Nutella Half-Moons

In case you forgot, there is like 10 days until Christmas.

Which means it’s the perfect time to make cookies! Yay!

Especially ones that are wonderfully filled with Nutella that are absolutely the best for dunking in hot cocoa, and that look festive with their snowy dusting of powdered sugar. Perfect for snowy days in. When you have holiday music blaring, Christmas lights on, and a fire going ( or at the very least a candle).

This is a cookie I fiddled with after Mr Ginge saw it on Pinterest and has basically begged me to make them for him. For weeks.

A few notes before you start.

While super delish and worth the work, these are a bit fiddly and time consuming. Because I wanted a super soft cookie, the dough is very soft and you’ll want to be generous with the flour when you  go to roll them out. Also, I used a dumpling maker to fold these over. If you don’t have one of those, then I recommend going the full moon route and just stuffing Nutella between two rounds. These also freeze wonderfully, so if you have any leftovers after the holidays, these will last in the freezer.

Nutella Half Moons

inspired by these cookies by kokocooks 

makes about 5 dozen cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 1/2 cups flour, plus more for rolling
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• about 1 cup of nutella
• icing sugar for dusting

 

1. 1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, or until well combined.  Add in the sour cream and the vanilla.
2. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and soda. Gradually add it to the butter mixture or until  well combined. The dough will be very soft, a bit thicker than cake batter. Cover it in plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for several hours, or if you want to speed things up a bit, in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.
3. Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F . Line your cookie pans with parchment paper.
4. Working in batches so that your chilled dough stays firm, roll it out to about 4mm/ 1/8 in thick. Cut with a round cutter about 3in/ 8 cm in diameter. I used a dumpling maker, so I cut it with the base. If doing half moons, place 1 tsp nutella in the centre of the round then fold over, pressing lightly to seal. If making full moons place about 2 tsp nutella in the centre of a round, top with another, then seal with a fork. Carefully transfer the cookies to your prepared sheets. Repeat with the rest of the dough
5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes. While still warm, dust lightly with icing sugar, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Happy baking!

-Mel

Oatmeal Scotchies

Sooo….  November.

Hardly believe we are almost half way through it. 😉

And while everyone south of the border is gearing up for Thanksgiving, I’m gearing up for an entirely different event.

Doctor Who.

It’s finally almost here! (Omigosh have you seen the latest trailer? I’ve basically squeeled with excitement!)

And guess what!

This recipe has absolutely nothing to do with it. In fact it is from another show, Warehouse 13, that Mr. Ginge got me hooked on, and we’ve been obsessively watching in the Doctor Who downtime.

Anyway the premise of the show is these secret agents track down these “artifacts” that have been imbued with strange powers from the people to whom they once belonged. Much adventure ensues.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Right from the pilot, Artie’s favourite snack have been Oatmeal Scotchies. And since I am in the habit of recreating foods from my favourite shows…..

Oatmeal Scotchies

makes about two dozen cookies

adapted from allrecipes.com

*A note – From the show and other recipes, I’m guessing this is supposed to be a crispier cookie, but since I like a thicker, chewier cookie, I’ve adapted this recipe to suit my taste*

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/2 cup coconut.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butters and the sugars, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and the orange extract, continuing to beat until combined.
3. In another bowl, combine the soda, flour and oats. Gradually add it to the butter mixture, mixing in the last with a wooden spoon if needed. Stir in the chips and the coconut.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls on to a cookie sheet, then bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Let them cool for a couple minutes on the pan, then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with juice or milk ( because falling off the wagon may not be the best choice at this point)

On a scarier thought, six weeks till Christmas ( and six weeks till regeneration!)

-Mel

Banana Streusel Coffee Cake

So last week, I went for my very first MRI.

Not very exciting you say.  Ok well you might be right.

I mean, it mainly was a lot of waiting, and lying very still.

I had to fill out this questionnaire about myself, before they stuck me in the tube, mostly querying me about the amount of metal in my body, before they stuck me inside a giant electromagnet. Fortunately, metal is something that I do not have much of in my body.  However, one question they seemed to really stick on was a tattoo. I’ve had a small one on my back since my twentieth birthday, something I’ve never regretted until that very moment. I mean it’s not like it’s a piercing that I would be able to take out then put back in. It’s been permanently injected into my skin.

So when the technician calls me in and is explaining the whole process to me, I am positively wracked with anxiety, imagining little particles of iron, being ripped out of my body in the exact size and shape of my tattoo.

And then she says nothing. Asks me three times if I have a pacemaker ( geez, I’m 26!), but says absolutely nothing about my tattoo.

All that build up for nothing.

