It's an ExPeriMenT!

What do you get when you mix

2 packets instant oatmeal
1/2 c pistachio baklava filling (ground pistachios and honey)
1 c coconut
1 c chopped dates
1/2 c chopped dried cantaloupe
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c flax meal
1/2 c almond butter
1 c Kashi cereal (the crunchy one - NOT the puffed rice! or use Grapenuts)
2 eggs
1/2 c pure maple syrup
1/2 c olive oil

in a bowl and then press it into a 9 x 13 pan (that you sprayed with Pam) and then bake it for about 30 45 minutes at 325F?

Yeah, I don't know either.

But I'm hoping that it will be edible.

This recipe works too. It's kind of foolproof.

2 packets instant oatmeal
1 c ground almonds or pecans
1 c coconut
1 c chopped dates
1/2 c chopped dried cantaloupe or apricots or cranberries
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c flax meal
1/2 c almond butter
1 c Kashi cereal (the crunchy one - NOT the puffed rice! or use Grapenuts)
2 eggs
1/2 c pure maple syrup or agave syrup
1/2 c olive oil



*post experiment report: these are REALLY good. Like, tasty and delicious good. They are a bit sweet, so I might try to wangle the proportions a bit, but MAN! I so totally did NOT expect these to turn out this well. The consistency is even right - with the bar setting up and coming out like an actual bar. They're kind of like SoyJoy bars. But better. And homemade. And so friggin' healthy! 

I know that in the Game On Diet they ask us to stay away from too much sweetener, but this recipe yields 14 bars, and with 1/2 cup of pure maple syrup for the entire recipe, that's less than a half tablespoon per serving!!! 

I chose the cantaloupe because a) it was in the cupboard since summer and b) because dried cantaloupe is REALLY sweet without a lot of calories.

Now... This recipe for Turkish Baklava has a filling recipe that sounds pretty tasty. But if you want to skip that part (I used something similar that our friend Ali had given us) you can just chop up a cup or so of pistachios and mix them into a paste with about 3 tablespoons of maple syrup or honey. Yum.

Finally, I will say that I adore dates. I used to be so happy for a lunch of two handpicked medjool dates from the Cheshire Cat Market on 15th and Broadway way back when... (that was like, 15 years ago... I worked at Kitchen Kaboodle. I would walk over, grab a small slice of some exotic cheese, some mineral water, a couple of dates, and a hunk of bread. Heaven.) The dates have always been so creamy and delicious and yes, I know, if you have ever had tough dates (like the ones from Costco) or old, crunchy dates, or the chopped ones that used to be hidden in grandmothers' cupboards, you might be thinking WTF? Dates? Really? But they're so good! Imagine my excitement when I read through our current issue of Sunset Magazine. And there was a. whole. article. on. dates. (I can't find the link online, or I would link you directly to it. It is a great little article. Written by Margo True.) But seriously. Some valley named Coachella. Filled with date palms. Acres and acres. The Mecca of Datedom. In the word of Liz Lemon, "I want to go to there."

I'll be ordering from Flying Disc. So that I can nibble on dates while I watch my stories on the telly. Who needs chocolate when you could have dates? Go look. You know I'm not kidding. 

So... Dates. Yes. They're in the recipe. Learn to love them. And then let's go to Coachella Valley to visit Flying Disc Ranch, Oasis Date Gardens, and Shields Date Garden. Where you can have a date MILKSHAKE. Are you kidding me????

Chocolate Pecan Pumpkin Rum Tart

GAME OFF TARTS

(for when you have a week off the diet)

(otherwise known as Chocolate Pecan Pumpkin Rum Tart)

Yields (2) 9” tarts
Ingredients

Crust

2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½ inch pieces
5 tbsp sweet white wine, cold

OR Skip making the crust and just get one of the two-packs of pre-made frozen pie shells... Voila, one step closer to deliciousness.

Filling

2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 14oz can of evaporated milk
1 15oz can of pumpkin pie filling
1/3 cup dark rum, bourbon OR brandy
1 lbs home-roasted butternut, pumpkin or winter squash (or buy the cubed butternut squash from Trader Joes!)
1.5 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
1 cup coconut (optional)

Preparation

Halve squash, scrape out seeds, and roast at 375F until it collapses, about 1 hour. Remove pumpkin from oven and let cool. Scrape flesh, into a large colander lined with cheesecloth (to let any excess moisture drain off). Set aside.

