Cornbread

Sometimes, it's the simple things where I find myself lacking.

Sure, I can whip up some pretty good cookies, or even a cake or two, but had I ever made something as simple as cornbread? No, no I had not. Not unless you could those little blue and white boxes, of course.

But there was chicken and chorizo stew in the slow cooker (a dish that makes me think I should talk my boyfriend into blogging, too, 'cause that stuff is awesome), and cornbread sounded like a nice accompaniment, so I pulled out my trusty "Baking Illustrated," 'cause that's always my fallback for baking something I've never made. The result? Well, it was alright. It wasn't quite sweet enough for my taste, though. (Maybe I'll throw more sugar in next time. Or maybe I'll try a different recipe.) But it was plenty corn-y and had a nice texture. I also learned a new use for cornbread, besides just eating it straight (thank you, Interwebs!) -- it's pretty tasty for breakfast if you fry it in a little bit of butter (or bacon fat, if you happen to be cooking bacon) and pour some syrup over it. I never would've thought of that.

Cornbread
From "Baking Illustrated"

2 tbsp butter, melted
1 c yellow cornmeal
1 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2/3 c buttermilk
2/3 c milk

1. Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Push the mixture up the sides of the bowl to form a well in the center.
2. Crack in the eggs and mix lightly, then add the buttermilk and milk. Stir until almost combined, then mix in the butter and stir until just combined.
3. Pour into a greased 9-by-9 or 8-by-8 pan.
4. Bake at 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, until the top is golden brown and lightly cracked and the sides have pulled away from the pan.
5. Cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes, the cut and serve warm.

Pumpkin chip cookies

Have you ever tried cinnamon chips? I hadn't, but I came across a few recipes for pumpkin cookies that included them, so I decided to get some. What I discovered, though, is that apparently, at my grocery store, they're a seasonal item -- they didn't have them when I looked a few weeks ago, but then later on, they did. And they were worth the wait -- they add just the right spicy-deliciousness to these classic pumpkin cookies. I'm definitely going to buy a bunch more bags to stock up before the holidays are over, not to mention plenty of pumpkin. Some people may say that pumpkin cookies are a fall thing, but I'd eat these all year, they're that good. In fact, I think they might be my new favorite cookie.

Pumpkin Chip Cookies
Adapted from Libby's

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 c butter, softened
1 c pumpkin
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
10 ounces cinnamon chips (one bag)

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl.
2. In another, larger bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the pumpkin, egg and vanilla. Then, beat in the dry ingredients.
3. Stir in the cinnamon chips.
4. Drop tablespoon-sized dollops onto a parchment-lined (or greased) cookie sheet.
5. Bake at at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, until the edges are firm.
6. Let cool on pans for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

Pumpkin streusel Bundt cake

I've gained a bit of a reputation at work for my baking skills, since I can't possibly eat all of what I bake and therefore often bring plates of goodies to work. Usually, my coworkers treat what I bring in as a nice surprise and leave it at that. But last week, they went a step further; I was sitting at my desk, and all of a sudden, I overheard "I thought she was supposed to bring us cake. There isn't any, though, so I guess not."

I have to admit, one of the words that makes my ears perk up is "cake." "Hmm?" I said, looking up across the desks. "Oh, nothing," said the coworker who had been speaking. I pressed further, and eventually, what I got was a general sense of "we'd like you to bring in a cake." "Why?" I asked. "What kind, and what for, and when?" After all, I'm always game for making a cake. But they just sorta said "oh, never mind." They didn't have any particular reason or occasion in mind; they'd just decided that cake sounded good and I hadn't brought any in for a while.

Well, ask and ye shall receive. Mind you, it took me a week or so, 'cause I had to make a pie first -- I'd promised an apple pie to my boyfriend, since it's apple season and we have a house full of them. But once the pie was safely stowed in the fridge (and oh, who am I kidding, indulged in, too), I turned my attention to cake. It had to be something October-y, 'cause I like to cook seasonally when I can. And it had to be a casual sort of cake, 'cause there was no occasion for this, nothing that would justify a fancy layer cake. What I came up with was this: pumpkin is autumn-y, and Bundt cake, well, they're just naturally pretty, without being overly fancy.

But enough of my chatter, 'cause you need to make this, today if possible, or if not today, then as soon as you can possibly find the time and some people to help you eat it. It's moist, it's delicious, it's got the most sweet-spicy filling inside, and you'll have all you can do not to eat four pieces in one afternoon.



