Oatmeal Pomegranate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on November 17, 2012 by eatcookblog

Remember I told you about the beautiful pomegranates my coworker Melissa has been bringing to work? I’ve been using the seeds (they are actually called arils) in salads and cocktails, but I wanted to find a delicious way to feature them in a dessert or baked good. I Googled and came across a few different variations of this oatmeal cookie. I love oatmeal cookies. I thought the seeds might be a little tart, but they’re not at all and they soften up a bit with baking. And the white chocolate adds just a little extra sweetness.

Tony says they are his new favorite cookie. And I brought a couple to my sister-in-law, who is not usually a fan of sweets (I know, crazy, huh?!), but she is fond of an oatmeal cookie (oh, and my Carrot Cake and my Double Chocolate Brownies). She said they are her favorite cookie ever. Good enough reviews? I have to make another batch tomorrow.

Oatmeal Pomegranate White Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup white chocolate chunks (or chips)
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (you can find seeds/arils at Trader Joe’s and at some supermarkets OR seed a whole pomegranate yourself…scroll down to end of recipe for directions)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.

Stir in the oats and white chocolate chunks. Gently stir in the pomegranate seeds. Make dough balls-about 1 tablespoon of dough per cookie. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

If using a whole pomegranate – over a bowl (to catch any juices), cut the pomegranate into four pieces. Then cover the pieces, in the bowl, with cold water and start pulling the seeds out with your hands. The seeds will fall to the bottom and the “other stuff” will rise to the top. Now remove the “other stuff” and drain the water.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Posted on October 31, 2012 by eatcookblog

One of the things I love about fall is the plethora of pumpkin baked goods. I make Pumpkin/Cream Cheese Bars. I make a Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese & Toffee Filling for Thanksgiving. I’ve made Pumpkin Cheesecake and Pumpkin Creme Brulee. I had a Pumpkin Bread Pudding in a restaurant recently that was out of this world. So when my friend Leah Singer posted (or rather “re-pinned”) a recipe for Pumpkin Snickerdoodles, I couldn’t wait to make them! I mean, who doesn’t love Snickerdoodles? I printed the recipe and it was sitting on my kitchen counter. Then I got really busy at work. Then I got the mother of all colds. Then the culmination of the really busy at work took place with a luncheon event for 200 that I had been planning for six months. Oh, and did I mention I had the mother of all colds? Bad timing. The event was a success, regardless of how bad I was feeling…it’s amazing what sheer adrenaline can do.

I might interject at this point that I had been feeling so lousy that I really wasn’t doing much cooking. And for me, the worst part about being sick is not feeling like cooking! Cooking and baking are my stress relief, my therapy. So I took a couple of days off and finally last weekend got back in the kitchen and baked the Pumpkin Snickerdoodles. They are amazingly delicious (and, wow, did the house smell heavenly while they were baking!). I love the addition of allspice in the sugar/cinnamon mixture for rolling the cookies in. I’ve got to be honest though, they were a little “cake-y” for me. I like a harder, more crumbly cookie, but the flavor made up for it. I took them to work and shared them with my coworkers and everyone loved them. And enough of them asked for the recipe, that I’m going to share.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

INGREDIENTS

For the cookies:

3¾ cups all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

Dash of allspice

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Blend in the pumpkin puree. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper. Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend. Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough. Store in an airtight container. And share with your coworkers. They’ll love you for it.

Cambria, Paso Robles, Wine, Olive Oil and Chocolate Chip Cookies with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

Posted on October 24, 2012 by eatcookblog

Last weekend we went with a group of friends to Cambria (California’s central coast, north of San Luis Obispo, south of Big Sur). It was really beautiful and a lot of fun. One of the highlights was the day we spent in Paso Robles (the wine country just east of Cambria). We hired a van and driver through the Wine Wrangler (or, as it was called by the end of the day, “The Wine Wangler”. Lol.) We stopped at Farmstand 46 for absolutely incredible gourmet sandwiches (I had the “Monte Carlo”…tuna, bouquerones, pickled egg, red onion and salt & vinegar potato chips on a French roll! OMG…best tuna sandwich EVER) and ate in the art gallery at Castoro Cellars (incredibly beautiful vineyards and a superb Chardonnay).

One of the highlights of the day was visiting Kiler Ridge Olive Farm for olive oil tasting. Kiler Ridge is located on a hilltop, with 360-degree spectacular views of the valley and nearby vineyards. Owner Gregg Bone is a retired chemist and boy, oh boy, did we learn a lot about olive oil! He told us that olive oil has three main flavor characteristics: bitterness, pungency and fruitiness. And that time and exposure to light are enemies of olive oil and its beneficial triglycerides, so buy smaller bottles of olive oil and store them in a dark, cool place.

