lemon basil shortbread cookies

i don't mean to be mad repetitive but those last shortbread cookies i made were so damn easy, i had to make them again. this time i used lemon and fresh basil instead of earl grey. the recipe i got was a bit different than the first one, but i baked it the same way. pressing down the dough into a pan and baking it is so much easier than cookie cutting it. it cuts the time down significantly. pero that also caused me to forget i was baking cookies after i threw the pan in the oven, so all the edges were super crispy. so don't do that. we enjoyed these cookies w tea and the movie ed wood after i had left the dentist and had botox stroke victim face. im pretty sure i drooled all over gillians couch.

Lemon Basil Shortbread

1 large egg, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 or 2 T. lemon peel (to taste)

2 T. basil flowers or 1 ½ T. fresh basil leaves chopped

10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks), cold and cut into small pieces

To begin to make the shortbread, in a small bowl beat together egg and vanilla extract until yolk is broken up and evenly combined; set aside.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add butter and mix until mixture looks like sand. Add egg mixture and mix just until dough comes together. Add lemon zest and basil.

 

*Form into a flat, rectangular disk, wrap in plastic, and chill at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 375°F. Place dough on a 14-inch piece of parchment paper, lightly flour, and roll into a 13-by-8-inch oval, about 1/4 inch thick. Transfer parchment paper with dough to a baking sheet, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate again for 15 minutes. Cut each cookie into a small circle using either a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass.* ***or press down into greased 13X9 inch baking dish. that'll save a ton of time but u may have to bake longer.

Place on a baking sheet and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let coo

earl grey shortbread cookies

baked these cookies today. they were super easy to make. even a monkey could do it, cuz i'm sure monkeys know how to use an electric beater, they do have opposable thumbs. u basically dump all 5 ingredients into a bowl, mix, then press onto the bottom of an 8 inch square pan.

earl grey shortbread cookies

*1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

*1 tbsp earl grey tea leaves (about 2 tea bags)

*1/2 cup powdered sugar

*1 cup flour

*1/2 tsp salt

preheat oven to 325 degrees F. grease an 8 inch square pan. beat together butter and tea. add powdered sugar and beat. add flour and salt then beat. transfer dough to prepared greased pan and press down with fingers to make an even layer. bake until edges are golden, about 30 minutes. using a fork make perforated lines down into the dough to form 16 cookies. cool for 10 minutes, then slide cookies out of pan.

i really enjoyed these cookies, especially since it's my first time baking shortbread cookies. the texture is just right and i'll def be making these again. the only thing i would change would be to either omit the salt of reduce it down to 1/4 tsp. i like this recipe cuz it's so easy aaaaand i can make it with all different kinds of teas.

irish car bomb cupcakes

i baked stout cupcakes as i do every st patrick's day, but  this year i changed it up a bit. i had left hand milk stout so i used that for the cupcake, and i made baileys frosting. i meant to do something with irish whiskey, but i kind of forgot, but either way these cupcakes were soo fuggin yummy. when i moved i apparently threw away my cupcake pan so i only had a mini cupcake pan and i must say i love baking mini cupcakes so much more than regular cupcakes. the take half the time to bake and sometimes a huge cupcake is too much for some people. so since this was my first time baking mini cupcakes, i didn't realize it meant i'd be making triple the cupcakes! so i bake half of the batter and i had like 50 cupcakes. i ended up bringing a bunch to work. then the following day i baked the remaining batter for a bbq and i still had a ton of cupcakes leftover from that, so i brought those to work as well.

irish car bomb cupcakes (yields 24 cupcakes, 48 mini cupcakes)

*1 cup stout

*1 cup butter, softened

*3/4 cup cocoa pwdr

*2 cups flour

*2 cups sugar

*1 1/2 tsp baking soda

*2 eggs

*3/4 tsp salt

*2/3 cup sour cream

frosting:

*2 cups butter, softened

*5 cups powdered sugar

*6 tbsp baileys

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. bring the stout and butter to a simmer in a saucepan. add the cocoa powder and whish until smooth. cool slightly. whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. beat eggs and sour cream together then add stout chocolate mixture. add the flour mixture. bake for 17 minutes (8-10minutes for mini cupcakes). frosting: whip butter, then add powdered sugar. add baileys and mix. frost cupcakes after completely cooled.

apple crumble pie

i had a giant bag of apples, so i made this pie again. it's def one of my favorite pies to eat. it's pretty easy to make, the only pain in the ass thing to do is cut up the apples. now that i'm looking at this photo, i want to eat this again.

