Monthly Archives: December 2016

Day Twelve-Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Peanut Butter Fudge

22 Thursday Dec 2016

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My oven and mixer have been working overtime this past week, so I thought I would give them a break and share my mom’s peanut butter fudge recipe.  Brian, Kelly and I are getting ready to go visit my sister, Jenna and her husband Justin in Dallas for the Christmas holiday.  Jenna and I have been talking a lot over the past few months not only about Suzanne’s Table but also about what we wanted to do for Christmas.  Our mom passed on right before Christmas last year so neither of us really celebrated anything and we decided it was time to start our own holiday traditions.

We have been reminiscing while making plans for our upcoming Christmas dinner, about Suzanne’s tomato pudding and my favorite, her cheesy jalapeno grits.  Jenna was the one who remembered mom’s peanut butter fudge.  I could remember pan after pan of the chocolate fudge, but not this one. For most my life I was not a fan of anything peanut butter, so I think that is why I must have blocked it out, it is only recently I have acquired the taste for peanut butter.

I decided to wait till day 12 to make the peanut butter fudge so I could take it to my sister, however, after tasting it, I am not sure if it will make it there, we may eat it all on the drive down.

 

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Peanut Butter Fudge

You will need a candy thermometer for this recipe

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup half and half

¼ cup butter or margarine

½ cup marshmallow cream

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 tbsp light corn syrup

½ cup peanut butter

2 tsp vanilla

Before starting to cook, butter an 8-inch square pan.  In a large pot, combine sugars, half and half and corn syrup. Cook over low heat, stirring gently until sugar dissolves.  Raise to medium heat and cover pot fo 3 minutes to wash sugar crystals down from the side of the pot.  Uncover and place the candy thermometer in the pot, and cook to soft ball stage (235 degrees), stirring occasionally.

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When mixture reaches 235, remove from heat and add in butter, peanut butter, marshmallow cream and vanilla.  Stir until smooth. Pour into your prepared square pan. When cool cut into squares.  Makes about 1 ½ pounds.

Day Eleven-Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Chocolate Crinkles

21 Wednesday Dec 2016

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There are so many favorite recipes in both Suzanne’s Table and my grandmother’s cookie book that I am sure I could keep posting about cookies for weeks, but as every good cook knows you have to taste along the way and keep tasting to make sure whatever you are making tastes delicious. I swear I have gained 5 pounds since this started.  This past week and a half I have enjoyed recreating and sharing my family memories but once the holidays are over I want to start talking about all the other wonderful recipes that mean something to me, but baking will always be a part of this project, just not cookies for awhile.

I am sure at some point some of you have come across a chocolate crinkle recipe.  They are quite popular, I have seen variations of this cookie with red velvet, mint, and lemon just to name a few.  Kelly told me they remind her of a snowflake.  To quote her, “Kristi they remind me of delicious chocolate snowflake if there were such a thing as delicious chocolate snowflakes.”  Of course, these cookies always made an appearance on the holiday cookie platters my grandmother put together, but I remember them for another reason.  While I was away at college, I would receive a package in the mail every few months from my grandma. These boxes would be filled with cookies, and sometimes with other hidden surprises ($$$), knowing how much I loved chocolate crinkle cookies, they were always inside. There would always be a sweet note from my grandma telling me how much she missed me and there would be enough cookies to feed my entire dorm. It is because of these memories that this recipe made the list of twelve.

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Chocolate Crinkles

Preheat oven to 360 degrees

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

4 oz melted unsweetened chocolate

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup confectioners sugar

* Chill mixture several hours or overnight before baking (I only waited 3 hours)

Mix oil, melted chocolate and granulated sugar in large bowl, blend in eggs, 1 at a time until well mixed.  Add vanilla.  Stir in flour, baking powder and salt into wet mixture. Cover and chill.  Roll dough into balls, about a teaspoon full, and roll in confectioners sugar. Place balls on greased or parchment covered baking sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes. Makes six dozen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Ten- Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Snickerdoodles

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

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Today I am continuing the theme of baking with kids as a fun activity over winter break or anytime.  My niece Ashley loves to bake.  She is very creative in the kitchen, she and her sister, Haley,  have created their own version of “Chopped” at home.  Whenever Ashley comes over to visit she always asks me if we can bake something.  Recently we were having a conversation about pie and she told me how she had never made one, but wanted to learn.  I told her that Auntie Kristi loves making pies and I would teach her how.

