Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Last August, for our Anniversary, D took me to Williams-Sonoma and let me pick a few items for my anniversary present.

This is what I found.

It was time to make some quiche! (I actually made this in September, just forgot to actually post it)

I baked the crusts,

poured in the egg mixture,

baked again until golden and puffy,

and then I ate four of them. 

There's something about little individual pies, tarts and quiches that makes one feel special and appreciated.

I felt four times more special that day.

By the way, I used the blind baking method for baking the crusts so they would keep their shape. I didn't have any pie baking beads so I just used some old lentils I found in my pantry.

Please excuse my old baking sheet. I like to tell myself that it looks rustic...

If you don't want to use individual pans, or don't have them, the recipe works just fine in a 9 1/2-inch deep dish pie plate.

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche (adapted from epicurious.com)

2 cups steamed broccoli

2 large garlic cloves, minced

6 large eggs, beaten

1 1/2 half-and-half (I just used whole milk)

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups coarsely grated Cheddar cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp salt 

black pepper, to taste

1 prepared Pie crust (see below)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

2. Whisk together eggs, half-and-half, and seasonings. Add cheeses and broccoli and stir together.

3. Pour into baked pie crusts and bake until center is just set (40 to 50 minutes for a full pie, maybe around 20 minutes for individual ones. Just watch the quiche and take it out when golden and set). Let it cool at least for 20 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Double Pie Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup shortening

6 Tbsp icy cold water

1. Mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening. Add COLD water (I put mine in the freezer to chill while I prepare other ingredients) one tablespoon at a time. Mix until dough holds together. Do NOT overmix. Let the dough chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes or more.

2. Roll out and place in desired pans. Be careful not to stretch dough when putting in pans to prevent shrinking. Chill pans in fridge for about 30 minutes.

3. Poke holes in crusts with a fork. Cover with aluminum foil or parchment paper (don't forget to cover edges!) and fill with dried beans, lentils, or ceramic baking beads. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes, until edges are pale golden. Take out of oven and carefully remove beads and foil/paper. Bake uncovered for about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool for about 5 minutes.

I use this pie crust recipe for both savory and sweet pies. You can add seasonings or sugar, depending on the filling. I've only blind baked for the quiche, otherwise I just use the unbaked crust as usual.

This recipe makes around six to eight 4-inch quiches.

Pepparkakor - Gingerbread Cookies

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These are by far my favorite holiday cookies. The Swedish Pepparkakor are identical with Finnish Piparkakut and taking a bite of one of these takes me back home for a moment. We would use our gingerbread boy, girl, pig and scalloped cookie cutters and decorate the baked cookies with Royal Icing. I also use the same recipe for Gingerbread houses and Christmas trees. I just bake them a little longer so they are sturdy enough for building.

This year I actually decided to bake some of these before Thanksgiving, thus the pictured leaf shapes.

• Pepparkakkor (from Allrecipes.com)
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• 8 ounces butter (2 sticks)
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark baking syrup, see note below (or light corn syrup, or molasses)
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1/4 cup orange juice 
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
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• 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• 2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Stir in egg, corn syrup, orange juice, and orange zest. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves; stir into the creamed mixture until combined. Chill in the fridge at least a few hours. I generally wait till the next day.
• 3. Roll dough out to 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies on wire racks.

Note: Dark baking syrup is something that I grew up with in Finland. It is used instead of molasses or corn syrup and has much nicer taste than regular American molasses. If you'd like, you can find it at Ikea's Swedish Food Market.

Royal Icing (also from Allrecipes.com)

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites, beaten (see note below)
• Lemon extract, optional
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• In a bowl, sift together confectioners' sugar and cream of tartar. Using electric mixer, beat in 2 beaten egg whites for about 5 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to hold its shape. 
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Note: I do not use egg whites for my Royal Icing. I substitute Meringue Powder which has substitution instructions on the container. Meringue powder is basically dried and powdered egg whites and poses no health risks. You can find it on the cake decorating aisle at your local craft store or walmart.

Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

This was my dessert choice at Thanksgiving dinner. It was a delicious alternative to the traditional pumpkin pie. I added extra spices as usual!

• Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake (modified from an Allrecipes recipe)
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• 3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
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• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
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• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (recipe follows)
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• 1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
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• 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Prepare a waterbath to bake the cheesecake in. 
• 2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Then stir in sour cream. Remove 1 1/2 cups of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
• 3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
• 4. Bake in a preheated oven for 1 hr to 1 hr 15 min or until center is almost set. Turn off the oven, prop over door open with a wooden spoon and let cheesecake cool in the oven for another hour. Then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

Graham Cracker Crust (from Allrecipes)

• 1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
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• 1. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter or margarine, and cinnamon until well blended . Press mixture into an 9 inch pie plate or springform pan.
• 2. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7 minutes. Cool. If recipe calls for unbaked pie shell, just chill for about 1 hour.

