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Ginger Cookies

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My very favorite holiday recipe. I’ve made these for years and I never get tired of them.

Ginger Cookies
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tbsp. sugar

Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Gradually add the 1 cup sugar, beating on low speed until fluffy. Add the egg and molasses; beat well. Using a wooden spoon, stir flour mixture into egg mixture.

Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll balls in the 2 Tbsp sugar. Place about 2 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake about 10 minutes.

Makes 24.

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Meringue Ghosts

ghosts

For a fun and delicious Halloween treat, try these cute little ghost meringues.

I just love meringues! For starters, most people with any kind of food allergy can eat these. They’re remarkably popular items anywhere I serve them, for this very reason. There’s no nuts, gluten, or dairy. Unless someone has an egg allergy you’re probably safe serving these to anyone.

I also like to whip up a batch whenever I have egg whites left over from another baking project. If I make pudding, pudding only needs egg yokes so I’ll save the whites and make meringues next, for an easy treat.

Meringue Ghosts

3 egg whites – room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Heat oven to 250 F.

I prefer to use a stand mixer for these because beating up these egg whites takes a LOT of beating!

Beat egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.

Gradually add in sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Pipe meringue batter onto the pan. I just put my batter in a ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the end. Pipe out a bunch of ghosts. You can put them pretty close together because they do not expand while cooking so you can fit a lot on one pan.

Place cookies in preheated oven and cook for 1 hour. Turn off oven and let set in the oven for 2 more hours. (this is so you get crunchy meringues).

Use a food-safe marker to draw on eyes and a mouth.

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Food Fridays – Doughnut Holes

I realize that doughnut holes are not my usual vegetable recipe, but I’m on vacation this week and in the spirit of goofing off, I’m sharing my favorite doughnut hole recipe.

doughnut

Doughnuts

  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 3/8 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons shortening
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 quart oil for deep frying
  • 1 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

  1. Stir the vinegar into the milk, and let stand for a few minutes until thick.
  2. In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture alternating with the vinegar and milk. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/3 inch thickness. Cut into doughnuts using a doughnut cutter or other round cutter. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
  3. Heat the oil in a large deep skillet to 375 degrees F. Fry doughnuts in the hot oil until golden, turning over once. Drain on paper towels. Dust with powdered sugar while they are still warm, and serve immediately.

Topping Variations

  1. Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp cocoa powder, and 1 to 3 Tbsp water (until you get the consistency you want). Ice your doughnuts with this and dip in sprinkles if desired – my 6yr old iced all her own doughnuts!
  2. Mix 1 Tbsp cocoa powder in 1 cup powdered sugar – stir this really well. Roll your fresh doughnut holes in this instead of the plain powdered sugar.
  3. Mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 3 Tbsp water (more if needed) to make a thin glaze. Dip or roll your fresh doughnut holes in this and set on a cooling rack to dry.

Just in case you were curious. Here’s what I used to cut out my doughnut holes!

 

IMG_1167

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Food Friday – Refrigerator Dill Pickles

I got my Refrigerator Dill Pickle recipe from allrecipes. I like it so much I’ve made 3 batches so far with very little modification.

IMG_1031Refrigerator Dill Pickles
3 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon canning salt (regular table salt will work too but the canning salt dissolves faster)
2 medium cucumbers sliced
2 heads fresh dill

Put water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a pan on the stove. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Once the water mixture boils, turn it off and let set an hour or so until completely cooled. This is very important. If you pour hot water over your sliced cucumbers you’ll get mushy pickles because the hot water will “cook” your pickles a little bit.

After the water is cooled, slice up your cucumbers and put them in two large mason jars (or any other jar of your choice). Add 1 head of dill per jar. Pour water mixture over cucumbers until they are fully covered and/or your jar is full.

Put the lid on and let set in the fridge for at least 1 week before eating. I think they’re best after at least 2 weeks.

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Meringues

I love meringues! And this recipe is so easy to make. I make them every time I have extra egg whites. In this case, I had 10 extra egg whites after making my pudding so I made a triple batch. That’s a LOT of meringues!

Meringues
3 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar

Have egg whites at room temperature. Add vanilla, cream of tartar, and dash salt. Beat to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, beating till very stiff peaks form. (Meringue will be glossy.)

