Girl Scout Thin Mints

Oh Be still my heart. When my friend sent me this recipe to try it seemed too good to be true. The truth? After getting over all the angels singing... my mouth was very very happy.

Girl Scout Thin Mints

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/3 cup milk (any kind)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. With the mixer on low speed, add in the milk and the extracts. Mixture will look curdled. Gradually, add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.
Shape dough into two logs, about 1 1/2 inches (or about 4 cm) in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 1-2 hours, until dough is very firm.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Slice dough into rounds not more than 1/4 inch thick - if they are too thick, they will not be as crisp - and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cookies will not spread very much, so you can put them quite close together.
Bake for 13-15 minutes, until cookies are firm at the edges. Cool cookies completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Coating
10-oz dark or semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

In a microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt on high power in the microwave, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until chocolate is smooth. Chocolate should have a consistency somewhere between chocolate syrup and fudge for a thin coating.
Dip each cookie in melted chocolate, turn with a fork to coat, then transfer to a piece of parchment paper or wax paper to set up for at least 30 minutes, or until chocolate is cool and firm.
Reheat chocolate as needed to keep it smooth and easy to dip into.

Makes 3 1/2-4 dozen cookies.

Chow Mein

I LOVE Chinese food. I hardly ever get it and don't get to make it often at home. This is one of those dishes I get more than others because the kids really love the noodles, not to mention it is really quite simple to make. I always add a few pea pods and take a few liberties with the veggies. I've made this with chicken, pork, beef and even shrimp. If you want a GREAT Chinese Food recipe.. this is it.

Chow Mein

1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
2 boneless chicken breasts sliced thin
2 TBS oyster sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 TBS cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 pound dry wonton noodles
2 medium celery cut in medium chunks
1/2 medium size white onion cut in medium slices
2 cups cabbage cut in medium slices
1 green onion
2 clove garlic chopped
4 TBS sesame or olive oil

1. Cut chicken into thin strips and set aside.
2. Soften the noodles by placing them in boiling salted water. Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process and drain thoroughly.
3. Heat a wok or frying pan over medium to high heat. Add 2 TBS of oil. WHn the oil is hot, add noodles, Fry in batches until golden. Remove noodles from the pan.
4. Heat 2 TBS oil in a wok. Add garlic and meat. Let the meat brown briefly, then stir-fry until the redness is gone and the meat is nearly cooked through.
5. Add the rest of the vegetables (except the green onions) and mix well for 3-4 minutes.
6. In a small bowl combine oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth, cornstarch, and salt and pepper. Make a "well" in the middle of the wok for the sauce. Quickly stir and mix everything together. Stir in noodles and green onions.
7. Serve and enjoy!

Lemon Meringue Pie

Alright Jenn, this one's for you...

A month or so ago our ladies church group had a pie night. It was a very tasty night. I took two pies, one of which was Lemon Meringue , one of my all time favorites. After making this one you may see why people always say "easy as pie!" Yeah it's an easy one...

Lemon Meringue Pie

9- inch baked pie shell

Filling

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 TBS corn starch
1/2 cups water
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
3 TBS butter
1/2 cup lemon juice from fresh lemon
zest of one lemon (about 1 TBS)
2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)

Prepare and bake pie shell.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix sugar and cornstarch in 2 quart sauce pan. Gradually stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir one minute. Gradually stir in half of the hot mixture into the egg yolks. Stir into hot mixture in sauce pan. Boil on low 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in butter, lemon juice, lemon zest and food coloring. Pour into pie shell.
Prepare meringue. Spoon onto hot filling. Spread over filling carefully sealing meringue to sides of pie crust to prevent shrinking or weeping. Bake 8-10 minutes or until meringue is delicate brown.(keep your eye on this part) Cool away from draft.

Meringue

3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
6 TBS granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in medium bowl until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 TBS at a time until stiff and glossy. Do not over beat. Fold in vanilla

Cake Truffles

I know I owe a few of you some recipes but this is too good not to post IMMEDIATELY. Ok so the cake balls..truffles.. balls.. Umm I like cake TRUFFLES better..sounds fancy, they are quite popular in the baking world right now. They seem to be all over the place.. They are tasty and easy to make, not to mention cute as a button. I'm nodding my head slowly waiting to be convinced.. the wait is over. Last night I ate these at our better-late-than-never holiday bakery party. Lisa Taylor, you are a rock-star! Cute, Check. Easy to make, check. Moist, check. Make your mouth sing, double check. MMMM Hit the high note on this one.. thanks Lisa!

Chocolate Truffles

1 package (18.5 oz.) chocolate cake mix
( + ingredients for making the cake)
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup of your favorite jam (I like seedless raspberry!)
2 packages (8 oz.) milk chocolate squares or chips (for dipping)


Prepare cake as package directs; cool. In saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter; add cocoa and sugar. Stir until smooth. Add vanilla and jam; stir until smooth and glossy. Remove from heat. Crumble cake and add saucepan mixture, mix until well blended and moist. Roll into about 1 inch balls. Melt Chocolate and dip chocolate cake balls in the chocolate. Place on wax paper and let cool until the chocolate is not shiny and is smooth and firm. Enjoy! Makes anywhere from 45 to 70 truffles depending on the size of the balls.