Here are great instructions for using waterbath to bake cheesecakes. I found them at Diana's Desserts.

" Water Bath " For Baking Cheesecakes

A "water bath" is a method that will help keep your cheesecake from cracking while baking.

Instructions For Water Bath

First, take heavy aluminum foil, and wrap it around sides and bottom of your springform pan or cheesecake pan with removable bottom. This prevents leakage while baking your cheesecake.

Place your springform pan or cheesecake pan (filled with cheesecake batter and crust) into a larger deep baking pan* that it will fit into easily.

*Note: The larger pan should be at least 2-3 inches in depth.

Place in pre-heated oven. With a kettle filled with very hot water, pour water into the larger pan about halfway up, or approximately 1 1/2 to 2 inches.

Bake cheesecake as directed. When cheesecake is done, remove springform pan or cheesecake pan (if using) from "water bath" in oven. Carefully remove larger pan with water in it from oven. It will be very hot. Discard water when it has cooled.

Remove aluminim foil from sides and bottom of pan after your cheescake has cooled completely in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to release sides of springform pan, or remove cheesecake from a cheesecake pan with removable bottom (if using) and cheescake has cooled in refrigerator at least 4 hours or overnight; this is the best time to remove aluminum foil.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

To celebrate December 1st I made these puppies. I found them on a blog that I just discovered. They're yummy, delicious and so addicting. I like to eat them when they've chilled a bit in the fridge. Make them, they're so easy and fun!


Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (from eatliverun.com)

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin
1 tsp baking power
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground white pepper


Frosting: I used my cream cheese frosting (using vanilla instead of lemon)


1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the brown sugar and oil. Add the pumpkin and eggs and mix well. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cloves, ginger, cinnamon, ground white pepper, salt and nutmeg.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix.
5. Scoop (or pipe) golf ball sized portions of batter onto lined baking sheets. Bake for twelve minutes. Let cool thoroughly before sandwiching together with frosting.


Have we had enough pumpkin and cream cheese recipes yet? I sure don't think so...

Pulla - Finnish Sweet Bread

Last night I had a craving for some good homemade Pulla. Pulla is sweet bread that is a traditional Finnish treat enjoyed at most every gathering. Plus, it makes your house smell heavenly. I like to enjoy mine with a cup of hot chocolate but traditionally it is served with coffee.

Instead of using one of the many Pulla recipes online, I just used the same dough recipe that I use for my cinnamon rolls. I add about 2 teaspoons of ground cardamon to the wet ingredients before adding flour. After the dough is done, divide it in half. Then divide each half into three, four or five pieces, depending how you want to braid the Pulla. Roll each piece into a 12 to 16 inch strip. Then just braid away! (Or if you don't want to deal with braiding, just make little rolls out of the dough.) Place the two braided loaves on a greased baking sheet and let rise until doubled. Then brush with egg wash, sprinkle some pearl sugar (found in Ikea) on top and bake at 375 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes, depending on size.

Best served when warm but still great the next day, especially when dipped in hot chocolate...

You can add raisins and slivered almonds to the dough for variety, and if you don't have/want to use pearl sugar you can just use regular sugar or sprinkle slivered/chopped almonds on top.

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling

Another pumpkin recipe? YES!

I buy pumpkin puree in big cans and I really don't want to waste any of the deliciousness. So here we go!

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Filling (Modified from Libby's recipe)

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice (just add more of the other spices if you don't have this)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
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• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin (Yeah, I use Libby's. I think it's better than the store brand stuff. But you can use whatever brand you'd like.)
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• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted (I added a little extra)
• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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• Powdered sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15x10-inch jelly-roll pan. (Mine was 18x13. Worked just fine.) Line with wax paper, and grease and flour paper.

2. Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder, spices and salt in a small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl until thick and light colored. Beat in pumpkin. Carefully stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. 

3. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Turn cake over onto some wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar. Carefully peel off top paper (the one that was lining the pan. Cover with a new piece of wax paper. Roll up cake and papers together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

4. Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and powdered sugar together in a small mixing bowl. Place in the fridge to thicken a bit while cake is cooling. Carefully unroll cake and remove top paper. Spread filling over cake. Reroll cake while removing bottom paper at the same time. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least for one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

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Note: My friends and I agreed that there was too much filling. Half of the filling would probably be enough for one cake roll. Use the other half for another one another day. You can also freeze the finished roll. Just wrap it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil once completely cooled. Then pull out and let defrost in refrigerator. I hear they keep quite well for a week or two. Cutting the roll is easiest when completely cooled, or slightly frozen.

Also, the cake roll was definitely tastier the next day. So, so yummy...

Pumpkin Muffins

I bought some baking cups. They are cutsie scary and I am planning to use them for our Halloween party.

