Lemon Ricotta Cookies

I had to use up the 2lb tub of ricotta I bought from Costco, so here's another ricotta recipe. A definite winner, hands down! Thanks Giada!

These super simple cookies are light and cake like yet slightly chewy, sort of like an airy lemon sugar cookie. Really, these are tough to describe other than to say this: If you like lemon, you MUST make these. This is what it might look like if lemon cheesecake cake and pound cake had a child.

The sour-sweet lemon sugar glaze is a definite must. It gives the cookies vibrancy and a hit of sweetness that plays off the tartness. These cookies... "cake-ies?"... get better with age as the flavors meld together. I recommend that you watch the bottoms of these cookies carefully while they are baking. The tops stay really pale but the bottoms brown quickly. I also high recommend baking them on silpat silicone sheets or on the top rack of your oven or just being really careful and watching them like a hawk.

Note: Other reviewers on the food network site say you can make this with a combo of yogurt and cream cheese instead of the ricotta.



Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Makes 30 | adapted from Giada de Laurentiis

Cookies:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese (don't use low fat!)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tsp lemon extract (optional)
1 lemon, zested

Glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta, lemon juice, extract and zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

3. Line 2 baking sheets. Do not grease sheets. Spoon the dough (about 1 1/2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. (Watch the bottoms! The tops will still be pale but the bottoms brown quickly) Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the sheet for 20 minutes. I put mine in the refrigerator because I was impatient.

4. Glaze: Combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let stand until glaze is set (or put in the fridge to speed this up this process).

Apple Ricotta Coffee Cake

Beneath a crunchy, nutty topping lies a pleasantly sweet, velvety cake layer. In between the cake there are wonderfully tender apple pieces and more streusel. It's also a good keeper. While it's not obvious that there's ricotta in this cake, it brings a depth of flavor and moistness - that 'je ne sais quoi' - to the finished product. With 2 whole apples I like to delude myself into thinking that I'm getting a serving of fruit when I have a slice.

This would be a great coffee cake to serve to guests as it stands tall and proud and slices beautifully. The cake filled my spring-form pan to the top and didn't shrink down even after cooling. I already have a ton of apple recipes in my recipe box but this one is definitely going to join my ever-growing collection.

Apple Ricotta Coffee Cake
9" Round Cake | adapted from Mostly Foodstuffs

Streusel:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cake:
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups ricotta cheese
2 crisp apples

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9" springform pan.

2. Streusel: Place the brown sugar, flour, rolled oats, cinnamon and salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the 6 tablespoons of butter, and pulse until you can no longer see lumps of butter. Refrigerate until ready to use (can be done ahead of time).

3. Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside. In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs one by one, beating well after each addition. Alternating the two, add flour mixture and ricotta until just combined. It will be a stiff batter.

4. To assemble: Spread half the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel filling, and all of the apples. Spread the remaining batter of the top -- Glob spoonfuls over the top and spread gently. Sprinkle with the all the pecans and the remaining streusel. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about an 60 minutes. Cool before serving.

Seeded Mustard Thyme Crackers

I've been baking more savory and healthy snacks lately. Maybe it's to try and get my son to eat more of my baking. The kid does not have a sweet tooth in the least. He would (honest-to-God) choose broccoli over chocolate. People often wonder how he could possibly be a child of mine seeing as I'm the kind of girl who eats dessert first if given the option (like at a buffet).

These sturdy crackers have a nice mixture of textures from the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, oats and whole wheat flour. There's no white flour in this recipe! They even TASTE healthy and that's not a bad thing! They are a little thicker than "thins" but they have an oh-so-satisfying crunch. With shredded cheese baked right into them, they are easy to pack for snacks. There's no need to fiddle with sliced cheese on the side when serving these, although you can never have too much cheese, so feel free top with sliced ham and cheese if you like.



Seeded Mustard Thyme Crackers
adapted from The Cookie and Biscuit Bible

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 cup grated cheddar
1 tbsp dried thyme

1/4 cup butter, diced
2 tbsp shortening
4 tbsp milk
2 tsp dijon mustard

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners. Combine milk and mustard in a small bowl.

