Archives for April 2021

Mom’s Buttermilk Cookies

April 25, 2021 by Serena Leave a Comment

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk

FROSTING:
3 tablespoons butter, softened
3-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake until edges are lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
For frosting, combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread over cookies; if desired, sprinkle with chopped walnuts.

Credit: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/mom-s-buttermilk-cookies/

Biscuits with Sliced Ham and Apricot Preserves

April 18, 2021 by Serena Leave a Comment

These fun little sandwiches are just the thing for a casual brunch or light lunch. Slices of country ham are tucked inside flaky biscuits along with a slathering of apricot preserves and Dijon mustard, which balance the richness of the meat. The buttermilk in the biscuit dough contributes a pleasant tanginess and helps the biscuits to rise.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups (17 1/2 oz./545 g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. baking soda
16 Tbs. (2 sticks) (8 oz./250 g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch (12-mm) cubes, plus 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup (8 fl. oz./250 ml) cold buttermilk
Flaky sea salt
1 lb. (500 g) country ham, thinly sliced
Apricot preserves for serving
Dijon mustard for serving

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, sugar and baking soda. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the cold butter until the pieces are the size of peas. Drizzle in the buttermilk and mix with a fork until a shaggy dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead once or twice to bring the dough together, then pat into a square about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Cut the dough into 4 equal squares, then stack them on top of each other. Press down to flatten into a square about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Using a floured knife, cut the dough into 9 equal squares. Place on the prepared baking sheet, spacing the biscuits about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart, and freeze for 10 minutes.

Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake until the biscuits are deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Serve the biscuits slightly warm or let cool completely.

Split the biscuits in half and serve with the ham, apricot preserves and mustard for making sandwiches. Makes 9 biscuits.

Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen

Filled Cookies with mincemeat

April 11, 2021 by Serena Leave a Comment

3 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling – mincemeat or the home made filling below

1/2 cup chopped raisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set Aside.

Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, about three minutes,
Beat the egg lightly and combine with the milk and vanilla. Add to the butter mixture alternating with the flour mixture and ending with the flour. Beat well after each addition. This will be a fairly sticky dough. Form into a ball, wrap in cling wrap, and put in the freezer for about an hour.
Meanwhile make the filling. Combine all off the ingredients except for the vanilla and heat until thickened. Off the heat, stir in the vanilla and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Divide the dough in half and return the first half to the refrigerator while you work with the other half.
Place dough on a well floured surface and dust with flour. Turn the dough over and make sure there is flour underneath. Roll out thin and cut into 3-inch circles with a floured cutter. As you place a circle on an ungreased cookie sheet, put a generous tablespoon of filling in the center and cover with anther circle of dough, pressing edges together slightly with a fork tine to seal the edges. Continue until all the dough and filling are used. Combine the scraps of dough and rout out to make the last cookies.

Bake about 15 minutes, or until the dough begins to brown slightly.

Makes approximately 18 large cookies.
Note : This recipe is a real favorite so I often extend the number of cookies by just using a single circle with less filling, folding over to seal the same way to make half circle. Still make some with the double and more filling amount. This way I get twice the amount of cookies but it has less filling in each cookies. The thickness of the rolled out dough will determine how many cookies is possible in a single batch.

Recipe: now a family tradition.
Source book: page 130 of Lee Baily’s COUNTY DESSERTS with full page picture on page 129 Book was a Christmas present from Mike to Serena 1990. Cookies are the closestto what Grandma McP made using homemade mincemeat.