Chock-ful-o-Goodness Oatmeal Cookies

I'm rolling on my holiday baking this week-end.  I have to travel and it's too chaotic to bake in someone else's kitchen while they are trying to do their thing at the same time.  I know my husband loves some good oatmeal cookies and I saw a couple of recipes on FoodBuzz and Pinterest highlighting Cranberries, White Chocolate and Oatmeal as ingredients.  I've made some great oatmeal cookies in the past...and I've added chocolate chips to them too.  I've steered away from raisins - I'm just not a fan of baked raisins.  I am, however, a huge fan of dried sweet cranberries and happened to have some in my pantry.  I also bought some Ghirardelli white chocolate chips this week because there was a coupon!  I love Ghirardelli products.  It was one of the highlights of my trip to San Francisco to see the original factory.  I've been hooked ever since.  These cookies will be good "keepers" so long as I get them into an airtight container.  I've timed all of my baking to make the things that don't last to be done right before hopping into the car!  These nice dense cookies keep well for several days.

I'll give a nod here to Erin at Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts for the base idea and the many people pinning a variety of cranberry and white chocolate cookies on Pinterest this week!  I did pin a recipe from Risa at Baked Perfection on my Recipe Board.  I didn't use either of their recipes, but they did poke the idea into my brain!  Thanks ladies :-) 

CHOCK-FUL-O-GOODNESS
CRANBERRY, WHITE CHOCOLATE,
PECAN, AND OATMEAL COOKIES
Adapted from Stephanie Jaworski's recipe at joy of baking Oatmeal Cookies
further credited to Jane Rodmell's 'Best Summer Weekends Cookbook'


Ingredients:

3/4 cup salted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup of flour - measured thus:
1/3 cup of all purpose unbleached flour spooned into a graduated measuring cup
and the balance of the measure (just 3/4 total) filled with White Whole Wheat flour.
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 heaping cup Ghirardelli White Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans (make sure they are fresh)


Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth (about 2-3 minutes).
Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
Scrape down sides of bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.
Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until incorporated. Scrape the bowl, getting down into the center at the bottom, not just the sides.
Stir in the oats.  I mixed them just a few times around with the stand mixer then mixed the rest by hand.
Add in the chips, cranberries, and pecans.  Again, let the mixer do a couple of laps around the bowl to get the basic incorporation going and then finish by hand with a sturdy wooden spoon or spoonula.

For large cookies, use about 1/4 cup of batter (I used a 1 1/2 liquid ounce scoop which equals 3 tablespoons - I ended up with 19 cookies).

Space the cookies about 2 inches apart on the baking sheet. I actually hand-rolled the scooped cookies into a ball because some pieces were falling apart. I then flattened the cookies to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick with my hands.

Bake the cookies for about 12-15 minutes (mine were perfect at 13-14 minutes) or until barely light golden brown around the edges but still soft in the centers.  They don't acquire a lot of color and if you want them chewy, don't over-bake.

Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

These are some awesome cookies.  I can't wait for my hubby to try them...I think he's gonna like 'em!!!

Musical Baking today compliments of the album Nick of Time by Bonnie Raitt.  Loved listening to it 21+  years ago when I fell in love with my honey...and love it still today. (of course it was on cassette back then - now it's on the mp3 player!)

Enjoy the cookies - they are definitely going to be on my annual Thanksgiving cookie list from here on out!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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Apples on Apples Upside-Down Layer Cake

I mentioned before that I started participating in FoodBuzz, a web community focused on bloggers sharing their blogs and recipes with other foodies, back in early August.  I had not been in the kitchen nor out to eat much in August, so I hadn't been writing as much as usual.  I needed some inspiration.  FoodBuzz has kick-started my urge to get back in the kitchen.  I've been seeing some incredible recipes through multiple daily visits to FoodBuzz and I saw this cake several weeks ago from one of my first "friends" on FoodBuzz.  I haven't been able to get it off my mind.  Seems to be the year for upside down cakes for me.  I made a yummy Peach Pecan Upside Down Cake...and a Fresh Pineapple Upside Down Cake...  now this cake is in the upside down neighborhood as well...but with an extra layer of flavor - and a different cake batter and topping.

