The best high altitude peach or nectarine quick bread recipe

Living in Arizona, many people have fruit trees in their yard.  When they ripen, people are always willing to share their bounty with anybody willing to take some.  I am lucky enough to have friends with a nectarine tree so this year they gifted me with about 50 pounds of nectarines.  There aren't a lot of nectarine recipes out there, but luckily, nectarines and peaches are interchangeable in recipes.  Nectarines, luckily, are easier to work with since they do not require peeling.

After making jam, butters, salsa, plain canned fruit, and so much more, I had a lot of pureed nectarine pulp that I wanted to use, so I found a recipe for peach cake, adjusted it for altitude, and used the nectarine puree I already prepared.



Nectarine Pulp -- we left it chunky

If you do not have any nectarine pulp hanging around, it is easy to make.  I just take nectarines, put them in a crockpot and cook them until they just fall apart.  If they were cooked with the pits in them, just strain the pulp through a colander to remove the pits.  This is a set it and forget it type thing.  Leave it in the crockpot to cook down and thicken some, or your pulp will be very juicy.  I leave mine a little chunky, but you can put it in a blender or use an immersion blender to make it smoother if you want. 

If you just have a few nectarines or peaches, you can also do this in the microwave or stovetop.  Either way, the pulp is just cooked down fruit.

So now that you have the pulp, you can make the nectarine or peach quick breads.  These are really easy, and are sort of like banana bread...just using nectarines or peaches instead. 

The changes needed for low altitude are at the end of the recipe.  This was tested at 5700 feet so if your altitude is a lot higher, you might still need to make a few adjustments.

 

 

Peach (or Nectarine) Bread Recipe

Makes 2 loaves or 12 mini bundt cakes

Adjusted for 5600 feet altitude 

¾ cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar

2 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil

2 ¼ cups peach or nectarine puree

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

7/8 tsp baking soda

7/8 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts, optional

 

Mix together sugar, eggs, vegetable oil and puree in a large bowl  until well blended.  Add in remaining ingredients and stir until just mixed together. 

Place batter in 2 loaf pans that have been greased and floured.  You can also make these in mini bundt pans, cupcake tins or even mini loaf pans. 

Bake at 375° for about 30 minutes for mini bundt pans or 40 minutes for loaf pans.  They are done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the tops are slightly browned. 

Let cook for 10 minutes then remove from pan and cool on a cooling rack.    

Note:  If you are baking this at low altitude, use 1 cup of sugar, 2 cups of peach puree, 2 cups of flour, a full teaspoon for both baking powder and baking soda, and bake at 350°.  I don’t have baking times for these, but you can start checking them a few minutes before times shown for high altitude.

 

Try a delicious and very simple scratch made cookie even toddlers can help make

I love to bake during the holidays.  Some of my favorite cookies are more difficult to make.  But what if I want to bake with kids....small kids?  I have the perfect recipe for that. 

Kids always seem to love making cutout cookies, but with all the fabulous cookies I make, I do not enjoy making cutouts.  So in my hunt to find something that tasted like a sugar cookie but did not require that I spend hours rolling, cutting and worst off, decorating them, I found a recipe for No Roll Sugar Cookies.  The original recipe was different and still required a little patience to complete.  I do not remember the original source of the recipe, but we made several changes to it anyway.

The recipe is simple and uses ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.  You can use sprinkles, colored sugar or leave them plain.  You can also color the dough with food coloring if you like. 

To show you how easy these are to make, my friend Tram Mai who is on Channel 12 in Phoenix prepared these cookies with her twins. 

There are a few hints that will make these cookies successful.  First, you can use the heel of your hand to press the cookies from a ball into a disc.  Be sure to press hard enough so they are about 1/4 to 1/2" thick.  Not pressing them hard enough will make the cookies very thick and may not bake as nicely.  If 'little hands' are doing this, you may want to assist with the pressing to make sure they are not too thick.  Second, and I learned this from my friend, Tram, it works really well to use sprinkles that are in a shaker top.  It certainly creates less mess.

This picture was taken for a TV segment with Tram and her adorable twins Zak and Zoey actually making the cookies.  They are about 2 1/2.  I told you they are easy...and tasty too.

