ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp water
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped fine

Cream butter & sugar, then mix in water and vanilla.  Add the flour and chopped nuts.

Chill 4 hours in fridge.

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Watch them the last couple of minutes to make sure they don’t burn.

Take them out of the oven and drop them into a bowl of powdered sugar while they are still warm.  Set out to cool.

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We had a baking frenzy on Saturday to get the treat boxes ready to take with us to church on Sunday, and these were the favorite of those that we baked.  They take a little longer to bake than most of the others, but the extra time is worth it!  These are the cookies that Grandmas, Nanas and Babushkas all over used to bake, and they are soooooooo good.

I ended up rolling them slightly smaller so the dough would go further, and I actually like them that way – just enough for a taste, but not so much that you feel like you might overdo it if you eat two…

• 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or allspice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

• 3/4 cup light brown cane sugar
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 3 egg equivalent in Ener-G egg substitute
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup vegetable oil**

• 2 cups finely grated carrots
• 1 can (about 14 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup shredded coconut

• nuts and raisins optional

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 8 oz package of vegan cream cheese
• 1/3 cup vegan soy margarine (like Earth Balance), softened.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups vegan confectioners sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, spice, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer combine sugar and egg replacer until creamy.  Add vanilla, then add vegetable oil or applesauce.

Mix wet and dry ingredients together and add carrots, pineapple, and coconut.

Grease pan. Smooth batter into pan. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Be sure to let the cake adequately cool before frosting.

For a thicker cake, use a 9×9 glass pan. For a thinner cake with more servings, use a 13×9.  You can also make them in a cupcake pan or 2 loaf pans.

Faux Cream Cheese Frosting recipe:

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and margarine. Add vanilla, then add sugar.

This entire recipe tastes just like the real thing! It just made it last night and it is so delicious!

Makes: 9 servings, Preparation time: 20 minutes, Cooking time: 40 minutes

**Substitutions**

For the egg replacer – I used pineapple juice drained from the pineapple chunks instead of water.  I had it and I thought I’d give the cake an extra boost of flavor.

Again, I don’t use vegetable oil.  I subbed with applesauce as usual.

Since I had a young coconut in the fridge I used that instead of dried shredded coconut.  I just ran it through the shredder with the carrots.  I tried to run the pineapple chunks through as well, but that really didn’t work.  I ended up cutting up the pineapple chunks I had by hand instead.

I accidentally added 3 cups of carrots instead of the 2 called for – I mixed it up with another recipe.  It worked out pretty well though.

I also added 1 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries.

I don’t do soy-based cream cheese frosting.  Instead of that I used my trusty old standby Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting – wow, was it tasty!

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I am apparently in a baking mood today – zucchini bread and carrot cake back to back.  That or I’m just hungry   I found this recipe over at VegWeb.com where it was submitted by Tate.  I was looking at both this recipe and this one by Ina Garten so I’m sure that there are places other than just the extra cup of carrots that I merged them but I don’t recall them.

Just so you know, these muffins by no means need the frosting – and they are better for you without it – but what is a good tropical-inspired carrot cake without frosting?  I mean really.

So why did I pick a vegan recipe?  Well, I ran out of eggs but I have scads of egg replacer!  Shhh – don’t tell!

So yeah – that’s my version of this yummy cake!  And I would have to agree, next to the Oregon Farms boxed cake (now Sarah Lee), this is one of the best carrot cakes I have tried yet.  I’m still trying to duplicate that one though!  Yum…

Oh – and the kids LOVE it!

This recipe comes down from my husband’s Grandmother – each year she would make a Christmas tree out of rolls, complete with green frosting.  She passed away, and no one had a cinnamon roll tree this year.  I knew I had the recipe somewhere, and I just found it, so I’m sharing it with you.

• 1 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 pkg active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup  warm water to dissolve yeast
• 3-4 cups sifted flour
• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• more butter
• walnuts, raisins, cranberries or apples as desired.

