Cooking for Seven

These last few days of being single (yay!), I have been reflecting a bit on my life at home. Until now, it hasn’t really hit me that I’m leaving - entering a wonderful, new life with my husband-to-be. Apparently it hit my mom as well…we had a crying-and-hugging-fest today.

Cooking for Seven has been such a great creative outlet for me over the years (Did I really start this blog almost three years ago? How time flies…), and a bit of a challenge. Thank you all for your encouragement, tips, praise, and corrections (thank you for being honest!). It is my intention to continue sharing recipes with you after I’m married…my future mother-in-law instructs me to continue “cooking for seven” — my fiance eats a lot!

But I must say goodbye for a little while as I am getting married this weekend! Until we meet again, here is a scrumptious recipe for Maple Pecan Sticky Buns.
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Maple Pecan Sticky Buns

Adapted from Bon Appétit and the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion

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Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3 tablespoons maple sugar, granulated sugar, or sweetener of choice
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 - 1 1/2 cup milk, scalded and cooled
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons soft butter

For the filling:

• 3/4 cups pecans, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• soft butter for spreading on dough

For the syrup:

• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 4 1/2 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Direction:

For the dough:

1) Mix and knead together all the dough ingredients in a stand mixer, bread machine, or by hand to form a smooth, soft dough. Add more milk or water if the dough seems too stiff.

2) Place in a greased bowl. Cover with a towel. Set in a warm place and let raise until almost doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

For the filling:

Mix together all the filling ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl.

For the syrup:

Butter a 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Combine maple syrup and butter in heavy medium skillet. Stir over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Mix in brown sugar. Pour syrup into prepared dish; tilt to coat of bottom of dish evenly. Sprinkle the pecans; cool

To assemble and bake:

1) Roll out dough on a lightly greased counter to an 11 x 20 inch rectangle. Spread the soft butter all over the dough, leaving a narrow strip free of butter along one long edge. Sprinkle with filling ingredients.

2) Starting with the buttered long edge, roll up the dough and pinch the edges to secure. Cut dough with a sharp, serrated knife into 1-inch rolls. Place in prepared baking dish. It’s okay to crown the buns a bit.

3) Cover and let raise until quite puffy, about 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours. Preheat oven to 375° F.

4) Bake buns uncovered until tops are golden brown and syrup bubbles thickly, reversing dishes halfway through baking, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately invert onto a baking sheet. Cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm with lots of butter. (Can be made ahead. Cool buns completely. Wrap buns tightly with foil on baking sheet. Freeze up to 2 weeks. Bake frozen buns covered 375°F until heated through, about 15 minutes.)

Makes approximately 14 buns

Until after the honeymoon!

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Why is that something as ordinary as chocolate chip cookies is one of the most delicious treats? Perhaps its very familiarity is what makes it so scrumptious. They bring back days spent at Grandma’s as a child; afternoons spent mixing up cookies with my sisters; sneaking spoonfuls of dough.

Here’s the recipe that we have used for years. Just within the past months my sister & I have modified the recipe to our tastes: reducing the sugar and adding some toasty pecans. They were a splendid hit, even with our critical Dad. He informed us that they were the best cookies he ever ate. He freaks out if we suggest changing the recipe slightly.

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Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Mrs. Fields’ recipe

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 twelve-ounce bags bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup toasted pecans, chopped coarse

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350° F.

2) Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer set to medium-high. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.

3) In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips & nuts.

4) Place golf ball sized pieces of dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in preheated oven for 8-12 minutes, or just until the edges and bottoms begin to brown.

5) Allow to cool on the cookie sheets a few minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes approximately 30 cookies

A few weeks ago Tate’s Bake Shop asked me if I was interested in tasting a few of their cookies. Um, yes. Who in their right mind would refuse cookies?

Overall I was quite impressed with the quality of their products. Let me share with you what I found:

Packaging:

The cookies arrived in this lovely box.

Inside are three beautiful boxes of cookies: Macadamia Nut, Oatmeal Raisin, and Chocolate Chip. I love how festive the packaging is.

