TWD: Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

First.  This was the easiest and quickest recipe I have ever put together.

Second.  When will I learn that appearances can be deceiving? Very deceiving.

This recipe was so quick and easy that by the time I put it together (which took all of five minutes), I was feeling preeetty confident. That lasted until I started filling the pie crust with the filling.  I used a frozen pie crust (don't own a food processor and didn't feel up to making it by hand) and it ended up being too shallow so I had some filling left over.

I noticed that the pumpkin filling seemed very watery and when I sprinkled the pecans, half of them just sunk to the bottom as did the pecan filling.  I started to have doubts and carefully reread the ingredients list and the instruction.  For the first time I had followed everything exactly as directed but the pie did not look like it should - or at least the way I thought it should look.  I was convinced something was wrong and was resigned to having it be a total flop.  

I decided to continue as directed and not make any changes to the oven temperature or baking time. I was skeptical and did not expect the pie to be done after the allotted 45 minutes. But lo and behold...when I poked at the center, it wasn't jiggly! It had actually firmed up.  Time for a happy dance!

I couldn't wait to taste it but decided to leave it alone until the next day and share it with my gang at the office. This was all that was left less than one hour after I placed it on the table. 

Lesson learned:  Never doubt Dorie Greenspan's recipes.

TWD: Kugelhopf

Woohoo!  I am now a proud mama of a KitchenAid stand mixer! And it arrived earlier than expected and just in time for me to christen it with this week's selection (thank you to Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl for this week's choice).  This has been an eagerly awaited gift to myself and I couldn't wait to get started.

But, oh no, my bubble of giddy happiness was threatening to burst when the dough did not behave as it should. At one point in the recipe, it says the dough will climb up the dough hook. Whenever I anxiously peeked into the bowl, the dough (batter really) had absolutely no inclination to climb up anything.  In fact, the batter was so flat the end of the dough hook barely sunk low enough to do much to the dough other than to stir the surface.  When it came to adding the butter, I started to get really worried.  

The pats of butter I dutifully squeezed before adding as specified in the recipe just sat on top the batter. I had no choice.  I had to help my baby along.  I felt so bad, I couldn't help but give comforting pats while stirring the dough with my rubber spatula. I also added a spoonful of flour because the dough looked so wet...it looked like thick pancake batter.  Is that how it's supposed to be?

Once the dough was left to rise, it behaved more like it should.  And voilà! Here is the finished product.  Turned out better than I expected, but I haven't tasted it yet so we'll see if it really turned out okay.  I'm off to California early tomorrow morning (which is why I'm posting this tonight) on a business trip and will be lugging this baby along with me so that my co-workers (aka my tasting panel) can give it their usual taste test.  I'll give you an update when I get back in couple of weeks.

Operation Baking GALS: Round 4

When baking things to give away I always have a hard time trying to decide what to make. This was no exception. For couple weeks I've been jotting down things I wanted to make and send to the two recipients of  Round 4.  Brownies, pecan shortbread, Austrian shortbread, mango bread, homemade granola, blondies, pumpkin chocolate bars...the list went on and on...and on...and on.  Making a list might have been good idea at first, but in the end all it achieved was an overwhelming list that gave me a headache whenever I looked at it.  I gave up on the list and ended up choosing two favorites and something that reminded me of my carefree days in kindergarten: oatmeal cookies, molasses ginger cookies and rice krispies.

Oatmeal cookies are one of my all-time favorites but I have yet to find a recipe that I love as much. Sometime ago, I came across a recipe on David Lebovitz's website. It's a recipe he adapted from Nick Malgieri's book, Perfect Light Desserts: Fabulous Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and More Made with Real Butter, Sugar, Flour, and Eggs (HarperCollins). They are very chewy and moist (due to the applesauce, I guess) and yummy but, to me, they seemed more like vanilla raisin cookies that happened to have oatmeal in them. It's a bit bread-y but settles down a bit after it cools completely. Can't say it'll be my favorite. Still, the recipe (see below) is a keeper.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (from David Lebovitz's website)
About 36 cookies

• 1 cup flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
  
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
  
• 1 large egg
  
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• 1 1/3 cups rolled oats (not instant)
  
• 1/2 cup dark raisins (or dried cranberries)
• 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, foil, or silicone mats
  

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the rack on the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
   
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
   
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, then the egg, applesauce, and vanilla.
   
4. Stir in the dry ingredients, then the oats and raisins.
   
5. Drop the batter by rounded teaspoons 2-inches apart on the baking sheets and use a fork to gently flatten the dough.
   
6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they "look dull on the surface but are moist and soft", according to Nick. Rotate baking sheets during baking for even heating.
   

Storage: Once cool, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

I hadn't planned on making two different oatmeal recipes but when putting away the carton of oatmeal, I saw the recipe printed on the lid. I decide to give it a try - I was planning to make several batches anyway. This tastes more like the oatmeal cookies from my childhood (probably because it most likely was the same recipe used back then) but is also a bit too sweet for me. I usually cut the sugar by half or a third in my recipes but since this was my first time trying out this one, I followed it to the letter...sort of. I ran out of brown sugar and was too lazy to run out to the store so I substituted the brown sugar with regular sugar and added couple of tablespoons of molasses. This is also a chewy cookie and does not have the bread-y-ness as the previous recipe. I think I like it best out the two but my search continues.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (recipe printed on the lid of Quaker Oats)

Makes about 4 dozen

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 1-1/2 all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  
• 3 cups uncooked oats (quick or old-fashioned)
  
• 1 cup raisins

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. 
   
2. Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.
   
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
   
4. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
   
5. Stir in raisins and oats; mix well.
   
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
   
7. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
   
8. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.
   

Making rice krispies is quick and easy.  It's so easy to make that one would think nothing can go wrong.  Well, not when I'm the one making it.  The first batch of marshmallows did not quite melt.  It puffed up then turned into a plastic looking ball of stickiness.  I have no idea what happened but I think something was wrong with the marshmallows.  That's my story, and I sticking to it.  The second and third bag melted without any strange mishaps. 

I had some green and red sprinkles so I added a spoonful to the first batch.  It looked so cheerful and pretty...until they started to melt and smears of green and red appeared.  Not pretty, but when I cut it up into squares, they had a charming homemade look to them.  For the second batch, I just sprinkled the top and that had a much cleaner look.  Kind of made me want to smear the colors at bit.  LOL.  You can see how different the two batches look in the picture above.

I also wanted to make some flavored nuts (I have a lovely recipe for rosemary spiced almonds) and trail mix but ran out of time so this time I'll make do with store bought ones from Trader Joe's.  I'll have to make them for Round 5.