Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies

I was watching Martha Stewart the other day when she started into her baking segment. She had her plumber on the show giving DIY tips and had him help her make Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies (appropriately named for more than one reason). These cookies seriously have everything in them. Oats. Check. Chocolate. Check. Coconut. Check. Nuts. Check. Cranberries. Check. Toffee. Check. Pretzels. Check?

Yep, pretzels. I've never made cookies with pretzels in them. And now that I have, I still don't know what I think. It's...strangely...pleasant? Let me explain.

When I pulled the first batch of these cookies out of the oven, my husband and I both dug right in. Our initial reaction was that they were just all right. But being who we are, we kept eating more. And more. After about the 10th cookie each (ok, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration...maybe) we realized that these cookies had grown on us. We liked them. They were different. Enjoyable for some reason that we couldn't quite put our finger on. Maybe it was the pretzels.


Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies
Martha Stewart

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup toffee bits
3/4 cup roughly chopped dark chocolate
3/4 cup dried cherries (I used cranberries)
3/4 cup roughly chopped pecans
3/4 cup roughly chopped salted pretzels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and both sugars. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well blended. Stir in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, gradually add to the butter mixture; continue mixing until well combined. Add the oats, coconut, toffee, chocolate, cherries, pecans, and pretzels and mix on low until just combined.

Using a 2-inch ice-cream scoop, drop batter onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Press tops down with the palm of your hand to flatten cookies evenly. Transfer baking sheets to oven and bake until golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Streusel-Roasted Plums

Did I not tell you that my husband missed his calling in life? Well, he did. He has this amazing ability to look over a few recipes to get ideas, and then head into the kitchen and throw ingredients together until he gets what he wants. He's a natural.

We went to an Asian food market (which we love!) the other day and he headed straight for the plums. I thought he just wanted to eat them fresh, but when we got home he started whipping something up in the kitchen. What was he making, you ask? Streusel-Roasted Plums. It was pleasantly tart, sweet, salty, and crunchy all at the same time. Yum!


Streusel-Roasted Plums
Adapted from Bon Appétit Magazine

5 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, divided
5 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

6 large firm plums, halved, pitted

Preheat oven to 400°F. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons brown sugar and lemon juice. Bring just to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves and syrup is smooth; remove skillet from heat.

Whisk remaining 3 tablespoons brown sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Cut in with back of fork until streusel begins to hold together. Mix in nuts.

Cut very thin slice off rounded side of each plum half (to create flat surface). Lightly press 1 tablespoon streusel onto cut side of each plum half. Place plums, streusel side up, in syrup in skillet. Roast plums until just tender, about 20 minutes. Remove skillet from oven and preheat broiler. Broil plums until streusel is crisp and golden, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Place 2 plum halves on plate and top with whipping cream or ice cream, then spoon over syrup from skillet.

Freezer Jam

The other day I was browsing through some blogs when I saw these fabric jam toppers. I thought they were so stinkin' cute and wanted to print them out right then and there. But then I remembered that I didn't have any homemade jam to put the toppers on. Hmmm.

For obvious reasons, I decided that I needed to make some jam. I'll admit, I'm not a purist when it comes to making jam. I just don't have it in me to do the whole sterilizing, cooking, steaming thingy. When I was young, my mom would make peach freezer jam, and I loved it. Freezer jam - it's so fresh and light tasting - and easy. Perfect!

My husband loves strawberry jam, and I love peach jam, so I had to make both. Luckily we have a produce junction nearby that sells fruit cheap. And even more luckily there were still tons of jars at the store. Ball makes these jars with cute silver lids now and I'm a big fan!

There is a lot of sugar in jam. Did you know that? If you didn't, you might not want to make your own so you can stay ignorant of that fact.

And now we have strawberry jam. Lots of it! I got 6 8oz jars out of one batch (I made 2 batches).

And peach jam! I got 8 8oz jars out of one batch.

Sure Jell Freezer Jam

2 cups crushed strawberries, a little over a pint (3 cups crushed peaches, about 2 lbs, plus 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice)
4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl (4 1/2 cups sugar for peach jam)
3/4 cup water
1 box SURE.JELL Fruit Pectin

Mix crushed fruit with sugar, and let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, stir the pectin into the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 1 minute. Stir the boiling water into the strawberries. Allow to stand for 3 minutes before pouring into jars or other storage containers.

Place tops on the containers, and leave for 24 hours. Place into freezer, and store frozen until ready to use.

Pioneer Woman's Banana Bread

The other day Pioneer Woman posted this recipe, and I just so happened to have some bananas that were a little past their prime. I was pretty excited that I would get to use my bundt pan, since I've only used it a handful of times since my sister gave it to me for Christmas.


The bread was much more cake-like than other banana breads that I have made. The recipe didn't call for any nuts, and I know that some people prefer nuts in their banana bread (my husband included). It was very moist, and stayed that way for the remainder of the days that I munched on it. Delicious!

Fruit Pizza

A couple of weeks ago we had a farewell party for one of our dear friends. He was being deployed to Afghanistan the next day and we all wanted to see him before he left. I wanted to make a special dessert for him, so I asked his wife what his favorite dessert was. She said he loves fruit pizza, so fruit pizza is what I made!

The recipe I used is one my family used to make when I was younger. I'm not sure where my mom got the recipe because the copy I have is handwritten and extremely vague. But I remember it being good, so I used it.

I wasn't quite sure on the cook time, and I'm still not sure. I couldn't really tell if the crust was ever done, and in the end I think I could have cooked it a little longer. My tip would be to cook it until it's starting to brown on top.

