Oatmeal Cookies Supreme

Hello FALL! Yes, nutmeg and cinnamon fragrant until end of this year, I’m so excited. Today, I’d like to introduce to you my version of an Oatmeal Cookie Supreme. I personally love almonds, but my other half loves pecans more. You’ll notice that I use a lot of pecans as part of my recipes rather than almonds. Plus, my mommy’s allergic to almonds (but when my friend Jenny makes her version of the irresistible oatmeal cookies with sliced almonds and cranberries, mommy simply gobbles the whole thing and tells me she’ll worry about the allergies later). I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I did.

Oatmeal Cookies Supreme
(Yield: 20 Cookies)

Dry Ingredients:
2 Cups – Rolled Oats
1 Cup – Oat Flour
1 Cup – Cake Flour
1 Cup - Brown Sugar (lightly packed)
1/2 Cup - Granulated Sugar
1 Tbsp, 1 tsp – Baking Powder
1 tsp – Baking Soda
1 tsp – Freshly Grated Nutmeg
1 tsp – Ground Cinnamon
2 tsp – Salt

Wet Ingredients:
2 Sticks – Melted Butter, cooled
2 Large – Eggs

Particulates:
5 oz – Toasted pecans, chopped
4 oz – Dried cranberries
4 oz – Chocolate Chunks

Procedure
1. Shift all dry ingredients, omit the rolled oats. Then stir in the rolled oats.
2. Combine melted butter and eggs to dry mixture and mix.
3. Fold in the chocolate chunks, toasted pecans, and cranberries.
4. Use an Ice – Cream scoop, place cookies on a baking tray.
5. Bake @ 350°F for 14 – 16 minutes (make sure to preheat before placing cookies in).

Pecan & Spiced Baby Cakes

Fall season is making its way soon!  I believe it begins on September 22, 2010.  I look forward to the fall season all the time because it reminds me of my childhood while walking down the street with my little brother in New York.  I enjoy the changing colors of leaves from the trees, the breath of fresh air, the smell of fall.  Sometimes when it rained the day before, I would go with my brother and shake the trees the very next day to pretend it's still raining.  Fall also gives me the butterflies because it's another year I celebrate my anniversary with my love, David.

So tempted by the beautiful fall, I wanted to make something that reminds me of the smell of the holidays filled with cinnamon and spices.  Tonight, I made Pecan & Spiced Baby cakes.  The toasted pecans give these little ones an abundance of flavor.  I hope you’ll enjoy the recipe.

(You can always make Bundt Cake with this recipe)

Pecan & Spiced Baby Cakes

Serving:  30 mini cakes or 12 mini cakes + small bundt cake

Ingredients

7 oz – Finely chopped pecans, toasted before chopping

4 oz – Butter, room temperature

3 oz – Granulated Sugar

3 oz – Brown Sugar

2 – Eggs, room temperature

7 oz – All Purpose Flour

1 tsp – Baking Powder

½ tsp – Baking Soda

1 ½ tsp – Ground Cinnamon

½ tsp – Ground Ginger

¼ tsp – Ground Clove

1 tsp – Ground Nutmeg

¼ tsp – Salted

1 ½ tsp – Vanilla Extract, optional

½ Cup – Buttermilk

1 Tbsp – Confectioner’s Sugar, optional for dusting

Procedure

1.        Toast the nuts, let cool and finely chopped them.  Set aside.

2.       Cream butter until fluffy, gradually add the sugars and scrape the bowl several times.  Mix until combined.

3.       Add eggs while mixing in medium speed until smoothly, but do not over beat.

4.       Sift all dry ingredients together and set aside.

5.       Combine vanilla extract with buttermilk.

6.       With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 stages while alternating with the buttermilk mixture (Make sure you finish your mixing with the dry ingredients last.  For example: mix flour in 3 parts, liquids in two alternating).

7.       Fold in the toasted pecans and use a scoop to divide the batter evenly.

8.       Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 12 – 15 minutes, depending on your oven.

Fruit Tartelettes

I ‘heart’ fruit tarts!  They’re the best dessert because it brings out the best in seasonal fruits.  Fruit tarts can be made with many varieties of tart shells from puff pastry, to pie dough, and even short dough.  My favorite is the Almond short dough because it’s a type of cookie dough that is versatile. 

(Almond Short Dough can be made as a larger batch and freeze up in cylinder shape.  When you crave for cookies, slice a few, pop them in the oven and you can dipped them halfway with melted chocolate.  You can use it as an Ice – Cream Sandwich, it’s also lovely to be used as a crust for cupcake size cheesecake.  See what I mean when I believe how this recipe is the best ever?  I’m confident you’ll find many ways to use this particular recipe and make it your own creation.  Did I mention the marvelous nutty flavor the almond brings to the cookie?  You’re going to love it!)

