These Neapolitan brownies have strawberry and vanilla cheesecake swirls in a chocolate brownie, inspired by the ice cream flavor.

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Growing up in the 80s and 90s, in the midwest, there was ALWAYS a box of Neapolitan flavored ice cream in our freezer with the evenly divided brown, white and pink stripes in the box. Each of my individual family members would dig into whatever flavor they prefer most, often leaving one left over. Usually this meant the sad pink strawberry stripe would sit there, half eaten in the end, and my mom would refuse to buy a new box until we finished that one. I liked strawberry ice cream but I mostly liked it COMBINED with the other two flavors.

As a grown-up, the combination of any of the three is just delightful to me. Here on my blog I’ve shared my strawberry and chocolate checkerboard cookies, strawberry chocolate cheesecake, and I often serve my chocolate and vanilla swirled waffles with fresh strawberries. When I want a quick dessert, I’ll even make my chocolate strawberry grilled sandwiches. And I included a Neapolitan flavored shortcake in my cookbook Marbled, Swirled, and Layered (affiliate link). So I was delighted to see a Neapolitan cookie in my friend Sarah’s cookbook 100 Cookies (affiliate link), which went viral on Instagram. It was those cookies that inspired me to make these Neapolitan brownies!

What is Neapolitan flavored ice cream?

Neapolitan refers to the cuisine of Naples, Italy. As Italians immigrated to the United States they brought their frozen desserts with them, including ice cream. Spumoni ice cream is most likely a predecessor to Neapolitan flavored ice cream, with the three flavors of cherry, pistachio and vanilla or chocolate. Neapolitan flavored ice cream evolved to be chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, as those were the most popular flavors in America. 

How do you make Neapolitan brownies?

Neapolitan brownies take inspiration from the popular ice cream flavor and turns them in a brownie form! And though it looks complicated, it’s no more difficult than making cream cheese brownies.

Make the cream cheese topping by mixing softened cream cheese, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Divide the cream cheese in half and add a little flour to one half and crushed freeze-dried strawberries to the other half. You can also add couple of drops of food coloring to the strawberry half to punch the color up a bit.

Then make a brownie base by combining melted butter, espresso powder, white and brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and vanilla. Then you stir in eggs, then a little bit of flour. Scrape the batter into a prepared pan, reserving about 1/2 cup of the batter.

Evenly distribute spoonfuls of the plain cream cheese, the strawberry cream cheese and the reserve brownie batter to the top of the brownie mixture. Swirl away with a chopstick (my preferred tool) or a butter knife. Bake and you’ve got Neapolitan brownies!

What’s the difference between Dutch-processed cocoa powder and regular cocoa powder?

Natural cocoa powder is the more commonly found cocoa powder in most grocery stores. Common brands include Hershey’s 100% cocoa power (with the silver-gray stripe on the package), Ghiradelli’s Unsweetened 100% cocoa, Trader Joe’s Cocoa Powder. It is more acidic and lighter in color, with a sharper, almost fruity chocolate flavor.

Dutch-processed cocoa powder is cocoa powder that has been alkalinized, where the natural acidic cocoa powder has been neutralized. It has a deeper darker color and smoother fudgier chocolate flavor. The most commonly found Dutch-processed cocoa powder in a grocery store is Hershey’s Special Dark (with the red stripe on the package), Guittard’s Cocoa Rouge, Droste Cocoa, Rodelle Baking Cocoa, and Ghiradelli’s 100% Cocoa Dutch-Processed.

I used regular natural cocoa powder in this recipe because it is easier to find in the grocery store and the one most folks have on hand. I also felt like the flavor of natural cocoa, with its fruity tasting notes, went well with the vanilla and strawberry cheesecake swirl. If all you have on hand is Dutch-processed cocoa, or you prefer the flavor of Dutch-processed cocoa, just substitute the same amount of Dutch process cocoa as natural cocoa, omit the baking soda and add 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder instead. Expect the brownies to look darker in color and have a fudgier chocolate flavor.

What are freeze-dried strawberries? 

Freeze-dried strawberries are fresh strawberries that have had all the moisture pulled out of them using a freeze drier machine. There are no chemicals or additives involved. Freeze-dried strawberries are just strawberries with all the water extracted! 

To make the freeze-dried strawberries, the fruit is frozen, then placed under a vacuum where the frozen ice in the strawberries sublimates to vapor, skipping the liquid phase of water. Freeze drying machines are expensive, so most folks won’t have access to one. Thankfully you can find freeze-dried strawberries at well stocked grocery stores, upscale and specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s as well as online.

Once purchased, the freeze-dried strawberries can be placed in a food processor or blender and crushed into a powder to be used for this recipe. You can also place the freeze-dried fruit in a plastic ziplock bag and crush it with a rolling pin or use a mortar and pestle to make the powder.

Can I use regular dried strawberries or fresh strawberries?

Freeze dried strawberries are not the same as regular dried strawberries. You cannot use regular dried strawberries for this recipe. Dried strawberries are strawberries that are placed in a dehydrator and gently heated to remove a lot of the moisture. But there is still moisture in the fruit, leading to a chewy product. Freeze dried strawberries are dry and brittle and break down into a powder when pulverized. Regular dried strawberries do not turn to powder when crushed and are not suitable for this recipe. They are more like raisins or prunes. 

This recipe is also not designed for fresh strawberries, as they have too much moisture. If you want to use fresh strawberries in a brownie recipe, check out my balsamic vinegar strawberry fudge brownies.

How long do Neapolitan brownies keep?

Like traditional cheesecake brownies, these brownies keep for up to a week in the refrigerator. Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Take them out of the fridge and set them on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour to come to room temperature before serving.

It is not recommended to store them at room temperature, though you can leave them out to serve for up to 4 to 6 hours, depending on how warm the room is. This makes them totally suitable for a party or picnic.

Can you freeze these brownies?

Yes. Neapolitan brownies freeze. Store them in an airtight container or ziplock bag for up to 2 months in the freezer. Thaw in the fridge overnight and then let them come to room temperature by placing them on the counter for an hour before serving.

If you like these Neapolitan cheesecake brownies, check out some other brownie recipes I have

• Rye Brownies with Caramel and Sea Salt
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies
• Strawberry Swirled White Chocolate Brownies
• Everything But the Kitchen Sink Brookies
• Brookies Caramel Bars
• White Chocolate Green Tea Brownies

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Neapolitan Cheesecake Brownies

Neapolitan cheesecake brownies are inspired by the classic Neapolitan strawberry, vanilla, chocolate ice cream flavor. The brownies are similar to a cheesecake brownie, with the addition of a freeze-dried strawberry powder added to the mix. See the note at the end of the recipe for how to make freeze-dried strawberry powder. Be sure to bring the cream cheese to room temperature before mixing it together, otherwise the batter will be lumpy.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword brownie, cheesecake, neapolitan, strawberry

Servings 16

Calories 235kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Batter

• 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature 1 brick
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup white sugar 66 g
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoon freeze-dried strawberry powder 20 g freeze dried strawberries crushed
• 2 to 3 drops of red food coloring optional
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Brownie Batter

• 10 tablespoons melted unsalted butter 142 g
• 3/4 cup white sugar 150 g
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder not Dutch-processed, 80 g
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 55 g
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coffee espresso powder optional
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 70 g

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly spray a 9 x 9-inch pan with cooking oil, then line with parchment paper.
  
• Make the cream cheese batter by placing the cream cheese, egg, sugar, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix the ingredients on low speed until the ingredients start to blend together, increasing the speed to medium low if necessary. You can also do this in a bowl with a hand whisk, but the cream cheese must be at room temperature or you’ll never get the lumps out of the batter.
  
• Spoon half the batter into one bowl, and then scrape rest of the batter in a different bowl. Stir in the freeze-dried strawberry power to one bowl and add the food coloring if desired. Stir the flour into the other bowl of batter.
  
• In the mixing bowl (no need to clean it) make the brownie batter by placing the butter, sugar, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking powder, vanilla extract, espresso powder (if using), and salt. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are blended. You can also do this in a bowl by hand with a spatula or whisk.
  
• Add both eggs and mix to incorporate. Add the flour and stir in at low speed until the batter is shiny and glossy.
  
• Scoop out about 1/2 cup of the brownie batter and set it aside. Then scrape out the remaining batter into the baking pan, spreading it out evenly to the sides.
  
• Spoon both cream cheese batters, and the reserve brownie batter, all over the top of the brownie batter, alternating types, to give a random scattered pattern of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate on top. Then use a chopstick, a wooden skewer, the handle of a wooden spoon or a butter knife and artfully marble together the batters. Don’t overly swirl the batter together, you just want to create a few swirls here and there on top for decoration.
  
• Gentle tap the pan on the counter one or two times to settle it and then place the pan in the oven and bake for 23-27 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle has a few moist crumbs that come out. If you’re using a glass or ceramic pan instead of a metal one, be aware that the brownies will take longer to cook, but will also continue to cook because the pan will retain the heat, so take them right after the middle of the brownies have set.

  Cool the brownies in the pan for an hour minimum, then remove them by grabbing the parchment paper and lifting straight up and moving them to a cutting board. Cut the brownies into 16 pieces and serve.
  

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This quick, easy fig and blackberry tart has a honey goat cheese filling and a walnut shortbread crust, all of which can be made in an hour.

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This post was sponsored by California Grown. I was compensated for this post and developing this recipe. However, all opinions below are my own.

Fig season always comes and goes faster that I am ready for it. But when it arrives, I find myself gorging on fresh figs as much as possible. Some would say I’m a fig fiend! This is clearly evident by fig recipes I have here on my blog, including my fig focaccia, my fig financier, apple fig cobbler and fig and hazelnut scones. And though I will eat figs in my yogurt with homemade granola, in my salad, or all by themselves, I get super excited to make beautiful, luscious things out of them. My current obsession is this figs and blackberry tart with honey goat cheese and a walnut crust.

How to make a fig tart?

Like all tarts, you have to start by making the crust. I make a version of a shortbread crust in the food processor, which is super easy and fast. It also means I don’t have to worry about keep the crust cold, nor do I have to chill the dough. I can just make the crust in a food processor, press it into the tart pan, and bake away.

The crust uses walnuts in it. Place the walnuts in the food processor, process until they are broken into crumbs, then add the flour, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Pulse a few times to mix, then add in cold butter cubes. Pulse again, and then drizzle in an egg yolk mixed with water. Once the mixture starts to hold together like a dough, you just press it into the tart pan.

Bake the crust first, then spread a simple filling made of goat cheese and honey into the tart shell. Press in cut figs and blackberries, then bake again. Drizzle honey on the warm tart and serve.

When are figs in season?

Dried figs are available all the time (just look for them where you buy other dried fruit). But fresh figs start to appear at grocery store in the early summertime into early Fall. California grows 98% of the commercially sold fresh figs here in the U.S. and they start popping up as early as mid-May, though it depends on the growing conditions. They become more common to find at the stores starting in July through November. You can find more details about figs and how they’re grown and when they are in season, as well as what California fruits and vegetables are in season and when over at the California Grown website.

Can you use dried figs in place of the fresh figs?

I love dried figs, but they won’t work for this recipe. Instead, try swapping out another fresh fruit like sliced plums, pitted cherries, or ripe sliced pears instead of the figs. You can also use blueberries or raspberries in place of the blackberries if you wish.

What sort of figs work best in this recipe?

Fresh figs come in a number of varieties. I’ve used Mission figs in this tart, which is a fairly common variety. But you can use any type of fig that you like. The ones I find the most at my local stores include the Mission figs, the Brown Turkey fig and the Tiger Stripe fig.

Mission figs have a deep, almost meaty flavor, while Brown Turkey figs have a rich sweet, slightly nutty flavor, and Tiger Stripe figs have a striking green and yellow striped skin with a vibrant red inside with a sweet, vaguely berry flavor. Other fresh figs available include Kadota, Sierra, and Calmyrna figs. You can learn more about fresh figs and the different varieties at the California Fig website.

Can you make this ahead?

I don’t recommend making the entire tart ahead of time but you can make some of the components a day before you serve it. You can make the crust dough a day ahead. Just press it out in the tart pan, and then slide the entire pan into a large 2-gallon Ziploc bag, seal it and store it in the refrigerator. Remove from the bag and bake from the fridge as directed, adding a minute or two to accommodate for the cold temperature. 

You can also bake the crust ahead of time. Bake as directed, then store it at room temperature up to 24 hours. Store it in a large 2-gallon Ziploc bag or under a large cake dome. Then place it in the pre-heated oven for 5 minutes to warm and crisp it up again (no need to use parchment or pie weights, just pop it in the oven). Proceed with the recipe as directed.

How do you store leftovers?

As with all baked goods, this tart is best enjoyed the day it’s made. But if you have leftovers, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Bring the leftovers to room temperature or warm it up in an oven or toaster oven at 300°F for 5 to 10 minutes to help take the chill off the tart and refresh it before eating.

If you like this fig and blackberry tart check out these out tarts and pies:

• Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
• Plum Galette
• Meyer Lemon Shaker Tart and with Strawberry Rhubarb
• Apple and Prunes Slab Pie
• Classic Blueberry Pie
• Mixed Berry Tart
• Grape and Blueberry Pie

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Fig, Blackberry and Goat Cheese Tart with Walnut Crust

This easy to make fig and blackberry tart has a goat cheese and honey filling and crisp walnut shortbread crust. It comes together fast with the use of a food processor. Just make sure you use room temperature goat cheese. If the goat cheese is too cold it will be difficult incorporate the honey. Warm the goat cheese up by leaving it at room temperature for an hour, or just cut it into small pieces and microwave it at low power for 30 second burst until it has softened.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword blackberries, fig, goat cheese, honey, walnuts

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 37 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 472kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Walnut Crust

• 1 cup walnut pieces 100 g
• 2 cups all-purpose flour 280 g
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar 30 g
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks or 170 g
• 1 large egg separated
• 4 to 7 tablespoon cold water

Filling

• 8 ounces plain soft goat cheese softened
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 8 to 10 fresh figs 1 pound or 455 g
• 2 1/4 cups blackberries 9 ounces or 255 g

To finish

• 1 to 2 tablespoons honey

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F.

  Place the walnut pieces in a food processor and pulse the walnuts until they are broken down into crumbs. Add the flour, powdered sugar, white sugar, and salt to the processor bowl. Pulse a few times to combine. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch chunks and add them to the processor. Pulse again, until the butter is broken down. The whole mixture should be fairly uniform with tiny pebble sized pieces of walnuts and butter.
  
• Separate the egg and set aside the egg white in a small bowl for later. Place the egg yolk in a small bowl and beat in 4 tablespoons of water. Drizzle the liquid into the processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture starts to clump together. Remove the lid of the processor and try to press some of the dough together. If it holds together, it’s done, but if the dough seems too crumbly and dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until it holds together.
  
• Carefully remove the blade from the processor. Dump the content of the processor bowl into the center of a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. Continue to do this with all the dough, until the bottom and sides are evenly lined with the dough.
  
• Place a piece of parchment paper over the top of the dough and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet or pizza pan and bake in the oven for 12 minutes. While the crust is baking, beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water.

  Remove the pie weights by carefully lifting the parchment paper up and moving it with the weights inside to a heatproof bowl. Brush the egg white wash over the sides and bottom of the tart crust. This will help seal the crust and prevent it from becoming soggy. Move the pan back to the oven and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until the edges of the pan start to brown and the top of the dough looks dry. If the crust puffs up after baking, just prick it with a fork or knife to deflate.
  
• While the dough is baking, make the filling by combining the goat cheese with the honey. Trim the stems off the figs, then cut them in half lengthwise.
  
• When the tart dough is done baking, spread the honey goat cheese over the still warm crust. Then place the fig halves around the edge of the tart, overlapping the fig stems over the body of the figs slightly. Sprinkle the blackberries over the center area of the tart. Place back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes or until the tart is fragrant and the fruit starts to look juicy.

  Let the tart cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove the tart from the pan and move to a serving plate. Drizzle an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey over the tart and serve warm.
  

The post Fig, Blackberry and Goat Cheese Tart with Walnut Crust [Sponsored Post] appeared first on Eat The Love.

These savory and satisfying hand pies are packed with California grown green olives, tomatoes, roasted onions, fresh thyme and feta cheese.

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This post was sponsored by California Grown. I was compensated for this post and for developing the recipe. However, all opinions below are completely my own.

Summertime is here and I’m obsessed with all the Summer produce! I’m buying up pretty much everything from the bright and juicy berries to the luscious Summer stonefruit. But every time Summer comes around, the one thing I’m super excited about are tomatoes! The flavors of summertime tomatoes can’t be beat, and they are incredibly versatile in the kitchen. I use them as a topping for my tomato focaccia, my Summer zucchini pasta, as well as in my easy baked ziti dish. These tomatoes are paired with California green ripe olives another super versatile ingredient that I love and use all the time, like in my twice cooked eggplant and olive dish, my double olive sausage pizza and my Moroccan spiced roast chicken. In additional I added in roasted onions, feta and fresh thyme for the filling, to make a savory hand pie that is super satisfying as a snack or light lunch. 

How do I make Olive, Tomato and Onion Hand Pies?

Like all pies, you want to start with the pie crust! This pie crust is similar to traditional pie crust that starts with flour, salt, butter and water. But I add in some baking powder as well. This gives the crust some additional lift that you can’t get with just using butter, which gives some extra flakiness. This added insurance of the baking powder lift also allows you to re-roll the dough scraps more.

Combine the dry crust ingredients together. Smash the butter into small flat pieces. Drizzle in the water and toss until a dough forms. Once that you have a dough, form a 1-inch thick disk, wrap it with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for 2 hours or overnight.

While the dough is chilling, roast the tomatoes and onions in a preheated oven for 30 minutes. Then let the vegetables cool. While the vegetables are roasting, slice the olives, chopped the parsley and thyme leaves, and crumble the feta if necessary.

Once the dough is chilled, roll it out and cut 6-inch circles of dough. Assemble the pie by placing a few tomatoes and onions on one side of the circle, then sprinkling with some olives, feta, herbs, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Brush half the circle with an egg wash, and fold over into half moon shapes. Seal with a fork and then move to a baking pan. Repeat until you’ve made 8 to 10 pies.

Brush with the pies with remaining egg wash, sprinkle with some sesame seeds and or nigella seeds, and then place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm the dough again. Preheat the oven to 400°F, then bake the pies for about 25 to 30 minutes.

What sort of olives should I use?

I used pitted California green ripe olives in this recipe. They are always available since they are in cans! They’re actually the exact same olive as the canned California black olives but processed in a different manner to keep them green. I like the smooth buttery flavor of them, but if you can’t find or don’t want to use the pitted green olives feel free to substitute black olives for them. 

What sort of tomatoes should I use?

I used California grown Roma tomatoes, as they are easy to find and are juicy but not too watery. Roasting them will help intensify their flavor as well. If you can’t find Roma tomatoes, you can substitute them with Early girl tomatoes, San Marzano, or halved cherry tomatoes. I recommend using fresh tomatoes for this recipe. Canned tomatoes will make the filling water and potentially lead to a soggy hand pie.

How is this pie crust different?

Most pie crust recipes tell you to handle the dough as little as possible. This is to keep the butter cold and so you don’t overwork the dough and develop the gluten, the stringy protein that can lead to tough pie crust.

This is great advice for most traditional pies but for hand pies, which are eaten out of hand, and need to have a little more structure to support the filling, it’s ok to work the crust a bit more. Be sure to add enough water to the crust so you have a dough that you can work with and that isn’t crumbly. Feel free to massage the dough in the beginning to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated and hydrated. I’ve included baking powder in the dough to help with the flakiness.

Don’t skip the chilling part. After working the dough together, you want to refrigerate the dough. Chilling the dough will also allow the water to move throughout the dough, evening out the water content, relax the gluten and harden the butter.

If you find the dough is overly sticky when you’re rolling it out, you can just liberally dust the surface you are rolling the dough on, as well as the top of the dough. Just keep on adding flour to the dough if it sticks more. And once you’ve assembled the hand pie, brush any excess flour off before baking.

Can I make the pie dough ahead?

Yes! In fact, the pie dough handles better when it is chilled and I recommend chilling it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before assembling the pies. But you can also making the dough the night before, letting it rest overnight in the fridge. In fact, you can make the dough up to 2 days ahead of time. Just make sure it is well wrapped in the plastic wrap.

Chilling the dough relaxes the gluten in the crust and helps solidify the butter. This leads to a more tender and flaky crust. Since we’re working with California ingredients in the filling, be sure to look for the Real CA Milk seal on the butter for this crust!

You can even make the dough well ahead of time and freeze it. Place the wrapped dough in a heavy-duty Ziploc freezer bag and label it with the date. The dough will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw it out overnight in the fridge before using.

