Soft Ginger Cookies

This recipe is probably my most requested and one of my favorite two cookie recipes...well, ever.  They're soft, chewy, spicy, and perfect.  With a description like that, there's nothing left to do but share the recipe and suggest you make them immediately!

Soft Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:

2 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 tsps ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 Tbsp. water

1/4 cup molasses (I use black strap)

2 Tbsp. white sugar

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together first six ingredients and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg, then stir in water and molasses.  Shape dough into walnut-sized balls and roll them in remaining 2 Tbsp. of sugar.  Place the cookies approximately 2 inches apart on lined/greased cookie sheet.

3) Bake 8-10 minutes until done. Store in airtight container.

Recipe taken from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/big-soft-ginger-cookies/detail.aspx

Helpful tips

- The dough is sticky. Very, very sticky.  I find refrigerating the dough approximately 15 minutes help to form the balls more easily.

-For a more festive look, roll the balls of dough in colored sugar.

No Bake Monday: Coffee Mallow Ice Cream Torte

I came across this recipe on the Better Homes and Gardens website a few weeks back.  It really had me at the word "coffee" but I was intrigued by the addition of marshmallow fluff.  Easy, delicious, and no baking!

Coffee ice cream.  Marshmallow fluff.  Hot fudge.  Let's do this.

Coffee Mallow Ice Cream Torte
courtesy Better Homes and Gardens here, slightly adapted

2 cups crushed chocolate graham crackers
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup hot fudge ice cream topping
1 teaspoon instant coffee crystals
1/2  7 oz. jar marshmallow fluff
1  8 oz. container Cool Whip, thawed
1 quart coffee ice cream
1/3 cup chopped pecans
Semisweet chocolate for garnish
1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping

1) In a medium bowl, combine butter and crushed graham crackers.  Press into the bottom and about 1 and 1/2 inches up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan; set aside.

2) Combine hot fudge and coffee crystals in microwavable bowl.  Heat until warm and smooth.  Spread across graham cracker crust.

3) In large bowl, combine Cool Whip and marshmallow fluff.  Fold in ice cream. Combine until smooth.  Spoon onto crust, topping with pecans and chocolate (grated chocolate or chips work).

4) Cover and freeze for 6 hours or until firm.  Before serving, let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Drizzle with caramel topping (and more hot fudge if wanted) before serving.

I managed to snap one photo on the dining table before we devoured it!  Yummmm.

Baked Egg Brunch Pizza

Sometimes I feel like every new, delicious thing I make is a flail-worthy-I-have-to-make-this-over-and-over favorite, but this dish, it really is.  After moving into our new house two Thursdays ago, I immediately decided to host a brunch and try out a new recipe on our guests.  Thank goodness it was a serious hit.  So much of a hit that I decided to make it again for the brunch I hosted for some friends this holiday weekend.

And besides, who can resist a breakfast pizza? Not me.  And a "fancy" breakfast pizza?  Excuse me while I eat the whole thing.

Original recipe from Smitten Kitchen, adapted to make it easier:

Baked Egg Brunch Pizza

1 pre-made pizza dough ball (white or wheat) from the grocery store
2 Tablespoons olive oil
8 strips precooked bacon, chopped
2 cups mozzarella cheese
8 eggs
1/2 shallot, chopped (or 1/4 onion)
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 Tablespoons fresh chives (or sub green onions)
Freshly ground black pepper
Avocado for garnish
Parsley for garnish

1) Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2) Roll out pizza dough the shape of the pan you want to use.  Place on baking pan and roll down edges slightly to form a crust.  (I used a large, standard cookie sheet for a rectangular pizza.)

3) Brush top of crust with olive oil and spread mozzarella cheese over top evenly, keeping inside crust.  Add chopped bacon and shallot.

4)  Make eight small wells in the ingredients to place eggs.  Crack eggs gently in each well to avoid breaking the yoke. Sprinkle with all of parmesan cheese.

5) Bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and eggs are cooked through.

