Honey Oat Quick Bread

Ingredients

2 tablespoons plus 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, or quick-cooking (not instant) oats, divided
1 1/3 cups whole-wheat flour, or white whole-wheat flour (see Tip)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
8 ounces (scant 1 cup) nonfat or low-fat plain yogurt
1 large egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup clover honey, or other mild honey
3/4 cup nonfat or low-fat milk
 

Preparation

1. Preheat to 375°F. Position rack in middle of oven. Generously coat a 9-by-5-inch (or similar size) loaf pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon oats in the pan. Tip the pan back and forth to coat the sides and bottom with oats.
2. Stir together whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Using a fork, beat the remaining 1 cup oats, yogurt, egg, oil and honey in a medium bowl until well blended. Stir in milk. Gently stir the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture just until thoroughly incorporated but not over mixed (excess mixing can cause toughening). Immediately scrape the batter into the pan, spreading evenly to the edges. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon oats over the top.
3. Bake the loaf until well browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. (It’s normal for the top to crack.) Let stand in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a table knife around and under the loaf to loosen it and turn it out onto the rack. Let cool until barely warm, about 45 minutes.

Nutrition

Per slice : 193 Calories; 6 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 3 g Mono; 18 mg Cholesterol; 31 g Carbohydrates; 6 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 396 mg Sodium; 100 mg Potassium

Tips & Notes: Make Ahead Tip: Store cooled bread, tightly wrapped, for up to 1 day at room temperature. If desired, warm (wrapped in foil) at 375°F before serving.

Waldorf Astoria Cake

From a scrape of paper in an old cookbook I've had since the early 1960's. This used to be a cake that was made for very special occasions.

1/2 cup shortening
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 oz. red food color
2-1/2 cup sifted cake flour
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cocoa
1 cup buttermilk
1 T. vinegar
1 tsp.baking soda

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs whole and beat until fluffy, add food color and beat until well blended. Sift flour, salt and cocoa together, add alternately with buttermilk. Beat well after each addition. Add vanilla, mix and stir in last, the vinegar and baking soda. Just stir in, do not beat after this addition. Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes in 2, 9" layer pans.

Reminds me of a red velvet cake!

Entenmann's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe in my "stash", typed (on a real typewriter) on Entenmann's stationery when the main bakery was located at 1724 Fifth Avenue, Bay Shore, Long Island, New York. Under the title of Chocolate Chip Cookies is "(TV Formula)"
Enjoy! They are delicious. Wish I had a picture to share but I haven't made them in years.

1-1/3 cups pre-sifted all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup corn oil margarine
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons honey
1 egg
1-1/4 cups (7-1/2 oz) chocolate chips, semi-sweet
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Combine margarine, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and honey. Beat until creamy. Beat in egg. Add flour mixture. Mix together. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on to ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6-7 minutes. Makes about 50-55 cookies.

Baking the cookies is very important. For a moist, soft cookie, do not over bake. The time indicated above is adequate bake time in the oven because cookies continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet even though removed from the oven. Although the cookies may appear raw at 6-7 minutes, they will be done by the time they are cooled on the pan outside of the oven.

Fluchtlings Pletzchen

Preheat oven 325 degrees

250 grams (9 oz) butter
100 grams (3.5 oz) confectioners' sugar
250 grams (9 oz) cornstarch
2 pkg vanilla sugar (if you make your own, 2 Tablespoons)
100 grams (3.5 oz) flour

In a food processor, combine butter and sugars, zap until well mixed.
Open top and add flour and cornstarch. Process well. It will form a ball of dough.
Remove dough, form into log about 2" in diameter. Refrigerate for 2 hrs.
Slice 1/4" thick, place 1" apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Using a fork, press on each cookie leaving marks.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until slightly brown on edges.

Very flakey, melts in your mouth.
Variation: I made a batch that I added 2 teaspoons of almond extract.
Another batch I added 2 teaspoons of rum extract.
Extracts were added at end while mixture is processing into a ball.
Both were great!
ENJOY

Cookie update

Yesterday I spent the day with my friend baking cookies! We had a great time sharing recipes and tasting!
I tried the Orange Coconut Macaroons, posted a few days ago. This was my mother's recipe and the first time I made it. GREAT! A must try! Also it is so fast to make. I used organic unsweetened coconut flakes and it was plenty sweet! The tiny pieces of almond paste gives a great taste mixture. So hard to describe, you must try it yourself.
I also had a package of spice mix for German spice cake. I didn't feel like making a cake so my friend found a recipe for ginger cookies. We replaced the powdered ginger with the package of spices, still used chopped pieces of ginger candy, and came out with yummy cookies. I will get the recipe from her and find a source for the spices, then I will publish the recipe. Watch for it!
Also made a German cookie called Fluchtlings Pletzchen. Once I translate the grams to ounces, I'll publish this too.
Hope you are all enjoying the holiday baking and we can all share new memories in 2010.
Merry Christmas
Happy New Year

DelectaBites

1/2 cup butter
2 T. sugar
2 packages vanilla sugar (available in European market places)
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped walnuts

Thoroughly mix first 3 ingredients. Stir in flour and walnuts. Chill for about 1/2 hour. Shape into marble size balls and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown. While still hot, roll in confectioners' sugar.