2. In a food processor combine flour, oats, salt, sugar and seeds. Add cheddar and thyme and pulse just to incorporate - don't overdo it, you still want the oat/cheese/seed texturedness.

3. Add butter and shortening and pulse. It should resemble coarse meal. Drizzle mustard/milk mixture into the food processor and pulse until it comes together slightly. Sparingly add more milk if needed, just enough to form a rollable dough.

4. On a floured surface roll out as thin as you can. Cut into desired shapes (I like squares) and bake for 5-8 minutes, rotating and watching closely as they can go from pale to burnt in seconds.

TWD: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

This is the first ice-cream recipe I have made this year. My Cuisinart ice-cream maker is one appliance that I feel guilty for owning. I have way too many appliances and kitchen gadgets and with the weather here in B.C. this one sits unused in the back of my storage cabinet for 3/4 of the year. However, every time I get THISCLOSE to giving it away or selling it, a wonderful recipe like this one presents itself and makes me think that I just can't live without it.

It tastes unique but in a familiar and comforting way. Creamy, sweet and delicious. It was homey, dreamy caramel ice-cream with a twist. This recipe (p. 432) from Baking: From My Home to Yours was chosen by Becky of Project Domestication. The recipe can be found on her blog.

I'm already thinking about the next time I make these. I will add one or all of these mix-ins: Rolo pieces, Heath bar bits... perhaps a swirl of dulce de leche.

Whole Orange Poppyseed Loaf

Waste not want not. That's why I love this recipe. You use the whole orange in this cake! Yep, the entire fruit gets thrown into the food processor and pureed. I expected the flavor to be overpoweringly orangey but that wasn't the case. The cake was filled with refreshing sunny flavor and a nice crunch from the poppy seeds.

As you can see, the cake doesn't rise very high and doesn't have a nice domed top, but that doesn't make it any less delicious. This recipe is as easy and as quick as using a cake mix. Don't be tempted to skip the glaze. It's a sweet, sticky and really addictive. I think it will be making future appearances on all sorts of baked goods from here on out - chocolate cake with orange glaze anyone? orange glazed vanilla muffins? I think so!

Whole Orange Poppyseed Loaf

1 loaf | Adapted from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book

Cake:
1 whole orange, well washed
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tbsps poppy seeds

Glaze:
4 tbsp orange juice
3 tbsp sugar

1. Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter and flour a 1 1/2-quart loaf pan.
2. Using a paring knife, remove the little green stem from the orange skin. Cut the orange into 8 pieces. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse the orange pieces (skin and everything but the seeds) and 1/2 cup of the sugar until pureed, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, so that no large pieces remain.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar until smooth. Stir in the orange pulp. whisk in the melted butter to combine. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds to combine. Sprinkle over the orange mixture and, using a rubber spatula, gently fold until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes, rotating halfway through baking. Make glaze while cake is baking: In a small saucepan, combine the orange juice, lemon juice, and sguar at a high simmer. Simmer until reduced by half. The cake is done when a wooden skewer comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes before unmolding the cake onto the rack for glazing. Using a pastry brush, brush the hot glaze all over the cake while it is still warm.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

This pizza is one of the best things I've ever eaten and as most pizzas are, it's incredibly simple. Ranch dressing is an amazing accompaniment to the smoky bacon. Just a heads up: this pizza doesn't have any tomato sauce on it, just in case you thought you read the recipe wrong.

While there is no such thing as "bad" pizza in my world, I have yet to jump on the thin-crust bandwagon that seems to be taking over these days. The crust is one of the best parts of the pizza. A nice crust that can stand up to a lot of toppings is my preference. I like the simplicity and ease of the Canadian Living dough recipe from May 2007, but everyone has their go-to dough recipe, so use your favorite.



It is incredibly sinful and over the top, but just before serving, drizzle with Japanese mayo for a delightful tang and creaminess. Try it once and you'll fall in love. Japanese mayonnaise is made with apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar and a small amount of MSG, which gives it a different flavor from American mayonnaise made from distilled vinegar. In Japan many fried dishes are served with mayonnaise for dipping and it's also common to put it on pizza there. By the way, I didn't know that prior to my own experimentation. It just sounded good in my head, lol. Kewpie (Q.P.) is the most popular brand (clear plastic squeeze bottle with red lid, Kewpie doll logo).





Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
14" Pizza | Dough from Canadian Living, May 2007

Dough for 1 pizza - homemade or storebought

1 cup cooked chicken (chopped) - I used cooked ground chicken this time
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped bacon
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 small onion, thinly sliced (I like red onions)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Roll pizza dough out to a 12-14" round. Bake crust (no toppings) for 8-10 minutes. Prepare toppings during this time.

2. Combine the chicken, ranch dressing, tomatoes, pepper and bacon in a mixing bowl. Evenly spread mixture over warm pizza crust. Top with mozzarella then scatter onions on top. It will look like a lot of onion but the onions mellow out and turn sweet and fragrant in the oven. Cut back on the onion if you like though.

3. Place topped pizza back into oven for another 12-15 minutes until nicely browned and cheese is melted. Remove pizza and lightly sprinkle with parmesan (and Japanese mayo!)

Whole Wheat Maple-Nut Cinnamon Buns

In an attempt to make a healthy cinnamon bun, I adapted a bread recipe for Vermont Maple Bread into a cinnamon roll. The bread is from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion.

Compared to regular cinnamon buns, they are a bit heavier and slightly less sweet. The whole wheat flour contributes a nice flavor of its own. Instead of slathering them with sugary frosting, I let their wholesome flavor shine through and was overall quite pleased with the results. I won't be abandoning my love of white flour-based cinnamon buns but these are a good alternative, even if just to reduce the guilt factor a tad.



Whole Wheat Maple-Nut Cinnamon Buns

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons hot water
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon maple flavor
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Filling
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, oats, maple syrup, maple flavor, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm; this will happen naturally as you stir.

2. Add the flours and yeast, stirring to form a rough dough. Knead (about 10 minutes by hand, 7 minutes by machine, or on the dough cycle in the bread machine), enough to make a nicely springy dough.

3. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl or large (8-cup) measuring cup, cover the bowl or cup with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise for 60 to 90 minutes. It should become very puffy, and just about double in bulk.

4. Gently deflate the dough, and roll it out to approximately 1/4 inch thick. Spread melted margarine over the dough and sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar, nut mixture. Slice into 12 evenly sized rolls and cover for approxmately 60 minutes until almost doubled in volume. Near the end of the rising time, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

5. Bake the buns for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting with foil if browning too quickly. When they reach 190 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer they are done. Remove from the oven, and rest for 10-15 minutes before turning ouof the pan onto a rack to cool.

Mini Caramilk (Chocolate n' Caramel) Tarts

You might never have heard of a Caramilk bar if you aren't Canadian. You're missing out!!! This milk chocolate bar features creamy Cadbury chocolate that encases a soft, flowing caramel filling in each square. Caramilk was first developed at the Masson Street plant in Montreal and currently is manufactured at the Cadbury Gladstone Chocolate Factory in downtown Toronto – the only place in the world where Caramilk is made.

These tarts are inspired by the Caramilk chocolate bar. They are a simple sweet fully baked pastry shell filled with melted milk chocolate ganache swirled together with creamy caramel. It's a good thing they're bite sized because they sure are rich! Note: Caramilk bars don't have almonds, I just garnished using an almond because they're pretty ;)



Mini Caramilk (Chocolate n' Caramel) Tarts
Makes 12

12 Mini Fully Baked Sweet Tartlet Shells (recipe follows)

Caramel
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp heavy cream

Ganache
200g milk chocolate, chopped
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed
1/4 tsp salt

1. Bake the shells ahead of time and cool fully.

2. Make the caramel: In a heavy based frying pan, dissolve the sugar in water over low heat. Increase the heat until the syrup turns a deep amber colour. Don't stir the pan or the sugar will crystallise - you can swirl the pan a little to cook the caramel evenly. Take off the heat and leave to cool for 1-2 minutes, then stir in the butter with the salt. Set aside for 2 minutes and then whisk in the cream, beating until smooth and glossy. Transfer to a glass bowl and chill for 15 minutes to cool and thicken.

3. Make the ganache: Heat the chocolate, cream, butter and salt in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring until smooth.
Set aside to cool a little.