Here's the recipe.  They are delicious and will be wonderful on your cookie platter.  One other plus; we are at 5700 feet altitude and no adjustments are needed for these.

No Roll Sugar Cookies 

Prep time 30 minutes;

Bake time 10 minutes

Makes 42 cookies 

• 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup powdered 10x sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup sprinkles (jimmies) or colored sugar 

Heat oven to 375°. 

Beat butter, margarine and both sugars in a large bowl until fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla until well blended.  Beat remaining ingredients in with mixer on low until just blended.  Do not overmix. 

Roll tablespoons of dough into 1 inch balls.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.   

The easiest way I found to shape these is to press the balls with the palm of your hand, then put sprinkles on the cookies, lightly pressing sprinkles into the dough.   

 You can also put plastic on the cookie ball and press with a glass, then spread sprinkles on top. 

Bake about 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden.  Cool on a wire rack. 

The best and easiest blueberry lemon Danish recipe

When we go to LA, we love to go to the farmers market.  Besides all the great veggies and fruit, they always have food vendors where we can get things that are delicious.  One of our favorites is the blueberry lemon Danish.   

I decided to try making them at home so we did not have to travel to LA so often.  This was my take.  I was not planning on writing this up except maybe for me and my nephew, but lots of people asked for the recipe, so here it is.  I did not measure as I made this, so amounts are approximate.  If you need a recipe with exact measurements, then this might not be for you. 

To make this recipe easy, I chose to use puff pastry rather than homemade Danish dough.  It was still fabulous.  Here's what I did.





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, I made the lemon filling.  I mixed together cream cheese and lemon curd. I used homemade lemon curd, but you can easily buy it from the grocery store. 

I was cooking some frozen blueberries anyway, so I just took some from the pan before they broke down too much.  In the blueberries I added some brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon.  You can easily use fresh blueberries or even canned blueberry pie filling.  I drained the liquid from the blueberries before I used them on the Danish.

I rolled out one sheet of puff pastry into a 12" square.  I tried to keep the borders straight but if yours rolls out with a less than perfect border, cut the extra parts off.  Try not to roll the puff pastry too hard or it will impact how much your pastry puffs.  Cut the puff pastry into four equal pieces.

The next part is a little tricky.  Each square will need to be cut so that you can make the design.  Use a sharp, pointed knife.  Cut along the top and sides of each strip at about 1/4 inch.  You will cut from the edge to almost the center for each corner.  Look closely at the photo to get a better idea of what this should look like.  While this does not have to be perfect, cutting it properly is important.

Now for the fun part.  Take some of the lemon curd/cream cheese mixture and place it in the center of each piece of puff pastry.  Use a spoon to spread it out just a little.  A few tablespoons should do it and this photo shows about 1 tablespoon.

 

 

Put a tablespoon or two of the blueberries on top of the filling.

 

 

  

  

To form the Danish, carefully take one outer corner of the puff pastry and pull it to the center.  Repeat the same with each corner, gently pressing the center pastry together.  If you want, lightly fold the outer points of puff pastry up a little, but you do not have to do that if you do not want.  Put a little blueberry over the center where the puff pastry folds meet.  I used several berries to cover the center.

  

Put the pastry on a sheet of parchment paper.  Do not use a silpat as is shown in the photo or your puff pastry will be soggy. Here's the recipe.  I hope you enjoy as much as we did.

 

Blueberry Danish

Makes 4
 

Ingredients

•   1 sheet puff pastry thawed
•     6 oz cream cheese, softened
•   2 tbsp lemon curd (or to taste…may use more; maybe less)
•     ½ - 1 cup blueberries (I cooked them a little, added a little sugar and lemon, but left them whole. You probably could use raw ones…or even canned blueberry pie filling if you must)
•   Powdered sugar

Instructions

 

Mix together cream cheese and lemon curd until smooth.  It should not be too lemony, but you can make it to taste.  Set aside.

 

Prepare blueberries by either cooking them slightly with some added sugar and lemon or using them uncooked…or just using blueberry pie filling (as a last resort).  See the texture of the blueberries on the photo below.

