The Houndstooth Gourmet

What do you do with an enormous box of Quaker Oats? Make baked goods, of course! Now, I initially bought this near year’s supply at Costco over a year ago, and while bowls of oatmeal in the morning can be healthy and comforting, my eye wandered to the back of the box where this recipe was listed.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cranberry Cookies did just that this week at Frank’s office, where many people came back for seconds, some asking for the recipe. They’re chewy, just a bit sweet and aromatic from the cinnamon, and the tart cranberries are a nice foil. The original recipe calls for raisins, but I had dried cranberries on hand. I think this recipe would also work well with dried cherries, again, for the tart foil.

Here’s the original recipe with my modifications to suit my taste. Enjoy, and feed your friends!

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients
• 1/2  pound (2 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
• 1  cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2  cup granulated sugar
• 2  eggs
• 1  teaspoon vanilla (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
• 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2  teaspoon salt (optional)
• 3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1  cup raisins (I used dried cranberries)

 

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Tags: baking, cookies, cranberry, Recipe by Ramona
6 Comments »

The other day, I got a later start than I had planned in making these biscotti. When I (on rare occasion) began to assemble my mis en place, and get my butter out to allow time for it to come to room temperature (without the help of the microwave), I discovered that I was out of cocoa powder. Ack! Well, that put a damper on things!

Fortunately, Frank was able to stop at the store on his way home and pick up more unsweetened cocoa powder. He came home with the Hershey’s Dark variety, and I can tell you that the dark really kicked up the taste of these biscotti. Look how dark and rich they look! Do give the dark variety a try the next time you need to restock.

For this recipe, I used pecans because I had them on hand. Walnuts would be great too, and if you don’t want to go through toasting them, then just skip it. I felt that the pecans needed a bit more assertive nuttiness, and toasting does just that.

Finally, I had on hand a bar of a locally made chocolate-Kingsbury Chocolates. I chose a milk chocolate bar that had a hint of caramel. I thought the milk chocolate would be a nice contrast to the dark cocoa powder. If you have semi-sweet morsels on hand, feel free to substitute them.

Double Chocolate Biscotti with Toasted Pecans

makes about 2 dozen biscotti

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Hershey’s unsweetened dark cocoa powder*
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs for batter
• 1 large egg lightly beaten for glaze
• 1 cup pecans, toasted and rough chopped
• 4 ounces (about 3/4 cup) rich milk chocolate, rough chopped**

Directions

Heat pan over medium heat and add pecans. Gently toast pecans in dry pan, turning frequently. When the pecans become slightly darker, and give off a nutty odor, remove to a chopping board and give them a rough chop. This takes about 5 minutes. Do not leave unattended because the nuts can burn easily.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in a bowl and mix to incorporate.

In another bowl or standing mixer, cream together butter and sugar on medium speed, for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is creamy and yellow.

Turn mixer on and add eggs one at a time. Mix until incorporated.

With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture slowly.

Add pecans and chocolate and mix until incorporated.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Roll dough into a ball, and cut into 2 even halves. Roll each half into a 12 inch log and transfer each log onto a baking sheet that has been lined with a Silpat or one which has been buttered and floured.

Gently flatten each log until 2 inches wide.

Brush logs with egg wash, and gently score each log on the diagonal, into about 12 pieces each. This will help to cut the logs into individual biscotti after the first baking.

Place baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 35 minutes. Allow biscotti to cool for 5 minutes.

Transfer logs onto a cutting surface and cut into individual biscotti, about 3/4 inch wide. Place biscotti cut side down on baking sheet. Place back into 350 degree oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove biscotti to cooling rack and store in an airtight container for up to 1 week, or freeze for up to 2 months.

*Regular unsweetened cocoa powder can be used

**Regular semi-sweet chocolate chips can be used

Tags: baking, cookies, Recipe by Ramona
4 Comments »

 

A while back I wrote about these delicious chocolate chip cookies from the Metropolitan Bakery cookbook. I decided to make another batch and tweaked the recipe a bit to use bittersweet chocolate. I thought the dried cranberries would make for a sweet counterpoint to the chocolate.

The cookies are loaded with flavor and are not too crisp and not too soft. I used a small icecream scoop to attain uniformity in size so they all baked evenly. It’s important to fold the nuts, chocolate and cranberries in by hand after bringing the dough together. This gets everything evenly disributed throughout and more importatnly, saves you mixer’s motor!

