SHORTBREAD MELT AWAYS

This cookie has a very traditional shortbread cookie texture, yet it is light as a feather, sweet and literally melts in your mouth!!! These cookies are one of my families favorites and they are gone in a snap!!

1 1/2 cups butter (room temperature)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Beat the room temperature butter for about a minute, or until it is smooth. Add the powdered sugar, salt and extracts and beat on medium high for another minute.

Add the cornstarch and beat until well mixed. Add the flour, one cup at a time, beating well in between each cup.  Beat everything for one more minute, then cover and chill for about 30 minutes (I seldom chill the dough and it does ok).

Roll the dough into 1" balls and then roll the balls in granulated sugar. Use a fork to gently press down on the cookie ball (see photo).

Bake on ungreased baking sheet for 10-12 minutes at 350°. You will know when they are done because they get lightly golden around the edges. Cool on the cookie sheet for about 30 seconds before removing them.

These are excellent frosted AND unfrosted.  Makes 36 cookies.

NOTE: If you don't have coconut extract, you can just use 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla, however, the coconut extract truly adds a wonderful taste. The finished cookie does NOT taste like coconut, but it adds a wonderful yummy-ness to it, so I hope you will try it.

FRENCH FRY SAUCE

This French fry dipping sauce is a delicious condiment that is quick, easy to make and very versatile. It goes together in minutes and everyone loves it.

There are a MILLION fry sauce recipes out there; some have a TON of ingredients, some have just a handful. This is our recipe.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons finely minced dill pickles (see note below)
1 teaspoon regular old yellow mustard
dash of salt
scant 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar

When I make this, I put the pickle into the food processor first and pulse it until it is finely minced (2 tablespoons minced pickle is about 1 large pickle). NOTE: You can also just use 2 tablespoons of your favorite pickle relish.

Then add the rest of the ingredients and pulse them all together until the sauce is well mixed and smooth.  You can do this in a full size food processor, although a small food processor (or an hand held immersion blender) works even better.

This recipe makes one cup of French fry sauce. Keep chilled. It is excellent to dip just about anything in, but it is also good on hamburgers.

ENJOY !!!

EASY CROCKPOT CHICKEN and NOODLES

Crockpot chicken and noodles is pure comfort food in our home. Easy and inexpensive, it pleases everyone.........even picky-picky husband !!

This is one of those super yummy recipes that just doesn't photograph well......... but trust me, it's GOOOOOOD !!!

1 pound of boneless-skinless chicken breast

2  10.75 ounce cans of cream of chicken soup

4 cups of chicken broth or stock

1 small onion diced

1 cup chopped celery

1 large carrot grated

1 cup peas

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Flat wide egg noodles

Spray your Crockpot with a little cooking spray to make cleanup easier. This recipe (as written) requires a nice big Crockpot. If you only have a smaller one, just make half of the recipe.

Dice the onion and celery and grate the carrot. Sautee in a little butter until the onions and celery soften a little.

Put the sautéed veggies, soup, broth and pepper into the Crockpot and stir or whisk it around until it is smooth. Add whole (boneless-skinless) chicken breasts and cook on low for three hours.

After 3 hours, the broth will look a little thin, but that's ok because the noodles with thicken it as they cook. Remove the chicken and cut it into pieces, then return it to the Crockpot.

After 3 hours (on low), add about 3-4 cups UNCOOKED egg noodles and the peas. The noodles will expand (and drink up some of the gravy) so be careful how many noodles you add. It also depends on what KIND of noodles you use, so use your best judgment as to how many dry noodles you put in.    

Depending on what style noodles you are using, it can take as little as 20 minutes for the noodles to cook. If you use a thicker noodle like a Penne, it can take as much as 45 minutes.

If you use the flat egg style noodles, be careful how vigorously you stir them, because they break easily once they start to get soft.

ENJOY !!

PECAN PIE BITES

Picky-picky Hubby tells me these Pecan Pie Bites are totally addicting. They have a buttery shortbread crust ......  a slightly gooey center and glazed sweet pecans on top. What more can you ask for?  Oh yes, they also freeze exceptionally well!!!

Click on this photo to get a better look

CRUST
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter (room temperature)

Mix the above crust ingredients well and press into a  9" x 13" baking dish that has been lined with parchment or no-stick foil (see note below). This mixture will seem crumbly before you bake it, but don't worry about that. Just pat it evenly into the pan and bake in preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes. If you are using a glass baking pan, bake at 325°.

While the crust is baking, mix up the topping:

TOPPING
3 eggs well beaten
1 cup light corn syrup (I use Karo brand)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 + 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Mix well and pour over partially baked crust, making sure the nuts are evenly spread out. Return to the oven and bake for 25 more minutes.

Cool COMPLETELY in pan.

NOTE:  The Pecan Pie Bite crust does not stick to the pan, but around the edges of the topping, it does like to stick. To combat that, I line my 9" x 13" baking pan with parchment paper or the new Reynolds Easy Release foil, leaving the ends a little long so I can use them as "handles" to lift out the COMPLETELY COOLED recipe. 

Make sure they have cooled this 
to room temperature before

you cut them into bites. 

NOTE:  Since we are empty-nesters, this recipe is too big for us, so I cut the baked recipe into thirds and wrap each one in plastic wrap then again in a zip top freezer bag and freeze them.They freeze VERY well. 

DO NOT CUT THEM INTO "BITES" UNTIL YOU  THAW THEM OUT.

