Several years ago while at the mall, I bought a cookie that sounded great - White Chocolate Cherry. Well, the cookie was all sugary with about two tiny bites of white confection and maybe three pieces of dried cherries. I am not a big fan of white chocolate, but the whole idea of the sweet/sour combination intrigued me, so I decided to develop my own cookie. I made one or two attempts but was not happy and set the idea aside. But today, I determined to finish what I had started and here is the result - a chewy oatmeal based cookie with both white and dark chocolate and dried mixed berries. Try it and let me know if you like it. Buying both white chocolate and the dried berries makes this cookie a little on the expensive side, but fun to make nonetheless. Don't use white baking chips - they are sweet and milky but contain no cocoa butter. Buy a couple of good white chocolate bars and cut them up. Using good quality dark chocolate chips and dried fruit makes all the difference. Also, use pure extracts and not imitation flavors.
White Chocolate Cherry/Berry Cookies
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Combine and mix well in a large mixing bow. Blend well, but do not overmix.
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Put the oats in a blender or food processor and process until like fine flour. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture and mix until blended.
6 oz. dried mixed berries and cherries (or just cherries, if you prefer)
1 1/4 cups white chocolate chunks (not vanilla flavored chips)
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips*
Add to the blended mixture and stir until just mixed in. I used a 1 oz. food disher (2 Tbs.) to drop the cookies onto the cookie sheets. Bake in 375 oven for about 12 minutes, depending on your type of cookie sheet and your oven. Cool on pan for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
*You can vary the amount of white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate to your preference. I think next time, I may do 1 cup of each or use more semi-sweet and less white chocolate.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Collecting Recipes
Because I have always liked to cook and bake, over the years, I have collected a lot of recipes. No, I will never be Emeril or Paula Deen, but I have my own treasured collection of recipes, some of which I have tweaked to suit my taste buds and some are just classics that show up in cook book after cookbook. I have no desire to become a celebrity, but I do enjoy putting my cook books and stories together for my friends and family!
This weekend, I was looking for a cookie recipe that would suit a request for a friend's birthday. I found one that sounded perfect, but I was not happy with the results, even though I made them twice, tweaking here and there. They ended up in the garbage - literally! So I searched online again and found one that worked. Even though I have many recipes, this request was for oatmeal coconut raisin cookies and my favorite oatmeal raisin cookie recipe would not accomodate the addition of coconut very well. The flavors just wouldn't have blended properly. So I went on a quest. That is how many of my recipes have come into my collection - searching through old cook books, asking family and friends, and nowadays, searching online. Recipes are meant to be shared and enjoyed.
So, here is a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that people ask me for every time I make them. I have the recipe memorized at this point in time! I searched high and low for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, finally got this recipe from a friend and then years later found I had it all along in an old 1971 Betty Crocker cookbook. Sometimes we search long and hard for things that are right under our noses. Hope you enjoy them!
These are what I call Heaven's Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup shortening (not butter-flavored)
2 tsp. vanilla (not artificially flavored vanillin)
2 eggs
Combine and cream well, but don't overmix.
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Add to the creamed mixture, blending well, but again, not overmixing.
Stir in 2 cups good quality chocolate chips. Or, if you prefer, 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.
Drop 1/4 cup dough (I use an ice cream scoop, called a disher) onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a 375 degree oven for 12-14 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
(This recipe will also be in the new "Cookies From The Almond Branch" which is almost ready to send to the printer.)
By the way, the recipe I found and liked that I was searching for this weekend is on www.allrecipes.com and is called "Coconut Oatmeal Cookies I". I just added a cup of raisins to the recipe.
This weekend, I was looking for a cookie recipe that would suit a request for a friend's birthday. I found one that sounded perfect, but I was not happy with the results, even though I made them twice, tweaking here and there. They ended up in the garbage - literally! So I searched online again and found one that worked. Even though I have many recipes, this request was for oatmeal coconut raisin cookies and my favorite oatmeal raisin cookie recipe would not accomodate the addition of coconut very well. The flavors just wouldn't have blended properly. So I went on a quest. That is how many of my recipes have come into my collection - searching through old cook books, asking family and friends, and nowadays, searching online. Recipes are meant to be shared and enjoyed.
So, here is a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that people ask me for every time I make them. I have the recipe memorized at this point in time! I searched high and low for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, finally got this recipe from a friend and then years later found I had it all along in an old 1971 Betty Crocker cookbook. Sometimes we search long and hard for things that are right under our noses. Hope you enjoy them!
These are what I call Heaven's Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup shortening (not butter-flavored)
2 tsp. vanilla (not artificially flavored vanillin)
2 eggs
Combine and cream well, but don't overmix.
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Add to the creamed mixture, blending well, but again, not overmixing.
Stir in 2 cups good quality chocolate chips. Or, if you prefer, 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips and 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans.
Drop 1/4 cup dough (I use an ice cream scoop, called a disher) onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a 375 degree oven for 12-14 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for a minute or two and then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
(This recipe will also be in the new "Cookies From The Almond Branch" which is almost ready to send to the printer.)
