Merry Christmas friends! You may have heard this story. This recipe has been circulating around for years claiming that a Neiman-Marcus Cafe customer asked for this cookie recipe and was charged $250 so she made the recipe go public. Whether it is true or not, this cookie is really delicious. I didn’t add the chopped nuts to mine but you may choose to do so.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups oatmeal, blended (measure 2/12 cups of oatmeal and blend in a blender or food processor until a fine powder).
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
12 oz chocolate chips
4 oz Hershey bar, grated
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts, optional
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 Farenheit.
Cream butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar and nuts (optional).
Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
During our last trip to Italy, we brought back some amazing Limoncino so I decided to make a cake with a small amount of it. You might be wondering what is the difference between Limoncino versus Limoncello. Both are made from the same ingredients so it’s actually a regional thing. In the North, around the Portofino/Cinque Terre region, it’s Limoncino. In the South, around Naples/Sorrento, it’s Limoncello. I found this recipe on the website momontimeout.com. It’s a perfect cake to have with your coffee in the morning.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
3 TBS Limoncino
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
1 TBS lemon zest
1/2 tsp lemon or vanilla extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Glaze ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
3 TBS Limoncino
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 9 X 5 loaf pan, lining with parchment paper.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.
In another bowl whisk together oil, sugar, Limoncino, sour cream, eggs, lemon zest and extracts.
Combine wet and dry ingredients together until just combined, do not over mix.
Place batter in loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.
Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool.
My boyfriend and I were lucky enough to spend most of January in Italy this year. One of my favorite sweet dishes that I tasted was a crostata di marmellata (jam filled tart) in Bologna. In Italy this is considered a breakfast item but I will probably eat it as a dessert.
This recipe is another recipe from Pasta Grammar’s duo Eva and Harper, which is featured in their amazing cookbook The Italian Family Kitchen. This is a close replica to the one I had in Bologna.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3/4 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
10 TBS unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, room temperature
Grated zest of lemon
24 ounces fruit jam or marmalade
Directions:
In a large bowl combine flour, powdered sugar, butter, egg and lemon zest. Knead everything together by hand until a dough forms. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 355F. Grease a 9 inch pie or tart pan with butter and dust with flour.
Remove the dough from the fridge and cut off two thirds of the dough to use for the base and leave the other one third portion in the fridge. Roll out the dough on a floured surface and gently press down into the pan.
Spread the jam evenly into the prepared crust.
Roll out the remaining dough and cut into 6 strips that are each 1/2 inch wide. Lay 3 strips parallel over the top and the other 3 strips in the opposite direction.
Bake 25-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
Allow to cool then dust with powdered sugar before serving.
The smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls throughout the house, how can anyone resist! I have made these cinnamon rolls a couple of times after finding this recipe on a website named ambitiouskitchen.com. The writer of this website obviously knows what she is doing. Give these healthy rolls a try (cue sarcasm), you will not be disappointed.
Ingredients:
For the dough;
3/4 whole milk, warmed
2 1/4 tsp quick rise or active yeast
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups bread flour plus more for dusting
3/4 tsp salt
For the filling;
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 TBS ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened
For the frosting;
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 TBS butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Warm the milk in the microwave for 40-45 seconds. If you are doing this on the stove top, bring the milk to 110 degrees F. Place warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle in yeast then add sugar, egg, egg yolk, and melted butter and combine.
Next, mix in flour and salt and mix with a wooden spoon until dough begins to form. Place this on your electric mixer with the bread hook and mix for 7-8 minutes. If you don’t have an electric mixer, this step will need to be done by kneading the dough with your hands on a floured surface.
Transfer the ball of dough to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let this rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until it doubles in size.
While waiting for the dough to rise, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon portion of the filling ingredients together and set aside. Assure you have the softened butter at the ready for the next step. Also, grease a 9 X 9 inch pan and line with parchment paper.
Transfer the dough to a well floured surface and rollout to a 14 X 9 inch rectangular shape. Spread softened butter over dough then add the filling, rubbing the brown sugar mix into the dough. Tightly roll the dough up, starting with the 9 inch side and cut into 1 inch sections with a serrated knife. Place these rolls in the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and towel and let rise again for 30-45 minutes.
Once the rolls have finished proofing, preheat your oven to 350 F.
Remove the plastic wrap and towel and bake for 20-25 minutes. They should be slightly golden brown
While the buns are baking, make the frosting by blending cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in a stand mixer or by hand.
Once you take them out of the oven, let them cool for 5-10 minutes before frosting.
Another recipe from Pasquale’s recipe blog. This is his Amaretto Tiramisu. I have made this three times and it is now adjusted to my preference. You can find his complete recipe at: https://orsararecipes.net/amaretto-tiramisu
Ingredients:
28 ladyfingers
5 eggs
1 lb Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 cup espresso, brewed and room temperature
1 oz white rum
1 oz amaretto liquor
1/2 cup white sugar
Salt
Cocoa powder
10 X 10 baking dish
Directions:
Separate the egg whites from the yolks, set aside.
