Linzer Cookies

It was Christmas Eve, my family just finished dinner, and the dogs were already fast asleep. I'm not sure why, but I was feeling extraordinarily guilty for not cooking anything special for my family on Christmas Eve. So rather than mope around and stuff myself with the bounty of chocolates and cakes that we already have in my house, I decided to add to our Christmas collection. 

Ta da! You have to admit that these are pretty impressive Christmas cookies. And if you participate in any holiday cookie exchanges, these Linzer cookies should definitely be a contender! Don't get me wrong, cookies are delicious all year round. So bookmark the tab now, eat some today, and then impress all your friends at your next party when you bring these bad boys to the table.

These cookies look much harder than they actually are to make. Cookie cutters will become your new best friend, dusted powdered sugar will cover up any flaws, and strawberry jam adds the perfect tartness to the sweet cookie. You know I'm not lying cause who wants to be on Santa's naughty list? 

Linzer Cookies

Serving Size: Makes 18 sandwich cookies

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla 
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 strawberry or raspberry jam
Powdered sugar for dusting


1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until they are just combined. 

2. Add the flour,salt, and nutmeg to the electric mixer and mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. If the mixture is coarse and crumbly slowly add cold water or milk until a pliable dough forms. 

3. Turn the dough out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap the dough in plastic and put in a freezer for 15 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the dough from the  freezer and roll out to 1/4 inch think on a lightly dusted work surface. Cut out 18 heart shaped cookies with the cookie cutter.

5, With half of the hearts. cut a smaller heart out of the center. Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes. 

6. Once the cookies are cooled, spread the jam on the bottom side of the cutout cookie and the top of the solid cookie. Press the sides with jam together to form a cookie sandwich, 

7. Dust the top of the cookie sandwich with powdered sugar and serve!

Tip:
I had to add some milk to my dough because I don't have a paddle attachment to work the dough. You can use the normal whisk attachment like I did, but you will definitely need the recommended water or milk to keep the dough together. This whisk attachment by its nature will break apart the dough, so once the ingredients are well incorporated, use your hands to bind the ingredients! 

To sprinkle the powdered sugar, I always pour the sugar into a little strainer and then lightly tap the side for an even coating. 

Streusel Blueberry Coffee Cake

Whenever I'm back home, the first thing I do is raid our pantry and fridge. There's some odd relief knowing that I have a fully functioning kitchen with all the spices/ tools I need to bake. It's about time that I update this baby and now that I have a whole 3 weeks in California you can count on me cooking up a storm. 

I stumbled upon frozen blueberries during the raid and immediately knew I wanted to make a streusel blueberry coffee cake. In France I didn't have an oven and definitely did not have my daily fruit intake. So why not shove some blueberries into a cake and pretend I've got the new diet bar?

This isn't your normal coffee cake because it's got that sinfully awesome crunch of the crumb mixture on top. For all you non-bakers (I will convert you soon enough), this cake is not made with coffee! It's called a coffee cake because it's a denser cake meant to be served with hot coffee, and is perfect for snacking on. 

My Mum has already asked for a second round of this cake, and once you've got Momma's approval, you know you have a winner. 

Streusel Blueberry Coffee Cake

Recipe Adapted from Taste of Home 

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping: 

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Preheat the oven to  375 degrees. 

2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt. Whisk in milk, egg, and melted butter to the dry ingredients.

3. Dredge the frozen blueberries in additional flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake. Fold in the flour-coated blueberries into the cake batter. 

4. Spread the cake batter into a 9 inch circular baking pan. 

5. To make the streusel, combine the sugar and flour in a bowl. Cut in the butter until the butter is evenly distributed and forms coarse crumbs.

6. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the batter and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Dal Makhani

SO I might be going out on a limb here but this is my recipe for Dal Makhani. I've always loved Dal Makhani but never really ate it much because it's a North Indian dish that my Mom doesn't cook. And now I'm craving my Mom's food....

Anyways, I decided to give this recipe a go because it doesn't require a lot of ingredients and a lot of it came straight out of a can. (Hint: If you're in college this should be up your alley!) And boy am I glad. The dal was DELICIOUS and took less than 10 minutes to prepare!! It totally satisfied my Indian food craving, and I could not believe how easy yet flavorful it was. I also gave this to my roommate and another friend and both of them gave it a double thumbs up. So no need to take my word for it. Winner Winner, Dal for Dinner? :)

Dal Makhani

1 15-19 oz can lentils
1 15 oz kidney (rajma) beans
1 onion, diced
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 can tomato paste (6 oz)
4 tbsp butter
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons chilli powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 1/2 tsp salt


1. In a skillet, heat 2 tbsp butter and cook garlic and onions until browned. 

2. Add milk and tomato puree to the onions and garlic. Mix together until it is smooth and no clumps remain. 

3. Strain and rinse the lentils and kidney beans thoroughly before adding to the pan. Once washed add the lentils, kidney beans, and spices and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. 

