
1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup prepared lemon curd

Dough:
3/4 cup unsalted butter softened to room temp
3/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
2 large eggs room temp
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Zest of one lemon
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

To make the filling: In medium size bowl combine all ingredients. I mix the cream cheese and butter first (mix about 2 or 3 minutes to get some air in the mixture). Then add the lemon curd and sugar. I use a hand mixer. Very important step here- wash your hands and dry them well. Now with your impeccably clean pointer finger, scoop as much of this creamy confection onto it and take a taste. Yummy, right?

cream

Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge while you wash your hands again and make the cookies. By the way, you could also make the filling a day ahead, which due to time juggling, is what I did.

To make the cookies: Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In medium size bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (I use a whisk). Set aside.

In large bowl, with hand mixer, combine butter and sugar and mix until smooth and airy (about 2-3 minutes). Add eggs, both extracts and lemon zest. When mixture is smooth, add half the dry ingredients into the wet and mix on low. Add the rest of the dry ingredients until incorporated. This is a sticky dough, so you'll want to cover it or wrap it with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Using a teaspoon or small cookie scoop, form dough into 1-1/2 inch balls and place on baking sheets.

Looks like a matzo ball, right? Leave enough room between cookies, as these babies spread. Bake in your pre-heated oven for 11 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly on cooling  rack, then remove to paper or kitchen towels to cool completely. Don't these look light and tasty?

And ready to be filled? You bet! Remove filling from the fridge. Take a hefty teaspoon of the creamy filling and place it on the underside/flat side of a cookie. Take a second cookie and cover the filling to make a sandwich. Keep going until all cookies have found their match. Don't use all the cream, as you'll want a few tablespoons to garnish the tops of the cookies.

Dust with confectioner's sugar. I like to dust through a sieve to make the sugar even finer.

And for a final presentation, add a dollop of remaining lemon cream to the top, then add a sprinkling of lemon zest to the dollop and serve in cupcake wrappers.

 

 

If fresh herbs looked good in my market, a pretty leaf of mint or thyme would have been the perfect garnish- right on top or next to my creamy dollop. With or without the herbs, this cookie is sure to please all the lemon lovers in your life.   

World Food Championships 2013, Part 3

 

The night before I was leaving for the WFC, packing clothes, emptying out my kitchen, getting my ingredients in order, and stressing to the max, I got an email from Lori- my sous chef extraordinaire and fabulous daughter (living 3,000 miles away from me) who reminded me she had some suprises in store. I usually don't worry about Lori because she is very down to earth. But her email included this picture.One is me and of one is her. And this was going to be part of our banner for the competitor's parade and the competition booth. I love the way she thinks. Just seeing her email made me giddy and I couldn't wait to see what she was planning, I was game for anything. Just to fill you in, this is a picture of each of us, one taken in 1959 and one in 1986. Yes, we were about the same age posing as Miss America. Well, when you're in a cooking competition as stressfull as the WFC, it sure is like a beauty contest except the best food wins. And when your favorite Miss America is cooking with you, it's home cooking at its' best!

 

On to the event: The two former pretend beauty queens got down to cooking Thursday afternoon and made Raspberry Cloud Cakes, our signature dish. To me it's everything that a dessert should be- creamy, rich, white chocolatey and fruity. This is one of my favorite recipes that I created over a year ago and just prior to the competition, I made them once a week for about 4-6 weeks. I made them in my sleep too. Here's the recipe, I think you'll enjoy.

 

White Chocolate Raspberry Cloud Cakes

makes about 36 filled cakes

 

Filling

8 oz neufchatel cheese softened to room temp

1/2 cup butter softened

3 T confectioner's sugar

1 T Splenda Brown Sugar Blend for Baking

1/3 cup Polaner All Fruit Raspberry Preserves

 

Dough

3/4 cup butter softened

3/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

2 large eggs room temp

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup white chocolate chips finely chopped

Confectioners sugar for dusting

 

Garnish

Fresh raspberries

mint leaves

 

Let's put this beautiful dessert together.

 

To make the filling: In medium size bowl combine all ingredients with hand mixer. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare and make the dough.

