MJ's Moderation

Vanilla Cupcakes

I have been on a sugar rush lately... cookies, brownies - and now cupcakes.  I am absolutely crazy for cupcakes!  These are easily made from scratch & are just the right sized vehicle for creamy frosting, what ever flavor you prefer.  I've included the same buttercream recipe at the end as I did for the brownies in a previous post.

Ingredients:
2 cups sifted cake flour (SoftaSilk)
1-1/3 cups granulated sugar
2-1/2 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup softened butter or shortening
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add shortening, milk and vanilla & beat for 2 minutes with electric mixer at medium speed. Add eggs and beat 1-1/2 minutes longer. Line aluminum cupcake pans with paper liners and fill about 1/2 to 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Cakes are done when tops spring back when touched or when inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool and frost. Top with sprinkles or nuts if desired. Yields approx. 18 cupcakes.

Buttercream Icing:
   2 cups sifted powdered sugar
   1/2 stick of butter
   1 or 2 Tbsp. of milk or cream
   1 tsp. vanilla
   food coloring - optional

Blend first four ingredients together with electric beater until light and fluffy - adding only as much milk as needed for spreadability. Add a few drops of food color if desired, beating until well blended.

Frosted Brownies

Must. Have. Chocolate. Sometimes you just gotta have it! Miniature chocolate chips add a chewy, fudgy decadence to these traditional cocoa-based brownies.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup semi-sweet mini-chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan and coat lightly with flour, shaking out any excess. Beat sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Soften butter or shortening slightly and stir in cocoa until blended.  Add to egg mixture, beating slowly until combined.

Sift flour, salt and baking powder together and add to above mixture, using a wooden spoon, until well mixed.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Pour into baking pan and smooth evenly.

Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean - but do not overbake.

Let cool completely before frosting (see icing recipe below) and cutting into bars. Decorate with sprinkles or colored sugar for some extra fun.  We place the cut & decorated individual brownies in a cupcake paper case, just like the bakeries do. Store in a covered container.

Buttercream Icing:
   2 cups sifted powdered sugar
   1/2 stick of butter
   1 or 2 Tbsp. of milk or cream
   1 tsp. vanilla
   food coloring - optional

Blend first four ingredients together with electric beater until light and fluffy - adding only as much milk as needed for spreadability. Add a few drops of food color if desired, beating until well blended. 

Traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies

Using shortening (butter flavored Crisco) instead of real butter may be frowned on by some, but shortening yields the chewiest cookies.  If you prefer crisper cookies, using all butter is your best bet, and also provides the better all-round flavor.  However, I've found that using 1/2 cup of butter flavored shortening and 1/4 cup real butter will offer the best of both worlds.  The baking temperature and time also determine the outcome.  Experimentation will help you find your own happy medium. YUM - these are really quite fabulous!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter flavored Crisco
OR - 1/2 cup butter flavored Crisco and 1/4 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
2 tsps. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Options:  1/2 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Directions:
Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat shortening and brown & white sugars with electric mixer until fluffy.  Beat in milk, vanilla and egg until well mixed. Sift flour, salt and baking soda together in a separate bowl.  Stir into wet mixture until well blended.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet (approx. 12 to a sheet.)

Bake at 325 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes, turning half-way - or until light brown and set.  Do not over brown. Cool on a wire rack. Store in a covered container.

Baking 12 to 14 minutes will yield a chewier cookie.  They may appear not quite set when you remove them from the oven - but if you let them cool for a minute or two on the cookie sheet, they will be easier to transfer to the baking rack & be chewier than those baked longer.

Ice Box Cookies - AKA: Refrigerator Cookies

These old-fashioned buttery, brown-sugar cookies are the best sidekick for coffee or milk.  On the crispy side, their rectangular shape makes them ideal for dunking! The dough freezes well, so you can make them ahead and cut & bake as needed. Easy & delicious.

Nutty Ice-Box Cookies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:
Thoroughly cream shortening and sugars; add egg and beat well. Stir in vanilla and nut meats. Add sifted dry ingredients; mix well and shape into a loaf size roll. Wrap in waxed paper. Chill several hours or overnight. Slice 1/4-inch thick (or thinner.) Bake on greased cookie sheet in oven at 375ºF for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Cool on wire rack.  Store in covered container. Makes approx. 3 dozen cookies.

Fairy Footstools

Happy New Year!
It's been quite a while since I've posted a new recipe, so here is one of our favorite holiday cookies that can be made all year round.  As you can see, I've got tiny holly leaves piped on this batch, but you can do red hearts, green clovers, white bunny faces, red/white/blue firecrackers, or orange pumpkins, etc...depending upon the season.

Surprisingly, the dough has no sugar, except on the outside. These flakey, crispy little rounds melt-in-your-mouth once paired with the lemony buttercream filling.

INGREDIENTS
Dough:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup soft butter
1/3 cup whipping cream
In a separate flat bowl or pie-plate: 1/2 cup granulated sugar.

