Basic Shortbread (Icebox) Cookies

So this holiday season, I went looking for something different to do for baked goodies.  Banana and pumpkin breads, as well as my usual cookie batches of Chocolate Chip, Chocolate White Chip and Ma's Styrofoams, would still be made, but I was looking to change things up a bit.  I found this basic shortbread recipe in an old cookbook I had sitting for years in my kitchen bookshelf.  They are also known as "icebox" or "refrigerator" cookies because the dough is chilled (in this case frozen) so that it's easier to slice up individual cookies.  Now that I've made dozens of batches of these, I quickly discovered that I reeeeeeeaaaallly like making them. They're neater than any other cookie I've ever made because once the dough is made and rolled up in plastic, there's no scooping, rolling out & cutting, etc.  You just slice, garnish and bake.  Done.  I *LOVE* that!

So here's the basic recipe I found.  There's no variation needed for high altitude (thank goodness!) but if you vary it by flavor additive, then you'll need to adjust accordingly.  See below for links to the variations I did.

(On a related note/idea...needing a standalone yolk for this cookie dough means you're left with a standalone egg white.  If you make 2 batches of these cookies, of any variation, then you can easily save those whites to make Ma's Styrofoam Cookies.  It's perfect, because then nothing's wasted!)

:)

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Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
1 C super-fine (baker's) sugar
½ tsp salt
1 lg egg yolk
1 lg whole egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 ½ C flour
Decorative sugar (optional)

Directions:
Cream butter, sugar and salt at high speed. Add yolk, beat another minute, add whole egg, beat again another minute.  Add vanilla, beat again.  Add flour, beat on low until dough has been mixed thoroughly and starts to cling to the paddle.

Remove, divide in half.  Roll half the dough into a log, about 1½ in diameter, repeat with remaining dough.

Wrap each log in plastic and place in freezer.  Freeze for at least 1 hour or until firm. (Can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.)  When logs are firm, take out 10-15 minutes ahead of time to thaw a little while oven heats up.  Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice dough into ½- to ¾-in thick pieces and place slices onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. If desired, sprinkle a little decorative sugar on top.  Bake for 19-20 minutes; do not overbake to the point where the edges start to brown or else cookies will end up hard and tough.

For variations on this basic cookie recipe, see Lemon Shortbread, Almond Shortbread, and Chocolate Shortbread versions.

Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Here is the recipe for Lemon Shortbread Cookies...

(Based on the Basic Shortbread Recipe I found.)

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Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
1 C super-fine (baker's) sugar
½ tsp salt
1-2 whole lemons, depending on size
1 lg egg yolk
1 lg whole egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 ¾ C flour
Decorative sugar (optional)

Directions:
Take lemon and using a zester or small-holed grater, zest lemon peel. (Be careful to only obtain the colored part of the peel, do not go into the white part of the lemon's skin.) Peel should yield about 2 tsps of zest.  (If your grater does not yield that much, you may need to zest a second lemon in order to make up the difference.)

Cut lemon in half, and using a strainer to catch the seeds, squeeze lemon halves for the juice.  Should yield about 2-3 tablespoons.  Cream butter, sugar, salt, and zest at high speed. Add yolk, beat another minute, add whole egg, beat again another minute.  Add vanilla and lemon juice, beat again.  Add flour, beat on low until dough has been mixed thoroughly and starts to cling to the paddle.  Remove, divide in half.  Roll half the dough into a log, about 1½ in diameter, repeat with remaining dough.  Wrap each log in plastic and place in freezer.  Freeze for at least 1 hour or until firm. (Can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.)

When logs are firm, take out 10-15 minutes ahead of time to thaw a little while oven heats up.  Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice dough into ½- to ¾-in thick pieces and place slices onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.

If desired, sprinkle a little yellow decorative sugar on top.

Bake for 19-20 minutes; do not overbake to the point where the edges start to brown or else cookies will end up hard and tough.

Yields approximately 40-50 cookies, depending on thickness of slices.

For other variations on the basic cookie recipe, see also the Chocolate Shortbread and Almond Shortbread versions.


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GBAdams
12/17/2011

Almond Shortbread Cookies

Here is my recipe for Almond Shortbread Cookies.  I started with the recipe for Lemon Shortbread, and then modified it for almonds...

(Based on the Basic Shortbread Recipe I found.)