 

To make the (dough): Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In medium size bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir with a whisk to combine and set aside.

 

In large bowl, with hand or stand mixer combine butter and brown sugar and mix until smooth and airy (2-3 minutes). We used a hand mixer at the show. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to mix. Add half the dry ingredients into the wet and mix on low. Add the rest of the dry ingredients until dough is smooth. Now add the crushed white chocolate and stir to combine. Use your clean hands if it's easier. The white chocolate is a fabulous addition to these little darlings. Who doesn't like a little white chocolate crunch with a cakey cookie?

  

Your dough will be very sticky so you'll want to refrigerate it for about 15-20 minutes. Up tp 30-40 minutes if you have the time. Form dough into small balls about 3/4 inch in diameter. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes and place on cooling rack to cool. After a few minutes you can place them on paper or kitchen towels to cool completely.

When mini cakes are cooled, the fun begins. Take a tablespoon of prepared raspberry cream and place on top of flat side of cake.

We're getting there. Now cover the filling with a second cookie cake to make a sandwich.

Keep going, you've got a lot more to make. When you cake sammies are assembled, sprinkle both sides of the cake with confectioner's sugar through a sieve. Add a dollop of the leftover raspberry cream to the top of these and garnish with a raspberry. Here is a picture that I took in my house before the contest. I was thrilled to be able to make these for the judges, with red wrappers, white plates and a sprinkling here and there of fresh mint (sorry no picture at the competition).

 

For those of you that want to give these a try, I have to warn you, they are growing raspberries bigger than you can imagine. Each garnish ended up being 1/3 of a raspberry. I cut the tops off, blotted them with paper towels to prevent bleeding and added them to the top raspberry swirl. Wish I had a picture of my final-hand in dish, but time was wasting and we were lucky to get these little cuties in on time.

 

 

And in case you were wondering, here is one of the two surprise signs Lori made. From what I could tell, we had the best "home cook" signs in the competition.

 

So the cook off is over and it's been over a week since I've been home. Will we do it next year? I'd like to think so and just hope we're invited back. To be able to do this for 2 years in a row and compete in a fierce competition like the WFC, I think our third time might be the charm. Fingers crossed!  

World Food Championships 2013, Part 1

This is a view of the Freemont Experience where the World Food Championships took place last week. It looks pretty tame in this picture but when the home cooks and bonafied chefs were competing, it was a hot-bed of excitement. And the aromas were heavenly. Each night when the awards were presented, I could barely get close enough to the stage to snap a picture. But I did get a good one, the Pasta Recipe top ten finals. Six of my buddies are up on the stage. You rock ladies! And you're all home cooks, how great is that?

Unfortunately I didn't make the top ten, but since I ranked 16 in desserts I'm feeling like "I almost made it". One of the most disappointing things about not making the top ten is that I didn't get to make my yummy Calypso Cakes with Pineapple Coconut Coulis. We had about two weeks to plan and think about our final build, and I must admit I spent a lot of time and energy coming up with this concoction. I decided to make individual cakes to cut down on cooking time (they really put us to the test when it came to delivering our dishes on time). Seventeen minutes in the oven, and a few extra steps to make them competition worthy. Here's the recipe. It has a lot of steps, but is really pretty simple. If you know me, you know I don't make anything that is difficult.

Calypso Cake with Coconut Pineapple Coulis
makes 12 2 inch servings in square, flat muffin tins

For the cake
1 cup Splenda no sugar sweetener
2 cups AP flour
2 large eggs
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 20 oz can Dole Crushed pineapple drained (save liquid for coulis)
1/2 cup ground sweetened coconut
1-1/4 cup Thai coconut milk from 13.5 oz can (reserve the rest for coulis)

For the frosting
8 oz neufchatel cheese room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
1/4 cup ground sweetened coconut
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp coconut extract

For the coulis
Reserved sauce from can of crushed pineapple
Reserverd coconut milk
1 T cornstarch
3 T Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
1/4 tsp salt

Garnish
1 cup sweetened coconut
1 can Dole Pineapple Slices drained and patted dry

To make the cake: Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking pan with cooking spray and set aside. In large bowl combine dry ingredients and whisk with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and mix by hand until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake 17-19 minutes. Set aside to cool. Remove from baking pan to further cool.

