Tag: butter

Don’t be ‘alfredo’ trying from-scratch pasta sauce

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date March 21, 2024

Alfredo sauce is very simple to make with just a few ingredients and can go from the stovetop to the table in under 20 minutes.

It’s amazing what people will passionately debate about online.

Recently, I watched a video that started with two Italians explaining that they were going to show people how to make real alfredo sauce. The rest of the video was another creator trying out the dish, and from his reaction, I knew I had to give it a shot.

Of course, before that, I read some of the comments, and people were up in arms about whether or not fettuccine alfredo is really Italian or is an American invention.

I had to do some research, and I found an article by Francesco Dama entitled “Italian or American? The truth about fettuccine alfredo” that claims that the Italians created the dish and some American actors in the 1920s helped make it famous.

After reading the article, it was clear that the ingredients used for this particular recipe were, indeed, the ones used by the dish’s creator, aptly named Alfredo.

The recipe I tried comes from content creator Corey Bonalewicz. You can find his videos on Instagram @iamcoreyb. His website is coreyb.com. I added salt and pepper to my version and added the amounts for the ingredients.

Alfredo Sauce

Alfredo sauce is very simple to make with just a few ingredients and can go from the stovetop to the table in under 20 minutes.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword butter, easy dinner, fettuccine, grated parmesan cheese, linguine, parmesan cheese, parmesan-reggiano

Ingredients

16 ounces fettuccine or linguine noodles
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook your noodles according to package instructions. When they’re done, be sure to reserve a couple cups of pasta water.
While the noodles cook, spread the butter onto the bottom of a large serving bowl and grate your cheese.
When the noodles are done, put the hot, drained noodles into the serving bowl and mix until the butter is melted and evenly distributed onto the noodles. Next, stir in the cheese. Add about one-quarter cup of the hot pasta water and stir.
Add more water, a little at a time, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is the consistency you want.
Serve immediately.

I made the rookie mistake of buying pre-shredded parmesan for this, and it was disastrously difficult to get it to smoothly melt into the sauce. It was still good, but I will definitely make this again with cheese I grate myself. If you’re not aware, pre-shredded cheese normally has an additive to keep it from clumping, which makes it tough to melt smoothly.

That being said, the flavor was on point for this, and I really enjoyed it. To make it a full meal, I sauteed some onions, bell peppers and spicy rope sausage to serve over the pasta, and it was great.

And whether you think fettuccine alfredo is a true Italian dish or something Americans came up with, it’s still delicious, and that’s really all that matters.

This piece first appeared in print on March 21, 2024.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Tags butter, easy dinner, fettuccine, grated parmesan cheese, linguine, parmesan cheese, parmesan-reggiano

Main Dish Soup

Take a ‘leek’ at the recipe for some savory potato soup

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date January 25, 2024

Leek and potato soup has a velvety mouthfeel from potatoes and heavy cream, along with a deep, delicious onion flavor from freshly sauteed leeks.

Back when I started this column 10 years ago, I thought people would be coming out of the woodwork to offer up recipes for me to try. I signed off each week with a request for submissions.

In that first year, I think I received about five or six.

I learned quickly that people don’t like to share their favorite recipes—at least not with the general, newspaper-reading public.

I get it. Recipes can certainly be something sacred for a lot of us. They’re often more than food—they’re memories. I try to remember that when someone sends me a family favorite, something that they regularly make in their own kitchen. That person isn’t just sending me a list of ingredients and instructions; they’re sharing a piece of themselves, and that’s something special.

If you haven’t guessed, I don’t have a link from a blog to tell you where to find the original of the recipe I tried this week. Instead, this recipe was shared with me by our dear family friend, Jim Kanady. I added garlic to my version, and I used my blender a bit, too.

Potato Leek Soup

Leek and potato soup has a velvety mouthfeel from potatoes and heavy cream, along with a deep, delicious onion flavor from freshly sautéed leeks.

