Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts tagged as “Recipes”

Pecan Pie

0

Thanksgiving is a comin' and as it my favorite holiday I think, I am at the very least, required to learn a new recipe in order to celebrate properly. Amiright?

[caption id="attachment_118" align="aligncenter" width="480"]Pecan Pie, oh my! Pecan Pie, oh my![/caption]

I knew I wanted to make a pecan pie, but other than that, I really didn't know where to begin. I quickly learned that the most "traditional" form of pecan pie uses Karo corn syrup. And about a cup of it. Don't get me wrong, I love baking and with that comes some territory that will never be "healthy". And I'm fine with that; indulge and enjoy, now worries here. But certain things still freak me out gross me out a little: shortening? Corn Syrup? The jury is still out.

As a result, I found a variety of recipes that were quite diverse. Each recipe seemed to have a completely different combination and ratio of sugars, molasses, corn syrup, and pecans. One popular recipe even omitted the corn syrup completely. However, as this was my first attempt, I decided to go very traditional, and finally settled on this version, from Simply Recipes.

 Recipe

1 9-inch pie shell, frozen or chilled for an hour if freshly made.
2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Optional: Whole pecans for decoration

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Laid pie crust in the bottom of pie plate and crimp edges.

2. Spread pecans along the bottom of the pie shell. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans. (No need for an electric mixer, you can mix by hand.) The pecans will rise to the surface of the pie. Use whole pecans and laid gently on top of the pie mixture to decorate.

3.Bake at 375°F for 40-45 minutes until the filling has set. About 20 minutes into the cooking you may want to use a pie crust protector, or tent the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil to prevent the pie crust edges from burning.

4. Remove from oven and let cool.

Freak Out Cookies

0

This past week, as I was bracing not only for my first ½ Marathon ever, but my first run farther than 11 miles, I also found out that my family was coming to town, I would be cooking dinner for them the night before the race, and instead of one person watching my run, there would be eight. Eight. Cue freakout.

Luckily, I had been planning on spending my pre-race time baking anyway. Baking, for me, has always been an invaluable retreat when I am stressed. From the process to the product, it is always a win-win situation. On one hand, I can control a specific set of factors for a specific outcome. On the other hand, what homemade baked good or dish doesn’t fill you with some measure of peace and nostalgia? I had known I would need a baking day, I just didn't realized how badly I would need it. I did, however, have just the right recipe in mind.

[caption id="attachment_75" align="aligncenter" width="576"]Mrs, Sigg's Snickerdoodles, or Freak Out Cookies Mrs, Sigg's Snickerdoodles, or Freak Out Cookies[/caption]

I have been craving homemade Snickerdoodles for weeks now and found the perfect recipe in Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles. These cookies come out on the soft side with just the right amount of crunch.

Recipe

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup shortening
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla extract
2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
2 tsps cream of tartar
1 tsps baking soda
¼ tsp salt
4 tbsps white sugar
4 tbsps ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 ½ cups sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mix tbsps of sugar and cinnamon. Roll dough into equal size balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mix until coated evenly.
4. Place balls about 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 8 minutes.

*I always take the cookies off of the cookie sheet once they are removed from the oven so they do not continue baking on the sheet.