Chai Spiced Snickerdoodles

Author: Lil' Miss Cakes

Serves: About 5 Dozen Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups sugar

½ cup vegetable shortening

½ cup margarine

2½ tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

2¾ cups flour

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

2½ tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cardamom

¼ tsp. clove

¼ tsp. nutmeg

⅛ tsp. black pepper

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl mix the sugar with the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, clove, nutmeg, and black pepper. Remove ¼ cup of the sugar/spice mixture into small bowl and set aside for rolling the cookies in.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the remaining sugar/spice mixture with the shortening, margarine, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs into the mixer one at a time, mixing after each addition.

Add in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix until cookie dough comes together.

Refrigerate cookie dough for at least an hour until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Scoop batter into one inch balls (I use a 2 tsp. sized cookie scoop) roll in the reserved sugar/spice mixture and place on prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are lightly brown.

Allow cookies to cool and firm up before moving. nally my moms recipe but I tweaked it a bit. Here’s my version:

Print

Blondies

Ingredients

½ cup shortening

½ cup margarine

1 pound (1 box) light brown sugar

3 Tbs. hot water

3 eggs

3 cups flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. butter flavor (optional)

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a half sheet pan or jelly roll pan (13x18 inch) with parchment paper.

In a small saucepan melt the shortening, margarine, and sugar.

Add in the water and stir to combine. Allow to cool.

Pour the cooled mixture into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add in the eggs and mix to combine.

Then add in the dry ingredients and flavorings.

Spread the batter evenly in the parchment lined pan.

Sprinkle the chips on top and gently press them into the batter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes un

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Author: Lil' Miss Cakes

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 4 dozen

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) margarine

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

¾ cup smooth peanut butter

1 banana

1 egg

1¾ cups flour

¾ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips

1 Tbs. vanilla

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the margarine with the brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the peanut butter and banana and beat until smooth.

Add in the egg and beat until smooth.

Add in the flour, baking soda, salt, and vanilla and mix on low until the dough forms.

Add in the chocolate chips and mix until chips are incorporated.

Scoop cookies onto parchment lined cookie sheet using a medium sized cookie scoop. Press the top of each cookie in two directions with a fork to slightly flatten.

Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are slightly golden brown.

Cool on wire rack and enjoy!

Crispy Peanut Butter Cups

Author: Lil' Miss Cakes

Prep time: 30 mins Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 3 dozen

Ingredients

Peanut Butter Filling

1 cup smooth peanut butter

¼ cup margarine

¼ cup brown sugar

1¼ cup confectioners sugar

2 graham crackers, crushed

Chocolate Shell

4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

¼ cup vegetable shortening

Instructions

Line 3 dozen mini muffin tins with mini muffin liners.

Crush the graham crackers in mini food processor.

In a small pot over low heat, warm the peanut butter, margarine, and brown sugar until smooth and melted.

Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the confectioners sugar a little bit at a time. The mixture will be thick.

Reserve 2 Tbs. crushed graham crackers in a small bowl (will be used as a topping) and stir the remaining graham crackers into the peanut butter mixture.

Using a small cookie scoop, divide peanut butter mixture into 3 dozen balls.

Roll each peanut butter scoop into a ball and set aside.

In a double boiler (a bowl set atop a pot that is filled with an inch of water on low heat) melt the chocolate chips with the vegetable shortening and stir until smooth.

Using a small cookie scoop, spoon one scoop of melted chocolate into each muffin cup.

Place one peanut butter ball into each chocolate filled muffin cup.

Use the cookie scoop to spoon one more scoop of chocolate on top of each peanut butter ball.

Gently tap the muffin tin on the counter to smooth everything out.

Sprinkle a little bit of the reserved graham cracker crumbs onto each peanut butter cup.

Freeze until firm.

About a month ago, Jamie Geller, Author of the Quick & Kosher series and a fellow Kosher Connection member, shared her photos and thoughts as she went about an average day in Jerusalem. She shopped the shuk (outdoor market) and snapped photos as she jumped in and out cabs all over the neighborhood that I used to live in. Having left Israel almost three years ago, and recently starting to save up for a visit, something divine told me this post was written for me.

