Almond Raspberry Cheesecake

16 April, 201414 April, 2014Marissa

I usually make a cheesecake when we’re heading anywhere that needs desert, so for the last potluck I went to I decided to try something new. I thought raspberries sounded good, and I needed an unleavened crust so I settled on a modified version of this Scottish shortbread. Then I thought almonds might be a good idea, so I threw some of those in as well. It tasted good, but as you can see from the photos it cracked while baking. I have an idea that just might take care of that problem, so I’ll probably be posting a “take two” after my next baking attempt.

Almond Raspberry Cheesecake

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Crust

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup ground almonds

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a 9-inch spring-form pan with aluminum foil. Cream butter and sugar. Add ground almonds and 1/2 cup of flour, and mix well. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, adding flour to make a soft dough. Press into the spring-form pan, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Filling

3 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring

3 eggs

1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, raspberry preserves

Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing at low speed after each addition.

Mix 3/4 cup of batter with 1/4 cup raspberry preserves. Spoon 1/3 of the raspberry mixture over the crust.

Pour the remainder of the cheesecake batter into the pan. Drop the remaining raspberry/cream cheese mixture by spoon fulls over the top of the cheesecake and smooth into the batter. Dot the top of the cheesecake with extra raspberry preserves, then use a knife to swirl the batter.

Bake cheesecake for 1 hour at 325° F or until center is almost set. Run a knife along the inside edge of the pan ring when it comes out of the oven. Cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Oatmeal Cookies

9 April, 20148 April, 2014Marissa

My younger brother just tested up from his junior black belt to adult-level black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and these are the cookies he wanted to celebrate with. This recipe makes a huge batch of cookies — between 5 and 6 dozen — so there’s more than enough to enjoy here and to send with him to Tae Kwon Do class tomorrow.

Oatmeal Cookies

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Oatmeal Cookie recipe. marissabaker.wordpress.com — cookie dough

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

3 Tablespoons water

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups flour (half whole-wheat, half unbleached)

4 1/2 cups uncooked rolled oats

Mix sugar and butter in a large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Add water and vanilla, then stir to thoroughly combine.

Stir in salt, baking powder, and soda. Mix in flour, then add oats. Dough can be refrigerated, or baked immediately. Roll dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350°F for 8 to 10 minutes.

Lemon Quick Bread

12 March, 201412 March, 2014Marissa

I posted a form of this bread before — trying to turn it into a lemon-almond loaf — but it’s this version that I keep going back to when I want to make a lemony quick bread. This bread has a light lemon flavor — not too sweet, not too lemony. When you bake it, it almost develops a glaze on the top. The original recipe baked it in one loaf pan, but I was having trouble getting it to cook through without burning the edges, and then the center of the bread got squishy. Baking it in two pans, or four mini-loaf pans as I did here, or seems to do the trick.

Lemon Quick Bread

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3 cups flour

1, 3.5-ounce box lemon flavor instant pudding

1 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

Mix together flour, pudding mix, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. In large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and butter. Add vanilla and lemon and mix well. Add the flour mixture, along with poppy seeds. Mix until just combined.

Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans, or four mini-loaf pans. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Allow loaves to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.

Lemon Quick Bread recipe, marissabaker.wordpress.com — ta-da!

No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls

26 February, 201425 February, 2014Marissa

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it’s the only cinnamon roll recipe I make now. It’s originally from a blog called pReCiouS MoMentS. I’ve changed measurements that were in grams to cups or tablespoons, to make it easier to American cooks to follow. I also changed the scalding instructions — I wanted an exact temperature to aim for so I didn’t scorch the milk or kill the yeast, and it takes much less than an hour for my milk to cool to the right temperature. My rolls also have less filling, and I’ve added a glaze.

No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls

No-Knead Cinnamon Roll recipe, marissabaker.wordpress.com — first round of ingredients ready

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Dough

1 cup milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon yeast

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

4 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon milk

Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald by heating to 150°F. Leave to cool for about 20 minutes, or until the temperatures is between 105°F and 115°F. Sprinkle yeast over the scaled mixture and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups flour in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add scalded mixture. Stir with a spatula until it comes together to form a thick batter. Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together. Rolls can be made now, or covered and chilled until needed. Dough will be easier to work with if chilled.

When ready to make the rolls, mix ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Dust the work surface and the top and bottom of dough freely with flour. Roll out the dough into a thin, rectangular shape. Dust the dough and work surface with flour when necessary.

Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the surface. Roll the dough neatly in a line towards you, rolling as tightly as possible. Pinch the seams to seal.

Cut into 1-inch thick slices and arrange in a baking pan greased with butter. Use one 9×13-inch baking pan, or two 8×8-inch baking pans. Place the rolls close together so that they are almost touching.

Cover and leave to rise for 30 to 60 minutes, or until the rolls double in size. Rolls can be left to chill in the fridge over night and baked the next morning. If rolls have doubled in size in the refrigerator, bake right away. Otherwise leave to sit on counter until they double. Bake in preheated oven at 375°F for 12-16 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let rolls cool on the counter. Mix glaze ingredients and drizzle over cooled rolls.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Walnut Bars

19 February, 2014Marissa

There are few foods I like better than warm oatmeal walnut bars fresh from the oven, oozing chocolate when you cut into them. The only problem is that they are so tasty — and just as addictive as my blond brownies — that is is hard to save enough to take to whatever event I decided to bake them for.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Walnut Bars

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1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Dash salt

1 (12-oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts

Beat butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Combine oats, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to butter mixture, beating until well-blended. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Spoon and spread dough in greased 15x10x1-inch pan. Bake at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to counter and let cool.

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Snickerdoodles

22 January, 201421 January, 2014Marissa

This is my favorite cookie. You need to plan ahead a little, since they will not bake right if the dough isn’t chilled first, but otherwise they are very easy to make. The recipe is from a close family friend, who was kind enough to bake them for me on a frequent basis when I was a child, and then gave me the recipe when I started baking in my own kitchen.

Snicker Doodles

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1 cup butter

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1-3/4 cups white, unbleached flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Mix butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and beat to incorporate eggs. Add dry ingredients and stir to combine. Chill dough thoroughly, at least 1 hour.

Remove from refrigerator and roll into balls the size of a walnut. Roll each cookie in mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon.

Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until light brown but still soft, 7-9 minutes at 375°F. Do no over-bake.

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