Pistachio Cranberry Icebox Cookies for SRC!

Hi Everyone! Thanks for stopping by to check out this month's Secret Recipe Club's Group C reveal. Its pretty much one of the best days ever - its when we get to reveal our top secret blog assignment for the month and our selected recipe from that blog. :) If you're interested in learning more about SRC or joining, check out what its all about here.

This month, my assignment was The World in my Kitchen written by Mindy. Mindy is from Kentucky, but she has lived and traveled to many different places over the years. Her blog is a great testament to the different places she has lived and she has so many cool recipes to share. You've got to stop by and check if out if you haven't been there before. I can't wait to pop back over there and make some more of Mindy's recipes given the wild success of the one I selected for SRC.

I made the Cranberry, Pistachio Icebox Cookies - they were so perfect because they're easy (and not at all finicky) and they used ingredients I already had in my pantry (woot!). Mindy had a really cute story about how these cookies pulled her out of a string of unsuccessful cookie baking attempts, so I knew the recipe must be a winner. And it was! You've got to try it out ASAP. :D

Cranberry, Pistachio Icebox Cookies
Minimally adapted from The World in my Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• grated zest of one lemon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar + 2 tbsp for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Method:

1. Stir together the flour and the salt in a small bowl.
2. Beat together the butter, lemon zest, vanilla, and 1/4 cup of the sugar about 3 minutes (or until pale and fluffy). Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in three separate additions, mixing well after each addition. Mix until dough starts to come together in clumps. Add pistachios and cranberries and stir til evenly distributed through dough (it will be very crumbly still).
3. Gather and press dough together and divide into two equal portions. Using a piece of plastic wrap, gather and form each piece into a log (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter). Chill, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap until firm - minimum two hours, but up to three days.
4. Once chilled, preheat oven to 350F and line two large baking trays with parchment paper.
5. Brush egg over the log covering all surfaces except the two ends of the log. Sprinkle liberally with remaining two tbsp of sugar (or use turbinado sugar).
6. Slice each log into 1/4 inch rounds and place on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a cooling rack.

 And thats it! These are super easy and they taste delicious. They also look great because of the beautiful colours added by the pistachios and cranberrys. Thanks Mindy for such a lovely recipe. Can't wait to try out many more. :)

This post has been linked up with Whatcha Bakin Wednesdays over at Cajun Sugar Pie. Head over and check out what other mouthwatering desserts other bloggers have come up with this week.

Cranberry, Rosemary and Toasted Pecan Bread

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a great evening ringing in the New Year last night. We had a fairly quiet night here - complete with a Harry Potter movie marathon and a family nacho making competition (post, complete with pictures and an announcement of the winner to follow soon!!). Despite being quiet, it was very enjoyable and gave us a great chance to reflect on the year just past and set some goals/ resolutions for the new year.

In some ways this has been a really challenging year and in other ways it has been a spectacular year. We've had a number of difficulties within our family including a number of health issues, but we're getting by. We've also been blessed with being able to take some beautiful vacations together and enjoyed success in our studies and careers. I hope you and your family have been blessed this year and haven't encountered too many challenges. Thanks for following along on my blogging journey and checking back regularly to see what I'm up to. You guys really keep me going some times. :)

With some of my time off over the holidays, I've had time to reflect, cook and bake! One of my baking escapades included this cranberry, rosemary and toasted pecan bread. It was absolutely spectacular!!! This is probably the best bread I've made all year (and if you look back, you'll notice I make quite a lot of bread). The bread is beautifully moist, light and flavourful and is delicious on its own, or toasted and spread with a little butter. It would also probably make great grilled cheese sandwiches with some proscuitto and gruyere cheese.



Cranberry, Rosemary and Toasted Pecan Bread

Recipe adapted from Amy's Kitchen Table

Ingredients:

• 1 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/3 cups warm water
• 1 pkg active dry yeast (1/4 oz)
• 2-3 cups bread flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp kosher salt (2 tsp would be enough if you aren't a big fan of salt - the bread is fairly salty)
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/2 pkg of fresh cranberries
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp water
• coarse salt for sprinkling

Method:

1. First, make the cranberry sauce you will use in the dough and when assembling the bread. Place cranberries, red wine and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until cranberries are popping and the sauce is very thick (about 15 minutes). Set aside to cool while you prepare the dough.
2. Stir together warm water and yeast. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for five minutes or until frothy. Place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add 2 cups all purpose flour and the whole amount of whole wheat flour, salt, sugar and rosemary and mix until dough comes together. Knead with dough hook for 4-5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add 1/4 - 1/2 of the cranberry mixture and work into bread. You may need to add up to one cup of additional all purpose flour in order to make the dough the correct consistency (should be smooth and just slightly tacky). Mix in the pecans. Some pecans may stay in the bottom of the bowl, just turn the dough out onto the counter and knead in those pecans with your hands, using fingers to push them into the dough. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise for one hour.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine egg and 1 tbsp water to make egg wash and set aside.
4. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and roll out until about 1/2 inch thick (roughly into a 12 x 12 inch square. Fold in 1" flaps on each side of the dough. Spread the dough with the remaining cranberry sauce. Then starting at the top, roll the dough tightly (as you would if making cinnamon buns). Pinch the seam so that the roll stays together.
5. Lay the roll seam side down on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and place back in warm place to rise for 45 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of the rise time, preheat oven to 350F. Brush dough with egg wash. Then using a sharp knife, make slashes diagonally across the dough at two inch intervals all the way down the loaf. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when you perform the "knock test". Cool completely before slicing.  

