Famous brownies

These brownies really are famous, but their fame has absolutely nothing to do with me. I'm just copy-catting the recipe.

A woman in Great Falls frequently makes these brownies and gives them to all kinds of different causes. She's dropped them off at the Tribune before. Once I was offered some at the police station (I was there for work) and they were even served during the 100-mile bike ride I did over the summer. Else where in the world, these might be known as mint brownies or perhaps grasshopper brownies. Here in Great Falls, they're known as so-and-so brownies. (I'll leave her name out of it, but she's a very nice woman who makes delicious brownies).

We've published her recipe many times in the Tribune. I've made a similar recipe before, but I wanted to try the true so-and-so brownies. I didn't stick to the recipe entirely, since I made them gluten-free, but I they turned out well sans gluten.

SO-AND-SO'S FAMOUS BROWNIES

1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
16-ounce can chocolate syrup
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
Combine sugar and butter. Add eggs and mix well. Add flour, salt, syrup, vanilla and nuts. Mix until combined. Bake in greased and floured 9- by 13-inch pan at 350° for 30 minutes. Do not overbake more than two or three extra minutes. Allow brownies to cool completely. Frost, and then glaze.
FROSTING
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 or 3 drops green food coloring
2 tbsp. milk
Combine sugar, butter, milk, peppermint extract and food coloring. Frost cooled brownies.
GLAZE
1 cup chocolate chips
6 tbsp. butter
Melt chocolate chips and butter over low heat. Let cool slightly, and spread over cooled, frosted brownies.

Wedding shower tea party: Flower cupcakes

Yet another Pinterest recipe.

The inspiration photo

Actually, it was just a photo - no recipe attached to it, but I thought it was perfect for a party where we were giving out potted flowers as party favors.

I asked Emily what kind of cupcakes she would like and she thought chocolate zucchini would be fitting. We used this recipe from my Aunt Bettsy:



CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI CAKE

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 3/4 cup sugar

Cream these together.  Add:

2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 Tbsp baking cocoa
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour

Fill muffin cups, lined with paper liners, about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

The frosting recipe came from good ol' Betty Crocker:

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup stick margarine or butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
3 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled
2-3 Tbsp milk

Mix all ingredients except milk in bowl.  Stir in milk until smooth and spreadable.

The hardest part of the project was finding green candy for the flower's leaves. We ended up buying just about every kind of green candy we could find. I think what worked best though, was Apple O's, cut into quarters.

For the flowers, we did a mixture of lollipops (I wanted Dum-Dums, but could only find Blow-Pops) and salt water taffy inserted on a lollipop stick.

Wedding shower tea party: scones

Emily's a scone a fan.

I asked her what her favorite kind is and she said chocolate chip.

I've only made scones a couple times before and never chocolate chip scones, but I found this recipe from King Arthur Flour on Pinterest. We made a gluten-free and regular version. Both were keepers. We also added dried cherries to one batch.

This is the recipe, straight from King Arthur:

CHOCOLATE CHIP SCONE NIBBLES

Scones:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 cup cold butter, cut in pats

1 cup to 2 cups mini chocolate chips, or finely chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup to 2/3 cup half and half or milk

Glaze:

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

7 tablespoons water, enough to make a thin glaze

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.

Work in the butter just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it's OK for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and 1/2 cup milk.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together. Stir in additional milk if the dough seems dry, and doesn't come together.

Scrape the dough onto a well-floured work surface. Pat/roll it into an 8" to 8 1/2" square, a scant 3/4" thick. Make sure the surface underneath the dough is very well floured. If necessary, use a giant spatula to lift the square, and sprinkle more flour underneath.

Cut the square into 2" squares; you'll have a total of 16 small squares. Now, cut each square in half diagonally, to make 32 small triangles. (We didn't cut ours quite this small. I think we ended up with 16, rather than 32, which was still made for a smaller scone). A pizza wheel works well for this.

Transfer the scones to a parchment-lined or well-greased baking sheet.

For best texture and highest rise, place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered. While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 425°F.

