Lemon Bars

Everyone loves Lemon Bars. This is the classic version - flaky shortbread crust topped with a tangy-sweet baked lemon curd.  Finished with a generous dusting of powdered sugar, these Lemon Bars look good, taste good, and they are simple to make.

Here’s a kicked up fast dessert:  plate a refrigerated lemon bar along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, drizzle a teaspoon of limoncello onto the ice cream, sprinkle all with powdered sugar and garnish with a couple of mint leaves.  Your dinner guests will think you’re the best!

Snowballs

Pecan Bells. Mexican Wedding Cookies.  Butterballs.  Russian Tea Cakes.  Called many names but always yummy, these rich not-too-sweet nutty shortbread cookies are particularly popular around the winter holidays.  They look great on a cookie tray!

Tip:  when making several cookie doughs for your Christmas baking sessions , write the name of the cookie when wrapping up the dough to put in the fridge.  Egg nog can cause blurry vision and after awhile, cookie doughs start looking alike.

Thumbprints

What fun these are to eat!  Tender, bite-size morsels with jam centers that look festive on a holiday cookie tray.

Experiment with different fillings.  Apricot and raspberry jams were used in these.  Try mint jelly, hot pepper jelly, lemon or lime curd (fill after baking) or sweetened cream cheese.

Double Jolts

To easily line pans with foil, turn pan upside down and place foil on the outside.  Smooth sides to made neat corners.  Gently remove foil, turn over pan, and guide foil into pan, ensuring corners "fit".

Spray bottom and sides of pan with a non-stick coating.

If your butter is cold, cut up butter into small pieces and put into a non-metal mixing bowl.  Soften butter in microwave for 30 seconds, check, and re-microwave if needed in 15 second increments. 



An easy way to toast a small amount of nuts is to toast them in a frying pan over medium-high heat on the stove. Watch carefully and stir often.  When the nuts are finished toasting, place nuts into a dish so that they don't continue cooking in the pan.

After creaming the butter and brown sugar, add the coffee, molasses, egg yolk, and vanilla extract.  Mix well with an electric beater.











Add the salt and flour to the wet ingredients and mix well by hand. Spread the dough as evenly as possible into prepared pan.  Using a couple of wet fingers can help spread the dough. The surface doesn't need to be smooth as it will even out during baking.

See how smooth the surface is after baking?  Smooth the chocolate chips over the surface using an offset spatula.











Sprinkle almonds over the melted chocolate and give the nuts a gentle nudge into the chocolate.

Cool completely on a wire rack and cut with a sharp knife.

Double Jolts

3     Tbls. instant espresso powder or 3 1/2 Tbls. dark instant coffee, dissolved in 2 Tbls. hot 

        water

1      cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1      cup dark brown sugar, packed

1/2   cup unsulphered molasses

1      egg yolk, large

2      tsp. vanilla extract

1/2   tsp. salt

2      cup unbleached flour

1      cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2   cup sliced almonds

Dissolve instant espresso or coffee in hot water; set aside to cool.  Toast sliced almonds; set aside to cool. Line a 13"x9" baking pan with foil; spray with non-stick coating.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine butter and brown sugar in a medium bowl and mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add molasses, egg yolk, vanilla extract, and dissolved espresso; mix well.  With a wooden spoon, stir in salt and flour.  Spread dough evenly in prepared pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the sides pull away from sides of pan and center springs back when gently depressed.  Remove pan from oven and turn off oven heat.  Evenly sprinkle chocolate chips over top of bars and return pan to oven for 2-3 minutes to melt chips (chips will look shiny).

Remove pan from oven and with an offset spatula, swirl chocolate chips, covering tops of bars.  Sprinkle with toasted almonds, gently pressing nuts into chocolate.  Cool completely on a wire rack.  When completely cool, remove bars from pan by lifting the opposite ends of the foil onto a large cutting board.  Smooth the foil and cut with a sharp knife using a downward cut.

Store in a tightly covered container between sheets of wax paper for up to one week.  Makes about 24-36 bars.

Biscotti

While listening to holiday music, Pachabel's Canon in D was included in the play set and I thought of biscotti.  Hmmm.. Italian biscotti and German Baroque composer...somehow in my head they're related.  Anyway, like in most countries, every micro-region has its own version of culinary dishes, and these differences are often driven by the ready availability of ingredients or the cook's preferences. 

This biscotti recipe provides a reliable dough base to invent your own micro-regional version.  Using olive oil instead of butter, it is more rustic (less cholesterol so that you can eat more) and holds up well when dunked into hot coffee or tea. If you prefer softer middles, slice and then bake for a lesser amount of time than specified or don't second bake at all.  Create your own favorites by substituting your add-ins - orange zest and almonds dipped in bittersweet chocolate; rosemary, pecans and lemon zest; cinnamon, walnuts and raisins - the opportunities to design your signature biscotti are endless! 

No mixer needed!