Make this bread! You won't be disappointed and it will disappear very quickly in your house.

This post has been Yeast Spotted!

Happy Baking my Friends! All the best to you in 2012!



 

Cranberry Oat Scones

Want a delicious and easy breakfast you can whip up quick on the weekend? Make these awesome scones! If you have house guests, whip them up and pop them in the oven before they get up in the morning and they will be impressed, and you don't even have to tell them how easy they were!!

Cinda Chavich's (author of The Guy Can't Cook) tip on perfect scones is "a light touch - don't handle the dough too much or your scones will become heavy". Follow her advice and you'll end up with light and fluffy scones every time. The reason this tip works so well? When you cut the butter into the mixture it stays cold so that it fills up pockets in the dough. When you bake the scones the butter melts leaving a lovely fluffy scone. If you handle the dough too much, the butter will melt before the scones are baked, therefore leaving a more dense scone with a heavy texture. :)

Cranberry Oat Scones
Recipe from The Guy Can't Cook

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour


• 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided


• 1 tbsp baking powder


• 3/4 tsp baking soda


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes


• 1 cup rolled oats


• 3/4 cup dried cranberries (I used cranberries from here)


• 2 tbsp finely grated orange zest


• 2/3 cup buttermilk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.


2. In a food processor, combine the flour, 3 tbsp of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is chopped into small pieces and the mixture is crumbly. Pour into a large bowl and stir in the oats and cranberries.


3. In another bowl, whisk together the orange zest and buttermilk and add to the dry ingredients. Stir quickly with a fork until the batter begins to cling together.


4. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently pat into an 8 inch square about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into four 4-inch squares, then slice each square crosswise to make 8 triangular scones. Set triangles on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops with buttermilk and sprinkle with remaining sugar.


5. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden, then transfer to cooling rack.

I hope you enjoy these delightful scones! I recommend you make a double batch because they won't last long. Happy Baking my Friends!

The Daring Bakers Challenge - March 2011 - Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake!

I am most definitely posting late for this month's Daring Bakers' Challenge. It has been an insane month and it seems that just yesterday I was posting about our Panna Cotta challenge. Well, surprise, an entire month has flown by and I feel like I have nothing to show for it. But at least I managed to complete the challenge! And had a good time doing it! The March 2011 Daring Bakers' Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria's Collection & Jamie of Life's a Feast. Ria & Jamie challenged the Daring Bakers to make a yeasted meringue coffee cake. I made two of the coffee cakes - the first one I stuck to the recipe and used cinnamon sugar, chocolate chips, and toasted pecans. I shaped this bread differently - more of an "S" shape then cut down the middle to show off the meringue. The second coffee cake I sprinkled on a tiny bit of the cinnamon sugar, fresh cranberries, toasted pistachios, almonds, and the zest of one lemon. I shaped this one like the wreath we were challenged to make. I found this to be a very similar technique to that of the Stollen Wreath we made at Christmastime, the only additional challenge was rolling it up without the meringue squishing out the sides! I will definitely be making this recipe over and over again with different fillings! The possibilities are endless and it really does look nice when it is baked. Not to mention the fact that the house smelled absolutely heavenly while it was baking away in the oven. It was pretty tough to wait for the loaf to cool before hacking into it!

There are a couple of parts to this recipe, the first being the sweet dough.

Yeasted Coffee Cake Dough

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 3/4 tsp salt


• 1 pkg active dry yeast


• 3/4 cup whole milk


• 1/4 cup water


• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the flour, the sugar, the yeast, and the salt. Set aside.


2. In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter. Heat over medium heat until the mixture is warm and the butter is melted.


3. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/ yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and one more cup of the flour and mix for 2 more minutes.


4. Switch to your dough hook and stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Knead with the dough hook for 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth, soft, sexy and elastic, adding extra flour as needed.


5. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and then a tea towel. Place in a warm, draft free place until risen and doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.


6. Prepare your fillings.

The next component of this coffee cake is the meringue filling. The meringue is super easy to whip up as long as you have a stand mixer that you can just turn on high and walk away!! Which I do, so of course I LOVE making meringue because it turns out perfect every time. :) Ingredients:

• 3 large egg whites, at room temperature


• 1/4 tsp salt


• 1/2 tsp vanilla


• 1/2 cup sugar

Method:

1. Once the dough has doubled in bulk, make the meringue. Using a very clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and the salt on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase speed to high until the egg whites and foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla and then start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Mix up 2 tbsp of sugar with 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. Also prepare one cup toasted pecans and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or as I did for my other bread - sprinkle with cranberries, pistachios, almonds and zest of 1 lemon).

The last step is to assemble the bread!

Method:

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.


2. Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out the dough into a rectangle about 20x10 inches. Spread half the meringue over the dough, leaving about 1/2 inch of room on each side. Then sprinkle with 1/2 of the cinnamon sugar mixture, 1/2 of the nuts and 1/2 of the chocolate.


3. Roll the dough up jelly-roll style, starting on the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Bring the ends of the log around and seal together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.


4. Using a sharp knife, slash the dough evenly about 1 inch apart.


5. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise again for about 1 hour.


6. Preheat the oven to 350F. Take 1 egg and beat well. Brush the loaves with the egg wash just prior to placing in the oven.


7. Bake the loaves for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.


8. Remove from oven to cooling racks until well cooled. Just before serving dust the tops lightly with cocoa powder or icing sugar (or both) to give them a pretty look. These are best if eaten fresh, the first day or two is ideal.

Yummers! They were great! The meringue sort of absorbs into the bread to make it so moist and delicious tasting. You'll have to restrain yourself from eating the whole loaf!

Thanks Ria and Jamie for such a lovely challenge! My favorite part about this challenge was the fact that it took elements that most of us Daring Bakers were familiar with and did something totally unexpected with them. I mean who would have thought of putting meringue into a sweet bread?! I know I never would have. I can't wait to have a look around at what all of the other fabulous Daring Bakers did with their challenges. Check it out if you have a second at the Daring Kitchen website. You won't be disappointed. :)

Hope everyone had a great Monday! Only 4 days left til the weekend. :) The count down is on!!!!!

Happy Baking my Friends!

Cranberry Pear Linzer Tart

Can you believe today is February 27th already? Do you know what happens on the 27th of each month? Thats right, I post my daring bakers challenge. Well, this is definitely NOT my Daring Bakers challenge! This is a different post that I've been meaning to share with you for a while and while I have a few quiet minutes to myself this morning while hubby is still asleep and the dishwasher is washing the many dirty dishes from my dinner party last night I am going to write this post! Daring Bakers post to follow this evening after I have had a chance to photograph my dessert... thats right... I really saved it to the last minute this month!

I made this tart on boxing day, hence the sort of Christmassy holly looking thing on top of the tart (if you can't tell what it is, don't feel bad, I just didn't want to throw away leftover pastry!!!). It was really delicious, the pears are lovely and sweet and the cranberries add a tart burst here and there to really balance out the sweetness of the pears. But the part of this recipe that was the most interesting (and the most challenging) was the crust. As you'll see in the ingredients that follow, the majority of the ingredients go into the crust resulting in the most delicious flavour and texture in a pastry crust that I have ever tasted. Be warned though, this dough is not easy to work with... it caused me a lot of frustration, but the delicious results made it worth it!

Pear-Cranberry Linzer Tart

The Best of Fine Cooking Magazine

Ingredients:

• 4 oz (1 cup) walnuts, lightly toasted
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 8 oz (1 3/4 cups) all purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 hard-cooked egg yolks, crumbled
• 8 oz (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 raw egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 lb ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cut int 1/2 inch slices (about 4 cups)
• 6 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, picked through and rinsed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk

Method:

1. To make the dough: in a food processor, grind the walnuts with the first amount of sugar to a sandy texture. Add first amount of flour, cinnamon, lemon zest, salt, cloves and crumbled hard cooked egg yolks. Pulse briefly to combine. Add butter and pulse until dough starts to come together and looks clumpy. Add the raw yolks and vanilla and pulse until well combined. The dough will be sticky and moist - more like a cookie dough than a pastry dough. Cut dough in half and set each half on a large piece of plastic and shape each into a flat disk, using the plastic to help you flatten. Wrap each disk in its plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
2. To assemble the tart: on a floured work surface, roll each disk of dough onto an 11 inch round, about 1/4 inch thisk. Put one round on a plate and refrigerate, uncovered. Fit the other round into a 9 inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Fold the excess dough into the sides of the pan and press to get an edge flus with the side of the pan. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of the flour in the bottom of the tart and spread evenly to cover.
3. Toss the pears and cranberries with remaining 4 tbsp of flour. Arrand the fruit in the tart shell so that pears lie as flat as possible (as you can see, I just tossed mine in there!!) and there are some berries showing on top. Scrape any remaining flour over the fruit and sprinkle with the other 1/2 cup of sugar. Take the other piece of dough from the fridge and cut into 8 1-inch wide strips. Arrange 4 strips evenly spaced over the top of the tart. Then on a shart diagonal to the first four, set the other four strips on top so that the overlapping layers make diamond-shaped windows. Trim the ends of the strips and press them into the edges of the tart.
4. Position the rack in bottom of oven, line a heavy rimmed baking sheet with foil and set on the rack. Heat the oven to 350F. Whis the last egg yolk with the 1/4 cup cream. Brush top strips with the egg glaze.
5. Bake on the baking sheet until the pastry is golden brown, 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours. Let cool on a rack for 1 hour before serving.

This is such a delicious and versatile dessert and the crust really is so different tasting that it is worth giving it a try! You most definitely won't regret it and the people you share it with will be glad you went to the trouble of making it. :)

Happy Baking my Friends! Stay tuned for my Daring Bakers post later today.