How do you store leftover pies?

These pies are best enjoyed the same day they’re made, still warm from the oven. But they also rewarm beautifully. If you have leftover pies, store them in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days. Reheat the pies in a 350°F preheated oven or toaster oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the pie is heated through. I don’t recommend heating it in the microwave, as that will lead to a soggy pie crust.

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Olive, Tomato, and Onion Hand Pies

These savory vegetarian hand pies are stuffed with roasted tomatoes, onions, green olives and feta cheese and are incredibly satisfying. The crust is very forgiving and can be rolled and re-rolled two or three times and still stay flaky. Be sure to let the dough chill for a good 2 hours or overnight before forming the pie crust. An extra 15 minutes in the fridge, while you pre-heat the oven also helps keeps the pie crust flaky.

Course Appetizer, lunch, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword olives, onions, pie, tomato

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 1 hour

Chilling time 2 hours 15 minutes

Servings 10 Pies

Calories 375kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 375 g
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold 170g or 1 1/2 sticks
• 8 to 11 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 1 1/2 lbs Roma tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick about 6 to 7 medium-sized
• 2 medium yellow onions, sliced 1/2-inch thick
• 4 tablespoons California extra virgin olive oil
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt divided
• 3 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper divided
• 1/2 cup pitted green olives, cut in half lengthwise, 70 g or 2 1/2 oz
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 80 g or 2 3/4 oz
• 2 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

To finish

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water
• Black and white sesame seeds or nigella seeds optional

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

  Make the crust by placing the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir with a balloon whisk until blended. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and sprinkle over the dry ingredients. Using your fingers and hands, first toss the butter in the flour then smash the butter into thin slivers, breaking them up as you go.
  
• When the butter has been broken and flattened into small bits the size of peas, drizzle 8 tablespoons of water over the dry ingredients. Toss with a fork, then use your hands to blend the water in. Keep working the ingredients until they start to stick together. If the dough seems too dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary.
  
• Once a dough forms, place it on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a disk, about 1-inch thick. Wrap well with the plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until the dough is chilled throughout. You can make the dough the day before and chill overnight.
  
• While the dough is chilling, place the sliced tomatoes on one of the roasting pan and onions on the other. Drizzle with the tomatoes and onions with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and pepper over each the tomatoes and the onions, using 1 teaspoon total of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

  Once the tomatoes and onions have roasted (they should look a little dry on top, but still be juicy) let them cool on the pan about 20 minutes.
  
• Once the dough has chilled and the tomatoes have cooled, line two clean baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.

  Cut the chill dough in half. This will make the dough easier to handle.
  
• Roll out one half of the dough to about an 8 inches wide and 16 inches tall rectangle on a clean floured surface to a 1/4-inch thickness. You should be able to cut out 3 6-inch rounds pieces if you stagger the circles. Gather scraps and re-roll to get a 4th circle. Repeat with the other half getting 4 circles. Re-roll any remaining scraps to get a 9th and possibly 10th circle.
  
• Beat the egg yolk and water together to form an egg wash. Place one round in front of you and place a few roasted tomatoes and some cooked onions on one half side of the dough. Add some olives, feta cheese, parsley and thyme over the tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper over the filling. Brush the half of the edge of the round of dough that has the filling.
  
• Fold the other half over on top. Seal with a fork. Then move the hand pie to the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining hand pies and filling.
  
• Brush with the egg wash over the top of the pies and sprinkle with some sesame seeds and/or nigella seeds. Place pans in the refrigerator for 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 400°F.

  Once the pies have chilled, bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top of the pie is golden brown. You may want to rotate the pans for even baking. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes once done, then move to a wire cooling rack to cool further. Best enjoyed while still warm.
  

The post Olive, Tomato, and Onion Hand Pies [Sponsored Post] appeared first on Eat The Love.

These fabulous and fun rainbow chocolate chip cookies are a showstopper and look difficult to make, but they are easier than you think!

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This post is brought to you by Bob’s Red Mill for gay pride month. I was compensated for this post and developing this recipe. However, all opinions are my own.

There’s something magical about rainbows, whether it’s a naturally occurring atmospheric phenomenon, the rainbow pride t-shirts worn in the month of June, or rainbows in edible baked goods. And though I wrote a whole book on marbled, swirled and layered desserts, I didn’t include a single rainbow dessert in there. I have rectified this glaring omission by presenting to you this rainbow chocolate chip cookie! And though it looks difficult to make, if you can make my bakery-style chocolate chip cookie  or my mint chocolate chip cookie and you know how to slice a pie, you can make these cookies without a problem!

How do you make rainbow chocolate chip cookies?

Making rainbow chocolate chip cookies starts out like making any other chocolate chip cookie. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Add the eggs, one at a time, then add the flour. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.

But here’s where the magic starts! Divide the dough into 6 different equal portions. Mix in liquid food coloring so you have 6 different colors. Wrap the dough and chill it for at least 2 hours or overnight. Chilling the dough will make it easier to work with the dough because you’ll be manipulating it a lot to form the cookies. Cold dough is easier to work with.

Once chilled, divide each batch of dough into 4 quarters. Then shape each quarter into a 2-inch wide disk, about 1-inch thick. Repeat this with all the dough colors. You should have 24 disks total of various colors.

Divide one disk of each color into 6 even “pie” pieces. Then reassemble the pieces to form a new disk that has one color of each dough. Squish together and you have a rainbow cookie! Repeat and bake the cookies.

If you are still confused as to how to form the cookie, you can watch this short video!

How do you get the cookies to look so professional and pretty?

Rainbow cookies are pretty awesome looking all by themselves, but here’s a few tips and tricks I use to take them to the next level.

• I reserve some chocolate chips, about 2/3 cup total, and then place the chips right on top AFTER I form the cookies. This will highlight the chocolate.
• I sprinkle the cookies with a little bit of flaky sea salt, like Maldon, to give the cookies a bit of salty crunch and pop of saltiness.
• I will take the cookies out of the oven and if they are slightly misshapen, I’ll take a spatula and just tap the sides a bit to form them back into a perfect circle. You only have about a minute to do this, while the cookie is still hot and soft from the oven, so do this immediately if you need to.
• I brush the final cooled cookie with a little bit of edible glitter. This is totally optional but if you’re extra like me, it gives the cookie that bit of fabulousness!

What is edible glitter?

Edible glitter is exactly what it sounds like. Glitter that is safe to eat. Do not use normal glitter, it is not safe to eat. You must source edible glitter specifically. Edible glitter comes in different forms and names. The most common is luster dust, which is a very fine powder that gives a shimmer but doesn’t have discernible particles. Large particle edible glitter goes by different names like sparkle dust, diamond dust, jewel dust or disco dust. Disco is the biggest “blingiest” dust out there. Use it sparingly!

To use the edible glitter, just dip a small clean brush with soft bristles into the dust and then brush it over the cookie. Make sure to a brush that is specifically reserved for food, don’t use a brush that you’ve been using for your makeup or for your painting projects! 

When purchasing decorative edible glitter, always check to make sure it’s edible and food grade. The phrase non-toxic does not always mean that the item is safe for consumption. Edible glitter and dust will state clearly on the package that it is edible. You can find edible glitter online, at cake decorating stores, hobby stores or at well stocked grocery stores.

You can also skip the edible glitter if you wish. It’s not necessary for this cookie to look amazing! It just adds that extra touch of bling.

What sort of food coloring should I use?

I used artificial liquid food coloring, the kind you can find at the grocery store in the spice section, to make these cookies. If you use professional grade food coloring gel or paste, you will want to use a lot less of it as it’s much more concentrated in pigment. Add a toothpick or drop of the professional grade food coloring and then add more if necessary. It’s better to add a small amount at first, as you can always add more but you can’t it take away once added.

For standard liquid food coloring, this is the amount I used for each dough:

• Yellow: 1/4 teaspoon liquid yellow food coloring
• Green: 1/4 teaspoon liquid green food coloring
• Blue: 3/8 teaspoon liquid blue food coloring
• Purple: 1/4 teaspoon liquid red food coloring + 1/8 teaspoon liquid blue food coloring
• Red: 1/4 teaspoon liquid red food coloring
• Orange: 1/4 teaspoon liquid yellow food coloring + 4 drops red food coloring

I don’t recommend using natural-based food coloring for these cookies. I have found that natural-based food colorings work best in frostings, non-baked/non-heated items or food that is cooked quickly (like natural dyed homemade pasta). But once you bake something in the oven, natural color dyes fade to brown. If you do try this recipe with natural-based food colorings and they work for you, please leave a comment! I’d love to know which one works for you.

What chocolate chips should I use?

I use a mix of white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chips for these cookies. But these cookies are adaptable for whatever type of chocolate chip you like. Though I normally opt for chopped chocolate chips in cookies, for these cookies, I want the chocolate to hold its shape more, as the color of the dough is so important. I recommend chips over chopped chocolate for these particular cookies, purely for aesthetic reasons.

How do I store these cookies and how long will these cookies last?

I recommend storing these cookies in an airtight container or in a heavy-duty resealable bag at room temperature. They should last up to 3 days. 

If you want to store them longer, freeze the cookies for up to 2 months. Let them thaw on the counter for about 2 hours to bring them back to room temperature before serving.

Can I make the cookie dough ahead of time?

Yes! This cookie dough can be made up to 3 days (72 hours) ahead of time and stored the fridge. Just make sure to tightly wrap each dough in plastic wrap. I recommend dyeing the dough the different colors first, instead of making the dough and storing it as a whole. Cold chilled dough is firm and hard, which makes mixing the food coloring into the dough difficult. If you must chill the dough before dyeing it, let the dough come to room temperature (about 2 hours on your counter), then mixing the dough in a stand mixer to soften it a bit before adding the food coloring to blend in.

You can also make the cookie dough ahead of time and freeze it. I assemble and make the multi-colored disks and then freeze them, without touching, on a rimmed baking sheet. Once the disks are frozen solid, about 2 hours, I move them to a heavy-duty resealable bag to store long-term. Frozen cookie dough will last up to 3 months in the freezer. You can bake the cookies directly from the freezer by just baking them in a fully pre-heated oven as per the instructions. Add an additional minute or two to the bake time to accommodate the cold dough.

More Cookie Recipes

If you like this rainbow chocolate chip cookie, check out these other great chocolate chip cookies recipes that I have on the blog. All of them would be amazing with Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose organic flour.

• Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Butterscotch Cookies with Triple Chips
• Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies (pan-banging style)
• Chewy (not cakey) Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies

These super fabulous rainbow cookies are a festive dessert to celebrate gay pride, a kid’s party or just a splash of bright fun for anytime! The recipe does require you to chill the dough for at least 2 hours so it’s easier to work with, so plan accordingly. The edible glitter that I use to give the cookies sparkle is strictly optional. You can buy edible glitter at cake decorating stores, hobby stores or online.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword chocolate chip, cookies, dessert

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Rest time 1 day

Servings 24

Calories 325kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter 255 g or 2 1/2 sticks
• 1 3/4 cups white sugar 350 g
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 110 g
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose organic flour 490 g
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 185 g
• 1 cup white chocolate chips 185 g
• Liquid food coloring

To finish

• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. 75 g
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips. 75 g
• Flaky sea salt
• Edible glitter optional

Instructions

• Place the butter, both sugars, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the ingredients together on medium speed until they are creamy and cling to the side of the bowl.
  
• Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until the first egg is incorporated before adding the second one. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl before adding each egg. The batter will look “broken” but don’t worry. This is normal.

  Add the flour and slowly mix it. I like to “pulse” the mixer on and off quickly, until the bulk of the flour has been absorbed in the dough. If you turn the mixer just to on, flour will go everywhere. Just slowly mix it in. Once most of it is absorbed, you can turn the mixer on to slow to incorporate it fully.
  
• Now add both chocolate chips and mix in slowly. You can do this by hand if you want.
  
• Now divide the dough into 6 even parts. If you have a scale, this is roughly 285 grams of dough. Place one part of the dough in the mixer and add 1/4 teaspoon of the yellow liquid food coloring. Mix until evenly colored. Remove the dough, pat it into a disk that is 1-inch thick, and wrap in plastic wrap. Place another piece of dough and add 1/4 teaspoon of green liquid food coloring and mix until evenly colored. There’s no need to clean the bowl or paddle at this point.

  Remove the dough, wrap it. Now wipe out the bowl and the paddle with a damp paper towel. You don’t need to clean it, just remove as much as you can with the paper towel. A little green dough is fine. Repeat the process with another dough portion and 3/8 teaspoon of blue food coloring. Remove and wrap the dough.

  Don’t bother cleaning the bowl or paddle, just place a fresh dough portion in the bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring and 1/8 teaspoon blue food color. Mix until you have a uniform purple color. Remove and wrap in plastic wrap.

  Wipe out the bowl and the paddle attachment with a new damp paper towel. Again, no need to clean it completely. Just get most of it out. Then place a fresh dough portion in the bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon red food coloring. Mix until uniform, remove and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the last dough to the bowl without cleaning it out and add 1/4 teaspoon yellow food coloring and 4 drops of red food coloring. Mix until an even orange color, remove and wrap with plastic wrap.

  If you go in the order of yellow, green, blue, purple, red, orange, you will only need to wipe out the bowl and paddle between the green and blue dough and the purple and red dough.
  
• Place all the wrapped cookie dough in the refrigerator and let it chill for 2 hours or overnight, up to 3 days if you want.

  Once the cookie dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 4 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking pads.

  Divide each color dough into 4 equal pieces. If you have a scale, that about 71 grams each. Then take each piece and form a disk in your hands, about 2-inch wide by 1-inch thick.
  
• Take one disk of each color and cut the disk into 6 pieces. Do this by first cutting it in half. Then turning it 33° and cutting across the disk. Then turn the disk another 33° and cutting it again across the disk. You should have 6 even pie pieces.

  Take a piece from each color and assemble it together into a new disk. Press them together with your hands, making sure to not smear each individual color too much. You should have another 2-inch wide disk that is 1-inch thick made of 6 different colors.
  
• Place the disk on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining 5 pieces, making 6 new cookies with multi-colors, placed evenly apart from each other by about 2 inches. Take some of the reserve finishing chocolate and press it all over on top. It will look crowded on top of the cookie but put as much chocolate as you can on there. The cookies spread a lot. Sprinkle the top of the cookies with some sea salt and then bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until the edges of the cookie start to turn light brown.

  While the first batch of cookies is baking, assemble the second batch of cookies in the same manner as above. Repeat until you’ve assembled and baked all the cookie dough.

  Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely. If you are using the edible glitter, dip a clean brush (one you only use for food decoration) into the edible glitter and lightly brush the glitter over the cookie. Then serve!
  

Notes

 

The post Rainbow Chocolate Chip Cookies [Sponsored Post] appeared first on Eat The Love.

This tart and sweet strawberry rhubarb pie recipe makes use of one of the best Spring produce, rhubarb and strawberries!

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My love of the combination of strawberry rhubarb is clearly evident if you have read my blog at all. I’ve shared recipes for my strawberry rhubarb galette, my strawberry rhubarb buckle cake, and my strawberry rhubarb syrup. And though I have a recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie in my cookbook Marbled, Swirled, and Layered (which has a lovely pistachio crumb topping) I’ve never share a recipe for a strawberry rhubarb pie here on the blog! Here’s my go-to classic strawberry rhubarb pie with a woven double crust top.

How do make strawberry rhubarb pie?

To make strawberry rhubarb pie, you first have to make pie crust! And though folks are super freaked out about making pie crust, it’s not difficult.

First combine the flour, salt, and cubed cold butter into a large bowl. Then use your fingers to smash the butter into small flat bits, about the size of peas. Every time the butter starts stick to your fingers, just dip your hand back into the flour do dust them. Continue until all the butter is smashed.

Then drizzle the water over the ingredients, tossing until a dough forms. Divide the dough in half, form disks with them and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for a minimum of an hour or overnight. 

Preheat the oven, then make the filling by combining rhubarb pieces, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, vanilla and a little bit of butter all together.

Roll out one chilled dough in a disk and fit it into a pie pan. Add the filling to the pie crust, then roll out the second disk. Cut strips and weave the strips over the top of the filling. Seal the edges with your fingers, brush with an egg wash, sprinkle with a little extra sugar, and then bake!

What is rhubarb?

Rhubarb is a technically a vegetable, though it more often used as a fruit in recipes. It’s a long thin vegetable that looks a bit like celery, only the rhubarb grown and sold here in the United States is red instead of green. Fun fact, rhubarb grown and sold in other countries can be either red or green! I’ve run into French tourists at local farmers markets who marvel at how red the rhubarb looks, as they are more used to a green colored rhubarb.

Rhubarb is definitely seasonal. Look for it at the grocery store or farmer’s market in the Spring (I’ve seen it as early as February, though usually it doesn’t start to pop up until late March or April) going all the way until June. You can also occasionally find frozen rhubarb as well. Use it in place of fresh rhubarb, but thaw it out on the counter and drain it before use. 

Look for rhubarb that is firm and shiny at the store or farmer’s market. Rhubarb past its prime will be dull in color or feel limp. Definitely avoid any rhubarb that is mushy or starting to brown. It’s OK if the rhubarb looks a little dry at the ends, you can just trim those ends off, along with any attached leaves (the leaves are inedible and poisonous). But if the rhubarb starts to have dry patches up into the stalk, that means it’s old and been bruised or cut. Best to look for another piece.

You can use rhubarb in a savory application, like my rhubarb chutney. But the tart sour flavor plays well with ruby red strawberries and other berries (check out my blueberry rhubarb sour cream pie or my rhubarb mixed berry slab pie).

Can I use store-bought pie crust?

Yes! I really love using homemade pie crust, that I’ve included in the recipe below, but you can totally just substitute out a store-bought pie crust or a different favorite pie crust if you’d like. If you want a review of best store bought pie crusts check out Simply Recipes post on various purchased pie crusts.

Thaw out the pie crust in the fridge, then gently place it in the pie pan. Then use the filling in my recipe and cover with the second pie crust. Bake as directed. 

Do I have to do a woven top crust?

Nope! You can totally just roll out a disk and drape it over the top and seal the pie. Make sure to cut vents in the top of the pie crust though. So steam can escape. This also will let you peak into the pie filling. Once the pie filling is bubbling up through the holes, you know the pie is done!

Frequently Asked Questions

Other pie recipes

• Blueberry Pie
• Peach and Blackberry Pie
• Summer Fruit Pie
• Apple Slab Pie
• Grape and Blueberry Pie
• Apple and Cranberry Pie with Almond Butter Crust

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Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This classic strawberry rhubarb pie is one of my go-to favorites. I like to add a touch of balsamic vinegar in my filling, which adds deeper, richer flavor and as well as brightens up the flavor with a touch of acidity. But feel free to substitute fresh lemon juice, a more traditional pie filling acid, in its place. If you are using homemade pie crust, keep in mind that you should make it at least 1 hour ahead of time to chill in the fridge, or make it the day before and keep it in refrigerator overnight.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword pie, rhubarb, spring, strawberry

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 249kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Pie crust

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 350 g
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup unsalted cold butter 225 g or 2 sticks
• 8 to 10 tablespoons ice cold water

Filling

• 4 cups 1-inch cut rhubarb pieces, leaves removed 1 pound or 455 g
• 2 cups strawberries stems removed and halved, 1 pound or 455 g
• 1 cup white sugar 200 g
• 1/4 cup cornstarch 30 g
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

To finish

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon Turbinado sugar or white sugar

Instructions

• Make a double pie crust by placing the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together with a balloon whisk. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Sprinkle over the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, smash the butter cubes into small flat pieces, about the size of peas. If the butter starts to stick to your hands, dip them back into the dry ingredients and coat with the flour.
  
• Once the butter has been broken down, drizzle the water over the flour and butter, tossing the dry ingredients with a fork. Once all the water is added, continue to toss, eventually working the wet and dry ingredients together with your hands. If the dough is too dry, add an additional 1 tablespoon of water, up to 2 tablespoons, until a dough forms.

  Once the dough has formed, divided the dough in half. Take half the dough and form a ball, then flatten it into a 1-inch disk. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap, then repeat with the second half of the dough. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
  
• Once the dough has chilled, roll out one pie crust disk into a 12-inch disk.

  Carefully move the dough into a deep-dish pie pan, making sure not to stretch the dough as you transfer it. Just gently fit it into the dish. Trim any excess dough around the pan.
  
• Place the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix to combine.
  
• Pour the filling into the pie crust. Cut the butter up into 1/4-inch pieces and dot it all over the pie filling. 

  Roll out the second crust into a 12-inch disk, then cut the crust into strips. 
  
