recipies

On this page I’m going to start a collection of our FAVORITE recipes. Only the ones we make often…that we hope will be on the menu for a long, long time.  If you have any requests, let me know.

Pumpkin Waffles

Ingredients:

  • 5 Tbs. unsalted butter (can do less)
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree (you can use canned
    puree)
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/4 tsp. grated peeled fresh ginger (If you live in YVR – Meinhardts has a Pumpkin Pie Spice blend that can replace all the spices in this recipe)
  • 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbs. double-acting baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat a waffle iron. If you want to hold the finished waffles until serving time, preheat an oven to 200°F.

Melt the butter; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, brown and granulated sugars, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Using a rubber spatula or handheld electric mixer, mix together well. Stir in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. The mixture will be thick and a little lumpy. Don’t try to smooth it out; just mix until the ingredients are incorporated.

In another bowl, beat together the milk, sour cream, eggs, rum and vanilla. Add the liquid ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the melted butter.

Whether or not your irons grids are well seasoned or made of a nonstick material, it is best to lightly butter or spray the grids for these waffles because the batter is quite sticky. Brush or spray the grids again only if subsequent waffles stick.

For a Belgian waffle iron, spoon out 2/3 to 3/4 cup of batter (or the amount recommended by the manufacturers instructions) onto the hot iron. Use a metal spatula or wooden spoon to spread the batter evenly over the grids. Close the lid and bake until golden. If the waffle is hard to remove from the iron, peel it off gently and carefully. Serve immediately or keep the waffles, in a single layer, on a rack in the preheated oven while you make the rest.

Serving: Serve these warm and golden, one to a diner, topped with vanilla ice cream and/or maple syrup. They are great with a cup of hot or cold cider. Makes about six 4 1/2-inch square Belgian waffles.

Animal Cracker Cookies

Tal LOVES these cookies…as do I. In fact, all the pics you see of cool stamped cookies are likely this recipe. Yum.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp. mace
  • 12 Tbs. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Over a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and mace. Set aside.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and beat for 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for 1 minute, stopping the mixer once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Add the remaining flour and beat until all of the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls. Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Let the dough stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Place each dough disk between 2 clean, large pieces of plastic wrap. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. (If the dough cracks while rolling, let it stand at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes more.) Remove the plastic wrap and place the dough on a floured work surface. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour.

Preheat an oven to 350°F.

Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. Dip circus cookie cutters into flour just before using and cut out the shapes. Hold each cutter over a prepared baking sheet and lightly depress the plunger to remove the cutout; the plunger will also imprint the tops of the cookies. Freeze the baking sheets for 15 minutes, or refrigerate for 30 minutes. Gather up the scraps, reroll and cut out more cookies.

Bake the cookies until very light golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool to room temperature. Makes about 20 cookies of each shape.

Pink Pancakes

Directions:

  1. 1
    In a blender or food processor, combine the water, ricotta cheese, beet puree, vanilla, and cinnamon.
  2. 2
    Dump the cheese mixture into a medium bowl, add the pancake mix and apple. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix, you want the batter to be lumpy.
  3. 3
    Coat a griddle with nonstick spray and heat to medium high. Add 1/2 tsp vegetable oil. Use 1/4 cup of batter at a time and pour out pancakes. When you see bubbles start to form, it is time to flip the pancake. If the bottom is too brown, turn the heat down. It should take about 1 to 2 minutes per side.

 

Best Peanut Butter Cookies Ever – When I was a kid, my step-great-grandmother ‘Granny Best’, made the most amazing peanut butter cookies. She would send home a tin each week…and they would quickly disappear. I’ve been on the search for years to find the perfect, chewy, peanut butter cookie.  This is the winner so far.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Milk Chocolate Chunks

(Makes 24 cookies)

1 3/4  cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 ounces good milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together until fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated. The mixture will look light and fluffy. Add vanilla and peanut butter and beat until just incorporated.

Add half of the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until incorporated.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in chocolate. Cover bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. With palm of your hand, very gently press each cookie down so it forms a very tall disk shape. Do not press too hard and do not press it flat.

Sprinkle tops of cookies with granulated sugar and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time, until tops of cookies just begin to brown.

Remove pan from oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer individual cookies to the rack to cook completely (although they are also delicious warm).

The cookies can be stored, in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins – this is another one of those recipes that I have been testing over the years. A really good blueberry muffin isn’t that easy to come by. Well, all looking is over because this is my absolute go to moving forward. All kinds of delicious…and kid approved!
Yield = 12

Ingredients

  • ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 tsp. lemon zest (I used 2 Meyer lemons)
  • 1 cup + 1 T. sugar
  • 1 egg, room temperature
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 cups cake flour (Note: I used all-purpose flour)
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1½ tsp. kosher salt
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen work just as well)
  • ½ cup milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 1 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour and sift ( … right) the remaining flour, baking powder and salt. I whisk. Wish I weren’t so lazy.
  3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the milk. Fold in the blueberries.
  4. Grease a jumbo muffin tin with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Distribute batter among muffin holes — in my tin, each cup was filled above the rim with batter. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 30 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. Let muffins cool in pan for 7 (yes, exactly 7) minutes before serving.

Leave a comment