Oatmeal Cookies

Sometimes you can't improve upon an old recipe. And sometimes you can!

Recently Colorado was bombarded by 8 different forest fires, one of which was in the foothills near my town of Fort Collins. The organization Samaritan's Purse came in to help people sift through remains, clean windows, and put tarps on roofs. Hundreds of volunteers headed up into the mountains everyday with sack lunches. Some of the ladies at my church were asked to bake cookies, so I had a few girls over to share in the experience. We landed on traditional Oatmeal Cookies, and after baking one batch, we mixed it up a little by substituting white chocolate and craisins for raisins. Both were equally delicious!

In my early adolescence, I tested out many different recipes for oatmeal raisin cookies to please my daddy. Every batch was a little different; fluffy, crispy, sweeter, heartier. . . but, alas, none could satisfy him. Finally I called my grandmother in Florida and asked for the recipe she used to make when my father was a boy. She laughed and replied that it was on the Quaker Oats carton! Well, why not? Sometimes simpler is better!

1 cup (2sticks) butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups Quaker Oats
1 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. In separate bowl, mix flour, soda, cinnamon, and salt. Then add oatmeal and raisins. Add dry mix to batter in fourths until fully incorporated. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 min, or until golden brown. Cool on a rack, then store in an air-tight container to keep soft. Makes about 4 doz.

Apple Dump Cake

One of the things I love about cooking is taking an in-season ingredient and transforming it into something amazing. Last fall a friend gave me apples from his yard. I made apple pies and bread and still had some left over, so I peeled, sliced and froze the rest. I recently came across them and decided I would throw them in with some sugar and cinnamon for a quick dessert. Based upon what I had on hand, this is what I came up with, and it was wonderful! My apples were very tender and moist after being frozen, perfect for short cooking time.

5-6 cups of peeled, sliced apples
Hand full of raisins
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 stick butter, divided
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 yellow cake mix

Preheat oven to 350 with 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) of butter in a glass 9x13 pan. Mix sugars and spices in a large bowl, toss apples and raisins to coat. Once butter is melted, tilt dish so that it coats the whole pan. Dump apple mixture in. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over the top. Add pecans evenly. Melt remaining 1/2 stick of butter and drizzle over the top. Bake for 30 min or so on the lower middle of the oven. (don't want to burn the pecans!) If the top starts to brown before you think the apples are done, cover with foil and cook another 10 min.

Mississippi Lemon Chess Pie

One of my best girlfriends, Jennifer, recently inherited a priceless collection of recipes from a beloved aunt. My little southern heart beat fast at the prospect of finding original recipes like my grandmother and great-grandmother used to make. With her permission, I took pictures of several and am eager to put them all to the test.
My first try was this wonderfully rich pie. Chess Pie is at the heart of any true southerner, and this recipe artfully balances the sweet with the fresh lemon flavor. I'm not typically a huge lemon dessert fan, but this has won me over and I've made it twice already.

See the recipe in the picture below and read my previous posts to find crust recipes and tips.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

The iron skillet. It's a staple in the Southern kitchen. I learned to make cornbread, country ham, and fried okra in this skillet. It's even heat conducting makes it a perfect way to caramelize the pineapple and pecans before popping the cake in the oven. This thick batter creates a nice pound cake like texture. The pecans get caramelized, adding a pleasant surprise to each bite. 

Start with 4 tablespoons of butter, melted slowly over medium heat. As soon as it's melted, add 3/4 cup brown sugar, and stir until dissolved. Increase the temp to med high and cook until it begins to bubble, about 2 min. Meanwhile, drain 1 can of pineapple tidbits, reserving the juice. Add pineapple to sugar and cook until it is a nice caramel color, about 2 more min. Remove from heat, gently stir once, and add 1/2 cup halved pecans. 

Heat oven to 350. Stir together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt.
In a separate bowl, whip 1 cup of sugar and 1 stick of butter,  room temp,  until light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs, and beat until just incorporated. (Over beating eggs makes for a tough cake.)
Gradually add flour mixture and 1 cup of buttermilk alternately, mixing on low. Add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 tbl dark rum.
Gently spoon on top of pineapple.
Bake for 25-35 min, or until golden brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean in the middle (don't insert all the way down). Cool for 4-5 min (no more!) , loosen with a knife, place a cake plate on top, use oven mitts and flip over quickly. May be messy, but it's delicious! Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Yum!

Tips: substitute 1/4 cup buttermilk with pineapple juice, or save for a steak marinade!
Put aluminum foil under your skillet in the over to catch spills

Pecan Pie

What are the holidays without a Pecan Pie?

My favorite Thanksgiving memories are when my family in Tennessee would gather at my Aunt Meg's house. We would pack in cousins, in-laws, grandparents, uncles, and close family friends. One year we had three dogs and a cat! Now that was a lively day. In order to feed all 20-30 of us, the women folk would work for hours the days before to prepare a feast. Aunt Meg's kitchen island would be covered with a wide variety of pies, cakes, and cookies to tempt and delight. The list usually included molasses cookies, buttermilk pie, mincemeat pie, and pecan pie. Even though I didn't get to spend the day with everyone this year, my brother and I carried on the traditions here in Colorado with his family.