• Weave the lattice on top by placing two of the longest pieces of crust in an X over the top of the pie. Then place two more strips of crust on the left and right of the center strip. Turn the pie 90° and place two strips of crust on the left and right of the other strip, making sure to lift up the secondary strips to “weave” the strips above and below the new strips. Repeat until you covered the entire top of the pie, making sure to save the shortest strips for the end of the pie top. Decorative seal and crimp the sides of the pie to the top crust.

  You can also just place one whole pie crust on top if you’d like! Just make sure to cut some vents into the top crust for steam.Place in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
  
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.

  Once the pie has chilled, place it on a rimmed baking sheet or pizza pan. Beat the egg yolk and water together in a bowl then brush it all over the top of the pie. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar all over the top of the pie.

  Bake in the oven for 75 to 80 minutes, or until the pie filling is bubbling up through the top pie crust. Check the pie after 60 minutes. if the pie crust is browning too fast, cover it with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

  Let the pie cool completely before serving for the filling to set.
  

The post Strawberry Rhubarb Pie appeared first on Eat The Love.

This Taiwanese popcorn chicken recipe is a flavorful fried chicken marinated in garlic, ginger, 5-spice and white pepper before being deep fried.

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If you’ve never had Taiwanese popcorn chicken, known as Yansu Ji (literally translated to salted crispy chicken), it’s a super flavorful fried chicken. Unlike American fried chicken where the flavoring mostly comes from the coating, or Korean fried chicken where the flavoring comes from the sauce, Taiwanese fried chicken starts with a umami rich soy sauce base marinade that permeates the meat of the chicken. In that way, it’s similar to Japanese Karaage, though the Taiwanese version is not served with any sort of dipping sauce, but instead sprinkled with salt, white pepper and a touch of five-spice as well as garnished with fried Thai basil leaves.

It’s a typical street food (and trust me when I tell you the Taiwanese love their street food) eaten by everyone in Taiwan. One bite of it and I immediately thought to myself, this is what Taiwan taste like.

What is Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken?

Taiwanese Popcorn chicken is marinated and fried pieces of chicken, often found in cafes, boba shops or night markets in Taiwan. It’s similar to Japanese karaage, as it is marinated before being dipped in an egg wash and a starch coating before frying.

Unlike karaage though, the Taiwanese-style fried chicken is pulled from the fryer, dusted with a seasoning, usually a mix of white pepper and five spice, and then served immediately, whereas Japanese karaage is often served with mayonnaise and a wedge of lemon.

How do you make Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken?

Making Taiwanese popcorn chicken is easier than it sounds. Prep the boneless skinless chicken thighs by cutting them into 2-inch pieces. 

Then make a marinade, using a lot of garlic (a whole head!), ginger, green onions, mirin (a sweet rice wine), a little bit of sweet potato starch, five-spice, white pepper and cayenne pepper or Sichuan peppercorns. Combine and let the chicken marinade for 30 minutes or overnight.

Once the marinade has done it’s magic, heat up some oil, dip the chicken in an egg and water mixture, then coat in sweet potato starch, and fry it up! Season with some salt, five-spice, and white pepper then garnish with a few fried Thai basil leaves and serve.

What is sweet potato starch

Traditional Taiwanese popcorn chicken is fried in sweet potato starch. This gives the chicken a crisp coating that is one of the signatures of the dish. Some recipes will have you using tapioca starch instead, but when I tested that out, I found the chicken to be less crisp. After testing recipes with tapioca starch, regular potato starch and cornstarch, I found the cornstarch to be the closest in texture and crunch to the traditional sweet potato starch.

So if you can’t find sweet potato starch, available online (affiliate link) and in well-stocked Asian market, use the same amount of cornstarch. The chicken won’t be quite as crisp as if you had used the sweet potato starch but it will still be pretty amazing. 

What is Thai Basil

Taiwanese popcorn chicken is often served with fried Thai basil leaves as well. These fried basil leaves not only add a pop of green color to the dish but help perfume the popcorn slightly with a touch of anise. 

Thai basil is a variety of basil that comes from Southeast Asia. It has thinner, pointy and stiffer leaves than traditional basil that you will find in most grocery stores. If you can’t find Thai basil, you can swap out regular basil leaves, or just omit them from the recipe. Don’t try to substitute dried basil in this recipe. You need fresh basil leaves to fry.

What is Five Spice?

Five Spice is a Chinese blend of spices that is often used in Taiwanese and Chinese dishes. It is made up of five (or more) different spices which often correspond to the five different Chinese elements, sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami/savoriness. The most common ingredients you’ll find in five spice blends include star anise, cloves, cinnamon, sichuan pepper and fennel seeds. Other ingredients you can sometimes find in the blend contain ginger, turmeric, cardamom, orange peel or galangal.

You can find five-spice in almost any Asian grocery store as well as online (affiliate link). There are also homemade five-spice recipes online on how to make your own blend if you wish.

What is mirin?

Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine. You can find it online (affiliate link) and in Asian markets. But if you don’t have mirin or don’t feel like buying it, swap out the same amount of dry sherry or white wine and add ½ teaspoon of white sugar as well.

How do you store leftovers?

Like all fried chicken, Taiwanese popcorn chicken is best eaten the day it’s made. But if you have leftovers, store the chicken in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

To heat up leftovers, place the chicken on a baking sheet and heat in a 350°F oven or toaster oven for 10 minutes or until the chicken is heated through. I don’t recommend using the microwave to heat up the chicken, as it will result in soggy and tough popcorn chicken.

If you like this Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken recipe, check out some of my other Asian recipes:

• Chinese Pearl Meatballs
• Korean BBQ Chicken Wings
• Soy Sauce Ramen Egg
• Char Siu Chicken Fried Dumplings
• Asian Fried Calamari
• Easy Chinese Tea Eggs
• Korean Japchae

[Note: this recipe was original published on Feb 15, 2015, but has been updated with recipe and substitution notes, as well as new images on March 19, 2021]

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Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken

This flavorful fried chicken is made with boneless thigh meat for extra juiciness. You can certainly use boneless breast meat if you want but expect it to be a little less juicy. This recipe does require a few specialty ingredients, most of them found at an Asian grocery store or a well-stocked grocery store. If you can’t find them, I’ve made notes above this recipe on substitutions.

Calories 428kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs

Marinade

• 1 medium head of garlic
• 1/2- inch ginger peeled and minced
• 3 green onions minced
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin see section above
• 1 teaspoon sweet potato starch or cornstarch, see section above
• 1/2 teaspoon five-spice see section above
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground Sichuan peppercorns or cayenne pepper

Coating

• 1 medium egg
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2-3 cups sweet potato starch or cornstarch, see section above

To fry

• 3-4 cups peanut rice bran or avocado oil

To serve

• Leaves from 1 bunch of fresh Thai basil see section above
• salt, white pepper and five-spice to taste

Instructions

• Cut the chicken into 1-inch chunks and place in large bowl. Make the marinade by mincing or forcing the garlic through a press into a small bowl. Add the ginger, minced green onions, soy sauce, mirin, 5-spice, white pepper, sweet potato starch (or cornstarch) and cayenne pepper, stir together and then pour into the bowl with the chicken. Mix to coat all the chicken and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
  
• Once the chicken is done marinating, heat the frying oil in a sauté pan or wok until it reaches 350˚F. place the eggs in medium sized bowl with the 1/2 cup of water. Beat together with a fork. Place the sweet potato starch (or cornstarch) in another medium-sized bowl. Using chopsticks or tongs, dip the chicken first in the watery egg mixture then in the starch.
  
• Fry the chicken pieces without crowding them too much for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Try not to overcrowd the pan, I usually fry about 6-8 pieces at a time.
  
• Once fried, place the chicken on a wire rack or a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat the process with the remaining chicken.

  Once all the chicken is fried, sprinkle with generous amounts of salt and a little bit of five-spice and white pepper to taste. Fry the Thai basil leaves for 30 seconds or until they darken and then serve with the chicken.
  

Notes

This recipe is adapted from the book The Food of Taiwan by Cathy Erway.

[Note: this recipe was original published on Feb 15, 2015, but has been updated with recipe and substitution notes, as well as new images on March 19, 2021]

And check out some of these other Taiwanese cuisine recipes from around the web:

Use Real Butter’s Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
Steamy Kitchen’s Taiwanese Noodles with Meat Sauce Recipe
Tiny Urban Kitchen’s Taiwanese “Meat Ball” (Bawan)
Rasa Malaysia’s Taiwanese Three Cup Chicken

The post Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken aka 鹽酥雞, Yansu Ji or Salted Crispy Chicken appeared first on Eat The Love.

These traditional Swedish cardamom almond buns, called Semlor (Semla is the singular), are slightly sweet and an absolute delight to eat.

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The weather has been cool and chilly here in San Francisco, though a little bit of gray sky and rain is nothing compared to the madness that other folks seem to be around the country with their snow storms and subzero temperature drops. All of it makes me want to snuggle down deep in my thick comfy sweater and embrace the Scandinavian hygge sensibilities. This probably explains why I’ve been baking things like my Swedish Blueberry Cake and Swedish Cardamom Buns (and also making and eating my Swedish Meatball Stroganoff which is totally comfort food).

But with Shrove Tuesday happening a bit ago (affectionately known as Fat Tuesday), I turned to make Swedish Semlor. The Semla (the singular word for Semlor) is an enriched cardamom scented brioche-style bun that is split open filled with almond paste and whipped cream. It’s a traditional Swedish treat eaten between Shrove Tuesday through to Easter in Sweden (and other Scandinavian countries) but they’re so much beloved, that they appear around Christmas time and are sold all the way through Eastertime. My friend Amy introduced them to me at a local Scandinavian restaurant here in San Francisco and I’ve been obsessed with them ever since. Turns out making them at home isn’t too hard!

What is a Semla or Semlor?

Semla (singular) or Semlor (plural) is a yeast risen bun that is flavored with cardamom and then often filled with almond paste and whipped cream, though other variants have them filled with fruit jam, chocolate or pastry cream.

In Sweden they are often served in a bowl of hot milk, though plenty of folks eat them on their own, or with coffee or tea. In other Nordic countries you’ll find variations of the Semla. Danish bakeries have a puff pastry filled with whipped cream and a dab of jam, while Finland and Norway semlor often add or use jam as the filling. Iceland semlor uses choux pastry, similar to a cream puff or an éclair, while the Faroe Islands also uses choux pastry filling with vanilla cream, whipped cream and jam, adding a chocolate icing on top.

How do you make a Swedish Semla?

There are three components to a classic semla, the sweet enriched brioche-style bread roll scented with cardamom filled, the almond filling, and the whipped cream.

You start making the roll by heating milk and butter in a small sauce pan until the butter is melted and the milk is warm. Stir in the yeast to dissolve, then mix it with an egg, sugar, flour, salt and some cardamom. Knead until a smooth elastic dough forms and let it rise until it doubles in size.

Once doubled, divide the dough into 12 pieces and let it rise again. Bake and let cool.

Once the buns are cooled, cut them open and cut out the inside bread. Add this to a blender or food processor, along with almond flour, milk and sugar. Process until a paste forms. Add the almond paste to the bottom of the bun and top with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Place the top back on the bun and dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Should I use almond paste, marzipan, almond meal or almond flour for the filling?

Most recipes you find online use almond paste (a combination of ground almonds, sugar and egg white as a binder) or marzipan (a firmer, more sweet almond paste with a smoother consistency that is often used to sculpture adorable edible treats). Because they are both a little hard to find (not to mention expensive) here in the United States I opted to make the filling using almond flour which is easier to source. You can find almond flour in well-stocked grocery stores or online.

Almond flour is ground almonds that have been blanched with the skins removed. It has a more delicate flavor nutty flavor. Almond meal is made from ground almonds with the skins still intact. Almond meal is slightly more bitter because of the skins.

I prefer the slightly sweeter and nuttier flavor of almond flour in this recipe. But you can use almond meal if that is what you have on hand. Just increase the sugar by 1 tablespoon, using 4 tablespoons of white sugar total. Keep in mind that almond meal often is a little more coarse in texture. So if you want a smooth paste, use finely ground almond flour or use commercial almond paste or marzipan.

Finally if you can’t find any of the ingredients above, just take some whole almonds (or blanched slivered almonds) and grind them yourself in a food processor blender! Use the same amount of almonds (1 1/2 cups or 180 g) and grind until you have a powder. Keep in mind that your resulting almond paste won’t be quite as smooth, as home ground almonds tend to be more coarse than the store-bought almond flour and meal.

If you want to use almond paste or marzipan, grate 7 ounces (200 g or one tube) of almond paste or marzipan into a bowl and add 6 tablespoons of milk to the paste. Stir with the bread crumbs to form a paste and use that a filling. Keep in mind the marzipan filling will be sweeter than the almond paste filling.

Can you make these buns ahead of time?

Because of the high butter and milk in the bun dough, these buns get stale fairly fast. For optimum quality, they should be baked and enjoyed the same day.

If you do make the buns ahead of time, you can freeze theme unfilled. In fact, most folks don’t eat all 12 buns in one sitting. They will freeze the plain buns and then thaw out the number they want to serve and fill those thawed buns individually. Freeze the buns in a resealable ziplock bag or airtight container for up to 2 months. Let the buns thaw on the counter for 1 to 2 hour before splitting, filling and serving.

The almond filling can be made a day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. The whipped cream needs to be made and used immediately otherwise it will start to deflate. You can also make stabilized whipped cream if you want to prepare these buns earlier and serve them later in the day. Stabilized whipped cream made with gelatin will last up to 2 days in the fridge.

Can you use instant yeast or fast acting yeast in this recipe?

Yes! Use the same amount of instant or fast acting yeast but keep in mind that they will both work faster than regular active dry yeast. So check the dough and see if it has doubled in size as early at 45 minutes after letting it rest to rise.

If you use instant yeast, you do not have to dissolve it in the milk. You can add it when you add the flour, sprinkling it in with the remaining dry ingredients.

If you like this semlor recipe, check out some of these other sweetened yeast risen bread recipes:

• Cinnamon Rolls
• Apricot Yeast Bread with Dried Blueberries
• Cranberry Spiral Bread
• Fig Rosemary Focaccia with Honey Lemon Glaze
• Easy Kouigns Amann
• Pumpkin Monkey Bread

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Semla (Swedish cardamom almond bun)

This traditional Swedish cardamom almond bun is eaten between Shrove Tuesday and Easter but is delightful any time of year. Usually the filling is made with almond paste or marzipan, but the instructions below use almond flour. See the section above if you want to almond paste, marzipan or almond meal.

Course Breakfast, brunch, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Swedish

Keyword almond, bread, cardamom, whipped cream

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 20 minutes

Rise time 2 hours 30 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 381kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Dough

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter 115 g or 1 stick
• 1 cup whole milk 236 ml
• 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 1 package
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour 560 g
• 1/4 cup white sugar 50 g

To Bake

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Almond filling

• 1 1/2 cups almond meal or flour 180 g
• 3 tablespoon white sugar
• 3/4 cup whole milk 177 ml
• Bread crumbs from filling
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract optional but recommended

Whipped Cream Filling

• 2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To finish

• Powdered sugar

Instructions

• Make the dough by melting the butter in a small saucepan. Add the milk and test to make sure the liquid is lukewarm and not too hot to the touch. If it is too hot to touch, let it cool off until it is about 100°F.

  Sprinkle the yeast over the liquid. Stir to dissolve the yeast. Set aside for 5 minutes to let the yeast proof. The top of the liquid should have a little bit of bubbles and activity but it won’t be as active as if you had used water.
  
• Pour the liquid, scraping out any solidified butter if your kitchen is cold, into the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the egg, cardamom, salt and stir to break up the egg, dissolve the salt and distribute the cardamom. Add the flour and sugar. Stir until most of the flour has been absorbed, then switch to the dough hook attachment. Knead and mix the dough on medium low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 4 to 5 minutes.
  
• Lightly spray a large bowl with cooking oil, then gather the dough into a smooth ball. Place the ball of dough down into the bowl, making sure the “rough” side of the dough is face down in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rest to rise for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
  
• Once the dough has risen preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking sheets.

  Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (if you have a scale, each piece should be about 85 to 90 g). Roll the dough into rough balls and then place them on the lined baking sheet, 6 buns per baking sheets.

  Cover dough rounds with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 to 60 minutes. The dough will not have doubled in size but they will be more puffy and larger.
  
• Beat together the egg yolk and cream. Brush this egg wash over the top of each dough round. Bake the buns for 14 to 16 minutes or until the top of the bun is golden brown. If you have an instant read thermometer, the inside of the bun should register 180°F to 190°F.

  Let the buns cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then move the to a wire rack to cool completely.
  
• Once the buns are cool, cut into the bun, in a diagonal downward motion, making an inverted cone or pyramid to cut out the center bun. Then cut the inside center off the top of the bun. Set aside the inside of the bread.
  
• Make the filling placing the almond meal/flour and sugar in a blender or food processor along with inside of the bread rolls. Pulse a few times to break down the bread into crumbs and blend the almond and sugar. Drizzle the milk and almond extract (if using) into the blender or food processor until a paste forms.
  
• Make the whipped cream by placing the heavy cream and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the wire whisk attachment. Whip the cream together until soft peaks form. Fill a pastry bag fitted with large tip with the whipped cream.
  
• Spoon a tablespoon of the almond flour into the bottom of the bun, then top with a swirl of whipped cream. Place the top of the bun over the whipped cream. Dust with powdered sugar. Repeat with the remaining buns and serve immediately.
  

The post Semla (Swedish Cardamom Almond Buns) appeared first on Eat The Love.

Salted caramel pot de creme is a rich and decadent custard dessert. They’re the perfect easy, make-ahead dessert to impress anyone!

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Pot de creme is one of those overlooked desserts. They sound super fancy, impress most everyone, and taste rich and decadent. But best of all, they’re an easy make-ahead dessert, as they need time to chill in the fridge to firm up. This means you have plenty of time to plan out dinner or the rest of the evening and not have to worry about dessert! And though I’ve made mocha pots de creme and chocolate pots de creme, for all those folks who don’t like chocolate (strange but they exist!) here’s a recipe for my husband’s favorite non-chocolate desert, caramel pot de creme!

What is a pot de crème?

Pot de crème is a French name that translates to “Pots of Cream” or “Pots of Custard.” It is a custard-based dessert that is similar to pudding in flavor and texture. Pots de crème have been around since 17^th century where they were originally created in a crust (like a pie), but slowly they evolved where the custard was baked without a crust in a ceramic pot or vessel.

The main difference between the pots de crème and pudding is how the custard is thickened. Pudding is normally thickened with both eggs and/or egg yolks as well as starch (often cornstarch). Pots de crème are thickened just with egg yolks and are baked slowly in the water bath to help firm up the custard.

Because pots de crème are thickened with just egg yolk, the resulting flavor and texture is a richer, silkier and more decadent than puddings.

How do you make caramel pot de crème?

Making caramel pot de crème starts with making a caramel sauce. First you cook the sugar in a pan until it caramelizes. Then you slowly drizzle in milk and cream to create a caramel sauce.

Once the sauce is made, drizzle the hot liquid into a bowl of egg yolks slowly. Then divide the custard into jars or ramekins and bake the jars in a water bath until the center just jiggles slightly. Chill in the fridge until firm.

Here’s a video to show you how easy it is to make salted caramel pot de creme.

What’s the best way to make caramel?

Making caramel can be scary and sounds dangerous but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some tips on making caramel:

• Use a silver or light colored pot to make the caramel if you have never made caramel before. Lighter colored surfaces will help show the color of the sugar as it caramelizes so you can keep track of how dark the caramel turns.
• Caramel goes from golden brown to dark brown to black and burnt pretty fast. So watch it like a hawk once the sugar melts and starts to brown.
• Make sure to use a lower heat if you are unsure about making caramel. Once the sugar starts brown you can even remove the pan from the heat and let the residual heat of the pan continue to cook the sugar darker. You can always return the pan to the heat to darken the caramel if you need to, but you can’t reverse it.
• Heat the cream and milk that you will add to the caramelized sugar. This will help keep the caramel from seizing up.
• Keep in mind that as you add the dairy, the caramel will sputter and steam a lot. Add a little bit of time and stir to incorporate it. Then add more. Repeat until all the dairy is incorporated.
• Don’t worry if the caramel does harden and seize up. Heat the caramel on low after you’ve added all the dairy and stir until all the harden parts dissolve.
• And if you’re extra nervous, place a large bowl of ice water next to the pot just in case something happens and you need to dunk you hand in it. You never know!

What is a water bath and why do you need to use it?

The pots de crème are baked in a water bath. This means the jars or ramekins are placed in a baking pan or roasting pan and hot water is poured into the pan around the jars/ramekins before baking in the oven.

