4th of July Jello and Cookie Treats

Happy Almost Independence Day! Here are some 4th of July worthy treats:

Recipe and Instructions: 4th of July Jello

Recipe and Instructions: Spreads Cookies

Happy Birthday America!
-mary

Raspberry Ricotta Cake from Bon Appetit

Raspberry Ricotta Cake from Bon Appetit

Raspberry

Whole Milk Ricotta

Melted Butter

Eggs

Flour

Sugar

All these combine into one incredible cake. It has a rich flavor, but not heavy. It is really, really good.

You should make this. Serious. Really. How do I know? Well, I made this at 4 am this morning, then brought it into work. I share treats with my office mates first, then put it out for the rest of the staff. This morning, the guys got their piece and within 15 minutes my co-worker asks, "How long do I have to leave it out there for the others until I can get a second piece?" We agreed that an hour was good enough (you snooze, you lose) and 62 minutes later, he got the last piece left on the cake stand! 

This is a super easy, two bowls, no Kitchenaid cake. You always need to have some no Kitchenaid recipes in your recipe box. And sometimes you buy the large Raspberry container at Costco and have a few raspberries to use up.

It's super easy. The wet mixture is ricotta cheese, eggs and vanilla. This combines with the dry ingredients then a stick of melted butter is folded into the mix. See, I told you it was easy peasy.

I used a 9" by 3" round pan (instead of the usual 9" x 2" round). I think this will rise to very top of a 9" x 2" round pan so don't try to make it in an 8" pan.

The recipe uses FROZEN raspberries or blackberries, but I used FRESH raspberries only. I used one 6 ounce square package of raspberries. Next time, I might add some lemon zest.

Raspberry Ricotta Cake

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit (March 2015), also found on Epicurious

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups ricotta (I used whole milk ricotta)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

6 ounces (little more than 1 cup raspberries) fresh raspberries (one package)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9”-diameter cake pan. I used a 9"x3" cake pan. It may rise to the top of a 9"x2" pan. 

2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3. Whisk eggs, ricotta, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth.

4. Pour egg/ricotta mixture onto dry ingredients and fold together until almost all blended.

5. Fold in the melted butter and then add 75% of the raspberries and fold those into the mix. Don't overmix.
6. Put batter into the pan and smooth with an offset spatula.
7. Scatter the remaining raspberries on top of the cake.
8. Bake cake until golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50–60 minutes (mine took 50 minutes, I used fresh raspberries). Let cool at least 20 minutes before unmolding.

Pioneer Woman's Monster Cookies with M&Ms, Chocolate Chips, Oatmeal, Nuts and Rice Krispies

Monster Cookies from the Pioneer Woman

Every Sunday morning, I make breakfast for my dad. If you follow my instagram, you'll see photos. We have a routine. 8 am - watch the news (KTLA, Channel 5) until 9 am, then Pioneer Woman and Trisha Yearwood on the Food Network (unless there is baseball, then baseball always wins).

I'm always interested in what Ree is cooking up on the ranch. Last Sunday, it was Monster Cookies! I decided to take them for a spin and bring them into my meeting today.

You might be thinking, "Those cookies aren't very "monster" sized." Ree makes these MONSTER with only 6 cookies per sheet. I didn't make them as big as hers and got 48 cookies (baking 9 per sheet).

These cookies have oatmeal, mini M&Ms, chocolate chips, cashews and rice krispies! Everything you need in life, no?


I'm ready for the morning meeting!

Recipe:
Monster Cookies
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 whole large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt (I used 1 teaspoon kosher salt because I was using salted cashews)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup oats (either quick or regular, I used regular)
1 cup chocolate coated candies, such as M&M's (I used mini M&Ms)
3/4 cup chocolate chips (milk or semisweet) (I used Nestle semi sweet chips)
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (I used salted and roasted cashews (I had a sleeve from a Costco variety pack of nuts!)
2 1/4 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (Pioneer Woman used 375 degrees but I liked the batch I made at 350 degrees).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to combine.
3. Using a mixer with paddle attachment, ream butter with white and brown sugars in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the vanilla and beat to combine.
6. On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until just combined (don't worry if you have some flour, you'll be continuing to mix it.)
7. Add in the oatmeal, M&Ms, chocolate chips and nuts and mix at low speed. Then, add the cereal and mix until just combined.
8. Use a cookie scoop or disher to scoop balls of dough onto a cookie sheet.
9. Depending on the size of your cookies, it could take 12-25 minutes to bake so remove them when they are golden brown.
10. Cool on a cookie rack and enjoy!