6)  After removing from oven, garnish with fresh ground pepper, chives, parsley, and avocado.

Enjoy!

Beer Bread

Two things I love in this world are beer and bread.  Last summer, I saw someone mention beer bread and basically had a where-has-this-been-all-my-life moment.  After looking through quite a few recipes that repeatedly called for all-purpose flour, I decided to skip the salt and baking powder and make this bread with less ingredients.  So I came up with my own little recipe that is as tasty as it is easy.  Not to mention, I never use self-rising flour and was happy to have an excuse to use some up!

Simple Beer Bread Recipe
(yields 1 large loaf)

3 cups self-rising flour, sifted
1 (12 ounce) bottle of beer, any type
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons melted butter

1) Preheat oven to 375.

2) Mix together sifted flour, beer, and brown sugar until well incorporated. Do not over mix.

3) Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  A few minutes before the bread is done, remove from oven and brush with melted butter for a nice, golden brown top. Continue baking until golden brown and cooked through.

Any beer will do!  This is what we had in the fridge.

Why yes that does look like a science experiment.  

I used two smaller loaf pans instead of one regular sized because that's all I had available.

I served this with chicken and rice soup for dinner earlier this week.  I, sadly, made the mistake of leaving the bread on the table with my husband and our two dinner guests while I went to the kitchen...needless to say, I only got one small slice.  Moral of the story: Don't let this bread out of your sight if you want a chance to eat it.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

My mom wanted to make a recipe she had seen on TV, and it just so happened to be from The Pioneer Woman.  My immediate response: let's do it!  This was such an incredibly easy recipe and had amazing results.  Not to mention the whole house smelled like strawberry oatmeal...mmmm.  You could eat these warm with ice cream, cold as more of a granola bar, or just straight out of the pan (whoops!).  Also, you could substitute strawberry preserves for any type you prefer.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars
(recipe courtesy The Pioneer Woman)

1 and 3/4 stick cold butter, cut into pieces
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups oats (quick or old-fashioned)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 jar (10-12 ounce) strawberry preserves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 or 8 x 10 baking dish.

Mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle half the mixture into the pan and pat lightly to pack it a little tight. Spoon strawberry preserves evenly over the surface, then use a dinner knife to carefully spread it around. Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture over the top and pat lightly again.

Bake until light golden brown on top, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in pan.  Cut into squares.

(quick iPhone snapshots)

(image source: X)

Brownie Cobbler

If my hips could handle the calories, I would make a simple chocolate dessert like this every day of the week. This "brownie cobbler" is an interesting combination of regular brownies and chocolate pie. Certainly brightened up our Tuesday night!

Brownie Cobbler 
(adapted from this recipe)

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1 refrigerated (9 inch) pie crust


-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-In a mix bowl, combine melted butter and sugar.  Add in eggs and vanilla, then dry ingredients.
-Stir in chocolate chips
-Place unrolled pie crust into a 9 inch, greased pie pan.  Pour in brownie mixture.
-Roll the edges of pie crust down until about 1/2 inch from brownie batter.
-Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until done.

(please excuse the iPhone photos, oops!)

I served this warm with ice cream...incredible!

Baked Eggs [with spinach and ham]

Not all baking has to be sweet, right?  We have such an abundance of fresh eggs these days, I'm trying to use them in any way I can think of.  Enter: baked eggs.  With no recipe, I just looked in my refrigerator for ingredients that sounded good with eggs and went to work.

I had a handful of spinach and deli ham, so I sauteed the two together in a pan with a pat of butter.  Then I cracked two fresh eggs on top.  Fearing the dish might dry out a little, I added a bit more butter to the top.

Bake at 350 until eggs are as done as you like them.  I like mine over hard so I cooked longer than most people would prefer.

Prep your garnishes.  Avocado and spring onions are always a favorite around here.

Garnish and dive in!

This dish was absolutely delicious!  Maybe next time I can bake eggs on top of hashbrowns? Oh the possibilities...