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Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
1 C super-fine (baker's) sugar
½ tsp salt
1 lg egg yolk
1 lg whole egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp almond extract
2 ½ C flour
Sliced almonds for garnish

Directions:
Cream butter, sugar and salt at high speed. Add yolk, beat another minute, add whole egg, beat again another minute.  Add vanilla and almond extract; beat again.  Add flour, beat on low until dough has been mixed thoroughly and starts to cling to the paddle.  Remove, divide in half.  Roll half the dough into a log, about 1½ in diameter, repeat with remaining dough.  Wrap each log in plastic and place in freezer.  Freeze for at least 1 hour or until firm. (Can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.)

When logs are firm, take out 10-15 minutes ahead of time to thaw a little while oven heats up.  Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice dough into ½- to ¾-in thick pieces and place slices onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Press a sliced almond on top of each cookie for garnish, if desired.

Bake for 19-20 minutes; do not overbake to the point where the edges start to brown or else cookies will end up hard and tough.

Yields approximately 40-50 cookies, depending on thickness of slices.

For other variations on the basic cookie recipe, see also the Lemon Shortbread and Chocolate Shortbread versions.

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GBAdams
12/20/2011

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Here are Chocolate Shortbread Cookies...

(Based on the Basic Shortbread Recipe I found.)

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Ingredients:
2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
1 C super-fine (baker's) sugar
1 tsp salt
1 lg egg yolk
1 lg whole egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp water
2 ½ C flour
½ C unsweetened cocoa powder
Decorative sugar

Directions:
Combine flour with cocoa powder and mix thoroughly; set aside. Cream butter, sugar and salt at high speed. Add yolk, beat another minute, add whole egg, beat again another minute.  Add vanilla and water and beat again.  Add flour mixture, beat on low until dough has been mixed thoroughly and starts to cling to the paddle.  Remove, divide in half.  Roll half the dough into a log, about 1½ in diameter, repeat with remaining dough.  Wrap each log in plastic and place in freezer.  Freeze for at least 1 hour or until firm. (Can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.)

When logs are firm, take out 10-15 minutes ahead of time to thaw a little while oven heats up.  Preheat oven to 325°F. Slice dough into ½- to ¾-in thick pieces and place slices onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. If desired, sprinkle a little decorative sugar on top.

Bake for 20-21 minutes; do not overbake to the point where the edges start to brown or else cookies will end up hard and tough.

Yields approximately 40-50 cookies, depending on thickness of slices.

For other variations on the basic cookie recipe, see also the Lemon Shortbread and Almond Shortbread versions.

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GBAdams
12/27/2011

Challah Bread Pudding

Disclaimer: I am not Jewish. Though I have many, many Jewish friends and pledged a mostly Jewish sorority in college, I am a Catholic-raised Filipino girl.  Which means I grew up knowing next to nothing about their culture & traditions.  Having said that, I have always held in great respect the Jewish culture, including the foods, even if I wasn't familiar with them.  This year I decided to change my perspective by diving in and trying my hand at making some of the traditional foods...or at least, making dishes out of some of the traditional foods.  This is one of them.  About a month after I first made this pudding, I attempted potato latkes...it took the 2nd try before they were worth mentioning.  ;)  I've been told my next project should be to learn how to make bagels.  ;)

I've always loved egg breads, and of course, when thinking about making a bread pudding, the quintessential egg bread -challah- should always be considered.  You can, of course, make this bread pudding with regular bread such as French or Italian, but I like how the pre-pudding shininess of egg breads still comes through even after they're made into dessert. I've seen bread puddings made many different ways, but since neither my husband nor I prefer raisins in our bread puddings, my recipe has them listed as optional.  If you prefer yours with raisins, add them in during the whisking of the eggs & milk step.  Also, if you prefer your brown sugar sauce to be differently -ahem- sauced, you can substitute whiskey or bourbon for the amaretto in the sauce recipe.  :)

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Ingredients:
Pudding -
1 loaf Challah bread
6 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
1 C sugar
4 C milk, warmed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp vanilla
2 Tbsp amaretto liqueur
4 Tbsp butter, melted
½ cup raisins (optional)

Brown Sugar Sauce -
8 Tbsp butter (1 stick)
1½ C brown sugar, packed
½ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
½ C water
2 Tbsp amaretto liqueur (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Make sure rack is set in the middle of the oven as much as possible.  Cut up challah bread into rough cubes, about 1x1"; does not have to be exact, but uniformity is the key.  Place cubed bread into 9x13" glass pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together warmed milk (should not be super-hot, but should be warmer than room temp) with egg yolks, eggs, sugar, salt and spices.  Add vanilla and amaretto. Gradually add melted butter.