Nutella Buttons - Tuesdays with Dorie

Nutella Buttons

I have 10 minutes to post this before I have to head out to work!

So...
I made these.
I didn't put enough nutella in some of them.
I topped some of mine with more nutella.
Because, really, you can't have too much nutella.
This is a post for the awesome baking group, Tuesdays with Dorie.
Eeck!
Out of time. See you later!
- mary the food librarian



Tuesdays with Dorie doesn't publish the recipe. You should get Dorie's book: Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere! You'll love the book. I promise

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and their take on this yummy recipe!

Cara Cara Orange Scones

Cara Cara Orange Scones

I love the Cara Cara orange! It's sweet, pink, juicy and delicious. So, it deserves a scone!

I love making scones for a morning meeting. I need to leave the house at 6 am for my commute, so I try to prep the ingredients the night before...measuring the dry ingredients and putting out items to get to room temperature overnight if needed. But scones are so easy that I can often throw everything together, make the scones, pop them in the oven, get myself in the shower, quickly dress and then grab the scones from the oven.


These are very rich, with butter, cream (pre-butter) and an egg. The glaze adds a lot of orange flavor.



Recipe: Cara Cara Orange Scones

Scones:
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 ounces sugar
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Zest of one Cara Cara orange
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, cold
1 cup (8 ounces) heavy whipping cream, cold
1 egg, cold

Glaze:
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a piece of parchment on a baking tray or half-sheet pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until combined.
3. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender/cutter until butter is pea-size
4. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the cream and egg until well blended.
5. Add the cream/egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until moistened. Don't overmix.
6. Scoop scones with an ice cream scoop or #16 disher onto the baking sheet.
7. I got 11 scones from this batter.
8. Bake until golden brown about 14-16 minutes.
9. Remove scones onto a wire rack and let cool for 15 minutes before glazing.
10. To make the glaze, mix together the melted butter and the rest of the ingredients until smooth. Pour over the scones. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Maple Scones from the Flour Bakery Cookbook

Oatmeal Maple Scones from Flour Bakery cookbook

Three things:
Oatmeal
Maple Syrup
Scones

Please.

Just make these! Anytime you make them is fine. I could eat them all day long...breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack.

These scones are from the totally awesome cookbook: Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe. It's definitely one of my favorites. I can tell because it is all torn up, spilled on, and written in. Written next to this recipe? My feedback in a sharpie: "Excellent!"

It's an easy scone recipe. The dough is "wetter" than others so it's simple to scoop it out onto a baking tray.

It has pecan pieces throughout the scone for a nice bite. You can add raisins or dried cranberries but I omitted the fruits.

After they cool, you make a delicious maple syrup glaze. I mean, come on. Glazes are so lovely and just a little bit decadent. Just what you need in the morning.

Scones are perfect simplicity. Who wouldn't want one of these at a brunch, or in my case, a morning meeting at work?

Hello Beautiful!
Make these today!

Oatmeal Maple Scones
(Adapted from the cookbook - Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston's Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang, page 41)
Find the book in your library or on Amazon!