But let’s back up a month or so to when we were planning the Wine Wrangler outing. I had researched a few vineyards and emailed everyone about olive oil tasting. Everybody was game. One of the full gastro-touristing experiences offered at Kiler Ridge is tasting vanilla ice cream with olive oil and sea salt. A few friends in our group weren’t so keen on that. They thought it sounded weird. I agreed that it sounded weird, but would venture to say that its really delicious.

Which, of course, got me thinking that there must be some incredible baked good using olive oil and sea salt, that I could bake and bring up to share with everyone. So I found a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies with Olive Oil & Sea Salt. What the heck. I decided to give them a try. To be honest, after making the “dough”, I was really nervous. It was so gloppy (is that a word?) and oily-looking. I figured they’d spread all over the pan when put in the oven. They didn’t! They firmed right up into lovely golden cookies. So I froze them and brought them with me. After eating our lunch at Castoro, I brought out the cookies. Everybody loved them. The olive oil just gives them a sort of earthy deliciousness. And the sea salt just adds that extra little “zing”.

Okay, so now back to Gregg at Kiler Ridge. About five minutes into his talk, as he’s explaining the differences between real extra virgin olive oil compared to the stuff that’s commercially pressed and bottled by the big name brands, I was feeling a little bad about my chocolate chip cookies. Okay, only a little bad. We all still thought they were delicious (in fact, we managed to eat every last one), though we did nickname them “the tainted chocolate chip cookies”. I’m just glad I didn’t offer one to Gregg!

And I am definitely down with trying the vanilla ice cream with olive oil and sea salt!

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Olive Oil & Sea Salt

INGREDIENTS

1 cup extra virgin olive oil (Besides the obvious, Kiler Ridge, Gregg also recommends California Olive Ranch and Costco’s Toscana brands.)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

coarse sea salt

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, soda, and salt.

In a larger bowl, “cream” olive oil and sugars. It will get soupy, but it won’t really get fluffy like it does with butter. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition and then add the vanilla. Now you can put the mixer on high for a minute, just to fluff the eggs out, but don’t do it for too long because olive oil can turn bitter if over worked.

Add flour gradually

Stir in chocolate chips and nuts

Scoop out blobs of cookie dough (about two tablespoons) onto ungreased cookie sheets. No need to flatten these will melt into gorgeous little blobby puddles.

Sprinkle a smidgen of coarse sea salt on top of each cookie.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until just lightly browned.

Let cool on pans for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool (or, whatever, start eating them warm!) And they freeze beautifully!

Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes with Roasted Apples and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Posted on September 28, 2012 by eatcookblog

What happens when you can’t decide whether to make Smitten Kitchen’s Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting OR Roasted Apple Spice Sheet Cake? OR whether to make a sheet cake or layer cake? You get Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes with Roasted Apples and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting! And holy shmoly are they good! I think I have outdone myself.

As written below, this recipe makes enough cake batter for one 8-9″ square pan or about 18 cupcakes. I made cupcakes and doubled the frosting amount. Had just a little left over and I did a very generous scoop of frosting!

Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes with Roasted Apples and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS

For cake
1 medium apple, any variety you like to bake with, peeled, halved and cored

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs

1-1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

For frosting (double if making cupcakes!)
5 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Finely chopped walnuts, optional, for decorating

Dried apple rings, optional, for decorating

Roast apple: Heat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet or roasting pan with parchment paper. Arrange apple halves face down on paper and roast in a single layer until they feel dry to the touch and look a little browned underneath, about 20 minutes. Slide parchment paper with apple onto a cooling rack and set aside. Once cool, chop into smallish chunks (about 1/2″).

Reduce oven to 350°F.

Butter an 8- or 9-inch square cake pan. Cut parchment paper to fit on bottom, line the pan with parchment and butter that too or put liners in cupcake pan.

Make cake: Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in applesauce. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined, then stir in roasted apple pieces (should be about a cup). The batter will look a little curdly and uneven but don’t worry, it will all bake up perfectly in the end.

Spread batter evenly in pan and bake until golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to loosen, then invert onto a plate. Reinvert cake onto a rack to cool completely.

