Pecan Sandies

I know this is kind of a random thing for me to be doing this time of year.  And granted, I originally made this recipe for the cookie exchange at work before Christmas...but when is there a BAD time for cookies?!

This recipe was in the December 2010 Southern Living, in the cookie exchange article they did.  By the way, if you can get your hands on a copy of that issue, get it!  There are so many great recipes in that issue.

Okie dokie, let me start by saying, this is a weird recipe and I always wonder if I'm doing it right.  The "dough" comes out looking more like cornmeal and I add water, but we'll get to that part shortly.

You can either chop your own pecans or buy the ones already chopped up from the store.  Either way, we are going to be toasting them in the oven.  So go ahead and preheat your oven to 350ºF.  Spread the chopped pecans out in a single layer on a baking sheet and pop that bad boy into the oven for about 7 minutes (you'll start to really notice the fragrance!).

 

While the pecans are toasting, I went ahead and started making the dough.  Cream 2 sticks of softened butter with 1/2 cup of sugar at medium speed using an electric mixer. 

 

 I've done this using my hand mixer before, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use my NEW Kitchen Aid Stand-Up Mixer!!  It's so cool! 

 

Mix the butter and sugar together until fluffy and then gradually add the flour, mixing until just blended.  

After all the flour has been incorporated, add the pecans and vanilla extract.

Now this is the point where I'm staring down into the mixing bowl, saying to myself  "How is this dough?  It's WAY too dry!"  And this is also where I add approx. 3/4 cup of water.  It makes the "dough" more dough-like and easier to roll into the logs from which you cut the cookies.  It's probably cheating or something, but I don't care... it works!


Go ahead and preheat the oven again, but this time to only 325ºF.  Ok, ss I was saying, next you will divide the dough in half, shaping each half into a log about 1 1/4 inches thick and about a foot long.  Wrap the two logs in parchment and put into the fridge for about an hour.

After the logs of dough (that sounds really unappetizing! lol)...anyway, after you take them out of the fridge, slice them into 1/4 inch thick rounds and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 

Place them in the oven for 20-30 minutes.  The original recipe calls for only baking them 18-20 minutes, but if you cut them a little thicker like I tend to, they will take longer to cook.  Just keep an eye on them until they turn to a satisfactory golden.

If you don't feel like making the cookies now, the dough will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer!  So there we go: quick and dirty pecan sandies!  Enjoy!

**UPDATE:  These cookies are WA-HEY! better the following day.  Last night I ate a few that were still warm and I have to be honest, I thought they were kinda gross and became disappointed.  But this morning while heating up my leftover spaghetti that I was having for brunch (hey, it isn't ALWAYS Commander's Palace over here, as much as I may make it look that way.) ...ok so while waiting on the microwave, I ate a couple this morning and was so very pleasantly surprised to find out that they were indeed...perfect! YAY ME!  So go ahead and make this recipe until you can't stand the thought anymore because they are that awesome.**

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Southern Living's Pecan Sandies

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Parchment paper

INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350º.  Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 6-8 minutes.  Stir halfway through.

Cream butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until fluffy.  Gradually add flour, beating just until blended.  Stir in pecans and vanilla extract.

Divide dough in half, and shape each portion into 2 (1 1/4 inch thick) logs (about 12 inches long).  Wrap in parchment, cover and chill for 1 hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 325º.  Cut logs into 1/4 inch thick rounds and place 1/2 an inch a part on a a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 325º for 20-30 minutes (depending on thickness) or until light golden in color.  Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then move to wire cooling racks and let cookies completely cool.

Motherlode Cookie Bars

Yesterday, I was totally in the mood for something sweet and since I haven't made a dessert lately....I whipped out the dessert section of my cookbooks. I found this recipe on Picky-Palate.com and I never thought I would actually make them because of how decadent they looked, but guess what? I done made 'em.