Scones:
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup (125 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (50 grams) pecan halves, toasted and chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins or dried cranberries/cherries/etc (I omitted)
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, cold

Glaze:
1 cup (140 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1-2 tablespoons water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper on a half-sheet pan or baking tray.
2. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pecans and fruit (if you are using it) on low speed until combined.
3. Drop in the butter pieces and beat on low speed for about 30-60 seconds until the butter has broken down into pea size pieces. You don't want the butter pieces too small.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, maple syrup, vanilla and egg.
5. With mixer still on low speed, add wet ingredients to dry mixture and blend for about 30 seconds until just combined. The batter will be slightly wet.
6. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the flour has been incorporated.
7. Scoop out with a #16 disher or ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup onto your prepared baking tray. Joanne's recipe says you'll get 8 scones, but I got 10 scones After scooping the dough, I pressed down slightly on the mound.
8. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until tops and bottoms are golden brown.
9. Transfer to wire cooling tray and let cool about 30 minutes. Place the cooling rack with the scones over the baking tray before glazing (I keep my piece of parchment on the tray so it catches the drips and makes clean up easier).
10. Glaze: Whisk together sifted powdered sugar, maple syrup and water. Once the scones have cooled, brush or spoon tops with glaze.

Crispy-Topped Brown Sugar Bars - Tuesday with Dorie

Crispy-Topped Brown Sugar Bars

Whew! I made it by 2 hours! I'm back with Tuesdays with Dorie. Oh, I lost a couple months due to the holidays and a full week of the flu...but I couldn't miss today! It's a bar with Rice Krispies on top!

These were super simple to make. A brown sugar shortbread is baked until golden brown. Then, you spread chopped chocolate (I used Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate block) on top and let it melt a bit. A quick spread of the chocolate creates a space for your cereal!

You can put a caramelized cereal topping too. Look at the book for this yummy option.

Tuesdays with Dorie doesn't publish the recipe. You should get Dorie's book: Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere (this recipe is on page 324)! I love all the recipes in the book and Dorie's kind words and encouragement. In this recipe, she says, "show it who's boss" referring the shortbread dough. Love it!

Be sure to check out the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers and their take on this yummy recipe!

P.S. I love my 8 x 8 x 2 pan. It's by Magic Line/Parrish. The edges are perfectly square so you get sharp edges on brownies, cakes, etc. I have 8" and 9" square pans, as well as 9" x 13" rectangle pans too. And they are made in Los Angeles! (I've visited the factory store...here's a post about it)

Blueberry Buttermilk Scones

Blueberry Buttermilk Scones

I bake in the morning.
I need to leave the house at 6 am for my commute to work.
Do the math.
So, I made these Blueberry Buttermilk Scones two days in a row at 4:15 am.
Why twice? Because the first time, I cut them incorrectly and made them too big. (Hey, it was before 5 am).

You should make these scones. Maybe even twice! But I'll let you sleep in. These would be great at a Sunday brunch.

The first morning I made these, my circle cutting skills were way lacking. I was supposed to get cut it into 12 pieces, but I only cut them into 8 large pieces. Strangely, my mostly male co-workers were totally fine with the larger pieces (one said, "Then I only need to get one, and not seconds!")

The second morning I made these, I scooped them with an ice cream scoop. This is much easier. You don't have to turn out the dough onto the counter, and can just scoop it out of the bowl. This time, I got 12 mostly round scones. I did pat down the tops a little before adding the egg wash.

On both mornings, I used frozen blueberries.

Bake until nice and golden brown. I prefer the scooped, round scones - the blueberries stay whole. When you cut the dough, you also cut the blueberries.

These scones are not overly sweet. In fact, you could add an extra tablespoon of sugar to the batter. Don't skip the sanding sugar on top either (in a pinch, you can use sugar in the raw or even granulated sugar) as it offers a nice crunch and sweetness. I've made a lot of scones with butter and heavy cream and those scones are richer (and more calories!). This scones uses buttermilk and butter so they aren't as rich.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Blueberry Buttermilk Scones
Yield: 12 scones

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
3 T granulated sugar
1 T baking powder (original recipe: 2 1/2 teaspoon)
3/4 t kosher salt
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, cold and cut into pieces
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup blueberries (I used Trader Joe's frozen blueberries)
1 egg
1 t vanilla (original recipe 1/2 teaspoon)

