TWD: Chockablock Cookies

Chockablock Cookies: Cookies filled with loads of goodies, such as nuts, dried fruits and coconut. These cookies were picked by Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for this weeks Tuesday with Dorie.

For nuts I used pecans and my dried fruit of choice was fat golden raisins. These tasted really good, but I think I would have loved them more without the oats! Go here to check out the recipe and here to see what my fellow TWD-ers thought of these cookies.

TWD: Cocoa-Pecan Marbled Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream

Another week, another Thursday. This week was different though: this week I attended my brothers graduation! He finally finished college and is now officially graduated as a journalist! So I baked this weeks recipe especially for him.

Congratulations Harm!!

Erin of When in Doubt...Leave it at 350 picked Mocha-Walnut Marbled Bundt Cake for this weeks TWD recipe. I used Pecans instead of Walnuts and cocoa instead of the coffee, I also turned the bundt cake into cupcakes and to make them extra special I topped them with Dulce de Leche Buttercream.

Go check out Erin's blog for the recipe. Find out what my fellow TWD-ers thought of the bundt cake here!

Apple, Cinnamon and Pecan Crumble and a short Valentine's Day review

Last Wednesday I went to Ladies Night at a cinema nearby with a couple of friends. Whenever we get together to go see a movie we always enjoy having diner together too, this gives us the time to catch up on everything. So this time we ate at my friend's C.'s house and she asked me to bring dessert. Why my friends keep asking me to bring dessert over when we have a dinner party is a complete mystery to me ;)

Since it had started snowing again I was in the mood for something warming and wintery. I went to my bookmarks over at delicous.com and searched through them until I came across the perfect dish. I spotted these crumble bars over at Dessert First in September, they looked gorgeous so I simply decided to not make bars but serve this as a dessert. It was delicious!! When I plated the crumb it was actually still warm and gooey. It was a bit too sweet for my taste though... I never thought I would say this, but apparently my tastebuds and preferences have changed since I was sick in December 2009.... Next time I'll add a little less sugar to the crumb. However my friends C., I. and the babysitter M. all loved it and didn't think that the crumb was too sweet at all. Neither did my parents who got to enjoy the leftovers :)

The movie we saw at Ladies Night was 'Valentine's Day'. Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you what it's about and spoil the whole move for all of you that still want to go and see it. The three of us really liked it. It reminded me of 'Love Actually' with all the different story-lines within the movie. This is a perfect movie for a girls-night-out: a real feel-good-movie, I personally wouldn't go see it with a (potential) boyfriend.... Visit the official 'Valentine's Day' website for the trailer. Let me know if you saw the movie and what you thought of it!!

Now on to the actual Valentine's Day: I don't really like this day.... First of all I think it's such a commercial day, I prefer for my sweetheart to surprise me with something on any day: not just because it's Valentine's Day. And second of all somehow I've always been single around Valentine's Day, which (like Chrismas and New Year's Eve) is absolutely no fun!!!

Apple, Cinnamon and Pecan Crumble
(adapted from Dessert First)

Filling

3 large tart apples (about 1 3/4 lbs total)

3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crust

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons softened unsalted butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 egg, room temperature

Streusel

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced

1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the filling:

• Peel, core, and chop the apples in 1/2-inch cubes.
• Set aside in a bowl.
• Melt butter in a sauté pan over medium heat.
• Add the apples and sauté for about 8 minutes until the apples are semi-soft.
• Add sugar, lemon juice, flour, and cinnamon to the apples and stir to combine.
• Cook until mixture begins to bubble, then turn heat to low and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Transfer filling to a bowl and let cool while you make the crust.
  

Make the crust:

• Line a 9 by 13 inch pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough to hang over the edge and act as handles to remove bars after baking.
• Grease foil.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
• In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed for several minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add egg and mix to combine.
• Add flour mixture and mix to combine.
• Pour the dough into the prepared pan and gently press into the bottom of the pan and about 1/4” up the sides, making sure it is level.
• Set pan aside while you make the streusel.
  

Make the streusel:

• In a stand mixer, combine sugar, flour, and salt and mix to combine.
• Add butter and mix until crumbly and the butter pieces are very small.
• Add pecans and mix just to combine.
  

Assembling the crumble:

• Spread cooled apple filling evenly over the crust, leaving about 3/4” between the pan sides and the filling.
• Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the filling.
• Bake for about 35 minutes until the top layer is golden.
• Cool completely on wire rack before removing.
  
  Enjoy!
  

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Gorgonzola

We had about two days without any snow. Then Wednesday came and it started snowing again. Below is the view from my window at work since yesterday, I must admit I do like the look of it. But I still think the snow/ice is a pain in the ass, especially since I have to drive for an hour to get to work, which is quite long for Dutch standards.

