the final cookie

Ally, here.

Here it is folks, the final cookie from the epic 12 Days of Christmas Cookies. And it's a good one to end on, my friends.

The final cookie is an oatmeal cookie. But this is not your run of the mill oatmeal cookie. It's full of random ingredients that I never would have thought would taste appetizing together. But my, oh my, did they taste good. Cinnamon, honey, coconut, and dried cranberries. Yum. You'll never eat an ordinary oatmeal cookie again.

So take a deep breath and prepare yourself for Guy Fieri's crazy oatmeal cookies.

2 cups flour (I used whole wheat, as always)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
3/4 cup dried cranberries
2 cups quick oats
1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped (I left this out)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with a mixer. Mix in honey and vanilla until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix in coconut, cranberries, oats, and rosemary. Fold dry ingredients into the butter mixture.

Form into balls and place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 13 to 15 minutes. Cool on cookie racks.

You're going to love it!

Please let us know if you've tried any of our blogging adventures for yourselves! We love comments!

on the fourth day of Christmas, Food Network gave to me, a whole bunch of biscotti

Ally, here.

The fourth day of cookies brings biscotti. Specifically, Food Network requested dried cherry and almond biscotti. Unfortunately, I don't like cherries and I didn't have any almonds on hand. So I improvised with dried cranberries, and left the nuts out, altogether.

The recipe also called for something called turbinado sugar. Apparently it's sugar with much larger crystals. Rather than searching the stores for this, I just used sugar in the raw, which I think is pretty similar and always proves to be delicious.

You can check out the original recipe here. Otherwise, here's my adapted recipe for cranberry biscotti with chocolate ganache.

Here's what you'll need:

biscotti:
-1 stick butter, at room temperature
-1 cup sugar
-2 eggs, plus 1 egg white
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 cups flour (I used whole wheat, of course)
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-pinch of salt
-1 cup dried cranberries
-2 tablespoons sugar in the raw


chocolate ganache:
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

Here's what to do:

biscotti:
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

2. Use an electric mixer to combine the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

3. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold in the dried cranberries.

4. Divide the dough in half and roll into two logs. (I found this part of the recipe a little bit confusing. I'm still not sure what kind of logs they are referring to, but I made mine into thick, flattened ovals.) Place on a baking sheet, at least 3 inches apart, as the dough will spread.

5. Mix the egg white with a little water. Brush over the dough and sprinkle with sugar in the raw. Bake for 30 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Place the cooled biscotti on a cutting board and slice the biscotti apart into 1-inch thick slices. Put these back on the baking sheets and bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until hardened. Cool completely on a rack.

chocolate ganache:
1. Put the whipping cream and chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, then stir. Continue to microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth and creamy.

2. Once the biscotti is completely cooled, dip in ganache and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate to harden the ganache.

And that's that, folks. This stuff is pretty darn good. I made it to take to a Christmas party tonight, and I'm afraid the husband and I have already taken out a good portion of the batch.

You're going to love it.

scones: the breakfast (lunch, and dinner) of champions

Ally, here.

What'scone on?

I was looking through the refrigerator last night and gasped in dismay when I saw that the carton of whipping cream hiding in the back was about to expire. I hate throwing things away, so I immediately searched for something I could bake.

Scones.

I have always been turned off by scones. They are hard and bland and crumbly and awful.

At least that was my thought until a few months ago. My sister-in-law works for a bakery (Q&A Sweet Treats, check them out) that makes the most amazing scones. Seriously. They are wonderful. She made about a dozen of them on a weekend trip to the lake. Even the crumbs were devoured. They are that good.

Anywho, my opinion on scones has certainly changed since tasting that culinary masterpiece. So I decided to try making some for myself. I think I've discovered a recipe that is easily adaptable to your scone needs and fruit choices. I've adapted it from here.

I used craisins and white chocolate chips in mine. I tried to use the last of several ingredients that I had in the house, so this is really a hodge-podge of leftovers (proof that the right combination of random things can taste really wonderful). You can substitute the fruit of your choosing, and you don't have to add the white chocolate chips.

Here's what you need:

-2 cups pancake/waffle mix (I used Aunt Jemima's whole wheat mix)
-1/3 cup dried cranberries
-1/3 cup white chocolate chips
-3 tablespoons granulated sugar (plus more for sprinkling on top)
-1/2 cup whipping cream
-1 egg
-a tiny bit of milk


Here's what to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 425.

2. Combine the pancake mix, cranberries, white chocolate chips, sugar, whipping cream, and egg in a bowl until they form a soft dough.

3. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it on a flat surface until the dough holds together well (about 6 times).

4. Roll dough into a ball and flatten into an 8-inch round. Brush the top of the dough with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Cut the round into 8 pieces (like you would cut a pizza), but don't separate.

5. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the scones are golden brown. Break the scones apart before serving.

Now, if you desire a crunchier, drier scone, you can use a little less whipping cream, probably about 1/3 cup, rather than 1/2. But I prefer the richer texture of this scone with 1/2 cup whipping cream.

I recommend serving these for breakfast with a warm cup of coffee. (For all of you Lexingtonians, I suggest a cup of hazelnut coffee from Lexington Coffee and Tea.) Or if you aren't a coffee drinker, a tall glass of milk should do the trick.

But be warned, you will probably want to eat a scone with lunch and dinner, as well. I did just that.

Try it for yourself. You're going to love it.