I invited her over on a Saturday afternoon to play in the kitchen.  I also managed to turn the baking lesson into a math lesson as well, giving her only the 1/4 measuring cup, I asked questions such as “if you need 1 1/2 cups of sugar, how many 1/4 cups is that?”  Knowing we had lots of time I planned for her to make a pie and a cookie. Since I am on a cookie theme until the end of the week, today’s post is about the cookies she made, Snickerdoodles to be exact.  However, it should be mentioned, that her first attempt at making a pie was a great success.

Like Kelly, Ashley is also 10 and very comfortable in the kitchen.  I showed her choices of what we could bake and once we knew what we were making I had her read the recipe to make sure she understood each step.  Ashley did everything, measured her flour out level and even, rolled the cookie balls, placed them on the sheet evenly, every step she knew what her mission was and she was flawless. Ashley’s cookies were amazing, they turned out perfectly.

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Snickerdoodles

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

1/ cup salted butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

For rolling cookies before baking:

3 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine the butter, shortening, sugar, and eggs.  Thoroughly mix with electric mixer on medium speed until well combined, the mixture should have a creamy texture.  Sift together the flour, cream of tarter, baking soda and salt, add this into your wet mixture.  Next, in a small bowl combine the rolling sugar and cinnamon together.  Shape the dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, about 1 tbsp per ball, and roll each one the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Arrange on ungreased cookie sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 8-1o minutes.  Edges should be set and the center still soft. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Makes about 4 dozen.

 

 

Day Nine- Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Edible Holiday Wreaths

19 Monday Dec 2016

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When my husband Brian and I got married, I became step-mom to Kelly.  Brian and Kelly like to go fishing and hiking together, two activities I prefer to skip out on, so over the years Kelly and I have found our own common interests. Kelly lives with her mother most of the time, but when she spends time with us I like to have fun projects for us to do, many of them involve spending time in the kitchen. Kelly just turned 10, but she has been helping me in the kitchen since she was 5. We started with small tasks, but this past summer she successfully made quite a few recipes with little help from me.  She is great at chopping vegetables, with even more precision at making even cuts then mine tend to be.

Kelly arrived last night to spend winter break with us. She and I started talking about cookies and she immediately wanted to go to the kitchen and start creating. I chose a simple recipe that she could do on her own with my supervision.

This recipe is very similar to making a rice krispie treat, with a holiday twist.  It is easy to put together and last night Kelly made our wreaths from start to finish.  All I did was read the steps to her and made sure she was careful around the stove. If you are looking for a fun project with your kids over winter break, this one is fun.

 

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Edible Wreaths

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 tsp green food coloring

4 cups of cornflakes

40 large marshmallows

3 drops of mint extract (optional)

3 tbsp cinnamon red hot candies

Before you start cooking, line counter top with wax paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

 

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I had Kelly pre-measure everything she would need to make her wreaths

 

 

Using a large sauce pan,  begin to melt butter over low heat when melted add in marshmallows,  stir constantly until marshmallows are completely melted.  Remove from heat and add in the mint extract (optional) food coloring and cornflakes.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.  Butter a small spoon and drop small mounds of cornflake mixture on waxed paper.  Lightly butter fingers and form cornflake mounds into wreaths with holes in the center.  Decorate with cinnamon candies.

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Day Eight-Suanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Cranberry Bars

18 Sunday Dec 2016

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Around the holiday’s the deep freezer in our garage was always filled to the top, half of that space being taken up by pre-made pie and tart shells and of course cookies.  I think my grandmother started baking for the holidays a week before Thanksgiving and finally stopping on Christmas Eve.  Christmas morning there was fresh coffee cake, rolls, and bread at dinner and of course, cookies, lemon and mincemeat tarts and an occasional pie to end the meal.

Today’s cranberry bars are one of those cookies that you can make weeks ahead of time, they freeze better than most. In fact, the note at the bottom of the recipe reads “you can freeze bars in a tightly sealed plastic container or bag for up to 12 months, to serve thaw 10-15 minutes at room temperature.”  Although, I don’t think any cookie ever lasted 12 months in our family freezer.

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Cranberry Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp finely shredded lemon peel

1 ½ cups quick cook oats

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp baking soda

¾ cups melted butter

1 can of cranberry jelly

In large mixing bowl, stir together flour, oats, brown sugar, lemon peel and baking soda.  Stir in melted butter and mix well.  Reserve 1 ¼ cups of mixture for topping,  pat the remaining oat mixture into an un-greased pan.  I use a 9×9 pan, but for thinner bars, you can go up to a 9×13 pan.  Bake for 20 minutes

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After 20 minutes, spread the cranberry sauce evenly across baked crust, and sprinkle remaining dry mixture on top of cranberry sauce.  Lightly press into cranberry sauce.

