Pickles and Ice Cream Cupcakes

I discovered these cupcakes from Cupcake Project after my son AJ was born. When I started making weekly cupcakes for my co-workers, I tucked this idea in the back of my mind for when our second child came along.

Coincidentally, we're in the midst of moving to a new town because my husband accepted another job. This means I can still work for my company, but I'll be switching offices. This means my current co-workers have one final week of cupcakes. 

What better way to leave than on a weird note? In addition to these, which I'll promote as "mystery" cupcakes to allow people to guess the flavor, I'll make a more normal batch as well.

Pickles and Ice Cream Cupcakes

1 cup flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground dill

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. onion powder

6 Tbsp. butter, room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup dill pickle juice (the liquid from the pickle jar)

1/3 cup finely chopped dill pickles

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, dill, salt, and onion powder in a medium-sized bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and sour cream until blended. 

Alternately fold in flour mixture and pickle juice, beginning and ending with the flour. Fold in the chopped pickles.

Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake  about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the cupcake clean. Cool completely on wire racks. Top with ice cream to serve. Makes 8 cupcakes.

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

A couple years ago I borrowed a Ghirardelli chocolate cookbook from the library and copied several recipes, which I tucked away in my stash of recipes to bake. I found that stack while packing my cookbooks for our impending move. Among the recipes was one for a chocolate shortbread, which I promptly made as part of my Christmas cookie stash. The recipe suggests an option of dipping cookies and sandwiching them with chocolate/peanut butter goodness. I didn't do that, but I think they'd also be fantastic stuffed with chocolate cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. salt

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add remaining ingredients, and beat just until incorporated. Chill the dough at least 30 minutes.

Line 2 cookie sheets with silipats. Preheat oven to 325˚F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut 2-inch rounds out of the dough, and reroll scraps as needed. Place cookies on sheets at least 1/2-inch apaprt.

Bake 15 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheets, and then remove with a spatula. Makes about 40 cookies.

Vanilla Bean Shortbread

Oddly enough, this recipe is why I purchased whole vanilla beans for the first time. And then Christmas was over, and I never made this Cooking Light recipe. So, this year I pulled out this recipe and gave it a shot.

It's an OK shortbread for a slightly healthier version, but it doesn't top my mom's Scotch shortbread recipe.

Vanilla Bean Shortbread
2 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line bottom and sides of 13 x 9 pan with foil, coat foil with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine flour, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Beat butter in separate medium bowl 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add oil, and beat on medium speed about  3 minutes until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean, and add seeds to butter. (Discard the pods.) Add flour mixture, beating on low until just incorporated.

Spoon dough into prepared pan. Use a sheet of plastic wrap to press dough evenly into pan. Discard plastic wrap.

Bake 30 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack. Carefully remove shortbread by lifting out foil. Cut into 32 pieces, and cool squares completely on wire rack. Makes 32 small pieces of shortbread.

Skillet Caramel Apple Pie

This pie looks delicious. This pie smells delicious. I'm wondering if my co-workers would notice if I sneak a piece before tomorrow's Christmas potluck. I'm guessing they would.

I've been meaning to bake this since I found the recipe ... and still have a bag of apples from my parents' tree sitting in my garage. (Now that bag is less full, thanks to this pie.)

This pie may look a bit complicated, but it's easy. If you're scared of making your own pie crust, buy the pre-packaged kind. They work wonderfully. Thanks to Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy for this deliciousness that will make my co-workers love me tomorrow.

Skillet Caramel Apple Pie
6 large apples (about 4 lbs.) peeled, cored and sliced thinly
3 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick + 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter (divided)
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 pie crusts

Preheat oven to 450˚F. Toss apples with flour, lemon juice and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt 6 Tbsp. butter over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar and water. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat, and let the mixture simmer 3 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat, and set aside.

Roll out pie crusts, so they will fit 10-inch skillet. Place bottom crust in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes to prepare it for the wrath of a hot skillet. Cut a couple decorative pieces out of the top pie crust to allow steam to vent.

In 10-inch oven-safe skillet, melt remaining butter over medium heat. Once butter is melted, add remaining brown sugar. Stir until sugar is melted, and then remove from heat. Make sure caramel mixture evenly coats the bottom of the pan.

Working quickly, place bottom pie crust into skillet on top of caramel sauce. Fill with apple mixture. Pour half the caramel sauce from the saucepan over the apples. Top pie with remaining crust, and crimp edges to seal. (Be careful not to burn your fingers on the hot skillet.) Drizzle remaining caramel sauce over the pie, without seeping it over the edges.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350˚F. Bake an additional 50 to 60 minutes until pie is golden. Cool on a wire rack at least 15 minutes.

Makes 1 decadent pie.

Soft Pretzels

I recently saw a few recipes for soft pretzels pop up on blogs I follow including Brown-Eyed Baker. I decided that would be a good baking project for our second morning in our new temporary home. Baking helps make life feel a bit more normal despite being in a new town where we know no one. Eek. No wonder I'm baking.

These turned out fairly well. My pretzel shapes collapsed on me during the boiling water phase, but the texture is wonderful. I might have eaten two of them as an early lunch. Might have.

Soft Pretzels

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (1 packet)
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
10 cups water
2/3 cups baking soda
1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp. water, whisked together (for egg wash)
Coarse salt, for sprinkling

Combine the water, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to foam.

Add the flour and butter. Use the dough hook attachment to mix on low speed until all of the ingredients are combined. Increase the mixer speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with the vegetable oil; set aside.

Combine the water and baking soda in a large, wide pot (a Dutch oven works perfect for this). Bring the mixture to a rolling boil.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 2 or 3 at a time (or however many will fit comfortably given the size of your pot – don’t crowd them), for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large, flat spatula. Place the boiled pretzels back on the baking sheet, brush the top of each pretzel with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake until dark golden brown in color, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 pretzels.