In a large bowl combine sugar, salt and butter.  Heat up milk, and when it is hot pout it into the bowl over dry ingredients.  Mix until dissolved.

Dissolve yeast in warm water.

Beat egg and add to milk mixture, then add yeast.  Add 3-4 cups sifted flour, enough to make a soft dough.

Put into a well greased bowl and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size (at least 1 hour).

Knead down and roll out to 1/2-inch thick.

Spread with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, fruits and nuts, leaving one edge clean.

Roll up, starting at the edge opposite the clean edge.  Using your finger, rub a bit or water on the clean edge and seal it to the roll, pinching lightly.

Cut into 1″ slices using dental floss (slide the floss under the roll and bring the ends up around the roll and cross them above it to cut the dough).

Place on a greased cookie sheet and let rise for another hour.

Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

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You can use your favorite frosting or icing for these, but we usually use Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting.  To make the Christmas tree, set the uncooked rolls out on a jelly roll pan in a triangle shape with 2 rolls at the base for the trunk of the tree.  Grandma often put candied fruits or candy on top of the frosting as ornaments.

If you aren’t Norwegian – or know someone who is – you may have never heard of lefse, but if you have, you know that this is a tasty treat that goes with both sweet and savory.

Lefse can best be described as a Norwegian flat bread, not unlike tortillas. It is often made with potatoes, but not always.

There are only two warnings… it takes all day long to make it, and it usually disappears quickly (especially if there are any Norwegians hanging around) but if you hide it in time it does freeze well.

Without further ado… a small collection of lefse recipes for you to choose from.

Potato-Free Lefse

• 1.5 quarts sour cream (3 lbs.) (4 cups =1 qt)
• 2 quarts buttermilk
• 1 lb. butter
• 4 tsp. baking soda
• 2.5 cups sugar
• 6 whole eggs
• 6 egg yolks
• 3 tsp. salt
• 15 lbs flour – 10 lbs for dough, 5 lbs for rolling

Melt butter while mixing wet ingredients except eggs. Mix some flour with the butter to keep it from curdling.

Combine the salt, soda and sugar and beat into the eggs.

Mix everything together.

Take a piece of dough and roll it out on a floured surface into a large circle that will fit onto your griddle, rolling it as thin as possible. Bake on a griddle over medium heat until light brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching. Stack them between clean cloths to keep them from drying out.

*Courtesy of Lee Oswald

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Potato Lefse

• 5 large potatoes
• 1/2 cup sweet cream
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• flour to roll thin

Boil potatoes and mash very fine (a ricer works well) and add cream, butter and salt. Beat until light and let cool. Add flour. Take a piece of dough and roll out into a circle like pie crust, making sure to roll it as thinly as possible. Bake on a griddle until light brown, turning frequently to prevent scorching. When baked, place between clean cloths to keep them from drying out.

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Krina Lefse

Step one:

• 3 large sifters of flour (about 5 cups in each sifter)
• 1 cup melted shortening
• 4 cups fine graham flour

Combine the above ingredients with lukewarm water, adding just enough so dough can be rolled out farily thin. Roll out as for other lefse, but bake on one side only until a very light brown. This makes a large quantity – about 36 large round lefse.

Step two:

When lefse are all baked, prepare the following mixture.

• 1 cup dark syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. melted butter
• 2 egg whites
• flour to make a fairly thick batter

Beat eggs & combine with the other ingredients. Spread over each lefse with a spatula. Spread lefse one at a time and bake in a hot oven for a few minutes, just enough to brown slightly around the edges. Bake on one side only.

Pile lefse with coated sides together, and put a weight on top of them until they are cold. Then remove the weight and sprinkle a little water over lefse to keep them from breaking.

Put them away – keeping coated sides apart to prevent sticking.

These lefse will keep indefinitely if kept in a dry place.

When ready to use, hold each lefse under cold water, letting water fun over both sides, then place between clean cloths until soft enough to use. They may have to be soaked twice. When soft, spread with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Put 2 lefse together and cut wedge shaped like a pie.