Bake for 25-30 minutes more until top is golden.  Cool pan on a wire rack and cut into bars when cool.  Makes about 24 bars.

 

Day Seven- Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Sugar and Spice

17 Saturday Dec 2016

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On the inside cover of my grandmother’s cookie book, the page number for sugar and spice cookies was written down and there was a star next to it.  This same recipe made it into Suzanne’s Table cookbook. Growing up, the smell of fresh baked cookies wafted through our home on a daily basis, not just during the holidays.  If someone were to ask me to use words to describe cookies baking in the oven, my words would be home, family, and grandma.

Back in my single girl days living in Chicago, I rarely ventured into the kitchen to actually turn on my oven, but once in a while I would dust off my cookie sheets, and make a batch of something. Like her rolling pin, I also brought my granma’s cookie sheets when I moved to my first apartment. It has been 21 years since I started using them and I still use them today.  I have tried newer ones, but I just don’t get the same even results, I am convinced that some of her magic is infused into her cookies sheets and that is why I get the consistent results I do, or it could be that my skills have just improved over the years.

The cookie is basically a classic molasses cookie, with a fancier name. It is crunchy when you bite into it and soft on the inside.  I love the smell of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger as it is baking in the oven.  Looking outside at the snow covered trees and the expectation of more snow coming today, the smell of these cookies baking make me feel all warm and cozy.

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Sugar and Spice Cookies

Preheat oven to 375

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

¾ cup shortening

¼ cup dark molasses

2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp salt

¾ tsp ground cloves

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

¾ tsp ground ginger

¼ cup granulated sugar for dipping

In mixing bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients, mix until well combined then add in the remaining dry ingredients except for the granulated sugar.  Place bowl in the refrigerator to chill the dough.  I usually only wait about 15-20 minutes.  Roll cookies into balls about 1 ½ inch size and dip the top in the granulated sugar.

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Place sugar side up on greased cookie sheet (you can also line your sheet with parchment paper instead of greasing.) Bake for about 12 minutes.  Makes about 3 ½ dozen cookies.

Day Six- Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies- Orange Drops

16 Friday Dec 2016

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Today I present Orange Drops.  My paternal grandmother was a southern woman,  born there and lived her entire life in the South.  She lived most of her life in Memphis, TN and eventually retired to Sarasota, FL. Every year she would send my dad a giant box of oranges shortly before Christmas.  My dad being a southern boy would spend hours working on those oranges to make a giant bowl of ambrosia salad.  It was his contribution to our Christmas dinner every year.  My Grandmother Effie would grab a bunch of those oranges and make her orange drop cookies.  They were one of my mom’s favorites.

As I have been making these family recipes, vivid images and memories have been floating in and out of my mind.  For example, talking about my dad’s ambrosia salad I can pictures the crystal bowls my mom pulled out every year for this one purpose.  The orange drops bring back memories of my mom and grandmother sitting down for a cup of tea to enjoy the first batch fresh of out of the oven.

Orange Drops

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Makes about 3 dozen

Cookie:

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp grated orange peel

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup orange juice

2/3 cup shortening

Mix all the dry ingredients together in small bowl and set aside. Mix sugar, shortening, orange peel, orange juice and egg together in large bowl. Slowly add in dry ingredients. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart on un-greased baking sheet. Bake 8-9 minutes until edges are golden and cool.

While cookies are cooling, make the frosting.

Frosting:

2 cups confectioners sugar

1 tbsp grated orange peel

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp orange juice

Mix all ingredients together until well combined and of spreading consistency.  If your mixture is still stiff add an additional tablespoon of orange juice. Spread over cooled cookies.

 

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I suggest leaving them on a cooling rack as the frosting hardens slightly, as you can see it can get a little messy

 

 

Day Five- Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Double Chocolate Mint Bars

15 Thursday Dec 2016

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For day five I am sharing my grandmother’s recipe for Double Chocolate Mint Bars.  To me, chocolate and mint are the perfect pairings.  Of course, that may have something to do with the fact that mint chocolate chip ice cream is my all-time favorite. However, I am a big fan of anything chocolate mint. This is a 3 layer cookie bar, the bottom layer is soft like cake, it has a green mint buttercream filling, followed by a melted chocolate top. If you aren’t a fan of green you can use any color food coloring you would like, or just use the golden butter cream as is.

