Brown Butter Half Sheet Blondies

 Grease or spray a half sheet pan.     Preheat oven to 350.


1 stick butter, browned

2 sticks butter, melted



Mix together dry ingredients in an extra large bowl:

3 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt



Combine browned and melted butter, stir in:

3 cups brown sugar

then: 
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
4 eggs

Gently mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then stir in:

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped  (I accomplish this by putting nuts into a gallon ziploc bag and taking out my frustration with the bottom of a heavy saucepan!)

Spread on prepared half-sheet pan.    Bake approximately 25 minutes until lightly golden brown.  

When life gives you lemons ... or prematurely thawed blueberries: Blueberry Muffins

Life with three kids gets interesting.    Someone, probably someone with the same last name, left the freezer open a little bit ... enough that the ice bucket had chilled water and most of the food thawed.     Including a whole quart of New Jersey blueberries frozen for a winter pie.   I also had three ready-for-baking overripe bananas.  So I decided the only course of action (besides tossing thawed meat and cleaning the freezer) was to make muffins - a LOT of muffins:








Melt (or better yet brown!) a two sticks of butter.    Stir in three mushed overripe bananas.  Cool a little bit then stir in 1 1/2 cups of milk and a cup of sour cream, then 5 eggs, 1 Tablespoon vanilla and if you have it on hand a dash of orange oil.     Then add one cup of brown sugar and one cup of white sugar. 

In a separate bowl measure 7 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 Tablespoons of Baking powder (YES TABLESPOONS) and mix together

Stir liquids and dry ingredients together in whichever bowl is very large.   






I was using these new muffin papers, which allow me to make taller muffins in standard muffin tins.   Scoop about 3oz of batter into each muffin paper.    Sprinkle each LIBERALLY with sparkling sugar or raw sugar for a bit of a crispy top.  This made 31 large muffins.   (Most of which I wrapped individually in foil once cool - and into the freezer they hopped!)

Bake at 425 for about ten minutes (so they rise and get a nice crispy crust), then lower temp to 350 until cooked through. 

Homemade Caramels

Do you have a few extra hours today?     Want to spend them by the stove making as many calories as humanly possible in one pot?  And you have a candy thermometer at the ready?   Do you have real cream, butter and good vanilla?    Have I got the recipe for you! 

 I decided to try my hand at homemade caramels, so I read about 3 dozen recipes, decided I didn't want "microwave in seven minutes" or "open a can of sweetened condensed milk"  I wanted a recipe that belonged in my circa 1908 house ...      So I settled on this one:  http://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2014/12/10/moms-caramels/ with a few modifications:


In a large pot (I used a seven qt dutch oven), combine:

1 qt (4 cups) heavy cream
3 cups white sugar
3 cups brown sugar
1 pint (2 cups) corn syrup
1 pound (4 sticks) butter, sliced into pieces
1 Tbs kosher salt

Mix them all in the pot, then move to stove on medium-low heat.    Once the ingredients are all melted (I'm looking at you butter chunks), you begin the very slow ascent to 248F on your thermometer.     You don't have to stir quite constantly, but much like when you're stirring risotto, you can't leave the room for five minutes.    It's not a bad project while socializing with a visitor at your kitchen counter ...

One of the things you can do while you get ready is VERY lightly butter a 13 x 9 pan.     I also readied a couple of mini pans.    Maybe thinly slice an apple, for sampling any "drips" ;)  

KEEP THE HEAT LOW - barely bubbling.    Your patience will be rewarded.     It took me about 2.25 hours to bring the temperature SLOWLY up to 248F.     Did I mention low heat and going slowly?

Once you reach 248 take the pot off the heat and stir in 3 Tablespoons of GOOD quality vanilla

Pour the hot caramel into the prepared pan(s).    The scrapings from the bottom of the pot go onto a plate for cook's treat.    Allow the caramels to cool for 20-30 minutes, then sprinkle with kosher salt flakes if desired.   Leave undisturbed for at least a few hours and preferably overnight.


Cut caramels into bite size pieces - small bites if you're going to serve directly on a tray, larger bites to wrap individually:

Caramels cut and wrapped in squares of parchment paper:

TINY cuts of caramel on a tray with Turkish figs, petite basque, Chianti salami, along with roasted baby brussel sprouts and pistachios: 

Try the caramel in your mouth with a nutty cheese!   (Dubliner, Petite Basque, Parrano ...)





 

Soft Sugar Cookies

What to do on a rainy day with four young children to entertain?   (I was borrowing a couple of them for the morning)    Make cookies!     We didn't have quite enough time to make rolled cookies, wait for them to cool and then frost/sprinkle them, so I needed a recipe that added the sprinkles before baking.    These also TASTE very, very good. 

 

Soft Sugar Cookies

~ 2 dozen 

• 2 cups  all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 t double strength vanilla 

Preheat oven to 375 standard/350 convection.   Whisk flour with baking powder and salt.    In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar.    Then add in egg and vanilla (use the good stuff).       Much like when making peanut butter cookies, roll balls of dough in sugar (maybe bourbon/vanilla bean infused raw sugar?) or sprinkles, and place on parchment lined pans - far apart!    I was doing 8-9 cookies on a half sheet pan.     Bake 10-12 minutes until lightly browned on edges, allow to cool a few minutes on the parchment before removing from tray. 

Butter pecan icebox cookies

I've been playing around trying to develop a non chocolate go-to cookie, and I think these are a winner.  

1 stick butter, softened
1 C brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1.75 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugar, mix in egg and vanilla.   Mix in dry ingredients, then pecans.  Roll into one thick (about 4 inch) roll in wax or parchment paper and refrigerate a few hours or a few days.

Slice in 1 inch slices, then cut the round in quarters.  Bake on ungreased cookie pan at 375 for about 15 minutes.