If making cupcakes, fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full. They don’t dome up too much, so you can safely fill them pretty full. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Let cupcakes cool in pan on wire rack for about 15 minutes,, then remove from pan onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make frosting: Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Sift powdered sugar and cinnamon over cream cheese mixture, then beat at medium speed until incorporated. Spread frosting over top of cooled cake. If making cupcakes, I used an ice cream scoop (about 3 tablespoons) to generously top each cupcake.

To decorate, I sprinkled each cupcake with a little chopped walnuts and then took one smallish apple ring, cut it (just so its not a ring anymore) and then twisted it (like the lime or lemon twist garnish in your cocktail.) Too cute!

Potato Chip Cookies

Posted on September 27, 2012 by eatcookblog

Potato Chip Cookies. Sound kinda weird, I know. The first time I heard of them was a couple of years ago when my brother-in-law Sam was filming a segment for his show (oh, right, Sam as in Sam the Cooking Guy) where he was featuring recipes that viewers had sent him. He called me to see if I had ever heard of Potato Chip Cookies and if I thought they would be too weird. I said, “I bet they are actually good, with the saltiness of the potato chips added to a sweet cookie”. So he made them on the show and actually liked them.

Then, a few months ago, I saw a Potato Chip Cookie recipe posted on my favorite Smitten Kitchen. She tops hers with a little extra crumbled potato chip and says you can drizzle them with or dip them in chocolate. OMG. I printed out the recipe and had every intention of making a batch, but it ended up in the recipe file.

And then, when I was visiting a friend in Gig Harbor, WA, last month, she had a cookie jar on her kitchen counter and I asked what the cookies were. She said, “Border Sugar Cookies…they’re good. They have potato chips in them.” Oh boy. They were good! But why are they called Border Sugar Cookies? So we looked up and compared the recipes. Virtually the same. Border Sugar Cookies are Potato Chip Cookies, but when they serve them at the Border Grill in Santa Monica, they call them Border Sugar Cookies. Fine.

So fast forward to a coworker’s birthday last week. She had mentioned that she likes Snickerdoodle or shortbread type cookies, not too sweet, and chocolate is not her favorite (okay, whatever, she’s still a nice kid, and I do love me a shortbread-y, salty, sweet cookie…see Margarita Cookies, also from SK.) Finally! Just the excuse I needed to make Potato Chip Cookies!

I pulled the SK recipe and followed it to the tee. I didn’t drizzle with chocolate, I don’t know that they really need them. These are delicious. And not weird at all. In fact, I think I may have a new favorite cookie!

Potato Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS

Cookie

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup finely crushed potato chips

2 cups all-purpose flour

Potato chip/salt finish (SK says optional, I think its necessary!)

1 tablespoon crushed potato chips

1-1/2 teaspoons flaked sea salt

Chocolate finish (optional)

4 ounces semi-or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon butter, canola oil or vegetable shortening

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter with 1/2 cup of the sugar until lightly and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla and table salt, if using, until smooth. Add the pecans, 1/2 cup crushed potato chips and flour together and mix until just combined.

Place the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Scoop a tablespoon-sized mound of dough and form it into a small ball with the palms of your hands. Roll the ball in the remaining sugar until coated. Place on prepared baking sheet and using the bottom of a drinking glass to slightly flatten the cookies. Cookies only need to be an inch apart; they only spread a little. Sprinkle with a few flakes of the potato chip salt, if using. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake cookies until lightly golden at the edges, about 15 minutes. Transfer to cool on a wire rack.

If dipping in chocolate, melt chocolate with butter, oil or shortening in a double boiler or in short bursts in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Dip half of each fully cooled cookie in the chocolate, and let dry and harden on a wire rack. If drizzling, let the chocolate cool slightly and then dip the tines of a fork in the chocolate and drizzle over the cookies.

Apples & Honey Cake

Posted on September 12, 2012 by eatcookblog

The Jewish High Holidays are almost upon us. The holidays begin with Rosh Hashanah (from the Hebrew words rosh, meaning head or beginning, and hashanah, meaning year). Tradition tells us that we should dip apples in honey to ensure that the coming year is sweet. I like to include apples and honey in my holiday recipes as well. This is one of my very favorites.

Fast & Festive Meals for the Jewish Holidays is my “go to” cookbook for anything Jewish. I bought the book and met the author, Marlene Sorosky, some years back (in fact, I just opened the book and looked at what she signed, “To Cheryl, Yom Tov! Marlene Sorosky, 9/97”) and have made many of the recipes in it since then.