The original recipe is from a blogger in Cyprus and has metric measurements and an ingredient I couldn't identify.  I converted the measurements as best I could, made some personal preference substitutions and additions, and decided my best choice was vanilla beans for what she called "a vanilla sachet" ...I think it all worked!  What didn't work was getting it all into one pan.  My cake ended up being a two-layer cake...

APPLES ON APPLES UPSIDE-DOWN LAYER CAKE
Adapted from Sinful Apple Madness on Eftychia's  Dream of Cakes blog

TOPPING:
(The upside down topping that you will see on top)

Note - the original recipe called for 1 kg total weight of peeled and cored apples for both topping and filling - that's 2.2 lbs total.  I actually used about two Granny Smiths for the "topping" and I mixed two Gala apples and one really big Fuji for the filling layer.  Also, her cake was one cake - not a layer...but my pan wasn't big enough to accommodate the whole shebang...thus, this recipe became a layer cake ;-p

Ingredients:

Two Granny Smith or other baking apples
1/4 cup granulated white sugar, separated
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, separated
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, separated
Juice from 1/2 Lemon
Enough nice pecan halves (or whatever nut used) to circle the pan

Method:

Peel and core apples.   Cut in quarters and put in a bowl of ice water with the juice of 1/2 lemon.  Hold at this point until ready to put the cake together.

APPLE FILLING:

Ingredients:

3-4 apples (I used 1 large Fuji and 2 Royal Gala for this part)
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds - whatever you prefer (I used pecans)
2 tablespoon Moscato or other sweet wine (original recipe called for 1 Tbsp Ouzo - I don't have that - but I had opened a bottle of flipflop Moscato two nights ago and hadn't finished it...so I used that)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Method:

Peel and core apples. 
Dice two apples into small pieces and one or two apple into chunks (used the Fuji for the chunks).
Place apples and sugar into nonstick saucepan or skillet and cook over medium high heat for approximately 10 minutes. 
Add the wine and nuts and stir to coat, allowing to cook for another minute.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Do not add cinnamon or nutmeg yet.

CAKE BATTER

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (I used salted - and I noticed there was no other salt in the original recipe so no adjustment was needed...I always like a bit of salt in the sweet recipes)
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
3 large eggs (room temperature)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour)
3/4 cup natural unflavored yogurt (room temperature)
1/4 cup milk (room temperature)

Method:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat both sugars and butter until light and fluffy.
Add eggs 1 at a time and mix until incorporated.
Add vanilla bean seeds and mix.
Mix one third of the flour into batter.
Whisk the milk and yogurt together and add half of it into the batter.
Mix the second third of the flour into the batter.
Mix the final half of the wet ingredients into the batter.
Add the final third of the flour into batter and mix to a smooth batter.

PREPARING THE CAKE

Preheat oven to 340 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare one 9" cake pan by spraying with vegetable spray and then inserting a circle of parchment paper, also sprayed with vegetable spray.  Arrange pecans in that pan and set aside. (this will be the one for the topping)
Prepare another 9" cake pan by spraying with vegetable spray and set aside.  (this will be the one for the filling layer)

From topping ingredients above, mix 1/8 cup granulated white sugar, 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon together and sprinkle in bottom of cake pan with pecans in it.   Make sure entire bottom of pan is covered with the sugar mixture.

Slice the topping apples thinly enough that they will, when placed, cover the entire bottom of the cake pan. Place them in an attractive design as this will become the top of the cake.
Sprinkle the apples with the remaining 1/8 cup granulated white sugar, mixed with 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Spoon and smooth down one half of the cake batter over the apple slices.  Set pan aside.

Add cinnamon and nutmeg to cooled cooked apple mixture.  Spoon the cooked apple filling evenly over the bottom of the other cake pan.  Spoon and smooth down the final half of the cake batter over the filling.

Place cake pans on middle rack of oven and bake for 25 minutes. 
Reduce heat to 320 degrees and continue baking another 25-35 minutes.

Remove cakes from oven and place cake pans on rack to cool for 15 minutes.
Carefully run sharp knife around the outside edges to insure release.

You can see a little volcano eruption on the filling cake (left)
and some bubbling up the side on the topping cake (right)

Invert cake with "filling" onto serving plate.  Allow to cool for about 5 more minutes.
Invert the other cake (with topping) onto the filling layer.
Gently remove the parchment paper from the topping and allow cake to cool before slicing.
(I slid a knife along under the parchment because it was really sticky and I didn't want to lift the apples or pecans away with the parchment).