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Swedish Flat Bread

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sweet milk
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1.5 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 cups flour
• 3/4 cup flour for rolling

Cream the butter and sugar together. Combine dry ingredients, making sure to break up any chunks in the baking powder and soda. Beat the eggs into the milk. Combine everything together to form a dough ball.

Roll small pieces of dough very thinly into circles. Bake quickly on a griddle over medium-high heat.

*our friend John’s Grandma’s recipe

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As you can see, there are many variations to the basic recipe, but they are all wonderful. Our favorite ways to eat them around here are with butter, cinnamon and sugar, or with lingonberry jam. They also pair well with savory dishes as a bread to sop up juices.

I haven’t tried to make a healthier version yet, but I would think that you could use coconut oil in place of the shortening or butter in these – if you got the version that tastes like coconut it would be unexpected, but very good. You should also be able to replace the cream or buttermilk with coconut cream or kefir. If you use a recipe that doesn’t use eggs, it would be very easy to make it vegan.

Each recipe makes a goodly sized batch, so wrap some of it in plastic wrap and freeze it. Just take it out and set it on the counter to thaw. You can also refrigerate it to keep it longer. I find though that if I don’t freeze some right away, it tends to get put away into bellies rather quickly.

Enjoy!

Tis the season for baking!  Add in the fact that we have been buried under 2+ feet of snow, and I’m really glad that I had a 50lb. bag of flour and 48 eggs in the house!

Yes, Christmas is this week, and we spent the weekend being snowed in and baking.  It was a good weekend!

All told, I think we baked 9 different kinds of cookies… and it was so fun!

Lemon Hazlenut Biscotti… from the cookbook “Great Cookies”

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies – from Hersheys.com

Pumpkin Leaves  – I cheated on these, I had some Cougar Mountain Pumpkin Cookie Dough in the fridge… but we did roll them out on a powdered sugar covered surface and cut them rather than doing drop cookies like normal.  Very yummy!

Cream Cheese and Lemon Sugar Cookies – thick, moist, lemon-y cookies!

We used the lemon sugar cookie dough to also make stained glass window cookies – just make cut-outs in the cookie dough and fill it with crushed hard candies like Jolly Ranchers or Dum-Dum pops.  Very tasty and so pretty!  Take them out just a little sooner than normal so the candy doesn’t burn, and let them cool completely on the pan.

I also found a recipe for Low-Fat Sugar Cookies that only called for 2.5 Tbsp of butter… which is an amazingly low amount!  Make sure you roll them a little closer to the 1/8″ thickness though so it cooks through.  Surprisingly tasty, and very low-fat by comparison!

Then we made Gingerbread Angels.  Since my molasses is a bit on the stronger side I halved the amount called for, but I think that may have been a mistake.  Our angels came out with a bare hint of a molasses aftertaste, but they are still very tasty.  They were especially tasty dipped in the lemon-powdered sugar glaze for the biscotti!

We also morphed the sugar cookie dough into jelly filled cookies.  Cut one solid circle, cut one circle with a shaped cut-out in the center.  If you forget to fill them first (oops!), bake them, then spread jelly in between the layers.   Otherwise you can spread the jelly in the middle and seal the edges of the 2 cookies.  Either way, they are quite yummy

I was planning to make Sinful Chocolate Cookies, but I don’t seem to have any cake mixes left in the house (these cookies are the only time we use them!)  I guess I’ll have to come up with an alternate recipe for them.

They aren’t edible, but we also made some salt dough ornaments.  I added a bit of buckwheat flour to make them easier to knead, and also added some essential oil to make them smell good.  You’ll want to keep them away from any cookies that you plan to eat, as the oil will make them taste odd, but they are a fun craft for kids – both cutting them out and painting them when they are dry!

