Pecan Sandies

 I grew up eating the Pecan Sandies that you buy from the store as my mother loved them and she always had them stashed in the kitchen somewhere. After I married , whenever I visited her, she always insisted we have coffee and a Pecan Sandie or two, so they grew on me also. I don't buy them because I'd probably eat the whole carton! So when I saw this recipe for Pecan Sandies on Martha Stewart's site, I had to try them. They taste fantastic, and I will make them again. The dough is very crumbly when the ingredients are mixed, so you have to gather the crumbs and roll the dough into balls. I may have handled the dough too much because I thought the cookies were a bit hard, but they did soften slightly on the second day. Next time I'll use parchment paper when I bake them as the cookie edges browned so much I was afraid they would burn. But the flavor is amazing! Loved the buttery, pecan flavors. I'm afraid they didn't last long at our house.

Pecan Sandies
from Martha Stewart
Recipe made about 1 1/2 dozen for me.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened- I used salted
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt- I omitted this because I used salted butter
1 cup all purpose flour, spooned into cup and leveled
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place rack on center of oven. In a bowl, cream the brown sugar and butter together with a mixer. Add in the vanilla. Add the flour and mix on low speed until flour is incorporated. Stir in chopped pecans by hand. Dough will be very sandy and crumbly.
Gather dough and form onto about 1 1/2 inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees. for 15-17 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake

 I know, many of you will think that pumpkin is so Fall like, but my husbands birthday was last week and he really wanted a pumpkin cake. I've had this cake bookmarked for quite a while, so decided to try it now. I wanted to make a special cake for my sweetie, who's getting older and wiser, and who does not always share my chocoholic tendencies. This cake did not disappoint. In fact we both thought it was one of, if not the best cake we've ever tasted! Being a pumpkin cake, it is dense and moist and the browned butter in the cake, AND in the Cream Cheese Frosting, makes this a "To Die For", dessert! The frosting also has brown sugar in it and it's delicious.We couldn't quit groaning as we shoveled it in. You've got this cinnamony, gingery, spice flavored cake with the browned butter, cream cheese combination that's just amazing. In short, this is a keeper. Can't wait to try making cupcakes.

 I changed the recipe some. I increased the cinnamon in the cake batter, and decreased the ginger. I decreased the brown sugar just a bit, but now I don't think I needed to. I thought the cake might be too sweet because I planned on increasing the frosting, but it was just fine. I knew that the amount of frosting wouldn't be enough, so I increased that. I also did not do the nut topping like the recipe. I just used some roasted pecans that I tossed with butter, sugar and a little salt and then decorated the cake rim. The next time I make this cake, I'm going to add some chopped pecans between the cake layer, like the recipe suggests. While this cake and the frosting use brown butter, this is not a hard cake to make. It does require a bit more time, so it would be best to make it early in the day, or make the cake layers the day before and then wrap them in plastic wrap. Then assemble the next day. Either way, this Browned Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake is worth the trouble.  Delicious, decadent, addictive and so much more; it's a cake to dream about. I hope you'll give it a try.

Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake

Adapted from Fine Cooking

For the cake:

3/4 cup, (12 tablespoons),  unsalted butter

2 cups unbleached, all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon table salt

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar - originally calls for  2/3 cup

2 large eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 can of pumpkin puree, or homemade puree

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Move the oven rack to center of the oven.

2. Grease and flour 2 round cake pans that are 9x2 inches. Use parchment if desired. My cake did fine without it.

3. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Every minute or so, stir or roll the butter around. The butter will foam and begin to turn a nutty shade with bits of brown . This will take about 4 minutes. Pour into a bowl and cool.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.  In another bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, buttermilk, sugar, pumpkin and mix well.

5. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients together in intervals. Mix in the brown butter. Do not over mix this batter. You will not need and electric mixer for this cake.

6. Divide the batter evenly into the 2 cake pans and smooth the top. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until done. Toothpick inserted into cake should come out clean. Cool the cake in pans for 10 minutes. Run knife around the cake and invert onto cooling racks. Cool completely.

Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

10 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1/3 cup light brown sugar

3 cups powdered sugar

1. In a heavy pan, brown the butter just as you did for the cake. Pour into a small bowl, and set it in the freezer for 12-15 minutes. Don't let it get hard on the top. Butter needs to be cool to add to the frosting, but don't let it get too hard. Or, you could pour the butter through a small mesh sieve to catch the small browned bits. You won't pour the brown bits into the frosting. Take a spoon and spoon out the cooled butter, taking care to not scrape up the browned bits.

2. In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese well; mix in the brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Mix in the cooled brown butter, and the powdered sugar in with the cream cheese. Beat until creamy. If the frosting is too stiff, add about a tablespoon of cream, or milk.

Assemble and frost the cake:

Place one cake on your cake plate. Add about 1 cup frosting, or your desired amount, and spread evenly to the edge of cake. Place remaining cake on top of frosting. Frost sides and top of cake. Decorate with pecans.

For Pecans: Mix 1 cup pecans, tablespoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Toast in a skillet for a few minutes, or in the oven. Cool nuts completely on a paper towel lined plate. The original recipe calls for more nuts, and uses them between the layers of the cake, and then piling the rest on top of cake. It also calls for candied ginger, which I did not use.

Pumpkin Bread

 Moist, fragrant pumpkin bread is one of my favorite quick breads. It's right up there with Banana Bread for me. This is my Mother's recipe that she made for many years. I  cut my teeth on this delicious bread when I was a kid, so this recipe has been around for awhile. I made this during Christmas and for got to post it. So here's my recipe. I hope you'll give it a try.

Pumpkin Bread
from my Mother
This recipe makes 2 large loaves.

Grease and flour 2- 9x5 inch loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Dry ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
Sift all these ingredients together in a large bowl.

Wet ingredients:
1 cup vegetable oil- I use canola
2/3 cup water
4 eggs, beaten
1 can of pumpkin puree
1 cup chopped nuts - I used pecans this time
Mix wet ingredients together; stir into the dry ingredients, and then fold in nuts.
Divide the batter evenly between the 2 loaf pans. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool bread in the pans for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges of the pumpkin bread and invert the loaves onto cooling racks. When completely cool, wrap in foil. Enjoy!

Cowboy Cookies

I don't know if you've had Cowboy Cookies, but they are chock full of goodies! Made with butter, flour and oats, they also contain nuts, chocolate chips and coconut for a real delicious treat. Some people make them a smaller size, like the picture above, where I measured the dough with a tablespoon. But very often I've seen them as a large cookie, where a 1/4 cup is used to measure the dough.

Either way, they are wonderful treat and I've convinced myself that they are suitable for eating with my morning coffee! After all, they have lots of oats and nuts, which are healthy, right? Watch them closely as they bake as overbaking can cause them to be dry. They should be just turning golden around the edges and the center should be losing that shiny look. They will continue to set after coming out of the oven. Then you can eat them all; or not! Here's my recipe.

COWBOY COOKIES

from an old church cookbook

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 (6 ounce package of chocolate chips)

1/2 cup coconut

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

2 cups oatmeal

1 cup chopped nuts- I used pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the sugars with the butter. Add eggs and beat until fluffy. Stir in the vanilla. Combine flour, salt, baking powder and soda in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. When combined, add the oatmeal, chocolate chips and coconut and stir with a large spoon until all is combined. Dough will be crumbly. If making large cooies, measure the dough in a 1/4 measuring cup. Place on a baking sheet, 6 cookies to a large baking sheet. Flatten dough with the palm of your hand, or use the bottom of a glass. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 11-15 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges and set in the middle. Remove cookies from oven; let set on cookie sheet for 1 minute and then remove to cooling rack.

If you prefer smaller cookies, use a tablespoon to measure the dough. Place cookie dough on cookie sheet, flatten slightly and bake for 8-10 minutes. Follow rest of directions above. Enjoy!