4. Loosely swirl the caramel and chocolate mixtures together and to fill each tart case with a generous tablespoon. Decorate with a nut on top or a dusting of fleur de sel or leave plain as is. Serve at room temperature.

Miniature Tartlet Shells
Makes 12 – 1" shells | Adapted from Sweet Miniatures, Flo Braker

1 1/2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Put the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor bowl. Pulse a few times to blend. Scatter all the butter over the flour, pulse until the mixture has the consistency of cornmeal.
2. Whisk egg and vanilla together in a small bowl. With the motor on, pour the egg mixture down the feed tube. Process until the mixture forms a ball. Remove to the lightly floured work surface, press the dough together until it is smooth and cohesive.

3. Grease 12 mini muffin tins. Either roll out the dough then fit into the tartlet tins. Or, pinch about 1 tsp of dough and press into the tins to distribute the dough evenly. Don't make shells too thick. Freeze for 15-30 minutes while the oven is preheating.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees F or until lightly golden and fully baked. Cool. When cool enough to touch, remove from tins and fill as desired. The pre-baked, unfilled shells can be kept at room temperature for up to 1 week airtight.

TWD: Chockablock Cookies

These remind me a little of the now well-known featured on Regis and Kelly Compost Cookies by Momofuku's Milk Bar. No, they don't have potato chips or pretzels in them but they sure have a ton of other delicious goodies including nuts, dried fruit, coconut and 2 whole cups of chocolate chunks.



Tremendously versatile and adaptible to whatever you have on hand, these were a pleasure to make. The combination of textures and contrast of colors also makes them look pretty on a platter. I made the recipe into bars instead of cookies because I prefer the chewier, moister texture of a bar and the ease of stacking them for easy transport and serving. It's so much harder to over-bake a bar than a cookie.

For the recipe and to see what she baked up, visit TWD's Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet.

Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake

This is embarrassing and totally ridiculous. I spent $70 on baking ingredients at Walmart yesterday. The crazy thing is that even though it sounds like a lot of money to spend, I came home with double the amount of stuff I could have bought in Canada. I used to think that the $20 limit on dairy products from the USA coming back into Canada was pretty high but now I find myself exceeding it and hoping they don't ask me too many questions about the break-down of my spending. Did you know you are only allowed 2 dozen eggs per person?

Other than spending way too much and feeling guilty about it now, I had an amazing day. My 'day of freedom'! I felt like a teenager again. My ex had my son for the weekend and I had nobody to be accountable to but MOI. It felt amazing. I haven't felt so light and carefree in a very very long time. I went where I wanted to, I ate where/when/what I wanted to, I turned off my cell phone and basically disappeared for 13 hours. OK, enough about my trip, back to this delicious cake-mix-based cake.

The recipe comes from a Duncan Hines book that is quite similar to The Cake Mix Doctor. However, I dare say it's better! After all, it bears the Duncan Hines name on it and aren't they THE cake mix people? If you're in a cake mix mood (or come across some cake mix on sale like I did at Walmart), try this recipe. It works with any kind - yellow, white, butter pecan, etc.

**Tip** Make extra streusel topping and store in the freezer. Then it's easy and right at your fingertips when you want to add that little extra to muffins. It's also a time saver (and saves me from dragging out the food processor) when you find yourself unexpectedly in the mood to make coffee cake!

I brought this cake to work and a few comments I got were:
"Shh.... I had 4 pieces, it's so good!"
"OMG. I love you and hate you all at the same time for bringing this in."
"There goes my diet!"



Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake
9x13 inch cake | adapted from Duncan Hines' Cake Mix Magic

1 pkg (18.25 oz) yellow cake mix
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding powder
4 eggs
1 1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup oil
1 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9 x 13 pan.
2. Combine first 6 ingredients into a batter. Pour into prepared pan, spreading out to the edges.
3. Make streusel by mixing melted butter into flour brown sugar and rolled oats mixture so it resembles slightly clumpy wet sand. Sprinkle over batter evenly.
4. Bake 35-45 minutes until toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it. This is a soft and tender cake so it might be a bit crumbly if you don't let it cool enough.