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Nuts and Dried Cranberries

makes 5 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup rolled old fashioned oats (I used Quaker Oats)

3 cups unbeached all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3 sticks unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1 bar bittersweet chocolate (about 9.7 ounces) rough chopped with knife into 1/2 inch chuncks or slivers

1 1/2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped

1 1/2 cups walnuts,toasted and chopped

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a non-stick skillet, heat nuts over medium and toast for 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently. The nuts will be done when they smell-well-nutty and toasty. Remove to a cutting board and chop roughly.

Grind the oats using a food processer until they are finely ground into a flour. Combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

In another bowl or food processer (using paddle attachment), beat the butter on medium until light and creamy. Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and allow each egg to incorporate for about 30 seconds. Add in vanilla.

Manually fold in nuts, chocolate and cranberries. You can do this in a large bowl or on a lightly floured board. Once ingredients are evenly dispersed throughout dough, you are ready to bake.

Using a spoon or scooper, drop dough onto  2 large parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheets. I strongly prefer parchment paper becuase the cookie dough does not spread and thin as much as it does with silicon. Parchment paper is also reusalbe between batches.

Place sheets of cookie dough in oven on middle racks. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn pans to face opposite direction and switch racks. Continue to bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool for 3-4 minutes before you transfer them to a cooling rack. By this time, the pans should have cooled down enough to add your next batch of dough.

Tags: chocolate, cookies, nuts by Ramona
2 Comments »

 

I’ve been becoming quite proficient at making biscotti lately. This Holiday season, I decided to concentrate most of my baking focus on Italian specialties such as pizzelles and biscotti. With my new VillaWare pizzelle maker, I’ve been cranking out chocolate pizzelles, traditional anise pizzelles and orange rum pizzelles. Using my KitchenAid mixer, I’ve been baking batches and batches of chocolate cherry walnut and anise almond biscotti. I thought it might be fun to try a savory biscotti however, perhaps to enjoy with an anitpasti and  cheese platter with a nice glass of Sangiovese wine.

Here are two recipes which I found to be delicious and easy to make. The first combines parmesan with rosemary and Dijon mustard (pictured at top right). The second uses Classico Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto and Parmesan (pictured at top left).

To serve, pop into a 350 degree oven for 3-5 minutes to warm and crisp them up. Enjoy!

Parmesan, Rosemary and Mustard Biscotti- makes about 2 dozen biscotti

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour (All Purpose)

1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (you can use pecorino if you wish)

1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, finely ground

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt and rosemary. In mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light yellow. To mixer, add mustard, Parmesan cheese and eggs. Mix to combine, about 2-3 minutes on low. Add dry ingredients slowly. Combine until dough forms a ball.

Transfer dought to a lightly floured board. With lightly floured hands, bring dough together into disc. Cut in half. With each half, roll into a 12 inch log (you may need a small amount of flour to prevent sticking). Transfer each log to Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Flatten each log until 2 inches wide. Lightly score individual biscotti- about 12 cookies to each log.

Place baking sheet on the middle rack of oven and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. Cut individual biscotti and return biscotti to baking sheet, standing upright. Bake another 10 minutes until they are golden and crisp. Allow to cool completely. Store in air-tight container.

Parmesan Tomato Pesto Biscotti- makes about 2 dozen biscotti

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour (All Purpose)

1/2 cup of yellow cornmeal

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (you can use pecorino if you wish)

1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, finely ground

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tbsp. Classico Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto (or use any comparable brand)

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In bowl, place dry ingredients: flour, corn meal, baking soda and salt. In mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light yellow. Add cheese, eggs, and tomato pesto. Mix on low until blended, about 2-3 minutes. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until dough forms a ball.

Transfer to a lightly floured board and continue preparation and baking as outlined above.

Tags: baking, cookies, Recipe, savory by Ramona
1 Comment »

 

Chocolate biscotti are a wonderful treat for anytime, or for after dinner as a light sweet to dunk in your coffee or dessert wine. They make a special gift for Holiday giving too. Biscotti are also deceptively easy to make. Check out my recipe on DC Foodies!

Tags: baking, chocolate, cookies, DC Foodies entry by Ramona
2 Comments »