And then she sticks me in a tube, face down, my left arm above my head, and my right knee hiked up.  And I have to sit still. For half an hour. Something that I can’t do on the best of days.

So I occupied my time, by letting my mind wander, not concentrating on how I need to keep still, and distinctly focusing on my back, facing towards the large magnet, all my senses tuned in to the slightest inkling of pain.

I can officially report back that my back made it out safe and sound.

Also, if you are curious, this is what else I pondered while stuck in the tube:

– I totally understand why people freak out about these things. It was a tight squeeze in there. Although I did find the lighting in there rather soothing. Very much like the doctor shows you watch on TV.

– The loud beeping noise that the machine made, I think is roughly an E. But I could be wrong. I’m not known for my musical ear.

– I wondered that if I was inside a giant magnet, why my IV didn’t fly out of my arm. Until I noticed when she pulled it out that the sharp wasn’t metallic.  Also, I really hate IVs.

Afterwards, on the way home, we stopped at a small locally-owned gas station to grab some drinks. I walked in with my arm taped up and the hospital band around my wrist. On the way out, I leaned over to Mr Ginge, and told him that the cashier is probably at this moment, writing my license plate number now, and listening intently to the radio and TV, to hear about any random psych ward escapees in the area.

He told me to stop watching so many movies.

Banana Streusel Coffee Cake

makes 1 cake

For the cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed banana
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon

For the streusel topping:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. In another bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating until slightly thickened.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the banana and the sour cream. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the banana mixture, until smooth and combined.
5. Mix together the remaining sugar and the cinnamon. Spread 1/3 of the cake batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar mixture over it. Repeat with another layer of batter and cinnamon sugar, then top with the remaining batter.
6. Work together the ingredients for the streusel topping with your fingers until it is combined and is slightly crumbly. crumble over the top of the batter.
7. Bake in the preheat oven for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and serve.

Apparently, I can let my imagine run wild sometimes…..

-Mel

 

I linked this post to The Weekend Potluck. Check out more great recipes there!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope your day is filled with lots of friends and family and some lovely fall weather!

Mel, Mr. Ginge and Chewy

Why You Should Never Share Your New Bow.

Reason #458:

Ooey Gooey Bars

I have a bit of an odd situation.

Since I imagine some of you might be food people, I’m hoping to pick your brain. In return for said brain picking, I’ll offer you a family favourite, something that has morphed from a type-writered page of  dog eared community cookbook.

This summer, to keep me busy, Mr. Ginge planted me a garden. Just a little row along the side of the house where I could grow some herbs and a few veggies.

I am a complete gardening newb. Kinda just winging it and hoping to get a successful harvest. I may have, however, underestimated my tomato plant.  It’s flipping ginormous, and is covered with little green tomatoes, which are just starting to colour and ripen on the mass of vines. Now that is all fine and dandy, except my little cherry tomatoes are literally exploding. I’ll go to pick on of the vine, only to find it split from top to bottom on the side. I’ll pick another, slightly under-ripe globe, only to look down a moment later to find it burst and juices leaking over my hand.

My tomatoes literally can’t contain themselves.  They are the Cadbury cream egg goo of the tomato world.

Is this normal? Is this just an effect of my monstrously huge tomato plant? Or are my tomatoes just too beautiful to live?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Ooey Gooey Bars (a.ka. Seven layer bars *)

makes 1 8×8 pan

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cup graham crumbs
• 1/2 cup chopped pecan
• 1pkg chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In the 8×8 pan, mix together the graham crumbs and the butter. When all the crumbs are coated, press them firmly into the bottom of the pan with the back of a spoon.
3. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the base, followed by the chocolate chips then the coconut . Pour over the can of sweetened condensed milk, trying to evenly cover the toppings.
4. Bake in the preheat oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the milk is bubbly and golden brown.
5. Let set for at least a half an hour, then slice into squares. Understand why they are ooey gooey.

* I lightly adapted these from a coverless blue community cookbook that as been on my Mom’s shelf for as long as I can remember. The best credit I can give is to F. MacPherson. 

Adipose “S’mores”

So I’m a day late with this one.

Regardless, it still means that we are a month closer to the 50th anniversary Doctor Who episode.

I have been filling the Doctor Who void by watching reruns of some of my favourite episodes from past seasons. One of the ones that I have been  watching over and over has been “Partners in Crime” from season four. Not only do Donna( one of my favourite companions) and Ten reunite, but they feature the Adipose, those cute little creatures spawned from blobs of fat.

Now normally I try and recreate something directly from the show, but these guys were so cute and looked so much like marshmallows I couldn’t resist.