Place dry ingredients for crust in food processor and pulse half a dozen times till mixed. Add cold butter and pulse 10 times. With the machine running, add the wine; dough should begin to gather into a ball. Remove dough from processor, form into ball and set in freezer.

Cream together eggs, pumpkin filling, evaporated milk, vanilla and rum in processor or mixing bowl until incorporated. In another bowl, fold chocolate chips, pecans and coconut together. Set aside 1 cup for each tart (this is the topping). Then mix squash, remaining chocolate and nuts mixture and creamed ingredients until just combined. The filling should be rough, not perfectly smooth.

Preheat oven to 350F. Remove dough from freezer, roll out to cover base of two 9” tart pans. Press into place and cover with foil. Place tart pans into oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil from shells.

Divide filling and pour into shells, sprinkling the set aside topping over the top of pies. Return to the oven at 350 degrees; bake about 50 minutes, or until custard is soft set and pastry is evenly golden. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve with a dollop of crème fraise or mascarpone cheese.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe

I harvested some of the rhubarb out of the garden today - I'll make a strawberry rhubarb pie for J when he gets home... Yum yum~

Ingredients
§ 3 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
§ 1 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced
§ 1 cup sugar
§ 3 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
§ 1/4 teaspoon of salt
§ 1 teaspoon of grated orange peel
§ Unbaked pastry for two-crust 9 inch pie
(If making a 10 inch pie, or just want more filling, use 4.5 cups of rhubarb, 1.5 cups strawberries, and 1 1/4 cup of sugar)

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, salt, and orange rind. Let sit for 10 minutes.

2 Turn into a pastry lined pan. Top with the pastry, trim the edge, and crimp the top and bottom edges together. Cut slits in the top for the steam to escape.

3 Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F, and bake an additional 30-40 minutes longer (40 to 50 minutes longer if doing a 10-inch pie). Cool on a rack.
Serve warm or cold. If you do cool to room temperature, the juices will have more time to thicken.
(this recipe was taken from www.simplyrecipes.com)

* I ended up changing it a bit: I used just over 1 3/4 lbs rhubarb, 4 lbs strawberries, 1/2 cup tapioca, 1 1/2 splenda, and ended up with two open face pies/tarts, and one traditional pie. The baking time was about 20 minutes at 400F and 30 minutes at 350F. I used store bought crusts, cause I didn't want to do the hokey pokey with all the butter and ice water of homemade pie crust. And they were delicious. Shared one with the neighbors across the street, and they were very happy.

The good, the bad & the ugly.

The Good: My third attempt in the kitchen this evening... Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with marshmallow whip frosting and strawberry topper.



The Bad: My second attempt in the kitchen this evening... Hippie Hiker Cookies, Take II.


The Ugly: My first attempt in the kitchen this evening... Hippie Hiker Cookies, Take I.


Suffice it to say, my record of "Most Likely to Never Bake an Edible Cookie" holds. But so does my "Most Likely to Pull a Tasty Cupcake Out of Thin Air."

Sigh. I give up on cookies. They're not nice to me.

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes with Toasted Marshmallows

Missy's baby shower is coming up in a couple of weeks - we have to get the invites out this weekend, and I've been contemplating which cupcakes to make for the shower. I think Stace is making Strawberry Cream Cakes, and I was going to do some sort of variation on Chocolate, and another on Vanilla. I missed the boat last night on making St. Patrick's Day Guinness Cakes... So sad.

Now, it's Wednesday, which means that it is the perfect time to create cupcakes for the guinea pigs who live a couple of houses away. Last week I missed out on their poker game, so I said I'd make some good ones tonight to make it up to them. I realize that these boys eat anything I make, but they are also honest about which ones they like, and which ones bomb. Not all the cupcakes I make have been successful hits!

I was pondering this Hot Cocoa concept for a while. I originally wanted to put the whipped cream in the middle, like a Hostess Cupcake. But I don't have a metal tip for my piping bags, and really, I have no idea how to inject cake with cream. Sooooo, I decided to put the marshmallows in the cupcakes, and top with whipped cream.

The recipe I made this evening was really good - the first batch came out a bit chewier, since I made cheater cakes tonight - with brownie mix and TJ Vanilla Bean cake mix. The second batch was less chewy - I took them out just before they were done, and they turned out much lighter.

