Cream Cheese Cookies

1 stick real butter
3 oz cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 375

Cream butter and cheese. Add sugar and mix well. Add flour, vanilla and nuts.

Drop by teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake until brown. 8-12 minutes

Brownies from Scratch

Ingredients

¾ cup butter (170 g)
1+½ cup sugar (330 g)
2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
¾ cup all-purpose flour (85 g)
½ cup cocoa powder (50 g)
1 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt (optional)
3 oz (100 g) chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat Oven to 350
2. Grease parchment paper and place in 13X9 pan
3. Melt butter
4. Mix eggs and sugar, then add rest of ingredients
5. Mix until smooth
6. Bake for 20-30 minutes until you can poke a fork in and it comes out clean.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes I omit the choc-chips in a few cookies for fun.

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease or line 2 cookie sheets

Whisk together:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Beat in a large bowl until well blended:
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

Add and beat until well combined:
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Stire in the flour mixture until well blended and smooth,
Stir in:
1 cup chocolate chips

Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies are just slightly colored on top and the edged are brown, 8-10 minutes. Let stand briefly, then remove to a rack to cool.

Focaccia

From The Joy of Cooking Book

Made this today. Filip has been turning his nose up at my bread, but he ate this up, sans the tomato and olives. It must be the rosemary.

Prepare Pizza dough:

Combine in a large bowl and let stand until the yeast is dissolved, about 5 minutes:

1 1/3 cups warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Add:

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

Mix my hand or on low speed for about 1 minute.

Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Focaccia:

Divide in half and roll each piece out to a 1/2-inch thick round.

Transfer to well-oiled 8 or 9 inch round or square baking pans.

Let rise, covered with oiled plastic wrap, for about 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Ten minutes before baking, press the dough with your fingertips to make indentations all over the dough. Drizzle with:

Up to 1/2 cup olive oil

Top with:

2 tablespoons grated cheese, such as romano, parmesan, or Asiago

1 teaspoon dried herbs, such as rosemary, dill, basil, thyme, or oregano

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Optional: Slices of sundried tomatoes, olives, caramelized onions

Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from the pans to a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, as is, or sliced open horizontally to use as sandwich bread.

Apricot Tea Cake

This is so good warm with butter. I heat it up on a frying pan and spread butter on it. It also is not too sweet. Make sure you have a decent amount of time to make it, since cook time is total 80 minutes.

1 cup dried apricots
1 large orange
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Simmer apricots in boing water for 30 minute.
Drain and mash.
Squeeze juice from orange. Add enough boiling water to juice to make 1 cup.
Sift together: flour, soda, baking powder, and sugar.
Add fruits, juice, egg, melted butter, and vanilla, mixing well.
Bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
Serve hot and buttered, or cold.

Bananananananana Bread

Easy easy easy!

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Crepes

Crepes

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon butter melted

Directions:

Put all wet ingredients and salt into blender and blend well. Add flour last and blend well. You can use a whisk instead if you want.

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan on medium high. Scoop batter onto the griddle, using 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so the batter coats the surface evenly, nice and thin.

Cook the crepe about 2 minutes until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

It's that easy!

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake

This was so good. I used pecans for nuts. It got polished off at my nieces graduation party.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2004
Show:
Emeril Live
Episode:
Our Favorite Sweets

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
Confectioners' sugar for garnish,
Sweetened cocoa, for garnish
Sweetened whipped cream, accompaniment


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 14-inch, light colored, round pizza pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, beating well after the addition of each.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix with a whisk.
Add to the butter mixture, mixing to incorporate, and add the vanilla extract.
Fold in the dark and white chips and the nuts.
Spread across the bottom of the prepared pan and bake until the edges are golden and the cookie is set but the center is still slightly soft, 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To serve, sift confectioners' sugar and sweetened cocoa over the top, and cut into wedges. Serve sweetened whipped cream on the side.