Pumpkin Streusel Bundt Cake
Adapted from a recipe from Libby's, via AllRecipes

1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp butter (teaspoons, this is not a typo)

3 c flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 c pumpkin puree
8 oz sour cream
2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c confectioners' sugar
2-3 tbsp milk

1. Butter and flour your Bundt pan. Set aside.
2. Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set that aside, too.
4. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined. Beat in the pumpkin, then the sour cream, then the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture.
5. Spoon half of the batter into the pan, spreading it out evenly to the sides. Top with the brown sugar mixture, being careful to keep it in the center of the batter and not get it toward the edges. Top with the remaining batter, smoothing it out so it touches the edges of the pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool in pan on a rack for 30 minutes. Then, de-pan onto the rack and finish cooling.
8. Mix together the confectioners' sugar with as much of the milk as you need to make a glaze. Drizzle over the cake and let harden.

Trail mix cookies

I went on a trip last month to a cabin in the woods, and I needed something to bring, something that's easy to grab and munch. Cookies would be popular, of course, but I wanted something more. I wanted cookies that would actually be healthy, cookies that I could eat for breakfast and not feel horribly bad about it. So I picked up a healthy-recipe cookbook we have lying around, and I found this recipe. Trail mix, for a weekend in the woods? That seemed appropriate. And these have nuts and seeds and fruit in them, plus a little whole grain, so they're remarkably healthy. But I won't compromise on flavor in the name of good health, and I'm happy to say that no compromise was required here -- these are delicious, chewy and crunchy and salty and sweet and addictive, for sure.

Trail Mix Cookies
From "The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook"

1 c rolled oats
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c regular all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
5 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 c brown sugar (either light or dark works here)
1/2 c dried cherries, raisins or other similar dried fruit (I used currants)
1/2 c unsalted pumpkin or sunflower seeds
1/4 c pecans, walnuts or almonds
1/4 c chocolate chips

1. Whisk together the oats, flours, salt, cinnamon and baking soda.
2. In another, larger bowl, whisk together the butter, egg and vanilla. Stir in the sugar until smooth. Stir in the oat mixture until just combined, then stir in the fruit, seeds, nuts and chips.
3. Roll dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place about 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (You'll want to use wet hands for this, so the dough doesn't stick to your hands.)
4. Bake at 350 degrees until the edges are set and starting to brown but the centers are still soft, puffy and underdone, 12 to 16 minutes.
5. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to finish cooling.

Brown-butter Rice Krispies treats

You want a crowd-pleaser? THIS is a crowd-pleaser. And it's so easy!

Alright, I know, I hear you saying "sheesh, they're just Rice Krispies treats, no big deal, any moron could make them." But these are different. They don't LOOK different, but that's the thing -- one teeny, tiny change is all you need to go from "hm, Rice Krispies treats" to "zomgwherehaveyouBEENallmylife!"

The secret? Brown the butter. Not burn, mind you, just brown, until it smells a little bit nutty. What you get are Rice Krispies treats with a super-delicious, caramel-y, vanilla-y flavor. And there's salt in them, which heightens the flavor that much more. They're amazing. And they only take, what, maybe two minutes longer than the original version? And that's good, 'cause you'll have to make more once you start sharing them with people. They disappear fast.

Brown-Butter Rice Krispies Treats
From Smitten Kitchen

1/4 c butter
4 c mini marshmallows
1/4 tsp sea salt
6 c Rice Krispies

1. Butter a pan, almost any pan, since you're not baking these -- an 8-by-8, or a 9-by-9, or a 9-by-13, maybe even a loaf pan or two if that's your thing.
2. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-low heat, then, keep cooking it, stir from time to time and watch carefully. It will foam up a bit, then turn clear, then start to go just a little brown and smell a bit nutty. As soon as it does this, take the pan off the heat, 'cause the line between browned and burned isn't very wide.
3. Stir in the marshmallows until they're melted.
4. Stir in the cereal and the salt. Dump it all out into your greased pan and press down into the corners so it's even (you may want to try a piece of greased parchment or waxed paper for this, so you don't get too sticky).
5. Let cool, cut and wait for the raves to begin. :)

Peanut butter cookies

Sometimes, you need cookies in a hurry, without having to run to the store, and you need to make something that will please a crowd.

And sometimes, you need cookies 'cause they'll make even the worst day a teeny bit better.