 

Roll out puff pastry to 12”, being careful not to press too hard or it will impact the puff you get from the pastry

 

If the pastry is uneven, cut off extra bits to make pastry square.  Cut the pastry into 4 squares.  Separate carefully.

To make the shape use a sharp, pointed knife.  Cut along the top and sides of each strip about ¼” in.  You will cut from the edge to almost the center for each corner.  Look closely at the photo to get a better idea of what this should look like.

 

Place a few tablespoons of lemon crème on the center of the puff pastry.  Slightly spread out.

 

Place blueberries on top of cream.  I ended up using more than this…maybe about 1 ½ times as much.

 

Fold each of the pre-cut edges into the center to make a shape like this.  (that’s why you don’t cut the dough all the way through and stop cutting  at the middle.  Add more blueberries on top of the center of the crust.  I added a lot more on the final product than I did on the first ones.

 

Place on parchment paper (DO NOT USE A SILPAT LIKE I DID IN THIS PHOTO.  THE BOTTOMS WILL NOT BAKE NICELY)  Bake in preheated 400° oven for about 15 minutes or until crusts turn brown.  This is how they will look directly from the oven.  Move to a wire rack and let cool.

 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Nathan Odom's chocolate chip cookies with a twist

Usually all the recipes I post are my own but I recently came across a few interesting recipes and thought I would share them.

 

The first is a series of recipes by Nathan Odom.  Nathan is an accomplished child-chef, culinary student and winner of MasterChef Junior Season 3. After joining a cooking program at his school at the age of 10, Odom was hooked on cooking and knew he wanted to pursue it as a career and hobby. Using the skills he learned during the program, Odom went on to win Season 3 of MasterChef Junior and continues to use his skills to create unique and incredible recipes.  

Nathan stated: “One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is making cookies to share with family and friends. Nothing provides me with more satisfaction during the Christmas season than a warm cup of hot chocolate, and some of these homemade cookies. These recipes all stem from one basic cookie dough recipe. I hope you’ll enjoy these three twists on the classic chocolate chip cookie as much as I do.”  

Chocolate Chip Cookies – with a Twist

Makes 15-20 cookies per recipe depending on size 

Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (Version 1)

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 sticks of room temperature butter
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
1 tsp. salt 

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Whip the butter until fluffy.

3. Add both types of sugar, mix until combined, and crack in both eggs. Whip on low speed until well mixed.

4. Add the flour and mix on low until the dough sticks to the beater of the stand mixer.

5. Add the chocolate chips, and mix on the lowest setting until chocolate chips are distributed evenly.

6. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the baking sheet(s), and scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough about an inch apart from each other. Press slightly to flatten the dough balls a bit, and then bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Kitchen Sink Cookies (Version 2) 

Get creative with your basic chocolate chip cookie by throwing in some things you probably already have in your refrigerator or pantry. The extra chewiness from the peanut butter and crunch from the walnuts add awesome texture and I love that these cookies remind me of chocolate peanut butter cups. 

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 sticks of room temperature butter
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 frozen waffles; thawed and chopped into small pieces
2 tbsp. peanut butter
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

 

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Whip the butter and peanut butter until fluffy.

3. Add both types of sugar, mix until combined, and crack in both eggs. Whip on low speed until well mixed.

4. Add the flour and mix on low until the dough sticks to the beater of the stand mixer.

5. Add the chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, and mix on the lowest setting until chocolate chips are distributed evenly.

6. Using your hands, gently knead in the waffle pieces into the dough.

7. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the baking sheet(s), and scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough about an inch apart from each other. Press slightly to flatten the dough balls a bit, and then bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Spice Cookies (Version 3)

This next variation is like a marriage between a Gingerbread and Chocolate Chip cookie.  Just by adding three common spices, you’ve turned an ordinary cookie into a festive holiday treat. 

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 sticks of room temperature butter
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. fleur de sel 

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Whip the butter until fluffy.

3. Add both types of sugar, mix until combined, and crack in both eggs. Whip on low speed until well mixed.

4. Add the flour, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and fleur de sel and mix on low until the dough sticks to the beater of the stand mixer.

