Persimmon Cookies

All around the Sierra Nevada Foothills, you'll find this bright orange fruit that are irresistible to not pick. Like every year, I went on a rampage and got too many to play with. Yep, I could give them away, but they're so darn pretty! So here's a simple old school recipe that I got from a 1970's cookbook of my Mom's, that is a promising way to get these gems off your table and into your belly!

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 beaten egg
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup persimmon pulp
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 cups flour
Optional: 1 cup dried fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream sugars, vanilla, butter, and beaten egg. Then add the baking soda and persimmon pulp to the sugar mixture. Sift the flour, salt and spices into the persimmon mixture. Drop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Raspberry Almond Tartlets and Nordic Bakery Cookbook

One of my dreams finally came true... I found a delicious Scandinavian cookbook! After falling in love with Stockholm a few summers ago, I was in dire need of a cookbook focusing on Scandinavian baked goods. Nordic Bakery Cookbook is the one. From breads to tarts to cookies, this book covers the best of the Nordic Sea. 

 

I had all the ingredients in my kitchen for the almond and raspberry tartlets so I gave it a try. All I have to say is that they turned out so cute and delicious! If you love almonds, this ones from you!

1 stick butter, melted

2 Tbl cream

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup cornmeal

6 Tbl all-purpose flour

1 cup ground almonds/almond meal

1 tsp almond extract

-Preheat the oven to 350

-Put the melted butter and cream in a small bowl and mix.

-Whisk the sugar and eggs in a mixing bowl with a handheld mixer until light and fluffy, then add to the melted butter.

-In a separate bowl, mix the baking powder, cornmeal and flour together. Fold into the sugar mixture, along with the ground almonds and almond extract, until well combined.

-Spoon a little of the mixture onto the muffin pan cups, just to cover the bottom. Then add three raspberries and top with the rest of the mixture so that the muffin pan cups are three-quarters full. Save remaining raspberries for topping.

-Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and risen. Let cool for ten minutes before removing from the muffins tin- they can easily fall apart if not cooled. Then let cool before decorating.
-To make frosting mix together 3 Tbl powdered sugar and 2 tsp water. Drizzle the frosting over the tartlets or dip into frosting. Top off with the leftover raspberries.

Zucchinni Cocoa Muffins

I have a problem... like it's out of control...I have too many zucchini growing in my garden. So, I've decided to take charge in this situation and change it for the better. My plan: bake lots of these muffins. They're moist, chocolaty, easy, and somewhat healthy... right? Yeah totally.

1/3 cup boiling water 

2 cups shredded zucchinni and/or crooked neck squash

1 1/2 cups flour 

1/2 cup cocoa 

3/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp salt1 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

3 eggs

1 Tbl vanilla

*If you need an extra dose of chocolate add 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, pour boiling water over zucchini. Add all other ingredients and stir just until well combined. Line muffin pans with paper muffin cups, and use a 1/4 cup measure to pour batter into cups. Bake for 30 minutes. You should get 16-18 muffins.

Buttermilk Dinner Rolls

Unfortunately, the Easter Bunny didn't leave this for me in my Easter basket, so waking up early on Easter morning was a must to bake these beauties.  I used a recipe straight out of Beth's Basic Bread Book (one of the cookbooks I recommend). I cant admit that this was easy, because for me baking bread is always a task. Having it rise properly is always such a relief! They turned out delicious and totally cute! I love shaping the dough into clover rolls, perfect for spring.

Buttermilk Dinner Rolls

makes 16 rolls

1 package active dry yeast

Pinch granulated sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup warm buttermilk (not too hot or else it will become cheese... yes, I accidentally made cheese)

2 tbl sugar or honey

zest from one lemon

1/4 cup unsalted butter, warm

1 egg

4 to 4 1/2 cups of flour

Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water in a small bowl and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl using a whisk or a mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the buttermilk, sugar, zest, melted butter, egg and salt. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of flour and beat hard for a minute. Add 1/2 cup flour at a time until a soft dough forms and clears the sides of the bowl. I got up to 4 cups of flour.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic for 4-7 minutes. Lightly grease a large bowl and lightly flour the dough. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 1-1 1/2 hour or until doubled in size. 

* Dough will rise better when it's in a warm place. When I'm baking, I like to turn the oven on to heat up the kitchen.

After it has doubled in size, turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Grease a muffin tin. Divide the dough in half and cut the dough into eight equal portions. Pinch off three equal pieces of dough from each portion (total of 48 pieces) and shape each into smooth balls. Place three balls touching each other in each muffin cup. Then cover with plastic wrap and let rise for another half hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. After the final rise brush each roll with an egg glaze (one egg beaten with one tbl water). Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Place in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes or when golden brown. When cooled a bit take out of the muffin tin and enjoy!

Chocolate Blueberry Muffins

 
It seems as if I've been in a chocolate kind of mood the past few days... Probably because the stress of college and the instant gratification chocolate gives! But today, things seemed to finally come together the way I needed them. If you've felt like me lately, you need to indulge in these little guys! I used Ghirardelli's unsweetened baking chocolate with 100% cacao which made them extremely rich. Plus, I added a bit more blueberries just for fun!

Chocolate Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten                                                                      
1 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and grease 12 muffin cups. In a medium-size saucepan, melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate over medium-low heat until smooth. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Stir in the sugar, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours and baking soda. Gently mix with the liquid ingredients. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into well-greased muffin cups, filling to the top. Bake for about 25 minutes. Cool on rack. Drizzle the cooled muffins with the semisweet chocolate. Allow to set at least 15 minutes before serving.