Posts Tagged ‘recipe’

What I’ve Been Up To: Mahmool Cookies with Patty

Friday, February 5th, 2010

After graduation the holidays kept me very busy. I spent a lot of time with my family- shoppping, wrapping presents, cooking, and baking. I also got to spend some time with Peter’s family in Iowa. The weekend after I graduated we drove up to Cedar Rapids and while we were there Peter’s mom Patty taught me how to make her Grandma Coury’s Mahmool cookies.

Mahmool are Lebanese filled cookies that have three traditional fillings including walnut, pistachio and date. Each is formed in a specific designed wooden mold, the design on the cookie lets you know what the filling is inside. Our particular cookies were made with a walnut filling and shaped into round and oval shapes.

These cookies are made quite easily with the use of a electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and a food processor. Other than that, the only ingredient that may not be so easy to find in your local grocery store is the rosewater. Luckily for those of you living in Chicago, Fox & Obel carries it in their baking section.

The cookies are some of the best that I’ve eaten, they have a great texture and they aren’t too sweet and have a hint of rose. Plus, they are very pretty with their intricate designs and light dusting of powdered sugar. These cookies are not just for the holidays, they are definitely a year round treat! Thanks Patty for teaching me this family recipe!

Grandma Coury’s Mahmool

Ingredients

1 2lb box regular Cream of Wheat

1 lb. Margarine (or butter)

3-3.5 c. flour

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. rosewater

3/4- 1 c. milk

Filling

1 lb. walnuts

1 c. granulated sugar

1 T. rosewater

Blend cream of wheat & margarine (or butter) in electric mixer using paddle attachment. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, rosewater, & milk. Add more flour if too wet or more milk of dough is too dry.

To make the filling blend walnuts, sugar, and rosewater in food processor until you have a coarse mixture.

Form mixture into a ball and then using thumb hollow out center to create a cup. Fill with nut mixture (about 1T per cookie). Pinch sides together to close.

Flour wooden mold. Place cookie in mold and press to get the design impression. Tap mold to remove cookie. Continue procedure with rest of cookies.

Bake on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper at 400 degrees for 15 min. Bake until “toasted almond” shade. Sprinkle with powdered sugar with still warm on cooling rack.

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Scones

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Scones are one of the first things that I taught myself how to bake and remain to this day one of my favorite things to bake. They are hearty and super easy, but the main reason that I love them so much is for their versatility. The recipe for scones that has become my most used and most loved  has been adapted from Molly’s blog Orangette for Scottish Scones. As long as you keep the basics the same you can almost add to them anything your imagination can conjure up. They can be sweet with frozen fruit,  dried fruit or chocolate chips or you can go the savory route by adding such items as cheddar cheese, herbs, or bacon. One combination that I always come back to is orange zest and dried cranberries for its zesty flavor and accessibility to these ingredients.

Baking Ingredients

Baking Ingredients

Scottish Scones
Adapted from Orangette

½ c buttermilk
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour (I like using whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
3 Tbs sugar (I use  finely milled raw cane sugar and use extra to sprinkle on top before baking)
Flavorful additions of your choice, to taste (For this particular recipe I used 1 tbsp. orange zest and about 1/3 cup dried cranberries)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Beat together the milk and the egg and then set aside. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Rub the butter into the flour mixture, working until you have no lumps bigger than a pea. Add the sugar and whatever additions you choose, and stir or toss to mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the dries, reserving just a tad of the milk-egg mixture to use as a glaze. Bring dough together gently with a wooden spoon.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it no more than 12 times. [Apparently, twelve is the magic number here; surpass it at your own risk.] Pat dough into a round approximately ½-inch thick, and cut into 8 or 12 wedges. Place on an ungreased baking sheet or a Silpat, if you have one. Using a pastry brush, glaze wedges.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack.
Orange Scented Cranberry Scones

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Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins

As a lover of food, most of my free time is spent absorbing as much information about food as possible. I am often reading books, food publications, and of course food blogs!

One blog in particular that serves as daily inspiration is Joy The Baker. Joy is a self-taught baker and her love for the act of baking shines through her blog.  Of course the first post that caught my eye regarded my favorite topic and was titled, “Best Weekend Breakfast Ideas.” On that particular day Joy invited all of her readers to have breakfast together and shared some of her favorite breakfast recipes. Though every recipe on the list looked and sounded delicious, this week I choose to make her interpretation of a blueberry muffin. 

These muffins were appealing to me due to their healthy nature, they are low in fat, whole grain, and are fruit-filled! Since I had old-fashioned oats and steel-cut oats, I used both that created a nice texture.

Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins

 

Oatmeal Blueberry Applesauce Muffins
Joy the Baker (makes 12-15 muffins)

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cases or spray with nonstick cooking spray. I simple greased and floured a muffin pan, saving the paper.

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, buttermilk, sugar, oil and egg. Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture. Stir until just moist. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake for 16-18 minutes.

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