The water bath prevents the pots de crème from baking too fast, as the water can only heat up to 212°F. This, along with keeping the enclosed oven environment moist, helps the custard cook slowly, for a silkier and smooth texture.

Don’t skip the water bath, as the pot de creme will bake too fast, resulting in an overbaked custard with an unpleasant texture.

Can you make pots de crème ahead of time? How do you store it?

Pots de crème needs to be made ahead of time. Chill the pots de crème for a minimum of 4 hours in the refrigerator or overnight. You can store the pots de crème in the fridge for up to 3 days. Cover the top of the custard with plastic wrap touching the surface of the custard if you want to avoid forming a skin on the pots de crème.

If you like these Salted Caramel Pots de Crème check out these other caramel recipes:

• Salted Caramel stuffed chocolate cookies
• Salted Caramel Bars with cashews
• Salted Caramel Drink
• Rye Brownies with Salted Caramel
• Brookie Caramel Bars

And here are few other pots de creme recipes I’ve found online:

• Stovetop Chocolate Pots de Crème
• Vegan and Paleo Chocolate Pots de Crème
• Pumpkin Pots de Crème
• Maple Pots de Crème
• Meyer Lemon Pots de Crème

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Salted Caramel Pot de Crème

These rich and luscious custard-based desserts are made with homemade caramel sauce with a sprinkled with flaky salt to temper the sweetness. They are easy to make, but do require a water bath to help ensure a silky smooth texture. The pots de crème have to be made ahead of time and then chilled, so be sure to plan ahead.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, French

Keyword caramel, custard, pot de creme

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Refrigerate time 4 hours

Servings 6

Calories 328kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 1/4 cups white sugar 250 g
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To bake

• Boiling water

For topping

• Maldon sea salt or other flaky finishing salt like Fleur de Sel Sel de Gris, Cypress flake salt or Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325°F.

  Place the cream and milk in a medium saucepan and heat the dairy until bubbles starts to form on the edges of the pan. Turn the heat off and cover the pan.

  Place the sugar in a large heavy bottomed saucepan with a silver bottom (avoid nonstick, as the dark coating will make it hard to judge the caramel color). Turn the heat to medium-high, stirring occasionally with a heat proof silicon spatula or wooden spoon. As the sugar melts, continue to stir and shake the pan so all the sugar melts evenly. Once the sugar starts to brown, turn the heat off and let the residual heat of the pan continue to caramelize the sugar. You want the caramel to turn a dark golden brown, closer to chestnut but not mahogany black.
  
• Drizzle the warm dairy into the sugar, carefully just a little bit as the caramel will sputter and steam alarmingly, stirring as the liquid is added, until all the liquid is incorporated. Continue until all the dairy is incorporated. If the caramel seizes up and solidifies, turn the heat to medium-low and stir until the harden caramel has dissolved.
  
• Place the egg yolks and salt in a bowl and stir together with a whisk.
  
• Stir with the whisk and drizzle the hot caramel a tiny bit at a time. You want to slowly heat up the yolks a tiny bit of a time, without scrambling them. Continue to drizzle and add the caramel, whisking the entire time, until all the caramel is incorporated. Stir in the vanilla.
  
• Pour the custard through a sieve to ensure it is silky smooth. Then divide the custard into 6 small ramekins or small 1/2 pint jars. Place ramekin/jars in a baking pan or roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven and carefully pour the boiling water into the baking/roasting pan around the ramekins/jars until it comes up about halfway up the ramekins/jars. Bake the pots de crème for 35 to 40 minutes and remove from the oven. The center of the custard will wiggly slightly but it firms up as it cools.

  Let the custard cool for 20 minutes in the pan, and then move the jars to the refrigerator to cool and set for 4 hours or overnight.

  Right before serving, sprinkle the finishing salt over the pots de crème and serve.
  

Video

The post Salted Caramel Pot de Creme (with video) appeared first on Eat The Love.

These Chinese pearl meatballs (珍珠丸子) are a savory pork meatball coated with glutinous rice. It is an easy dish from the Hubei/Hunan region of China.

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Growing up, my mom cooked all sorts of Chinese dishes that most folks associate with dim sum dishes. And though I have a number of Asian dishes on this site, including Taiwanese popcorn fried chicken, Japanese karaage, chicken char sui fried dumplings and Korean fried chicken, I have yet to really share any of the food that she made growing up. Pearl meatballs are one of the easiest dim sum dishes that you can make, as they have a similar savory pork filling similar to dim sum dumplings but don’t require any folding or sealing of the wrappers. They’re the perfect gateway dish to make if you are looking to get into making Chinese dim sum or Chinese food appetizers!

What is a pearl meatball?

Pearl meatballs are seasoned pork meatballs that rolled in glutinous rice then steamed. They originated in the Hubei/Hunan region of China and are often served on special occasion banquets or for holidays like Chinese/Lunar New Year.

They are similar to American porcupine meatballs but made with glutinous rice, pork and do not have the tomato sauce that is most commonly found with the porcupine meatball.

The name pearl meatballs comes from the glutinuous rice that coats the meatballs. The shiny sticky rice turns a shiny translucent white, looking almost like pearls embedded in the meat filling, forming what could be a large pearl if you squint your eyes.

How do you make pearl meatball?

Making pearl meatballs is super easy, but it does require a little bit of planning. The glutinous rice needs to soak for a minimum of 90 minutes to properly steam. That said, you can wash the rice and then let it soak overnight in the fridge if you like!

Once the rice has soaked, soak the dried shrimp and bamboo leaves (if using) in hot water and make the filling by combining the ground pork, chopped dried shrimp, chopped green onions, chopped water chestnuts, Shaoxing wine, cornstarch and seasonings like soy sauce, chopped ginger, sesame oil, salt and white pepper in a bowl. Traditionally you mix the filling in one direction only with chopsticks but I found that mixing it with a wooden spoon, paddle or stiff spatula in whatever manner you want totally works.

Once the meat filling is thoroughly mixed, form 1-inch balls and roll in the soaked glutinous rice then roll in your hands to make sure the rice sticks to the filling. Steam the balls and then eat!

Here’s a video for the full process on how to make these pearl meatballs.

What is glutinous rice?

Glutinous rice, sometimes called sticky rice or sweet glutinous rice (a misnomer as it’s not sweet by itself) is a variety of rice that is lacks amylose, and high in amylopectin (both of which are the components of starch). The amylopectin creates a highly sticky quality in the rice, higher than regular rice. When raw it is completely opaque, unlike regular rice, which is slightly translucent when raw. Once cooked, glutinous rice takes on a shiny transparent color and is very sticky.

Glutinous rice can be ground into flour, which is the primary component to Japanese mochi, as well as used in a variety of gluten free baking.

Despite its name, glutinous rice is gluten free. The name glutinous comes from the sticky “glue-like” quality of the rice once it is cooked. Because the rice is gluten free, these pearl meatballs are naturally gluten free if you use tamari gluten-free soy sauce and substitute the Shaoxing wine (which often has trace amounts of gluten in it) for sake or dry sherry (see section below).

You can find glutinous rice online, in Asian grocery stores or in well stocked grocery stores in the Asian section.

What is Shaoxing Wine?

Shaoxing cooking wine, sometimes written as shao xing wine or shaohsing wine, is a dark amber colored wine made from fermenting rice, water and a small amount of wheat. It originated from the Shaoxing region of eastern China. There are records of Shaoxing wine being made more than 2000 years ago. You can find Shaoxing wine in Asian grocery stores and online.

Though there are aged Shaoxing wines that are meant for drinking, most Shaoxing wine that you find at the Asian grocery store is meant for cooking and has a salty alcohol taste if drunk straight from the bottle. This salt is added to avoid the alcohol tax at grocery stores.

Shaoxing wine is relatively cheap (an “expensive“ bottle is usually $5 to $6 while a more budget friendly one will run you $3). You can store an open bottle of Shaoxing wine in the pantry for up to 6 months or longer.

If you don’t have access to Shaoxing wine, or don’t feel like buying a bottle for this recipe, you can easily substitute an equal amount of sake (a lighter flavor), mirin (a sweeter flavor) or dry cooking sherry. If you are avoiding alcohol completely, just substitute chicken broth for the Shaoxing wine. Keep in mind with all those substitutes, that the final dish might taste slightly different.

Do I need to use a bamboo steamer?

Traditionally dim sum dumplings are steamed in bamboo steamers and these pearl meatballs is no different. But if you don’t have bamboo steamers, you can steam them in a western style expandable metal steamer set over simmering water. Keep in mind that you won’t fit as many meatballs in the metal steamer and will have to steam the meatballs in batches, removing the meatballs after they are done to cook more.

Do I need bamboo leaves to steam these?

Bamboo steamers are often lined with bamboo leaves to keep the steamed item from sticking. Bamboo leaves, unlike parchment paper, added and extra dimension and subtle earthy flavor to the pearl meatballs and dumplings.

But you can use cabbage leaves or parchment paper rounds in place of the bamboo leaves if you don’t have them or don’t have access to them. If you do use bamboo leaves, remember to soak the bamboo leaves ahead of time to make them pliable to fit in the steamer basket. Dry bamboo leaves are stiff and brittle and won’t keep their shape or break if you try to bend them.

Can I make them ahead of time?

Like most dim sum, these pearl meatballs are best eaten right after they are cooked. But if you have leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Warm them up in the microwave (the time is dependent on how many you heat up and how strong your microwave is) or re-steam them for 6 to 8 minutes, or until they are heated thoroughly.

If you like these pearl meatballs, check out these other Asian dishes:

• Shortcut Marbled Chinese Tea Eggs
• Asian Fried Calamari
• General Tso Chicken Wings
• Korean BBQ Chicken Wings
• Tea Smoked Shrimp Vegetable Ribbon Salad and Asian Pesto

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Pearl Meatballs

Pearl Meatballs are a traditional dish that comes from the Hubei/Hunan region of China. They are savory pork meatballs rolled and steamed with a glutinous rice coating. They’re a great introduction to making dim sum as they don’t require any folding of the dumpling skin, just a quick roll in the rice. This dish does require the rice to soak in water for a minimum of 90 minutes or overnight so plan accordingly.

Course Appetizer, brunch, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine asian, Chinese

Keyword dim sum, meatballs, pork, rice

Prep Time 30 minutes

Soak/Prep time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 20 meatballs

Author Irvin

Ingredients

• 1 cup glutinous rice 210 g, see note above
• 1/4 cup dried shrimp 30 g, optional but recommended, see note below recipe
• 6 to 8 bamboo leaves optional, see note above for substitutions
• 1 pound ground pork 455 g
• 1/3 cup green onions chopped, roughly 2 to 3 green onions
• 1/4 cup minced water chestnuts 45 g
• 2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine see note above for substitutions
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper or black pepper
• 1 large egg

Instructions

• Rinse the glutinous rice under water until the water is clear. Place the glutinous rice in a medium sized bowl and cover with room temperature water. Cover and let soak for minimum 90 minutes or up to overnight.
  
• Place the dried shrimp in a small bowl and cover with hot water (hot from the tap is fine) and let soak for 30 minutes. Drain the shrimp , then chop the dried shrimp.
  
• Place the bamboo leaves in a large bowl or large pan of hot water, and place a mesh colander or plate on top to weigh them down. Let the leaves soak for at least 30 minutes. Line the inside of two bamboo steamer with the softened bamboo leaves. Trim any excess leaves that are hanging over the edge of the steamer.
  
• Make the filling by mixing the ground pork, green onions, water chestnuts, Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, ginger, cornstarch, sesame oil, salt, pepper, large egg and chopped dried shrimp in a large bowl until the ingredients are evenly distributed and form a sticky paste.
  
• Drain the glutinous rice and place in a medium bowl. Dampen your hands (run them under water and then shake the excess water off) and scoop up about a heaping tablespoon of the filling and form a ball, roughly 1-inch in diameter. Roll the ball of filling in the glutinous rice making sure the entire ball is coated in the raw rice. Roll the ball in your hands gently to press the rice into the filling, to make sure it sticks.
  
• Move the ball to the lined bamboo steamer and repeat until all the filling is used up, making sure there is at least 1/2-inch space from each other.
  
• Once the balls are made, fill a wok or pan with about 2 to 3 inches of water, high enough to create enough steam to cook the balls but not so high that it will touch the bamboo steamer when it is placed on the wok or pan.

  Bring the water to a boil, then carefully place the filled bamboo steamers over the boiling water. Place the lid on top and steam the meatballs for 18 to 20 minutes or until the balls are firm and the center reads 165°F with an instant read thermometer. If you stack two steamers together, the top steamer will get less steam and may need an extra minute or two to cook the meatballs.
  

Video

 

Notes

You can find dried shrimp in Asian grocery stores or online.

The post Chinese Pearl Meatballs – 珍珠丸子 (with video) appeared first on Eat The Love.

This quick and easy roasted carrots is packed with flavor because of the za’atar spice blend and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses and seeds.

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These carrots are a great and easy side dish to go along with something like my Lamb Tagine, Mediterranean Meatballs or Spiced Lamb and Beef Kebabs. Since the carrots are cooked under the broiler, they cook fast, with a slight smoky char to them. Regular orange carrots are great, but to make the dish extra special, look for rainbow carrots, which are available at farmers markets and upscale grocery stores.

How do you make roasted carrots?

Though it’s easy to roast carrots in the oven, this recipe has the carrots roasted under a broiler, functioning almost like grilling the carrots. Broiling the carrots chars them slightly, giving a slight smokiness and heightens the sweetness to the carrot. The direct heat of the broiler also means the carrots are done in about 10 minutes!

To broil the carrots, slice the carrots lengthwise so they cook faster, and then toss them with olive oil, za’atar, salt and pepper. Broil for 8 to 10 minutes, turning or tossing the carrots halfway.

Once done, drizzle with pomegranate molasses and sprinkle with fresh pomegranate seeds before serving.

What are rainbow carrots?

This recipe can be made with regular orange carrots but look beautiful when made with rainbow carrots. Carrots actually comes in a variety of colors beyond orange, and they all taste like carrots. Different colored carrots do have slightly different flavor profiles though! You can find rainbow carrots at farmers markets and upscale grocery stores.

• Orange carrots: Orange carrots are the most common carrots that folks are familiar with. They are sweet, earthy and crunchy.
• Purple carrots: These carrots are more earthy and savory in flavor. They tend to be a little less sweet flavor than orange carrots. Some variety of purple carrots have a beautiful orange or yellow center, while some purple carrots are dark all the way through. The purple carrots with the dark center occasionally to have a hint of pepperiness to them.
• White carrots: These carrots are less earthy and more sweet. White carrots tend to be crunchier and crisper than other carrots.
• Yellow/Golden carrots: These carrots are mild in flavor and are sweet with a little less earthiness than orange carrots.
• Red carrots: These carrots are similar to orange carrots in flavor, but their red color comes from lycopene, which is the heathy antioxidant found in tomatoes.

What is za’atar and can you substitute?

Za’atar is a specific culinary herb similar to oregano, thyme, marjoram and savory. But most folks are familiar with za’atar as a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spice blend mix of dried za’atar or another more familiar green herb like thyme or oregano, as well as other spices like sesame seeds, and sumac.

The za’atar that I use in this recipe is the more commonly found spice blend mix that can be bought at upscale grocery stores and online. There are hundreds of recipes and variations of how to make your own za’atar online.

But if you don’t have za’atar and can’t find it, feel free to substitute 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, 1/4 teaspoon sesame seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon dried sumac or lemon zest in place of the za’atar in recipe.

What is Pomegranate molasses and can you substitute?

Pomegranate molasses is a syrup made from the juice of the pomegranate fruit. The juice is reduced to a thick dark red syrup and is both sweet and tart. It can be found in well-stock grocery stores, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern grocery stores and online.

If you don’t have access to pomegranate molasses do not substitute regular molasses for it! Regular molasses is too bitter and aggressive in flavor for this recipe.

Though it will change the flavor profile of the recipe, you can try substituting aged balsamic vinegar in this recipe or use 2 teaspoons of honey mixed with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice instead of the pomegranate molasses and just skip the pomegranate seeds. The dish flavor will shift but it will still be delicious.

Can you make this ahead?

Yes! Though this recipe is easy and fast to make, you can also make it ahead of time. Toss the carrots with the oil and spices and roast them as directed. Let the carrots cool and store them in an air tight container for up to 2 days in the refrigerator. Do not drizzle with the pomegranate molasses or pomegranate seeds before storing them.

To serve, warm them up in the microwave or in an oven or toaster oven at 350°F for about 10 to 15 minutes. Drizzle with the pomegranate molasses and pomegranate seeds right before serving.

If you like these roasted carrots, check out these other roasted vegetable side dishes:

• Roasted Radishes and Brussels Sprouts with Lemon Brown Butter
• Curry Roasted Cauliflower
• Roasted Green Beans with Dried Cranberry and Sliced Almond
• Roasted Asparagus with Olive Herb Dressing
• Brussels Sprouts and Hazelnuts in Sesame Orange Honey Glaze

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Roasted Carrots with Za’atar, Pomegranate Seeds and Molasses

This quick and easy side dish is a beautiful addition to any meal and packed with flavor. If you can find rainbow carrots, a variety of heirloom carrots often found in well-stocked grocery stores or farmers markets, use them to give this a stunning presentation. Otherwise, regular orange carrots are equally tasty in this recipe.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Mediterranean

Keyword carrots, pomegranate, vegan, vegetarian, zaatar

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 185kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds carrots rainbow preferred
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons za’atar spice blend see note above
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses see note above
• 2 tablespoon pomegranate seeds

Instructions

• Turn the broiler on in your oven. Remove the greens if they are still attached to the carrots. Scrub the carrots clean under water, but don’t bother peeling them. Split the carrots in half lengthwise (or quarter if necessary) so all the carrots are equal thickness. Place the carrots on a rimmed baking sheet.
  
• Drizzle the carrots with the olive oil, then sprinkle with the za’atar spice blend, salt and pepper.
  
• Toss carrots with your hands until they are all coated evenly with the carrots and spices.

  Place the carrots under the broiler and roast for 8 to 10 minutes, carefully turning the carrots halfway through the cooking to make sure the carrots are charred on both sides.

  Once the carrots are charred and roasted, move to a serving plate. Drizzle the pomegranate molasses over the carrots and sprinkle the pomegranate seeds over the carrots before serving.
  

Video

The post Roasted Carrots with Za’atar, Pomegranate Seeds and Molasses (with video) appeared first on Eat The Love.

These Swedish-style Cardamom buns are a fun, less cloyingly sweet twist on the classic American-style cinnamon roll.

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The days have gotten short and brisk here in San Francisco while the nights are long and dreary right now. And though the days will start to get longer soon, I feel like I’ll still be hunkering down for the next couple of months, trying to achieve some Scandinavian hygge, a Danish word for a mood of comfortable contentment.

This of course will entail me making large mugs of coffee, reading lots of books, wearing thick wooly sweaters and socks, and baking up a storm with warm wintery spices. And though I love making cinnamon rolls in all their various forms, from classic cinnamon rolls, red velvet cinnamon rolls, rosemary & pistachio cinnamon rolls, sweet potato cinnamon rolls and, even eggnog cinnamon rolls, I was inspired by a local Scandinavian eatery nearby, to make these cardamom knots.

What is a cardamom bun?

Cardamom buns, called kardemummabullar in Swedish, are the sibling to the classic cinnamon bun, though they are significantly less sweet, with a brown sugar cardamom filling and no icing on top. Instead of the sticky cream cheese frosting, the Scandinavian cardamom knot has Swedish pearl sugar sprinkled on top.

How do you make cardamom buns?

First you make an enriched yeasted dough, which has all-purpose flour, milk, eggs, butter, vanilla, salt, brown sugar, white sugar and a touch of cardamom in it. Knead and let the dough rise until double in size.

As the dough is rising, make the filling which has brown sugar, butter, vanilla, cardamom and cinnamon in it. Yes, the cinnamon is not traditional in a Swedish cardamom bun, but I like the extra warmth and dimension it adds. Feel free to omit it if you are a purist.

Once the dough has risen, roll the dough out in a large rectangle and spread half the filling over it. Fold the dough in half over the filling.Once the filling is sandwiched between the dough, cut the dough into 1-inch strips. Wrap the dough around your fingers and form the knots! Let the buns rise, brush with an egg wash, sprinkle with the pearl sugar and bake.

Wait back up. That knot looks complicated, how do you shape cardamom buns?

It’s not! Promise. If you can tie a ribbon around a present, you can make these buns. In fact, it’s EASIER than tying a ribbon!