4. Once the beans are fully heated through, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and let it melt into the curry. 

5. Serve when naan, rice, or paratha!

3/4 Cup Saltine Crunch Bars

You may be wondering what's up with the 3/4? Well in this recipe EVERYTHING is in a 3/4 cup proportion. Except for the saltines, cause you can't measure the crackers in a measuring cup without making them into crumbs. But you do need close to 3/4 a package of saltines, so I think the name is more than appropriate. I actually first made this recipe in 7th grade during my first cooking class in Middle School! #tb...Sunday? I don't have the original recipe so I'm not sure who to give credit to, but over the years I have made this easily 20+ times. 


I always have a hard time to explain what the crunch bars taste like and how SALTINES are actually the base of this delicious dessert. People say it resembles a heath bar? But I can't verify that because I've never tried one.

This recipe can be easily found on the internet BUT the proportions are always wrong. My dearly beloved cousin asked me how to make this after eating them at my house, but when I searched the recipe online, NO ONE had the right proportions or instructions!

It's time someone set the record straight to make this nut-lovers, chocolate-lovers, toffee-lovers dream recipe come true. 

3/4 Cup Saltine Crunch Bars

Serving size: 10 hungry people

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 column of saltines (minus a handful)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil. Then line the bottom of the pan with saltines in a a single layer. If there are gaps along the sides, break the saltines in half and fill in the empty spaces. 

3.  To make the caramel, bring the butter and sugar to a boil. This is the first tricky part! Keep the heat on medium/medium-high because having the temperature too hot will cause the caramel to burn easily. I also like to stir the butter and sugar frequently to make sure that the consistency is right and that the ingredients are well incorporated. Once it comes to a boil, cook for another minute or so. A rich light-brown color is desired. 

4. Pour the caramel evenly on top of the saltines and bake until brown and bubbly. (5-7 minutes) Keep watch on the oven because this is usually where people will burn the caramel. You want a medium brown color, so if you need less time, pull out the pan early!

5. Take the pan out of the oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.  Place the pan back in the oven for another ~2.5 minutes. 

6. Remove the oven and test if the chocolate is warm and gooey. If so, spread the chocolate chips evenly across the saltines. 

7. Top with nuts, let cool, and then refrigerate until serving! 

TIPS:

If you are worried about the caramel, a little lighter than this COLOR is desired when you bring it to a boil in the pan. This is also the perfect COLOR for the caramel color in the oven. Any darker and you might have burned your caramel, so if you're worried, just pull it out early! It still tastes good. I promise. I've also noticed when I use an opened bag of chocolate chips, the chocolate is stubborn and does not want to spread. If this is the case, just let the whole chocolate chips remain and then sprinkle with the nuts. 

Korean Scallion Pancakes

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

I know you all are eating your hearts out this Thanksgiving: green bean casserole, roasted sweet potatoes, turkey. cranberry sauce, stuffing, and galore!! My family is eating barbecue for some odd reason but I am still insanely jealous that I'm missing out.

Instead my Thanksgiving breakfast consisted of Korean Scallion Pancakes!! I know. I clearly am a couple holidays off. I woke up this morning craving Green Onion (aka Scallion) pancakes because last night I read an article about 40 Taiwanese foods we can't live without. I must have dreamt about them because they clearly were still on my mind when I woke up. If you are up for some serious drooling check out the article to educate yourself on some of the most popular Taiwanese foods.

So I hopped out of bed and started looking up recipes on how to make them. The traditional Taiwanese flaky scallion pancake requires that the dough sits for 30-60 minutes before you can even make the pancakes. AND there's this super fancy technique to roll them out for which a rolling pin is necessary. I don't have a rolling pin and my tummy was not going to wait this long, so I settled for Korean scallion pancakes!

They turned out just fine and satisfied my craving. Texture wise these pancakes are more dense and not flaky in comparison to the Taiwanese scallion pancakes. However, there is a nice crust on the outside from searing it in the pan, you get the nice brown toasty color, and the flavor of the green onion really shines.

So if your Thanksgiving is just as wacky as mine food-wise, try em out! The recipe required a few basic ingredients, required minimal prep work, and most importantly, I GOBBLED them all up :)

Also, the bottom of this pancake got a little TOO toasty, but doesn't it look like a rose? It was too pretty to not share. (Or I'm crazy and the only person who thinks this looks like a flower.)

Korean Scallion Pancake (Pa Jun)

Recipe from Naomi Imatome-Yun 
Serving Size: 5 medium pancakes


2 cups flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups water
1 bunch of scallions
1 tsp salt
Oil for cooking

Soy Sauce (for dipping)


1. Finely chop the bunch of scallions and mix them together with the flour, eggs, water and salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes and consistency should be runnier than American pancake batter.

