The Most PERFECT Thin & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies!

I am really picky about my gingerbread cookies, and after a bit of trial and error, I can confidently say that these are the BEST gingerbread cookies I've ever made. They're not thick, dry, or bready, nor are they gingersnaps with crunch. These are thin, delightfully moist and chewy, and just the teeniest bit crisp around the edges. You can choose to either roll these in sugar before baking them, or glaze and decorate them after they've cooled. This dough also works for gingerbread men (or other cookie cutter shapes), if you feel like taking the time to roll it out with a rolling pin. This time I decided I was fine with regular circle shapes.

I opted to use a good amount of ginger in this to give it an extra punch. Dry ground ginger is fine, but you can also do a combination of dry ground, fresh ground, or crystalized ginger pieces. The best part about these bad boys is that the molasses in them lets them stay incredibly moist for days! These cookies are great for when the temperature outside starts dropping, and as an added bonus, they make your house smell AMAZING! I am so excited to add this recipe to my collection. I hope you give them a shot. Enjoy!



Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
OR ½ tbsp ground ginger and 1 tbsp chopped crystalized ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp salt
¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks), softened/room-temperature
¾ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 ½ tbsp milk
¼ cup molasses

Icing (optional but recommended!):

1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp corn syrup
2 tbsp water
crystal sprinkles (optional)


1. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

2. In another large bowl, mix softened butter into sugar until uniformly blended together. Add the egg and mix thoroughly, then mix in the milk and molasses.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Gradually stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture until fully combined.

4. Shape heaping teaspoons of the dough into balls the size of a walnut or ping pong ball. If you are skipping icing and sprinkles later, you can use this time to roll each ball in sugar first (either regular white sugar or chunkier, raw turbinado sugar will do). Space dough balls 2 inches apart on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and use the heel of your palm to flatten the ball somewhat. They will flatten out a little more as they bake, but will not be flat enough if you don't give it a little pre-squish with your palm first. Alternatively, the dough can be chilled, rolled out flat with a rolling pin, and then cut into fun shapes.

5. Bake at 350 F for 9-10 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

6. Optional: Make the icing.

Mix together water and corn syrup, then add powdered sugar and mix thoroughly until a uniform icing has formed with no lumps. Scoop the icing into one corner of a plastic sandwich bag and cut the smallest bit of the corner with scissors, making sure to create a very small opening to better control the icing. Decorate the cooled cookies with the icing any way you like, and optionally, add sprinkles while the icing is still wet. The icing should dry within a few hours to be hard and shiny.

Makes approximately 28 insanely delicious cookies!

Best Ever Peach Cobbler That Will Ruin You For Life

Summertime means swimming, grilling, and of course, taking advantage of all the great fresh fruit in season. I love a good cobbler, and after fiddling with this recipe, I can say this is just the most insanely delicious, sweet-salty-tart, crunchy-gooey cobbler I've ever had. Be sure to choose peaches (or nectarines) that are really ripe, just not to the point of mushy. A hard peach without a lot of juice will be more difficult to slice and will result in a more tart cobbler. Otherwise, this is a very simple recipe, even if you don't bake! I hope you try it and let me know how it is. 

Filling:

2 tbsp butter
8 fresh ripe peaches, pitted and sliced
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice, plus zest
3 tbsp tapioca
3 Tbsp cornstarch

Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup boiling water

Topping:

5 tablespoons turbinado sugar (AKA chunky, "sugar in the raw" style sugar).
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F. Use 2 tbsp butter to grease a 2 quart baking dish. In a large bowl, combine sliced peaches, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, lemon zest, lemon juice, tapioca and cornstarch.  

 
Toss together until evenly coated. Bake peach mixture in buttered baking dish for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, begin preparing the crust. In another large bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder and salt together. 

Next, add the chilled butter pieces. 

Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, quickly cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles thick sand with no large lumps of butter.
 

Stir in boiling water and mix until combined, being careful not to over-mix. 

Remove the baking dish from the oven and cover the peaches with spoonfuls of the dough. 