To make the frosting: Mix cheese and butter until airy. Now add the ground coconut (I grind my coconut in my small spice grinder) and the coconut extract and combine until smooth. Now add your confectioner's sugar. Set aside in a cool place.

To make the sauce: In small pan combine Splenda Brown Sugar Blend and salt and heat on low. In a small mixing bowl whisk reserved pineapple juice, reserved coconut milk and cornstarch. Pour into warmed sugar mixture, increase heat, then simmer uncovered until it reduces by half. Set aside to cool.

Garnish: Place coconut on parchment lined cookie sheet and toast in 350 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes, checking and tossing every few minutes, you don't want burnt coconut.

Fire up your indoor grill and sear pineapple slices until they are browned on both sides. Remove from grill and when they are cooled, cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Assembly: Top cakes with the creamy frosting. Pour a little sauce over frosted cake and make a little puddle of sauce on your plates. Place cake on top of sauce puddle, sprinkle top with toasted coconut and add a few slices of grilled pineapple. Doesn't this look yummy?

At the WFC we have to present tasting portions for the judges, and while I was thinking of how to plate this entry, Pier One Imports was having a promotion on their "tasting" wares. I opted for the Asian soup spoons (75 cents each-good deal right?). Love the way this looks.

As you can see, a lot of work went into this dessert that never got to be made at the WFC. But I will be making these little Calypso Cakes often and I hope you'll give them a try too. I know, a lot of steps- but sooo worth it. Congrats to all the competitors, we are surely a talented group of crazies.

Raspberry Brownie Sundaes

I am so baked out. Really. In the last few years I have joined so many cooking groups/clubs, internet sites that celebrate every season/holiday that inspire me to try something new that I always seem to have one more thing to try. I think tonight (except for the dulce de leche cookies waiting to be baked tomorrow that are in my fridge) I am done with sweets for the season (at least until World Nutella Day and Valentines's Day) but that's in February so I think I might be ready again. So before I go back to posting salads and healthy dishes, I must share today's bit of decadence. And oh! it's so worth sharing. It all started with a candy bar my friend Mary Anne gave me.

And continued with a purchase I made at the supermarket today. A nine dollar mini "bar" baking pan.

I've been playing around with single serve desserts for a while now and knew I could put this little darling to good use. And that's exactly what I did this afternoon. How does Raspberry filled Ghirardelli dark chocolate filled brownies sound to you? Sounded right up my alley, and it was really simple since I used a boxed brownie mix and everything else that came after that just seemed to fall into place. This is a dessert I recommend to anyone who needs a chocolate fix or wants to make this their last hurrah before the new year, it's just that rich. Here's the recipe:

Individual Raspberry Brownie Sundaes
makes 8

1 box of your favorite brownie mix for 8x8 pan
2 large eggs
3 T cooled strong brewed coffee
1/3 cup canola oil

Topping
8 oz neufchatel cheese softened
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves (I like Polaner All Fruit)
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Garnish
Hershey's syrup (I used the lite)
Hershey's mini chocolate chips
Fresh raspberries (price was unreasonable so I nixed that, but they would be great if you feel rich)

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and prep pan with cooking spray. Prepare brownie mix using my ingredients, not what is on the box. That would be 2 eggs instead of one and the coffee instead of the water.  Pour half the mixture into 8 of the 12 indentations in the pan. Place a square of the Ghirardelli chocolate on top of each brownie mixture.

Cover those heavenly pieces of raspberry chocolate goodness with more brownie mix, but don't over fill. You shouldn't have any brownie mix left over. Bake 17 minutes and let cool.

While brownies are cooling, prepare the creamy frosting. Mix all ingredients (I use a simple hand mixer) . When frosing is fluffy and brownies are cool or almost cool, it's time to assemble this little plate of decadence. Place brownie in individual bowl.

I tried the presentation a few ways and liked them served in ramekins, but for the blog I chose clear bowls so you could see the whole sequence. Time to add some chocolate syrup. I was conservative but you certainly don't haveto be.

Add a dollop or two of the raspberry cream.