Orange Yummies

1 cup margarine
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg yolk
2 T. orange juice
2-1/4 c. flour
1 T. orange rind, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixing bowl, cream margarine and sugar. Beat in egg yolk and orange juice. Mix in flour, orange rind and optional pecans. Mix until combined. Dough should be soft, but not sticky.
Option 1: place dough in cookie press and press desired shape onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Option 2: take teaspoon full of cook dough, roll into ball and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Press down with thumb. Cookies should be 1/2" apart.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then remove to cooling rack.
Yield: 5 dozen

Aunt Doris' Apple Pie

In our family, Aunt Doris is the pie expert! Family gatherings are not complete without one of her apple pies. And now I can share it with all of you. Hope this recipe becomes part of your family memories.

Preheat oven 425 degrees

Pie crust:
2 cups flour
1/2  tsp salt
1/2 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil of your choice)
4 T. cold milk

Mix together above ingredients and form a ball. If too moist, add a little more flour. Cut in 1/2 and roll each half between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Use 8" or 9" pie dish.

Filling:
6 apples (McIntosh, granny smith, empire)
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 T. flour
2 T. margarine

Pare, peel and slice apples. Sprinkle apples with lemon juice. Mix 1 cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg with apples. Spray bottom of pie tin lightly with oil. Place bottom pie crust in pie pan and sprinkle 1 T. flour on pie crust. Put apples in and dot with 2 T. margarine. Put top crust on and prick top of pie crust with fork.

Bake 40 - 50 minutes.

Margaret's Quark Stollen (Cottage Cheese Stollen)

This is an old German recipe. I put the conversion in parenthesis ( ). If you can weigh the ingredients it is a good idea to do so because weighing is the most accurate way to measure baking ingredients. Think about this, if you measure cups of flour, it can be variable depending on if the flour is packed down or not. There are also measuring cups with grams, sold in most cooking specialty stores. They are cone shaped and so easy to use.

Here is a really yummy recipe. No one would ever guess the ingredient of cottage cheese.

1 lb. (4 cups) flour
2 eggs
200 gr (7 oz) sugar
250 gr (9 oz) butter
2 T. rum extract
200 gr. (7 oz) raisins
250 gr. (9 oz) cottage cheese, NOT creamed.
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 lb. (1 cup) finely grated almonds
100 gr. (3.5 oz) candied fruits
4 level tsps. baking powder

Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs. Strain cottage cheese until most of liquid is removed. Press cottage cheese through a sieve to make it smooth. (I used a food processor, zapped it 2 or 3 times) Add cottage cheese to butter mixture. Add rum extract and lemon rind. Mix well. Mix flour and baking powder together. Add to above mixture. Knead dough until your hands are clean (not sticky). Coat almonds and fruits with a tsp. of flour. Add to dough and knead well to mix in fruit.
Split dough into two parts. Flatten dough for each loaf. Should be an oval shape. Melt a table spoon of butter and brush on top of each piece. Fold each piece in half and place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake one hour at 350 degrees.

Allow to cool. Can be coated with confectioners' sugar when completely cooled. Or you can make a glaze with confectioners' sugar and lemon juice.

Ginger Spice Cookies

8 T. butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg (or equal of egg beaters)
1/2 cup molasses
4 cups flour
1 T. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 T. ground ginger
1/2 cup milk
2 T. candied ginger, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, beat well. Add molasses, beat well. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger. Add to wet mixture, one cup at a time, alternating with milk. Mix well after each addition. Stir in candied ginger pieces.

Drop by teaspoon fulls onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or teflon sheet.
Bake 10-12 minutes.

Orange Coconut Macaroons

3/4 cup sugar
1 T. orange zest
1 tsp. fresh orange juice
4-1/2 oz. almond paste
2 large egg whites
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
3 T. flour
1-1/3 cup coconut flakes (I used natural, unsweetened)
3/4 tsp. coarse salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Process sugar, orange zest and almond paste in food processor until combined, about 3 minutes.
Add egg whites, orange juice, confectioners' sugar, flour, half the coconut flakes, and salt.
Process one minute. Stir in remaining coconut flakes.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Drop batter by teaspoonful 2" apart.
Bake for 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
Slip cookies off the sheet ON the parchment paper and allow to cool on the paper.