I did end up folding the marshmallows in to the batter - which I might not do next time, since the increased sugar content and goo in the cake paper makes it difficult to peel off. I think the next time I will wait until the last 10 minutes and drop the marshmallows on the top to brown.

The whipped cream frosting was also cheater tonight, but only cause I didn't want to make the whole shebang of cream when I didn't know if all the cupcakes would be eaten immediately this evening, or in a little while. The whipping cream has a tendency to drop over time, so I used about a cup of the whipping cream and an equal part of whipped frosting from Betty Crocker to provide a little lasting power.

This recipe was:

1 box fudge brownie mix
1 box Trader Joes vanilla bean cake mix
5 eggs
1/2 c oil
milk to thin (sorry, I didn't measure - I just pour it in til it's right)
about 2 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix all ingredients together, folding marshmallows in (although next time I will leave them out to just place on top)

Spoon into muffin papers, bake until just barely done (I think this was about 30 minutes. Did I totally space it? I think it was longer than the standard 20 - 22 because of the brownie mix in there), but put them in and watch them until they have that last bit of wet sponge look to the top - when it looks as if that is JUST about to disappear, pull those babies out!

Let cool on a rack, and in the meanwhile, mix 1 cup whipping cream with 2 T of powdered sugar, and 1 T of vanilla extract. Whip in mixer bowl on high until stiff peaks begin to form. Drop 1 cup of Whipped - Whipped Cream frosting into the mix, beat for another few seconds until nice and thick and stiff.

I piped the whipped cream frosting on with a bag, but you could just smooth it on if you wanted. I drizzled fudge over the top, topped with a toasted mini-marshmallow, and OHHHHH goodness, these were delicious.

Cranberry and Oatmeal and Apple Butter Muffins...

Kids liked the last funkadoo muffin I made with oatmeal and flax in it, so I decided to make more for this week's breakfasts. This time I started with a White cake mix...

Cran-apple Oatmeal Muffins
yields 24 muffins

White cake mix
1/2 c oatmeal (I used multigrain this time)
3 eggs
1 c water
1/2 c craisins
1/2 c hazelnuts (ground/finely chopped)
1/2 c apple butter* (takes the place of oil)
1/3 c flaxseed meal

preheat oven to 350F. mix it all up, spoon out into muffin papers, bake for about 20 min or until golden brown on top.

Yum. I also put a teeny dollop of apple butter on the top of each muffin before I put them in to bake. James suggested slightly stirring it in to each cup next time for a marbled effect instead of having all the goop on top.

(*my mom made this by essentially stewing the heck out of some windfall apples last year - but you could just as easily use 1/2 c applesauce or 1/2 cup finely chopped apples)

Cheaterdoodles and Kitchen Sink Cuffins

Yes, I'm speaking English. No, I haven't been drinking. Tonight is Wednesday - baking therapy. Good thing I have neighbors willing to eat the results of my weekly *breakthroughs*, or I'd be ginormous from eating 24 cupcakes over the course of a week.

I was looking forward to baking ever since last night, when I perused the latest Martha Stewart (well, latest for me - it's the February issue with cupcakes on the front). Wow. Cupcake ecstasy in that issue... I stayed up til 12:30 am absorbing the photographs, looking at the frostings, dissecting the recipes... All I could think of was that I wanted to make all of those cupcakes, and I wanted to do it *now*!

Instead, I turned off the light, and had a dream that I used the nasty Pilsbury Sugar Cookie dough with fantastic results by cutting a heart out of the middle of the dough disc, and filling it with raspberry jam. I know there are cookies like these - I've seen them. I've *had* them! They're like those little cookies in the Pepperidge Farm box... What do they call them, stained glass cookies? There's also the Thumbprint cookies, I think, that have the little dent (aha, thumbprint) for the jam on the top...

But that's not what I ended up with this evening.

I mixed up about 1/8 cup (or a few tablespoons?) of cinnamon with about 1/4 cup sugar, added about 1/2 teaspoon each of vanilla, rum, maple and almond extract, and chopped it all in together til it was kind of sandy in consistency... Then I dipped each side of the cookie dough discs in the sugar mix, and baked them in the oven according to the directions (you know, the standard 350F for 10 - 12 minutes?)...