I also was unsure of the cream cheese topping, since my recipe just says to use equal parts of cream cheese and equal parts of whipping cream. I decided to beat the cream until it was whipping cream consistency, and then used a hand mixer to mix it in with the cream cheese, and added powdered sugar. In the end I think it turned out nicely. I also cut the pizza before adding the fruit for ease in dishing it out. Here's the awesome recipe I used!


Fruit Pizza

Crust:
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Mix all ingredients together and press into an 18 x 13 inch jelly roll pan, or 2 round pizza pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 degrees.

Sauce:
Equal amounts of cream cheese and whipping cream (I used 8 oz of each). Then add powdered sugar as needed.

Spread on crust when the crust is cooled, and then top with your choice of fruit toppings: kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mandarin oranges.

Fresh fruit tarts! Lime curd tarts!

Whenever I go to a bakery and am looking over the selection, my eye always lingers on the fruit tarts. The bright assortment of fresh fruit, the cute little package it comes in...you know what I'm talking about, right? The only thing is, I hardly ever buy them, simply because they're always so expensive!

My husband gave me a beautiful set of 4 1/2 inch tart pans for my birthday, and I couldn't wait to use them! This was a new venture for me, as I've never made tarts before. I've learned a few things in the process, and will definitely be making more because they were so yummy, and definitely cheaper than if I had bought them at a fancy restaurant or bakery!


I used Ina Garten's recipe out of the Barefoot Contessa cookbook. When I made the fresh fruit tart, I baked the tart shell right before I served it. The shell was pretty crunchy, and reminded me of a sweet shortbread. When I make it again, I'll bake the tart shells the day before, and assemble the tart a few hours before serving so that the moisture from the pastry cream can seep into the shell and soften it up a bit. My parents and siblings were all visiting so they got to enjoy this tasty treat!

A few days later I made a lime curd tart. I did as mentioned above, and baked the tart shell the day before and assembled it early enough that the shell was all nice and soft. I do have to admit that I liked the fruit tart a little better. It was a much lighter dessert - the lime curd was very thick, rich, and sweet. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious. But I could only eat half of it. Both tarts were a lot of work, but I enjoyed making them!


Here are the recipes!

Tart shell
from Ina Garten

3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar together until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into 5 flat discs. Press the dough into 5 4½-inch false-bottom tart pans, making sure that the finished edge is flat. Chill until firm.

Butter one side of a square of aluminum foil to fit inside the tart and place it, buttered side down, on the pastry. Fill with beans or rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and rice, prick the tart all over with the tines of a fork, and bake again for 10-15 minutes more, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool to room temperature.


Pastry cream (for fruit tarts)
from Ina Garten

6 extra large egg yolks at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons heavy cream

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium high speed for 3 minutes until the mixture is light yellow and falls back into the bowl in a ribbon. On low speed, beat in the cornstarch. Bring the milk to a boil in a large saucepan and, with the mixer on low, slowly pour it into the egg mixture. Then pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick, about 10 minutes. Bring to a boil and cook on low heat 2 to 3 more minutes. Taste to be sure the cornstarch is cooked. Remove from the heat, mix in the butter, vanilla, and cream and strain into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the custard and refrigerate until cold.

To assemble fresh fruit tart, fill tart shells with pastry cream and group each fruit to make a casual arrangement.


Lime Curd
from Ina Garten

4 limes at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature
4 extra large eggs at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 4½-inch baked tart shells

Remove the zest of 4 limes with a zester, being careful to avoid the white pith. Squeeze the limes to make 1/2 cup of juice and set the juice aside. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the sugar and process for 2 to 3 minutes, until the zest is very finely minced. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar and lime zest. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then add the lime juice and salt. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. The lime curd will thicken at about 175 degrees, or just below a simmer. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Fill the tart shells with warm lime curd and allow to set at room temperature.

BYU Mint Brownies

When I think back to my college days, I have fond memories of living away from home for the first time, figuring out how to juggle school and my social life, making life-long friends, and mint brownies. They were happy days. Particularly the days when I got to eat a mint brownie.

Brigham Young University (BYU) is famous for their mint brownies. At least I think they should be. These brownies are so moist, and I go nuts for anything with mint in it. Whenever you went to an event catered by BYU, the mint brownies were there. You could also buy them in the Cougareat, our little cafeteria in the student center.

When I received a copy of the recipe in an alumni email 5 years ago, I was so excited to make them myself. 5 years passed and I still hadn't made them...but I held on to the recipe knowing that one day I would succumb to the temptation.

We had a bbq with some friends a few weeks ago, and it was like an aha! moment when I realized they would be the perfect thing to make for dessert. I went and bought margarine (which I never do) just for the brownies. And was it worth it? Oh yes!


BYU MINT BROWNIES

Sugar-n-Spice, Cougareat Food Court

MAKES ONE 9-BY-13 PAN OF BROWNIES.
PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr.

1 c. margarine
1/2 c. cocoa
2 Tbsp. honey
4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped walnuts
12 oz. chocolate icing (I used the recipe for the mint icing below but just added about 1/3 C of cocoa and left out the mint extract and green food coloring)

MINT ICING
5 Tbsp. margarine
dash of salt
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 1/3 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. mint extract
1-2 drops green food coloring

1. Melt margarine and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.

2. Prepare mint icing: Soften margarine. Add salt, corn syrup, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Add milk gradually until the consistency is a little thinner than cake frosting.

3. Spread mint icing over brownies. Place brownies in the freezer for a short time to stiffen the icing. Remove from the freezer and carefully add a layer of chocolate icing.