This year, rather than using the usual recipe on the Karo Syrup bottle, I decided to try something a little more complex. It took more time, but the results were amazing!

1 Pie crust, deep dish. (I have a simple recipe for one on the apple pie blog. If you must use store-bought, I recommend Marie Callender's.)

6 Tbl butter, cut into 1 in pieces
1 cup packed, dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 Tbl vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted

Heat the oven to 375.
Toast pecans for 8 minutes, or until you can start to smell them.
Place pie weights in the crust, either using dry beans in aluminum foil, using it to also cover and protect the edges (this is to prevent bubbling). Bake the empty crust for 25 min. Carefully remove the foil and beans, return crust to oven for 5 min until bottom of crust is dry.
Decrease oven to 275.
Filling: place a medium glass bowl in a skillet of water. Bring water to boil, reduce to simmer. Add butter. Once melted, add brown sugar and salt, mix well. Add the eggs, corn syrup and vanilla. Beat together, then stir regularly until the filling is hot and reads 130 degrees. Remove from heat and add pecans.
Pour into prepared shell, cover with crust shield, bake for 40 minutes. Remove shield, bake another 15-20 min, or until the pie doesn't jiggle, but gives when pressed in the center.

Classic Apple Pie

My dear friend Jennifer gave me a wonderful cookbook for my birthday this year. Best Recipe from a test kitchen. They take the most popular recipes and test all the different variations. I will say this was very well balanced for texture, apple flavor, and seasoning.

Ingredients 

Pie crust (recipe at bottom)
2 tbl flour plus more for dusting the work surface
3 large Granny Smith Apples (about 1 1/2 lbs, for tartness and crisp texture)
4 large McIntosh Apples (about 2 lbs, for sweetness and soft texture)
1 tbl juice and 1 tsp grated zest from 1 lemon
3/4 cup plus 1 tbl sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg white, beaten slightly with a dash of water

Directions:

Lower oven rack, heat to to 500 deg

Roll half the dough on a lightly floured work surface with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper on top. Roll into a 12 in circle, using your flattened hand to make sure of even thickness all around. 

Roll the dough around your rolling pin and then unroll it onto your pie plate, easing it into the corners and leaving excess. Place in refrigerator. Peel, core, and slice the apples into 1/4 inch slices and toss with lemon juice and zest. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (reserve 1 tbl sugar), then toss with apples. Empty bowl into chilled pie shell, mounding in center.
Roll out the remaining half of crust and place on top by following previous steps.
Trim edges of crust to 1/2 inch all the way around, tuck the top layer over the bottom and into the pan, flute edges with fingertips. 

Cut 4 slits on top of pie with a knife. If dough is very soft, place in the freezer for 10 min. Brush the egg white on the top crust and sprinkle evenly with remaining sugar. 

 Place pie on a baking sheet and lower oven temp to 425. Bake the pie until the crust is golden, about 25 min. Rotate the pie, reduce oven temp to 375, continue baking until the juices bubble and the crust is a deep golden brown, 30-35 min longer. 

Cool to room temp, at least 4 hours to let juices set up. 

Serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream! Mine is Breyers.

Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1 tsp salt
2 tbl sugar
1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
12 tbl (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
6-8 tbl ice water

Mix flour, salt and sugar until combined. Add shortening and butter, cutting in with a pastry blender, a food processor, or two knives. Do this until it resembles coarse crumbs, the size of small peas. In a medium bowl, sprinkle 6 tbl of water mix with clean hands by scraping the edges and folding in on itself. If too crumbly, add remaining water. Do this until well mixed. Divide in half, cover, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Chocolate Chess Pie

I have the great honor and privilege of living close to my brother and his three amazing children. Time to time, when I babysit them, I let them help me cook and try to pass on my knowledge to their young, eager faces. This was a perfect opportunity to bake a pie: their father's birthday.

Now in the south, a Chess pie is a tradition. It's one of the first recipes I learned, passed down from my grandmother along with this story. The old saying goes, that a yankee was enjoying a delicious pie baked for him by a southern cook when he asked what kind of pie it was. The cook, in a heavy accent, said, "It's jes' pie." Thus, the name, "Chess Pie." What's better than a pie full of sugar and butter? A pie full of sugar, butter and chocolate. So here's the variation on the old favorite.

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
7 tbl cocoa powder
3 tbl flour
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 regular pie shells or 1 deep dish.

Directions
Heat oven to 350, place pie shells on a cookie sheet. prepare a crust shield (directions in Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake).
In a small saucepan, heat butter on low just until melted, remove from heat and add cocoa until melted.
In a bowl, mix sugar with flour, then add remaining ingredients. Add butter/cocoa mixture. Pour into crusts.
Bake for 30-40 min, until a crust has formed on top of the pie. (it will be cracked and not sticky to the touch)
Remove crust shield during the last 15 min of baking.
Cool completely before slicing. We call this "Settin' up."  (trust me, resist temptation or it will be pure liquid inside!)

Funny side note: After baking this and putting the sweet darlings to bed, I couldn't resist tasting my creation. So, I confess I nibbled a bit :) It made Twitter with a picture of the creator/culprit.