Through Jamie’s writing I could re-live the shuk I used to visit every Friday, and my eyes squinted from the heat of the Jerusalem sun as I looked at her photo of the Montefiore Windmill. For a moment, I re-lived some of the things I used to love about living in Jerusalem. This moment of peace wasn’t the only thing I discovered through reading Jamie’s post, she also introduced me to the world of Israeli and Hebrew language food bloggers, among others, Maryline of Ma Blogeria who moved to Israel from France 25 years ago.

This month’s Kosher Connection theme is Mini food, and after deciding not to make felafel or polenta bites with a mushroom ragu for this month’s contribution, I was still wondering what my post would be. I browsed the food blogs I read hoping something would stand out, and it certainly did. These piquant tuna appetizers, perhaps more accurately translated from the Hebrew לחמניות

פיקנטית טונה במילוי קשת as small rainbow rolls filled with piquant tuna, can be made as mini-rolls or a larger roll that you can slice to serve. I exchanged some emails with Maryline of Ma Blogeria and she was happy for me to share this recipe with you.

Piquant Tuna Appetizers

If you can read Hebrew, see the original recipe at Ma Blogeria. This is my version, adapted for for my palate and the American pantry. I did take a shortcut and use a roll of puff pastry rather than making my own – a shortcut that likely doesn’t do the original justice but I am comfortable with when I have ten dinner guests and I am cooking on a schedule. You will need the following ingredients to make the piquant tuna fulling.

2 cans of tuna in water

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

3 clove of garlic

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cumin

salt and pepper

siracha

coconut oil for cooking

Assuming you’re using frozen pastry, take this out of the freezer now so it can defrost enough for you to work with. Put two teaspoons of coconut oil in a skillet and put on a low heat. Dice the yellow and red peppers and saute lightly until they are soft, then chop and add the garlic, cook for another two minutes.

Now add one cup of diced tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of paprika, half a teaspoon of cumin and a touch of salt and pepper to taste. Stir, then hit with a dash of sriracha, a little will go a long way. Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce is thick and the liquid has all but evaporated, then add the tuna, mix well and remove from the heat so it can cool.

Piquant Tina Filling in Pastry

Now is a good time to pre-heat the oven to 375. Once your tuna filling has cooled, spoon it on to the pastry. Don’t put it right in the middle, if you look at the photo above you’ll see it’s about three quarters closer to one side. Leave some room at both ends so that the filling doesn’t seep out of the ends when it cooks.

Filled tuna pastry

Fold the shorter edge of the pastry over the tuna and use a knife cut lines in the longer side – but do not cut all the way to the edge, leave about a thumb-width of the party uncut at the end. Now, gently roll the shorter, tuna filled side of the the pastry over the cut side of the pastry.

Tuna rolls brushed with eggwash

Once you have rolled the pastry, shape the appetizers into an arch and brush them with egg wash. You can sprinkle with sesame seeds or oats for garnish. Black sesame seeds offer a beautiful contrast. Lay a silpat on a cookie sheet and put into your preheated oven (375 degrees) and bake until they are golden brown and beautiful. This will take 8-15 minutes so set a timer and check them often so not to overcook.

Piquant Tuna Rolls

Be sure to check out the rest of the Kosher Connections recipes for the month, below

Cheese Sambusak, or Mini Cheese Pies

January 21, 2013 by Stephanie

cheese sambusak

What is sambusak, you ask? It’s like a bite-sized turnover, an empanada or a pie. The dough is a savory butter pie crust made with a mixture of semolina and all purpose flours, and the filling is a simple cheese mixture. And that’s it; we just made cheese sambusak! (Just kidding, I’ll go into more detail soon.)

These can really be filled with anything, but we eat two kinds: cheese or meat. And cheese sambusak is the best kind, especially because if you’re making the filling meat, you can’t make the dough with butter.

Technically, you can do this on your own, but it’s way more fun if you make it a group project. Invite some friends over and shape all of the sambusaks together! We met up at our mom’s apartment with our sisters, made three batches, and split them among all of us at the end of the day. This way, the shaping and crimping is a lot more fun, and goes by a lot faster! We probably should have made even more batches.