Egg Wash (don't skip this)
1 egg
Sanding sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter until butter is pea sized. Add the blueberries and toss in the flour mixture.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg, buttermilk and vanilla.
5. Using a fork, mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until it is mostly combined.
6. If you are making scone triangles or squares, turn dough onto a floured surface and knead gently a few times to incorporate the flour. Pat into a circle and cut into 12 pieces and place on a parchment lined baking tray.
7. If you are scooping the dough, scoop the dough and place on a parchment lined baking tray.
8. Lightly beat an egg. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash and top with sanding sugar.
9. Bake at 375 for 22-25 minutes until golden brown. Since I had frozen blueberries, it took 24 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies from WD-50

Chocolate Chip Cookies from WD-50

I usually make the Jacque Torres New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies but they take 2 days to prep (gotta let the batter rest in the refrig). I didn't have that time so I went looking for an alternate. These Chocolate Chip Cookies were on the New York Times Cooking website and are from WD-50 restaurant in NY.

These cookies have an interesting prep. It starts melted butter whipped together with sugars for 3 minutes (top two photos). It's pretty unusual to use the whisk attachment for cookies! Then you whip in eggs and let that go for 6 minutes (bottom two photos).

After adding the flour mixture (using bread and AP flour) and chocolate chips with a paddle attachment, the dough is very soft and wet. You need to refrigerate it until scoopable (I let mine rest overnight).

According to the recipe, the yield was supposed to be three dozen but I was three short of that.

These cookies are thin & flat with slightly crispy edges, but retain a soft middle. I would add more chocolate chips than the recipe to give it more chocolate flavor. I really enjoyed the taste of the "non-chocolate" cookie part - very nice!

Chocolate Chip Cookies from WD-50

Adapted from Malcolm Livingston II, WD-50, New York Times Cooking website

11 tablespoons/150 grams unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup/100 grams packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup/88 grams granulated sugar
1 egg plus 1 yolk
1 cup/150 grams bread flour
1/3 cup/50 grams all­-purpose flour
1 teaspoon/4 grams salt (I used kosher salt)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup/125 grams chocolate chips (I used Nestle semi-sweet. Next time, I would use a full cup of chips)
(Note: There is no vanilla in this recipe)

1. In a standing mixer with the WHISK attachment, whip the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for 3 minutes.

2. Add the whole egg and one yolk to the mixture, and whip it for another 6 minutes. The batter will be light in color.

3. Sift together the flours, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

4. Using a PADDLE attachment, slowly add the dry ingredients until almost fulling incorporated. Then add the chocolate chips and mix until the batter is completely mixed together. The dough will be soft. 

5. Chill dough until you can scoop it. (I rested mine overnight). The original recipe says you can also put the dough on parchment paper, roll up, twist ends and chill for 1 hour and then slice the cookie pieces. 

6. After dough has chilled, preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

7. Scoop (or cut if you did the log method) a dozen cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. You should get close to 3 dozen cookies. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are golden brown but the center is still soft. 

8. After baking, let sit on baking sheet for a couple minutes and then remove with a spatula to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Brown Butter and Vanilla Bean Weekend Cake - Tuesdays with Dorie

Brown-Butter-and-Vanilla-Bean Weekend Cake

It's time for Tuesdays with Dorie! I made this last month and work really enjoyed it. I'm pretty exhausted so this is going to be super short.

Tuesdays with Dorie group does not post the recipes as we want to support the great work of Dorie Greenspan so please purchase the book, Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere and turn to page 6 for this fun recipe!

Brown butter is always nerve racking to make. Is it ready? Is it too far? What's that smell? Is that toasty or is that burnt?


This is supposed to be baked in a loaf pan, but I couldn't get to it. I tweeted a plea for help and professional baker and author @janeofmanytrade came to the rescue. She said I could use an 8" round. Thanks Alisa!

I didn't have a vanilla bean, so I used 2 teaspoons of both Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract and vanilla paste. Do you have the paste? I love it. More economical than getting vanilla beans and you get all the yummy flakes. I also skipped the alcohol (dark rum or amaretto).

I topped mine with some powdered sugar so it didn't look so plain.

I have a bunch of other stuff to post, and I hope to get to it next month (there are some good oatmeal scones coming up).

Good luck to Dorie Greenspan and all my friends on the East Coast as you get through this snowstorm!

See you next time,
Mary the Food Librarian