The Post that Time Forgot

A very Happy Christmas Eve to you all!  And look!  A Christmas miracle!  A new blog post!  Well, new as in never before been posted, but I wrote it a year ago...oops.  I think I meant to add the doodles and then got lazy and then just plain ol' forgot.  It happens.  The good news is I have illustrated and posted this long lost gem for your last minute holiday baking needs.  Happy baking, friends!


Second Annual Christmas Cookie Baking Blitz

Today was a balmy 65 degree Winter Solstice (and no, I'm not back in the South), but despite the unseasonable start to winter, the winter holiday season is in full swing in the Yankee Baker household.  The Christmas tree is up and decorated, presents are piling up beneath it, Yankee Dog is in his jingly holly collar and most importantly, Christmas cookies have been baked.  This year we feature 3 new recipes for you to add to your repertoire.

First up: classic shortbread.  The best shortbread I've ever had were the Walker's lemon-currant nibbles I had as part of my picnic lunches when I went pony trekking in Scotland.  This is not that caliber shortbread, but it is pretty tasty.  And pretty easy to make.  After preheating your oven to 325, combine 1 1/4 cup flour and 3 tablespoons white sugar in a mixing bowl.  Using a pastry cutter, cut in 1/2 cup butter until the mixture is crumbly.  (Funny story: because of my former roommate's lack of knowledge in the kitchen, my pastry cutter has seen more use as a pizza cutter.)  Once the butter is cut in, knead the mixture till it is smooth, then form into a ball.  You now have a couple choices in terms of shaping your shortbread.  Option A: press the ball flat on an ungreased round cookie sheet.  pinch the edges into a fancy scallop and slice into wedges.  Bake 25-35 minutes.  Recut your wedges while the shortbread is still warm.  Allow to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.  Option B: on a lightly floured surface (as lightly floured as possible--you don't want a lot of extra flour added to your dough), press then roll your dough to 1/2".  Cut into rounds or shapes with cookie cutters.  Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes.

Cute cutout shortbreads.

Second is a variation on our shortbread: spiced shortbread.  I was originally going to do a gingerbread, but deciding between a crunchy gingerbread and a soft gingerbread was too much (I'm bad at decisions!  Don't judge).  Spiced shortbread was a happy resolution.  The method is exactly the same as above; however, to your flour, add 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves.  Deeeeeelish!

Fancy formed spiced shortbreads.

 Our third new cookie: cranberry-orange pinwheels.  Fair warning, these are NOT the cookies you make last minute when you realise your cookie exchange is in 20 minutes.  They require a bit of work, but are so lovely when they're done, and taste scrumdidlyumptious, so totes worth it.  ALSO, thanks to this recipe, I was introduced to the wonder that is the slap chop!  Well, really, thanks to Yankee Mama conveniently cleaning out her room and discovering goodies she meant to give me for Christmas heaven knows how many years ago.  But still.  Slap chop.  It's awesome.  Go get one.  

Best kitchen gadget ever.  This little ninja makes chopping roly poly cranberries super easy.

You can use it to finely mince 1 cup cranberries (not Craisins.  Cranberries.) and 1 cup pecans.  You could also throw these puppies in a food processor, if you do that electronic technology thing.  Also stir in 1/4 cup brown sugar and mix well.  This is your filling; you can make it first or while your dough is chilling.  For the dough, beat 1 stick softened butter till it's just smooth.  (A trick for softening butter, ironically gained from a non-baking friend: put your sticks of butter to be softened in your pockets.  Non-baker friend used sweatpants, I used a puffy vest.  Works like a charm!)  Add 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt and beat until combined.  Now add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons orange peel (grate the zest from one navel orange, that should do ya) and beat again.  Add 3 1/4 cups flour a little at a time till combined.  Divide your dough in half, ball it and wrap it in cling film.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.  Between two sheets of waxed paper, roll out one half of your dough into a 10" square (leave the other half in the fridge till you're ready for it).  Spread half your filling to within 1/2" of the edges.  Roll the dough carefully and seal your edge.  Wrap the log in cling film and pop it back in the fridge.  Repeat with lump of dough #2.  Chill both rolls of dough for at least 4 hours, or make 24 hours in advance of baking.  Before baking, cut your logs into 1/4" slices.  Use a serrated blade for easier cutting and roll the log frequently to avoid smooshing and flattening your edges.  Place your pinwheels onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until edges are firm and bottoms are light brown.  Cool cookies on the baking sheet for a minute, then transfer to a wire rack.

