Cookie Gift Baskets Tip & Recipe Blog

Archive for the ‘Other’ Category

Butterscotch krimpets are a great treat to make. Much like cookies, these little wonders are delightful bites on any occasion.

For the cake

• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 (16 ounce) box golden pound cake mix (see note)
• 2/3 cup water

To make the cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x12 (13) inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer in high speed until thick but not stiff. Blend the egg whites with cake mix and water, mixing well.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the pan from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Use cake mix only as directed in the recipe below; do not follow the instructions on the package. If you don't have a 9x12-inch baking pan, you can use a 9x13-inch pan. Fill the extra inch with aluminum foil, greasing the edge of the foil as if it were the side of the pan.

For the frosting

• 1/4 cup butterscotch morsels
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

To make the frosting

1. Melt the butterscotch morsels in the top pot of a double broiler over low heat or in a microwave bowl, mix butter with melted butterscotch morsels. Add the confectioners' sugar, blending with an electric mixer until smooth.

2. 6. Spread the frosting on top of cooled cake. Cut cake into nine horizontal rows, and then make two lengthwise cuts, dividing the cake into 27 equal pieces.

For other recipe ideas like this, try some of these easy brunch recipes.

Did you ever think you'd be searching for a recipe for fried milk? Well you have, and you've found it! This unique recipe is a special treat for something different from your usual cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• Vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 3 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
• Powdered sugar

In large saucepan, mix cornstarch, sugar and nutmeg. Gradually stir in milk. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly; boil and stir 1 minute.

Remove from heat; stir in butter and lemon peel. Spread evenly in an ungreased square baking dish. Refrigerate3 to 4 hours. Cut into 2 inch squares with wet knife. Dip squares into eggs and then coat with the bread crumbs. Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil to 360 degrees. Fry 2 to 3 squares at a time until light brown. Drain and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Fried bananas are great for an easy yet delicious snack. This is a scrumptious way to use bananas for recipes other than bread and cookies!

Ingredients:

• 4 bananas

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup oil

Directions:

Select firm bananas. Peel, cut in half crosswise and then lengthwise. Roll in the brown sugar. Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the bananas until golden brown. Serve hot or cold.

If you want to try another banana dessert, try making banana crisp!

If you're a fan of chocolate desserts, this baked chocolate pudding recipe is right up your alley. One cup custard cups work well for baking the puddings. Cake flour may be substituted for the rice flour. The ground almonds can be omitted for a smooth textured pudding.

• 1 pound (good quality) bittersweet or dark chocolate, divided

• 1/4 cup hot espresso or good strong coffee

• 9 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

• Generous 1/2 cup finely ground almonds 3/4 cup rice flour

• 6 eggs, separated, at room temperature

In a saucepan, melt 4.5 ounces of the chocolate with the coffee. Pour into six small ice cube molds and freeze 20 to 30 minutes, until hard.

Grease six 1 cup oven safe cups or molds with the butter. Place in the fridge while preparing the pudding mixture.

Melt the remaining chocolate with the butter in a bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water. Set melted chocolate aside to cool. In a separate large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the sugar until stiff. Fold the yolks into the cooled chocolate mixture, and then add the almonds and the flour. Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites.

Preheat oven to 375° F. Remove the molds from the fridge. Spoon a little pudding mixture into each one. Push a cube of frozen chocolate into the pudding mixture. Cover with the remaining pudding mixture so each ice cube is completely enveloped.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes. While the pudding is hot, remove carefully from molds. (Insert with a knife around the edges to loosen if necessary.) Serve Immediately.

Making cherry waldorf gelatin is just as easy as making cookies! You'll need a few extra ingredients however, but it's tasty and well-loved.

• 2 cups boiling water

• 1 (6 oz.) package cherry flavor gelatin

• 1 cup cold water

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

• 1 1/2 cups apples, chopped

• 1 cup chopped celery

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

• Lettuce leaves

• Apple slices and celery leave, optional

In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over gelatin; stir until dissolved. Add the cold water and lemon juice; chill until partially set. Fold in apples, celery and nuts. Pour into lightly oiled 6 cup mold or a 9 inch square baking pan. Chill until set, 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Serve on lettuce. Garnish with apple and celery leaves if desired.

If you love putting bananas in your cereal, then you might enjoy bananas in syrup! Much better for you than cookie tins, (because it's fruit, right?) these treats are sure to delight.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 tbs. water

• 8 firm bananas

• 1 1/2 cups coconut cream

• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

Cook the sugar and water over low heat until syrupy. Peel the bananas and arrange in a deep skillet. Pour the syrup over them; bring to a boil. Add the coconut cream mixed with the salt; cook over medium heat until cream is absorbed, turning the bananas frequently.

If you're up for another adventurous recipe, try nutter butter banana pudding trifle!

Coconut fritters are not as hard to make as you might think. These tasty desserts are great to share at work or to bring as a Christmas gift basket.

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups rice flour
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup flaked coconut
• 2 cups corn oil

Cook the sugar and water until syrupy. Cool. Sift the rice flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl; stir in the syrup and coconut. Let stand 2 hours.

Heat the oil in a deep skillet; drop the batter by the tablespoon into it. Fry until browned on both sides.

Fudgemallow delight is a wonderful treat if you're a big fan of fudge. This dessert is sort of like eating s'mores cookies as a chilled treat.

For the topping

• 2 ounces dark chocolate
• 1 (1.4-ounce) English toffee-flavored candy bar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 8 large marshmallows
• Your favorite ice cream (enough for 4 people)

This dessert is very sweet, so you might want to add fewer marshmallows, depending on your preferences. You can keep any leftover sauce in the refrigerator and reheat it in the microwave.