Pour mixture over cubed bread, making sure that each cube is moistened.  If you miss some when pouring from the bowl, you can go back and submerge them using a spoon.  Make sure there are NO dry cubes, every piece should be soaked and softened with the liquid.

Place in oven and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is no longer liquid-y in appearance. (May take as  long as an hour, depending on your oven.)

While pudding is baking, create the brown sugar sauce.  Combine ingredients into a small saucepan set to medium-high to high heat. Stir vigorously to keep brown sugar from burning.  Once sauce comes to a rolling, foaming boil, remove from heat or turn down to lowest setting.  Cover and set aside.

When pudding is done, cool for at least 15 minutes.  Cut and divide into square pieces.  Pour sauce over individual bread pudding portions immediately before serving.  Can also be served a la mode (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream), but I find that to be just a *little* too rich for my taste.  ;)

Makes 12-18 servings.

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GBAdams
11/10/2011

Browned Butter Fluffer Nutter Bites

Here's a recipe I first tried when I was in college.  The original recipe called for less servings, but as I was sharing these treats with 350 of my closest friends --also known as the Marching Illini--, I was "forced" to figure out how to make a larger batch.  So here it is.


A word of warning: this is a VERY sweet treat, due to the frosted corn flakes.  If you want to cut down on the sweetness, use plain corn flakes.

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Ingredients:
2 C marshmallows (about 1 full package)
¾ C (12 Tbsp, or 1½ sticks) butter or margarine
⅔ C smooth peanut butter
12 C frosted corn flakes

Directions:
In a very large bowl, measure out corn flakes; set aside.  Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Continue to heat until the butter solids gently start to turn brown.

Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted and smooth. Fold in peanut butter until it, too, has completely blended into the mixture. Remove from heat; pour over corn flakes.  Stir until well-coated (may need 2 spatulas or spoons to accomplish this).  Press mixture into a lightly greased large jelly roll pan (can also be lined with waxed paper) using a buttered spatula.

Let cool completely.  Cut into 1 1/2" x 2" bars.

Makes approximately 64 pieces.

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GBAdams
12/02/2011

Hazelnut Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge)

Here's another traditional Filipino dish.  Champorado is typically a breakfast-type of meal, usually served with  a cured meat, such as a bacon or Filipino tocino (shown at right), and is a heartier alternative to chocolate Maypo or Cream of Wheat.

The inspiration for this recipe came from two places for me: a college friend and my cousin.  I have my friend to thank for putting the original idea in my head; during a discussion once I mentioned how the only Filipino recipe in which I recalled normally seeing chocolate (no, dinuguuan does NOT count!) was champorado.  Chocolate icings or candies like we see here in the U.S. were not prevalent when I was growing up; it just wasn't practical because of the tropical heat.  So then over the next few weeks, while I was mulling over making champorado, my cousin who was visiting for Thanksgiving mentioned adding Nutella to it and how much better it made the dish.  Whoo boy, was he ever right.  It adds a depth to the chocolate taste that I never would have guessed could have been possible. Turned it right up to 11.  ;)  So here you go, here's what I came up with after those two influences.  And now that it's colder, this dish is the PERFECT breakfast treat...sort of like hot chocolate in a bowl.  ;)  I hope you enjoy.

(Thank you, Maria D-P, and Francis!)

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Ingredients:
6 C day-old (or several days-old) sticky rice
6 C milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk (I use the fat-free kind)
⅔ C unsweetened powdered cocoa (such as Ghirardelli)
¼ C Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
1 tsp salt

Directions:
In a large saucepan, heat milk on medium heat; be sure to stir often so milk does not burn at the bottom of the pan.  When milk has warmed to the point of starting to steam, add sweetened condensed milk and salt.  Using a whisk will help to mix everything in easier.  While milk mixture is heating up, break up leftover rice so that there are no longer any huge clumps.  Add to saucepan.  Vigorously stir for an additional 10 minutes.  Add powdered cocoa.  Stir until all the powder has dissolved and there are no longer any small cocoa clumps.  Add Nutella, and stir until it has blended fully into the porridge.  If champorado is too thick at this point, gradually add more milk until desired consistency is achieved.  Serve warm.  (Reheat leftovers with milk.)

Hazelnut Champorado, with a few white chocolate shavings sprinkled on top.  ;)

Makes 10 servings; perfect to make ahead of time and reheat on cold mornings!  ;)

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GBAdams
11/27/2011

Pancit Sotanghon

This is a recipe I culled partly from my memory and partly from what's out there on Filipino recipe sites; liked a little here, a little there, etc. Put it all together and you have my take on one of the staple noodle dishes of my culture.