2. Heat a saute pan over medium heat and coat with a thin layer of oil.

3. Pour batter to fill pan in a thin layer.

4. Cook for 3-4 minutes until set and golden brown on bottom.

5. Turn over with help of spatula and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add more oil if necessary, and desired color should be a toasted brown.

6. Serve warm and dip in soy sauce!

Apple Baskets

You know a little while back when I promised that I would have a series of apple dessert recipes for you? Well, I finally came through.

When I made my turnovers I had too much leftover filling, so I thought to myself (anyone else think of "A Wonderful World"??), what else can I do with these apples?

And then this happened.  Plus ten for Anika. Also to get the basket shape you need muffins pans. It's not actually an ingredient but a tool, which is why I'm awkwardly letting you know here.

Apple Baskets

Makes 12 apple baskets

1/4 cup melted butter

1 1/2 cups chopped, peeled green apples

1/4 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 phyllo sheets, thawed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Separate each phyllo sheet and brush with the melted butter. Lay the buttered sheets on top of each other until all four sheets are stacked up evenly. Phyllo sheets dry out really easily so cover with a damp towel when you aren't attending to them.

3. Cut the phyllo sheet evenly into 12 squares/rectangles and press into the muffin cups. They don't have to fit perfectly and if there is a lot of phyllo hanging off the muffin cup, trim it down so the phyllo sheets actually fit. I also don't think I'm explaining this step clearly so check out this phyllo cup tutorial that I Googled that has step by step pictures! Also in this recipe we bake the phyllo cups with the filling at the same time, and it produces the same result.

4. To prepare the apple mixture, combine the sugar, apples, walnuts, and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. Toss well so the apples are evenly coated.

5. Place a heaping spoonful of the apple mixture into each pastry cup.

6. And now you can bake them until light golden brown and crisp (approx. 10-15 minutes)! Serve immediately. 

TIPS:

I noticed the longer I kept them out after the baskets were baked, the soggier they became. So eat them when they pop out of the oven!! I also ate mine with vanilla ice cream because there is something about cinammon-y apples that just calls for vanilla ice cream.  You don't have to of course, but just thought I'd discretely implant the idea in your head. Don't worry the ice cream was your original idea.

Sinning Siracha & Godly Garlic Kale Chips

For those of you wondering, can kale actually become even more awesome than a potato chip? The answer is yes. My roommate who does not eat ANYTHING green, and I'm not even exaggerating here, even she LIKED the kale chips. She ate more than one. I swear it was a miracle because this girl runs away just at the sight of veggies.

A friend back home actually requested that I experiment trying kale chips, the new and improved potato chip trend. And for those of you now wondering,  I do take requests. But you have to be special enough for me to actually honor your wishes. Mhmm, that's right. I have high standards.

Of cooourse I'm kidding.

Apparently I'm feeling sassy this morning so you're going to have to excuse my behavior. I'm always open to trying new recipes so email/text/comment/facebook/yell anything you want me to try.  Forreal guys and girls.

So I put on my thinking cap and walked over to my little bureau/pantry and looked for potential suitors for my kale chips. The garlic powder and siracha were the obvious winners so I made two different batches to see which seasoning I liked better!

In conclusion, I'm not sure which seasoning I liked better. Yup, I'm super helpful. The texture reminds me of the fragility of snowflake and the crunchiness of aluminum foil. Please don't go looking for such objects to eat. I really don't recommend doing so.  Flavor-wise, I don't think you can go wrong with garlicy goodness or siracha. So I would just say pick and choose your winner, or if you're indecisive like me, make em both!

Sinning Siracha Kale Chips

1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon siracha

Kosher salt (to taste)

Godly Garlic Kale Chips

1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Farenheit.
2. Wash your kale thoroughly before tearing the leaves apart from the middle rib of the kale leaf.  The center stem doesn't crisp up too well, so you only want the leaves. Tear the leaves into bite size pieces, about the size of a regular potato chip!
3. Make sure to properly dry your leaves. This step is crucial so that your chips are super crisp when they come out of the oven.
4. Drizzle the kale with olive oil and sprinkle the seasoning salt. Mix well so the individual pieces are properly coated.
5. Line the kale in one single layer on a baking sheet, and make sure not to overcrowd the pieces! Bake for about 10 minutes, flip, and bake again for another 10 minutes or until the entire chip is crispy. Expect the siracha kale chips to take longer to bake (~ additional 5 minutes)

Tip:

I actually used two trays for one bunch of kale because the leaves themselves have a large surface area. Telltale signs that your kale chips are done are when they become edges shrink up and the chip becomes brown-ish.  Your chips might actually take longer to become crispy so don't freak out if they are in the oven longer than I suggested. Also, I personally finished all my kale chips within a day, so double or triple the recipe if you want to feed more than one hungry girl.