Ginger Soft Cookies and more

The first cookie I think of when people say 'Christmas' is the ginger cookies. They hold a very special place in my heart. It's a delicious place.

These cookies are chewy, soft and flavourful. They are also really really easy to make. I'm eating one right now. For breakfast.
...
I am now on my second breakfast cookie. You should be too.

Resolutions

Today when I get home I will be brining a turkey. I will also be making a coconut cream pie, squash, eggs benedict, cream puffs, and possibly some kind of rum based something.

Hopefully I can manage to take pictures and make posts of all of these things. Hopefully I will get a camera for Christmas so they won't all be iPhone pics :P! These are my pre-New years resolutions.
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Baking and Other Amusements

I baked things today. Lots of things. Approximatly 8 dozen of one and two dozen of another, I'm pretty sure I have been baked into traction.

I sometimes forget I started this blog. But I remembered today, and that's what matters! Though I didn't remember until halfway through baking the last cookies. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better. Or not.

Today's baking is brought to you by The Annual Staff Potluck at my work. For some reason I thought it would be really impressive if I made mini cheesecakes. GLUTEN-FREE mini cheesecakes. Sometimes I over qualify my abilities. I do make a mean cheesecake though, so follow along if you're interested. There's cookies too. Are you following now? How about cake? Cannibal chocolate chips?

This is what happens when you bake lot. I also own a dishwasher. I warned you.

This is Kahlua Chocolate Cheesecake. In mini form! Its even more delicious with the Gluten-free crust I made. I think.

I used the crust recipe from a lovely blog called The Pioneer Woman. I'm sort of in love with her. In a completely platonic way of course, at least that's what I tell myself.

The wonderful part about this is that it's not modified to be gluten-free. Unlike many recipes that are GF, this recipe was not intended as a "replacement product", but more created to be exactly what it is, a pecan crust with chocolate mixed in. Oh and Kahlua. It gives the dessert an earthy taste, and cuts the richness a bit too.

The Pioneer Woman uses it as a base for her Mocha Silk Pie which I definitly did not make yesterday andforgottotakeanypicturesof. She does not bake her crust, but  I did. The melted chocolate holds things together. I also added butter which I'm not sure was wise, but whatever. It was delicious, and it gave me the idea to use this crust with my cheesecakes so some GF people could enjoy cheesecake with me! But not people with nut allergies. Or dairy intolerances (sorry guys). Also I might have added cocoa to the recipe only to find on the label that it might have come in contact with wheat. *SIGH*. I  really have to get better at this.

Lets just get this over with shall we?

Kahlua Chocolate Cheesecake (Semi GF)

Modified from THIS RECIPE (yes, I chose the only Cheesecake recipe to include flour in it. I just left it out. I choose recipes based on the ratio of ingrediants. In this case I wanted a double recipe for easy addimadition and multayplacation. and I had 4 pkgs of cream cheese so this worked out well. Also, it had Kahlua in it which I was planning on adding anyways. FATE.)

Ingrediants

CHEESECAKE

2 (8 oz.) pkgs. Cream cheese (room temp.)

2/3 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
Kahlua to taste
1 cup miniature chocolate chips

CRUST

1 cup Pecans, Finely Chopped/Smashed
3 tbsps Sugar
1 ounce Semi Sweet Chocolate, Grated. OR 1/2 cup Chocolate Chips, Chopped
1 tsp Kahlua
1/4 c melted butter

 
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
 
Make the crust. Combine chopped pecans, sugar, and grated or chopped chocolate. Stir with a fork to combine, add in Kahlua, stirring until combined. Stir in butter. Press mixture into the bottoms of muffin tins, best when lined with foil liners (I used paper and they were fine, though the wrappers do not hold them together well so be careful).


Beat cream cheese, and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. And for the Gods sake put on an apron you slob (I forgot this step). Blend in liquor. I used what was left in my mini $3 bottle after the crust. Melt chocolate chips; add to cream cheese mixture  1/2 a cup at a time, until blended. Place 1 cookie in bottom of 12 paper lined muffin cups. Fill to top with cream cheese mixture. They puff up while baking so do not over-fill. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Let cool in pan then remove to wire rack.

These freeze beautifully. You can garnish them with whatever you like, whipped cream, chocolate shavings, anything.

Stay tuned for Ginger Cookies and more random acts of baking!

Revival

So wow, I suck at commitment right?

The absolute master of starting projects and the forgetting about them almost instantly. I think I have short term project loss. It's a thing. Look it up.

