Chewy Coconut Cranberry Cookies

These chewy oatmeal cookies really hit the spot.

There is a tasty balance of salty and sweet and the coconut and cranberries add chewiness and flavor.

Once you taste them you might want to double the recipe to make a bigger batch.

Chewy Coconut Cranberry Cookies
(makes 3 dozen cookies)

2/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together shortening, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add vanilla and egg and mix well.

Add flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix well.

Stir in the oats, coconut and dried cranberries.

Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets. Space them about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let the cookies cool on the sheetpans for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Amazing Burn Remedy

Like most busy bakers I've had my share of burns.

A few weeks ago while working at the Wednesday Community Meal I burned the palm of my hand  when I used a torn oven mitt that should have been tossed.

My friend and fellow volunteer Martha quickly came to my rescue with a bottle of cold yellow mustard. We learned about the remedy in "The People's Pharmacy" newspaper column and thought we should give it a try.

After running cold water over the burn for about 5 minutes it looked like it was going to blister. Martha squeezed the cold mustard over the burn and I put on a latex glove and got back to work.

The mustard immediately cooled the burn and took the pain away. I reapplied mustard about every 30 minutes for a couple of hours. After we finished work, Martha checked the burn with me and we could hardly see where it was and it didn't hurt at all.

Martha and I couldn't believe how fast the mustard worked to heal the burn. "It's a miracle," she said. I agree and the best part is that yellow mustard is inexpensive and readily available in your fridge.

I have no scar from the burn and am thankful for Martha's quick response.

Please note that the mustard treatment is for first and second degree burns. Please seek medical help for more serious injuries.

A Cake For Everyone

I'm throwing a last minute small surprise birthday party for my niece Maya so I turned to my recipe for vegan chocolate cake because it will please everyone on my guest list.

The birthday girl's mom is a vegan and who wants to make two cakes for a party?

I've already posted this great recipe (see my June 5, 2012 post) but I just can't emphasize enough how easy and foolproof this cake is.

And, if you are nervous about frosting and removing cakes from a pan this is the recipe for you because you serve it in the pan you bake it in and you just pour a glaze on top.

A few colorful sprinkles add a festive touch.


Vegan Chocolate Cake

Cake Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cup sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cup warm water
2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar

Chocolate Glaze
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
4 tbsp soy milk
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add the water, vanilla, oil, and vinegar, and mix well. Pour into the baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Cool on a rack completely (2 hours).

For the glaze, in a saucepan, bring sugar, margarine, milk, and cocoa to a boil. Stir frequently; then reduce heat to a simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir for another 5 minutes.

Bring the glaze to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

After the cake has cooled completely, pour on the glaze.

Add vanilla, stir, and immediately pour over cake. The glaze dries quickly so spread it immediately and add any sprinkles now. Let the cake cool for at least an hour before serving.           

Colorful sprinkles add a nice touch.

The Cobbler Is A Hit

My husband Joe enjoying cobbler with a side of frozen vanilla yogurt.

The Ginger Scented Raspberry cobbler turned out great. It's not too sweet and very satisfying.

Ginger Scented Fresh Raspberry Cobbler

Here's a lickety split dessert idea for your 4th of July celebration: Ginger Scented Fresh Raspberry Cobbler.

Oregon raspberries are at their peak right now so they're easy to find in stores and the price is right.

Or maybe you're like me and lucky enough to have generous friends with a large raspberry patch in their own backyard. Thank you Bill and Marsha!

Fresh just picked raspberries.

The cobbler can be put together in minutes and just needs to bake and cool a bit before serving. Vanilla ice cream would be great with this.

Ginger Scented Fresh Raspberry Cobbler
(serves 12 to 14)
6 cups fresh raspberries
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl combine raspberries with 1 1/3 cups sugar, vanilla and ginger. Set aside.

The raspberries will look like this after mixing them with the sugar, vanilla and ground ginger.

In another bowl combine melted butter with milk. Add flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well.
 
Spread batter in an ungreased 9 x 13 baking dish.

Drop raspberries over the top and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Let cool before serving.

The batter with the berries before baking.

Maple French Macarons

My latest French macaron creation is maple. The secret to a rich maple flavor is to use B grade pure maple syrup.

When it comes to baking, B grade is always my preferred choice over A grade because of its richer maple flavor and darker color.

I also like that the filling for these maple macarons couldn't be any easier. It's just a package of cream cheese, a bit of unsalted butter and 1/3 cup of the best B grade maple syrup you can find whipped together.

Maple Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 
Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small quarter sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.
While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable. 

Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.
Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Maple Filling.

Maple Filling
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup B grade pure maple syrup

Whip together cream cheese and butter. Add maple syrup and whip again.
Transfer to a piping bag to fill macarons.

Old Fashioned Filled Cookies

I shared one of my homemade mini berry tarts (see my June 18, 2012 post) with Ken who is my dad's very best friend. I've known him my whole life and he is like a second father to me.

Ken said the texture of the little tart reminded him of a filled cookie that he enjoyed when he was younger. My dad has also told me that he remembers his grandmother making raisin or fruit filled cookies.

And, my good friend Anne says she remembers her "Grannie" making date filled cookies.

Why is it so hard to find these old fashioned filled cookies today? They might be from the past but they are remembered fondly.

I decided I must find a recipe and asked Ken for his help. So he asked his sister Lucille who lives in upstate New York if she had a recipe she could share. Lucille found one and kindly sent it to Ken with the following note:

"Found this one recipe in old, torn & undated cookbook minus its cover. Copied it exactly as it's written in book."

The recipe had minimal instructions which Lucille wrote was common at the time.

Here is the recipe that Lucille found:

Filled Cookies
1 cup sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sour milk
1 scant teaspoon soda

Roll thin.

Filling for filled cookies:
4 tablespoons water
1 cup rasins, ground
1/2 cup sugar
juice 1/2 lemon

Cook & spread when cold!
 
There are so few instructions and no baking time or temperature but I knew I could make it work.

I decided to make a date filling instead of raisin and I made a few ingredient substitutions.

The end result was delicious and the recipe was easy. The finished cookie was softer than I expected but I liked it a lot. It reminded me of a date filled Fig Newton which for me is a very good thing.

Thank you Ken and Lucille! I am going to keep this recipe on file and am on a mission to make old fashioned filled cookies popular again.

Here's my new recipe:

Date Filled Cookies
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 egg
pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and buttermilk. Mix well.

Add baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour. Mix until it forms a soft dough.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Be sure to chill the dough at least an hour before rolling.

After it's chilled, roll the dough until it's just under 1/4 inch thick. The dough is quite soft and sticky so be sure to use enough flour.

Be sure to use enough flour when you roll the dough as it is rather soft and sticky.

Use small cookie cutter to cut squares or rounds and place on parchment lined baking sheets.

Use a small cookie cutter to cut rounds or squares.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown.
Let cool and sandwich the cookies between a layer of fillng.

Filling:
1 1/2 cups finely chopped dates
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar

Combine the filling ingredients in a small sauce pan and cook until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the dates break apart and the filling thickens. Be sure to watch it and stir constantly.

Remove from heat and let cool completely before spreading between the cookies.

The cooled date filling.