Several things to note:  Honestly, this recipe is NOT difficult.  It is, however, very time-consuming.  It takes time to boil the chicken, cool, shred, cut up all the veggies ahead of time, soak the noodles, etc.  So as long as you stick close to the steps, you should be OK.  As with any Asian stir-fry dish, the key is to have everything cut up ahead of time so you don't have to think about it as you're stirring away...all you have to do is dump in the ingredients as you go.  Also, 99% of these ingredients can likely be found in your local grocery store (yes, even the fish sauce nowadays); I have not always seen bean thread noodles there, and especially not the Chinese sausage, so for these items you will probably need to go to a specialty Asian market.  Rice sticks or thin rice noodles can be substituted, but growing up my mom always used bean thread noodles, also known as lungkow, so that's what I use because I like to carry on many of her traditions.  :)

Bean thread noodles, aka "lungkow"

Veggies can be interchanged, depending on your taste.  Other vegetable ideas include but are not limited to: sliced white button mushrooms, julienned red & green peppers, zucchini (not a personal favorite), pea pods, bean sprouts, etc.  Also, I take a shortcut by buying pre-packaged shredded carrots instead of doing them myself.  It's neater, faster, and heck, why not?

One last thing worth mentioning: Calamansi (cah-lah-mahn-SEE) is a small citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia, and definitely prevalent in Filipino cooking.  Usually they are halved and then squeezed over things like fish & pork so that the citrus juice accentuates whatever dish it's being added to.  If you don't live in an area that normally has access to calamansi (such as where I live in Colorado), small limes or even lime juice can be substituted and used instead.

Good luck...and if you make this dish, please write back and let me know how it turned out for you!  :)

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Ingredients:

Boiled Chicken -

1 half split chicken breast, boneless & skinless

2 chicken thighs, boneless & skinless

2 Tbsp garlic powder

2 Tbsp granulated chicken bouillon (or chicken broth and add kosher salt to taste)

6-8 C water

Noodle Mix - 

6 oz (½ a package, or 4-5 individual links) sliced Chinese sausage

6 oz chopped onions

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

½ head cabbage, roughly shredded (meaning not as finely shredded as for cole slaw or sauerkraut)

1-2 (about 5-6 oz) shredded carrots

1-2 C sliced green beans

2-3 Tbsp canola or vegetable oil

8-10 oz bean thread noodles (1 package, or several smaller packages, depending on the brand)

Sauce -

1 C chicken broth

1/3 C dark soy sauce (not low sodium)

2 Tbsp fish sauce

Garnish - 

2-3 stalks of green onions, thinly sliced

5-6 calamansi halves OR 3-4 small limes, sliced into segments

Directions:

Bring water with garlic powder and bouillon to a rolling boil.  Add chicken.  When water comes back to a boil, bring down heat to high simmer.  Skim off any chicken "foam" as necessary.  Cook 15 minutes or until all pieces are cooked thoroughly. Set aside and cool.  (This step can be done well ahead of time.  I sometimes boil large batches of chicken, freeze them in sets, and thaw them out as needed.) When chicken has cooled, roughly shread (pull apart) meat.  Not as finely as for things like BBQ sandwiches or tacos, but don't leave overly-large chunks.

Mix broth, soy sauce and fish sauce in a bowl or large measuring cup; set aside.

Chop up all the vegetables and sausage, striving for even, uniform pieces as much as possible.

Before you start cooking, soak bean thread noodles in warm water and set aside.  Heat up a wok or other large, high-sided pan to as high of heat as possible; add vegetable oil. Start by sautéeing onions, then add Chinese sausage and garlic. When onions have started to take on translucency, add cabbage and carrots.  While cabbage & carrots have started to cook, set soaked noodles in a colander to drain.  Stir veggies & sausage in the pan vigorously until cabbage has also started to become translucent and wilt; add the green beans.  Keep stirring constantly so that nothing sticks to the side or bottom of the pan.

Place drained noodles into pan, then pour broth over noodles, covering as evenly as possible.  Using 2 utensils (spaghetti ladle and/or flat spatula), toss noodle mixture well, like a salad, in order to evenly distribute veggies and sauce within the noodles.

Garnish with finely sliced green onions and serve with calamansi or lime wedges.

How the pancit looks when placed into a serving tray...

...and how it looks, ready for a potluck presentation. :)

Serves about 10 people

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GBAdams

11/16/2011