traveling chef's blog: "recipies"

Ingredients: • Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray • 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened • 1 cup sugar • 1/2 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter • 2 large eggs • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 cup Pillsbury BEST® Whole Wheat Flour • 1 teaspoon baking powder • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 1 cup flaked coconut • ICING • 1 cup sifted powdered sugar • Dash salt • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract • Light cream or milk Directions: 1. HEAT oven to 350ºF. Spray an 11 x 17 x 1 1/2-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking pan. 2. BEAT butter and sugar in medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, until fluffy. Add in peanut butter, eggs and vanilla one at a time until incorporated. In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Beat just until mixed. Stir in coconut. Spread into prepared pan. 3. BAKE 25 to 30 minutes. Cool. Cut into 2 dozen bars. 4. MIX powdered sugar, salt, vanilla and enough light cream to make an icing of drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled bars. Yield: 2 dozen bars

Ingredients: • 1/2 cup Crisco® Butter Shortening • 1/2 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar • 1/2 cup granulated sugar • 1 large egg • 2 tablespoons milk • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 3/4 cups Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose Flour • 1 teaspoon baking soda • 1/2 teaspoon salt • Sugar • 48 foil-wrapped milk chocolate pieces, unwrapped Directions: 1. HEAT oven to 375°F. 2. CREAM together shortening, peanut butter, brown sugar and 1/2 cup sugar. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. 3. STIR together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Beat on low speed until stiff dough forms. 4. SHAPE into 1-inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. 5. BAKE 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. 6. TOP each cookie immediately with an unwrapped chocolate piece, pressing down firmly so that cookie cracks around edge. Remove from cookie sheets to cool. Yield: 4 Dozen Cookies

Ingredients 3/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup confectioners' sugar 3 egg yolks 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom 1 1/2 cups ground roasted and salted pistachios Cherry jam Directions In a large bowl, beat butter and confectioners' sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in egg yolks until combined. In a small bowl, combine flour, nutmeg and cardamom. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating until combined. Beat in ground pistachios. Cover and chill for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with a 2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter. Cut out centers of half the cookies with a 1/2-inch star-shaped cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheets, and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Let cool on pan for 2 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Spread cherry jam evenly over flat sides of uncut cookies. Top with flat sides of cutout cookies. Return to baking sheets, and bake for 2 minutes. Let cool completely on wire racks. Store in airtight containers yield 40 cook time 15

Ingredients 2 (7 to 8 ounce) packages sweetened shredded coconut 2 ounces sweetened condensed milk Pinch kosher salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 large egg whites at room temperature 5 ounces granulated sugar 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips 1 ounce vegetable shortening 2 ounces finely chopped dry-roasted macadamia nuts Prepare the oven to 325 degrees F. Combine the coconut with the sweetened condensed milk, salt and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to whip the whites until medium peaks form, 6 to 7 minutes. Gently fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture. Scoop tablespoon-sized mounds onto a parchment-lined half sheet pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately transfer the parchment with the macaroons to a cooling rack. Cool completely before topping. Fill a 4-quart pot with enough water to come 2 inches up the side, set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Combine the chocolate chips and shortening in a small metal or glass mixing bowl and set over the simmering pot. Stir occasionally until melted, then remove from the heat. Dip the cooled cookies in the chocolate mixture, sprinkle with the chopped macadamia nuts and place on parchment paper to set, about 30 minutes. yield 42 cook time 25 min

Oliebollen 1 Cake yeast (2/3 oz) 1 Cup Milk 2 1/4 Cups Flour 1 Egg 1 1/2 Cups Currants and Raisins 1 Tart (Cooking) Apple Fat for Deep Frying 2 tsp Salt First blend the yeast with a little lukewarm milk. Sift the flour and salt. Add Milk, mix to a batter with yeast and egg. Add currants, raisins, and peeled, minced apple. Leave batter in a warm place to rise to double its size. Heat the fat to 375 degrees F. Put two metal spoons into the batter. Shape balls with the two spoons and drop them into the fat. Fry them for 6 a 7 minutes until brown. The doughnuts should be soft and should not be grease-soaked inside. If they are fried to slowly the crust becomes hard and tough and the doughnuts become greasy. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve then piled on a dish and thickly with sifted confectioner's sugar. Eat while hot if possible. "Oliebollen" are a traditional treat on New Year's Eve in Holland

Quick and easy Gingerbread Serves 8 2 ¼ cup sifted (11 ¼ ounces) unbleached all purpose flour + some for the dusting the pan 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon Dutch-processed cacao 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground cloves ½ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground allspice ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 8 tablespoon (1 stick) unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature ¾ cup milk or light molasses ¾ cup (5 ¼ ounce) sugar 1 large egg ½ cup buttermilk ½ cup milk 1 Adjust the oven rack to the middle position an heat the oven to 350 degree. Grease bottom and slide of 11 by 7 inch baking pan; dust with flouer, tapping out any exess 2 Whisk together flour, ginger, cacao, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. 3 Beat butter, molasses and sugar in a large bowl with the mixer on medium speed until combined. Beat in egg until incorporated. Gradually add buttermilk until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. (do not over mix!) Scrape batter into prepared pan. 4 Bake until top springs back when lightly touched and edges pull away from the pan, about 40 minutes.Set pan on wire rack and cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Gingerbread can be wrapped in plastic , then foil, and refrigerated up to 5 days enjoy eating