Inside each box are two sealed packages of cookies. Which brings me to my only quibble with the packaging: there were at least one broken cookie in each top package. However, the taste completely makes up for this:

Taste/Texture

I must admit that I generally avoid pre-packaged cookies. These are an exception to that rule. There was no strange, chemically taste as there usually is in “store-bought” cookies.

I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed all the flavors of cookies, even though I usually steer clear of oatmeal raisin. The macadamia nut were perhaps a bit sweet for my taste, but they had a lovely flavor. And the chocolate chip faintly reminded me of cookies my grandma makes.

The list of ingredients is also impressive. No weird ingredients that I wouldn’t add to a batch of my homemade cookies.

The texture of all the cookies is crispy. I enjoy both chewy and crisp cookies, so if you’re a chewy fan, keep this in mind.

I also had the privilege of testing out the Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook.

There are some really fun recipes that I’d like to try.

There’s a pretty photo section.

And a section on healthy alternatives!

I have generously been allowed to share a recipe from Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook with ya’ll! I baked these chocolate biscotti as written in the recipe. Another time I would add a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla. But they were overall very easy and had a good texture. They have a not-too-sweet, grownup flavor. My little brother really enjoyed them.

Chocolate Biscotti

From Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook

Printable Page

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processes cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup chopped milk chocolate
• 3/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (I used all bittersweet)
• 1/2 cup almonds, chopped small, blanched or unblanched

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets or line them with Silpat.

2) In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars till the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the cocoa powder and beat it in for 2 more minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition

3) Stir in the flour and baking powder until they are just combined. Stir in the chocolates and almonds. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.

4) Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll each piece into a 10-inch log. Place the logs on the prepared cookie sheets and flatten them to 1-inch thick by pressing them gently with your fingertips.

5) Bake them for 25 minutes. Then cool them for one hour on the cookie sheet.

6) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cut each log into 1/2-inch-wide diagonal slices. Place the slices on an ungreased cookie sheet, cut side up, and bake them for 10  minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake them for another 10 minutes. Cool them on the cookie sheets.

Makes approximately 40 biscotti

And now for the giveaway!

The folks at Tate’s Bake Shop are allowing me to host a giveaway!

You’ll have the chance to win the delicious package of cookies pictured above, plus the Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook.

Here’s how you can enter to win:

• [Mandatory] Leave a comment on this post, telling me about your favorite kind of cookie.
• For extra entries, become a fan of Tate’s on Facebook. Come back and leave a separate comment saying you became a fan.
• For more entries, tweet, blog, or post on Facebook about this giveaway. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each extra entry.
• For more entries, subscribe to my RSS feed, follow me on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook. Make sure to leave a separate comment for each extra entry.

Rules:

Only U.S. residents are allowed to enter.

Giveaway ends Friday, December 17, at 11:00 p.m. Central Time. No comments will be considered after that time.

I will select one (1) winner using random.org.

Good luck!

Even if you are not so fortune as to win this giveaway, you can still purchase some cookies of your own at a 15 % discount by using coupon code cookie valid through December 31st. They would make a lovely Christmas present for a foodie friend, or anyone who enjoys cookies!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. No further comments will be considered.

What do you do when you have an abundance of fresh raspberries + a desire to bake something scrumptious? Make these Raspberry Cheese Brownies, of course! Dark chocolate brownies on the bottom, cheesecake batter, swirls of brownie batter, and raspberries poked in.

Many thanks to Kayleigh of Kayotic Kitchen.  When I asked the twitter community for a delicious raspberry recipe, she promptly replied with a link to this recipe. It is certainly a keeper.

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Fascinating how much your photography can change in just 1.5 years. Way back in December of 2008 I blogged about a delicious recipe I had concocted: Fruit on the Bottom Baked Oatmeal. Here was my original header photo:

I was so proud that captured this image early on a Winter morning.

All of this to say, go and see my guest post on the Tasty Kitchen blog: Fruit on the Bottom Baked Oatmeal.