5. Add the chocolate chips, and mix on the lowest setting until chocolate chips are distributed evenly.

6. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the baking sheet(s), and scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough about an inch apart from each other. Press slightly to flatten the dough balls a bit, and then bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Maple Bacon Cookies (Version 4)

We’ve all heard of the popular Candied Bacon Maple Donut, but have you tried adding bacon to cookies?  Mixing salty, savory and sweet flavors is one of my favorite things to do and this cookie is a winner!

 

INGREDIENTS

2 3/4 cups white flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 sticks of room temperature butter
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/4 tsp. of baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. maple syrup
6 oz. cooked and chopped bacon pieces 

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Whip the butter and maple syrup until fluffy.

3. Add both types of sugar, mix until combined, and crack in both eggs. Whip on low speed until well mixed.

4. Add the flour and mix on low until the dough sticks to the beater of the stand mixer.

5. Add the chocolate chips and mix on the lowest setting until chocolate chips are distributed evenly.  Mix in the bacon pieces by hand.

6. Place a sheet of parchment paper on the baking sheet(s), and scoop tablespoon-sized balls of dough about an inch apart from each other. Press slightly to flatten the dough balls a bit, and then bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

Simple chocolate caramel with espresso blondies recipe

I recently made chocolate caramel and was looking for interesting ways to use it.  I often make caramel brownies and wondered how chocolate caramel swirled into blondies would taste.  I can tell you, they're pretty good.

The caramel was made with chocolate flavored Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk.  It is currently only available during the holidays so if you like this, you may want to buy several cans to have on hand.  Here's my recipe for the chocolate caramel Easy chocolate caramel.

These blondies are rich and gooey and have a nice espresso flavor in the background to cut the sweetness of the blondie.  I'll be making these a lot over the holiday season.

Chocolate Espresso Caramel Blondies

Makes 16  

·       ½ cup unsalted butter

·       ¾ cup + 2 tbsp packed light brown sugar

·       1 egg

·       ⅛ tsp salt

·       2 tsp vanilla

·       2 ½ tsp instant espresso powder

·       1 cup all-purpose flour

·       ¾ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

·       4 oz chocolate caramel, melted 

1.     Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2.     Line an 8" square baking pan with foil and give it a good coating of nonstick cooking spray.

3.     Place butter in a medium sized microwave safe bowl and melt the butter in the microwave.

4.     Stir in the brown sugar until sugar is completely dissolved, then stir in egg.

5.     Add the salt, vanilla, and espresso powder and mix well.

6.     Stir in the flour then fold in the nuts. 

7.     Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  The batter will be very thick. Dollop the melted caramel on top of the batter, then swirl the melted chocolate caramel into the mixture. 

8.     Bake for 18-25 minutes, until lightly golden brown. 

 

Note that this recipe was developed for high altitude.  While the ingredients will not change, baking time may vary at low altitude. 

 

 

 

The easiest ever chocolate flavored caramel recipe

I was recently given some chocolate flavored Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk to test.  I make caramels a lot but have wanted to make chocolate flavored caramel.  Since the ingredients to my homemade caramels can be expensive, I didn't want to play around with the recipe and waste them, so I searched for a simple caramel recipe that did not use a lot of ingredients.  When I found one, I realized it would be the perfect recipe to try out the chocolate flavored Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk.  It was quick, easy, and only used a few ingredients.

I had to make a few changes to the original recipe and completely reworked their instructions to work with the chocolate, but boy, am I glad I tried this out.  This caramel is good, soft, versatile and chocolate flavored. 

As a side note, I used this caramel to swirl into a batch of blondies.  I'll post this recipe, too, but I have to say, ummm, ummm, good.

Five Ingredient Chocolate Caramel 

·       11 tbsp butter

·       ½ cup granulated sugar

·       3 tbsp light corn syrup

·       14 oz can chocolate flavored sweetened condensed milk

·       ½ tsp vanilla 

1.     In a medium sauce pan melt butter.  Stir in sugar until it is dissolved.  Stir in corn syrup and sweetened condensed milk. 

2.     Bring to a boil, then decrease to a simmer. Stir constantly.  You will notice that the bubbles become like volcanos as it thickens.  Using a thermometer cook until the caramel reaches 245° (at low altitude).  In Prescott, the temperature should reach 235°. 