Those two needs came together after Hurricane Irene, while town employees were laboring around the clock to keep everyone safe and answer everyone's questions, and then on top of that, a nearby dam threatened to break, and they issued an evacuation order and opened an emergency shelter for anyone living near said dam.

Thankfully, the storm didn't affect us directly. Our power stayed on, and we don't live near a stream, so we didn't get flooding except for an innundated road on the afternoon of the storm. But it affected a lot of other people, and in times like that, I couldn't do much, but I can bake, and so bake I did. I made these cookies and took them over to Town Hall to give to the overworked people there, and they were hugely grateful. It's always nice to be able to do a good deed. :)

Peanut Butter Cookies
From The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

1 1/4 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, softened
1 c peanut butter (the recipe calls for chunky, but I only had creamy and they still came out good)
3/4 c sugar plus a bit more for sprinkling
1/2 c light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 c peanut butter chips (optional -- I didn't have these, either)

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
2. In another bowl, beat the butter and peanut butter together. Add the sugars and beat until smooth. Add the egg, then the milk and vanilla, then the flour mixture. Stir in the peanut butter chips, if using.
3. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets, leaving several inches between them. Using a fork, lightly indent with a crisscross pattern. Lightly sprinkle with sugar.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on pan for 1 minute, then remove to a rack.

Homemade Oreos

One day, I brought something a bit frou-frou in to share with my coworkers — macarons, I think it was. People ate them, but they weren't enthusiastic, and one coworker remarked, "see, the problem is, these are too fancy for us. Just bring in a bag of Oreos or something, we'll be happy."

You know you've got the baking bug when someone says something like that and your reaction is "hey, I wonder if I could make Oreos!"

Many months later, after this idea got shoved to the bottom of the to-bake pile, there was another work night and another coworker who got me talking about Oreos. And I was reminded that I never did try that recipe, never did answer that question.

Well, here's the answer: Yes. Yes, I can make Oreos, and so can you. And these are actually better than Oreos, in a few ways. First, they're thicker and a trifle softer, and on top of that, the recipe makes a lot of filling, so you can double-stuff, even triple-stuff these, if you want. And second, have you seen the ingredients list for those ones Nabisco's selling us? High-fructose corn syrup. And what's "soy lecithin," anyway? I can pronounce everything in the ones I made. And they tasted just as good.



Homemade Oreos
From Smitten Kitchen

1 1/4 c flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 c sugar
1/2 c plus 2 tbsp butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 c butter, softened
2 c confectioners' sugar
2 tsp vanilla

1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar.
2. If you have a food processor, mix on low speed with the butter and the egg. If you don't, like me, you can just mush it all together in a big bowl with your hands. The object is to combine everything until it's a dough, either way.
3. Roll a rounded teaspoon of dough into a ball. Place it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, flatten with your hand a bit, then poke the center with your fingertip. Repeat until you've filled two cookie sheets.
4. Bake at 375 degrees for 9 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom halfway through. Place the pans on racks to cool. Repeat to use up all of the dough.
5. Beat together the butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Sandwich between two cooled cookies.

Rice Krispies s'more bars

Would you believe that until this point, I'd never made Rice Krispies treats?

Sure, I'd made them with my mom once, ages ago, when I was little. But never since. And I have no idea why, especially after seeing exactly how quickly and easily these came together.

Of course, I couldn't just make the standard recipe, oh no. I wanted s'more bars, something that seemed appropriate for these waning days of summer. And after looking up about a billion recipes for s'more adaptations, I came to a realization: Not only are Rice Krispies treats easy, but you can throw all sorts of stuff at 'em. They're infinitely adaptable. Want to make some with your favorite candy? Sure, throw it in. Dried fruit? Why not? Fruity Pebbles instead? What the hell, go for it. It's really hard to screw these up.

Rice Krispies S'more Bars
Adapted from the original Kellogg's recipe

1/4 c butter
Pinch of salt
4 c mini-marshmallows
6 c Rice Krispies (honestly, I used store-brand ones, and I didn't taste any difference)
1 c Golden Grahams (you could try graham crackers, but I was worried that their texture wouldn't be good in these)
1/2 c chocolate chips

1. Mix the cereals and the chocolate chips together in a really big bowl.
2. Grease a 9-by-13 baking pan.
3. Melt the butter with the salt in a saucepan. Add the marshmallows and stir until melted.
4. Pour over the cereal mixture and stir, stir, stir, until all combined.
5. Dump into the baking pan. Press it down flat using a piece of waxed paper.
6. Let cool. Cut. Eat.

