Andyboy Cooks!

Soft & Chewy Oats Raisins Cookies

This was my first go at this recipe. I've made oatmeal raisin cookies in the past (click here) and those were thick and hearty while these are a little bit more lacy. The longer you cook them, the lacier and more crisp they become. If you like them chewy make sure you take them out after the 10 minute mark as the recipe instructs. They aren't going to look cooked enough, but take them out anyway. They're done. Here's the recipe, from Little Corner of Mine.

Soft & Chewy Oats Raisins Cookies 

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick/113 g) butter, soften
3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 cup roll oats
1/2 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)


Method


1. In a big mixing bowl, add in (A), beat with electric beater until creamy. Add in (B) and beat again until combined. Then, add in (C) and beat again until well incorporated. Lastly add in (D) and stir with a spatula until well mixed.

2. Prepare your baking sheets with parchment paper. Turn the oven to 350'F or convection oven to 325'F. Use the smallest cookie scoop and scoop cookie dough on parchment paper. Place the cookie dough 1-1.5 inch apart as it will spread out when baking.

3. Bake for 10 minutes. Cookies will be brown on edges and soft in the center. Remove and let the cookies rest in the baking sheets for 2 minutes before carefully transferring them to cool completely on wire racks. Store cookies in an airtight container. Yield about 33-35 cookies.

Spotted Orange Biscotti

 

I'm not a huge biscotti guy but my family loves it so every once in a while I'll whip a batch up. This is the only recipe that I've tried and it was great so if it ain't broke... Instead of using currants I used cranraisins but I've also used dried cherries before (those were fantastic). The secret to the success of this biscotti is the orange zest. It is a wonderful underlying flavour to the chocolate (chocolate and orange - tough to beat). Here is the recipe, which I got at Kitchen Experiments.

Spotted Orange Biscotti

Ingredients

Zests from two oranges
1/4 cup dried currants
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
2 eggs 1/2 cup butter, soften in room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar


Preparation

Preheat oven to 350F and line your baking pan with silpad or parchment paper.

1. Sift your flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside for later.
2. Combine sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat them until they become light and fluffy. It would take approximately 5 minutes of beating.
3. Add one egg at a time until mix until the batter is well combined. Now, you can put down your electric mixer or whisk and pick up your spatula.

4. Add in your orange zests into the sunny mixture and combine well. Then, add your flour mixture in 3 parts. After mixing the first part of your flour in, add your dried currants and chocolate chips in. Continue adding in the flour in and mixing until you form a nice dough that does not stick. If your dough is too sticky, pop it into the refrigerator for 15 minutes before handling it again.

5. Bring the spotty dough on to the baking pan and shape it into two 6-inch loaves that is approximately 3/4-inch high. Bake it in the oven for 30 minutes.
6. After 30 minutes, take the first-baked biscotti loaves out of the oven to cool for 30 minutes before slicing them into 1/2 inch thick slices, diagonally. You can do vertical or horizontal cuts too.
7. Arrange them in the same baking pan and bake them for another 15 minutes or until the edges of your biscotti shows a nice pale golden color.
8. Cool them completely before storing.

Apple Crumble w/ Vanilla Ice Cream

 

Holy smokes have I been a busy man these days. I've been cooking up a storm as well as shopping, decorating, etc. and I just haven't had the time to post. So I'm going to power post a bunch of things right now.

I've tried a couple of different apple crumble recipes in my life and this is my favorite (so far). It's very quick and easy, as all crumbles and cobblers should be, and it's absolutely delicious. The recipe calls for Granny Smith apples but I like to use a combination of Granny Smith for it's tartness and texture and any variety of red apple (Fuji these days) for their sweetness. I generally go 2:1, Granny Smith to red. Here is the recipe which I got at Epicurious.

Apple Crumble and Vanilla Ice Cream


Ingredients


2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups (packed) golden brown sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 pounds large Granny Smith apples, peeled, halved, cored, each half cut into 6 slices
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream


Preparation

Mix oats, 1 cup sugar, and flour in bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until topping comes together in moist clumps. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Mix apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, and 1/2 cup brown sugar in bowl. Transfer to dish. Sprinkle topping over.