They're delicious! Even I think so - and even though I only ate about 1/2 of a cookie, it's cause I really just can't be bothered with eating cookies. There's no pleasure there for me. Not enough purpose to eating a cookie. But I digress. These were a hit with the fam, and I walked a plate down to the neighbors for poker night. (Which ended up being No-Poker-Cause-We're-Watching-The-Blazers Night, but they were happy none the less.)

So then, I still had about 1/4 cup of the cinnamon sugar mixture left, and decided to make some breakfast muffins for the kids and me. I started with a French Vanilla Cupcake mix, and added a whole bunch of stuff to it. In retrospect, I would not have used the extra sugar in the recipe if I hadn't already had it to use - the muffins would be plenty sweet without it... But they ended up great, and despite all the extra stuff (hazelnuts, cranberries, lingonberry jam, oatmeal, flaxseed meal) they have a really lovely texture and are quite tasty.

This recipe for Cupcake + Muffin + Everything in the cupboard = Kitchen Sink Cuffins yields 24 delicious tasties for breakfast, or if you were doing a brunch, they would hold their own against/with a fluffy cream cheese frosting. That would be delicious. (I list the recipe as if I were making it from the beginning, *not* with the cinnamon sugar from the Cheaterdoodles.)

1 box Bettty Crocker French Vanilla Cupcake Mix
1/4 c cinnamon
1 c oatmeal
2/3 c plain, shelled hazelnuts (ours were from Trader Joes)
1 c dried cranberries (or you could use chopped dried fruit of any sort)
1/4 c flaxseed meal
1/4 tsp each rum, vanilla, almond and maple extracts... or use 1 tsp of vanilla if you only have it
2 eggs
1/3 c lingonberry jam (ours from Ikea)
1/3 c flaxseed oil (only cause I have some in the fridge - it is kind of spendy to cook with - use canola instead)
1 c water

Mix dry ingredients until blended, add wet ingredients and fold together until incorporated.
Spoon into muffin papers, bake at 350F until done through... I didn't really time this, but I'm guessing the finish line will be between 19 and 22 minutes.

Et, Voila. You know what would be really good? A combo like Seville Orange Marmalade and dried apricots in place of the lingonberry jam and cranberries... Or raspberry jam and raspberries/blackberries... Yum. Like I said, this was pretty much whatever I could find in the kitchen, and it turned out delicious!


**** so after a bit of research and some mathematics, I worked out the calorie content, fat grams, and carbs for each of these little suckers. I was sure they'd be out of sight on the calories with all the extra stuff, but lo and behold, they weren't *that* bad!

Kitchen Sink Cuffins: 159 cal, 6 g fat (don't forget, this is mostly from the flaxseed oil and meal, which is tremendous) and 28 g carbs... So I maintain that without the added sugar, and all the fiber, they're not a bad way to get started in the morning!

Are you kidding me?

Six dozen cupcakes, a batch of cookies, one box of brownies, three cans of frosting, numerous tubes of goo, too many sparkles and decorations to count and a roll of purple fondant later...







Cupcake-O-Rama.

I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. Sister used the rolling pin without incident... and at one point, she was holding on to the counter for dear life.

We put pink glitter gel frosting on our lips like lipgloss and asked Dad if he would take us to the mall.

It was insane.

But we made the. cutest. cupcakes, EVER.

I dub thee "National Mall O' Cupcakes."

Oh, and let's not forget about the special Unicorn and his/her friend Bass-Ackwards Dino. (I accidentally frosted his bum. Whoops.)


Love was in the air today. And something was in the water.

Lip Gloss Cupcakes...

Last night Stacy, Melissa & I made these adorable cupcakes. They were so good, and the girls and I frosted them in between fits of giggles. Too much sugar made us silly. I was worried when I tasted the batter, because it tasted like cheap strawberry lip gloss, but when they were baked, the flavor improved considerably.

Along the lines of other things cupcakes, I discovered this site devoted solely to all things cupcakes. It's really cute, and has links to a million other cupcake sites. Oh, for the love of all things fluffy and cakey.

Next, there is this cupcake supply site, which is really a kick. The opening page is seriously like Barbies for big girls. There's all sorts of papers, and accessories, and super cute aprons and things. (Which reminds me of Toni Collette's character Alice in the new show US of Tara... It's about this woman with multiple personalities, and one of the personalities is named Alice. She's perfectly 1950's, with her little matchy matchy dresses and painted nails, and she bakes lovely cakes and things for the bake sales. She wears aprons, and when I bake cupcakes without provocation, James calls me 'Alice.')

