Triple Nut-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mmmm.  Just the right texture.  I love these cookies!  They are adapted from an old recipe in a handwritten file of recipe cards from various people who gave me recipes 25 years ago on my wedding day.  I don't know where this recipe originated, but this is the first time I've used it in many years. Delicious.

Triple Nut-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups flour 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar 
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar 
1 cup butter, softened 
3 large eggs 
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup natural cashew butter
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix dry ingredients and set aside. On medium speed, in large bowl, blend sugars. Add butter, mix till grainy consistency. Add eggs, nut butters and vanilla extract. Beat till fluffy. On low speed, add flour mixture until barely mixed into butter mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonsful, 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Use a wet or flour coated fork to gently press a crisscross pattern on top of each cookie. Bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned, approximately 10-12 minutes or until done. Don't overcook. Remove to cool on a flat surface.

Praline Bundt Cake

This cake is a wonderful texture with sour cream and cream cheese in the batter.  It's so delicious that I think I might make it again for a party I'm going to next week. You want to pour the icing on while it's still hot so that it isn't too thick. The sugared nuts add a lot of whimsy to the cake and the leftover nuts make an awesome snack.

The recipe can be found here with links to the icing and sugared nut recipes. Alterations: I used cake flour and cake enhancer and unsalted butter. I also used a cup less nuts in the sugared nut recipe and cooked the nuts at a lower temperature for longer. I cooked the cake at a higher temperature for shorter and made some adjustments for high elevation.

Norwegian Cardamon Buns With Custard

The hint of cardamom is so good in these buns. They make great leftovers too, but I suggest you toast them, because... yum!  The recipe is adapted from this one, but without the coconut.

Berry Coffee Cake

Banana Almond Chocolate Chip Loaf

Rich and dense and delicious! 

 

Recipe found here. Delicious!  I like to cook banana bread in a tube pan because the center comes out done without overcooking the bread.

Red Cream Soda Cake (From Scratch)

This isn't the kind of thing I'd make normally, but I was having so much fun playing around with a white yogurt cake that I ended up adding cream soda flavoring and then red food coloring and voilà!



Red Cream Soda Cake
2 3/4 cups cake flour
1 2/3 cups fine sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup vanilla yogurt
4 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cream soda flavoring (such as this)
red food coloring (add until you get the color you like)

Mix together dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately. Combine and blend on high for several minutes until light and fluffy. That's how easy this is. Spread in a bundt cake pan that has been prepared with oil. Cook in a preheated 350ºF oven for 30 - 35 minutes until done. Cool and top with whipped cream.

Toasted Almond & Chocolate Chunk Oat Cookies

This is an experiment that turned out fabulous. Salty toasted almonds and rich dark chocolate. Yum! The texture is perfect.

Toasted Almond & Chocolate Chunk Oat Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate pieces
3/4 cup of slivered almonds, toasted and salted (toast on cookie sheet in oven until golden then cool before mixing into dough)

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix together butter and sugar until light and whipped. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until blended. Combine dry ingredients (flour, oats, soda, baking powder, salt) and add to wet. Mix until moistened. Fold in chocolate pieces and almonds (I actually do this with my hands. It's part of the fun of making cookies.) Roll by hand into large pieces the size of golf balls. Place on cookies sheet, spaced apart. Cook for about 12 minutes or until very slightly golden. Do not overcook!