Very Moist Bannana Bread with Walnuts

I cannot resist a big slice of Banana Bread, especially if it's moist and full of crunchy nuts. This is my Mother-in-laws delicious recipe. She preferred using Black Walnuts in it when she could find them and insisted that walnuts added to the moistness of this bread. While black walnut trees are common here, I preferr the english walnut, but either will work in this recipe. All I know is that this Banana Bread is delicious and I have a hard time stopping with one slice. I have already posted my Mothers recipe, but I wanted to add this one too, since I'm going through our family's recipes. This moist, sweet quick bread makes a large loaf. My MIL baked this bread in a 8x8 inch baking pan, but I used a loaf pan this time, which took about an hour and 20 minutes. Either way, I think you will enjoy it.
By the way, thank you for the well wishes-I am feeling much better and can finally taste food again. Eating is much more enjoyable when the food tastes good; now on to the Banana Bread!
Moist Banana Bread with Walnuts

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas, about 3 large
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla- I omit this
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cups chopped walnuts (or any nut of your choice)

Directions:
Grease and flour a large, 9 5/8 x 5 1/2 inch loaf pan, or a 8x8 inch cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for dark pans).
Mix the mashed bananas, melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in a large bowl. In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and salt together. Mix dry ingredients and the buttermilk into the banana mixture. Pour batter into the prepared pan and place in oven. Bake about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely before serving. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Enjoy!

Moroccan Chicken Stew (Djej Kdra Touimiya)

I stepped outside of my comfort zone this week and tried food new to my palate. Not anything too drastic mind you, but I have not eaten Moroccan food before this. According to Saveur, this kdra is a cousin to a tagine. I did not have a clay pot to cook it in , just my dutch oven, but I thought it turned out delicious. And since this was my first foray into this type of dish, I need some feed back from any of you, my readers, as too how authentic this dish is. My husband was so quiet while eating that I thought he must not like it, but he said he was just enjoying the new flavors. So, I'll be making this again and next time I'll try some other dishes to go with it! I cut the recipe in half for just the two of us, and changed a couple of other things. My store didn't have blanched almonds, so I had to blanch my own, but it's quite easy to do. I'll give you the directions for that at the end of the recipe. Be sure to use the fresh lemon juice if you try this recipe; it really freshens the dish and adds pizazz to the flavors. The turmeric added a golden hue to the sauce and the almonds. The sauce is mildly sweet because of the cooked onions and with a hint of cinnamon and a splash of lemon, it is very tasty. It was a rather exotic meal for us in this cold weather. Let me know what you think!
Don't forget my CSN Giveaway; You have until Saturday, February 12th at 11:00 Pacific time to enter! Scroll down to the post to leave a comment to to enter. (Links are not working for some reason.)
MOROCCAN CHICKEN STEW (Djej Kdra Touimiya)
adapted from Saveur ( which is adapted from "Couscous and other Good Foods from Morocco")

Ingredients:
1 3 1/2 lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces- I used 4 thighs because I made half the amount
1 cup blanched whole almonds- directions at end of recipe
1/4 teaspoon turmeric or saffron-I used turmeric
1 tsp. ground white pepper
1 tsp. ground dried ginger
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons butter
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken stock or low sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup chopped parsley
kosher salt to taste
1/2 cup canned chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Melt butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Combine the chicken pieces, blanched almonds, turmeric, pepper, ginger, kosher salt and cinnamon stick in the pot and cook, turning, about 3-4 minutes. Add half of the sliced onions and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer for 30minutes.
2. Add remaining onion and parsley to chicken; cover and cook until chicken is tender, about 20-30minutes. Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Bring the sauce to a boil; cook until thicken 13-15 minutes. Since I halved the recipe, it took only about 5 minutes to thicken. Use your judgment with this. Return chicken to the dutch oven along with the chickpeas; heat through. Taste and add salt only if needed. Drizzle with the fresh lemon juice and serve. I served this dish with couscous, which soaked up the wonderful flavors of the sauce. Enjoy!
How to blanch almonds: Boil a pan of water; pour almonds into the hot water and soak for 1 minute. Almonds should be covered with the hot water. Drain the almonds into a colander, and then put almonds into cold water to cool them down. The skins will pull apart and slip off when you squeeze them between your fingers. Lay on a paper towel to dry.