I need routine is all. As long as I can work projects into my routine, it's all good. Then it's like breathing. Or eating. I think eating is probably more accurate. I'm pretty sure I eat more than I do breathe. I should probably get that checked out.

SPEAKING OF EATING

I'm good at eating, did I mention that? I also pretty good at LIFE commitments like friends and stuff. Why is that? Baking, that's why. Don't ask questions. I just know these things.

Today I shall bake for you... Absolutly nothing. My life commitments may suffer for it, but strangely all this eating>breathing buisness is making my waistline expand. I have to go to the pool and do five THIRTY FIVE MILLION laps and then sit in the hot tub for an hour.

Snazzy.

Happy Easter!

There are flowers on the table (and even a tablecloth *gasp*!).

There is sunshine coming through the windows.

Everything in the fridge is pastel.

There are many brightly coloured crumpled up foil wrappers on my floor.

YEP. It's Easter! And all the chocolate is gone. Damn it. I think I hid a bag with a handful left in it somewhere around here...

Its a perfect Easter weekend, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the neighborhood kids are indoors hunting for eggs (Ahhh the blessed quiet...I mean. Sweet little angels.) There is pink lemonade and pastel coloured marshmallow treats in my fridge. I am going to bake a ham, with whipped garlic potatoes and homemade caesar salad. There will be cake afterwards, and possibly a wine I picked up at the LCBO that said 'good with ham!' on it. 

It's really too bad I have all this homework. 

Maybe i'll post some pictures if I can borrow a camera, the house is too cute to handle. 

Easter Baking?

I fail at Easter baking.

I couldn't think of anything seasonal that I felt I could make. I'm great with Christmas, Birthdays, Valentines Day, and Halloween, but Easter had me stumped.

I suppose I could've made hot cross buns, but honestly I find them incredibly bland. I could've made some fruit dessert, but as it turns out one of my guests for Easter dinner hates all kind of berries (which is pretty much the only fruit I have at the moment), and my room-mate has a wheat intolerance so that cut out any kind of cake unless I wanted to run to the bulk barn and buy loads and loads of random flours and xanthan gum or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I love to make baking that she (and my mother) can both enjoy, just not at the last minute. I work well with the familiar.

As it turns out my room-mate was going to make a Gluten-Free Vegan Lemon Cake anyways. I felt left out. I'm a baker! I need to bake. Or at least...make dessert. I'm a desserter. How can I make an entire Easter dinner with no Karen's Big Delicious Dessert at the end? I'm very selfish. I love to hear how much people love my baking. I'm crushed when people don't like it. I don't care about cooking, because honestly I'm a horrible cook.

So I cheated. I made Karen's Famous Delicious Dessert That Everyone Loves, But Me.

Yep. It's not even mine. I combined various recipes one of which is from DOUBLE WIDE KITCHEN.

Its the infamous Peanut Butter Marshmellow Squares. Everyone loves them. Okay even I love them. Just not after I've made them for some reason. I think it has something to do with eating all the leftover butterscotch. If I see these at a potluck, they're the first thing I grab. Honestly I think its the bright colours. I'm like a magpie. Maybe I should add edible sparkles or something.

My mother never made these for me, we weren't a sweets family, and these are SWEET. SO I looked them up online a year ago, and it turns out they are the easiest thing to make. ever. Easier than rice krispies.

Watch this.

Karen's Famous Delicious Dessert That Everyone Loves, But Me.


1/2 c Butter
1/2 c to 1 c Peanut Butter (depending on you're love of the stuff. I used 1 cup)
1 package (300g or 12 oz or 1-1/2cups) butterscotch chips
1 bag of brightly coloured marshmallows (not those boring white ones!) 


Melt butter in saucepan. Add everything but the marshmallows, stir until melted over lowlowlow heat. This takes about a minute. Cool for a minute. Stir marshmallows in quickly, pour into lined 9x13 pan. DONEZIES.

Let cool. I keep mine in the freezer. They don't get too solid so you can pull them out, cut off a slice and put them back. That way they last forever. FOREVER. I have a friend who will come over specifically to eat these. Honestly...like the brownies one of these is too much for me. They are so sweet. They hurt my stomach. And my mouth. But they love my soul. Well maybe loves a strong word. But that's all that matters right? We'll see if they go well with Lemon Cake tomorrow :).

Self Affirmation: I Love Pie.

Take a deep breath and say it with me. I love Pie.