The final part of our goodie baking was dark chocolate truffles.  Make a thick ganache with chocolate and heavy cream.  Let it cool and roll it into balls.  Chill them and dip them into melted chocolate.  Coat them with cocoa powder and keep chilled.  Soooooooo good!

This was our Christmas baking extravaganza… I hope yours is going well too!

Have a blessed Christmas!

I found this recipe while browsing about the web looking for cookie recipes and we liked it so much that I decided to post it here so I can find it again (yes, I hate looking for things again!).  That and I wanted to share it with you.

We cut the molasses in half and added applesauce because the molasses I had on hand was rather… um, strong, but I think that was a mistake.  These are already very good as we made them, but they lack that extra molasses punch.  So, keep to the recipe as-is.  It’s very good.   We also skipped the step of chilling them before baking, mainly because I forgot (that and it was closing in on 9pm, and I had kids to get into bed).  Just sharing this to let you know that it’s not an absolutely crucial step.

I did find, however, that I had to knead the dough quite a bit to get it workable for rolling out.  After about the 3rd time being rolled out the dough was nice and smooth, so be prepared to work it a bit before using it.

The final change: I always use powdered sugar in place of flour for rolling out cookies.  It adds a hint of sweetness and doesn’t add any more flour.

We didn’t frost ours, but I think that a cream cheese frosting, a simple powdered sugar glaze, spiced sugar glaze,  or a lemon-powdered sugar glaze would go very well with these.

Gingerbread Angels, Pumpkin leaves & Sugar Cookies

These cookies have the heavenly smell of the holidays and make great ornaments. To make ornaments, use a toothpick or bamboo skewer to form a hole before baking. Use scraps to create three-dimensional designs.  They would also make an interesting stained-glass cookie.

3 dozen (5-inch) cookies

Hands on: 40 minutes

Total time: 1 1/2 hours

6 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

4 teaspoons ground ginger

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs

1 cup unsulfured molasses

1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Add the eggs, one at a time, and molasses. Add flour mixture; combine on low speed. Divide dough in thirds; wrap in plastic. Chill for at least 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured work surface, roll dough 1/8-inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. Transfer to baking sheets lined with parchment. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes. Bake until crisp but not darkened, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on wire racks, then decorate as desired.

Christmas is almost here, and it’s a snow day today to boot – which this week seems to equal a longer Christmas break!  What’s a house full of girls to do?

Bake cookies, of course!

Growing up we had a recipe for a short while that was simply labeled “Susan’s Sugar Cookies.”  However, I can personally attest to the fact that there was nothing simplistic about them.  They were sublime.  What was the secret?  I personally think it may have been the lemon extract, but I can’t guarantee that, as I added it to other recipes with less spectacular results.

I have been searching for that recipe (or one like it) for decades.  You see, we lost the recipe card somewhere along the way, and no one else seemed to have it either.

I think I may have found a worthy substitute today.

These cookies can be called sublime… delicious… moist, thick, wonderful sugar cookies.  With just a hint of lemon, of course

What is their secret?  Well, the hint of lemon helps, but I really think it’s the cream cheese.  It’s not much, but it added a certain tang and moistness that really makes them delish.

And I will now share the recipe with you, because they are just too good to keep to myself.  Seriously.

Lemon Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 2 cups evaporated cane sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• fresh zest of 1 lemon OR 1 tsp lemon extract*
• 5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Cream the butter, sugar and cream cheese in a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Mix in the flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.

Cover the bowl or wrap the dough in logs and chill for at least 3 hours.  Overnight is better.

Preheat oven to 390F.  Roll dough out on a floured surface or a pastry mat.  If you like a crisper cookie, roll it to 1/4 inch thick.  For moister cookies, roll to 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into shapes and place onto a making sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Bake for 5-8 minutes. For more moist cookies, take them out just before they “look done.”  Like as soon as the timer goes off the first time.

Try to restrain yourself and let them cool… or not your choice.

