Holiday Baking: Mexican Chocolate Cherry Rounds

Spicy, Sweet and "Oh so YUMMY!"

I have been making Mexican Chocolate-Cherry Rounds for years, since I first saw them featured in Bon Appetit in 1996. I stick to the original recipe, most of the time, but this year I substituted Ibarra Mexican Chocolate for unsweetened chocolate. To be honest, I just didn't feel like going to the store to get unsweetened chocolate when I had bittersweet, semi-sweet, and pounds of other chocolate. Anyway, the cookies turned out great. My husband, the skeptic, noticed the cookies were flatter than before, but he thought the flavor was the best this year.

I may not ever tell him what I did...ha, ha.

Mexican Chocolate-Cherry Rounds

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate or Ibarra Mexican Chocolate, chopped

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 T ground cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup powdered sugar

60 candied cherry halves

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. If you are using the Ibarra chocolate, add 1 tablespoon of butter to the chocolate when melting; cool.

Combine flour, baking powder and spices. In an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter until light. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla and cooled chocolate. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Gather the dough together and chill for at least 2 hours.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 baking sheets with either a silpat or parchment paper.

Form dough into 1-inch balls and roll in powdered sugar, repeat with all the dough. Place the dough balls on baking sheet 1 1/2 -inch apart. Press 1 cherry half into the center of the dough.

Bake until the dough cracks, about 10 minutes.

Transfer to cooling racks and cool completely.

These cookie will stay fresh up to 1 week in an airtight container or frozen for 1 month.

Santa Baby!

Seriously, if my husband doesn't get the hint...

I know I have the color just right...

Cute, aren't they?

The color works on other holiday cookies too!


YUM!

Holiday Baking: Snow Ball Cookies (Russian Tea Cakes)

Russian Tea Cakes or Mexican Wedding Cookies? Whatever you want to call them, in December they are Snow Ball Cookies. These are a family favorite, not only because they are delicious, but because they are fun to make with family and friends.

You should start by making the dough early, chill the dough, then invite over friends and family, young and old to help make the Snow Ball Cookies. Not much attention is needed, so stir up a batch of Eggnog and have fun!

Russian Tea Cakes

adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup of unsalted butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup finely chopped, toasted black walnuts

powdered sugar

Sift flour ans salt. In a another bowl, cream together the butter.

Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add vanilla.

Mix in dry ingredients in 3 batches.

mix in nuts.

Chill dough for at least 1 hour.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

form dough into 1-inch balls.

Space balls on a lined cookie sheet, 1 inch apart.

Bake until the cookies are firm, about 15 minutes.

Roll the warm cookies in powdered sugar and transfer to parchment lined rack.

Cool completely. Roll in powdered sugar again. Enjoy!

Holiday Baking: Chocolate Orange Stripe Cookies

Chocolate Orange Stripe Cookies

This is my favorite cookie. Why? It has every flavor in one cookie. Chocolate, chocolate chip, orange, black walnuts, all wrapped in a sugary butter cookie. YUM!

I found this recipe in a book that Gold Medal flour put out years ago. You never know how those recipes will be until you try them, but this is a winner!

Chocolate Orange Striped Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg

2 1/4 cups "Gold Medal" all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Beat butter , sugar, vanilla, and egg in an electric mixer on medium, until completely blended. Add flour and salt

Divide dough into 3 parts. Mix melted chocolate and nuts into 1 part. Mix orange zest into another part. Mix chocolate chips into another part.

Line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap.

Spread orange dough evenly in the pan, then the chocolate, then the chocolate chip dough.

Cover dough and refrigerate for 2 hours.

When you're ready to bake, heat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut dough lengthwise in half. Cut crosswise into 1/4 inch slices.

Place 1 inch apart on parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

Cook on rack.

The dough is yummy too!

The dough doesn't spread too much.

Cool on a rack right away!

YUM. YUM. YUM!!!

Holiday Baking: Rugelach

This is the first holiday season in years that we haven't ditched the cold Seattle weather and escaped to a warmer place; Florida or Mexico. The great thing is now I have time to bake!!! I haven't made rugelach in years, so since they are my husband's favorite, I couldn't wait to make them again. Problem, I lost my recipe. Solution, ask Jennifer Penson for advise. My friend Jennifer is a brilliant Pastry Chef. We worked together years ago and to this day, I have so many fond memories of all her yummy, sweet treats. Jennifer was so kind to share her rugelach recipe with me and WOW, so good!!!