Because you know, like I know, that if you're a baker you must love pie. It is not a prerequisite, but I'm going to make some sweeping generalizations and say that anyone oppose to pie has got to have something wrong with their taste buds. And possible their brain.

Ok, maybe not. But if there are any pie skeptics out there in the void you're in the right place.

Ok....maybe not...

But seriously, think about it. Butter, flour, water, salt, mix it together, bake it, flaky browned delicious pastry. and what do you fill it with? ANYTHING. Literally. Their are not many recipes where you can substitute fruit and sugar for chicken and gravy and still end up calling it the same thing! Pie. Mmm.

There's everyones favorite fruit pies..Apple, Blueberry, Raspberry, Peach, and lets throw Rhubarb in because I really don't know where else it would go.

Don't forget about bottom crust pies. Cream and Custard type pies...Banana Cream, Coconut Cream, Keylime, Lemon Custard, Chocolate Pudding...Okay so, when I say cream in relation to pies (see Banana Cream) I mean meringue. Why? Habit. Also I'm a bit insane in the words department. Also, that milk is in fact required to make the base. My Grandmother B. makes the best damn cream pies on the entire planet, and she tops them with a meringue. Because, what the hell else do you do with 4 egg whites?! Plus it tastes delicious. Sorry haters. Whipped cream has it place in the world. Most of the time that place is in my stomach. Not today whipped cream, not today.

Moving along. How about MEAT pies? Mmm...Chicken Pot Pie, Tourtiere, Mince Meat...Okay I hate mince meat. But don't tell anyone.

And of course the other random ones I have no category for so I'm going to call them Random Pies. Like, Raisin Pie, Pecan Pie, and Sugar Pie.

I'm sure there are a lot more then that. In fact, I'm positive that there are more. I simply don't have enough energy to put into looking all of that up. I will however add one more to the list. It is my favorite pie in the whole entire world. There is no other food that I prefer more than this pie. True story.

Ready for it?

Saskatoon Pie.

If you haven't had it, get it now and try it. If you hate it, you fall into the category of tastebud/brain impairment. Okay, fine...I'm just defensive. I know plenty of people (like two) who don't prefer this pie. Whatever.

If you live in a part of Canada that does not PRODUCE SASKATOONS like I do part of the year, than I am so, so, sorry. Apparently you can find them in parts of Ontario under a different name, but that just sounds shady to me. My Grandma W. (Not the cream pie whiz), Makes the most delicious Saskatoon Pie in the entire world. Yes, I'm redundant. Is it any wonder why I love pie?! Sometimes, she freezes fresh Saskatoons and surprises my with pies in Mid-winter. Whole unbaked Saskatoon Pies freeze really well too, because the filling is partially cooked prior to filling the shell. Therefore you can throw a frozen pie right into the oven and bake until the crust is golden. Once, my Grandma W. made me the filling and canned it. I took it out East and made two pies with it. Best semester ever. Its just so versatile! It holds up better than blueberries, but has a similar texture. The berries are slightly smaller than your average store bought blueberries, and they taste waaaaay (WAY) better.

Sigh. I think I will be making pie for dinner with the farmer's market apples I bought last week.

Pie. That is all.

Must. Bake. Now.

The brownies are almost gone. Where did they all go?

The only explanation I can find if that there are Brownie gnomes in the house. Comforting thought, as I'm pretty sure none of my room-mates have eaten them and that leaves only me. But couldn't have eaten them all.

Brownie gnomes.

On another note...In celebration of the completion of my thesis presentation tomorrow morning, I will be baking an apple pie. I find it quite a good way to dispel any remaining stress, I simply coat it in flour and cinnamon, stick it in a crust and bake it all away.

Hmmm...nice :).

How much is too much?

I'm rather bored and thinking of taking a homework break. I'm working on my thesis and it's times like these when I get an uncontrollable urge to bake something, if only to pass the time instead of staring at my computer!

I've been munching my way through those Brownies, but one tiny piece is often more than enough for me. This is when I end up baking too many different things at once, not to mention all the other members of the house, who bake as well.

Currently we have Leftover Chocolate (gluten-free!) Birthday Cake (that my lovely room-mate made for me last week), a failed attempt at Chocolate Cupcakes with melty green icing for St. Patties day, last nights Brownie experiment, what appears to be Banana Bread from another room-mate, and the Croissants I bought yesterday. Not to mention the last piece of Coconut Cream Pie that had to be thrown out two days ago :(.

Mmm...carbs.

A Baker's Brownie

In honor of my highly embarrassing 'self-cleaning' incident with my first ever on my own baking experiment... I have made brownies. Actually it's mostly because writing that made me crave brownies.

