Christmas time is near...WHOOPIE

Its time to start getting ready for the holidays. That means lots of cookie dough and baking. I decided last year to add a couple of new cookies to my list of Christmas baking. This year after a few Test Kitchen recipes, I finally got my new 2010 Christmas cookie. Although I wont only be making it for Christmas...its absolutely delicious and quite easy to make. Whoopieeeeeeeeeee! or should I say Red Velvet Whoopie Pie! The recipe calls for Peppermint Cream cheese filling, but I decided to omit the peppermint. I may make some with the peppermint filling for Christmas as requested by a couple of people, but I am very happy without it. 

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs unsweetened cocao powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sifted flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
red food coloring

Cream cheese filling ( recipe below )

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line sheet pan with parchment paper. In large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until smooth. add cocao powder baking soda and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until well mixed. Alternately add flour and buttermilk. ( I use a powdered buttermilk, easier to mix what I need when I need it ). Add red food coloring ( I used the paste kind ). Spoon dough from rounded measuring teaspoon and place 2 inches apart on sheet pan. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Make sure you do NOT underbake, as the cookies will fall if you do. Cool on sheet pan for 2 min then transfer to wire rack to cool. Spread cream cheese filling on flat side of one cookie and top with another cookie, to make sandwich. flat sides together. Serve cookies immediately after assembly. I baked the cookies and froze them- they thaw quickly and are perfect to do ahead.

makes about 40 cookies- to store after baking if you dont freeze, layer cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in airtight container. Store in refrigerator for 3 days, let stand at room temp for 15 minutes before serving.

Cream Cheese Filling:

6 oz of cream cheese room temp

3 tbs butter softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1-3 tsp milk

1/2 tsp peppermint extract if wanted.

Whip cream cheese until smooth and airy, add butter and mix until well incorporated. Add powdered sugar slowly until mixed and creamy. Add milk 1 tsp at a time until spreading consistency.

And there you have it.......My new favorite vintage classic cookie! Your going to love them! Remember, Life is full of tasty morsels!!

Michele's Morsels Test Kitchen NOW OPEN!

This is my Test Kitchen week......New Recipes, Old recipes revised and Final decisions made and produced. Tonite's Test Recipe is a recipe I found on The Joy of Baking site. It is for Cranberry Shortbread bars. As I absolutely LOVE cranberries, I decided to try this one out first. If it is successful, it will be a Christmas gift for several people as well as a new dessert. I have revised this recipe to make it a little more Diabetic Friendly. I used granulated Splenda in place of sugar, and Brown Sugar/ Splenda blend in place of the brown sugar. Cutting the sugar alone is a big big help. I have to remember its about portion control as well. The bars are baked in a 9x9 pan and recipe says 16 servings. Not large portions! I am trying to find a free online site to give me the nutritional value of the recipes I am re-working, to at least have an idea of what I am eating. I am not sure if my mom and her husband are "Willing" tasters ( subjects ) or if they are going to resent me for asking them to taste everything. Probably NOT! LOL.

Cranberry Shortbread Bars
Cranberry Filling:
8 oz fresh cranberries
2/3 scant ( not full ) cup of granulated splenda
3 Tbs water
Bring to boil and cook for about 5 minutes until thick and syrupy and cranberries have burst. Remove from heat and let cool.

Shortbread Bars:

2 cups flour

2 tbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup packed brown sugar/splenda blend

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and using canola spray or baking spray - lightly coat a 9 x 9 pan. Sift together flour, salt and cornstarch into separate bowl. In mixing bowl cream together butter, brown sugar blend and vanilla until creamy. Slowly add flour mix and beat until all ingredients are just incorporated. Evenly press 2/3 of the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Evenly spread the cranberry mixture to the shortbread base leaving a 1/4 inch border around the edges. With the remaining shortbread batter, using fingers, crumble the batter on top of the cranberry filling and lightly press into the filling.  Bake for about 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven or until top is golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. While still warm, cut ito 16 squares. Allow to cool completely in pan. Makes 16 bars. Well I dont need to find out the nutritional information to know they are delicious. Mom thinks they are absolutely terrific and wanted more!  Cranberry Shortbread Bars - Pass!

FALLing behind....

Come Halloween, things start to get busier for some reason. With the holidays almost upon us, I guess its inevitable.  This is my favorite time of year. I love autumn and the flavors and smells that come with it. The crisp fresh air, the smell of the leaves falling from the trees, fire places starting to be used. Pumpkin spice lattes, Pumkin loaf, Cranberry this, Apple that..... I love getting ready for the holiday season, and most of all I love cooking and baking. Because I want to enjoy the season, I tend to be more organized this time of year. I dont like falling behind and I most certainly dont like being stressed. Lists are made, food is being labeled, gift bags are being organized....and it all seems to be done in a shorter than usual day. Ahhh the old Daylight savings time! I am vowing to NOT be ready for bed at 6pm....so to help with that, I am now preparing dinner for a bit later than we normally eat. Maybe this will help. I figure maybe something can compensate for the fact we seem to have less daylight in the afternoon. We will see. As for cooking, I am trying out new things and revising some old favorites. Sugar free or substituting Splenda for sugar, healthy for non healthy....Today I have decided to use the autumn flavors for dinner tonite. Grilled Chicken with a Sugar free Cranberry Orange glaze,  Roasted Mini Butternut squash, and a sort of Risotto made with some Autumn harvest orzo and canned pumpkin. Carot Cakes are in the oven. First thing I did was make the Cranberry Sauce. I did this yesterday so it would be extra yummy today from the flavors sitting together.

Cranberry sauce:
1/2 bag of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Granulated Splenda
Cook in saucepan until berries burst and sauce thickens. About 20 minutes.
Let cool. Add 1 Teaspoon Olive oil, 1/2 orange  juiced, 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, zest of 1 orange. Mix and set aside or refrigerate.
I grilled up 4 chicken breasts without skin or bone, just to sear off the chicken and put some nice grill marks on it. Place seared chicken in covered casserole dish. ( this will keep chicken moist) cook for about 40 min. Uncover and put some of your cranberry sauce on each peice and continue cooking for another 15 minutes until you reach internal temp of 160 degrees.
While the chicken is cooking, I took my mini Butternut Squash and cut in half, legnthwise. Scooped out the seeds, brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt, black pepper, nutmeg and chili powder. Turn over and bake skin side up for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.
Heat up 1 cup of vegetable broth ( use chicken if necessary ) and add 1 cup of orzo. I bought a lovely autumn orzo mix so I used that. You want to cook the orzo slow like you would a risotto. Adding more broth as needed. The orzo will absorb the liquid slowly. When the orzo was al dente I added about 1 cup of canned pumpkin, cracked black pepper, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Stir until completely mixed. I then added 1 tbs of butter and 1 tbs of grated parmesan cheese to finish. Everything should be about finished the same time for service. I like serving everything, I found it definitely helps with portion control. The comments at the table tonite were...." I would pay for this in a restaurant"  and " If I ordered this out, I would not have been disappointed" LOL I guess it was good! It was definitely an Autumn Meal. Dessert will be later, a yummy carrot cake with some cream cheese frosting. ( sorry I cheated and used a mix for the cake )