This cake is all apple-cinnamon-honey-y. It’s moist and dense and delicious. I think I’ve made at least one every Rosh Hashanah since 1997! Marlene calls it “Crowned Apple Cake”. I call it “Apples and Honey Cake”. You’ll want to add it to your holiday recipe collection. (Actually, you’ll want to add it to just your plain ol’ recipe collection…you don’t have to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, or any holiday for that matter, to enjoy it!)

Apples and Honey Cake

INGREDIENTS

Apple mixture:

4 large green apples (about 2-1/2 pounds), such as Granny Smith or Pippin
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1/3 cup orange juice
3 teaspoons baking powder
2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
About 1/2 cup walnut or pecan halves for topping (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in lower third of oven. Grease and spray a 10-inch tube pan with removable bottom.

Peel, quarter, core and slice apples inch thick. Place in medium bowl with honey and cinnamon. Toss to coat and set aside while preparing cake.

In a large mixing bowl with electric mixer on low speed, mix flour, sugar, oil, eggs, orange juice, baking powder, vanilla and salt until combined.

Increase to moderately high speed and mix until well-blended, about 2 minutes.

Pour one-third of the batter into prepared pan. Arrange one-third of the apple slices over the mixture and sprinkle with chopped nuts, if using.

Cover with half the remaining batter. Arrange half the remaining apple slices over batter and top with remaining batter, spreading the top evenly.

Overlap remaining apple slices around top of batter, extending out like petals.

Pour any juices that remain in bowl over apples. If desired, arrange nut halves along the outer edge to circle cake.

Place cake on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 80 to 90 minutes, or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean. If top gets too brown, cover loosely with foil. Remove cake from oven and cool 10 minutes. Loosen from pan edges and bottom with a spatula. Lift cake from pan to serving plate.

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

Posted on September 9, 2012 by eatcookblog

Okay, so I still have blackberries left over after bringing them all the way home to San Diego from Gig Harbor, WA and already making a batch of Blackberry Buttermilk Sherbet…they are getting really squishy and juicy and I do NOT want to throw out them out! Went to my usual source of inspiration, Epicurious, and found two recipes that sounded good (blackberry, lemon and thyme muffins and a blackberry upside down cake), but had less than stellar reviews (btw, LOVE that I can read reviews before trying a recipe!). So, I visited my other online inspiration, Smitten Kitchen, and found a Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, which she described as, “you can just ignore the word “raspberry” up there and swap it up with any which berry you please, like blackberries or blueberries or bits of strawberries or all of the above. This is a good, basic go-to buttermilk cake — moist and ever-so-light.” Perfect! Oh, did I mention there’s leftover buttermilk too…I hate it when that happens. Why do they only make buttermilk in quart size?

Okay, on to the recipe. Everything SK said about this cake is true. And I LOVE the little bit of crunchy sweetness from the extra sugar sprinkled on top. It is delicious…a perfect little late afternoon snack or really wonderful with coffee for breakfast!

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup (5 ounces) fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter (see Note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons () sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Blackberry Heaven

Posted on September 6, 2012 by eatcookblog

If you follow Eat.Cook.Blog on Facebook, you know that I was in the PNW last weekend. I was in Seattle for my sister’s oldest son’s wedding and then in Gig Harbor, visiting a dear high school friend. If there was a theme of the weekend it was BLACKBERRIES. At the wedding reception, my nephew and his bride decided to serve pie (Peach Blackberry pie) rather than wedding cake…how cute is that?! I’m told that when they sampled the caterer’s pie, they weren’t crazy about it and persuaded the caterer to use my brother-in-law’s recipe. Oh, and, btw, that’s a picture of my sister and brother-in-law on their wedding day!

So, after the wedding and related events, its on to Gig Harbor. Gig Harbor is an adorable little town and my friend lives a few miles from the harbor, in a little house, with a gorgeous deck overlooking a lagoon/tideland area. It’s beautiful, green and serene. After an evening of relaxing and dinner (I made Steak with Bloody Mary Salad) and drinking wine on the deck, in the morning, she asked if I wanted blackberry pancakes for breakfast. Of course…duh. So she says, “okay, we’ll go pick some”. So…we walked down the lane and we picked blackberries. There were zillions of them! Blackberry heaven. And we picked a LOT of them. We took them back to the house and she made delicious pancakes. Talk about farm to table! Or, I guess, more accurately, bush to table!

I was leaving the next day and, like a good houseguest, asked if I might be able to take some of the blackberry haul back to San Diego with me. I mean, who wants a coffee mug or t-shirt as a souvenir when you can have blackberries?