Course Main Course, Soup

Keyword butter, cayenne, fresh garlic, garlic, heavy cream, leek, potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes

Ingredients

2 sticks butter
2 leeks sliced
salt pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste
4 to 6 cloves garlic minced
1 quart chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 cups Yukon gold potatoes diced
2 cups heavy cream
oyster crackers for serving

Instructions

Heat a Dutch oven or stockpot with a lid over medium heat and add the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the leeks, salt, pepper and cayenne, and saute until the leeks are soft (10 to 15 minutes). Add the garlic and saute for about two minutes until it is lightly browned and fragrant.
Stir in the cornstarch until it is completely soaked up in the butter, and then pour in the chicken broth, stirring well.
Add the potatoes and turn the burner to high. Once the soup is boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in the cream. Place the lid on the pot and let the soup simmer for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Stir it occasionally while it simmers.
Taste the soup to see if it is seasoned to your liking. If you want it a bit thicker, use an immersion blender or regular blender to partially blend the soup, making sure to leave some potato chunks.
Serve with oyster crackers and some crusty bread on the side.

This was absolutely delicious. It’s a simple recipe, but the leeks give it a deep, onion-y flavor that isn’t harsh at all, and the addition of the potatoes and cream make it thick and hearty.

It heated up really well as leftovers, too, and when we didn’t quite have enough for another two servings after a couple meals of enjoying it, we ate the last bit alongside grilled cheese sandwiches, which was also a winning combination.

And every time I grabbed a delicious bowl, I thought of Jim and his friendship with our family. The only thing that could have been better would have been eating the meal together.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 25, 2024.

Tags butter, cayenne, fresh garlic, garlic, heavy cream, leek, potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes

Dessert

Become ‘nut’orious for simple pecan brownies

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date December 28, 2023

Pecan brownies are flavored with butter, unsweetened chocolate and vanilla, along with lots of pecans to create a great dessert for a small gathering or cookie exchange.

We had a bit of a scaled-down celebration for Christmas this year, with several of our family members traveling outside of Kansas, so I very carefully considered what treats I would be making.

Normally, I overdo it with several types of candies and baked goods to share, but knowing that our group would be a bit smaller, I promised myself I would stick to only three things.

Well, I had to, of course, make my yearly batch of peppernuts. It just wouldn’t feel like Christmas without them.

Then I decided that I would go easy on myself and make just a few peanut clusters. You know, a couple dozen or so—a small batch.

And finally, I had to throw in a new recipe to try, and sticking to my simple theme for the year, I landed on what looked to be a yummy pan of pecan brownies. The recipe made a nice, eight-by-eight-inch batch of brownies that were perfect for our small celebration, and it’s a great one to keep in the recipe box for future gatherings.

This comes from Taste of Home. You can find the original at https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pecan-brownies/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.

Pecan Brownies

Pecan brownies are flavored with butter, unsweetened chocolate and vanilla, along with lots of pecans to create a great dessert for a small gathering or cookie exchange.

Course Dessert

Keyword baker’s chocolate, brownies, butter, cookie exchange, easy dessert, pecans, small dessert, unsweetened chocolate, vanilla

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cups flour
1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare an eight-by-eight-inch baking pan by lightly greasing it with butter, shortening or cooking spray. Set it aside.
In a medium-sized pot, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring constantly. Once they are completely melted, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sugar.
Let the mixture cool for a few minutes.
Lightly beat the eggs in a small bowl, and add the eggs, vanilla and flour to the pot, stirring to combine everything well.
Finally, fold in the pecans (save a few to sprinkle on the top of the batter).
Spread the mixture into your prepared baking pan and sprinkle the top with a few pecan pieces.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the brownies cool before slicing them and storing them in an air-tight container.

I liked these, because they were chocolatey and nutty and not sickeningly sweet. I also sliced them into small squares, which made them perfect for the Christmas snack table.