Here is an introduction to my fruit tartelettes; almond short dough filled with pastry cream and then topped with fresh fruits. (When making tartelettes, go easy on the thickness of the tart shell since it is a smaller size).  Bon Appetite!

(Recipe - In Progress)

Matcha Green Tea Macarons

(Recipe adapted By:  Cathy Xiao Chen)

Green Tea Macarons

Ingredients

155 g – Powdered Sugar

100 g – Almond Meal

5 g – Matcha Powder

66 g – Egg Whites

Procedure

1.        Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

2.       Whisk egg whites in an electric mixer on high speed for 2 minutes.  Add egg whites to ingredients in the bowl.

3.       Smear the egg whites into the dry ingredients with a spatula until completely combined and glossy.

4.       Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a size 7 piping nozzle.

5.       Grease a heady steel baking tray with oil and line with baking paper.  Pipe mix onto tray 2-cm wide (approximately 7/8”), 3-cm apart (approximately 1.25”).

6.       Tap the underside of the tray sharply against your palm to flatten the Macarons.

7.       Leave in a warm, dry area for 20 minutes or longer (depending on ambient humidity and temperature), or until you can touch the surface lightly without any sticking.

8.       Bake on a low rack in a convection oven at 300°F for 15 minutes, turn the tray halfway.

9.       Cool Macarons completely on the tray before removing and filling.

Green Tea Custard

Ingredients

35 g – Egg Yolks

2 g – Salt

45 g – Granulated Sugar

1 g – Matcha Powder

15 g – Plain Flour

200 g – Milk

30 g – Unsalted Butter

Procedure

1.       Place yolks, salt, sugar, flour, and matcha powder in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.  Add milk and whisk.

2.       Transfer to a small pot and whisk over medium flame until bubbling and thickened.

3.       Cool to 120°F then add butter and whisk until emulsified.

4.       Cool to room temperature and whisk smooth before piping.

Ginger Nectarine Muffins

Nectarines are in season!  Mmmm, trying to make a yummy breakfast for David (my other half).   This recipe is  adapted by a book called:  Good to the Grain – Baking with Whole Grain Flours, By Kim Boyce.

The book called it Ginger Peach Muffins, but since I didn't have peaches, I used what I had in my fridge. I also didn't add the crystallized ginger in my batter because I had forgotten to pick those up from the grocery (possibly the reason the muffin did not taste sweet).  Happy Baking!

Ginger Nectarine Muffins

Serving:  9 Regular Muffins or 6 Jumbo Muffins

Nectarine Topping

1 – 2 small nectarine (or peaches), ripe but firm

1 Tbsp – Unsalted Butter

1 Tbsp – Honey

2 Tbsp + 1 Tsp – Grated fresh ginger

Dry Mix

1 Cup – Oat Flour (place oats in food processor)

¾ Cup – All Purpose Flour

½ Cup – Whole Wheat Flour

¼ Cup – Sugar

¼ Cup – Dark Brown Sugar

1 Tsp – Baking Powder

1 Tsp – Baking Soda

¾ Tsp – Kosher Salt

Wet Mix

3 ounce (¾ stick) – Unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

¾ Cup – Whole Milk

½ Cup – Sour Cream

1 – Egg

3 Tbsp – Finely chopped crystallized ginger

Procedure

1.        Place a rack n the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

2.       Grate the ginger into a large bowl.  Some will be used for the topping and the rest for the batter.

3.       For the topping, halve the nectarine, remove the pit, and slice the halves into slices about ¼ inch thick.  Add the butter, honey, and 1 tsp of the grated ginger to a medium size skillet.  Place the skillet over a medium flame to melt the mixture, stirring to combine.  Cook until the syrup begins to bubble, about 2 minutes.  Add the nectarine, toss the pan to coat them with the syrup and set aside.

4.       Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring ack into the bowl any grain or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter.  Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the grated ginger and whisk until thoroughly combined.  Using a spatula, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently combine.

5.       Scoop the batter into muffin pans.  The batter should be slightly moulded above the edge.  Toss the pan of nectarines to coat them with the pan juices.  Lay slices of nectarines over each of the muffins.  Spoon the pan juices over the nectarines.

6.       Bake for 24 – 28 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through.  The muffins are ready to come out when they smell nutty, their bottoms are golden in color, and edges of the nectarines are caramelized.