Roll the entire dough out into one large rectangle, about 12 x 18-inches. Then spread the filling over half the dough. Fold the dough in half, creating a 12 x 9-inch rectangle.

Cut into 12 strips, about 1-inch thick. Take the strips of dough with the filling inside, gently stretch each strip out to twice its size, about 18-inches long.

Wrap the dough over a couple of your fingers about three times, making sure there is enough dough left for ONE more wrap around. Slide the dough off your fingers.

Then take the remaining dough and change directions, using that last piece of dough to wind around the bun, making sure the end of the dough is on the bottom of the bun.

If those instructions and photos above don’t help you, here’s a short 15 second video that shows how to twist and fold the cardamom buns.

Proceed with the recipe as written, letting the knots rise for an hour, and then brushing with an egg wash, sprinkling with pearl sugar and bake until golden brown.

What is cardamom?

Cardamom is a spice that comes from the seeds of a couple of different plants in the ginger family. It is used a lot in Indian cooking and is one of the common components in Indian chai beverages. It is native to South India and Indonesia, though most cardamom purchased in the United States is from Guatemala. Though long associated with South Asian and Middle East, cardamom spice has migrated to Scandinavia where is has been used liberally in Nordic baked goods. Sweden consumes 18 times more cardamom than the median country, while Norway consumes 30 times as much!

Cardamom has a more complex flavor profile than cinnamon, though the two are often compared to one another. Cardamom has floral and citrus notes in it, with a subtle mentholated eucalyptus taste. I use a blend of ground cinnamon and ground cardamom in this recipe because I like how they interplay with each other, but you can use all cardamom if you want to make this a traditional cardamom bun. Or you can omit the cardamom completely and use cinnamon in its place, turn these knots into beautiful individual cinnamon rolls.

What is Pearl Sugar?

Pearl sugar, otherwise known as nib sugar or hail sugar, is coarse, crunchy, hard white sugar that does not easily dissolve. It comes in two versions, Belgian and Swedish. The Belgian pearl sugar is larger and used in liege waffles, while the Swedish style is smaller and looks like pretzel salt. I use the Swedish pearl sugar on these cardamom knots. If you have Belgian style pearl sugar, try placing them in a heavy-duty freezer Ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin into smaller bits before using them in this recipe.

You can find pearl sugar online (<- affiliate link) or at specialty baking and professional food shops. Ikea occasionally sells it as well in their food department. If you can’t source it or don’t wish to buy it online, you can make a substitution by lightly crushing some sugar cubes in a resealable Ziplock bag under a rolling pin. Keep in mind the resulting sugar won’t be exactly the same as the pearl sugar and the knots won’t look as traditional, but they will still taste great.

Of course, you can also just use sparkling sugar, turbinado sugar or even plain sugar on top of the knots. They won’t look as traditional but will be equally tasty, with a crunchy sweet topping.

Can you make these ahead?

Like most yeasted dough, you can make the dough ahead and slow the rise time by chilling the dough. Here are two ways you can make the dough ahead of time.

• Make the dough and let it rise overnight in the fridge in a covered bowl, then take the dough out the next day to continue to rise until double in size. Proceed with the recipe as directed.
• Or let the dough rise completely, divide, roll out and form the buns. Place the buns on a baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge overnight. The next day, let the buns come back to room temperature, about 1 to 2 hour on the counter or kitchen table, then brush with the egg wash, sprinkle with the pearl sugar, and bake as directed.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you like these cardamom buns, you might also like these other baked breakfast treats:

• Swedish blueberry cake
• Apricot Yeast Bread
• Cranberry Swirl Bread
• Carrot and Prunes Muffins
• Fig and Hazelnut Scones
• Bialy, the cousin to the bagel
• Pretzel Shakshuka

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Cardamom knots

These beautiful Swedish cardamom knots are easier to make than they look. A cousin to the classic cinnamon roll, these buns have ground cardamom, as well as a touch of cinnamon, in the filling, adding an alluring floral and citrus note to these buns. Feel free to use all cardamom in the filling if you’d like a more traditional cardamom bun. These buns require two resting periods to rise, so plan accordingly, or make the buns one day, let them rest in the fridge overnight, and bake them the next day!

Course bread, Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine Swedish

Keyword bread, buns, cardamom, cinnamon, swedish meatballs, sweet buns, yeast

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Resting time 2 hours

Servings 12

Calories 362kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 7 g or 1 package
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar 50 g
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour plus more if necessary

Filling

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 165 g
• 2 tablespoons ground cardamom
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

To finish

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons Swedish pearl sugar see note above

Instructions

• Make the dough by first warming the milk up on the stove in a small pan, about 15 seconds or so on high. You only want the milk to get warm to the touch, not hot. Remove from heat, stir in the brown sugar, then stir in the yeast until it dissolves. Set aside for 5 minutes to proof.
  
• Once the yeast has proofed and bubbles start to form at the top of the surface of the milk, pour the liquid into the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add the melted butter, eggs, sugar, cardamom, vanilla and salt. Stir with a whisk or a fork to combine.
  
• Add the flour and turn the mixer on low speed and mix until flour has been absorbed and a shaggy dough has formed. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl to help this along. Once most of the flour has been absorbed, increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 4 to 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough should not be sticky but slightly tacky. If you need to add more flour, knead it in 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the right consistency.
  
• Grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Grab the dough and pull/stretch the sides of it until a smooth round ball is formed. Place the dough, rough side down, in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 1 hour.
  
• While the dough is rising, make the filling by placing the butter and vanilla in a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom in a medium sized bowl.

  Prep two 12 x 17 baking sheets by placing silicon baking mats or parchment paper on each of them. If you’re using parchment paper, liberally spray the paper with cooking oil.

  Once the dough has risen, roll the dough out to a 12 x 18 inch rectangle. With the dough in a vertical “portrait” position, spread the filling over the top half of the dough, leaving the bottom half bare.
  
• Fold the dough over, sandwiching the filling between two layers of dough, forming a 12 x 9 inch rectangle.

  Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 12 strips, about 1-inch thick.
  
• Take one strip and gently stretch the dough until it is about twice as long (about 18 inches). Then wrap the dough around two fingers 3 times. After the third time, slide the dough off your fingers and wrap the remaining dough perpendicularly over the dough, forming a knot. Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining strips.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let the knots rise again for about 1 hour in a warm place. They should look puffy but will not have doubled in size.

  Beat the egg yolk and water together in a small bowl. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

  Once the knots have finished their final rise, brush them with the egg wash and then sprinkle them with a generous amount of pearl sugar. Bake the knots for 15 to 18 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top. Don’t worry some of the filling leaks out of the knot. That is to be expected. If you have an instant read thermometer, the inside temperature should read 185°F.
  
• Let the knots cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a wire cooling wrap to cool completely.
  

The post Cardamom Buns (aka Swedish Kardemummabullar) appeared first on Eat The Love.

Red velvet crackle cookies are fun variation of the chocolate crackle cookie with a secret ingredient to give that classic red velvet flavor!

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I’ve been obsessed with red velvet EVERYTHING for years now. This is evident with my recipes for red velvet cinnamon rolls, red velvet smores (with cream cheese marshmallows), and my ridiculous blood orange and coconut velvet cake. And though red velvet’s popularity has definitely gone up and down over the years, I’ve been a steady proponent of it. So this year, I finally got around to nailing the red velvet crackle cookie recipe that I’ve been working on for years.

Similar to my chocolate crackle cookies and my reverse white chocolate crackle cookies, and my black forest chocolate crinkle cookies, these cookies have a touch of cocoa powder and a healthy dose of red food coloring gives the cookie the same look and flavor of red velvet cake. In addition, the powdered sugar coating has a touch of buttermilk powder to give a slight tang to it, just like the cream cheese frosting would give. A festive cookie perfect for the holidays (and, truthfully, all year round).

How do you make these cookies?

Making these crackle cookies are pretty easy. Start by mixing together melted butter with sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, baking powder and salt.

Then add in eggs, milk and red food coloring. Add in the flour and then mix until you have a very sticky loose batter.

At this point you need to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour, preferably overnight. The dough is super sticky and can be challenging to work with. The chilling definitely makes it easier!

Once chilled, divide the dough, roll it in granulated sugar, then a combo of powdered sugar and buttermilk powder. Bake and serve!

What is buttermilk powder and why use it?

Buttermilk powder is dried buttermilk that has been turned from liquid to a powder form. You can find it online (Amazon affiliate link) and in well stocked grocery stores.

That said, it’s totally optional in this recipe. I add a touch of it to the powdered sugar coating. It has a slight tang to it and adds a subtle creaminess to the coating, giving the cookies that classic cream cheese frosting tang.

But if you don’t have buttermilk powder, or don’t feel like tracking it down, feel free to skip it or substitute nonfat dry milk or malted milk powder in its place. The cookies will be awesome anyway you make them!

How do you make the best looking cookies?

Often times crackle cookies, once baked, end up absorbing the powdered sugar, which means the cookies don’t look that great. You want the bright white powdered sugar to stay bright white in contrast to the dark inside.

The secret is first coating the cookie in granulated sugar, then the powdered sugar! The granulated sugar acts as a “protective” coating and keeps the powdered sugar from being absorbed into the cookie. The result is a bright white coating over the cookie which makes the best looking cookie.

Do you need to use food coloring? Is there a natural way to dye the cookies?

Though I am usually not a fan of artificial food coloring, almost all the natural red food colorings that I have tried in the past have either imparted an odd flavor (paprika, beets or hibiscus) or fade to a brown color when baked or heated. Because of that, I recommend using conventional artificial red food coloring for these cookies.

But if you find a natural food coloring that holds its color when baked and doesn’t add an odd flavor to these cookies, please leave a comment below and I’ll be sure to test it out and add it to the recipe notes!

Frequently Asked Questions

If you like these red velvet crackle cookies, check out some of these other cookie recipes

• Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies
• Monster Cookies
• Hot Chocolate Cookies
• Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Gingerbread Tree Cookies with M&Ms

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Red Velvet Crackle Cookies

These red velvet crackle cookies are variation of the traditional chocolate crackle cookies. The addition of the buttermilk powder in the coating is optional but helps give the coating a creamy tangy flavor reminiscent of cream cheese frosting. If you want a more intense red color, increase the food coloring to 2 teaspoons.

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword christmas, cookies, holidays

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Chill Time 1 hour

Servings 36

Calories 80kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar 250 g
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted 57 g
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder natural not Dutch-processed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk any percentage
• 1 teaspoon red food coloring
• 2 cups all-purpose flour 280 g

Coating

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar 57 g
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk powder optional (see note above)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 100 g

Instructions

• Place the sugar, melted butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix the ingredients together until uniform in color and clings to the side of the bowl.
  
• Add the eggs, milk, and red food coloring. Mix until incorporated. Scrape down again.
  
• Add the flour and mix slowly, turning the mixer on and off if necessary, until the flour is absorbed. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a spatula, the increase the speed and mix until everything is thoroughly incorporated. The dough will be very loose.
  
• Place a piece of plastic wrap on your counter or table and scrape the dough onto it. Wrap tightly, pushing and spreading the dough into a rectangle after you wrap it tightly. Place in the refrigerator for one hour, or preferably overnight.
  
• Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper.

  Combine the powdered sugar with the buttermilk (if using) in a medium bowl. Place the granulated sugar in a different bowl.
  
• Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Then divide each 4 sections into 9 pieces. Take one piece and roll it in your hand into a ball.
  
• Roll the ball in the granulated sugar until coated. Then place in the powdered sugar and roll until completely coated.
  
• Place on the baking sheet and repeat, making sure the cookies are placed 2 inches apart from each other.

  Once the pan is filled, bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are just set. Don’t overbake. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then move to a wire cooling rack.
  

The post Red Velvet Crackle Cookies appeared first on Eat The Love.

This stunning holiday cranberry spiral bread is inspired by a Swedish tea ring but has a cranberry, ginger, and pecan fruit filling that will make your holiday table look spectacular.

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This post was sponsored by Bi-Rite Market. I was compensated for this post and developing this recipe. However, all opinions below are my own.

I’ve been making this cranberry spiral fruit bread ring for years now in one version or another. It’s inspired by a traditional Swedish tea ring, a yeasted coffee cake that is often served during the winter months. Yet somehow, I have never actually gotten to share the recipe on my blog. So when I was approached to partner with my favorite local San Francisco grocer, Bi-Rite Market, I knew it was the recipe I wanted to share! I’ve been shopping at Bi-Rite Market for the past 15 years, ever since I moved two blocks away from them, and they always have the best seasonal and local produce available.

This cranberry spiral bread is one of those stunning desserts that uses seasonal fresh cranberries in the filling along with crystallized ginger and chopped pecans. Rolled into a log, made into a ring, then cut partially into spiral disks, the sweet yeasted bread looks like a beautiful holiday wreath that you can eat!

How do you make this spiral bread ring?

The base of this recipe is similar to a cinnamon roll dough or my apricot blueberry braided bread, where you make an enriched yeasted dough, filled with sugar, flour, eggs, butter, yeast milk, water, and spices. Knead the dough and let it rise until double in size.

While the dough is rising, make the cranberry filling on the stove by cooking cranberries, sugar, and orange juice. Once cooked, add in some chopped pecans and chopped crystallized ginger.

Once the dough has risen, roll it into a large rectangle, spread the filling over it, and roll the dough into a log, like you would to make cinnamon rolls. But instead of slicing into discs to make cinnamon rolls, bring the ends together to form a ring.

Place the ring on a sheet of greased parchment paper in a baking sheet. Cut the dough with scissors partially, all the way around the ring. Then twist each disk slightly so it lies flat to show off the spiral! Cover with plastic wrap and let rise again.

Brush with an egg wash, then bake. Once baked and cooled, drizzle vanilla glaze over the ring and serve.

Can I use store-bought or homemade cranberry sauce for the filling?

I don’t recommend using canned cranberry sauce for the filling as the canned cranberry sauce will most likely melt in the baking of the bread.

Depending on how chunky and thick your homemade cranberry sauce is, you might be able to use it as filling. The thicker the cranberry sauce, the better. Just use 1 1/2 cups of the homemade cranberry sauce and add in the chopped pecans and chopped crystallized sugar.

Keep in mind that most homemade sauce will be a little thinner so there might be more leakage in the filling when you bake the bread. If you wish, you can compensate for this by cooking the cranberry sauce for a little bit on the stovetop to thicken it. Try cooking it for 10 minutes, then cool it and check the consistency. It should be thick, like jam or preserves.

Can you use frozen cranberries or dried cranberries?

You can use frozen cranberries like you would fresh cranberries but I wouldn’t recommend dried cranberries. You want more moisture in the filling.

Can you hand knead the dough if you don’t have a stand mixer?

Yes! You can do this the old-fashioned way and make the dough by hand. Just mix all the dough ingredients together in a large bowl with a wooden spoon as instructed. Once a cohesive dough forms, scrape it onto a clean surface and knead the dough by hand for 6 to 7 minutes or until the dough is smooth and uniform in texture. Let rise and proceed with the recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you like this cranberry spiral bread, check out these other sweet yeasted breads

• Fig Rosemary Focaccia with Honey Lemon Glaze
• Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls
• Sourdough Banana Bread
• Pistachio and Rosemary Cinnamon Rolls
• Pumpkin Chocolate Monkey Bread
• Easy Kouign Amann
• Fried Apple Fritters
• Pumpkin Spice Morning Buns

And check out these other cranberry recipes

• Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cranberry Filling
• Apple Cranberry Pie with Almond Butter Crust
• Apple Pear Cobbler with Cranberries

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Cranberry Spiral Bread with Ginger and Pecans

This beautiful yeasted fruit bread is inspired by a Swedish tea ring. An enriched dough is rolled and then formed into a ring, cut partially to show the spiral rings and then baked in the shape of a wreath. Though the process looks complicated, it’s not as difficult as it looks. Keep in mind you do need to let the dough rise twice, so plan accordingly.

Course bread, Breakfast, brunch, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword bread, cranberry, ginger, holiday, pecans, yeast

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 30 minutes

Rise time 2 hours

Servings 12

Calories 286kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Dough

• 1/2 cup milk whole preferred but any percentage will work
• 6 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided 75 g
• 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast 7 g or 1 package
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 490 g
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon orange zest from about 1/2 large orange
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Filling

• 1 1/2 cups cranberries 145 g, fresh cranberries preferred but frozen will work
• 1/3 cup white sugar 65 g
• 1/3 cup orange juice from about 1/2 large orange
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans 50 g
• 2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
• 1 teaspoon orange zest from about 1/2 large orange
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

To finish

• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water

Glaze

• 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted 230 g
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 to 5 tablespoons milk whole preferred but any percentage will work

Instructions

• Make the dough by first warming the milk and water in a small saucepan until lukewarm, about 100°F. Stir in a 1/2 teaspoon of the brown sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the liquid stir to dissolve. Set aside for about 5 minutes or so, until you see the top of the liquid start to bubble.
  
• Place the flour, remaining brown sugar, melted butter, egg, orange zest, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on slow speed to combine.
  
• Drizzle the yeasty liquid into the bowl with the mixer still turned on to slow. Continue adding the liquid until completely added. Mix until a dough forms. Change from the paddle attachment to the dough hook attachment. Knead with the dough hook for 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and uniform.
  
• Spray a bowl with cooking oil, then take the dough and stretch it out so it is a smooth ball. Place the rough side of the ball of dough into the bottom of the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm area to rise. Let the dough rise until double in size, about 60 to 90 minutes.
  
• While the dough is rising, make the filling. Place the cranberries, sugar, and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat until the cranberries have popped and a thick sauce has formed. Stir in the chopped pecans, crystallized ginger, orange zest, cinnamon and cloves. Set aside to cool while the dough rises.
  
• Once the dough has risen, assemble the bread ring by dumping the dough onto a clean surface and rolling it out into a 12 x 15 inch rectangle.
  
• Spread the cranberry sauce over the dough, trying to spread it out as much as possible to the edges. Roll out the dough into a log form the long side, creating a 15-inch long log.
  
• Spray a piece of parchment paper with cooking oil and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Move the dough onto the parchment paper and form a circle with the log. Brush the ends of the log with water and then pinch the ends of the log together to form a full circle.
  
• Using a pair of kitchen scissors, make a cut in the ring about 2/3 through, leaving 1/3 of the center part of the ring untouched. Make another cut about 1 inch apart, repeating all the way around the ring. Twist and turn each cut out piece slightly so it lays flat on the baking sheet to reveal some of the spiral. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise again for about 30 to 45 minutes or until puffy and almost double in size.
  
• While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F. One the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap. Beat the egg yolk with the water and brush over the top of the bread. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top of the bread is a deep golden brown. If you have an instant read thermometer, the dough internal temperature should read 190°F.
  
• Let the dough rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then slide it onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
  
• Once the bread has cooled completely make the glaze by combining the confectioner’s sugar, vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of milk. The glaze should be thin and drizzly. If it is too thick, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time until you have the right consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the bread with a spoon, or use a plastic squeeze bottle or icing bag with a plain tip if you want to be more precise. Let the glaze dry and harden then serve.
  

The post Cranberry Spiral Bread with Ginger and Pecans [Sponsored Post] appeared first on Eat The Love.

These fluffy cinnamon rolls are easy-to-make from scratch and have an extra amount of cinnamon in the filling make to give them zip and pop! Make them the night before if you want a special breakfast with minimal morning effort.

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My obsession with cinnamon rolls is a little over the top. This is clearly evident in my archives, as I have recipes for pumpkin cinnamon rolls, sweet potato cinnamons, rosemary pistachio cinnamon rolls, red velvet cinnamon rolls, eggnog cinnamon rolls, and quick and easy cinnamon rolls. Heck I even have a cinnamon bun cookie on this blog! WHAT. IS. WRONG. WITH. ME. (some would argue SO MUCH, but that’s probably a blog post for another day). YET…somehow I have never shared a recipe for my basic classic cinnamon rolls. Partly it is because I keep on tinkering with the recipe, trying over and over to find that center of the Venn diagram of easy-to-make, super fluffy, and extra tasty without being too sweet. Finally, here’s my favorite homemade cinnamon roll recipe.

How do you make cinnamon rolls from scratch?

Classic cinnamon rolls start with a yeasted enriched dough, which is just fancy phrasing for a dough made with yeast, flour, butter, milk and eggs. It’s not difficult to make, though it does helps if you use a stand mixer to help knead the dough. Fear not though! If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can still make excellent cinnamon rolls. I have instructions for that too, just see the hand kneading section below!

First proof the yeast (see the yeast section below on what this means) by dissolving it in milk with a little sugar. Then combine the yeasty liquid with flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. Knead until a dough forms. Let the dough rise until double in size.