Because of the snow I had been craving winter vegetables. Brussels Sprouts were on sale at the supermarket, so I went and surfed the Internet to find the perfect recipe. I found loads of great once but this one for Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Gorgonzola at Kalyn's Kitchen caught my eye, I knew had some pecans and gorgonzola on hand so this didn't even require a trip the the store.

What was great about this recipe is that it only requires some preparation, then you slide it into the oven and you have your hands free to make other yummy dishes like the marinated flank steak with blue cheese sauce that I served with it and blogged about yesterday.
I really enjoyed the Brussels Sprouts prepared this way although I did find the gorgonzola a bit harsh. But that's solely to blame on me as I picked up the wrong cheese: I prefer the Gorgonzola Dolce but had the regular on in the fridge.

Recipe can be found here at Kalyn's Kitchen.

Butter Pecan Slice and Bake Cookies: Day 6 of 12 Days of Christmas Cookies

68 pieces

TWD: Fresh Mango Bread Muffins with Pecans and Coconut

After missing out on all last weeks challenges I really looked forward to participating in this weeks TWD as Kelly of Baking with the Boys picked Mango Bread for us to try.



I halved the recipe, used a bit more cinnamon and a bit less ginger. I soaked the raisins in apfelkorn for about 10 minutes and added 1/3 cup of chopped pecans and 2 tablespoons of shredded coconut to the batter to get a more pronounced tropical taste. Then I divided the mixture over some muffin liners and baked them for about 20 minutes. Next time they need a bit less time in the oven as they had a bit too much of a tan on them in my opinion....



This time I forgot to add the lime zest and am afraid that at one point I forgot to half the ingredients: I can clearly remember measuring the whole 1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar and adding it to the rest of the dry ingredients, so I guess my muffins will be a tad sweet this week. I'll get back on the flavour later today after I sampled a muffin! Update: these were absolutely perfect: nice and moist on the inside with an occasional piece of pecan, yum!!

The coconut however was hardly detectable.... Maybe I'll add some more next time!

My halved recipe actually made 24 muffins, it always amazes me when I get way more muffins from one recipe than Americans. I'm not exactly sure what this means... MaybeI'm frugal or American muffins are simply enormous!! Anyhow, one of my muffins contains 3 WW points.

Go check out what my fellow TWD-ers thought of the Mango Bread here!
Great news by the way for those of you who are not members of TWD but want to be: the group's accepting new members!!! If you're interested, go check out the rules here.

TWD (Thursday with Dorie): Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

Thanksgiving has arrived..... So ofcourse Vibi of La Casserole Carée had no choice but to choose Thanksgiving Twofer Pie! Normally we post on Tuesdays, hence the name Tuesdays with Dorie.

Since this pie is a very good pie for Thanksgiving (you probably figured that out when you read the name....) our fearless leader of TWD L W allowed us to post this recipe late, but it should be posted by the 30th of November. Not wanting to break with traditions (even though they are not mine) I decided that since this is a Thanksgiving Pie I would bake it on Thanksgiving.

This pie actually consists of two pies: a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie. First you bake a single crust pie, than you pour the pumpkin filling on top of the crust. Sprinkle the pecans on top and pour the pecan filling over it. And into the oven.....

Once again there are heavenly smells emurging from the kitchen while the oven is doing its job.... When the pie came out off the oven I actually had to restrain myself from taking a piece of the pie immediately. I managed to practice my patience for 30 minutes....


When I scooped one piece out of the pie-shape, some kind of fluid came oozing out of the pie into the empty spot where that piece of pie used to be.... Maybe it should have stayed into the oven a bit longer?? I had already had it in there for 55 minutes.... The piece looks like a bit of a mess.....

As for the taste.... YUMMY!!! I love this pie!! Give me more..... O no, I can't.... I promissed to bring the pie to work tomorrow...... It's nice, sweet, creamy and smooth, maybe a bit too soft. But still: delicious!!!

My everlasting gratitude goes out to Vibi for picking this great recipe!! If you want to check out what the other TWD-ers baked up, click here.....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

TWD: Caramel Pecan-Topped Brownie Cake

Miniature bundt cakes made of brownie and topped with caramel and pecan.... Heaven!!

Just some pictures to look at, I'm way too tired too type at the moment: more info will follow tomorrow!! Recipe can be found at Wee Treats by Tammy.

Okay, so here's my review... Finally!!
I didn't use peanuts, I still had some pecans lying around in the house and thought that they would work perfectly with the caramel sauce, which they did! I had some problems getting my sauce to the right colour and eventually gave up because I was supposed to visit a friend and wanted to bring these along. The cake was a bit too dry for my taste, but fortunately the caramel sauce took care of that!

Overall: I would definetely make this again, but probably take the cake out of the oven a bit earlier. Dad's verdict: 8,5 out of 10.