Cover baking sheet with wax paper. Drop spoonfulls of meringue onto paper. Bake meringues at 275 for one hour. Turn off heat and let dry in the oven with the door closed for about 1 hour.

Makes about 3 dozen.

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Meringues

I love meringue cookies! This recipe is easy and turns out just right for me every time.

Meringues
3 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup sugar

Have egg whites at room temperature. Add vanilla, cream of tartar, and dash salt. Beat to soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, beating till very stiff peaks form. (Meringue will be glossy.)

Cover baking sheet with wax paper. Drop spoonfulls of meringue onto paper. Bake meringues at 275 for one hour. Turn off heat and let dry in the oven with the door closed for about 1 hour.

Makes about 3 dozen.

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Sugar Cookies

Here’s the first of my favorite holiday snack recipes.

I’ve been hunting for a decent sugar cookie recipe for years. I finally found one a few months ago. It was in an old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that I picked up at a yardsale about a year ago.

I’ve made it several times and it turns out right every time 🙂 Maybe I’m just really picky about my sugar cookies but I’m really happy to have found this recipe!

Sugar Cookies
2/3 cup shortening (I usually use 1/3 cup butter and 1/3 cup shortening – the shortening is necessary for the right texture)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
4tsp milk
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Thoroughly cream shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Add egg; beat till light and fluffy. Stir in milk. Sift together dry ingredients; blend into creamed mixture.

I form 1in balls, roll them in sugar and then use my thumb to press them flat in the center (makes a slight well for icing).

If you want to roll them, divide dough in half, chill for 1 hour. On lightly floured surface roll to 1/8 in thickness. Cut with cookie cutters.

Baking instructions are the same for balls or shapes. Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 about 6 to 8 minutes. Makes 2 dozen.

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Dutch Apple Pie

So, Cayenne pepper is my new favorite spice. I made an apple pie yesterday and I couldn’t resist using it. Before you think, oh, no!, spicy apple pie. Don’t worry, I didn’t use that much! I’ve discovered that a tiny amount of cayenne pepper adds flavor to sweet foods without being spicy.

I was making a dutch apple pie and when I went to make the crumb topping I discovered that I was out of brown sugar. The pie was already sitting in the pan ready to go and I really didn’t want to make a crust for the top. So, I improvised:

1 C Sugar
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/2 C shredded coconut
4T unsalted butter

Blend well and sprinkle on top. It was quite yummy! The pepper adds flavor without adding spice, and without it I think using the white sugar would have been a bit too bland for the top of my apple pie.

I also tried a new crust, which actually turned out! I have trouble with my crusts being too tough. I think I overwork them. Use oil instead of butter, so you mix it all together with a fork and then press it into the pan instead of rolling it out. My crust was actually flaky for once!


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Apple Pecan Cake

I tried out this cake recipe yesterday. Unfortunately, I sent it to work with my husband before I got a picture. However, it was delicious, easy to make, and contained all ingredients that I keep on hand so I’m going to post it without a picture.

I got this recipe out of this month’s Everyday Food magazine. This is my favorite cooking magazine. Most of the recipes contain ingredients that I can identify and the recipes are not too time-consuming to make. A must with little kids!

This recipe did use a large number of bowls, which my kids appreciated since they got to lick out every one of them 🙂

Apple-Pecan Cake

1/2 C unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 medium apple, peeled and diced
3/4 C pecans, chopped
2 1/2 C all purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 C all purpose flour, and 1 C wheat flour)
2 t baking powder
1 t nutmeg (I did not add this – I don’t usually like the aftertaste of nutmeg)
1/4 t salt
3/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1/2 C plain yogurt
1 1/3 C sugar
1 t orange zest
3 large eggs
confectioners’ sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9in square pan. Line with parchment paper, butter parchment. In a med bowl, toss apple and pecans with 2 T flour to coat. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. In a small bowl, combine applesauce and yogurt.

2. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar, and orange zest on high until light and fluffy, 3 min, scraping down bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions applesauce mixture, and beat to combine. Fold in apple mixture. Transfer batter to pan and smooth top.

3. Bake until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 20 min. Using parchment, lift cake from pan. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.