Your brownie sundae is almost done. Add some mini chips like I did. Or try fresh raspberries, or even frozen raspberries with some natural juice. Great dessert to end the year or welcome a new one! Happy new year to all and thanks so much for reading.

Whimsical

As I said in my last post, I'm always trying to come up with some fun, new treats for the holidays, so last night and a good part of today I spent experimenting and making what I'm calling Elvis Cupcakes. Yes, I'm an Elvis fan, check out an earlier post on Elvis Bread and you'll either like my puns or think I'm nuts. Since I  recently dove head first into the mini cupcake and mini cookie genre, I decided to try something in that realm, and between the banana, peanut butter and candied bacon in this recipe, I must say it's a little out there, and perfect for anyone who likes their taste buds to explode in delight. Is there anyone who doesn't like that feeling?

Elvis Mini Cupcakes
makes 36

Ingredients for Cupcakes:
2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 T unsalted butter at room temp
2 T canola oil
3/4 cups Splenda no calorie sweetener
2 large eggs at room temp
1 large egg white at room temp
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, the browner the better
1/2 cup lite sour cream

Peanut Butter Filling:
Approximately 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Frosting:
8 oz low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups confectioners sugar

Bacon Topping:
4 slices bacon
1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

This is an easy cupcake recipe to put together. Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with paper liners and lightly spray them with PAM or your choice of cooking spray.

To make the batter: In medium size bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Mix with a spoon or fork to combine and set aside.

In small bowl mash bananas and add sour cream. Mix well and set aside. I think the sour cream is what gives this batter the tender texture when it bakes.

Using an electric hand mixer beat butter, oil and Splenda until incorporated. I like to do this boring task for 3-5 minutes. Add eggs, egg white and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add half the dry ingredients and mix until almost incorporated. Now add the dreamy sour cream and banana mixture and gently fold into batter. Add the rest of your dry ingredients, mix well and  spoon into lined cupcake  pans.

As you can see I'm not the most consistant when adding the right amount of batter to the tins. It doesn't seem to matter in this recipe, but I try not to overfill the cups. Bake about 18 to 20 minutes and let cool.

After about a half hour/45 minutes of cooling and the cupcakes are no longer hot to the touch, you're going to do a little surgery. With a small paring knife, cut a circle in the middle of the top of the cupcakes to make a well. I used my mom's old grapefruit knife and it worked great. Here's are some pictures of what you're trying to acheive.

Just pull out the little plug and set it aside. You won't be using these so feel free to munch on them while you're finishing the rest of the cupcakes.

Fill each hole with peanut butter and try and be careful to stay in the hole. I know you'll be neater than I was.

Set these little darlings aside and get ready to make the toppings. That would be the frosting and the candied bacon. Let's start with the bacon first. I have many good friends who are far more experienced bakers than me, and thanks to Wendy and Jan, the final topping of the Elvis Cupcakes came out without a snag. I'd never candied bacon before, but it's simple and a good thing to know how to do. In medium size bowl, dredge both sides of bacon slices in Splenda Brown Sugar.

Place on foil lined baking sheet in 350 degree oven and bake 10 minutes. Turn and bake another 6-8 minutes more. Since this was my first time doing this, I checked my oven every two minutes. Your oven may cook it faster. Place on plate to cool. Do not put on paper towels as I'm used to doing with bacon, it will stick! Here's what my candied bacon looked like after it cooked and cooled.

I started chopping the bacon in chunks and then decided I might go with crumbles. So I did both. Set the bacon aside and let's make the easy frosting

In large bowl combine cream cheese, butter, peanut butter and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Add the confectioner's sugar, mix again and get ready to assemble the cupcakes.

Take a dollop of your frosting and place atop your banana peanut butter filled cupcake. You can fancy this up by using a piping bag, but I haven't mastered that yet, so I go with the dollop method. It works well for me. Now sprinkle on some candied bacon bits.

Or insert a larger slice of candied bacon to the yummy frosting and let it shine alone.

Either way you decide to serve these I think you, and everyone who tastes them will be pleased. I've got the whole batch (minus 5 which I had to sample along the way) going to work with me on Monday. I'm guessing they'll be gone by noon.