If you feel so inclined, decorate them with icing.  Royal icing is the typical topping, but I think a cream cheese frosting would be a lovely addition.  You know, cream cheese & heavy whipping cream whipped to stiff peaks and smeared all over the top of everything… err, these wonderful cookies.

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*yes, I highly recommend using fresh zest – get yourself a good microplane zester and use it often.  I hated lemon zest until I started using the microplane… and now, all I can say is wow!  The amazing flavor that can be added with zest!  If your zester is fine enough, you will never find yourself chewing the zest in the final product.  Go now & get one!

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No, admittedly I couldn’t restrain myself and had a cookies straight out of the oven.  I had to taste test them warm for you, right?  Of course I did.  And I can tell you from personal experience that they are delicious warm.  I’m sure they are good cold too… I have to go hold the girls back from gobbling them all up before they cool.  Or is that the other way around…

Lightly lemon-y, thick and moist.  Just the way a sugar cookie should be.

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One must give proper credit – that is an unwritten rule, is it not?  Following a series of links in my frantic searching today, I came upon a fabulous site that I will be sure to bookmark and visit often.  I invite you to also visit often, as I think this site is a winner.  Susan over at http://doughmesstic.blogspot.com/ is the author of these delicious cookies.  Thank you!  you have made me a very happy mommy today!

I was thinking about using my sourdough starter to make dinner rolls last night, but I didn’t get it started in time – isn’t that the usual problem with starter bread? While I was looking at recipes though, cinnamon rolls kept showing up alongside the dinner rolls in google. I love google, it is where I turn for inspiration for just about everything.

The recipe I found was for a bread machine – which I refuse to use – so I have modified it for those of us who are making things by hand.

So now I had the rolls, but I don’t like the old powdered sugar & water frosting. Cinnamon rolls (like carrot cake) needs to have cream cheese frosting or caramel. Or both. Back to google I went this morning. What I found borders on the divine.

Next time you have an evening to pre-plan for breakfast, or you just want to spoil your family, this is a great recipe!

For the rolls:

• 1 cup sourdough starter – room temp.
• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 2 tablespoons butter – very soft
• 1 egg – room temp (or warmed up in a bowl of hot water)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup evaporated cane sugar
• 3-1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1 tsp active dry yeast

for the filling:

• 2 Tbsp butter – very soft
• 1 Tbsp butter – melted
• 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice – divided
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• cinnamon

In a large bowl, combine the starter with the milk, butter and eggs. Stir these up until they reach a soupy consistency. Add in the sugar, salt and yeast. Stir until combined. Add in the flour, 1 cup at a time. If it gets too hard to stir, dump it out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead the rest of the flour in.

Knead for a few minutes, until the four is all incorporated and the dough is no longer sticky.

Put unto an oiled rising bucket or bowl and put it into your cold oven for 5 hours or overnight. Leave the light off. You want this to have a sow rise overnight, but not as cold as the refrigerator. Mine had just doubled overnight.

In the morning, dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out in a rectangle to a 1/2 to 3/4″ thickness. Let it rest for a couple of minutes like this.

While the dough is resting, prepare your pan. I used a 9″ square baker and a mini loaf pan. In the baking pan, spread 1 Tbsp of the butter in the bottom of the pan so that it is covered with a thin layer. Get the sides and corners too. Sprinkle 1/3 of the sugar and 1/3 of the brown sugar into the bottom of the pan.

Back to the dough. Gently spread the remaining soft butter over the dough, adding the melted butter when you have it mostly covered. Be careful to leave one long end free of butter so you can seal the roll.

Sprinkle the sugar over the butter so that is covers the dough – you may need a bit more or less. Do the same with the brown sugar – sprinkling it with your hands. Cover the whole thing with ground cinnamon. I like a lot of cinnamon, some don’t like as much. Use the cinnamon to your taste. If you want them, now is the time to add dried fruit or nuts.

Roll the dough up, starting at the long end OPPOSITE the bare edge. When you get to the edge that has no butter, etc, on it, get your finger wet and run it down the edge to help it stick. Press it with your fingers to seal it.

