Jam Squares

I wasn't looking forward to this recipe. I do NOT like coconut unless it's a fresh chunk of it right from the fibrous shell. But... I have a method to my madness here and had to make it whether I thought it would taste good or not.

While it was baking I could smell the yummy berry jam baking and I began to... soften... a little toward my initial repugnance.

And then I ate nearly the entire batch of squares myself. It was delicious. And it reminds me of my mom. She will love this recipe in all its coconut glory once she tries it!

Jam Squares:

Crust:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
2-2 1/2 T. ice water (I used a little more than that - just make sure you add enough to make an actual soft dough - it shouldn't be too crumbly or the crust will fall apart when you cut it)

Topping:
2 lrg. eggs
1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 1/2 c. flaked coconut
1/3 c. raspberry preserves

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. To make the crust, combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add just enough water to make a soft dough. Press the dough into an ungreased 9-in. square baking pan.
3. Bake crust for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the topping: In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until thick and light colored. Beat in the powdered sugar. Stir in the coconut.
5. Spread the raspberry preserves over the hot crust. Spread the topping over the preserves.
6. Bake for 20-25 min. longer, until lightly colored on top and firm to the touch. Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into large or small bars.

Icebox Cookies

At first I was not inspired by this recipe - something seemed missing. After reading and rereading the recipe, I decided to add a few things and see how it turned out.

Original recipe for Icebox Cookies:
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. shortening
2 cc brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

to this I added:
1 T. real maple syrup
3/4 t. salt

All of that sugar and NO salt?! Didn't seem right to me. There also didn't seem to really be anything of substance to give them a good flavor. I wasn't sure how it would all turn out, but I have to say, they are delicious!

Instructions:

1. Combine the flour and baking powder (and salt)

2. In a large bowl, cream the vegetable shortening and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time (and add in the syrup). Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Fold in the walnuts.

3. Divide the dough in half. Form each half into a log 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and chill for 8 hours or overnight.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

5. Cut the logs into 1/4 inch thick slices and place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.

6. Bake for 10-12 min. until lightly colored. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

I think these would be very easy to make several rolls of and freeze for later use. They definitely get a thumbs-up from this family!!

Halloween Cookies

These cute little cookies were supposed to look like jack-o'-lanterns on a stick. I picked up some lollipop sticks at the store and we went to work on this recipe. Unfortunately, the cookies left a lot to be desired in the taste department, and when we all tried one after they were baked but before I made the icing, not even the kids would eat them. Sadly, the entire batch went in the trash bin.

On to the next recipe! I won't be posting that one here!

Galaktobouiriko (Galaktoboureko)

This was our first complicated recipe. I wasn't sure what to expect when the list of ingredients included phyllo dough and rice flour, but we went shopping, brought home with the necessary items and went to work!

The recipe book says, "Total Time: 45 minutes". They were SO wrong. 2 hours later we were ready to put this into the oven. Or I should say, I was ready. Emmy had lost interest long ago and gone on out to play.

At one point I went and googled the name of the recipe to find out if I was doing it all wrong or if I had the general idea. That's when I learned that the spelling in the book was off and that the way this greek recipe is traditionally made looks completely different. This recipe had me layering each sheet of phyllo with custard, whereas the traditional method has a thick layer of custard between two thick laters of phyllo crust.

Well, anyway, it turned out all right in the end, tasted fairly good, and was a good experience in using phyllo dough for the first time.

Here's the recipe:

Galaktobouiriko (Galaktoboureko)

Custard:
3/4 c. rice flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. grated orange zest
1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. shortening
8 lrg. eggs, separated

1/2 lb. butter, melted
1 lb. phyllo dough, thawed if frozen
1 1/2 c. water
3/4 c. sugar
Grated zest of one orange

1. To make the custard, combine the rice flour, cinnamon, and orange zest.
2. In a large bowl, beat the milk and 1 c. of sugar. Beat in the dry ingredients. Add the shortening. Place the mixture in the top of a double boiler, and slow heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and cool.
3. Beat the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of sugar.
4. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry.
5. Combine and gently blend together the beaten egg whites, the egg yolks, and cooled custard mix.
6. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13x9 baking pan.
7. Fit one phyllo sheet in the bottom of the prepared baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, brush a thin coat of custard on the phyllo. Lay a second sheet of phyllo on top of the custard and brush it with a layer of custard. Repeat the process until all of the custard is used up. Brush the last sheet with water, sprinkle with granulated sugar and the grated orange zest.
8. Bake for 15-25 minutes, until lightly colored. Cool in the pan on a wire rack before cutting into large or small bars.

Fat City Sugar Cookies

Despite the horrid title, we decided to try these anyway. Except I ran out of flour. And had to use a cup of whole wheat flour that I hadn't really taken the time to grind until silky, so it was a bit grainy. The cookies didn't turn out that great, they tasted quite bland and had a bit of a grainy texture. So here's another recipe I won't bore you with!

Easy Butterscotch Drop Cookies

These were fairly easy to make and kind of reminded me of snickerdoodles. Emmy thoroughly enjoyed smashing them down and could have spent all afternoon on that activity alone! The sugar/cinnamon ratio was way off, though. All I could taste was the bitter cinnamon when I first took a bite. Next time (if there is a next time) I'll correct that and add a tiny bit of cinnamon to a bunch of sugar for "stamping".

Easy Butterscotch Drop Cookies:
2c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. oil
1 c. packed dark brown sugar
2 lrg. eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In large bowl, beat the oil and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually blend in dry ingredients.
4. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
5. Drop the dough by spoonfuls 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass dipped in canola oil and then in the cinnamon sugar.
6. Bake for 12 to 15 min. (I did 11 min. and let them cool on sheets) until lightly colored. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

I give these cookies 3 STARS

Dainties

The latest recipe we tried from our big book was called "Dainties". It was such a simple recipe I decided to go ahead with it even though it was Friday and I already had a dozen things going. We were supposed to split the dough in 3 parts and color them pink, blue, and yellow, but really, I was making cookies with EMMY, so they all became pink cookies. The dough was thick and very pliable, and fun to form into balls to place on the cookie sheets. I thought it was a great success!! - Until I tasted one. Blech!!!

Seriously. A total waste of ingredients! Emmy ate one and thought it was great, but I'm fairly certain that was because it was cute and pink. These cookies were obviously aimed toward making points for being cute, not for being tasty.

Zero stars for this one. My only thought as I tried to find some redeeming quality is that if you have a child that tends to eat the play-do, this is the recipe for you.

And so I won't bother any of y'all with the recipe unless you're just dying to have it.

Since I already had most of the ingredients out, I went ahead and made a double batch of the good old stand-by: the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever! No one ever complains about those being brought to potluck! I didn't bring a single one home!