In addition to sharing these with our family, they were a nice addition to some Christmas gifts we dropped off with friends on Christmas Eve, and I was very happy with how they turned out.

Even better, they’re already gone and not hanging around on my kitchen counter, tempting me to have just one more.

I can’t quite say the same for the peanut clusters, but hey, at least I tried.

This piece first appeared in print on Dec. 28, 2023.

Tags baker's chocolate, brownies, butter, cookie exchange, easy dessert, pecans, small dessert, unsweetened chocolate, vanilla

Dessert

The best ‘tart’ of a fundraiser is the dessert

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date February 9, 2023

This French lemon cream tart is the perfect balance between sweet and tart, with a crispy, shortbread-like crust to top off the experience. It takes a bit of effort to make, but the time commitment is worth it.

I have been thinking about this week’s recipe for nearly a month.

I was asked back then if I would be willing to make a dessert for Peace Connections’ annual soup supper and dessert auction.

The event is a fundraiser for the Harvey County Circle of Hope, which does amazing work in helping families, and I was honored to be asked to help.

But then the problem of what to make started to race through my mind. I finally landed on something that looks a little fancy, would be delicious but also would be just enough of a pain in the keester to make that it would be way easier to let someone else do the hard work and bid on it instead.

So I landed on this week’s recipe, which comes from the blog “Confessions of a Baking Queen” by Elizabeth Waterson. You can find the original post at https://confessionsofabakingqueen.com/french-lemon-cream-tart/. I added extra zest in my version.

French Lemon Cream Tart

This French lemon cream tart is the perfect balance between sweet and tart, with a crispy, shortbread-like crust to top off the experience.It takes a bit of effort to make, but the time commitment is worth it.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword butter, fancy dessert, fresh berries, fresh lemon, heavy cream, lemon cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered sugar, shortbread, tart, vanilla

Ingredients

Crust Ingredients

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons heavy whipping cream
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter cold

Filling Ingredients

1 cup sugar
5 to 6 medium-sized lemons
4 eggs
1 cup plus 5 tablespoons butter room temperature

For Decoration

fresh berries I used blackberries and raspberries
powdered sugar

Instructions

To prepare the crust, add the cream, yolk and vanilla to a small bowl. Whisk them together and set it aside.
In a food processor, pulse the flour, powdered sugar and salt a few times to combine them. Cut the cold butter into chunks and pulse it in with the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Turn the processor on low and stream in the egg mixture. As soon as the dough starts to come together in the food processor, turn it off and dump the contents onto a clean countertop. Gently press the dough together, trying not to handle it too much so you don’t melt the butter.
Form the dough into a six-inch disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Once the dough is chilled, roll it out into a large circle on a well-floured surface until it is about one-eighth-inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 10-inch tart pan and press the dough into all the nooks and crannies of the pan. Fold about one inch of the overhanging dough over to create thicker sides and press those in, too. Trim off any excess dough.
Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork and place the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
To bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a large sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray and place it, spray side down, in the cold crust, lining it with the foil. Fill the area with dry beans or pie weights. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and weights and bake for another five to 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Let the crust cool completely before filling it.
For the filling, combine the sugar and zest from about five lemons (you’ll want to get at least four tablespoons worth of zest) in a bowl. Stir until they are well combined.
Juice the lemons into a measuring cup until you have 3/4 cup of juice, and add it to the sugar mixture, along with the eggs. Whisk the mixture until it’s well combined, and add it to a medium-sized saucepan.
Turn the heat to low-medium and monitor the temperature with a candy thermometer, whisking constantly, until it reaches 180 degrees. (If the temperature stalls out, carefully turn the burner temperature up a bit at a time. Be careful not to heat it too quickly, or your eggs will clump up.)
Once the mixture is up to temp, remove it from the heat and pour it into a sieve over a bowl. This will remove all the zest and any lumps formed in the cooking process.
Let the mixture cool for at least 10 minutes.
Pour the filling into a food processor and turn it on low speed. Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, letting the mixture process for at least one minute between each addition. Once all the butter is added, process for another three to five minutes.
Pour the filling into a clean bowl and gently press a piece of plastic wrap on the top of the cream so it doesn’t form a skin. Place it in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
To assemble the tart, stir the cream (it should be thick), and add it to the crust, smoothing it out evenly with a spoon or offset spatula.
Place a piece of plastic wrap pressed on top of the cream and refrigerate for at least 30 more minutes.
Before serving, top with fresh berries and a sprinkling of powdered sugar, if so desired. Refrigerate any leftovers.

