Apple Raisin Bread

What happens when I get bored and there are apples on the kitchen table? I bake! Well, really that question could just be "what happens when I get bored," and the answer would still be the same. But that's not the point. The point is this apple raisin bread! The recipe comes from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri. It was absolutely delicious. But I think I should've squeezed some of the liquid out of my apples. They were really juicy, and after 10 additional minutes of baking, the bread was still gooey in the center. I was afraid of overbaking the edges, so I took it out. The baked parts are delicious, but the middle was still a bit raw. Oh well, nothing the dog won't take care of!Apple Raisin Bread (from "The Modern Baker" by Nick Malgieri)
Makes one 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large tart apples, such as Granny Smith
1/2 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1. Set a rack in the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Combine the flours, baking soda, and cinnamon in a bowl and stir to mix well.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk the eggs to break them up and whisk the sugar into the eggs. Whisk in the oil and set the bowl aside.
4. Quickly peel and grate the apples into a shallow bowl. You should have about 2 cups of grated apple.
5. Use a large rubber spatula to fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Quickly fold in the apples, raisins, and walnuts.
6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the bread until it is well-risen and a toothpick or a narrow-bladed knife inserted into the center of the bread emerges clean, 35-40 minutes.
7. Cool the bread in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold it and cool it completely on a rack. Transfer the bread to a platter or cutting board before serving.

Christmas Cookie Caper '08: #4 - Kitchen Sink Cookies

Alright, so you can say I punked out because this isn't a new recipe. Actually we used 3 recipes that we've done before. But you can't deny recipes that are super delicious!! I made these kitchen sink cookies a few months ago. I kinda made up the recipe by compiling a bunch of recipes. I wanted a cookie full of stuff and this is what I came up with. They've got oatmeal, walnuts, two kinds of chocolate chips, coconut, and raisins. Feel free to leave out any of those if you don't like them. One tip I like to remember when making cookie dough is to use butter that's softened but still cool. I'm not sure why but I feel better putting cold cookie dough into the oven. If you want, you can make this dough a few days ahead and scoop it straight from the fridge.

Kitchen Sink Cookies
Makes 18 cookies

MY NOTES: I used a cookie scoop that holds 2 tbsp of cookie dough.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped and toasted walnuts
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add egg and beat until fully incorporated. Mix in vanilla extract. With the mixer on it's lowest speed, slowly add the flour until almost incorporated. Mix in oats, then with a rubber spatula fold in the chocolate chips, walnuts, coconut and raisins. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets.Bake one sheet at a time for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets. Transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

For the past few weeks, I've been haunted by a major craving for cinnamon rolls. Every time I passed the biscuits in the refrigerator section at the grocery store, I could see that little dough boy staring at me from the can of sweet sticky cinnamon rolls. I never bought any because I wanted to try making them from scratch. Finally this morning I didn't have anything to do, so I began searching food blogs for a great recipe. Much to my chagrin, all of the recipes called for yeast. Now excuse me while I go off on a rabbit trail... Last year, I bought some of those little yeast packets. I put them in the cabinet where we keep all the baking powder/soda, corn starch, gelatin, etc. A few months later I wanted to make something with yeast, so I searched and searched and searched and could not find those freakin packets. To make a long story short, I bought them and they disappeared before I got to use them. That's why I didn't have yeast this morning! Great story, eh? Anyway, I decided to use a simple biscuit recipe but tweak it a little, and this is what I came up with. They are really delicious. I ate two while they were hot out of the oven!

Mini Cinnamon Rolls (10-12 small rolls)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons COLD unsalted butter, cut into 8 cubes

1/2 cup COLD whole milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened, to spread on the dough

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins, soaked in hot water until plump, then drained

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

2-3 teaspoons warm water

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 8x8, 9x9, or 13x9 baking pan with cooking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor or in a bowl. Mix well. Add cold butter and pulse in a food processor (a pastry cutter or a fork will work also) until the butter is the size of small peas. Pour in milk and mix just until dough comes together.

Working on a well-floured surface, knead dough 4 or 5 times. Roll into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Using your hands or a pastry brush, smear butter over dough. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon over butter and pat it down so it sticks. Sprinkle walnuts and raisins evenly over dough. Starting on the long side of the rectangle, roll into a long log. Cut ends off, and cut remaining log into slices about 1 inch thick.

Place rolls cut side down into a small baking pan about 1/4 inch apart if you want them to touch. Place rolls in a larger baking pan 1 inch apart if you do not want them to touch. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. Remove from oven and make glaze.

Whisk together confectioners' sugar and water together to make a paste (add more water 1/2 teaspoon at a time if it's too thick). Spread glaze over warm rolls. Enjoy!

Kitchen Sink Cookies

These cookies are called Kitchen Sink Cookies because everything is in them except the kitchen sink! That's totally an exaggeration of course. I'm not sure how delicious they'd be with wooden spoons and paper towels mixed in. Anyway, I'm not usually a cookie person. If I am faced with a decision, I'll always choose cake over cookies. But yesterday the mood struck me to bake cookies. I searched and searched for a recipe, but nothing was jumping out at me. Finally I just took a bit from a few recipes and came up with these yummy masterpieces this morning! Some bites taste like an oatmeal raisin cookie. Some bites taste like a tollhouse chocolate chip cookie. Some bites are chewy. Some bites are crunchy. But all bites are fantastic! These are most delicious if you microwave them for a few seconds before eating them.

ingredientscookie dough (no walnuts, read to the bottom to find out why)

ready for the oven

cooling

Soooooo tasty!!

After the first 9 cookies were in the oven, I noticed the bowl of chopped walnuts still sitting on the counter! So I added half of them to the second half of the cookie dough. It was a miracle that I ended up with 9 cookies w/o walnuts and 9 cookies with walnuts. Almost like I did it on purpose... almost.

MY NOTES: I used 1/4 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp vanilla butter nut flavoring. I used a cookie scoop that holds 2 tbsp of cookie dough.

Kitchen Sink Cookies (my recipe adapted from like 5 other recipes)
Makes 18 cookies

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped and toasted walnuts
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add egg and beat until fully incorporated. Mix in vanilla extract. With the mixer on it's lowest speed, slowly add the flour until almost incorporated. Mix in oats, then with a rubber spatula fold in the chocolate chips, walnuts, coconut and raisins. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake one sheet at a time for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheets. Transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.