Add the sugar into the bowl with the egg yolks and blend with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Fold the Mascarpone cheese into the egg yolk mixture with a spatula. Do not use an electric mixer for this part, that is very important. I used a Kitchen Aide for this part one time and it was a disaster because it was too thin.
Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and mix until peaks form. In Pasquale’s recipe he directs you to do this by hand. I used my Kitchen Aide for this part and it worked well.
Fold the egg white mixture with the egg yolk mixture and combine until smooth.
Combine the cold coffee with the amaretto and rum. You can decrease the alcohol content if you would like, or omit it all together.
One by one, briefly dip half of the ladyfingers into the coffee mixture and line up, coffee side down, into the baking dish. Once the first layer of ladyfingers lines the bottom of the pan, spread half of the cream mixture over the ladyfingers. The layer should be thin but thick enough to cover all the ladyfingers. Repeat these steps for one more layer.
Sift some cocoa powder over the top.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 3-4 hours and preferably overnight to set well.
We all need chocolate chip cookies in our life. This is a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe that can be used with any brand of chocolate chips. I found it on the back of the Ghirardelli chocolate chip bag and decided to give it a try. One thing I do recommend is to blend the mixture, before pouring in the chips, for a few minutes to make the cookie a bit thinner. The first time I made them, I didn’t do that and the cookie was more cake like.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (I used salted butter and they were still delicious)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups (12 oz) chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Stir flour with baking soda and salt, set aside.
Beat butter with sugars and add vanilla and eggs.
Continue to beat the mixture for a few minutes.
Blend dry ingredients with sugar mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by tablespoon on uncreased baking sheet (I like to use parchment paper to prevent sticking).
Hello friends! I hope this post finds you all well on this beautiful spring day. If not, a chocolate cake may make things better. This is a recipe found in the book Torta della Nonna by Emil Davies. The author writes that this recipe is from a historic Italian cookbook that dates back to 1929. It is a dense and rich chocolate cake that is one layer only. Truly, all you need is the one layer because it is so delicious and rich. You can top it with powdered sugar, a chocolate ganache, or chocolate buttercream.
Ingredients:
1 cup Dutch unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted, plus extra for dusting
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthways and seeds scraped
350 ml (12 fl oz) whole milk, equal to 1.4 cups of milk
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
Grease a 20 cm (8 inch) round cake tin and dust it with sifted cocoa powder. Tap the pan upside down to remove extra cocoa powder.
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Do not forget to sift the cocoa powder as it can create lumps if not sifted.
Mix the milk and vanilla.
Add the liquid to the dry ingredients in small increments while stirring with a wooden spoon. If the batter is too stiff, add a little more milk.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 30 minutes, or until the center of the cake feels spongy.
Once cooled, remove from the pan and either dust with powdered sugar or frost with ganache or buttercream frosting. Berries and whip cream go well with this dessert as well.
My mom told me this cheesecake recipe is from Betty Crocker, but I have had no luck finding it on their website so I am giving her full credit because she has been making it throughout my childhood. You have to start this recipe the day before because it requires a cooling of 6-12 hours between bakes.
I double this recipe and make a couple.
Picture above of my mom in the 60’s cooking up something delicious.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
6 TBS butter, melted
Cream cheese filling:
2 eggs, well beaten
3/4 lb soft cream cheese (12 oz)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
Sour cream topping:
1/2 cup sour cream
2 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
Directions:
Heat up the oven to 325F. Mix the first three ingredients together and press into a springform pan.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Let cool for 3-5 minutes
Turn the oven up to 375F. Mix the cream cheese filling ingredients together and pour into the graham cracker crust.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Let cool for 6-12 hours
Heat oven to 425F. Mix together sour cream topping ingredients and pour into on to the cooled cream cheese cake. Bake for five minutes. Let cool and refrigerate.
This is a cake my Bf’s daughter has made several times and it is so good. The picture is my one try at making it for her recent birthday. My advice is to make it as a sheet cake. The layered cake did not set well, but tasted good. It is a twist on the cannoli cookie. Original recipe found on bakingbeauty.net.
Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Frosting:
1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups mascarpone cheese
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup mini chocolate chips
Additional powdered sugar
Directions:
Bake cake mix according to directions.
Once cake is cooked, poke holes all over the top of the cake (I used the handle end of a spoon). Pour 1/2 of the can of condensed milk into the holes. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
Make frosting: combine ricotta, mascarpone, cinnamon, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Add powdered sugar a little at time until combined. Mix in remaining condensed milk.
Once the cake is cool, frost and sprinkle chocolate chips on top. Dust with additional powdered sugar.
