Monday, April 12, 2010

No Bake Chocolate Cookies

2 cups sugar
1/4 c. margarine
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
3 cups quick cooking oats
Combine sugar, margarine, milk and cocoa in a 4 quart sauce pan. Cook at a full rolling boil for approximately 1 minute.
Remove from heat, add vanilla and peanut butter. Stir well. Add oatmeal to mixture, combine thoroughly.
Drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Cool until firm.

NEIMAN MARCUS Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups blended oatmeal (pulse oatmeal in a blender to make it flour like)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 - 4 ounces Hershey bar, grated
3 cups chopped nuts ( I often leave out )

Cream the butter and sugars; add eggs and vanilla and mix well. In another bowl, mix the flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Slowly add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips, grated chocolate and nuts. I used a rounded tablespoon of dough for each cookie. Roll each cookie into a ball and place on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. These cookies do spread out, so don't crowd them. Bake at 375 degrees for about 9-10 minutes. As soon as they began turning golden around the edges, I removed them from the oven and let them set on the cookie sheet about 30 seconds before removing to cooling racks. They stayed nice and chewy down to the last cookie!

Friday, April 2, 2010

Basic Crepes

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Lemon Crumb Muffins

Ingredients
6 cups all-purpose flour
4 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
8 eggs
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
2 cups butter, melted
3 tablespoons grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons lemon juice

TOPPING:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed

GLAZE:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
Directions
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, butter, lemon peel and juice. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over batter.
Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. In a small bowl, whisk glaze ingredients; drizzle over warm muffins. Yield: 40 muffins.

Traditional White Bread

Ingredients:
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
3 tablespoons white sugar
2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F
/45 degrees C) 3 tablespoons lard, softened
1 tablespoon salt
6 1/2 cups bread flour

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Stir in lard, salt and two cups of the flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
2. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
3. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Place the loaves into two lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf pans. Cover the loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.