The tart I made this week was a test run for next week’s showstopper, and Joey and I enjoyed getting to taste test it. It’s in the perfect middle ground between sweet and tart, and the fresh fruit takes the flavors up to a whole new level.

Baking this tart ended up taking a few hours in the kitchen, but not only was the taste worth it, but I hope the one I bring to Peace Connections will help them raise some funds for a worthy cause, too. If you want to try this without having to make it yourself, plan on attending the event at the First Church of the Nazarene, 1000 N Main Street, Newton, on Thursday, Feb. 16. The soup supper starts at 5:30 p.m., and the dessert auction will begin at 6:15 p.m.

I hope the event turns out as well as my tart did. If so, it’s going to be great.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 9, 2023.

Tags blackberries, butter, fancy dessert, French dessert, fresh berries, fresh lemon, heavy cream, lemon cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered sugar, raspberries, shortbread, tart, vanilla

Dessert

Stone fruit and brown sugar are truly made for ‘peach’ other

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date June 16, 2022

Brown sugar peach cake levels up a boxed cake mix with lots of fresh peaches and a yummy, from-scratch brown sugar frosting. This one is a real crowd pleaser.

Last summer, we ended up with a large box of peaches, and when they started to get soft before we could finish them, I sliced them up, tossed them in a bag, and stored them away in the freezer.

Well, rather than using them up sometime last fall…or winter…or spring…they’ve just been hanging out in my freezer drawer.

I mostly forgot about them, except for Joey asking me once or twice a month, “So, what are you going to do with those peaches?”

After he asked me that again in May, I purchased some ingredients to make a fresh peach cake. And then those sat in the pantry, too.

I mentioned this week that I needed to decide what to make for my column, and he instantly said, “You know, you have those peaches.”

So, if there’s any mystery still left at all, I did go ahead and use up my freezer peaches this week, and the cake I made was a huge hit at the office.

The recipe I used comes from the blog “The View from Great Island.” You can find the original post at https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/brown-sugar-peach-cake-recipe/. I doubled the peaches and vanilla in my version.

Brown Sugar Peach Cake

Brown sugar peach cake levels up a boxed cake mix with lots of fresh peaches and a yummy, from-scratch brown sugar frosting. This one is a real crowd pleaser.

Course Dessert

Keyword brown sugar, butter, cake, cake mix, fresh peaches, heavy cream, peach juice, peach nectar, powdered sugar, vanilla

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

15 ounce yellow cake mix
Number of eggs on the cake mix box
Amount of oil on the cake mix box
1/2 cup peach nectar or peach juice
2 pounds peeled peaches cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Frosting Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-13-inch baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray, and set it aside
Beat the cake mix, eggs, oil and nectar until smooth. Fold in the peaches, and spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine took about 45 minutes.)
Let the cake cool completely.
For the frosting, cut the butter into chunks and add it, the heavy cream and brown sugar to a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla and powdered sugar until it’s well combined and there are no lumps. (If it starts to harden up on you before you’re ready, slide it back over on your still-hot burner to loosen it up a bit.)
Pour the frosting evenly over the top of the cake, spreading it out where necessary, and place the cake in the refrigerator until the frosting sets up (about 30 minutes).
Cut and serve, and store any leftovers in an airtight container.