Note from Lisa: You can really get creative with this recipe. You can use any kind of cake, any kind of flavoring, and any kind of chocolate you want! My sister made truffles with a white cake, apricot jam and dipped in white chocolate. Instead of using jam, you can use peanut butter, caramel or butterscotch ice cream topping, or anything else you can think of. You can even put chopped nuts inside or sprinkled on top. You could roll a maraschino cherry in the cake mixture and then dip in chocolate. Get creative!


For the party, I actually split the mixture into thirds before adding the jam so that I could have three different flavors in one batch. I did add ½ cup of seedless raspberry jam to the first part, ½ cup of peanut butter to the second part, and ½ cup of caramel to the third part so that the flavoring was more prominent. If you make the recipe as it is written above, the flavoring will be more subtle.

Soft Rolled Gingerbread Cookies

Don't let the long directions sway you away from this delicious, SOFT gingerbread cookie. They really are quite simple so deliciously seasonal. Roll them thick for a soft cookie or thin for a crisp one.



Soft Rolled Gingerbread Cookies

3/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon (optional)
3 1/4 cups flour

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in the molasses and water. In a medium bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, stirring constantly. Divide the dough in half and flatten to a round disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill overnight. (You can freeze half or all of it if desired for later use.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and lightly grease your cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface roll out one of the disks, leaving the other chilled. Roll to a 1/4 inch thickness, adding more flour if needed. Cut the cookies into desired shapes and place about an inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 6-10 minutes depending on the size of the cookies. Cookies should be firm but not browned. Reroll the scraps and continue to cut and bake until the dough is gone. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheets for three minutes, then remove to wire racks to finish cooling. Frost if desired with royal icing and let dry for 24 hours. Store in airtight containers.

Royal Icing

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 large egg white or equivalent meringue powder
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
food coloring if desired

In a large bowl beat the powdered sugar, egg white, cream of tartar, and orange extract on medium high speed for 5 minutes. Check and see if you can form peaks with a teaspoon. If you cannot, beat at a higher speed for a minute more and check again. Beat and check at thirty second intervals until the peaks will form. Tint icing with food coloring if desired.

(It is very important not to overbeat this icing as it can (and will) break down. You can use the icing white, or tint it using paste food colors. Liquid food colors tend not to work as well as paste, particularly in a delicate recipe like icing.)

White Chocolate Pumpkin Tiramisu

My sister Nina saw this original recipe created by Amy Richardson on Studio 5 KSL in SLC, Utah and decided to give it a try for our after Thanksgiving get together. Not only is it absolutely beautiful, but if you are a pumpkin lover the flavors make your mouth sing! An amazing recipe for the Fall. (She substituted pumpkin bread for the pumpkin pound cake and made her own pumpkin butter from the recipe HERE.) This recipe is super easy and delightfully delicious!


White Chocolate Pumpkin Tiramisu

Ingredients:

* 9-inch Spring form pan lined with parchment
* 1 vanilla pound cake cut in ¼ inch slices; and cut in half again
* 1 pumpkin pound cake cut in ¼ inch slices; and cut in half again
* 3 cups heavy whipping cream (2 cups for tiramisu, 1 cup reserved for serving)
* 1- 8 oz. package cream cheese at room temperature
* ¾ cup sugar
* 2 oz. white chocolate, or 7 squares of Ghirardelli vanilla bean white chocolate; melted.
* 3 tbs. prepared pumpkin butter
* ¼ cup apple cider or apple juice

Method:

Beat whipping cream and sugar until soft peaks form.
Add cream cheese until smooth.
Divide mixture in half.
To one half, add white chocolate and beat until well blended.
To the other half add the pumpkin butter and beat until well blended.

To assemble the tiramisu:

Line bottom of spring form pan with pumpkin pound cake; crowding to fit.
Brush cake with apple cider and cover with a layer of white chocolate cream.
Arrange a layer of vanilla pound cake over the cream, and top with a layer of spiced pumpkin cream.
Repeat these alternating layers, ending with pumpkin spiced cream.

Cover and chill overnight to set firm. May keep refrigerated for up to two days.

Loosen spring form and remove parchment. Smooth sides with a spatula.

Serve with whipped cream and garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Whipped Cream
Ingredients:

* 1 cup whipping cream
* ¼ cup powdered sugar
* ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Method:

Whip ingredients on high till soft peaks form.

Pumpkin cookies

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart. It is a moist delicious cookie with great flavor. We like to add a cup of chocolate chips or pecans. Sometime we frosted them and sometimes we eat them plain. Which ever way you like them they are sure to be a hit.


Pumpkin Cookies

3/4 cup real butter
1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup solid pack pumpkin
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 375. Beat butter and brown sugar until blended and add egg. Beat until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, milk, and vanilla and mix until well blended. Stir in baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Add flour and stir until just combined. Drop by tablespoon on cookie sheet (dough will be very soft).Bake about 12 minutes or until cookies spring back. Cool on wire rack.