ENJOY !!!

CLASSIC SHORTBREAD COOKIES

Sweet and tender, these old fashioned classic shortbread cookies are easy to make and ALWAYS a big hit. Picky-picky husband loves them frosted in pink (for some weird reason), they are one of his all time favorites.

CLASSIC SHORTBREAD COOKIES

2 cups UNsalted butter (room temperature)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon table salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

4 cups all purpose flour

(NO EGGS)

The cookie batter in the recipe is fairly heavy, so it works best in a stand mixer if possible.

Add 2 cups (one pound) of room temperature butter and 1 cup regular sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat until fluffy (about 2 minutes). The last 30 seconds or so, add the salt and extracts and beat until well mixed. (see note about salt)

Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well between each addition.

Dump cookie batter onto counter and divide into 4 sections. Roll each section into a "log" about 2" in diameter. Wrap each "log" in plastic wrap and chill for one hour. You can roll the entire CHILLED log in sprinkles or finely chopped nuts before you slice them if you like.

Pre-heat oven to 350° and slice chilled cookie dough "logs" into 1/4" slices. Place on UNgreased cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes or until the very edges just start to turn golden.

Cool cookies and frost if you like.  If you aren't going to frost them, roll the sliced cookie's in granulated sugar BEFORE BAKING.

NOTE: If you do not have UNsalted butter on hand (no big deal), just use regular salted  butter, but LEAVE OUT the salt in the recipe.

ENJOY !!!!!

STRAWBERRY TEA CAKE (KNOWN IN MY HOUSE AS THE BEST COFFEE CAKE IN 10 YEARS!) (Seriously!)

Usually, when I hear the word "coffee cake" I think of a sweet treat that is only "at it's best" right out of the oven and it usually needs either a cup of coffee, tea or glass of milk to wash it down. Well, dear friends, this coffee cake IS the exception to that rule. My husband and I finished this cake in a single day with NO trouble (a cake this size usually lasts us several days). We just couldn't stop snacking on it!

I used all strawberries, this time, which added to the sweetness of this buttery cake, but we seriously enjoy this recipe with a raspberry filling as well.I sure hope you give it a try, you will NOT be disappointed.

Make the fruit filling first and let it cool a little.

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, mix:

12 ounces of frozen strawberries (I used 12 ounces of frozen strawberries that I chopped finely in my food processor).

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Heat the above ingredients, over medium heat, stirring until it is thick and bubbling. Set aside while you make the batter.

Cake Batter

2 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup COLD butter sliced in to thin pats

Put the flour, sugar and butter in your food processor and pulse until you get fine crumbs. Remove 1/2 cup of these fine crumbs and set them aside for later in the recipe.

NEXT:

To the remaining crumbs in the food processor, add:

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3/4 cup buttermilk (no substitutions)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pulse a few times until everything is good and moist (but don't over-mix).

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour a (2 piece) 10" round tart pan. Using your fingers, press 2/3 of the batter into the prepared tart pan, pushing the batter evenly across the bottom and one inch up the sides of the pan (flouring your finger tips helps here).

Once you have the batter spread out and pushed up on the edges, gently pour in the fruit filling and spread it around the bottom.

With the reserved 1/3 of the batter, place small pieces in an irregular pattern on top of the fruit (I used a one teaspoon measure to get the right size). Be very careful not to push the batter pieces down into the fruit, you want them to float on top of it as much as possible. Finally, sprinkle the reserved crumbs over everything.

Bake in a 350 oven (Important tip; place a cookie sheet under the tart pan) for 30 to 35 minutes (my electric oven takes 35 minutes). 

The finished cake will be golden brown and smell heavenly!! I am certain that just about any fruit would work with this coffee cake.

When the cake is done baking, place it on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before you take it out of the pan.

ENJOY !!!

FREEZING EXTRA BUTTERMILK

 

OUT OF BUTTERMILK FOR BISCUITS ???

How many times have you tried a recipe that calls for 1 cup of buttermilk but they only sell it in quarts? Usually (at my house anyway) the unused/extra buttermilk sits (forgotten) in the back of the fridge until its "use by" date has expired, but that is now a thing of the past. Since I discovered how well buttermilk freezes, I always have it in the house.

The only trick is to freeze it in small containers so that it thaws quickly. The smallest container I tried was my ice cube tray. After they are frozen, just put them in a freezer bag and carefully mark what's in the bag:

Ice cube trays are not a standard size. I have one that measures 2 tablespoons per cube and one that measures 1½ tablespoons per cube, so keep that in mind when you are thawing out the cubes (I usually just thaw a couple extra to be on the safe side).

As a general rule:

8 frozen 2 oz. cubes = 1 cup buttermilk

6 frozen  2 oz. cubes = 3/4 cup buttermilk

4 frozen 2 oz. cubes = 1/2 cup buttermilk

2 frozen 2 oz. cubes = 1/4 cup  buttermilk

6 frozen 2 oz. cubes  = 3/4  cup buttermilk

You can thaw the buttermilk cubes overnight in the fridge, or if you need them sooner than that, you can microwave them for just a few seconds.

DON'T FREAK OUT TIP:

Sometimes, the thawed out buttermilk looks like it's separated (not pretty), don't freak out. Just whisk it back together (for a few seconds) then use it in any recipe.

TIP # 2:

The accuracy of the SIZE of your frozen buttermilk cubes is just a guideline and not at all important, it just gives you an idea of how many to thaw out for any given recipe.