If you’re not sure where to find peach nectar, the brand I found was Jumex, and it was located in the cold drinks area of my local grocery store rather than in the juice aisle.

This cake was amazing. I used up every last peach from the freezer, and the cake was just bursting with them, which made it delicious. Also, the frosting makes for a great compliment to the peach flavor, even if it is on the sweeter side. The cake is moist enough on its own that you could get away with skipping the frosting altogether, if that’s not your thing.

And Joey is happy that our freezer is now absent one, big bag of peaches after nearly a year. He was right, it did free up a lot of space. Unfortunately, I’m now worried he’s going to notice my collection of baking chips that were hidden underneath it.

This piece first appeared in print on June 16, 2022.

Tags brown sugar, butter, cake, cake mix, fresh peaches, heavy cream, peach juice, peach nectar, powdered sugar, vanilla

Appetizer Main Dish Snack

Don’t let delicious sandwiches slide by you

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date January 6, 2022

Turkey cheese sliders are easy and cheap to make with a package of Hawaiian rolls.

Being the good aunt that I am, when my niece came to spend the night with us this past week, I made sure to have a bag of chocolate mini donuts ready for breakfast.

When my sister and brother-in-law came to pick her up, I asked her if she wanted me to send the leftovers with her, and of course, she happily took them home.

Joey just shook his head.

“You’re such a pusher,” he said.

That’s when I held up the package of Hawaiian dinner rolls my mother had somehow weaseled us into taking back to our house on a recent visit.

“I learned from the best.”

So, what’s there to do with leftover Hawaiian rolls? Well, you could work yourself into a carb-induced food coma, or you can do what we did and make some delicious turkey and cheese sliders.

The recipe I used came from the blog “The Novice Chef.” You can find the original post at https://thenovicechefblog.com/cheesy-turkey-sliders/. I changed the ingredients and removed the sugar, figuring I’ve had enough sweets over the past couple months.

Turkey Cheese Sliders

Turkey cheese sliders are easy and cheap to make with a package of Hawaiian rolls.

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Keyword baked, butter, cheese, deli turkey, dijon mustard, garlic, Hawaiian rolls, onion powder, sandwich, sliders, spinach, Worcestershire

Ingredients

1/2 pound deli turkey
12 Hawaiian rolls
6 to 8 slices cheese I used pepperjack
about 1/2 cup fresh spinach
4 tablespoons butter melted
6 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
garlic salt and pepper to taste
sesame seeds to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-nine-inch pan (or whatever size you have that can fit the entire package of Hawaiian rolls in it) by spraying it with cooking spray.
Leave the rolls all connected, and using bread knife, cut the Hawaiian rolls in half to create a top and bottom.
Place the bottom part into the prepared pan. Place the turkey evenly over the rolls, add the cheese, and then finish off with a layer of spinach leaves. Place the top layer of buns on top, and poke just a few holes in the buns with a sharp knife.
In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, dijon, onion powder, Worcestershire, garlic salt and pepper, and pour it evenly over top of the rolls, spreading it out with a spoon, if necessary to evenly coat the rolls.
Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 14 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for another two minutes or until the tops brown.
Cut the sliders apart and serve immediately.

These were excellent. Joey and I ate them on New Year’s Eve while we played a board game, and it was the perfect, low-key night.

We recreated the recipe a couple days later (my mom actually gave us two packages of rolls) with deli-sliced pastrami, and it was excellent that way, too. I’m going to keep track of this one for when we’ll inevitably have folks over for the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl. It would be great for the snack table.

And now we know what to do with leftover Hawaiian rolls. As far as mini donuts, find yourself a willing 4-year-old.

This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 6, 2022.

Tags baked sandwich, butter, cheese, deli turkey, dijon mustard, garlic, Hawaiian rolls, onion powder, sliders, spinach, Worcestershire

Dessert

‘Oui’ are in love with this French apple tart

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date November 24, 2021

A French apple tart is a very simple dessert with a lot of wow factor from its pretty appearance.