Once the dough is made and rolled out into a rectangle, you spread the cinnamon filling out on it, then you roll up the dough! Cut the dough into small disks, place in a baking pan, and let it rise again.

Then bake the rolls until they are gloriously golden brown! Glaze with a classic cream cheese frosting and serve them up.

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Yeast scares me! Do you have any tips on using it?

I feel ya! I used to be scared of yeast too. But nowadays commercially available yeast (the kinds that come in packets at the grocery store) is pretty foolproof. Here are a few tips on how to comfortable use this common baking ingredient.

Use recently purchased yeast. Make sure the yeast package is well within the expiration date and hasn’t been languishing too long in the back of a hot kitchen cabinet. Storing your yeast in the fridge will help keep the yeast viable. Some folks even store it in the freezer, but I don’t bother as I go through it too fast.

Proof the yeast. This process sounds scary but all it entails is dissolving the yeast in warm (but not hot) liquid. If the yeast is “alive” you’ll start to see bubbles at the top of the liquid. Optimally the water or milk should be 90 to 100°F. But I never bother to get the thermometer, I just make sure the liquid is lukewarm to the touch.

Sprinkle a little sugar into the liquid to give the yeast some “food” to grow. And keep in mind that milk (which is what I use in this recipe) often doesn’t proof the yeast as well as plain water. So don’t stress too much if you don’t see as much bubbles on the surface.

Don’t be confused or worried by the different variants of yeast! There are numerous names for the type of yeasts out there, and even more confusing, varies brands have their own name.

Regular active dry yeast is what I use to develop this recipe. But you can use Rapid Rise or Instant yeast as well! Just realize that both of them will make the dough rise faster. Just keep an eye on dough and just form the rolls when the dough has doubled in size. Then proceed with the recipe as directed.

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I don’t have a stand mixer. Can I hand knead the dough?

Yes! You don’t need a stand mixer to make cinnamon rolls, but it does make it a little bit easier is all. Just follow the instructions, mixing all the ingredients together in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or wooden spatula. Once a dough has formed and most of the wet ingredients are incorporated, carefully dump the content onto a clean surface.

Using the heels of your hands, push the dough down, then fold it over and push again. Continue this kneading process on the dough, incorporating the remaining dry ingredients into the dough. Continue to knead until you have a smooth elastic dough, about 5 to 6 minutes. Make sure to dust your hands and surface with extra flour if necessary. Keep in mind that the final dough is slightly tacky but not sticky.

Can I make these overnight rolls?

Yes! If you want, make the dough, let it rise, form the rolls and place them in the baking pan. Then cover them and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. Bring them to room temperature the following morning (about an hour on the countertop) and proceed with baking them. If the rolls are still a little cool from the fridge and haven’t quite gotten to room temperature, don’t worry. Just bake them a few minutes longer.

You can make the frosting in the morning, or you can make it the night before, storing it in the fridge with the unbaked rolls. Just take the frosting out of the fridge when you take the rolls out of the fridge as well, so the frosting isn’t too stiff. Warm cinnamon rolls in the morning is the best!

How do I store these rolls?

Cinnamon rolls are best when they right out of the oven. The longer the rolls sit around, the drier and more stale they become. However, you can store leftover rolls for up to 1 day on the counter, covered in an airtight container. Or you can cover and store for up to 3 days in the fridge. Just make sure the rolls come to room temperature before serving or eating them.

Can I freeze these rolls?

Yes! These cinnamon rolls totally freeze. That said, the cream cheese frosting does get a little gooey when you pull the out of the freezer. If you are making them to serve a batch ahead of time, you might consider freezing them before you frost them. Thaw them out and then frost and serve.

That said, you can store already frosted rolls in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw on the counter before serving. If you choose to store then in a Ziploc gallon freezer bag, I suggest covering the glazed cinnamon rolls with parchment or wax paper first, then placing them in the freezer. The paper will peel off the frozen frosting easier than trying to scrape the frosting off the plastic freezer bag.

If you like these cinnamon rolls check out these other morning baked goods:

• Apple Fritters
• Pumpkin Spice Latte Bread
• Pumpkin Spice Morning Buns
• Easy Kouign Amann
• Apple Cider Donuts
• Fig and Hazelnut Scones

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Cinnamon Rolls

These fluffy and sweet cinnamon rolls have a pretty robust amount of cinnamon in them, which give them zip and pop! But if you prefer something slightly more mellow, reduce the cinnamon down to 1 tablespoon. These can also be prepared the day before, and then stored in the refrigerator overnight, making them perfect for a special morning breakfast with minimal work!

Course bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword bread, cinnamon rolls, yeast

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Rest Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 543kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup warm milk, any kind 90 to 100°F
• 1/2 cup white sugar, divided 100 g
• 2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 595 g
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 57 g or 1/2 stick
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs

Filling

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 115 g or 1 stick
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 165 g
• 2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg optional but recommended
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 115 g or 1 stick
• 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature 1/2 cup or 1/2 brick
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted 115 g

Instructions

• Make the dough by first proofing the yeast. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of the sugar (taken from the 1/2 cup) into the warm milk, then sprinkle the yeast over it and stir. Let the yeast proof for 5 minutes or until you see a few bubbles on the surface. Keep in mind that milk doesn’t proof yeast as easily as water, so don’t expect a lot of activity.
  
• Place the flour, remaining sugar, melted butter, salt and eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix until they are blended and form a sandy consistency.
  
• Add the warm milk and mix until a dough forms and most of the dry ingredients are incorporated. Switch to the dough hook, and knead until a smooth elastic dough forms, about 3 to 4 minutes.
  
• If you don’t have a stand mixer or prefer to knead by hand, mix the ingredients together in a bowl with a wooden spoon, then dup the ingredients on a clean surface once a rough dough has formed. Knead by pushing the dough with the heel of your hand into the dough, then fold over and push again. Continue to knead until all the dry ingredients are incorporated and you have smooth and elastic dough, about 5 to 6 minutes.
  
• Lightly spray a bowl with cooking oil. Pull the dough into a tight ball, then place the “rough” side of ball is facing down into the greased bowl and the top of the ball of dough is smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 60 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
  
• While the dough is rising, make the filling by placing the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the ingredients together until well blended, creamy in texture and clings to the side of the bowl.
  
• Lightly spray the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 x 2 inch tall pan with cooking oil, then line it with parchment paper, making sure some of the paper is hanging over the edges by about 1-inch.
  
• Once the dough has risen, roll the dough out into an 18 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread the filling over the dough, to the edges, leaving about a 1/2-inch border on one of the 18-inch sides.
  
• Roll the dough up tightly, starting at one of the 18-inch sides, so you have a 18-inch long log. Cut the dough into 12 pieces, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Place them, swirl side up, inside the prepared baking pan.
  
• Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place to rise again, about 30 to 45 minutes. The rolls should be puffy and bulging slightly against each other.

  In the meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.

  Once the rolls have risen, remove the plastic wrap and bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top of the rolls are golden brown. If you have an instant read thermometer and you are persnickety about your baking (like me), the internal temperature of a center roll should be somewhere between 185 to 190°F.
  
• While the rolls are baking, make the frosting by placing the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix together until creamy and well blended. Add the vanilla extract and salt and mix to incorporate.
  
• Add the sifted powdered sugar into the bowl and mix until incorporated. You may want to scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through to make sure all the sugar is absorbed.
  
• Once rolls are done baking, immediately spread a thin layer of the frosting over the rolls. The frosting will immediately melt from the hot rolls. But this melted frosting will help keep the rolls from drying out. Let the rolls cool for about an hour, then spread the remaining frosting over the rolls. Serve immediately.
  

Notes

Frosting technique (where you frost the rolls immediately after taking them out of the oven with a little frosting, then let it cool and frost again) adapted from Sarah Kieffer’s cinnamon roll recipe.

The post Cinnamon Rolls appeared first on Eat The Love.

This smooth and creamy pumpkin cheesecake has pumpkin pie spice blend in the pecan and graham cracker crust a well as the filling.

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Lately I’ve been serving up pumpkin cheesecake annually for Thanksgiving. It’s not that I don’t love pumpkin pie. It’s that after serving various different pumpkin pies, including my pumpkin tart, my chocolate pumpkin pie, and my caramel pumpkin pie for 20+ years after our annual Thanksgiving dinner, it’s nice to make a change! This pumpkin cheese is rich and creamy, without being overly heavy. It has a generous amount of wintry pumpkin pie spice and is a family favorite even for folks who skip the classic pumpkin pie.

How do I make pumpkin cheesecake?

Making a pumpkin cheesecake seems daunting but it’s not. Just keep in mind that you need to make it a day ahead of serving, as it needs to sit in the refrigerate to chill and set up.

First make the pecan graham cracker crust. Crush all the crust ingredients, pecans, graham crackers, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and a touch of salt in a food processor. Then drizzle with melted butter and pulse a few more times to combine. Press moist crumbs into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake for a little bit.

Then make the filling by using room temperature cream cheese and eggs, along with some vanilla, more pumpkin pie spice, white and brown sugar, some sour cream and pumpkin puree.

Pour filling into the springform pan and bake in a water bath. Once done, cool for a bit in the oven, take it out and cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight before serving.

What is a water bath and why do I need to use it?

A water bath is exactly what it sounds like. You place the cheesecake pan inside a large roasting pan, and then you pour boiling water around the cheesecake pan into the roasting pan. Then you bake the cheesecake in the pan with the water around it.

It sounds fussy to do but a water bath has multiple functions in making a cheesecake. First it keeps the baking slow, allowing for the center of the cake to cook fully without the edges of the cake baking too fast. Liquid water will only get to 212°F before it evaporates. So, the edges of the cheesecake don’t over heat.

Secondly the evaporated water from the bath keeps the oven environment moist, leading to a moist and creamy cheesecake. The steam also helps create a more even temperature inside the oven, so you don’t get a high risen edge and a sunken middle of the cheesecake.

Finally, as you cool the cheesecake in the oven, the heat capacity of the water is higher than the heat capacity of the air in the oven. This means the water will cool down slower once the oven has been turned off. Quick heat changes can makes the cheesecake crack. With a water bath, the cheesecake will cook slowly, and cool down slowly, both of which help prevent cracks.

How do I prevent cracking in cheesecakes?

One of the biggest issues with cheesecake is the cracking that can occur on the top of the cheesecake. Reasons why cheesecake might crack include:

• Parts of the cheesecake cooks faster than other parts. This could be a hot spot in the oven or you have the oven that runs too hot or has hot spots.
• The cheesecake cools too fast, which causes stress on the custard filling, as the cooling part shrinks faster than the warm part.
• Overbaking will also create cracking, with the outer rim of the cake more firm while the inside center still creamy and soft. This difference in texture will have the custard filling separating from each other, causing cracks.

Using a water bath helps with this issue. The slow baking and slow cooling prevents extreme temperature changes that will cause the cracking. Cooling the cheesecake in the oven with the door cracked slowly for an hour also helps prevent cracks. And finally making sure to stop baking the cheesecake when the middle part (about 2 to 3 inches from the center) is still wobbly will prevent overbaking.

But if ALL ELSE FAILS and your cheesecake still cracks, don’t worry. It happens to everyone and it will still taste fantastic. That’s all that matters! Just serve it with a big dollop of whip cream over the cracks and no one will know the difference.

What is a springform pan? Can I use something else?

A springform pan is a pan with removable sides. It allows you release the cheesecake from the pan without flipping it over. If you plan on making cheesecakes, a springform pan is worth investing it. However, don’t trust ones that claim to be “leakproof”. As the pan gets used, it starts to warp slightly and will start to leak. This is why I always wrap aluminum foil around the bottom of the pan.

If you don’t have a spring form pan, you can still bake a cheesecake! Just use a 9-inch cake pan that is at least 2-inches tall, preferably 3-inches tall. This is to accommodate the cheesecake rising.

You can serve the cheesecake directly in the pan. But if you want to remove it, I recommend oiling the bottom and the sides of the pan. Then line the bottom with parchment paper and the sides with a strip of parchment paper. If your pan is 2-inch tall, I recommend the strip of parchment paper go higher than pan itself to help contain any cheesecake that might rise higher than the pan when baking. The parchment paper makes it much easier to remove it from the pan! Keep in mind that cheesecake is perfectly fine to serve in the pan itself though.

Can I substitute the pecans or make the crust nut free?

Yes! If you don’t like pecans or don’t have any on hand just substitute an equal amount any sort of nut for the pecans. These include:

• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Pistachios
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Macadamia nuts
• Peanuts

Or if you’re avoiding nuts or are allergic to nuts, but still want a crunchy nutty flavor to the crust, consider substituting the same amount of:

• Cacao nibs
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Rolled oats

You can also just skip the nuts and add in an additional sleeve (9 to 10) graham crackers in place of the pecans.

How do I get my cream cheese and eggs to room temperature?

One of the most frustrating things about cheesecake is the lumps in the cream cheese! I always suggest using room temperature cream cheese as it will blend more smoothly without lumps. Obviously, the easiest way to get room temperature cream cheese is to leave the cream cheese out for a couple of hours on the counter top.

But if you are in a rush or forget to do this, just place the cream cheese, still in its aluminum foil unsealed, in a large bowl with hot water from the tap. Do this before preheating the oven or making the crust. Once the crust is in the oven to bake, drain the water (it will have cooled a bit) and refill the bowl with more hot water. By the time the crust is finished baking, the cream cheese should have warmed up enough to be at roughly room temperature and lump free.

You can use this trick to warm up eggs to room temperature too! Just place them in a bowl of hot water from the tap while you make the filling. By the time you need to add them to the filling, they will also be warmed up to room temperature.

What is pumpkin pie spice and can I substitute for it?

Pumpkin pie spice blend is a blend of warm wintery spices that you can buy at most grocery stores and online! Various brands have different ingredients in the blend but most brands have a primary ingredient of cinnamon with additional ingredients including ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. You can either make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice or substitute 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves for every 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice needed in the recipe.

But if you don’t have all those ingredients, just use all cinnamon for the pumpkin pie spice blend in the recipe. The cheesecake will still taste great, just not as complex in flavor and dimension.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you like this pumpkin cheesecake check out these other pumpkin desserts:

• Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel Topping
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
• Pumpkin Spice Latte Bread
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Streusel Topping
• Pumpkin White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies
• Marbled Pumpkin Chocolate Bread

And also check out these other cheesecake recipes.

• Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake
• Carrot Honey Cheesecake
• Eggnog Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
• Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Gluten Free Crust
• Lemongrass and Rhubarb Cheesecake
• Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

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Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Graham Cracker Crust

A nice change of pace from the classic pumpkin pie dessert. This creamy smooth wintery spiced cheesecake has a pecan and graham cracker crust. Be sure to plan ahead, as you do have to bake this cheesecake one day ahead and let it cool and chill in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cheesecake, pecans, pumpkin

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Cooling time 10 hours

Servings 12

Calories 517kcal

Author Irvin

Equipment

• 9-inch springform pan

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 cup pecans 110 g
• 9 to 10 graham crackers, broken in half 135 g or about 1 sleeve
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice blend see note above
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt use 1/4 teaspoon if table salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

Filling

• 4 bricks (8 oz each) cream cheese, room temperature 2 lbs or 905 g, see note above about bring cream cheese to room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice blend see note above
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar 100 g
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 165 g
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 15 ounces pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling, 425 g

To bake

• Boiling water for water bath

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place a 9-inch springform pan on top of a piece of aluminum foil. Gather the foil up about 1 inch up the side of the pan to help seal the bottom in case there is any leakage and to help prevent the water from seeping into the pan when you bake the cheesecake.
  
• Place the pecans in a food processor and process until they are broken down into small bits, roughly the size of unpopped popcorn kernels.
  
• Add the graham crackers and process again until they are broken down into crumbs and the pecans are about half the size that they were. Add the sugar, pumpkin spice and salt. Pulse a couple of times to blend. Then drizzle in the melted butter, pulsing while you do, until the entire crumb bottom is moist, and looks like wet rough sand.
  
• Dump the crumbs into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Press down with your fingers and the palms of your hand, spreading out the crumbs until a flat layer has covered the bottom of the pan.

  Place the pan on a rimmed baking sheet or pizza pan and then bake in the oven for 10 minutes. The top of the crust should look slightly drier but don’t worry too if there isn’t much difference in the way the crust looks after baking. Let cool on a wire rack while you make the filling. Keep the oven at 350°F temperature.
  
• Make the filling by placing the room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix the cream cheese on medium low speed until the cream cheese is smooth, creamy and clings to the side of the bowl. You want to make sure there are no lumps in the cream cheese, as it will be difficult to get those lumps out later.
  
• Add the pumpkin spice and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate, about 10 seconds on medium low speed. Scrape down the sides and add the brown sugar and white sugar to the bowl. Mix to incorporate, about 30 seconds, then scrape down the sides again.
  
• Repeat with the eggs, adding them all at once, then the sour cream and pumpkin puree together, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition and mixing.
  
• Pour and scrape the filling in to the pan with the crust. Smooth the top of the filling out with a butter knife or offset spatula and then tap the pan gently on the counter to settle the filling and make sure there are no air bubbles.

  Place the entire pan in a large roasting pan, then pour the boiling water into the roasting pan, being careful not to get any in the cheesecake. Pour until the water is about halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan.

  Bake in the oven for 60 to 65 minutes or until the edge of the pan looks set but the inside of the cheesecake is still a little wobbly. Once done, turn off the oven and crack the door slightly. I like to put the handle of a wooden spoon in-between the door and the oven to do this. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven as it cools for 1 hour. This will help the cheesecake cool slowly so it is less prone to cracking.

  Once the hour is up, remove the cheesecake from the oven and then remove it from the water bath. Place on a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 to 3 hours. Once it has completely cooled (you can’t feel any warmth at all from the underside of pan), cover the cheesecake with foil and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight. Serve cold or let the cheesecake warm up slightly for an hour on the counter before serving.
  

The post Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Graham Cracker Crust appeared first on Eat The Love.

These classic all-American oatmeal raisin cookies have nutty and fragrant brown butter in it to make it the best version possible!

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In the holy trinity of classic all-American cookies, you have the sexy leading chocolate chip cookie, the down-home pure comfort snickerdoodle, and then you have the oatmeal raisin cookie. It’s overlooked, often dismissed, and even relegated as an afterthought in the back of the cookie jar or cookie box.

But the comfort and warmth of a classic oatmeal raisin cookie can’t be beat. It’s chewy subtle spice and pop of fruit sweetness make it a classic in the pantheon of American cookies. And though I’ve made variations over the years for the blog, like my blueberry and ginger oatmeal cooki, my vanilla white chocolate oatmeal cookie, and my oatmeal chocolate chip cookie this oatmeal raisin cookie recipe made with nutty and fragrant brown butter, is my go-to version of the classic cookie recipe and should be reconsidered.

How do you make oatmeal raisin cookies?

These oatmeal raisin cookies start by first making brown butter and then letting it cool down until it solidifies. You can do this a day or two ahead of time if you want.

Then cream the brown butter and sugar together until a paste forms. I also add in spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as vanilla extract and baking soda to the creaming. All those flavors bloom and intensify in the butter, as the volatile oils that give the spices and vanilla flavor are fat soluble and the butter amplifies them. Adding the baking soda at this stage also means the leavening will be distributed evenly in the dough, and you don’t have to sift it into the flour.

Mix in the egg, then the rolled oats and the flour. Finally stir in the raisins, scoop dough balls, and then bake away!

What is brown butter and how do you make it?

Brown butter, called beurre noisette in French (which translates to hazelnut butter) is butter that has been cooked until the milk fat solids have caramelized and browned. The caramelized milk fat takes on a hazelnut brown color and the buttery liquid will smell rich and nutty. It adds an extra layer of sophisticated flavor to baked goods and is easy to do!

Place the butter in a pan (preferably silver or light colored if you aren’t experienced in making brown butter) and then cook the butter. Stir constantly, as the water in the butter will start to evaporate and make the butter foam. Once you notice that the milk solids are starting to brown, remove the pan from the heat. Let the residual heat of the pan continue to cook the milk fat.

It’s always easy to put the pan back on the stove and cook the butter a little longer to nudge it to the right place. But you can’t go backwards if you burn the butter. You will need to start over!

Can I skip making the brown butter?

If you find making the brown butter fussy, just skip it and use the same amount of room temperature butter instead. These cookies will still be awesome (though not quite as complex in flavor).

What type of oats should you use?

I prefer to use old fashioned rolled oats, or thick cut oats for oatmeal cookies. Quick cook or instant oats are cut thin and don’t have as much substance as the old fashioned rolled oats. You can even use extra thick cut oats if you’d like to give the cookies extra chew and texture.