These are the ultimate in cookie bars with 4 layers of cookie, each one different and wonderful. The layers are sugar cookie, double chocolate chip, peanut butter and regular chocolate chip and then it's topped off with a drizzle of semisweet chocolate!! (I apologize in advance for the pictures. For some reason, I was having focus issues! :P)

The first layer is the easiest since you use Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie dough in a tube. So, take the sugar cookie dough out of the fridge for about 5 minutes before you start to layer it in the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking pan (line with foil and spray with cooking spray) in order for it to warm up a bit. Heat is actually going to be a KEY ingredient in this whole layering process. Several times I thought "There's no way this will cover the whole pan!" and then I started using my whole palm to squish out the dough and not just my fingertips. If you let the heat from your hand warm up the dough, it will move much easier.


The sugar cookie layer is the easy part because of the pre-made dough we used. Now preheat the oven to 350°F.

The next layer is DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP*!

With stand-up or hand mixer, cream together the butter (softened!) and white & brown sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until well combined.


In another bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.


Slowly add to wet ingredients (after adding the wet ingredients, I found it was almost impossible to incorporate everything with the spatula. I recommend puttin' your hands in there and working it all together) then stir in chips. It should look a little something like this:


*both the recipe for the double chocolate chip dough and the chocolate chip dough make about 1/3 more than will be needed. So either change the recipe accordingly (there are too many fractions involved for me) or you can bake the extra as regular cookies.

Layer the dough over sugar cookie layer, pressing gently. The white stuff on the chocolate layer is flour. The dough kept sticking to my hands and putting some flour on them helped tremendously.


Onto the PEANUT BUTTER LAYER!

This layer isn't so much a layer of "cookie" as it is well.... peanut butter, sugar and an egg.

So mix all of it together and it should be the consistency of a thick paste. Spread that on top of the double chocolate layer. This will end up being a very thin layer.


Last but not least is the top layer of CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE*!

Basically we do the same thing we did with the double chocolate layer but don't add the cocoa powder.

So, cream the butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl; mix to combine. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips.

Spread out the majority of the cookie dough out on top of the peanut butter layer. This layer doesn't need to be flattened out. You want it to have peaks, etc..


Put the whole thing into the oven for about 45 - 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. This will take a while to bake because of all those crazy layers!

Once the bars are done cooking, let them cool in the pan more or less completely. You should then be able to remove the whole thing from the pan by lifting the foil out, like this:


Cut it up into however many bars you'd like. They can be pretty thick so smaller would probably be best. The edges are not flat and are much crispier than those in the middle, so you might consider "trimming" the edges off, but personally, it doesn't bother me.

You can now melt down the last 1/2 cup of chocolate chips (and a little milk) and drizzle it over the bars. But this is TOTALLY up to you!!

Enjoy!!


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The Motherlode Cookie Bars
Preheat to 350°F.

Layer 1: Sugar Cookie
1 Roll of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough

Press sugar cookie dough into bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish that’s been lined foil and sprayed with cooking spray.

Layer 2: Double Chocolate Chip Cookie*
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ¾ cups flour
1 ¼ cups Hershey’s™ Chocolate Cocoa Powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Using a stand-up or hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until well combined.

In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to wet ingredients then stir in chips. Layer over sugar cookie layer, pressing gently.

Layer 3: Peanut Butter Cookie
1 cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg

Place all ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined. Press over chocolate cookie dough.

Layer 4: Chocolate Chip Cookie*
2 sticks softened butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 bag chocolate chips

Cream the butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well mixed. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl; mix to combine. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips. Spoon dough evenly over peanut butter cookie dough but don’t press, just leave uneven.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until center of dough is cooked mostly through. Edges will be brown.

Let cookies cool completely. Lift out of pan with edges of foil.

Drizzle top with 1/2 Cup melted chocolate chips if desired.

*The recipe below makes 1/3 more then what you’ll need for the bars, use extra for cookies

Van Gogh cake

I was Stumbling around the internet this evening when I came across this Van Gogh cake.

It's so cool, I just had to share it!

A footnote turned into an entirely new post

As the title says, i had intended this to be a "ps" at the bottom of the previous post, but it took on a life of its own b/c once you get me talking about Irish Carbombs... well i pretty much won't stop. So here's the original footnote-y post.

OMG! I just found this posting/recipe on hungry girl por vida It's a freakin' Irish Carbomb cake!