I said when I bought my tart pans that everyone was just going to have to deal with my experimentation, and here it is again. Don’t worry, though, because this recipe is also tailor made to become a pie.

Some fantastic friends of ours held a fun “Friendsgiving” get together last weekend. We were able to hang out with them along with both old and new friends and share a potluck meal.

I signed up to bring dessert, because I had my eye on a new tart recipe, and of course, as always, my friends needed to be my guinea pigs.

And this tart was definitely a show-stopper. It’s gorgeous and easy at the same time, which makes for the perfect combination.

The recipe I tried comes from https://mandyjackson.com/2018/12/07/french-apple-tart/. I used apple jelly instead of apricot jam in my version, substituted bourbon for rum and added just a sprinkle of cinnamon in my version.

French Apple Tart

A French apple tart is a very simple dessert with a lot of wow factor from its pretty appearance.

Course Dessert

Keyword apple, apple butter, apple jelly, apple pie, bourbon, brown sugar, cinnamon, Granny Smith apples

Ingredients

1 nine-inch pie crust
1 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter cubed
1/4 cup apple jelly
1 tablespoon bourbon or use water
a liberal sprinkling of cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out the pie dough to about a quarter-inch thick and place into a eight- to 10-inch tart pan, pressing it along the sides so that it fills the crevices. Trim any excess crust, and place the whole pan in the freezer while slicing apples. (If you don’t have a tart pan, use a pie pan or springform pan instead.)
Peel the apples, cut them in half, and core them. Slice the apples thinly—about one-quarter inch—and arrange in the prepared crust in a spiral, overlapping the slices a bit as you go. Once you’re finished, use any remaining slices to fill in gaps and make it look nice.
Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the top of the pie. (It will seem like too much, but it will cook down into the apples; don’t worry.) Dot the top of the tart with the cubed butter.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the tart is lightly browned and the apples are fork tender.
Let the tart cool for about 15 minutes or so.
In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the apple jelly and bourbon, along with a healthy sprinkling of cinnamon. Microwave it for just a few seconds—about 20—to get it just a bit warm, and whisk it well to combine the jelly and liquid.
Using a pastry brush, brush the mixture over the top of the tart.
When it’s cool enough to handle, remove the tart from the pan and serve right away or refrigerate in an airtight container.

We really enjoyed this tart. It was very simple but delicious. Plus, it looked awesome on the dessert table.

The other nice thing about making a tart is if you normally don’t like trying to flute your pie crust to make it pretty, you don’t have to with a tart pan. It takes care of the prettifying for you.

With pie season fully upon us, I’m sure this won’t be close to my last pastry until the end of the year. And I know it won’t be the final time I’ll be around the table with some great folks, having good conversation and sharing delicious foods. That’s what makes this the best time of the year.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 25, 2021.

Tags apple jelly, butter, cinnamon, French apple, Granny Smith apples, pie, sugar, tart

Dessert

Feel like you’re on ‘toffee’ the world with three ingredients

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date June 17, 2021

With just three ingredients and a little patience, you can easily make homemade toffee that has a great flavor and can be eaten alone or incorporated into baked goods.

As a complete sweets addict, it figures I would marry somebody who would rather have an extra portion of a savory main dish than eat dessert.

That being said, Joey does still have a sweet tooth—it’s just fairly particular.

So, while most sugary concoctions I share with you are decidedly something I made because I wanted to try it or share it outside our household, this one was 100% made with Joey in mind: homemade toffee.

He loves toffee, and when I found a recipe that promised to be an easy way to make it with only three ingredients, I decided to give it a try.

This comes from the blog “Cook With 5 Kids,” but this recipe appears to only exist on Pinterest. You can find the original post at https://www.pinterest.com/pin/564427765807969699/ or visit her website at http://cookwith5kids.com, if you’re interested in her other stuff. I didn’t change anything, because it was so simple that there wasn’t anything to change.