After all of your hard work, pop a few in the oven and reward yourself with a delicious snack, and freeze the rest. They should be baked until the dough is just cooked through, before they brown up and the cheese mysteriously disappears (really, sometimes, if you overcook them, the cheese vanishes!). Then, next time you have company, or don’t know what to make for dinner, cook up a few of these for an appetizer or a side dish, and don’t forget to brag that you made them yourself!

making sambusak dough mixing the dough by hand: sambusak sambusak doughsambusak dough: perfect consistencydough balls for sambusakcheese mixture and tortilla press: we're making sambusak cheese mixture for sambusak

Intimidated by making all of these cute little pies? Have no fear, we have step-by-step photos and a video, so by the end of this post you’ll be a sambusak-making pro:

press sesame seeds into the sambusak doughfill sambusak with cheesefold sambusak in halfstart crimping your sambusaksambusak shaping: pinch and turnbeautiful cheese sambusak10tray of sambusaks10

As part of 2013’s first Kosher Connection linkup, we decided to share with you a classic Syrian savory pastry:

Cheese Sambusak

Makes about 50 mini pies

[[Click here to watch the video on how to shape sambusak!]]

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup semolina flour

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

generous pinch of kosher salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water

For the filling:

2 lbs. grated muenster cheese

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

sesame seeds

Directions:

Make the dough: Mix the flours, butter and salt in a large bowl. Add a little water at a time, until well blended. Cover and set aside.

Make the filling: Mix together the cheese, eggs and salt.

Shape the sambusak: Roll a tablespoon-sized ball of dough in your palms.

Roll the dough in sesame seeds and smash it in your palm or using a tortilla press.

Put a teaspoon of the cheese mixture in the center of the dough. Fold in half and seal the edges.

Crimp the edges by pinching with your thumb and pointer and folding over, going all the way around. (HUH!? If this doesn’t make sense to you, just watch the video or refer to the photos above.)

When all of the sambusak is shaped, bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or freeze. Frozen sambusak doesn’t have to be defrosted before baking, just keep it in the oven a bit longer

Claudette’s Granola

Ingredients:

4 cups + 3/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup flavorless oil (coconut, grapeseed, peanut, canola)

1 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)

3/4 cups maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Dried fruit, optional (cherries, cranberries, chopped apricots)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place 3/4 cups of rolled oats in the food processor and process until finely ground and looks like flour.

3. Add all ingredients to a large glass bowl.

4. Mix well, making sure to coat all the dry ingredients.

5. Spread onto baking sheet evenly, trying to cover the entire sheet.

6. Bake for 40-50 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through baking, until mixture is lightly toasted on top.

7. Let cool completely.

8. Break into chunks. Eat!

Strawberry and Apricot Crisp

May 27, 2013 by Jessica

Strawberry and Apricot Crisp

I love fruit crisps. I love fruit in general, but something about cooking fruit and bringing out the natural sugars just makes it extra delicious. Usually we make crisps and pies all summer, but with peaches, apples, cherries, and blueberries. So when I saw this recipe for strawberries and apricots, two of my favorite fruits, I knew I had to try it. The only problem? Pine nuts! They are just way too expensive and I didn’t have any in my kitchen, so I changed up the recipe a little bit and came up with my own variation. The result? A shabbat dessert that we finished that night! Next time, I’m doubling the recipe.

Strawberry and Apricot CrispStrawberry and Apricot Crisp

See a trend lately? I’ve been getting a subscription of Martha Stewart Living, and every month I cut out tons of recipes…that I test and share with you! So if you see a lot of her recipes lately (like this asparagus tart and this salmon recipe), it’s because I love her magazine.

Strawberry and Apricot CrispStrawberry and Apricot Crisp This is the perfect summer afternoon dessert if you make it dairy. And you can serve it at room temperature with some of your favorite ice cream!

Strawberry and Apricot CrispStrawberry and Apricot Crisp

Strawberry and Apricot Crisp, adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

For the topping:

4 tablespoon cold Earth Balance or coconut oil (+ more to grease baking dish)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour (I used a combo)

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of kosher salt

For the fruit filling:

5 apricots, pitted and cut into sixths (about 2 cups)

2 1/2 cups (about 15) strawberries, hulled and quartered

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon all purpose flour

Pinch of kosher salt

1/4 cup coconut flakes

Directions:

1. Make the crumble: combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and massage together with your fingers until the mixture forms small clumps.

2. Refrigerate until cold, at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4. Grease a shallow round pie plate or baking dish.

5. Combine apricots, strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, flour and salt in a medium bowl. Mix well.

6. Transfer to baking dish.

7. Top with coconut flakes, spreading them evenly over the top.

8. Top with crumble.

9. Bake about 40 minutes, until the crumble is browned and the middle is bubbling.

10. Let cool at least 20 minutes before serving.