Aprons like the ones I found Etsy make me want to wear pumps, white gloves, matte red lipstick, wave my hair and learn how to make a perfect cocktail! Which then leads me to the cutest idea I saw in Food & Wine this month - Tea Forte makes a lovely pyramid tea infuser, but they also make cocktail infusers! So you place one of these spice pyramids into the cocktail, and you get a fancy little drink! Woo Hoo! I sent the link to my friend Kristina, who owns Paper Caper in Lake Oswego, and I hope that she adds the cocktail infusers to her Tea Forte selection.

Swedish Sweet Bread

Swedish Sweet Bread (Rolls or Braids)

(this recipe yields about 3 good size loaves of bread, or 24 rolls for brunch, but you can do 1/3 recipe for 1 loaf if you like)

3 cups milk
3 packets yeast
1 cup brown sugar (or raw sugar if you have it)

3 eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla
1 stick butter (room temperature - NOT melted!)

10 cups flour (8 for dough, 2 reserved for kneading in)

Mix the milk and the sugar in a microwaveable bowl, microwave on high for 2 minutes or until warm to the touch. Add in yeast, stir, and set aside.

In a large bowl or mixing bowl (like Kitchenaid) beat eggs, salt, vanilla, and butter. The butter should be in small bits. (The reason you want the butter in bits and not melted is because the space of the butter helps to form the texture of the bread.)

Pour in the yeast, milk & sugar mixture, blending with the eggs and butter. At this point you could add 2 tsp of orange extract OR 2 tsp of maple extract if you like to make a different taste.

When all ingredients are well mixed (it should look murky and like the butter is clumpy), begin to add in flour one cup at a time, still mixing. I like to use my Kitchenaid mixer for this because the constant working of the dough forms better gluten strings and the bread has a nicer texture. You can also do this by hand, but be sure to either stand on a stool to gain some height on your dough, or work on a lower surface.

Add in about 8 - 9 cups of flour total. At this point, the dough should still be sticky to the touch.

Grease a LARGE bowl, and turn the sticky dough into the greased bowl. sprinkle a generous amount of flour on the top of the dough, and cover with plastic wrap. Lay a clean kitchen towel over the bowl, and leave to rise in a warm spot for about 1 - 2 hours.

When the dough is about double in size, PUNCH it down into the bowl using the heel of your hand or a tight fist. Leave it to rise a little more while you prepare your pans for baking. This dough is really versatile, so you can either section it out for braids, loaves, or buns/rolls. I have also made circular loaves with this.

I have recently begun to turn my dough out onto a floured, rimmed cookie sheet - I find that it keeps the flour from flying all over my counters as I knead it.

Preheat your oven to 350F. If you have convection, it makes a nice crust on the bread. Otherwise, regular baking setting is just fine.

Work the dough by kneading it and alternating it, folding it back into itself, and adding flour until it becomes velvety and is no longer sticky to the touch. This may end up being about a cup to two additional.

When your dough is ready, Grease tins, bread pans, or cookie sheets depending on what shape you'd like your bread to be.

Divide dough equally and allow to bake until golden brown on top - rolls are around 20 minutes, loaves are about 40 minutes, and braids are about 35 minutes. KEEP CHECKING.

When done, remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack OUT of the tins. Otherwise, as they cool, they will sweat and get a little soggy.

A really good icing for the bread is about 1 cup of confectioners sugar and 1 tsp cardamom (or if you don't like cardamom, use 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg) with a little water dribbled in to make a tasty topping. I usually use about 1 tsp water to begin, and add water by drops until I get the consistency right.

Allow the bread to cool completely, then ice. This bread is also REALLY great sliced and toasted for breakfast with butter and icing.

Enjoy!

Pepparkakor and Cardamom. It's Swedish Christmas!