Homemade Toffee

With just three ingredients and a little patience, you can easily make homemade toffee that has a great flavor and can be eaten alone or incorporated into baked goods.

Course Dessert

Keyword brown sugar, butter, salt, toffee

Ingredients

1 stick butter 8 tablespoons
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Prepare an 8-by-8-inch pan or dish by lining it with waxed or parchment paper.
Combine the butter, brown sugar and salt in a medium-sized skillet or saucepan over medium heat.
Stir regularly, making sure everything is smooth and well-combined.
Continue stirring until the mixture reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Once the mixture reaches 300 degrees, remove it from the heat and pour evenly into the lined pan.
Place the pan in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to let the toffee set up and harden.
Once the toffee is set up, remove it from the paper and then smash it into bite-sized pieces. (I used my meat mallet.) Store in an airtight container.

If you wanted to turn this up a notch, I’d recommend melting some chocolate and spreading it on the top of the toffee before breaking it into pieces. Let the chocolate harden, and then break it. You could include a sprinkling of nuts on top, too.

This is great to eat on its own. It’s super crunchy (like peanut brittle), but it also dissolves in your mouth like hard candy if you don’t want to chomp on it.

The recipe’s author also suggest smashing it into much smaller pieces and incorporating it into chocolate chip cookies. I think it would also be great in brownies or sprinkled on top of a frosted cake.

For us, it’s just hanging out on our counter in a little sealed bowl, and every day, each of us savor at least one piece and try not to go back in for more.

I have to admit, I haven’t done a great job of eating only one at a time. Maybe, if I’m being honest, I did make this for myself more than for Joey. Just don’t tell him. He doesn’t need to know.

This piece first appeared in print on June 17, 2021.

Tags brown sugar, butter, candy, easy, salt, three ingredients, toffee

Cookies Dessert

You won’t have to ‘mull’ over trying this recipe

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date November 25, 2020

Oat “mull” cookies use mulling spices for flavor along with plenty of butter and oats to create chewy cookies.

I have to confess to a new addiction.

I’m hoping that if I say it out loud, I will have more of a will to fight it, but I’m pretty sure I’m in too deep.

In true addict form, though, I want you to know that it isn’t my fault. The blame lands firmly on the shoulders of a local business and supporter of ours: Main Street Co. & Kitchen Corner in Newton, Kan.

Owner Tina Ostrander has set up her website for extremely easy online shopping, and if there’s one thing I love more than shopping at local businesses, it’s not having to leave my house to do so.

On one of several recent shopping “trips” to their site to try to satisfy my Christmas shopping list, I, of course, found something on sale I needed to purchase, because not only did it sound delicious, but Tina promised a cookie recipe to come along with it. Not only that, but the title of the recipe was a pun, and if you’ve been reading my column for any length of time, you know how much I love a good food pun.

So this week’s recipe for oatmeal cookies comes from Main Street Co. & Kitchen Corner and uses the Aspen Mulling Spice they carry in store and online. I used the original flavor, but they also have caramel apple and sugar-free versions that you could totally use instead. I doubled the vanilla in my version below.

Oat “Mull” Cookies

Oat “mull” cookies use mulling spices for flavor along with plenty of butter and oats to create chewy cookies.

Course Dessert

Keyword cookies, mulling spices, oatmeal

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup Aspen Mulling Spice
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups quick oats or rolled oats

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Beat the butter, vanilla, brown sugar, egg and mulling spice until it’s well combined.
Beat in the flour and baking soda. Mix in the oats.
For about two-inch cookies, drop by the teaspoonful about one-inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
Let cool for a bit before transferring to an airtight container.

These were so delicious. I’m guessing that had something to do with how much butter was in the recipe, but the mulling spices gave them a light, autumn-like flavor that we really liked. They were just a little crispy around the edges and were a good, chewy cookie.

Plus, the recipe made just over four dozen cookies, so if you are planning on a cookie exchange or giving some treats to folks this holiday season, you’ll get a lot of mileage out of this recipe.