Combine cinnamon and turbinado sugar. 

Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar generously all over the top of the cobbler, then bake for another 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. 

Let sit for at least 1 hour before serving warm with whipped cream or ice cream!

AWARD-WINNING Almond-Scented Chess Pie!

February was a busy month! So busy, in fact, that I didn't get to post any of the recipe entries I had started, because I was waiting to take photos for them. I didn't want to post a recipe without photos, because photos are half the fun! So, I'm planning to catch up on my recipe photos and get my other posts up here soon. 

Now it's halfway through March, and even though I've been quiet on my blog, I've still been cooking! On Saturday I entered a pie competition in Claremont, California. It was held on the 15th, the day after pi(e) day on 3/14. I decided to be a little crazy and enter 4 pies in the competition, which meant I was baking for hours on pi(e) day and even into the morning of the 15th. There were three categories to enter: fruit pies, cream pies, and custard pies. I made blueberry pie, key lime pie with coconut-scented whipped cream, "Heisenberg" pumpkin pie (with a cracked caramel topping), and my winning pie was almond-scented chess pie. It earned 2nd place in the custard category, and I was really thrilled because I had never entered a pie contest before, and there were a lot of pies being judged! 

In time I hope to post recipes for all of the pies I entered because I think they all came out great, but first I'm posting the recipe for the pie that won a prize. I don't believe in secret recipes, so anyone who wants to try this pie should definitely give it a shot, because it's incredible. The fact that it was also the least-attractive pie I submitted yet won 2nd place told me the judges must have really liked it! It's hard to nail down a good description of the flavor, but I think it tastes sort of like a mix of amaretto, flan, and those buttery Chinese almond cookies. If you're at all a fan of almond flavor and custards, this pie might make you black out. 

Because so many pies had to be tasted, the judges only sampled small amounts from each pie, which meant that after the winners were announced, everyone got to try the pies! Big portions of my chess and blueberry pies were missing before the public even got to them, so I guess the judges really liked them. So, despite the fact that I was too busy baking 4 pies to take photos of the process this time around, I did manage to take a couple of photos of the winning pie, which should be enough to go with the recipe. 

I really recommend the vanilla beans if you're already going to be making a pie from scratch, but vanilla extract will work, too. 

Head here for my favorite recipe for a perfectly flaky, all-butter pie dough (makes 2 crusts). 

 Ingredients: 

1 pie crust, unbaked 

½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature 

1 2/3 cups sugar 

4 eggs 

1 ½ tablespoons cornmeal 

¼ cup half and half, cream, or evaporated milk 

1 tablespoon white vinegar 

1 vanilla bean, OR 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

½ teaspoon almond extract 

sliced almonds (in the baking aisle next to cake mixes and chocolate chips, not snacking nuts) 

good pinch of salt 

Toss a stick of butter on to the counter to soften for at least a couple of hours before you start cooking, OR, microwave on super low power, around 20%, for 1 minute, then let the butter rest in the microwave for another minute. Yes, believe it or not, my microwave has a setting for softening butter, and amazingly, it does NOT melt it! I was skeptical, too, but it's the real deal. 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Using a sharp paring knife, run the blade lengthwise along the vanilla pod, split it open, and scrape the vanilla beans out with the knife. Beat the softened butter, sugar, almond extract and vanilla beans together. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl for 1 minute, then add the eggs to the sugar and butter mixture and beat thoroughly to combine. Add the cornmeal, cream, vinegar and salt. Set this mixture aside. Place about 3 tablespoons of sliced almonds into a small frying pan, and lightly brown them over medium heat for just a few minutes, stirring frequently. They should be lightly toasted, so remember to watch them and make sure they don't burn! Remove the toasted almonds from the heat and let them cool for 2 minutes. 