3.     Pour caramel into an 8x8 pan that has been lined with parchment paper and then buttered.  (Can be glass or metal, but if you have a silicone pan, you can skip the parchment paper; just butter the pan directly.)  Allow the caramel to cool completely.   

4.     When cool, you can either cut in squares and wrap in waxed paper, or use in other recipes.

Eagle Brand chocolate flavored sweetened condensed milk is only available for the holidays so if you want to make this, run, do not walk, to your local grocery store to buy some.  While you're at it, I recommend you buy several cans since it will not be available after the holidays.  I have only seen this at Fry's and Walmart so check your local stores to see if you can find it.

Watch for my recipes using the caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk.  I'll be posting them soon.

Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk now in caramel flavor

Recently while I was shopping I noticed that Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk came in 2 new flavors.  I was waiting to determine what holiday baking I was going to do before I bought the new flavors.  Lucky for me, they sent me a few cans to try out. 

If you are reading this, you probably know that I make homemade caramel several times during the year.  But if you do not, you probably end up buying the little caramel squares with the cellophane wrapper on them.  They are quicker than making it homemade but still a pain to unwrap and melt.  So I was really excited to try the canned caramel flavor sweetened condensed milk.

I have seen many recipes where people boil or steam a can of regular sweetened condensed milk to make caramel.  I understand it tastes wonderful, but worry that this can be dangerous because the can may explode.  This is a much safer method to get that delicious caramel flavor easily.  If you need your caramel thicker, you should be able to empty this into a glass bowl and cook down in the microwave. 

I decided to make my samoa cookies which use about a pound of caramel anyway.  I opened the can and in it was a nice liquid texture caramel.  No unwrapping or melting required.  What a timesaver.  But would it taste good?

I have to say it was an easy swap and the taste was fantastic.  Here's the recipe that I previously posted but modified to use Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk in caramel flavor.  The flavor was wonderful and it cut quite a bit of time out of my recipe.

Samoas Cookies copycat recipe
Makes about 4 dozen

Shortbread recipe

¼ cup	Confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup	Granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups	Unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) refrigerated and cut into 8 to 10 pieces
2 ½ cups	All purpose flour
Dash	Kosher salt

 
Preheat oven to 325°

Place both sugars in food processor and process until very fine. 

Add butter, pulse until sugar disappears.  Add flour and salt, pulse until no dry particles remain.  (Mixture will be moist and crumbly.)   

Cookies w/hole in center

Make balls about 1 inch and place on a cookie sheets 2 inches apart.  Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass or a rolling pin.  Each cookie should be about 2” when flattened.  Using the back of a round wooden spoon, make a small circle in the middle of the cookie.  My circles were about ½ to ¾”.   Optionally you can try to roll out this dough…but it can be difficult to roll out nicely. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until pale golden.  Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. 

 

Topping recipe:

·       2 ½ cups          Shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

·       1  can               Eagle Brand caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk

·       Dash                Kosher salt

·       ½ lb.                Dark or semisweet chocolate chips

·       1-2 tbsp           Shortening (such as Crisco)

·       4 dozen           Shortbread cookies

To toast the shredded coconut, put it in a large frying pan on medium to low heat.  Stir the coconut until it is toasted.  Do not look away or it goes from perfect to burned in seconds.  Remove from heat and place on a plate to cool.  See the video for easy instructions.   

 

Pour the caramel into a medium sized bowl, then stir the toasted coconut into the caramel. 

Gently spread the caramel/coconut mixture on top of your cookies.   

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring well after each interval.  When the chips are almost melted, remove from the microwave and stir, using the residual heat to melt the remaining chips.  DO NOT OVERHEAT or you will ruin your chocolate. 

Bottom of cookie dipped in chocolate.
Top has caramel/coconut, then
 drizzled with chocolate

Now, be prepared to get messy.  Spread some of the chocolate on a plate.  Hold the cookie on the edges and dip the cookie into the chocolate to cover the entire bottom.  Place the chocolate cookie on either parchment paper or a Silpat.  Continue with the remaining chocolate.  (Do not discard the remaining chocolate as you will use it in a few minutes.)  If your kitchen is really hot, you may want to put the cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

Use the remaining melted chocolate to drizzle over top of the cookies once they're all dipped. We used a fork to drizzle uneven strokes of chocolate on the top of the cookie.  Let the chocolate harden and enjoy.  Store in an air tight container for up to a few days. 