Date-nut bread

Sometimes, you bake something because you really have the itch to make a particular thing. And sometimes, you bake something because it will use up something you have in the house. This is one of the latter.

I've got to be just about the only person I know who'd buy fresh dates as an impulse purchase. But I'd never had fresh dates before, only the pre-packaged, chopped-and-dried-and-sugared king. And there they were at the grocery store, on sale and everything. And they're fruit, so they're healthy, so I should buy them... so I did.

And then they sat on the counter, snug in their package, for a couple of weeks. And I realized that other than "hey, let's get one out and try it and maybe eat a couple," I had no plan for these rather pricey little fruits.

But then, I remembered flipping past a date bread recipe in my copy of "Baking Illustrated." And I just happened to have some buttermilk going bad in the fridge, too. Perfect.

This recipe produced a moist, delicious loaf, studded with nuts and soft little morsels of date. Yum. Sure, it's not flashy or decadent like, say, cupcakes, or brownies, but it's tasty all the same (and would be even better with a nice cup of tea, I'd think).

Date-Nut Bread
From "Baking Illustrated"

2 c fresh whole dates
1 c boiling water
1 tsp baking soda
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 c chopped walnuts or pecans
2/3 c buttermilk
3/4 c dark brown sugar
6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 egg

1. Pit the dates — sorta squish them and pull them apart with your fingers, then take out the pit (it looks kinda like a piece of walnut). Then, chop up the dates.
2. Place the dates in a bowl with the hot water and baking soda. Stir and let sit.
3. Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in another bowl. Stir in the nuts.
4. Stir the buttermilk and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the butter and egg and stir. Stir in the date mixture, then the dry ingredients, just until combined.
5. Scrape into a greased and floured 9-by-5 loaf pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees until the loaf is dark brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then depan onto a rack and cool.

Blueberry crumb bars

It's blueberry season!

Blueberry season is exciting, 'cause blueberries are delicious in so many things, and 'cause my boyfriend and I found a blueberry farm not too far away where we can go picking. This year, we spent hours out in their fields, sampling the different varieties and picking buckets of berries. It's times like that when I sort of marvel at nature, at the fact that while money doesn't grow on trees, food totally can -- we stood there in the field, reaching into the bushes and coming away with fistfuls of food, and I felt very lucky to have a place like that nearby, especially since it was a perfect day for picking, with the bushes not picked over at all.

It probably helped that we decided to go way over on the other side of the fields, away from the crowds and toward the variety of berries we like best, the Little Giants. Picking those felt like an insider secret, and now, I'm sharing that secret with you -- they might be little, but they sure do pack a giant flavor, so sweet and delicious, so if your local berry farm has Little Giants, get those, definitely.

But I found a new favorite this year, too. I didn't want to pick just Little Giants, 'cause after all, I was intending to make jam (perhaps I'll blog about that later, once I've had a chance to open a jar and see how it came out), so I figured some bigger berries would probably be well suited for that. I came across a section of Sierra blueberries, and I have to say, if you're looking for bigger berries, those are pretty darned good, too, nice and sweet and plump.

For this recipe, I ended up using a mix of both varieties, 'cause I wanted to use the bigger ones for a soft, baked berry layer, but there were some little berries in the fridge that I needed to use up. As for how the bars tasted, I wouldn't actually know -- I took them to work, and a whole pan of them vanished before I got a taste! The rave reviews of my coworkers, and the fact that they actually ate that many, would seem to indicate that this recipe's a real crowd-pleaser, and I'll certainly make this again sometime (and save one out for myself this time!).

Blueberry Crumb Bars
From Smitten Kitchen

1 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 c flour
1 c cold butter
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
Zest and juice of a lemon (or just juice, if you only have a pre-zested lemon like I did... or 2 1/2 tbsp of the bottled stuff)
4 c blueberries
1/2 c sugar
4 tsp cornstarch

1. Whisk together the sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and lemon zest (if using) in a good-sized bowl.
2. Cut in the butter and egg with a pastry blender (or forks or your fingers, if you don't have one) until uniformly crumbly.
3. Press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a greased 9-by-13 pan.
4. In another bowl, mix together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently stir in the blueberries. Pour into the pan and spread out evenly.
5. Crumble the remaining dough over the berries.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes, until the top is slightly brown. Cool completely in pan before cutting.