By the way, the recipe I found and liked that I was searching for this weekend is on www.allrecipes.com and is called "Coconut Oatmeal Cookies I". I just added a cup of raisins to the recipe.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Introduction to The Almond Branch
The Almond Branch is a bed and breakfast that invites people in just because it is there waiting to be experienced. It has several guest rooms, each decorated with its own flair and flavor that speak of comfort and rest as soon as you walk through the door. The main living room is soft and friendly - just peeking into it makes you want to settle in for the evening, maybe with a good bood or good company, and perhaps in front of a warm fire if the season warrants it. One of the most wonderful places of refuge in The Almond Branch is the library which is stocked with classics and mysteries and many, many books to feed the soul and the spirit, as well as a large collection of music to soak in and find a moment of peace.
But, by far, the favorite room is the tea room. It is sunny and bright and is an indoor garden paradise. It is here in this garden that breakfast is served in the mornings and it is here that luncheons and tea parties are held in the afternoons. The food is prepared by hands that love the work and hearts that love the guests.
The Almond Branch lives in the dreams of my heart. Who knows if it will ever become a reality for me? But perhaps, if you enjoy these recipes, my dream will come true through you. So I give you these wonderful recipes, thoughts, and menus to start you on your own journey of dreaming with a wish that your dreams will carry you through life where disappointments come, dreams are broken, but the heart continues to heal and dream some more. And some of those dreams will come true.
But, by far, the favorite room is the tea room. It is sunny and bright and is an indoor garden paradise. It is here in this garden that breakfast is served in the mornings and it is here that luncheons and tea parties are held in the afternoons. The food is prepared by hands that love the work and hearts that love the guests.
The Almond Branch lives in the dreams of my heart. Who knows if it will ever become a reality for me? But perhaps, if you enjoy these recipes, my dream will come true through you. So I give you these wonderful recipes, thoughts, and menus to start you on your own journey of dreaming with a wish that your dreams will carry you through life where disappointments come, dreams are broken, but the heart continues to heal and dream some more. And some of those dreams will come true.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Story of The Almond Branch
I have written a cook book with stories about a retired woman who takes all her retirement fund and savings to buy an old house to turn into a bed and breakfast with a tea room. Most of her dreams in life have died over the years and this is, in her mind, her last chance to have a dream come true. As she steps out and risks everything for this dream, she is amazed as other dreams follow suit and come to fulfilment. It is the story of everyday life and everyday dreams. She is not looking for the Pulitzer prize or for fame. She is looking for the fulfilment of her heart's desires for herself and her family.
There are twelve chapters, one for each month of the first year The Almond Branch is open. The stories are followed by the menus and recipes relating to the theme of the story. There is an underlying theme threading its way through the book, all the way to a happy ending in the last chapter.
At one time, I dreamed of owning a tea room, but, unable to find a partner and financing, I let the dream die. It was just another in a long list of dead dreams to me.
People kept asking me for my recipes, so I decided to compile them in a cook book of sorts and wrote an introduction. I showed it to a friend and she said, "More, I want more! I need to know the rest of the story!" So I wrote the stories and added the recipes and a cook book was born.
My daughter Lanette was going through a hard time shortly after my dream died and I was encouraging her to follow her heart and go after her dreams. Her response to me was ,"Why should I listen to you? You let ALL of your dreams die!" (She was not being disrespectful, she was voicing her distress of heart to me, especially since she had been dreaming with me for the tea room.) I thought about this for a moment and then answered, "The Almond Branch didn't die; it just morphed into a book."
So, that's my theme in the book. It is never too late for your dreams to come true. Sometimes they morph from what you originally envisioned, but with faith in Jesus, all things can be healed and restored and all dreams that originate from His heart for you can, and will, come true.
(To order "The Almond Branch: A Collection of Recipes to Bring Friends and Family Together", email me at judye1@cox.net, referencing the book in the subject line. The cost is $15 for the book and $3 for shipping.)
p.s. I am currently finishing a second book "Cookies From The Almond Branch". It has six categories of cookies with six stories and each story is followed by twelve cookie recipes.
There are twelve chapters, one for each month of the first year The Almond Branch is open. The stories are followed by the menus and recipes relating to the theme of the story. There is an underlying theme threading its way through the book, all the way to a happy ending in the last chapter.
At one time, I dreamed of owning a tea room, but, unable to find a partner and financing, I let the dream die. It was just another in a long list of dead dreams to me.
People kept asking me for my recipes, so I decided to compile them in a cook book of sorts and wrote an introduction. I showed it to a friend and she said, "More, I want more! I need to know the rest of the story!" So I wrote the stories and added the recipes and a cook book was born.
My daughter Lanette was going through a hard time shortly after my dream died and I was encouraging her to follow her heart and go after her dreams. Her response to me was ,"Why should I listen to you? You let ALL of your dreams die!" (She was not being disrespectful, she was voicing her distress of heart to me, especially since she had been dreaming with me for the tea room.) I thought about this for a moment and then answered, "The Almond Branch didn't die; it just morphed into a book."
So, that's my theme in the book. It is never too late for your dreams to come true. Sometimes they morph from what you originally envisioned, but with faith in Jesus, all things can be healed and restored and all dreams that originate from His heart for you can, and will, come true.
(To order "The Almond Branch: A Collection of Recipes to Bring Friends and Family Together", email me at judye1@cox.net, referencing the book in the subject line. The cost is $15 for the book and $3 for shipping.)
p.s. I am currently finishing a second book "Cookies From The Almond Branch". It has six categories of cookies with six stories and each story is followed by twelve cookie recipes.
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