Don’t use those packaged instant oatmeal packets, as they are already pre-sweetened with flavorings and sugar. And don’t use steel cut or pinhead oats for this recipe. That will lead to a gritty cookies with bits of hard uncooked oats in it, as the oats won’t have time to absorb any liquid and cook in the short bake time.

Can you swap out the raisins for something else?

The classic dried fruit for these cookies is obviously black raisins. But mix it up and substitute the same amount of other dried fruit (or a mix of them):

• Golden Raisins
• Currants
• Dried blueberries
• Dried cranberries
• Dried cherries
• Chopped dried figs
• Chopped prunes

Frequently Asked Questions

If you like these oatmeal raisin cookies, check out some of these other awesome cookie recipes:

• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
• Hot Chocolate Cookies
• Hazelnut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies
• Cookies and Cream Cookies
• Monster Cookies
• Chocolate Crackle Cookies
• Speculaas

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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Brown Butter

This homey all-American cookie is brought up a half-notch with the addition of brown butter! This is a classic comfort cookie, best served with a tall glass of milk.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Cool time 30 minutes

Servings 24

Calories 107kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 115 g or 1 stick
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 110 g
• 1/2 cup white granulated sugar 100 g
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats 165 g
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 105 g
• 1/2 cup raisins 80 g

Instructions

• First brown the butter by placing the butter in a large skillet or sauté pan (preferably one with a silver or light-colored bottom). Cook the butter on high heat until it completely melts, then reduce the heat to medium low. Continue to cook, stirring frequently with a heat proof spatula, until the milk solids have started to turn golden brown and smell nutty.

  If you need more specific hints on making brown butter, see the brown butter section above.
  
• Pour the butter into a heat proof bowl, being sure to scrape in all the brown bits as well. Place the butter in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until it is solid.

  While the brown butter is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking pans with silicon baking mats or parchment paper.
  
• Once the butter has solidified, scrape it in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, making sure to add in the brown bits as well. Add the brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla extract, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix the ingredients together until they are well blended, creamy in texture and cling to the side of the bowl.
  
• Scrape down the sides and add the egg. Mix to incorporate and scrape down again.
  
• Add the oats and flour. Mix until the dry ingredients are absorbed. Add the raisins and mix slowly until the raisins are distributed evenly in the dough.
  
• Scoop out 1-inch balls (about 1 tablespoon) of the cookie dough and place on the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart from each other. Bake in the oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown and just set.

  Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the pan before moving them to a wire cooling rack to cool further.
  

Notes

If you find making brown butter too fussy, just skip that step and use room temperature butter in place of the brown butter.

The post Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with Brown Butter appeared first on Eat The Love.

This moist pumpkin coffee cake is packed with autumnal flavor. It has a pecan streusel crumb topping and a pumpkin spice ribbon in the middle.

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I often joke that the world IGNORES pumpkin until September/October, when it is EVERYWHERE. Which I get, because I love my seasonal food. But not a lot of folks actually go through the effort of roasting and using an ACTUAL pumpkin when they make something with pumpkin. They use canned pumpkin, which is available all year long.

I, of course, realize it’s an uphill battle and have just resigned myself to using pumpkin mostly in the fall and winter, making pumpkin spice muffins or pumpkin spice latte bread. Which is fine. Other times of the year I’m making a peach and blueberry coffee cake, an Earl Grey infused blueberry coffee cake or a Mexican chocolate and corn coffee cake. But once fall and winter are here, I’ve got an excuse to make this pumpkin coffee cake with pecan streusel topping!

How do you make Pumpkin Coffee Cake?

For me, a proper coffee needs a crumb or streusel topping. This pumpkin coffee cake is no exception. Start by mixing together flour, sugar, chopped pecans, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, and a little salt in a medium-sized bowl. Drizzle in melted butter and toss until everything starts to clump together. Then refrigerate while you make the rest of the cake!

I like to give my coffee cake a little middle swirl of extra pumpkin spice and sugar as well as a touch of cocoa powder for color. Just blend it all together in a small bowl and set side. You’ll thank me later for that.

And then cake batter! It’s easy to make. I don’t even bother pulling out the stand mixer for this cake. Just use a whisk and blend together sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, pumpkin spice blend, and salt. Then whisk in eggs and some pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!). Stir in the baking powder, and then fold in the flour.

Spread half the batter into a parchment lined springform pan. Sprinkle the pumpkin spice filling on top of it. Then spread the remaining batter on top of the filling. Then take the cold crumb topping and sprinkle it all over the top of the cake, breaking up any big chunks into small pebble sized pieces. Bake, cool and serve!

What type of canned pumpkin should I use?

I prefer to use canned pumpkin for this recipe, but not all canned pumpkin is the same! This recipe is tested with Libby’s canned pumpkin, which is the leading dominant brand at most grocery stores. It also has less moisture than other canned pumpkin.

If you use Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s brand organic canned pumpkin, or another brand of pumpkin puree, you’ll want to remove some of the liquid from it. You’ll know if your canned pumpkin is thick enough if it has the consistency of thicker Greek-style yogurt. If it’s thinner like regular plain yogurt, you have too much moisture.

You remove moisture by either cooking it on the stovetop in a large skillet, stirring constantly until 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin puree has reduced to 1 cup or by blotting 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree with paper towels until enough moisture has been removed to make it 1 cup.

If you use homemade roasted pumpkin, the resulting pumpkin puree will also be very moist. Reduce 1 1/4 cups of homemade pumpkin puree on the stove over medium heat in a large skillet, stirring constantly, until it reduces to 1 cup. You can try to do the same method as above with paper towels but be aware you’ll end up going through a LOT of paper towels to get that much moisture out.

Of course, you can skip this step if you want, and just use the more watery pumpkin puree. Just keep in mind your pumpkin coffee cake will taste less pumpkin-y. Reducing the water increases the pumpkin flavor!

Whatever option you take, opt for pure pumpkin puree only! Avoid the canned pumpkin pie filling which is already packed full of spices and sugar. You want 100% pumpkin for this recipe.

What is pumpkin spice and can you substitute it?

Pumpkin spice, otherwise known as pumpkin pie spice is a blend of various different spices, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. You can buy it at the store, online (<- affiliate link) or you can make your own custom homemade pumpkin spice blend.

If you don’t feel like making a large batch of pumpkin spice, just use 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg for every 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice in the recipe. This is the amount in each component of the recipe:  the streusel topping, the filling, and the cake batter. You can also just substitute the 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for the pumpkin spice, just keep in mind the resulting cake won’t quite tastes as complex in flavor.

Can you skip the pecans or substitute something else?

You can easily substitute the pecans for the same amount of chopped nut if you wish. Some great options that taste wonderful with pumpkin include:

• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Almonds
• Macadamia
• Pistachios

That said, nuts can be a polarizing thing in recipes! Some folks don’t like them, others are allergic. If you want to keep a “nutty” flavor to the streusel topping but are allergic to nuts, try substituting an equal amount of roasted cacao nibs, pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds for the chopped pecans.

If you want to omit the nuts completely, just increase the flour to 1 1/4 cup of flour, and increase the brown sugar to 1/4 cup. You can also substitute 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar for Turbinado sugar, to give extra sweet crunch to the top of the streusel.

Can you use a regular cake pan instead of a springform pan?

I like the ease of the springform pan and how it releases the cake without disturbing the top of the crumb streusel. But if you don’t have a springform pan, you can use a regular 9-inch wide cake pan instead. I recommend using one that is at least 2 inches tall however, to accommodate the crumb topping and the rising of the cake.

Make sure to spray or oil the sides and bottom of the pan with cooking oil, and line it with parchment paper. Once the cake is baked and cooled about 30 minutes (it should still be warm to the touch but cool enough to handle with your bare hands), place a cutting board over the top of the pan and invert the cake on it. Peel away the parchment paper and place the serving platter or cake platter upside down on the bottom of the cake. Then flip the cake right-side up. Replace any crumb topping that has fallen off.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you like this pumpkin coffee cake, check out these other coffee cake recipes:

• Swedish Blueberry Cake
• Rhubarb Coffee Cake with Blackberries
• Strawberry and Grape Coffee Cake
• Peach and Basil Olive Oil Coffee Cake
• Cherry Buckle with Cocoa Crumb Topping

And check out these other pumpkin recipes:

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Streusel Crumb
• Pumpkin Bundt Cake
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
• Pumpkin Chess Pie
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Caramel Glaze
• Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Bread
• Pumpkin Monkey Bread
• Pumpkin Spice Morning Buns

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Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel Topping

This moist and autumnal scented cake is a great way to use leftover pumpkin puree that you might have leftover. The pumpkin makes the cake moist with a lovely toothsome bite, while the pecan crumb topping and pumpkin spice filling makes this a classic. Serve it with tea or coffee in the afternoon or for breakfast on a cold winter day.

Course Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword coffee cake, crumb topping, pecans, pumpkin

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 8

Calories 543kcal

Author Irvin

Equipment

• 9-inch springform pan

Ingredients

Streusel topping

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 105 g
• 1/2 cup white sugar 100 g
• 1/2 cup pecans chopped, 55 g
• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend see section above about substitutions
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 tablespoons butter melted, 85 g

Filling

• 1/3 cup dark brown sugar 75 g
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend see section above about substitutions
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder optional

Cake batter

• 1 cup white sugar 200 g
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil corn or canola, 67 g
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend see section above about substitutions
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling, 235 g
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 210 g

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place a 9-inch springform pan on a piece of aluminum foil and wrap the bottom of the pan tightly with the foil to keep any cake batter from leaking. Lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with cooking oil, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Place on a baking sheet and set aside.
  
• Make the streusel filling by combining flour, white sugar, chopped pecans, dark sugar, pumpkin spice blend and salt in a medium size bowl. Stir together until mixed, then drizzle the melted butter over the dry ingredients, tossing with a fork until the butter has been absorbed and the ingredients have clumped up. Refrigerate uncovered while you prepare the remaining cake.
  
• Make the filling by combining the dark brown sugar, pumpkin spice and cocoa powder (if using) in a small bowl and mixing with a fork until uniform in color.
  
• Make the cake batter by placing the sugar, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, pumpkin spice, and salt in a large bowl. Mix with a whisk until well blended.
  
• Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, making sure the first one is mixed in before adding the second one. Add the pumpkin and mix in.
  
• Add the baking powder and mix to absorb. Add the flour and gently stir it in with a large spatula or wooden spoon until all the flour is absorbed.
  
• Carefully spoon and spread about half the batter into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the filling over the top of the batter, leaving about a 1/2-inch margin around the edge of the cake. Carefully spoon and spread the remaining batter over the filling.
  
• Take the cold streusel topping out of the fridge and sprinkle it all over the top of the cake, breaking up any big chunks into small pebble sized pieces. Make sure to cover the entire cake.
  
• Gently tap the cake on a table or counter to release any air bubbles, then bake in the oven 60 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. If you have an instant read thermometer, the center of the cake should read 210° F.

  Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before releasing the sides of the spring form pan and removing the cake to a serving platter.
  

The post Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel Topping appeared first on Eat The Love.

These classic buttery garlic knots are a pizzeria treat, made from pizza dough and tossed in parmesan, oregano and lots of butter and garlic!

Jump to recipe

The first time I saw garlic knots were on a trip to New York City at a corner pizza-by-the-slice shop. Though my friends all ordered slices of pepperoni, sausage, and olive pizza, I gravitated toward the glass counter and stared at those glistening garlic bombs stacked high. I asked for a bag of them, and happily munched on them as my friend attacked their slices. I had no regrets with my choice! Since then, I’ve been making garlic knots with my homemade easy pizza dough to go with my dinner when I want to change it up from my parker house rolls or potato rolls.

What is a garlic knot?

Garlic knots are knotted pieces of dough, tossed in a butter garlic and oregano sauce. The origins of garlic knots came about in New York City where pizzerias wanted to prevent waste by using leftover pizza dough scraps.

Nowadays, they are sold in nearly every pizzeria in New York, as well as across the country. But they’re super easy to make at home, by either using homemade pizza dough or store-bought dough. They make a tasty snack as well as a great side dish, like dinner rolls, for soup or stew.

How do you make them?

Garlic knots start with pizza dough, which is a lean yeasted dough. Combine warm water with a little bit of brown sugar and yeast. Stir to dissolve and proof the yeast. Then combine the yeasted water with flour, a little olive oil and salt.

Knead the dough, then let it rest to rise until double. Once doubled, divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll out the dough into ropes. Tie the ropes into knots.

Then make the butter garlic sauce! Cook fresh garlic with butter, then add in garlic powder, dried oregano, Parmesan cheese and salt. Brush the sauce on the dough knots and bake.

Once baked, toss the knots in the remaining leftover garlic sauce that has some chopped parsley in it, and serve!

Frequently Asked Questions

Serve these knots with:

• Minestrone soup
• Leek and Bean Soup
• Guinness Beef Stew
• Italian Wedding Soup
• Chicken Florentine Soup

If you like these garlic knots, check out these other bread recipes

• Parker House Rolls
• Potato Rolls
• Soft Beer Pretzel Twists
• Tomato Focaccia with Rosemary and Sea Salt
• Pretzel Buns
• Olive, Green Onion and Cheese Beer Bread

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Garlic Knots

These buttery and soft garlic knots are easy-to-make using homemade pizza dough or store-bought pizza dough! A quick herb butter sauce is made and brushed over the knots before baking, then the knots are tossed again in the remaining sauce right before serving.

Course Appetizer, bread, dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword bread, garlic, pizza

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Rest time 1 hour

Servings 12

Calories 158kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Dough

• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons warm water 90 to 100°F
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour plus additional flour if necessary
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Sauce

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter 115 g or 1 stick, plus more if necessary
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic about 1 to 2 medium cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder not garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

Instructions

• Pour the warm water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir the brown sugar into the warm water to dissolve, then sprinkle the dry yeast into the water. Stir to dissolve and let sit for 5 minutes for the yeast to proof.
  
• At the end of 5 minutes, there should be bubbles and foam at the top of the water. If not, discard and start over with fresh yeast. Add the flour, olive oil, and salt to the bowl.
  
• Stir with the hook attachment, until a rough dough has formed. You might need to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Once a dough has formed, increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky. If it’s too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time until absorbed and the dough is easy to handle.
  
• Pull the dough into a round smooth ball and place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area to rise until double in size, about 60 to 90 minutes.

  Once the dough has risen, line two baking sheets with silicon baking sheets or parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  
• Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 7 to 8 inch long rope, about 3/4-inch thick.
  
• Tie each rope into a knot, then place on the baking sheet. Once you made all the knots, cover with plastic wrap and make the sauce.
  
• Place the butter and garlic in a medium-sized skillet or saucepan. Cook over medium heat, until the garlic starts to smell fragrant, about 1 minutes after the butter has melted and the garlic has started to sizzle. Stir in the garlic powder, oregano, and salt.
  
• Remove from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese.
  
• Brush the top of each garlic knot with about half the warm butter, trying to keep as much of the solids in the skillet as possible. But don't stress too much about it. If some of the solids get on the dough, that's OK! Make sure there's about half of the sauce left for later. Bake in the oven for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the top of the knot is golden brown.
  
• While the knots are baking, pour the remaining sauce into a large bowl. Add the parsley to the sauce.
  
• Once the knots are done baking, remove from the oven and then move each knot to a wire cooling rack. Let cool for 5 minutes, then place a few knots in the remaining garlic sauce and toss to coat. Move to a serving plate and repeat with the remaining knots.

  If the butter has cooled and solidified, microwave the sauce for 10 to 15 seconds to warm it up again. If you need to, add additional melted butter to the bowl as you toss and coat the knots to make sure they are completely coated.
  

Notes

For an easy shortcut, feel free to use store-bought pizza dough instead of making your own.

The post Garlic Knots appeared first on Eat The Love.

This recipe for authentic Bavarian Pretzels uses a lye solution, resulting in the traditional Germany pretzel, called laugenbrezel.

Jump to Recipe.

These authentic Bavarian pretzels are different than their American counterpart soft pretzels because they are dipped in a more traditional lye mixture. In fact, the German name for these pretzels laugenbrezel literally translates to “lye pretzels.”

These pretzels are shaped in a more traditional Bavarian-style with a rounded belly and thinner arm. If you want Swabian-style pretzels, (Swabia being a specific region of Bavaria) roll out the “arms” of the pretzel super skinny. They will bake up crispy, a nice foil to the soft and plump belly.

What are Bavarian or German-style pretzels?

You can find large pretzels all over Germany though they are particularly popular in Southern German, an area called Bavaria. The salty snack are a ubiquitous snack at the annual Munich Oktoberfest, but they are available all-year round in pubs and restaurants across Germany.

They were imported to the United States with the German immigrants (the Pennsylvania Dutch population) which explains why the most popular U.S. pretzel companies (Snyders of Hanover and Rold Gold) have Pennsylvania roots.

Unlike American soft pretzel, which are nice and plump, German-style pretzel dough is a slightly leaner dough with less butter in it. The Bavarian pretzel dough first starts out with a pre-ferment, which allows for the yeast to get a kick start and give the pretzel more flavor and dimension. Think sourdough but not quite as robust, nor without the need to make a sourdough starter.

German-style pretzels are also rolled with a fat belly and thin arms. The belly is slashed with a knife and splits open as it bakes.

Finally, and most importantly, German-style pretzels, are dipped in a lye solution, while American soft pretzels usually rely on an easier baking soda dip. Both baking soda and lye are alkaline solutions that caramelize and create the signature bitter crust on pretzels. However, food grade lye is significantly more alkaline than baking soda. The hard caramelized crust you get from dipping the pretzel in lye isn’t achievable with just baking soda. In fact, as I mentioned right off in the beginning, the German word for pretzels are laugenbrezel which literally translated to “lye pretzels.” If you aren’t using lye as a dipping solution, you aren’t making authentic German pretzels!

How do you make Bavarian pretzels?

Bavarian pretzels start with a pre-ferment dough, which is a small amount of yeast mixed in flour and water. This mixture is set aside for a long period of time (3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator). This pre-ferment gives the dough and pretzel extra complex flavor.

Once the pre-ferment is ready, the dough is made with barley malt syrup, water, more yeast, flour, butter and salt. The pre-fermented is added, and the entire dough is kneaded until it is smooth and elastic.

The dough is left to rise, then divided and formed into a pretzel shape by first rolling out a long rope, then making a U shape, and bring the arms of the U across each other, then twisting again, then brought back down to the belly, forming a pretzel shape.

Once all the pretzels are formed, they are chilled in the fridge or freezer. This makes them easier to handle. Once cold, they are dipped in a lye solution, sprinkled with salt, sliced open in the belly with a sharp knife or razor, and baked.

Can I use a different pretzel dough?

Yes! If the pre-ferment dough and the additions of barley malt syrup and diastatic malt seems too fussy and time-intensive, or if you have a sourdough starter you can make this pretzel with that dough. Just follow the dough instructions for my soft rye pretzels, my sourdough pretzels, my pretzels buns, or my beer twist pretzels and use the instructions below for dipping in lye. Keep in mind the dough will not taste quite as traditional as what you might get at a German pub or Oktoberfest.

Why do you want a higher pH solution for the pretzels?

The higher the alkaline solution the more it breaks down proteins on the surface of the dough, accelerating the Maillard reaction. This reaction is the caramelization reaction that gives browned food (think seared steak, crusty European-style sourdough bread and pan-fried dumplings) it’s flavor. That traditional blistered and dark mahogany brown pretzel crust can only be achieved with a higher pH solution dip!

What is lye and where can I get it?

Lye is a very strong alkaline base with a pH of around 13. The higher the pH, the more powerful the alkaline base. The active ingredient of food safe lye is sodium hydroxide. it is sometimes is also called caustic soda. It’s the primary ingredient in making soap and can be found in some de-clogging plumbing liquids like Drano and Liquid Plumber.

Food safe lye can be found online (<– affiliate link) and at craft stores in the soap making section.

Is lye safe to use in food?

All this sounds SUPER scary and you should definitely use caution when using lye. However, in the 3% to 4% solution that you are using it in this recipe, the food safe lye is no more dangerous than using household bleach to clean or do laundry with. In other words, use common sense and caution, and you’ll be fine.

All that said, once the pretzels have been dipped in the lye solution and then baked, the steam produced in the oven from the pretzel dough reacts with the lye and turns it into a benign carbonate that is completely safe to eat.

In fact, any commercially made pretzel that you have eaten in the past, most likely was made with a lye solution.

What precautions should I use when working with lye?

As I said above, lye is dangerous but you shouldn’t be scared of it. It’s like working with household bleach, in that you don’t want it on your bare skin but if that happens, just calmly go to the sink and rinse the area that touched the lye under water for 3 to 5 minutes.

