January 25, 2012: Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread

Zucchini bread may sound healthy, but other than the nutritional value of the veggie, it doesn’t have any fewer calories or fat content than any other type of sweet bread. Still, it’s quite yummy – especially with the addition of chocolate chips.

Zucchini Bread

3 cups flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3 eggs

1 ¾ cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups peeled, grated zucchini (about 1 large or 2 small)

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

½ cup mini chocolate chips (I used regular chocolate chips; you could certainly add about 1 cup more if you’re a chocolate lover)

1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.

In medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another larger bowl, beat eggs until light in color. Gradually add sugar and continue beating. Stir in oil, vanilla, zucchini, nuts, chocolate chips, and lemon zest.*

Fold in dry ingredients until combined and then pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees 50 to 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Remove bread from pans to cool on wire rack.

*If you have a stand mixer, just mix all ingredients at once, starting with the wet ingredients and adding the chocolate chips and nuts after combining the rest of the recipe.

December 8, 2011: My Mom’s Best Cutout Cookies Recipe

I recently got a letter (in the mail! – when’s the last time you got one of those?) from my Aunt Tillie in Wisconsin. She and Uncle Wayne visited us during the summer and of course, I had to feed them (not that I had to, but wanted to as I really enjoy playing hostess).

According to her letter, Aunt Tillie remembers the yummy limeade I made for her (she wants the recipe) and the pot I used to serve my mom’s macaroni salad recipe in (unfortunately, it’s a Desco coated cast iron Dutch oven that is no longer available). But along with her nice little note, she included a pair of hot pads she made and the recipe she uses to make “cutout” cookies (sugar cookies cut into shapes) each and every year because it’s the best. She got the recipe from my mom in the 60s and, in fact, there's a little handwritten note on the page that says "use this one always - no other as good".

It was so neat to find a copy of her original recipe in the letter from Aunt Tillie. I remember making these cookies with my mom but I never got the recipe before she died so I’m very thankful to my aunt for giving me something as invaluable as that.

Go ahead and give this recipe a try and see if it won’t end up being the one you make year after year, without fail.

I'm not the world's best decorator (I don't have the patience) but all that really matters is how the cookies taste (yummy!).

Dorothy’s Cutout Cookies

2 1/3 cups flour

2 t. baking powder

½ t. salt

2/3 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

Mix together dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, beating with a spoon until well incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and combine. Refrigerate dough at least two hours, or overnight, before cutting into shapes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 degrees on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bonus Recipe: Cutout Cookie Frosting

When making cookies with my mom, we never measured ingredients for frosting. This is the gist of the recipe:

In a deep mixing bowl, pour in about 2 cups confectioner’s (powdered) sugar. Add about 1 tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and a tablespoon of milk. Beat with hand mixer on high, adding more sugar, if necessary, to make a stiff icing.

November 7, 2011: Blue Corn Flour Tortillas

I’ve shared a recipe or two using the new corn/flour tortillas I’ve found at my local grocery store such as this one for Lite Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas. Rather than buy another package, I decided to use the blue corn meal I had on hand to make my own version of these tortillas. Here’s what I came up – a tortilla that would be just as good in a taco recipe as a burrito or enchilada recipe.

Blue Corn Flour Tortillas

1 cup flour

1 cup blue corn meal*

1 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

3 T. shortening or bacon grease or lard

¾ cup warm water

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until thoroughly mixed in (like pie crust). Sprinkle on the water and mix with a fork. Form into a ball. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes.

When dough has rested, pinch off small pieces of doll and roll into a ball. Flatten the balls as you would a hamburger patty. On a lightly floured surface, roll tortilla dough into a very thin circle (this may take some practice).

Heat a flat griddle to medium high. Place tortillas, one at a time, on the griddle and cook for about a minute per side, just until the dough gets slightly charred.

To use tortillas, fry briefly in very hot oil for soft tortillas, or cook longer and shape to make crispy taco shells.

*You may need to special order or visit a Latin grocery store in order to find the blue corn meal. For those of my readers who live locally, I found this ingredient at Cole’s in Clay Springs.

October 4, 2011: Apple Bars Recipe

As I mentioned, October is National Apple Month and right now there are lots of varieties available at the grocery store. I’m doing my best to focus on the all the types of food that October is known for (cookies, pasta, desserts, bologna – in addition to apples) so let’s start with a simple recipe sure to please everyone in your family. These bars are a great after school snack or casual get-together fare.

Make sure you use a sweet apple for this recipe - I used gala apples. Since there's no sugar directly on the apple slices, a Granny Smith or other type of tart apple wouldn't work well.

Apple Bars

½ cup butter, softened (or butter flavored Crisco)

½ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 ½ cups granola cereal (any variety - your choice)

1 cup flour

½ t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

¾ t. pumpkin pie spice (or equal amounts cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger)

1 large or 2 small apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly (about 1 ½ cups)

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Mix together dry ingredients and add to butter mixture. Blend just until mixture is crumbly. Reserve one cup.

Press remaining dough into bottom of greased 8 x 8” square pan with your fingers. Top with apple slices. Drop remaining dough by teaspoonfuls evenly across top of the apple slices.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 9 – 12 bars 

Note: it’s easy to double the recipe to feed more people; just use a 13 x 9” pan.

September 19, 2011: Sourdough Angel Biscuits

Here’s another recipe I took from Rita Davenport’s Sourdough Cookery. I made these biscuits for my women’s Bible study in addition to the rolls because I thought they would be perfect with my homemade peach butter. They’re called Angel Biscuits because they are light as a feather!

One of two pans with biscuits rising before baking.

Sourdough Angel Biscuits

1 t. yeast

2 T. lukewarm water

1 cup sourdough starter

1 t. sugar

4 T. shortening (try butter flavored Crisco)

½ t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1 ½ cups flour

4 T. butter, melted

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add sourdough starter and sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine salt, baking powder and flour. Cut in the shortening until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Add the sourdough starter mixture and mix well. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead gently, adding more flour if necessary. Roll dough out to about ½ inch thickness. Cut into rounds. Dip in melted butter and place rounds, sides touching, in a greased cake pan.

Cover pan with a towel and place in a warm place until doubled in size, about one hour.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 to 14 biscuits.

Note: Next time I make these biscuits, I will double the amount of yeast to make them rise faster and lighter. Use 2 t. yeast dissolved in 2 T. water and proceed with the recipe as written.