Get a length of dental floss that is about 18″ long. Slip it under the end of the log and bring your hands up and cross them, slicing the dough cleanly. I made mine about 1″ to 1-1/2″ thick. Do this down the length of the dough, filling the pan.

I used about 2/3 of the roll as cinnamon rolls, and left the rest whole and tossed it into a mini loaf pan and baked it as cinnamon swirl bread. yum!

Let them sit to rise for about 20 minutes before pre-heating your oven. Preheat your oven to 350F. Before putting the rolls into the oven, I spread a bit of butter over the tops and sprinkled with brown sugar and drizzled with agave nectar. I like caramel-y rolls.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for 15 minutes, or until the rolls begin to brown.

These can be turned over into a pan and served as caramel rolls as-is, or you can add cream cheese frosting.

For the frosting:

• 1- 8 oz. pkg cream cheese
• 1 cup sugar – white or powdered works fine
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth. In a separate chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Add to the cream cheese mixture and whip just to combine – about 30 seconds.

Yep, that’s it.

Be careful when whipping the cream that you don’t over whip it and make butter… although for cinnamon rolls, that would be really tasty too. Starting with a well-chilled metal bowl helps.

So, now your rolls are out of the oven – perfectly caramel-y – and you have this big bowl of frosting. Spread it on thick. Then add some more. The rolls are still warm, so some of the frosting will melt down into them, making a deliciously creamy caramel in the bottom. Since you have just a teeny bit of frosting left you have a choice. You can either lick the bowl clean, or save it to dip fruit into. Or put a bit on each plate for people to add more to their already-covered rolls. They will love you for it.

No, this is not a low-fat recipe. But it is a tasty treat on days that you just want to splurge a little. It is very easy to put together, and in the morning it takes just over an hour start to finish – including baking time. If you start them in the afternoon you can put the pan of rolls into the refrigerator overnight and pull them out when you get up and turn the oven on. If you are using a stoneware pan, you will need it to warm up first though – just a reminder. Metal has no problem going into a hot oven still a little cold.

Let me know what you think! I’m going to go have another roll…

If you like those brownies that are truly “in-between” – not truffles, not cake – and you like them rich – really rich – and dark, then these just may be the brownies for you! I will caution you though… make sure the milk is standing at the ready!

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

3/4 cups butter – softened
3 eggs
1 – 15 oz. can queen anne cherries (NOT pie filling)

Preheat oven to 325F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powders and salt. stir gently to combine. Add the eggs and butter and mix just until the flour mixture is moist. Add the chocolate chips and cherries, and mix on medium high for 1-2 minutes, until the chocolate and cherries are fully mixed in.

If the batter tastes too sweet, add a little more unsweetened cocoa powder – up to 1/4 cup more.

Pour into a 9×12 in baking pan, and spread out evenly. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

Allow to cool in the pan before cutting into squares – or just eat them directly from the pan!

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Anyone who knows me knows that I like rich, dark chocolate. They also know that I can tolerate a high level of richness before feeling that it is “getting rich”. These brownies are very rich. They are very dark, with a hint of cherry flavor, and very, very good!

I tried these for the first time when my husband & I stayed at the Towerhouse Bed & Breakfast on San Juan Island a few years ago. The wonderful innkeepers were kind enough to send the recipe. They are more moist than most shortbread, but very tasty!

1 lb butter
1/2 cup corn starch
1 cup powdered sugar (aka icing sugar or confectioners sugar)
1 tsp lemon & vanilla extract or to taste (orange & almond also work well)
4 cups all purpose flour

Beat butter, corn starch, powdered sugar and extract until they are fluffy. Gradually add flour until incorporated. It will be a loose, crumbly mixture.

Form into cookies approx. 1.5″ in diameter & press your thumb in the center.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until they just start to turn brown.

Makes approx. 4 dozen cookies.