I also took a little liberty with the s’mores themselves, opting for chocolate cookie crumbs instead of graham crumbs to make them extra chocolatey, and blobs of nutella in the middle. I figured since they were supposed to be little blobs of fat, it warranted something extra rich. 🙂

Adipose “S’mores”

makes 12 s’mores

• 1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 12 tsp nutella
• 12 large marshmallows
• food colour markers or a toothpick dipped in food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a  mini muffin pan with 12 mini liners. 
2. Mix together the chocolate crumbs and the melted butter until evenly coated. Scoop about a tablespoon into each liner. Press into the bottom and up the sides to make a cup shape.  Bake for 7-10 minutes.
3. While the shell is still warm, scoop in a teaspoon of nutella. Let cool slightly.
4. Meanwhile, using a food colour marker, draw little adipose faces onto each of the marshmallows. Top each nutella-filled shell with a marshmallow.

These just might be too cute to eat. 😀

-Melli

Candy Sushi

My father is an incredibly picky eater.

He likes what he likes and that’s it.

With some things, we seem to think it is all in his head. Like watermelon. The man will claim up, down, left, right, and until he is blue in the face that he hates it. However, I know better.

One time, I made some juice, poured myself a glass, then sat down. Dad, seeing that juice had been made, got up and poured himself a glass. When he came back into the room, the glass had been downed, except for one little sip in the  bottom.

“You drank the juice?!?” I asked

He nods, and looks at me if I were crazy for asking a question like that.

” That was watermelon juice”

He then set the glass down, and leaves the last sip, which stayed there until the dishes were done later that night.

Another time, this time in a restaurant, I ask dad if he would like some gum. He says sure pops it in his mouth and gives it a few chews, while I am there snickering beside me. He looks at me laughing, then clues into my joke.

” This is watermelon gum isn’t it”

When I burst out laughing, he then starts to freak out about the gum that I had given him.

I am such a nice daughter.

So, you’ll understand my hesitation when he claims he doesn’t like things. Like sushi.

For this month’s Improv challenge hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker, I combined the two ingredients, Fish and (white chocolate) Chips to make candy sushi. Something I have been dying to make ever since I saw it floating around pinterest.

I recruited my sister as a helper and as chief  taste test distributor, and once we had some samples, she passed them around.

After offering one to my dad, she runs back into the kitchen, hollering  “I GOT DAD TO EAT SUSHI!!”

He never asked for a second.

Candy Sushi

makes about 24 pcs

• 1/2 pkg marshmallows, regular or mini
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 cups crispy rice cereal
• 24 fish shaped candies ( I used Swedish fish and Blue Sharks)
• 12 sour fruit strips, split in half.
• Additional white chocolate or ready-made icing

1. In a large saucepan, melt together the marshmallows, white chocolate chips and butter, stirring until smooth. 
2. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the cereal. While it’s still warm, form them into little oblong patties, using a couple tbsps for each.
3. Top each patty with a fish candy, then wrap the fruit strips around the fish, sealing with a bit of white chocolate or icing on the underside.
4. Let set for about 15 minutes then enjoy!

Don’t forget to check out what other’s have come up with using Fish and Chips!

 

 

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I also linked this recipe to : The Weekend Potluck!

Click the link to check out more great recipes!

BAD WOLF

Because I am a good fangirl.

Happy Bad Wolf day!

Little Cakes with the Crunchy Ball Bearings

Seriously, time flies.

Honestly, it just seems like a moment ago it was the beginning of May.

And now guess what?

There is six months left till the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who!!! Yay!!

Although, after what happened last episode, I’m not ready to talk about it. I’ll talk about food instead.

One of the most memorable “food moments” for me was in the episode ” Fear Her”. Right as Ten and Rose are walking into the neighbourhood, he starts babbling about a tea party and his preference for these little teacakes with the “crunchy ball bearings”,  and then at the very end, after they save the day, she hands him a little tea cake just like he described.

In the context of the show, it has absolutely nothing of importance to it, but like all food it stuck with me. Especially since it was sweets.

Little Cakes with the Crunchy Ball Bearings

Makes 8 cupcakes

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp mandarin juice
• zest from one mandarin
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp mandarin juice
• silver dragées

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line your cupcake pan with 8 liners.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the egg until smooth and combined. Add the zest and the mandarin juice.
3. Sift together the flour and the baking powder. Add it to the egg mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk.
4. Split the batter between the eight liners. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove  from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Meanwhile, mix together the powdered sugar and the 1  tbsp of mandarin juice.  Once the cupcakes are cooled, spread the glaze over top then sprinkle with the dragées, then let the icing set.

” I can’t stress this enough: Ball bearings you can eat. Masterpiece!”