The filling layer on the left and the topping layer on the right.
I couldn't believe how much it caramelized.

This cake has no added leavening beyond the eggs (they aren't really a leavening agent, but they help facilitate the steam which comes from the liquid - mostly from the apples - thus causing what little rising that will occur - just to the edge of the cake pan).  It is very dense and delicious.  If I make it again, I don't know that I'll use all whole wheat flour...with no leavening and a heavy flour, it's really too dense for my taste.  A little baking powder wouldn't have gone awry I think.

Although this is a stand-alone cake, the original is shown with a sprinkling of powdered sugar - so I did that too...but you could serve it with vanilla ice cream, whipped sweet cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce or, like I did, with slightly warmed and drizzled Dulce de Leche for the "caramel apple" taste! (Admittedly, I had to have milk though - the Dulce de Leche kicked it up to a high level of richness that required milk or a good cup of coffee)

I hope you enjoy this wonderful rustic Autumnal cake.  It feels like we are getting ready for Fall despite it still being in the 90s down here in sweltering South Texas.  Sure am thankful for those glorious sea breezes and the little bit of rain we got overnight, which brought the morning temps down into the 70's...woo hoo!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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Pecans, Yummy Texas Pecans

The Pecan Tree is the State Tree of Texas and for the first time in about 50 years, I find myself without a Pecan tree in picking proximity!  At my last home, in Austin, we had numerous huge Pecans in the back yard, watched a rogue seedling grow to a towering tree in the 13 years we lived there, built a tree house for our now-teen in that same tree, had to cull a dying tree from a ginormous stand of three that must have been there when the house was built in the early 70's...just lots of history with Pecan trees.

Photo Source: Google Images

The nut is tasty and I can recall days from my childhood, up to days just 3 years ago, sitting on a front porch shelling and eating pecans.  We usually kept a bucket of pecans next to the front porch glider and nothing was nicer than swinging and cracking, picking the nut and eating it, on a nice Fall day.  I love pecans!

I stopped in Coastal Mail today (in the little strip of shops out in front of Wal-Mart on Hwy 100) to get, and mail, a Priority envelope and while Mike was kindly preparing a label for me (that's why I stop at Coastal Mail...that friendly personalized service - just love it), I noticed a pile of bags filled with nice looking pecan halves.  I hollered over to Mike "hey, how much are these?"  He replied, $10.  They were marked as a fundraiser benefiting the Port Isabel Merchants Committee.  I grabbed a bag, hefted it to get a feel of how much might be in there...I estimated almost a pound...and took my bag to the counter.  I asked Mike if these were local pecans (I know they aren't TOO local unless someone is hiding the pecan trees) and he said they had to drive up to Edinburg to pick them up, where they were packaged, but they were local to a "general area" here.  They were labeled Texas Premium Sweet Pecans, and that was good enough for me. 

Sorry the label is so poorly pictured - it is gold and highly reflective!

I weighed them up when I got home...14.3 ounces (good guess on the weight, huh?) and I put these to the side.  My hubby came home and eyeballed them as he walked by the counter.  "How are those sweetened?" he asks.  "Not sweetened, just SWEET honey...after all, they ARE Texas Pecans!"...I knew that would garner a big groan from his old Yankee self...and it did :-)  He routinely laments the grandiosity of Texans who think everything is bigger and better in Texas.  <grin>  Now, whenever he digs at me about it, I burst out into a full rendition of Texas Our Texas...and I've noticed the slurs have dissipated a bit. <bigger grin>  He doesn't just dislike the song...he hates it.  Full of grandiosity.  Well, yeah!

Anyway, I like roasted pecans, pecans in caramel, some pecans in candies, not particularly in baked goods...but mostly I just like them raw, the nuts cracked together in my hands, and picked out and eaten raw.  Yum.  This bag will have to do me since I have not seen a single Pecan Tree since moving to the Texas Gulf Coast!

So, locals...if you are looking for some tasty pecans - stop by Coastal Mail (or likely many other Port Isabel Merchants) and pick up a bag of Texas Premium Sweet Pecans!  Shop LOCAL!!!

(Hey, they also have some of those cool Port Isabel tee shirts that turn colorful in the sun - sunshine activated shirts...how cool is that!)

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!