I do recommend that you use plastic gloves when working with lye. When I’m feeling cautious, I also wear a long sleeve shirt and long pants with shoes just in case. My partner is chemistry professor at a community college, so he gets super overprotective of me and makes me wear safety googles, but that’s optional. If you use caution and common sense, it’s fairly unlikely you’ll be splashing the lye solution enough to get it in your eyes.

All that said, lye is caustic to your skin, so precaution and plastic gloves are recommended and make it easier to work with. I often also lay a couple of pieces of parchment or wax paper underneath the bowl that I put the lye in. That way, if anything splashes or drips as I move the pretzels in and out of the solution, it won’t get on my table or counter and damage it.

One thing to note, always add lye to the water. Never add water to lye! Pouring water into lye has a much higher risk of splashing and getting it on you.

What sort of container should I put the lye solution in?

Lye is a strong alkaline solution that powerful enough to actually ruin containers! It is, in fact, corrosive to glass, so I don’t recommend using glass bowls for the lye solution at all. Though you might not notice any damage to the glass bowl, over time, using lye in a glass bowl will continue to degrade the quality of it and potentially weaken it. Nothing like having a glass bowl shatter randomly in your kitchen!

Stainless steel is a better choice, but unfortunately there are multiple types of stainless steel and there’s often no real way to tell if what is metal is used in the stainless steel. Lye can be corrosive to some metals. For instance, you do not want to use aluminum, as the lye will dissolve the aluminum. Stainless steel is a better choice than glass however.

All that said, the best option is to use a plastic bowl or container. But keep in mind the bowl should be made of high density polyethylene or polypolypropelene. Thankfully here in the United States, it’s easy to figure out what plastic is being used. Just flip the bowl over and look at the recycling number. You want plastic #2 (HDPE or high-density polyethylene) or plastic #5 (PP or polypropylene) as those are unreactive to the alkaline lye solution.

For more detailed information about what sort of container to use for lye solution, check out this webpage.

All this lye stuff is freaking me out. Can I just use baking soda?

Absolutely! You can make the dough and form the pretzels, but instead of using the lye solution, boil 2/3 cup of baking soda with 10 cups of water and boil the pretzels in the baking soda solution for 45 seconds, then flip and boil for an additional 45 seconds. This method is what I use to make my rye soft pretzels, my beer pretzel twists , my sourdough pretzels and my pretzel buns.

You can also go the extra step and bake the baking soda! Heating the baking soda will break it down from sodium bicarbonate (the chemical name for baking soda) to sodium carbonate, making it even more alkaline. Sodium carbonate is somewhere between a 10 and 11 on the pH scale, a significant jump from the 8.3 pH of baking soda.

To make sodium carbonate, just spread 1 cup of baking soda on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in a 275°F oven for an hour, stirring the soda every 20 minutes. The baking soda should reduce down to about 2/3 cup. Dissolve the baked baking soda in 10 cups of water and boil the pretzels for 45 seconds on both sides. Be sure to use caution, as the solution is a higher alkaline than baking soda.

All that said, you won’t get the same crisp blistered crust that you get from using lye, regardless of the baking soda or baked baking soda solution. The pretzel will be tasty, but it won’t quite the same as a traditional German-style pretzel.

How can you prevent the lye dipped pretzel from sticking to the parchment paper/silicon baking sheet?

One of the things with baking with lye is that the dough has been chemically changed and will stick to the paper/silicon baking sheet after baked! I’ve tried different quality parchment paper, as well as silicon baking paper. Higher quality parchment paper definitely works better than the cheap stuff, and silicon baking sheets also works nicely.

But the best way to keep the pretzels from sticking is to generously spray or grease the paper or silicon mat! A layer of oil helps to prevent the pretzels from sticking, even on the silicon baking mat. So don’t skimp oiling step. Otherwise you’ll be picking and peeling paper from the bottom of your pretzels.

All that said, if you DO have pieces of parchment paper stuck to the bottom of your pretzels, I found the best way to remove them, without removing too much pretzel bread, is to use a rasp grater like a Microplane, the type that you would use to grate Parmesan cheese, to grate off the parchment paper.

What is barley malt syrup and diastatic malt?

You’ll notice, along with the lye, there are two ingredients that most folks might not be familiar with. Barley malt syrup is a bitter sweet syrup that gives pretzels and bagels their traditional bitter sweet flavor. It is made from barley grain that has been sprouted, dried and then cooked. The resulting liquid is reduced down into a syrup.

I use barley malt syrup in this recipe because it’s the traditional ingredient for Bavarian pretzels and I was striving for authenticity in this recipe. But if you don’t feel like getting yet another specialty ingredient, you can substitute an equal amount of brown sugar or honey for the malt barley syrup. Just know the pretzels won’t taste quite as authentic.

The other ingredient is diastatic malt. This is a powdered ingredient, again usually made from barley grain. It helps improve the dough texture, volume, flavor and increase the golden brown crust. It is an ingredient for a lot of professional bakers and bread baking enthusiasts.

Don’t mix up diastatic malt with non-diastatic malt or grocery store malted milk powder. Non-diastatic malt and malted milk powder are both flavoring agent and won’t improve the dough texture, volume or golden crust of the pretzel. If you don’t have diastatic malt and don’t feel like getting it, just omit it from the recipe. The resulting pretzel will still taste great.

Barley malt syrup can be found online and so can diastatic malt (<– both of those are affiliate links). Barley malt syrup can also be found at well-stock health food stores, and diastatic malt can be found at beer making stores.

Frequently Asked Questions

What to dip these pretzels in:

The classic German pretzel is enjoyed all by itself, or with a cold glass of beer. But you can also serve it with condiments if you like. Try it with

• Whole grain mustard
• Spicy hot honey mustard
• Beer Cheese Dip
• Obadza (a classic German cheese dip served with pretzels)
• Queso, a Mexican cheese dip
• Pimiento Cheese

And if you like this German pretzel, try these other bread recipes

• Bialy
• Parker House Rolls
• Potato Rolls
• Olive and Green Onion Beer Bread
• Tomato Focaccia with Rosemary
• Beer Bread with cheese and rosemary

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Bavarian Pretzels dipped in lye (aka Laugenbrezel)

These Bavarian pretzels are done the authentic and traditional way, dipped in food safe lye. They also use a pre-ferment dough and use specific bread making ingredients like diastatic malt and barley malt syrup. The entire project requires sometime to let the pre-ferment develop, as well as the dough to cool and chill in the refrigerator so keep that in mind.The effort is absolutely worth it for authentic tasting Bavarian pretzels that taste like they’re from an actual German pub.

Course Appetizer, bread, Snack

Cuisine German

Keyword bread, pretzels, yeast

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 18 minutes

Rest Time 6 hours

Servings 8

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Pre-ferment dough

• 1/4 cup warm water 90 to 100°F
• 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 70 g
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Dough

• 1 1/4 cups warm water 90 to 100°F
• 1 tablespoon barley malt syrup or dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 525 g
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• 2 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon diastatic malt powder optional

Lye solution

• 1 quart room temperature water 950 g
• 2 tablespoons food grade lye also called caustic soda, 35 g

To finish

• Coarse salt

Instructions

• Make the pre-ferment dough by placing the water in a glass measuring cup and dissolving the yeast in it. Mix in the flour and salt. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour at room temperature. Then refrigerate the pre-ferment dough for a minimum of 3 hours, or up to 12 hours.
  
• In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the warm water and stir in malt syrup or brown sugar. Add in the yeast and stir to dissolve. Set aside for 5 minutes to proof or until foam starts to form on the surface of the liquid.
  
• Add the flour, melted butter, salt, and malt powder to the bowl. Add in the pre-ferment dough as well, scraping the measuring cup to make sure all of it is added.
  
• Stir together with a spatula, until a shaggy dough forms, then on slow speed mix and knead with the dough hook until the dough is smooth or elastic, increasing the speed to medium as the dough comes together. It should take about 4 to 5 minutes. You may need to scrape down the side of the bowl a couple of times.
  
• If you don’t have a stand mixer or want to hand knead the dough, stir all the ingredients together with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough has formed and most of the dry ingredients are absorbed. Knead the dough by hand on a clean surface for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  
• Grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Grab the dough and pull/stretch the sides of it until a smooth round ball is formed. Place the dough, rough side down, in the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Set in a warm place to rise until double in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on the warmth of your kitchen.
  
• Once the dough has risen, dump the dough onto a clean surface. Divide the dough into 8 pieces, about 4 ounces (115 g) each.
  
• On a clean bare surface, roll the dough out into a long rope. To get a more traditional German style pretzel shape, taper the ends of the rope thin and leave the middle of the dough thicker and more fat. Do not flour the surface, as you need a bare surface for the dough to properly roll out.

  As you roll the dough, you might encounter some resistance from the dough itself, with the ends of the rope becoming super elastic and bouncing back. If that happens, just step away from the dough for about a minute or two. This will allow the gluten in the dough to relax. Once the gluten has relaxed, this will allow you to roll out the ends easier. You want your rope to be about 24 inches long or longer.

  Form the pretzels by first making a “U” shape with the rope.
  
• Cross the arms over once. Then cross them over again in the same direction, twisting them.
  
• Then bring the arms down to the bottom of the “U” firmly press the ends to the belly, forming a pretzel shape. Move the pretzel to a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough.
  
• Cover the pretzels with plastic wrap for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they start to look a little puffy. Remove the plastic wrap and let the pretzels sit out to help form a “skin” on the dough for about another 15 minutes.

  At this point you can either move the pretzels (uncovered) to the freezer for a faster chill or the refrigerator for a slow cool down. If you have room in the freezer, place the pretzels in there for 15 minutes to chill and firm up. If you don’t have room in the freezer, place the pretzels in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Chilling the pretzels makes them easier to handle when dipping them in the lye.

  While the pretzels are chilling, preheat the oven to 450°F. Line two baking sheets with silicon baking mats or parchment paper then generously spray or brush each of them with cooking oil.
  
• At this point you can prepare the lye solution. Lye is a concentrated basic solution that is caustic and can burn. See my section above on working with lyehttps://www.eatthelove.com/bavarian-pretzels/#bakingsoda. Prepare the lye solution by pouring the water in a large plastic bowl (preferred) or stainless-steel bowl. Add the lye powder to the water. Carefully stir the lye solution. It will first seem cloudy, as the powder is suspended in the water, but then it will start to clear up as the lye powder dissolves. Once it’s clear, set it aside.

  Once the pretzels have chilled and firmed up, take them out of the fridge/freezer. Dip one pretzel in the lye solution and leave it there for 30 seconds, making sure it’s completely submerged. Pull the pretzel out of the lye and place on the prepared oiled baking sheet. The pretzels will be a little slippery so keep that mind. Repeat with the remaining pretzels.
  
• After all the pretzels have been dipped, sprinkle the pretzels with coarse salt. Slice the belly of the pretzel with a sharp knife or razor.

  Bake the pretzels for 16 to 20 minutes, depending on how deeply brown you want the pretzel and how crisp you want them. You may want to check your pretzels halfway through and rotate the pans if your oven heats unevenly. Enjoy the pretzels warm from the oven or at room temperature.
  

Notes

• If you want to skip the pre-ferment dough, just add all the pre-ferment ingredients to the pretzel dough when you form it or use a different pretzel dough like my rye soft pretzels, beer pretzel twists, pretzel buns or sourdough pretzels.
• If lye scares you, you can make a baking soda solution or a baked baking soda solution. See my section above for directions.
• If you want to make these German pretzels even MORE traditional, you can use 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 tablespoon pork lard instead of just butter.

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This apple and prunes slab pie with a dash of brandy and wintery warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg can be made ahead of time and sliced into easy-to-serve portions for a larger holiday crowd!

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This post was sponsored by California Grown. I was compensated for this post and developing this recipe. However, all opinions below are my own.

Fall is here and I’m officially ready for it! As the produce starts to shift at the grocery store I keep seeing some of my favorite Autumn and Winter fruit come into season. Figs are everywhere, which means I’m making my fig focaccia and my fig financiers. And all the heirloom apples are also arriving, which means apple pie! Fried apple pies, open-faced brown butter apple pie, and caramel apple pie bars are all in heavy rotation. But one of my favorite sorts of pies are slab pies! These apple slab pie with brandy and prunes is the perfect example. They’re almost like a cross between apple pie bars and true apple pie, with a thinner filling per crust ratio.

This apple slab pie also feed a crowd, for all those casual gathering that you might find yourself attending that require…some physical distance (if you know what I mean). Cut the pie into smaller slices and leave them on the buffet table for folks to serve themselves. No fuss, no mess! This is the recipe you will want for the upcoming holidays!

What’s a slab pie?

A slab pie is a pie that is made in a small rimmed rectangular sheet pan or baking pan. Because of this, there is a larger crust to filling ratio in most slab pies. Slab pies are perfect for larger gatherings as they can be cut ahead of time into smaller pieces, serving more people.

How do you make a slab pie?

Make a slab pie requires a 9 x 13 x 1-inch rimmed baking sheet, or a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan (the kind you might make brownies or a sheet cake in). If you use the 2-inch tall baking pan, I recommend spraying it lightly with cooking oil, then lining it with parchment paper, so you can easily remove the pie once it’s done baking for easier serving. If you use a rimmed 1-inch tall baking sheet, lining the pan isn’t necessary and you can bake the pie directly in the pan!

As with all pies, you make a crust first. Place flour, salt and cold butter that has been cubed in a large bowl. Smash the butter with your fingers, to break them up. Then drizzle water over the ingredients, tossing with a fork until a crust forms. Divide the dough into two disks, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and then refrigerate for 2 hours. You can also make the pie dough the day before and let it chill overnight.

While the dough is chilling, chop the prunes roughly into 1/2-inch pieces, and then let them steep in the brandy for the 2 hours while the crust is chilling.

Once the brandy has finished steeping, combine the prunes and brandy with the sliced apples, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt to make the filling.

Roll out the first disk of dough into a rough 11 x 15 rectangle then fit it into the 9 x 13-inch pan. Pour the filling into the pan and distribute it evenly into the pastry dough.

Roll out the second disk of dough and fit it over the filling, sealing the edges and crimping them tightly together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.

Once the oven is preheated, brush the top of the pie with an egg yolk beaten with water, then sprinkle with some turbinado sugar. Cut a few vents into the top of the pie and bake until the filling is boiling and bubbling up through the vents in the middle. Let cool and serve!

Why the addition of prunes?

If you’ve visited my site before you know that I love my prunes! They’re a versatile dried fruit that works well in savory dishes like my lamb tagine, and sweet dishes like my carrot muffins.

Prunes are actually dried Improved French variety Plums and their dark earthy, sweet and rich flavor works well with autumn fruits like pears and apples, as well as rich complex recipes that work with espresso, chocolate and chilies. California grows 99% of the nation’s prune crop and 40% in the world. You can learn more about how the farmers and the produce grown in California from California Grown’s How to Support a Farmer page.

On top of that, plums are highly nutritious, packed with antioxidants, high in vitamins and minerals and packed with fiber, sorbitol and polyphenols which are all great for good digestive health, as well as heart and bone health. They also add natural sweetness and moisture to desserts, allowing you to skip adding sugar or sometimes oil! You’ll notice that the filling of this slab pie, which serves 12 people, only has 1/4 cup so dark brown sugar, with an additional sprinkling of 1 tablespoons of sugar on top of the crust. That’s it!

What’s the best apples to use?

Not all apples are made the same and some apples are better than others for baking. I like to use a mix of apples when I bake a pie to give the filling more complexity. Here’s a few baking apples that I like to use when baking up pies.

• Granny Smith
• Gala
• Honeycrisp
• Jazz
• Jonagold
• Opal
• SweeTango

I also tend to avoid Red Delicious apples and Braeburn apples, as they often get mushy when cooked.

By the way, if you can find them, Gravenstein, Pippin, and Arkansas Black apples are some of my favorite heirloom varieties of apples. They’re hard to find but if you see them at a Farmers market, snatch up a bunch to bake or eat out of hand!

What other sort of spices can I use?

I use a mix of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg in this recipe, because they go so well with apple and prunes. But if you aren’t a big cloves or nutmeg fan or if you’re tired of using cinnamon in your apple pie, try mixing it up with some different wintery spices! Here’s a list of different spices to try out in your slab pie. Just substitute up to 2 teaspoons of whatever combination of spices you want. Keep in mind that some spices (like cardamom, cloves or nutmeg) are much more assertive and should be kept in smaller amounts.

• Allspice
• Black pepper
• Cardamom
• Coriander
• Ginger
• Grains of Paradise
• Longpepper
• Mace
• Orange zest, fresh
• Pink Peppercorn
• White pepper
• Vanilla bean powder

Can I make this non-alcoholic?

Yes! If you are avoiding alcohol, you can absolutely make this without the brandy. Just substitute the brandy for orange juice or apple juice. Or you can just leave out the brandy and liquid completely and just reduce the flour to 2 tablespoons. If you do omit the brandy, expect the prunes to be a little more firm and drier in the filling.

Can I use a different alcohol?

I use Brandy in this recipe as it works really well with the apple and prunes, but you can substitute another dark, complex flavored liqueur in its place. Here’s a few suggestions:

• Armagnac
• Bourbon
• Cougnac
• Dark rum
• Whisky

Frequently asked Questions

If you like this slab pie, check out these other pies of mine:

• Classic Blueberry Pie
• Berry and Rhubarb Slab Pie
• Grape and Blueberry Pie
• Mexican Chocolate Pecan Pie
• Southern Comfort Pear and Almond Frangipane Pie

Print

Apple Slab Pie with Brandy and Prunes

This apple slab pie is spiked with brandy, as well as wintry warm spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. The autumnal winter scent will fill your house as you bake it in the oven, and every bite will remind you of the winter holidays!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword apples, pie, prunes

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Chill Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Servings 12

Calories 401kcal

Author Irvin

Ingredients

Pie Dough

• 3 cups all-purpose flour 420 g
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter 285 g or 2 1/2 sticks
• 3/4 cup cold water plus more if necessary

Filling

• 1 cup prunes 145 or about 18 medium-sized prunes
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 2 pounds apples 910 g or about 4 medium sized apples
• 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 65 g
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

To finish

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoons turbinado sugar or sparkling sugar or white granulated sugar

Instructions

• Make the pie crust by placing the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes then sprinkle it over the dry ingredients. Using your fingers, smash the butter into small flat bits, breaking the butter up into pieces the size of peas.
  
• Sprinkle and drizzle the water over the ingredients, tossing the components with a fork. Continue to do this until all the water has been added and a dough forms. You might need to “clean” the fork every now and then as you make the dough. If the dough seems too dry, sprinkle a tablespoon of water at a time onto the dough until it comes together.
  
• Divide the dough in half and form flat 1-inch thick discs. If you have a scale, each disk should way roughly 415 grams. Tightly wrap the dough in plastic wrap and then refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
  
• While the dough is chilling, chop the prunes into 1/2-inch chunks and place them in a small bowl. Pour the brandy over the prunes and cover with a plate. Let sit for the 2 hours, stirring every now and then.
  
• Once the dough has finished chilling, make the filing by peeling the apples, and then slicing them into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place them in a large bowl (it can be the same bowl you made the pie dough in, no need to clean it). Add the prunes and the remaining brandy, flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. Gently stir together with a large spatula to make sure everything is coated.
  
• If you’re using a 9 x 13-inch baking pan (the kind that you make brownies in), lightly spray it with cooking oil, then line it with parchment paper. If you are using a 9 x 13-inch rimmed baking sheet, skip this step. Flour a clean surface and then roll out a disk of dough into an 11 x 15-inch rectangle.
  
• Fold the dough into quarters. Move the dough carefully to the pan. Unfold and fit the dough into the baking sheet or pan, trying to NOT stretch the dough as much as possible. This will help prevent shrinkage.
  
• Pour the filling into the pastry dough and then distribute the filling evenly throughout the pan. The flat apple slices should lay down fairly evenly throughout the pie.
  
• Repeat the rolling out of the dough with the remaining disk, making sure it 11 x 15 as well. Place this dough over the filled pie.
  
• Roll up and seal the pie all the way around, pinching any excess dough together to form a crust. Them decoratively pinch and seal the dough all the way around the pie. Place the pie in the refrigerator (uncovered) for 30 minutes.
  
• While the pie is chilling, preheat the oven to 400°F. Once the pie is done chilling, make an egg wash by combining the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Beat together and then brush all over the top of the pie crust. Sprinkle the top with the turbinado sugar and then cut some decorative vent holes into the top.
  
• Bake the pie for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the pie top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the vents. If the top of the crust seems to be browning too fast, cover the entire pie with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning.

  Let cool to room temperature for pie to set before serving.
  

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