Bake crumble until apples are tender and topping is brown and crisp, about 55 minutes. Cool slightly. Spoon warm crumble into bowls. Serve with ice cream. .

Sorry for the lack of posts, everyone. Soooo busy. I'll put some stuff up later today.

AB

Scottish Shortbread

   

The second thing I decided to make for the stockings was some Scottish Shortbread, but I also decided to make a few for the sweets table. For the stockings I made the traditional wedge style and for the table I used cookie cutters to make things a little more festive (a snowman, a gift and a tree). I picked up a set of twenty different Christmas cutters at Walmart for around $8 - not too shabby. I would have liked to have decorated these but my decorating skills are rubbish. The best I could do was make a couple of circular indentations in the snowmen and give them some buttons using chocolate chips. Here's the recipe that I used for the shortbread (from Allrecipes):

Scottish Shortbread
Makes about 2 dozen

Ingredients:
2 cups (4 sticks) salted butter softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. Cream together butter and brown sugar. I dropped these two in the kitchenaid and walked away for a couple of minutes. Too easy! Slowly add 3 1/2 cups flour. Mix well.

Sprinkle rolling surface with the remaining flour. Knead for 5 minutes, adding enough flour to make a soft dough. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into 3x1 inch strips. Prick with fork and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cookies

As everyone's pockets are a little lighter this year (including my own) I've decided to stuff the family stockings with baked goods this Christmas. I tried to make Brown Butter Cookies last night but I had a little disaster (long story) and they ended up in the bin. Determined to redeem myself, I woke up early this morning and after a walk on the dock with little Jessie I decided to make some Peanut Butter Cookies. Who doesn't like those?!? Here's the recipe (from Slow Like Honey):

Big Time Peanut Butter Cookies

Origin: The Weekend Baker by Abigail Johnson Dodge
Yield: 20 cookies
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 12 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups smooth or crunchy peanut butter, (10 ounces or 284 grams) at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar, (6 ounces or 170 grams)
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, (1 ounces or 28 grams)
1 cup mini candy-coated chocolates, (6 ounces or 170 grams) optional

Directions:
Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Preheat the oven to 350 ?. Line 2 cooking sheets with parchment paper or baking liners like Silpat.
In a large bowl, combine the peanut butter and brown sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add the egg and vanilla and beat just until blended. Pour in the flour and beat on low speed just until blended. Stir in the chocolate candies, if using. The batter will be quite thick and using an electric mixer will crunch the candies to bits so use a wooden spoon.
Using a small ice cream scoop or 2 tablespoons, scoop rounded tablespoonfuls of the dough and using your hands, shape into balls about 1 1/2 inches. Arrange on the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Using the tines of a fork, press on each ball to flatten slightly. If necessary, lightly coat the tines in flour to prevent them from sticking to the dough.
Bake one sheet at a time (make sure to use a cooled sheet for the second batch until the cookies) until the cookies look dry on top, about 12 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Using a patula, lift the cookies form the sheet onto the rack and let cool completely.
Layer the baked and cooled cookies between parchment of waxed paper in an airtight container. They can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Banana Bread

   

I've made this Banana Bread recipe about a half dozen times since the summer weather started to turn and I love it. I haven't tried any other recipes to compare it to but I don't really see the reason to mess with a good thing. The key to Banana Bread is to make the sure bananas are overly ripe (there should be lots of black on the skin). You want them mushy and really sweet. If you have bananas and they aren't ripe enough for the bread, toss them in a paper bag with an apple and they'll be ready in a day or two. In terms of making the wet ingredients, I put the butter and brown sugar in the food processor, cream them, add the eggs, blend again, add the bananas and do one final blend. Here's the recipe (from Allrecipes):

Banana Bread


INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Jewish Apple Cake

   

I've been eyeballing this cake recipe for some time now so I thought I'd have a go at it. It was a really nice and light apple cake which would be ideal for breakfast or an afternoon snack (perfect with coffee or tea). I got the recipe from Pete Bakes and you can find it here.