To be honest...my stomach and chocolate don't get along. Not that I don't love you chocolate, because I DEFINITELY love you. ALOT. Its just that a little goes a long way. It's probably a good thing, because when I love something I tend to eat waaay too much of it. Chocolate however... is quite considerate, and tells me when to stop. Often its sooner than later. So I don't make brownies much. Maybe once every 18 months. At most. Hence why I didn't have a recipe and found an excellent one to try out on Allrecipes.

I love Allrecipes.com. because the comments are always useful when deciding how to bake them, how many, and if this recipe is what it...says it is. Anyways, I modified it a bit because A. I doubled it. B. 2 cups of sugar is WAY too much for a recipe with one 1 cup of flour and C. icing on top of a brownie ruins the brownie. This is only my opinion but I grew up without icing and can't stand it on already overly sweet things!

A Bloggers Brownie

(based off a recipe from Allrecipes.com "Best Brownies")

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
•  
• 
  
• Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x11 pan. Or just line it with parchment paper. (That's what I do! I hate cleaning that much.)
2. Melt butter in microwaveable bowl. Stir in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Beat (or hand mix, like me!) in the cocoa, flour, and baking powder. Pour batter into pan.
3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. DO NOT overcook. (Like I did. Oops. 25 mins in a decent oven is more than enough)

Yep. Delicious. A little more cakey than I wanted. I was craving a very chewy brownie, but I think it was the over cooking. Potentially over mixing! There is A LOT of butter in this...I cut out a bit. I supposed you could also add an egg (the original calls for 4 eggs) and cut the butter down to 3/4c. But I love me some butter. Mmmm. SO not exactly a hit, but not a miss. 

This Baker's Brief History

Welcome to a Baker's Blog. You can read the 'about me's' and all that jazz but that's really only a small condensed version of why I decided to start this. Want the whole story? Read on.

I used to think I was a horrible baker. Though my mother doesn't bake a lot (she has a gluten intolerance) when she made pie's (and boy does she make pies) they were amazing. Both of my grandmothers have this amazing ability to create the most delicious pies, cakes, loafs and cookies. My favorite thing to do at either of their houses was to bake with them. A lot of my memories as a child revolved around some kind of baking or cooking, or just generally being in the kitchen.

As I grew up I decided I could bake on my own. BIG mistake. I had a friend who lived just down the street who came over a lot, and one day we decided we should make some brownies. Being 12 or 13, I thought I knew everything, including how to use our ancient brown and beige oven that was so old that most of the instructions were worn off. We made the batter and poured it into the pan, everything was going well. However, my mother wasn't home...my older brother was baby sitting, and I really didn't think he would know how to work the oven. Long story short, I accidentally set the oven to 'self clean' which...being an old oven, I am still amazed it even had that capacity. Anyways, the door locked, smoked up the kitchen, and by the time we had come back from playing Barbies, our brownies were charred on the outside and still cold on the inside. Yea, we totally ate them.

Needless to say, I was in trouble when my mom got home. I didn't bake for awhile after that, though I did manage to learn which symbol mean't 'self-clean'. It will forever be ingrained in my memory! But I did start again eventually. I mostly dabbled in it, and only baked when necessary. In my house, if you wanted something sweet, you had to make it. My mother, having many food allergies, had mostly healthy healthy food in the house, and though I didn't like it then, I am really glad for it now. Now when I need a snack, I make it myself. That way I know exactly what is going into my food, and how much of it!

So I guess I left a little bit of a gap. Between my burnt 'self cleaned' brownies and my current baking obsession lies a number of years of on an off baking. My current situation is a result of an over-stressed student with a sweet tooth. During my 1st year of college I realised how much baking I was missing in my daily life. My dorm room didn't have an oven and being the rather anti-social person that I can be, I never felt comfortable using the communal one, I didn't even own a cook book! but during the last 4 years of school I fell in love with baking again. I bake biscuits, cakes, cookies and muffins. I conquered my fear of pie (which will be revealed eventually I'm sure) and now it is one of my favorite things to make.

Sure, sometimes I will bake to avoid studying. I often bake when I'm upset. I bake when I'm bored, and I bake when I'm happy. It's nearly a vice! But I enjoy it, and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. So if you're interested in discovering the world of baking with me, come along for the ride. Share some recipes, stories, maybe some laughs, and certainly share failures (because the more I bake, the more screws ups I get!), but above all let's share some FOOD!