Yield: 3 dozen

Easy Cranberry Pie Cake

2 cups frozen cranberries, thawed
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 c sugar
1 c flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put the cranberries, pecans, 1/2 cup sugar, into a greased, 10" springform pan or a pie plate.
Mix eggs, butter, 1 cup sugar, flour, salt and almond extract. Stir the batter until it is smooth and pour it over the cranberry/pecan mixture. Bake about 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Makes 6 or 8 slices

Sour Cream Drops

1 cup margarine
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fat free sour cream
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
1-1/2 cups chopped nuts of your choice

Preheat oven 350 degrees

Cream margarine and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and sour cream. Beat well.
Stir together all your dry ingredients. Add to creamed mixture, one cup at a time, stirring well after each cup.
Drop by teaspoon full on ungreased cookie sheet or teflon lined cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart. Bake for 15 minutes.
Yield: 6-7 dozen

Christmas Cookies from the past

I started this blog in 2008 and I have other Christmas cookie recipes writen then, so check out the December 2008 entries.
Cookies bring back memories of our childhood. Watching Mom rolling out the cookie dough, using cookie cutters to make yummy sugar cookies. Decorating the cookies! And the best part, tasting! Of course I couldn't resist tasting before baking. The pieces of dough between the cut-outs... oh so good! And Mom would tell me not to do this, it would cause a stomach ache, but that didn't matter to me.
Then when my children were baking with me, I smiled as I saw them eat the raw dough. Of course I had to give the standard warning. Didn't help....
As the years go on, we make our own memories. Some with Mom's cookies, then we have found our own recipes to add to the list. The best of all of these I share with you. Maybe they can become part of your family memories too.

Surprise Kisses

4 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pkg semisweet cholocate pieces
1 cup chopped walnuts (or nuts of your choice)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat egg whites and salt until frothy. Beat in cream of tartar, adding 2 T of sugar at a time, beating well after each addition, until stiff peaks form. Fold in chocolate pieces, nuts and vanilla extract.
Drop by teaspoon full on ungreased, paper lined cookie sheet, 1/2" apart. If you have a teflon sheet, use this in place of the paper lining.
Bake at 325 degrees. Remove when still warm onto cooling racks.
Enjoy!
This is one of the family favorites baked by my mother.

Oma's Pound Cake

4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/4 cups skim milk
6 eggs
1 pkg. vanilla sugar (check my recipe for vanilla sugar)
1/2 lb. plus 1 T. butter or margarine
1 tsp. lemon extract (variation: almond extract)

Cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla sugar. Alternately add flour and milk, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add extract, stir.
Pour into greased/floured loaf pan, filling half way. Makes 2 loaves.
Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Use cake tester.

Variation:
Marble pound cake: Take half of the batter and add 1T. cocoa powder. Stir well. Pour this mixture between two layers of plain batter. Take a knife and pull knife through center of cake (the long way). Creates a nice visual, outside and inside.

Recipe from my mother, Gertrud Wunder

Oma's Waffles

1 stick margarine
1 1/2 T. sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. rum extract
1 c. flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp. baking powder
9 oz. milk
1 T. light sour cream

Cream margarine, sugar, eggs. Mix together flour, cornstarch, baking powder. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk to creamed mixture. Mix sour cream, vanilla and rum extracts. Add to dough mixture. Heat waffle iron (griddle). Bake until brown. Serve as a breakfast waffle or as a dessert waffle.

Pumpernickel Dip

2/3 c. light mayonnaise
2/3 c. light sour cream
1 T. parsley flakes
1 T. onion flakes
1 tsp. dill seed
1 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. garlic salt

Mix together above ingredients and refrigerate. Cut center out of round pumpernickel. Cut into cubes. Spoon dip into pumpernickel. Use cubes for dipping.

Spice Cranberry Sauce

1 c. sugar
6 whole cloves
juice and rind of 2 oranges (substitute 1 cup commercial orange juice and 2 T. dried orange peel)
1 stick cinnamon
2 c. fresh whole cranberries
Sort and wash cranberries. Moisten sugar with orange juice. Add chopped rind. Boil 5 minutes. Add spices and cranberries. Cook until cranberries burst. Remove spices, cool and serve.

Quick Crumb Cake

Grease and flour jelly roll pan.

1 box yellow cake mix
Prepare batter according to box directions. Spread onto jelly roll pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Crumbs:
3 sticks of melted margarine
1 c. sugar
3 cups flour
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix well and crumble over hot cake. Bake again at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Sprinkle confectionery sugar over cake when cooled. For thicker crumbs, double crumb recipe.