Meanwhile, line a pie tin with the pie crust, and place the unbaked crust onto a cookie sheet for easy removal from the oven later. Pour the filling into the pie shell about 2/3 of the way up, then lightly scatter the toasted almonds on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for another 40-45 minutes. The filling expands and puffs up quite a bit, so it will overflow if you fill the crust too high. The pie may seem a little wobbly in the very center when it's done, but that's actually perfect. It should end up a nice golden brown color all over, and when you slice it you will be greeted by a sunny, bright yellow filling with visible specks of vanilla!

If you do bake the pie for too long, don't worry too much. It's extremely hard to dry out a chess pie. I can't wait to make this pie again soon for friends, and I really hope you give it a try.

Brussels Sprouts, Pimped Out!

Brussels sprouts are a notoriously-abused vegetable, which, through no fault of the humble sprout, causes some people to swear them off entirely. I've served this dish to notorious vegetable-haters and picky eaters, as well as people who were pretty sure they weren't that fond of the brussels sprout but put up with it from time to time. But when I serve this, everyone wants some and they actually finish it. I find myself not even wanting to cook brussels sprouts any other way after trying this! One problem with seasoning brussels sprouts is that it's very difficult to penetrate the center of the sprout. This is fixed by slicing the sprouts as if they were small cabbages. There can be a slight bitter taste that the cook must overcome, which is why brussels sprouts will sometimes be balanced with something sweet or savory, like a little brown sugar or balsamic vinegar. Bacon is a popular addition to brussels sprouts, and this recipe is no exception. However, if you'd like to stay vegan, omit the bacon and switch the butter for olive oil.


Ingredients:

about 25-30 fresh brussels sprouts (select small ones for less bitterness)
1 sweet onion
4 strips of bacon
1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms (oyster, baby portobello, shiitake)
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp good balsamic vinegar
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper


Start by dicing your onion into bite-sized pieces, and cook them in a large pan over low heat with 1 1/2 tbsp of butter, 1/2 tbsp olive oil and a dash of salt. 

Stir occasionally and make sure they don't scorch. You want them to slowly turn brown and sweet. Next, begin cooking your bacon strips until firm and crispy using whatever method you prefer (microwave, stove, oven are all fine). The bacon should be crispy enough to chop easily. Some people may prefer to cook the bacon first and then cook the vegetables in the bacon fat, but I actually prefer to cook it separately. Sometimes the bacon grease can get too hot and taste a little scorched if you're not really careful, but experiment and see what you like. When the bacon is done, chop it into bits and set it aside. Remember to keep checking your onions.

Meanwhile, rinse and inspect your brussels sprouts, using a good knife to remove any funky brown spots that you don't like. This part isn't actually too important but it might make you feel good, and that's all that matters. Slice the brussels sprouts as thin as you can and set them aside. Remember to go check your onions! 

Next, dampen a towel and wipe any specks of dirt from your mushrooms. Rinsing mushrooms isn't the best method because they can act like sponges and retain too much water. Slice them up and set them aside. 

When the onions are starting to turn a golden color, add the mushrooms, along with the remaining butter and olive oil and another dash of salt and pepper. Cook the onions and mushrooms over medium heat for another 5 to 10 minutes, adding extra olive oil if necessary. You can't really overcook the onions and mushrooms at this point because they're pretty forgiving vegetables. Add the brussels sprouts to the onions and mushrooms and cook for an additional 7-10 minutes, or until they begin to wilt and change color. This is also when you should add your bacon. 

Your brussels sprouts should be tender but remain crunchy, and they're difficult to overcook using this method. Lastly, add the brown sugar and balsamic, adding additional salt and pepper to taste.  

 

With the help of things like brown sugar and bacon, any bitterness is completely cut out and it's as if you turned brussels sprouts into some kind of vegetable candy. I figure if this dish can't get you to like brussels sprouts, then nothing will! I hope you give it a try and enjoy it as much as my family does.

Perfect Pie Crust

Oh, pie dough! Is there anything so simple and so widely loved that also strikes fear in the heart of those who dare attempt to tame it? It can break apart before you even do anything with it. It can be too tough. It mocks you openly. And yet you desire it just the same. How can we tame this wild beast of the kitchen? With a few extra steps that are actually totally easy, you can achieve a pie crust fit for the gods. The trick to making pie dough work for you is to keep all of the ingredients cold, as in, ALL of them! Even your flour goes in the freezer.