1. Break the chocolate and the candy bar into large chunks. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter with the sugar and cream over low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to medium and continue stirring 10 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened slightly. (be careful, as the mixture gets very hot and splatters. Use a very long wooden spoon to stir.) Reduce the heat to low.
3. Scoop the ice cream into four individual bowls. Put the marshmallows, chocolate, and candy bar chunks into the saucepan and stir once. Spoon the sauce over ice cream.

If you're a big fudge fan, check out this recipe for hot fudge sundae bowls.

Making pecan rolls is a little more difficult than one might imagine. It's as fun as making decorated cookies, but not as difficult as some of the more challenging recipes; pecan rolls are just the right level of baking for a typical baker.

• 3 ½ cups flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 envelope yeast
• ¾ cup skimmed milk
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp. skimmed milk
• icing sugar to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In food processor mix flour, sugar, salt and yeast for 30 seconds. Warm milk slightly and add to food processor alternately with eggs. Mix until a ball forms. Continue to mix for 1 more minute to knead dough. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let rise for 10 minutes.Filling:

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup chopped pecans
• ¼ cup raisins
• 1 tbsp. cinnamon
• ¼ cup skimmed milk

In a bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans, raisins and cinnamon. Mix well. Roll out dough to form a 9 in. x 12 in. rectangle. Brush with warm milk except for a ½ in. edge. Spread filling over dough. Roll up dough like a jelly roll. Pinch ends to seal well and fold them under roll.Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 1 hour until dough has doubled in size.In a bowl, beat egg yolk and milk, brush onto roll. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. After baking for 15 minutes cover with foil to prevent from becoming too dark in color. Let cool and sprinkle with icing sugar. [8 servings]

Love pecans? Try one of these brownie recipes with pecans!

Many of these points may seem self-evident but often they are ‘so’ that we tend to assume too much making us less of a baker.

1. Read the recipe over at least twice, slowly and carefully.
2. If you have any doubts about the meaning of the terms used in the recipe, look them up.
3. If the recipe calls for eggs, remove them from the refrigerator at least one hour before using, so that they can come up to room temperature. If they are to be separated, separate them immediately upon taking them from the refrigerator.
4. Arrange in a convenient place all of the ingredients called for in a cake.
5. Make sure that the pan you intend to use is the correct size; this is quite important, for an outsized pan would result in a flat cake, with a texture, appearance and taste totally different from what you anticipated. A small pan would result in an over-expanded cake, which would also be unsatisfactory. Use only shiny, unspotted pans for cakes, for they reflect heat best. Pies may be baked in glass pie plates.
6. Preheat the oven at least 20 minutes in advance, so that the oven can come up to the proper temperature. Oven temperatures must be checked carefully, for thermostats frequently go out of order. Place a small oven thermometer (they may be purchased for about $1.oo) in the oven to check the thermostat from time to time.
7. In most recipes including cookies and cakes, standardized measures are used, including teaspoons, tablespoons and cups. This does not mean that you may use any handy teaspoon, tablespoon or cup in your kitchen. One ordinary household tablespoon may hold twice as much as another tablespoon; it is absolutely essential that the standard measuring teaspoon, tablespoon and cup be used. If not, the entire balance of ingredients will be lost, and disappointment will inevitably follow.
8. Which rack in the oven should you use? Where there are no special instructions, place the cake on a rack in the middle of the oven, centering the cake as much as possible, so that heated air can circulate evenly around the cake. Don’t put anything else in the oven when making a cake, for this will interfere with proper baking. It would be poor economy to bake two large cakes at the same time, only to find that neither is properly baked. However, shallow cakes may be baked a few at a time if the recipe specifically calls for it. Assuming that the average oven has two racks, dividing the oven into three levels, you should follow these general rules:
   1. Bottom: Never use this for baking, for the bottom of the cake would be overly browned with the top remaining partially unbaked.
   2. Middle: This is the best for almost all baking, particularly unfilled pie or pastry shells.
   3. Top: This should be used only to brown quickly, or caramelize, the tops of cakes. Ordinarily, baking on the top rack would produce cakes which are too brown on top and unbaked on the bottom.
9. The baking time specified in each recipe can only be approximate because of the many variables (freshness of leavening, temperature variations in ovens, amount of kneading, etc.). It is quite essential that cakes be tested shortly before the end of the baking time specified. This is done best with a “cake tester” or a long toothpick or wooden match. If dough adheres to the cake gently with your finger; the cake should spring back quickly. If your finger leaves an impression on the surface, the cake is not done.
10. The recipes in this book are best suited for altitudes from sea level to 3,000 feet. If you live at a higher altitude, you will have to make a few allowances. First, because flour becomes drier and more compact at high altitudes, you should use less of it than the recipe calls for. Second, you should use yeast somewhat sparingly since yeast action is stronger at high altitudes. Third, you should increase your baking temperature very slightly: for example, if the recipe calls for 350°, make it 360°. However, high altitude baking varies somewhat from recipe to recipe, and only by experimenting will you find the correct allowances for a given cake or pastry.
11. To cool the cake, place the pan on a cake rack, so that air can circulate on all sides; if the cake is placed on a counter or other solid surface, no air can circulate under the bottom of the cake, and it will cool unevenly, with undesirable results. Unless otherwise directed, let the cake cool for about 15 minutes, and then loosen the sides gently from the pan with a spatula. Then remove the cake rack from under the cake pan, and place the rack on top of the pan. Invert quickly, holding the cake rack and cake pan together, remove the pan, and let the cake cool further.