 

 

 

 

 

Copycat samoa girl scout cookie recipe

We recently had a taste for some Girl Scout cookies but they are no longer available.  Rather than wait until it’s cookie time again, we decided to make our own.  We had a store-brand knock off cookie to taste and knew it would be easy to re-create.  We also ‘googled’ and found some recipes that looked like ‘sort of’ what we wanted to do.   

We used someone else’s shortbread recipe, but decided next time, we would use our own.  The recipe for shortbread cookies is one we have used for years and love.  If you want to make it really easy, use purchased shortbread cookies.  Just know that they may not have the hole in the middle. 

You can use caramel from the grocery store, purchase ‘fresh’ caramel from a candy store such as Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory or make your own.  There is a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Arizona Mills (if you live in Mesa) or Outlets of Anthem (if you live in Prescott).  We always have homemade caramel in the freezer for dishes like this. 

 

Samoas Cookies copycat recipe

Makes about 4 dozen

Shortbread recipe

¼ cup	Confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup	Granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups	Unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks) refrigerated and cut into 8 to 10 pieces
2 ½ cups	All purpose flour
Dash	Kosher salt

 
Preheat oven to 325°

Place both sugars in food processor and process until very fine. 

Add butter, pulse until sugar disappears.  Add flour and salt, pulse until no dry particles remain.  (Mixture will be moist and crumbly.)   

Cookies w/hole in center

Make balls about 1 inch and place on a cookie sheets 2 inches apart.  Flatten each ball with the bottom of a glass or a rolling pin.  Each cookie should be about 2” when flattened.  Using the back of a round wooden spoon, make a small circle in the middle of the cookie.  My circles were about ½ to ¾”.   Optionally you can try to roll out this dough…but it can be difficult to roll out nicely. 

Bake 20-25 minutes until pale golden.  Remove from cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. 

 

Topping recipe:

·       2 ½ cups          Shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

·       1 lb      Caramels (soft) (we used homemade but store bought will work, too)

·       Dash    Kosher salt

·       2-3 tbsp           Milk

·       ½ lb.    Dark or semisweet chocolate chips

·       1-2 tbsp           Shortening (such as Crisco)

·       4 dozen           Shortbread cookies

To toast the shredded coconut, put it in a large frying pan on medium to low heat.  Stir the coconut until it is toasted.  Do not look away or it goes from perfect to burned in seconds.  Remove from heat and place on a plate to cool.  See the video for easy instructions.   

Place your caramels, milk and salt in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute; stir well.  Put back in the microwave for another minute at a time.  When the caramel is smooth, it is ready.  Adjust the amount of milk you use so that the caramel is a spreading consistency.  Some caramels are more firm than others. 

Stir the toasted coconut into the caramel mixture. 

Gently spread the caramel/coconut mixture on top of your cookies.   

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave 15 seconds at a time, stirring well after each interval.  When the chips are almost melted, remove from the microwave and stir, using the residual heat to melt the remaining chips.  DO NOT OVERHEAT or you will ruin your chocolate. 

Bottom of cookie dipped in chocolate.
Top has caramel/coconut, then
 drizzled with chocolate

Now, be prepared to get messy.  Spread some of the chocolate on a plate.  Hold the cookie on the edges and dip the cookie into the chocolate to cover the entire bottom.  Place the chocolate cookie on either parchment paper or a Silpat.  Continue with the remaining chocolate.  (Do not discard the remaining chocolate as you will use it in a few minutes.)  If your kitchen is really hot, you may want to put the cookies in the refrigerator for a few minutes.

 

Use the remaining melted chocolate to drizzle over top of the cookies once they're all dipped. We used a fork to drizzle uneven strokes of chocolate on the top of the cookie.  Let the chocolate harden and enjoy. 

Store in an air tight container for up to a few days. 

 

We love these cookies and are sure they are going to show up on a goodie table soon.