Bake the scones for 19 to 20 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven, and allow the scones to cool right on the pan. When they're cool, cut each scone in half once again, to make a total of 64 tiny triangles.

Make the glaze by stirring together the sugar, water, and vanilla. If the sugar seems particularly lumpy, sift it first, for an extra-smooth glaze.

To coat scones, you can dip each one individually, which is quite time-consuming. Or line a baking sheet (with sides) with parchment, and pour about half the glaze atop the parchment. Set the scones atop the glaze, swirling them around a bit to coat their bottoms. Then drizzle the remaining glaze over the top. Use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over each scone, to coat it entirely. The glaze is very thin, so this is easily done. (King Arthur has some nice photos showing how this is done).

Transfer the scones to a rack set over parchment, to catch any drips.

Allow the glaze to set before serving the scones.

A very cheery cake

I've never been a Peeps fan, but when I came across this cake on Pinterest I just had to try it.

I made it earlier this week for my book club friends. And while it turned out quite cute (if I do say so myself), it was incredibly easy to make.

SUNFLOWER CAKE

1 gluten-free cake mix
1 jar chocolate frosting
20 yellow chick Peeps
Chocolate chips

Bake the cake as directed. Allow it to cool completely.

Frost the cake.

Keeping the Peeps attached to each other, arrange them around the edge of the cake.

Arrange the chocolate chips in the center to look like sunflower seeds. (I went all out and had three different sizes of chocolate chips, staring with the largest around the outside and progressing inward to the smallest).

Note: Gluten-free cake mixes usually make one 8- or 9-inch round cake. Normal cake mixes make two. The original recipe (http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Peeps-Sunflower-Cake) says to make two round cakes and use two jars of frosting to layer the cakes/frost the outside.

Macaroons!

Macaroons were on our list of Christmas cookies to make this year, but we didn't get to them. So my mom and I decided to try them while I was home.

After a day of baking, we took a plate of goodies over to a family friend.

"Macaroons!" she exclaimed with delight we she saw what we brought. "I love macaroons but I never make them because they're so hard to make."

I've never made macaroons before, so maybe they usually are hard, but this recipe from Epicurious was pretty darn easy. Here it is:

AMBROSIA MACAROONS

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (we used dairy-free margarine)

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel

3 large eggs

28 ounces sweetened flaked coconut (about 6 cups firmly packed)

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted (with about 4 tablespoons of margarine added while melting)

Preheat to 325°F. Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.

Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and salt; beat until blended. Beat in orange peel, then eggs, one at a time. Mix in coconut.

Drop batter onto sheets by tablespoonfuls, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake macaroons, 1 sheet at a time, until golden on bottom and browned in spots, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely on sheets.

Using fork, drizzle chocolate over macaroons. Chill on sheets until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.

Christmas cookie recap

Back in Colorado this week for a visit with my family, I thought this was an appropriate, if out-of-season, time to review the Christmas baking I did this year with my mom.

Every year at Christmas, my mom (from whom I inherited my love of baking) and I spend days in the kitchen making Christmas cookies.

We have a few favorites that we make year after year, but a big part of the baking fun is trying new recipes.

Here are a few of cookies baked this year:

Vanilla-cherry chocolate chip cookies

These are definitely a new favorite, although I only got to sample a couple before the rest disappeared. I made these cookies again to take to work and one of my co-workers said they were the best cookies he's every tasted. Talk about high praise!

I don't know if I'd go as far as to say best ever, but I definitely loved them. Here's the original recipe from Epicurious, and our version:

VANILLA-CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (We used mixture of sorghum, rice and tapioca flour and corn starch)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon xantham gum

1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (6 ounces) dried cherries

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup each of chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. To accommodate my mom's lactose intolerance, we just went with a full cup of semisweet).

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

Preheat to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, xantham gum and salt.

In a small sauce pan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dried cherries and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Let stand 5 minutes then drain.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, and brown sugar and beat on medium speed, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and beat on medium until combined, about 1 minute.

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in 3 batches, stirring until just combined. Add the cherries, chocolate chips and hazelnuts and stir until just incorporated.

Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies. Bake until light golden brown and just set, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool the cookies on baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Shortbread thumbprint cookies

 I love thumbprint cookies -- the combination of a crunchy cookie and gooey jam filling, plus I think they look nice on a plate of Christmas cookies.

This cookie ended up with crumbly texture, similar to shortbread, hence the name I gave them. They're different than other thumbprint cookies I've had, but I thought they were pretty good.

Here's the original recipe from Epicurious. We pretty much stuck to it, with the exception of using a gluten-free flour mixture. For jam filling, we used huckleberry jam, and a cherry sauce that my mom found in her pantry. Both were delicious.

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Gluten-free sugar cookies

Ever since I went gluten-free, cut-out cookies have seemed pretty daunting (along with layer cakes, yeast breads and anything rolled, folded or stacked).

I love baking, decorating and eating frosted cookies, but the past few years, I've kept them off the Christmas menu.

This year, one of my goals was to try gluten-free cut-out cookies. My mom did some research and found a great recipe on about.com.

I'll admit I had a near breakdown while trying to roll these out, but once a switched to a better mat and got more flour on my rolling pin, it was smooth sailing. The best part was decorating them with my mom and sister, sipping eggnog and watching "The Help."

GLUTEN-FREE SUGAR COOKIES


1 1/2 cups amaranth flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch (the recipe says cornstarch will also work)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon guar gum
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
pinch of sale
1 cup cold butter, cut in small pieces
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk (you may need a little more)

Preheat oven to 350.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.

Place all dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly blended.

Add butter and pulse about 10 times.

Add egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Pulse until the mixture forms a sticky, stiff dough. Add more milk if it's too dry. (Ours was actually a little too sticky, but the flour added while rolling it out brought it to the right consistency).

Wrap dough in waxed paper and refrigerate at least one hour.

I used a large, plastic rolling mat (I think it's Tupperware brand) to roll out the dough. Flour the mat and rolling pin with rice flour, or another type of gluten-free flour. Roll the dough to about the thickness of a pie crust.

I found that it helped to dip the cookie cutters in flour as well. Cut out cookies and place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake about 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies turn golden-brown.

Cool completely before frosting.


Frosting:

Several cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
4 tablespoons butter, softened
Milk (we used almond milk)

Place powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. Add extract, butter and about 3 tablespoons of milk. Mix. Add more milk in very small quantities (a little milk will go a long way) until the frosting reaches the right consistency. The frosting should be smooth but not runny.

Add food coloring as desired.

Frost cookies and decorate with sprinkles.

Mom's chocolate chip cookies (kind of)

My mom makes the world's best chocolate chip cookies. I might be somewhat biased on that, but the mom love baked into each bite is unbeatable.

This is her signature recipe, and it's perfect:

MOM'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Cream together:
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar

Add:
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips

Grease a jelly roll pan. Spread batter into pan.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.
Let cool for 10-15 minutes (or however long you're patient). Cut into cookie bars.

These can also be made as drop cookies. Cook them 8-10 minutes.



Despite the perfection of this recipe, I can't resist but monkey with it each time I make it.

I hadn't made these cookies in probably a couple years, but decided they would be a good treat to take to a weekend ski get away.

The following recipe was my attempt to make the cookies healthier, and of course, gluten free. This wasn't, by a long shot, the best version I've ever made. The cookies came out with a cake-like texture and density -- none of the ooey-gooeyness of a chocolate chip cookie. I was pretty disappointed with them at first. I wasn't going to share this recipe, but once I got over them being nothing like my mom's cookies, I decided they were OK(ish).

My recommendation is to go with the original recipe, but just in case you're curious, here's the version I used.

NOT-AS-GOOD-AS-MOM'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Cream:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar

Add:
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 riped mashed banana
1/4 cup (roughly) peanut butter

Mix and add:
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour (I used a combination of sorghum, brown rice and tapioca)
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (a generous cup)
1 cup coconut (this is my substitute for oatmeal, since oatmeal contains gluten)

Grease a jelly roll pan. Spread batter into pan.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.
Let cool for 10-15 minutes (or however long you're patient). Cut into cookie bars.