Anyone who knows me, knows that my FAVORITE DRINK in the whole wide world is an Irish Carbomb... sweet ambrosia! And now there's one in freakin' cake form!

For those of you unfamiliar with the wonderfulness of the Irish Carbomb, let me tell you about it.

Recipe:
half a pint of Guinness
half a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey
half a shot of Bailey's Irish Cream

The two half shots are poured together into a shot glass and served next to the half pint of Guinness.

Once the imbiber is ready, you drop the shot into the beer [this part is notoriously messy] and chug it as fast as you can. Why? Well because if you don't, the Bailey's curdles and you end up with a nasty mess that someone just paid $6.00 for and should rightly be able to kick your ass for not finishing!! <-- voice of experience on the paying end!

Here's a pic. Compliments of Google Images. I know i've pics of my very own carbombs, but hell if i know where they are.

Shrimp Etouffee and Blackberry Cobbler

I was tired of the same old thing so i went scouring the internet for a shrimp etouffee recipes and found one on nolacuisine.com and figured where better to get a recipe for cajun food? And it was awesome! Also I halved the recipe b/c i figured one pound of shrimp was plenty for one person with leftovers. i'm not halving the one i'm posting b/c fractions and math are beyond me.

Onto the cooking!

First i made the shrimp stock:

The shrimp stock is the following:
The Shells and tails from 2 lb. of Shrimp
1/2 Cup chopped Onion
1/4 Cup chopped Celery
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Bay Leaves
3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
1 tsp. Black Peppercorns

Add all ingredients to a 2 qt. saucepan. Cover this with cold water, it should be about 6-8 Cups Cups. You’ll only need 1 1/2 Cups for the etouffee. Bring almost to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

While your shrimp stock is simmering, put shrimp in a bowl and sprinkle with a tablespoon of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning and toss so all the shrimp gets covered.

Next i got out my grandmother's cast iron skillet and melted the butter.

After the butter melted, i added the onions, bell pepper, and celery, sauted until translucent. This picture below is before i added the red pepper :)



Next stir in the flour to make a blond roux, stirring constantly, about 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in a tablespoon of Tony Chachere's. Add a small amount of the shrimp stock, stir well to form a paste, add the remaining stock gradually, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, Thyme, Worcestershire, and hot sauce, a little salt, black pepper, and Cayenne. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Finally add the shrimp, green onions, and parsley, simmer for 10 minutes more or until the shrimp are cooked through.

That's it! I served it over white rice that i cooked in the normal rice cooking way, but threw in a couple bay leaves while it was boiling to give it a little more flavor.



While the etouffee was cooking, i started to put together the blackberry cobbler. Firstly, i need to preface this with a little back story. I picked the blackberries myself on saturday and then VACUUM-PACKED them until i could use them.

This recipe is actually Paula Deen's Peach Cobbler but i figured fruit is fruit and decided to try it with blackberries.

I didn't take any pictures of my actually putting the cobbler together, but this is what the finished product looks like!

Here are the recipes!

Shrimp Etouffee
compliments of NOLA Cuisine

2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning (Tony Chachere's is THE BEST!)
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/2 Cup Onion, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Celery, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Bell Pepper, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Cup fresh Tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 Cups Shrimp Stock
2 Tbsp Minced Garlic
I bundle of Fresh Thyme
2 tspWorcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Hot Sauce (I like Louisiana Hot Sauce or Texas Pete)
1/2 Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp minced Italian Parsley
2 lb Good Quality Shrimp, Peeled and Deveined, Save shells for the stock
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste

Season the shrimp with 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning.

Melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet, add the onions, bell pepper, and celery, saute until translucent. Whisk in the flour to make a blonde roux, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes.

Stir in the remaining Creole Seasoning. Add a small amount of the shrimp stock, stir well to form a paste, add the remaining stock gradually, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. You may need a little more stock, but the end result should be the consistency of a gravy, not too thick, not too thin.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, Thyme, Worcestershire, and hot sauce & black pepper. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Add the shrimp, green onions, and parsley, simmer for 10 minutes more or until the shrimp are cooked through.

Blackberry Cobbler
compliments of Paula Deen

4 cups fresh blackberries
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.