There are a few heated debates in the world of pie, one of them being which source of fat to use in order to moisten and flake-ify your crusts. Some grannies refuse to use anything but shortening, others say butter is the answer, a few crazies say it's possible with oil, and some swear by chilled lard. If you're a vegan, your obvious choice is vegetable shortening. Shortening can do the job if it's kept chilled throughout the dough-making process, and it can lend a good texture to your crust, but it's messy, sticky, and not that fun to work with. And you're not going to win any flavor contests with it. I've tried crusts with different fats, and lard is good if you're living in the Little House on the Prairie and you want to use everything and not waste anything, that's a good old school method and certainly acceptable. But for the absolute best flavor with flaky results, the obvious choice is butter! A lot of pie crust recipes will tell you to pulse the butter and flour in a food processor, but this is a serious error. The flour gets overworked and tough and the flakiness is sacrificed. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter to blend the butter and flour takes under 5 minutes, and the result will be a more tender crust. Besides, cleaning the food processor is a pain. Go old school with pie crust.



(Makes 2 pie crusts)


3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 - 3/4 cup ice water



Measure out your salt and flour, combine in a large bowl, and put into the freezer, at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cut your butter into small chunks and place them in a bowl, then refrigerate. 

Place ice into a liquid measuring cup, then fill with water and stir around. Add the vinegar to the water, then put the water into the refrigerator. Sprinkle a good amount of flour on a large work surface, then grab your chilled flour and butter from the freezer and fridge. Using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, crush the butter cubes into the flour, rubbing between your hands or fingertips and continually making the chunks of butter smaller, until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs. Don't worry about uniformity; you don't want the chunks of butter to completely disappear. 

Next, take out your ice water from the fridge and remove the ice cubes. Begin, a few tablespoons at a time, adding water to your butter crumb mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon. Continue adding maybe around 8 tablespoons of water, until all of the crumbs come together and stick in one large dough ball that comes away from the sides of the bowl. 

At this point, the dough may still be a little moist, but that's okay because more flour will get into it after the next step. Dump your dough onto your floured work surface, and with floured hands, press the dough together and fold it 4 or 5 times, occasionally sprinkling a little flour on top, until the dough is a nice happy lump. 

Ideally, you should see big visible chunks of butter in the dough. When the heat hits the cold butter in the dough, the butter will start to melt and steam will cause layers to puff up in your crust. That puffing and layering action during cooking will also result in a golden brown crust that is a little thicker than it was when you rolled it out. So if you see little chunks of butter when you roll out your crust, you should feel good about it. Cut your dough in half and wrap each half in saran wrap, flattening into a disk, then refrigerate at least 30 minutes before you want to roll it out. This will give the dough a chance to rest and get chilly again. 

(After chilling, ready to roll out.)

This recipe will give you one top and one bottom crust, or two bottom crusts... you get the picture. When you're ready to roll your dough, always be sure to roll your crusts from the middle out, only rolling from the center to the edges, never rolling back and forth. This will keep the pie dough from shrinking back on the pie plate when you bake it. 

Now, find your favorite pie recipes and go have a little fun making a beautiful pie crust! Your friends and family will love it before they take their first heavenly bite.

Buttermilk Corn Bread

Cornbread, when done right, is one of the simplest pleasures in life. A great cornbread is everything a comfort food should be. Moist, tender, dense, buttery and sweet. There are few bigger disappointments in life than encountering a dry, crumbly cornbread. It's a travesty. Some people prefer a savory cornbread with cheese and jalapeños, but my style is more sweet with butter and honey (or even better, honey butter). I made it tonight with some fantastic slow-cooked chili and the two paired up beautifully together. If you want an incredibly moist and delicious cornbread with cheese and peppers, cut the sugar for this recipe in half. Now if you're ready, buckle up and follow me for the best melt-in-your-mouth cornbread in the world!


Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal 

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 

3/4 cup powdered sugar 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

2 large eggs 

1 cup buttermilk 

⅔ cup or about 1/2 can creamed corn 

6 tablespoons salted butter, melted, divided

Preheat oven to 350 F or 177 C. 

Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.

Pour 1 cup of buttermilk into a liquid measuring cup, add the eggs and beat with a fork. Add the buttermilk liquid to the dry ingredients and mix. 

Next, add your creamed corn and mix until combined, being careful not to mix too much.

Pour 4 tablespoons melted butter into the batter and barely mix, leaving visible streaks of melted butter. Pour into a greased 8 or 9 inch cake pan, square pyrex pan, or cast iron skillet.

Drizzle the remaining melted butter over the top of the batter and do not mix.

Bake in a 350 degree oven about 40 to 45 minutes if using a cake pan or square pan, or 50 minutes if using a cast iron skillet. The cornbread should be golden brown on the edges and a knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing, then serve with honey butter.

Serves 6-8

Bacon Confetti Creamed Corn

About a month ago, my dad celebrated his birthday by going to Lawry's in Beverly Hills for old-school prime rib and other fixings, and he mentioned that he really enjoyed their creamed corn. Cruising the internet for Thanksgiving recipe ideas, I came across a recipe for creamed corn with peppers, onions, and bacon, and I KNEW I had to make it for my dad! I messed with the recipe a little bit to make it even more flavorful, and the result was the most beautiful creamed corn, which ended up being everyone's favorite dish on Thanksgiving! It's like Xzibit showed up and pimped my creamed corn. If you have a little time, you HAVE to make this. If you can, make the creamed corn without the bacon the day before, and let it sit in the fridge to let the flavors meld, then warm it up the next day and add the crispy bacon on top. Vegetarians can skip the bacon and still be happy. I made the creamed corn the day before to save time on Thanksgiving, and the fact that it sat in the fridge overnight just helped make it even better. The best thing about this recipe might be that every ingredient is available year-round, and it would probably be just as great at a barbecue as it is on Thanksgiving. And with Christmas just around the corner, this creamed corn with red and green peppers would make a great Christmas dinner side. I will definitely be making this again soon, and I hope you try it!


Ingredients:

8 ears of yellow corn
1/3 cup chopped anaheim pepper
1/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
1 sweet onion
8 slices of bacon
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup half and half or cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon sugar


Remove the husks and corn silk from the corn cobs. Using a sharp knife, shave the corn from the cob as close to the core as you can. Fair warning: corn is not always cooperative! Some corn kernels have a mind of their own and will jump out all over the counter, floor, and into your face. Keep your broom close by. The first cut into the corn cob is a little harder, but the rest of them go smoother if you shave half-inch sections off at a time. 

After you've got your corn kernels, chop the peppers, removing the seeds and white flesh. I suppose the jalapeño is optional, but it adds a really good smoky flavor, and with the seeds removed it isn't really spicy. Next, chop the onion so that the pieces are the same size as the peppers. In a large pot, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add the onions and peppers.

Add a light dusting of salt and sautee for 2 minutes, then add the corn. You may need to sautee everything in two large pots or pans because there's so much corn that all of it might not touch the surface of one pan. I started out in one pot and ended up cooking half of it in another large pan. 

While your veggies are cooking, cook your bacon until it's dry and crispy, then drain and pat dry. After about 10 minutes, when the onions and peppers are tender, cut your cream cheese into chunks and add all of it to the corn. Stir the corn and melt the cream cheese down, adding your half and half. 

When the cream cheese has melted, add 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Be sure to taste it to make sure the salt and sugar are right. Lastly, chop up your precious, precious bacon. Put your creamed corn into a serving dish and top it with the chopped bacon, then see if you can stop yourself from eating the entire thing in one sitting. You probably can't, but your attempt at self-control is noble.

Serves 6-8