This recipe is broken down into 3 parts, there is a baked chocolate layer, the festive buttercream layer and then the melted chocolate topping over the top.  It is a little time consuming because you have to chill the pan between each layer but I promise it is worth the wait.

Double Chocolate Mint Bars

Batter:

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup butter

16 ounces of chocolate syrup

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

In large bowl beat flour, sugar, butter, eggs and syrup until smooth.  Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. The top may still appear wet. Cool completely in pan before adding the mint cream layer.

 

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The spongy batter fresh out of the oven

 

Mint Cream layer:

2 cups confectioners sugar

½ cup butter

½ tsp mint extract or 4 drops of peppermint oil

1 tbsp water

Green food coloring (or whatever color you desire)

Combine all ingredients in small bowl and beat until smooth. Once batter layer is cool, spread over the top and chill again.

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Chocolate Topping:

6 tbsp  butter

1 cup mint or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Using double boiler melt butter and chocolate until mixture is smooth when stirred.  As an alternative to a double boiler, you can place in bowl and microwave on high in 1 ½ minute increments until melted and smooth.  Pour over the chilled pan and cut into small pieces and chill until ready to serve.

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Day Four- Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Brownies with Nutella Topping

14 Wednesday Dec 2016

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Today I want to share with you one of my new favorites, Brownies with a Nutella topping.  I recently found this recipe and like I do with so many, I make slight changes to suit my tastes.

This brownie is not only rich and chocolaty but also slightly gooey.  I suggest keeping it in the pan until ready to serve as opposed to placing it on a cookie tray.  I always eat them with a fork.  I was asked to make something sweet for Thanksgiving this year, and rather than opting for the traditional pumpkin, pecan or apple pie, I thought chocolate would be a good route to take, and I was right, they were very well received.

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Brownies with Nutella Topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 9″ baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

1 cup butter

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Topping:

1/2 cup Nutella

1 cup toffee bits (I buy the already chopped heath bar bits, you can find them in the aisle with chocolate chips)

To start, melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in sugar and remove from heat. Cool for 5 minutes.

While butter is melting, in small bowl mix together the dry ingredients and set aside

In large mixing bowl, place the sugar, once the butter is melted pour over the top of the sugar, allow butter-sugar mixture to cool for a few minutes.  Next, add eggs, one at a time, whisking until combined, then add vanilla extract. Once that is thoroughly mixed add the dry ingredients, add in small increments making sure the dry mixture is thoroughly mixed in.  The consistency should be shiny and there should be no flour streaks remaining. Pour into prepared baking pan. Bake for 28-33 minutes, bake for less time if you want a gooey brownie.

Remove from oven when done baking and while still warm evenly spread the Nutella over the brownies, follow by sprinkling the toffee chips over the top. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.  However, I rarely can wait that long and my first brownie is usually a clumpy mess of gooey chocolate yumminess.

 

Day Three- Suzanne’s Table Twelve Days of Cookies: Swedish Coconut Cookies

13 Tuesday Dec 2016

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Today I present to you Swedish Coconut Cookies.  They have the texture of shortbread, they are buttery and delicious.  Since they are a drier cookie, as opposed to chewy, they can be made in advance and still be tasty when you are ready to serve them even if it is a few days later.

My mom was quite proud of this recipe, in fact, she won a blue ribbon at the Michigan State Fair in the cookie category with this cookie.

She had this plaque done in decoupage and it hung in our kitchen.

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To make cookies, I start with toasting the coconut. To toast the coconut, preheat oven to 325 and spread coconut in cookie pan in an even layer

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Toast in oven for about 10 minutes, halfway through the process I stir the coconut around to make sure it toasts evenly.  When done, let it cool slightly before mixing into cookie batter.

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While the coconut is toasting, I like to start the batter. I begin with the butter, shortening and sugar, mix it well until it is creamy. Then add the remaining dry ingredients.

For the dough in the shape of balls and flatten slightly

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Once baked I let cool for only a minute and transfer to cooling rack

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Swedish Coconut Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2 cups white sugar

1 cup shortening

1 cup butter

1 cup toasted coconut

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

Cream together butter, shortening, and sugar. Stir in flour, baking powder and soda, salt and toasted coconut.  Roll into balls about the size of a hickory nut. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and flatten slightly.  Bake for 28-30 minutes. Makes about 8 dozen.