Sugar Cookies

As you may or may not know, I'm not much of a sweets person.  However, I have now been given the Williams Sonoma Star Wars cookie cutters 3 times, so I figured it was time to use them.  (I am also an avid Star Wars fan).  I totally took this recipe from an online source, but I added some VeggieLiv touches.  Feel free to use an egg substitute to make this vegan.

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup Earth Balance, softened
• 1-1 1/2 cups white sugar (if you add less than 1 1/2, add a touch of brown sugar).
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

***The Star Wars shapes did not turn out.  I read some other recipes that included shortening that were for making shapes.  I'm not much on shortening, so I stuck with vegan butter.  If you want shapes though, this recipe is not exactly for you.  It does produce some delicious, chewy sugar cookies though!!
 

Cheese Herb Bread

 

 Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 packet dry, active yeast
1 tsp sugar
3 1/2- 4 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (or other cheese) plus more for sprinkling
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Italian dried herbs
1/2 tsp salt

 

 

How to make Cheese Herb Bread

My new adventure in bread making has taken me to a place where I want to make quicker bread with yummy extras in it!

This is a much quicker recipe than my artisan herb bread and is perfect for sandwiches and snacks.  This bread takes a little bit of love though :)

Dissolve the yeast in the water and sugar.  Let stand about 10 minutes or until very foamy.  Mix in the flour and salt with your hands or a wooden spoon until pretty smooth.  Then, knead the dough for about 10-12 minutes or until shiny, stretchy, and smooth.  Add more flour if needed.

Shape the sough into a ball and put in a lightly oiled nonreactive bowl, turning to coat the dough on all sides with oil.  Cover with a towel and let stand for 2 hours.  The dough should be doubled in size.

Then, turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead in the cheese and herbs.  Cover with the towel and let rest another hour an a half.  Then, cut the dough in half and form into long loafs.  Cover and let rest another 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Top the bread with extra cheese (optional) and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when thumped.

Enjoy!!

Artisan Herb Bread

I have been so tempted to make bread for a long time, but as someone who fancies herself more of a cook than a baker and a recipe maker rather than a recipe follower, I was less than optimistic about my potential skills.  However, after doing some research, I managed to come up with a recipe that I found to work very well.  It's easy, and pretty similar to the New York Times famous "No Knead Bread", though I found that a little kneading never hurt anyone :)

For the bread, you can really put anything that you want in it, but I chose the herbs that I had on hand at the time.  Later, I made some with fresh rosemary, thyme, and oregano that was so delicious!!

 

 

Ingredients

4 cups of wheat flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
3/4 packet of dry active yeast (3/4 tbs)
3/4 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt (more if you like salty)
2 tbs chopped basil
1/2 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp dried rosemary

How to make Artisan Herb Bread

This is a great bread recipe that turns out super crispy on the outside and airy in the middle.  I had never made bread before, so I surveyed some recipes and came up with this one.  Feel free to add whatever spices and herbs you want to the bread.  The next time I make it, I think I am going to put some cloves of garlic in it!

Start by pouring the warm water into the yeast and sugar.  Let sit for about 20 minutes until it is a very bubbly mixture.  

Then, add in the flour, salt, and herbs and mix.  You will have a very sticky, ugly looking dough. 
Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 18-24 hours.  The mixture should look very bubbly.
Take the mixture out of the bowl and carefully transfer to a floured working surface.  Form the dough into a ball and cover with a smooth, liberally floured kitchen towel while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  While preheating, put your pizza stone or baking sheet in there to warm up as well.  I let mine sit for an extra 10 minutes while the oven was heating the stone.
Sprinkle the dough with some dried rosemary and transfer to the pizza stone.  (I put some aluminum foil between the stone and dough to make it easier to transfer and to ensure that it would not stick).  I also put a small ramekin full of water into the bottom of the oven to given a crispier crust to the bread.

Bake at 450 degrees for about 1 hour, or until the bread is golden brown and crispy.  I used the toothpick trick to make sure the inside was properly cooked as well.

Enjoy!!

Decadent Caramels

 

Ingredients

2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn light syrup
2 cups butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 pint heavy whipping cream
2 pinches fleur de sel
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

How to make Decadent Caramels

Ok, I realize that this recipe is not my usual healthy style, but I had to make some rich caramels for Christmas.

These caramels are really easy, but they take a little while, so be prepared.

Line a 9x13 baking sheet with lightly greased parchment paper.  Set aside.

Lightly grease a large pot with butter.  Add all ingredients and mix together.  Then, bring to medium heat.  Let the mixture boil for about 40 minutes (or until a candy thermometer reaches 248 F or solid balls form when dropped into cold water).  DO NOT stir the mixture as it boils.  Instead, swirl the pan to mix.

Once the caramel reaches the desired temperature, pour into the baking dish.  Add walnuts and sprinkle with fleur de sel.  Let the dish cool, and place into the fridge over night.  Then, cut caramel into bite size pieces and wrap in parchment paper.  Enjoy and share with loved ones!