OK, warning, making rugelach takes some time, so get ready.

Jennifer's Rugelach Dough
8 oz. cold unsalted butter
8 oz. cold cream cheese
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar

Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and cheese, until it's light.
Add sugar and beat until fluffy.
Mix in flour and sugar.
Gather the dough into a ball and divide into 8 pieces; form into flat disks, wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

The Rugelach Filling
1/2 - 3/4 cup Apricot-Raspberry Preserves

Mix together the following:
1 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
3/4 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Take out one disk of dough and roll out to about a 9-inch round.
Spread 1 heaping teaspoon of the preserves on the dough and spread, and then spread 1/4 cup of the apricot-nut mix onto the dough and press lightly into the dough.
Cut the round into 12 wedges. Start at the wide end of the wedge and roll tight.
Brush lightly with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar topping.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Cool and eat!

Apricot-Raspberry Filling

Roll the wedges of dough tightly...

Dip in sugar-cinnamon and bake. YUM!

Tyler's Favorite Side: Broccoli Casserole

I started making Broccoli Casserole years ago when my son was young and he wasn't a fan eating anything green. Although I would prefer that he had vegetables raw, steamed or sauteed in olive oil, sometimes, kid won't eat that stuff. If you're familiar with Paula Deen on the FoodNetwork, you know butter, mayonaise and sour cream are her friends. Fine, however, not the healthiest way to eat. These days, we only have Broccoli Casserole once or twice a year and when I make it, I make enough to share.

Yummy, but not to be eaten too often.

Somewhere in this spoon is a bite of broccoli!

Broccoli Casserole
adapted from Paula Deen's Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients
2 (16-ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated sharp cheddar
2 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups crushed crackers
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with vegetable oil cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine broccoli, mayonnaise, cheese, soup and eggs. Place the mixture in the prepared baking dish. At this point, I put the casserole in the fridge and finished the next day, just make sure to bring the casserole to room temperature before baking. Top with the crushed crackers and pour the melted butter evenly over the crackers.

Bake for 35 minutes or until set and browned.

Thanksgiving Side: Lee's Sweet Potato Casserole

I don't remember where she got the recipe, but both my sister and I make my sister-in-law, Lee's "Sweet Potato Casserole" every year for Thanksgiving. Many years ago, my sister-in-law lived with us here in Washington. At that same time, my youngest sister Maria, then still a student at UW, would spend a lot of time at our house when she wasn't at school. Anyway, one year I hosted Thanksgiving and we had Cornish Game Hens instead of turkey (huge mistake). Lee & Maria helped make all the side dishes. I can hardly remember the whole menu. Lee found a recipe from somewhere, I thought it was David Letterman's Mother's cookbook and John thought it was from Naomi Judd's book - both wrong, for Sweet Potato Casserole. YUM.
I don't remember ever really reading the recipe Lee used, but I re-created it every year from memory. My sister later moved to London, and then Amsterdam and when she and her expat friends got together for Thanksgiving, she would always make Lee's Sweet Potato Casserole.

This year I used a recipe from the Southern Living Holiday cookbook, which was similar to Lee's recipe. I have added cinnamon and candied pecans, other years, maply syrup. I know my sister has her own version too. However, Lee emailed the recipe to me, so here's the original recipe adapted from Randy Travis' wife.

Sweet Potato Casserole
4 cups sweet potato, cooked and mashed*

1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs1 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

Topping**:

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup butter

1/2 to 1 cup finely chopped pecans

1. Combine sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk and melted butter.
2. Beat with an electric mixer till smooth.
3. Spoon into a greased 2-quart baking dish.
4. For topping: combine brown sugar, flour, butter and pecans.
5. Sprinkle over top of casserole.
6. Bake in a 350°F. oven for 30 minutes

*I had peeled and steamed the sweet potato and the final dish was a little loose. I would usually roast the potatoes, but since I was doing so much other baking, I decided to steam the potatoes instead.

**I would double the recipe for tht Topping, more is better in this case.