Also, this didn’t use the whole container of mulling spice, which means I will definitely be making myself a nice steaming cup of apple cider one of these evenings.

Shopping locally is important all of the time, but it’s especially essential this year, if we want to make sure that our favorite local businesses are still around after the pandemic is over.

Getting into the stores is sometimes tough, especially for those who aren’t comfortable getting out and about right now, but there are plenty of local businesses who have adapted to the times and have online shops and will ship or let you pick things up locally.

Before you shop on “Amazon” or another online retailer, do a quick search for local entrepreneurs you can support with your dollars. Those big box stores are doing fine without your contribution, and they certainly aren’t going to send you a great recipe to try with your order.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 26, 2020.

Tags brown sugar, butter, mulling spices, oatmeal

Cookies Dessert

Butter cookies have toddler tickled pink

Post author By Lindsey Young
Post date June 18, 2020

Pinkalicious cookies are made with a cake mix base, with butter and cream cheese added for a rich, soft cookie.

My folks recently invited all of us over for hot dogs and hamburgers on a Saturday afternoon. We hadn’t all been in the same room since the stay-at-home orders began, and with things opening up and gathering sizes expanded, it seemed like a good time for the seven of us to socialize just a bit.

As I have been doing throughout the quarantine, I sent a video message through my sister to my two-year-old niece, asking her what I should bring for lunch.

The video I received back wasn’t quite what I expected, but I was ready for the challenge.

“Dessert, Lindsey,” she said.

“A dessert? What kind of dessert,” my sister prompted.

“Ummm…pinkalicious,” she said with a grin.

My sister pushed a little more on what kind of pink dessert she meant, and she said “pinkalicous” was another word for pink cookies.

Who knew?

Well, when the niece asks, the aunt must deliver, so this week, I’m sharing with you what was originally called “Gooey Butter Cookies” but has now been deemed “Pinkalicious” in our family.

This recipe comes from the blog “Lil’ Luna.” You can find the original post at https://lilluna.com/recipe-tip-of-the-week-gooey-butter-cookies. I added quite a bit of pink food coloring to get the color I wanted, doubled the vanilla and used sprinkles on some of the cookies in my version.

Pinkalicious Cookies

Pinkalicious cookies are made with a cake mix base, with butter and cream cheese added for a rich, soft cookie.

Course Dessert

Keyword butter, cake mix, cookies, cream cheese, pink, powdered sugar, sprinkles

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 ounces cream cheese softened
1 egg
1 box yellow cake mix
pink food coloring to desired hue
powdered sugar or sprinkles for coating cookies

Instructions

Beat the butter, vanilla, cream cheese and egg until the mixture is fairly smooth. Beat in the cake mix and then mix in as much food coloring as you desire.
Chill the batter for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and while the oven is preheating, roll the cookie dough into about one-inch balls and then roll them in a bowl of either powdered sugar or sprinkles. Place the balls about two inches apart on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies start to brown.
Let them cool for a bit to set up before transferring them to an airtight container for storage.

Well, if you’re wondering how these turned out, these were absolutely fantastic. They’re soft and flavorful, and even the grownups were pretty happy to eat some “pinkalicious.”

I actually thought they were even better after sitting in my Tupperware overnight than they were straight out of the oven.

And, after sending the leftovers home with my sister and brother-in-law, I got another video message of my niece, cookie in hand.

“Thank you, Lindsey,” she said into the camera, making me absolutely melt.

My sister accused me of spoiling my sweet niece, but I’m pretty sure that’s my primary job as her aunt. And, if you’re wondering, the toddler decree was that the cookies coated in sprinkles were the best ones.

I don’t know if I’ll always be able to accomplish every kind of food that comes out of her little imagination, but I’m sure going to try.

This piece first appeared in print on June 18, 2020.

Tags butter, cake mix recipe, cream cheese, pink, powdered sugar, sprinkles