So pretty.  Much delicious!

Happy Christmas, y'all!

Yankee Dog and his jingle holly collar wish you happy ho-ho-holidays!

When It's 90 Degrees Outside, the Only Logical Thing to Do Is Bake

As I sit down to write this, there are four loaves of zucchini bread cooling on my kitchen counter.  I had intended to make eight loaves, since I had eight ridiculous cups of zucchini, but yet again, my awesome preparedness skills struck and I ran low enough on canola oil that I had to stop at half.  And I'd already run errands for the day and wasn't going out for more.  Those of you who know me away from the interwebs should not be surprised by this.  I will have to hit the store tomorrow after work and complete the other four loaves then.  There is also a tray of shortcakes--well, minus one, which is safely ensconced in my belly--to be eaten with any of the myriad fruits in my fridge.  Except maybe the cantaloupe.  I feel like cantaloupe shortcake is not so much a delicious thing.

I'll start with the shortcake, since I can still taste its scrumptiousness in my mouth.  Here's my confession about shortcake: Bisquick.  It's my secret for waffles, too.  Yep, all you need is a big yellow box that's got half the work done for you.  All you need to do (for shortcake) is add some milk, melted butter and sugar, stir it, slap it in either a pie tin or drop it on a cookie sheet, bake it, and VOILA!  If you were to make it from scratch, there would be a lot more measuring and washing up.  So hallelujah for Bisquick!  Use it with pride and happy taste buds!

The zucchini bread, alas, requires these Many More Steps, as it does not make use of the magic Bisquick.  But I shall run down the steps so that one day when you are feeling adventurous you can make your own.  If I may start with a confession, though--and I may, since this is my blog and none of you can stop me, plus the name of the blog is "Confessions of a Yankee Baker," so it only seems appropriate--I have to tell you that I'm not especially keen on zucchini bread.  This may seem weird, since from the inception of this blog I have talked about very little else, but for some reason I just can't wrap my tongue around a slice of bread with squash in it.  I can tolerate all sort of fruit, nuts and even certain other gourds (namely pumpkin) in my baked goods, but zucchini just strikes me as weird in a bread or a muffin.  But since I'll have 8 loaves of it in my freezer soon enough, I might need to start liking it.  I'm told this recipe makes quite delicious zucchini bread, so who knows, maybe I'll actually enjoy it.

Hokay, so here it is.  The recipe for the oft-mentioned, oft-baked zucchini bread.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Squirt a little Pam into a couple loaf pans.
2. Add 3/4 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt into a large mixing bowl.  Dump in 2 cups sugar.  Stir this together with a whisk till it's smooth and creamy.
3. Add 3/4 veggie oil and blend it all together.
4. Add 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla and 2 cups finely shredded zucchini (it helps if you do this ahead of time.  I got 4 cups out of one massive, monstrous zucchini.  A normal sized zucchini probably gets you about 1 cup.  You will have to test this and let me know).  Mix well.
5. Sift 3 cups all-purpose flour into a separate mixing bowl.  Add 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg.  Toss that around so it's all mixed.
6. Add dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time until well blended.
7. Divide batter between two loaf pans.  Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

C'est tout!  That is the zucchini bread recipe.  If your name is Stefanie, you now owe me a farm cheese recipe.  You promised.

Speaking of promises, I told you I would add pictures to the zucchini bread post.  I lied, obviously.  I still intend to make pictures happen, but it's been a busy week and I'm technologically stunted, so it might take a while for it to happen.  Until then, snack on some zucchini bread and stay out of the heat!