cream cheese sugar cookies

 i haven't written a post in forever. i kind of actually forgot i had a blog until gillian mentioned it the other day. i've been away for a while. not locked up or anything. i just checked my last post and noticed it was right before i went to sedona, az (i did not join a cult either), i went to the grand canyon for the first time, then i moved back home to brooklyn for about 3 months, then i moved to amarillo, tx. so this recipe is the second thing i baked since i've been here. the first thing was a chocolate meringue pie that came out awful! i baked these cookies because i wanted to use the siamese twin gingerbread man cookie cutters my friend amanda had given me. she purchased them from the mutter museum in philly, which is a place i tell everyone to visit even though i haven't been there myself. i also realized i don't bake cookies too often and i want to learn how to make them better.

cream cheese sugar cookies

*1 cup sugar

*1 cup butter, softened

*1-3oz pkg of cream cheese, softened

*1/2 tsp salt

*1/2 tsp almond extract

*1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*1 egg yolk

*2 1/4 cup flour

combine sugar, butter, cream cheese, salt, almond & vanilla extracts. beat until smooth then stir in flour. chill dough for at least 8 hours. preheat oven to 375 degrees F. on lightly floured surface, roll out dough 1/3 at a time at 1/8 inch thickness. refrigerate remaining dough. cut w cookie cutter and bake on ungreased baking sheet for 7-10 minutes. cool completely before frosting.

the only thing i changed with the recipe is that i used lemon extract instead of almond extract. i also make a cream cheese lemon frosting. these cookies were da bomb.

black bottom banana bread

i've been trying to use up ingredients i have around the house, so i baked this black bottom banana bread. i had 3 bananas leftover from banana pancakes i made, and they were really really really ripe. almost rotton, but not yet. i also didn't have ovaltine, and since i was just using stuff i had around the house, i used this 3/8 cups of this chocolate caramel hot chocolate mix ryan bought me from disney world, and 1/8 cup of malted milk. i know, the way i'm describing this banana bread sounds so appealing, right? the end result is soo amazing. i love this recipe because it uses whole wheat flour and i love the flavor and texture of whole wheat, which is something i'm trying to use more of because i have a bag of it i need to finish before i move. also, the bananas, and yogurt make this whole wheat bread moist and not dry and all. ugh it's soo good i'm gonna eat it all.


1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup OVALTINE Rich Chocolate Mix
Directions
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Spray bottom of 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

COMBINE whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

COMBINE bananas, sugar, butter, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract in large bowl; stir well. Stir in flour mixture just until moistened. Remove 1 cup of batter and place into separate bowl along with Ovaltine; stir until combined.

SPOON Ovaltine mixture into prepared pan; top with remaining banana batter.

BAKE for 55 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes; transfer to wire rack to cool completely. (Bread can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

pecan pie

*notice how the photos have been so much better since i found my camera and i haven't been using my cell phone camera?

I finally baked a pecan pie! i don't know what took me so long to bake one. it's not like i'm scared of pecan pie like i'm scared of yeast. i think it's because i almost never buy pecans, even though i love pecans. i finally got ryan to try a pecan and he said "eh not so bad". BUT he has still not eaten a piece of pie yet! 

i baked the pecan pie because i'm trying to use up everything in the kitchen since i'm moving soon, and i had everything to bake this. surprisingly it was very easy positioning the pecans on the pie, even though they weren't all halves they were mostly quarter pieces and smaller. this pie has less of a corn syrup flavor, that wasn't done on purpose. i didn't want to buy dark corn syrup since i already had a giant light corn syrup i almost never use and i had a jar of molasses melinda had given me when she moved. so there ya go 3/4 cup light syrup and 1/4 cup molasses = 1 cup dark corn syrup. also i used 2 jumbo eggs instead of 3 eggs and it congealed just fine.

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup of dark corn syrup

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

1/4 cup of butter (4 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

4 ounces of pecans, halved

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (either store-bought or homemade)

Directions

In a small saucepan melt the butter and cool slightly.

In a large bowl, combine and stir the sugar, the syrup and the vinegar.

Add the melted butter and the beaten eggs. Pour the mixture into an unbaked pie crust.

Place the pecans on the top of the mixture and crust. Start on the edge and work your way inside.

Then take a fork and push down slightly on each pecan so it is in the mixture a bit.

Bake at 350 degrees F. until firm, which is about 1 hour.