Each year, between help from my dad or my mom, I make and receive and dole out several loaves of Swedish Cardamom bread. Cardamom seems to be something that people either love or hate. I personally love it. I put it in hot milk with sugar free vanilla syrup for a bedtime calmer. Meanwhile, you may be thinking what the hell is Swedish Bread? Is that like Rye Crisp? That crazy Wasa bread cracker thing? No. Oh no, my friends. It's formed into a braid, like Jewish Challah bread. Swedish Cardamom bread is the next best thing to homemade wheat bread with butter. Ok, well, maybe a dead even tie. Cardamom has a slightly peppery taste, like a cross between cinnamon and pepper... And it is delicious with the sweetness of an egg bread with sugar on top. Mmmm. It's super good as breakfast, all toasty and delectable...

In the morning when I get up I'll be preparing the cookie dough and the bread dough ahead of time in an effort to save mixing time and increase visiting time, because tomorrow is baking day at Dad's!

The following recipes are directly from Mike Swanson's blog. I don't have ANY idea where my own recipe is for Cardamom bread, but this looks pretty close. Cause it's late, and I've no clue as to where all my recipes went...

Cardamom Bread

Original Recipe
¾ cup milk
¼ cup butter
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons yeast
1½ - 2 teaspoons cardamom
(3 teaspoons if using powder)

1. Microwave milk and butter for approximately 50 seconds
2. Make dough using all ingredients (manually or with bread machine on "dough" mode)
3. Divide into 3 rolled strips, cover with cloth, and allow to rest for 10 minutes
4. Braid dough and top with light sugar coating (not included in above ingredients)
5. Allow to rise for 40-50 minutes under plastic wrap
6. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes
7. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack

I (Emily) like to make this bread and finish with Royal Icing (just powdered sugar and cardamom with water mixed to a nice icing consistency) drizzled over the top.

Pepparkakor Cookies

Mike says "Done properly, pepparkakor cookies (a Swedish twist on ginger cookies) are relatively thin and crisp. "

1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons molasses (I prefer the “Dark Full Flavor” kind)
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Cream butter with sugar
2. Add egg, milk, and molasses
3. Mix everything else in
4. Refrigerate the dough overnight
5. Roll dough onto flowered surface until approximately 1/8" thick, and cut into shapes
6. Bake at 350 degrees until done (approximately 8 minutes)

Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies, Yum.

It's Wednesday. Wednesday means that I need to bake. Baking means I need a recipe... Ergo, the newest development from my baking brain...

Vanilla Bean Shortbread Cookies

3 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 vanilla bean
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cup (3 sticks) butter

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Sift flour, baking powder, granulated sugar and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and beat again, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl once or twice as you are mixing. Beat in the vanilla extract. If you have a vanilla bean slit it open along its entire length, scrape out the vanilla bean paste from the interior of the bean, and add this to the mixer as well. Add the flour mixture in two additions. Stir until everything comes together into a thick dough.

Turn the dough out onto a countertop and divide into two pieces. Press each piece of dough out into a long cylinder (about the size of an orange juice can). Wrap each piece in plastic and chill completely in the refrigerator - about thirty minutes. When the dough is chilled, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out 1/4-1/2-inch thick. Cut the dough into desired shapes using cookie cutters or a knife and place on a greased baking sheet.

Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are barely golden.

We shall see how these turn out, and photos will be posted this evening upon their completion.

I think I'll let the kids help frost these, I'll make the cookies ahead of time and have different frostings and sprinkles available.


Icing

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
5 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring

In a large bowl, cream together the confectioners' sugar and shortening until smooth. Gradually mix in the milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth and stiff, about 5 minutes. Color with food coloring if desired.

Missy's Mole-asses Muffins

For Missy... When I make these I will post photos...

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (half white/wheat is ok)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups skim milk
  
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 egg
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups bran flakes cereal
• 1/2 cup chopped dates

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. (Convection if you have it)

Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with PAM.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate medium bowl, mix wet ingredients (skim milk, molasses, egg, and vegetable oil).

Mix in the bran cereal.

Fold in the flour mixture.

Spoon into the sprayed muffin tins.

Bake 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

OR, try this one!

• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup miller's bran or crushed bran cereal

Preheat oven to 400F. Convection if you've got it...

Cream together the butter and the brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, then mix in the egg, sour cream, molasses, and dates.

In a separate bowl stir together the flour, the baking soda, the salt, and the bran (or cereal), add the mixture to the sour cream mixture, and stir the batter until it is just combined. (The batter will be lumpy.)

Spoon the batter into 12 sprayed muffin tins oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are golden brown and springy to the touch.