Mix flour, butter and cream thoroughly until it forms a soft dough. Cover and chill for at least one hour.  (This dough freezes well.)  When ready to make cookies, preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll 1/3 of the dough at a time to 1/8 inch thick on a flour covered pastry cloth (the thinner, the better.) Cut into small circles (1-1/2 inch diameter or so - or use any other small cookie-cutter shape.)

Transfer rounds with spatula to pie-plate filled with granulated sugar.  Press onto each side of cookie.  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  When sheet is filled, prick each cookie four times with the tines of a fork. 

Bake 6-8 minutes or until set.  Watch carefully as these brown very quickly, although a little golden color is good. Remove from sheet & cool on baking rack.  Put cookies together with creamy filling (below) and decorate if desired.

Lemon Buttercream filling:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1-1/2 cup sifted powdered/confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice (more if needed)

Blend together with electric beater until smooth and creamy.  Add more lemon juice to thin, or more powdered sugar to thicken.  This frosting can be colored with food dye or left pale white.

To pipe design on top of cookie, use a pastry/piping bag with a thin writing tip.  Or, use a plastic baggie & fill with approximately 1/4 cup of colored icing, snip a tiny end off one of the corners and pipe design on cookie as desired.  [I actually find using a clean white paper envelope works best for me.  I seal it and then cut it in half -- fill one half with icing, roll the end closed, and then snip off a corner tip. If it gets too damp after use, then use the other half, if needed.]

The single cookies are VERY fragile, so use care when handling.  Once they are paired with the filling, they become alot sturdier. Best eaten within two or three days.  Store in a covered container.

Pear Tart

Pre-made pastry makes this rustic dessert a snap!
INGREDIENTS:
1 Pillsbury ready-made pie crust
3 ripe Bartlett or D'Anjou pears
Juice of 1 lime
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. red currant jelly
Ground cinnamon - optional
Blackberries for garnish

Slice the pears thinly & place into a medium size bowl. Toss with 1/2 of the lime juice & 1 Tbsp. of sugar. Place jelly and remaining lime juice in small pan over low heat until melted & smooth.

Unroll crust & center over 9 or 10 inch pie plate, allowing the edges to go up the sides. With a pastry brush, brush currant-lime mixture over bottom of crust. Arrange pear slices in a circular design on crust, starting on the outside of crust working inward. Place 3 large blackberries in the center. Brush pears & berries with more of the currant-lime mixture. Next, fold edges of pastry evenly over sides of pears - keeping center open.

Prick folded edges of pastry with a fork. Brush the overlapping crust with the currant-lime mixture and sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Cool and serve slices with a spinkle of cinnamon and whipped cream -- along with fresh blackberries and a pear slice for garnish.

Sugar Cut-Out Cookies

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened (or 1/2 butter, 1/2 shortening)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
Granulated sugar or colored sugar, as needed.

Cream butter, powdered sugar, egg, & vanilla. Sift together flour, baking soda and cream of tartar and blend into creamed mixture. Divide dough into two sections and flatten into thick discs BEFORE chilling between 2 sheets of waxed paper. Place dough in the fridge to cool.

WHEN READY TO BAKE:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Once properly chilled, transfer discs (one at a time) from waxed paper to floured pastry cloth. Keep additional disc chilled until needed.  Roll dough quite thin - approx. 1/8" or so & cut out into desired shapes. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Decorate with white or colored sugar (or omit sugar if these will be frosted after baking.) 

Bake 7-8 minutes or until cookies are a pale tan color. Transfer cookies to cooling racks. Frost when cool. Store sugared cookies in airtight containers &  frosted cookies in vented containers.

ABOUT THE PHOTO:  The round, happy autumn-colored faces of these Blanketflowers (Gaillardia) remind me of the cut-out cookies we make for Halloween...fall leaves, pumpkins & black cats!

Cherry Fluff Pie

Ingredients:
1 graham cracker crust pie shell [homemade or ready made]
2-1/2 cups pitted sour cherries* [fresh or frozen.]
– If frozen, drain and reserve liquid for other use.
20 large marshmallows
¼ cup milk
1-1/2 cups CoolWhip Lite - or fresh, sweetened whipped cream.

Place marshmallows and milk in a large glass/microwave-safe bowl.
Microwave 1 minute to melt.  Stir and heat in 30-second increments to melt completely. Cool to room temp.

Stir in fruit.  [You may want to also add a drop of pink or red food coloring to tint the mixture – but this is not necessary.] Then, stir in Cool Whip or whipped cream until fluffy and fully blended.  Do not over mix.

Pour into pie shell.  Chill in refrigerator at least 4 hours or overnight. 
Serve wedges with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a piece of fresh fruit or mint leaf.

• any fresh fruit in season may be used
• especially good with peaches (the juicier the better!) or blueberries.
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ABOUT THE PHOTO:  Life is a bowl of cherries J when you have a Montmorency sour cherry tree growing in your back yard.  This year we had a bumper crop.  The biggest challenge, next to picking them all, was keeping the Cedar Waxwings at bay.