Chocolate-Hazelnut Linzer Cookies

These cookies are a variation on the classic Linzer cookie.  Instead of jelly in the middle of the sandwich, there is a layer of Nutella spread.  The flavor compliments the hazelnuts in the dough.  I altered a recipe I found on MarthaStewart.com.  I didn't roast the hazelnuts as suggested.   As a result, I wasn't able to remove the skins.   This left some small brown specks in the dough, but the cookies still looked fine and tasted great.

Brown Butter Toffee Blondies & Pumpkin Chip Muffins

For Thanksgiving this year I made Pumpkin Chip Muffins and Martha Stewart's  Brown Butter Toffee Blondies.  I made the brownies once before for work and they were a hit.  They are so full of butter and are so good.  The muffins were tasty as well and not too sweet. 

I'm Back!

I haven't made a post in a while, but I have been baking and taking pics.  Here are some of my recent projects.  Stay tuned for more frequent updates!

French Toast Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting:



Martha Stewart's S'mores Cookies:

Paula Deen's Mystery Pecan Pie:



Valentine's Day Cookies

This year I made two kinds of cookies for Valentine's Day.  First, were poppy seed & strawberry jam sandwiches from Martha Stewart.com. Second, were a simple shortbread cookie with a chocolate drizzle.

Salt Dough Ornaments

Each Christmas I try to make hand-made ornaments.  This year I made salt dough ornaments, which are very inexpensive and relatively easy to make.

You'll need:
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 ½ cups hot water
2 teaspoons vegetable oil

fine gauge wire
small pliers
acrylic paint
paint brushes or sponges on sticks
clear top coat spray

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Cut fine gauge wire into inch-long pieces (around 30-40) and bend in half with a rounded tip at the center.  Set aside.

Mix together the salt and flour. Gradually add the water and vegetable oil.  Add additional flour or water as needed.  Knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and pliable.

Roll dough with rolling pin on floured surface to ¼” thickness. Cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters and place on a cookie sheet.   Insert the curved wires into the the top edge of the ornaments.  Only ¼” should stick out.

Bake at 200 degrees until ornaments are no longer soft.  This can take up to an hour. 

Once cooled, you can paint the ornaments on each side.  When the paint is dry, spray with clear spray paint.  Decorate as desired.   I used squeezable puffy paint for the gingerbread man ornaments and ribbon for the scottie dogs.

Check Out My Christmas Gift!

My mom made me an Everything's Baked tea towel for Christmas with her embroidery machine.  Pretty cool!

Pear-Cranberry Pie with Ginger

This is the second holiday that I've made this pear-cranberry pie with ginger.  I adapted a pear pie filling recipe from Allrecipes.com.  All I did was add 1/2 teaspoon of ginger and  2/3 cup of dried cranberries.   I also doubled a recipe for pie crust from the site as well.  This recipe produces an easy-to-roll crust.  Be sure to use pears that are soft but not over-ripe.