I put them in a plastic container and into my carry-on bag. (Not liquid, right, TSA, right?) Okay, so by the time I got back to San Diego, a mug or shirt would have travelled a little better. The berries were a little worse for the wear, a little squishy and juicy, but that’s okay.

So, now, what to make with them? Muffins? Pie? Cobbler? All sounded yummy, but it was over 90 degrees at home! Not exactly baking weather. Ice cream? Didn’t want to bother with that whole egg-custard-based thing. Sherbet? Perfect. I Googled around and found a few recipes, a couple of them made with buttermilk and I thought that sounded interesting. Pulled out the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid (best attachment ever, btw) and, voila, a couple hours of later had a creamy, tangy but sweet, beautifully dark purple bowl of frozen goodness!

Oh, and if you don’t have an ice cream maker, I’ve included alternative directions for freezing below.

Blackberry Buttermilk Sherbet

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen (if using frozen, thaw first)

1 cup sugar

2 cups low-fat (1%) buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla or lemon juice (I used vanilla…I suppose you could use any liquor or even red wine)

DIRECTIONS

In a blender or food processor, whirl the blackberries (along with any juices from thawed frozen berries) until smooth. Pour the puree into a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much puree as possible; you should have about 1-1/2 cups puree. Discard the solids.

Add the sugar and whisk until dissolved. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla.

Freeze the blackberry mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm enough to scoop, about 4 hours.

Transfer puree to a 13-in. x 9-in. dish. Freeze for 1 hour or until edges begin to firm. Stir and return to freezer. Freeze 2 hours longer or until firm.

Just before serving, transfer to a food processor; cover and process for 2-3 minutes or until smooth.

Three of My All-Time Favorite Recipes…#1 Margarita Cookies

Posted on August 5, 2012 by eatcookblog

We had a Mexican-themed celebration dinner just before our daughter left for college. I searched and searched for a margarita-ish dessert (and I did not want to do one of those maragarita pies with the lime Jello filling and pretzel crust!). I found these on what has become my all-time favorite and most visited website/blog Smitten Kitchen. Turns out Deb Perelman (the voice, genius cook and food photog behind SK) adapated the recipe from Dori Greenspan’s Lemon Sables. (Dorie is also a regular contributor to BA and her cookbook “Baking: From My House to Yours” is wonderful!)

What makes these the best cookies ever? Sweet and salty, shortbread-like, with a little orange & lime…they are perfect, delicious and oh-so pretty little bites of heaven!

Margarita Cookies (or, as I call them, The Best Cookies Ever!)

Makes about 50 cookies

INGREDIENTS

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

2 large egg yolks, at room temperature

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons tequila

Grated zest of 2 limes

Grated zest of half an orange

2 cups all-purpose flour

Coating:

Approximately 1/2 cup clear sanding or other coarse sugar (like “Sugar in the Raw”)
2 teaspoons flake sea salt or kosher salt

DIRECTIONS

Put the butter in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat at medium speed until it is smooth. Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat again until the mixture is smooth and silky. Beat in 1 of the egg yolks, followed by the salt, tequila, grated lime and orange zest. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, beating just until it disappears. It is better to underbeat than overbeat at this point; if the flour isn’t fully incorporated, that’s OK—just blend in whatever remaining flour needs blending with a rubber spatula. Turn the dough out onto a counter, gather it into a ball, and divide it in half. Wrap each piece of dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Working on a smooth surface, form each piece of dough into a log that is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick. (Get the thickness right, and the length you end up with will be fine.) Wrap the logs in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and kept refrigerated for up to 3 days or stored in the freezer for up to 1 month.)

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

While the oven is preheating, work on the sugar coating: Whisk the remaining egg yolk in a small bowl until it is smooth and liquid enough to use as a glaze. Mix the coarse sugar and flaky salt well and spread the mixture out on a piece of wax paper. Remove the logs of dough from the refrigerator, unwrap them, and brush them lightly with a little egg yolk. Roll the logs in the sugar, pressing the sugar/salt mixture gently to get it to stick if necessary, then, using a sharp slender knife, slice each log into cookies about 1/4 inch. Place the cookies on the lined baking sheets, leaving about 1/2 inch space between them.

Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they are set but not browned. (It’s fine if the yolk-brushed edges brown a smidgen.) Transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool to room temperature.

Keeping: Packed airtight, the cookies will keep for about 5 days at room temperature. Because the sugar coating will melt, these cookies are not suitable for freezing.

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Category Archives: Desserts

Spiced Applesauce Cupcakes with Roasted Apples and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Apples & Honey Cake

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

Blackberry Heaven