But I couldn't wait till then. I just had to try them out right now.

So I tried a new recipe from Allrecipes. Now, I won't post the actual recipe here since I think it really needs some tweaking. I can't really pinpoint what it was that didn't please me in the flavor. Maybe they need more sugar, or more/less spices? (I added more spices as suggested in the reviews and added a little more pumpkin and substituted brown sugar for white sugar.)

Or maybe it was just me, having a less than great baking day. You never know.

After spreading some cream cheese frosting on top they did taste better. Good enough to have for breakfast.

Playing with the newly bought sprinkles made this baking experience totally worth it, no matter how the muffins tasted like.

Here's the link!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Homemade Oreos - Whoopie Pies

This is a recipe I got from a coworker of mine while I was finishing my internship at a local hospital's lab. He would bring them to work on Fridays and I would take some home and have them for breakfast on Saturday. Talking about healthy eating...

Homemade Oreos

2 pkg Devils Food Cake Mix (Betty Crocker)
1 1/2 cups shortening
4 eggs
2 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together. Roll into 1 inch balls, or smaller. Place on ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 9 minutes (I always bake for 9 minutes, no matter what. I really don't know what to tell you to look for when determining whether they're ready or not.) Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Fill with cream cheese frosting, homemade or store-bought.

Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
milk

Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in confectioner's sugar until fluffly. If needed, add milk 1/2 Tbsp at a time to get desired consistency.

Note: I regularly half the cookie recipe and then just use half of the frosting. That way I'm not tempted to eat a whole bunch of these delicious cookies. Half a batch makes plenty for my husband and I, and a couple of our friends.

I have also flavored the filling with raspberry or orange extract after leaving the vanilla out. Then I dipped half of the cookie in chocolate candy coating and let it harden. But I warn you, one of these dipped cookies will take your blood sugar levels over the top.

Caramel Apples

I have friends. Awesome friends who like to cover healthy things with sugar. We made caramel apples yesterday. We dipped fingers in the chocolate bowl, licked spoons covered in caramel, and had a great time.

My apple tree was kind enough to donate the healthy part of our treat and we took care of the rest.
You gotta love Fall.

And for the recipe? Buy a bag of Kraft Caramels and there are instructions on the back. You just need 5 medium apples, some water, wax paper and desired toppings: Chocolate, nuts, crushed Oreos, sprinkles... Go nuts with it and enjoy the end results.

And don't forget: An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Though your dentist may disagree.

Blackberry Cobbler

I had some blackberries in my fridge and I needed to try something new so I made some cobbler. The recipe I used is from Allrecipes, from where I get most of the recipes I use on a regular basis.

The cobbler was pretty good and especially easy to put together, but I will continue looking for the perfect cobbler recipe. Still, yummy enough to serve for you family on a crisp fall evening. I sure enjoyed it. Plus, you can use whatever fruit or berries you have at hand. Easy, easy, easy!

Blackberry Cobbler

2 Tbsp butter

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

2 cups berries or fruit

1 Tbsp sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter in a 9-inch pie plate and place in the oven until butter is melted. Remove pan from oven. (I placed the pie plate on a baking sheet in case of batter overflow during baking.)

2. While butter is melting, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Whisk in milk until smooth batter forms. Pour batter into pan and scatter fruit/berries evenly over batter. Sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbsp of sugar,

3. Bake until golden brown and fruit/berries bubble, 50 to 60 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!

Note: Next time I may add some cinnamon to the batter. And depending on fruit, I might add more of it.

Monkey Bread

This is D's new favorite. He'd have this over cinnamon rolls, which to me is quite incomprehensible. Not that I don't love this recipe, but give me a cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting and I'm in heaven...

Monkey/pull-apart bread usually uses refrigerated biscuit dough, but mine is made with the dough recipe I use for my cinnamon rolls. Toss ingredients in your bread machine, and once dough cycle is done, there's only few things you need to do. Pretty simple, and so delicious!

Monkey Bread

1 recipe of cinnamon roll dough

1 cup white sugar

2 tsps ground cinnamon

3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1. Prepare dough as directed. Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a Ziploc bag. Set aside. 

2. Once dough is done, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease one Bundt pan and one 9x5 loaf pan. (The dough makes too much just for the Bundt pan. Believe me, I made the mistake of putting all of it in the Bundt pan, and the syrup overflowed, forming a nice, fragrant burnt sugar layer on the bottom of my oven...)

3. Pull small chunks off the dough, rolling them into 1 inch balls with your palms. Drop a few dough balls in sugar-cinnamon mixture, shaking the bag so balls are evenly coated. place balls in pans, staggering layers so ball is placed over the space between two other ones. Use about 2/3 of dough for the bundt pan, 1/3 for the loaf pan.

4. Melt butter in a small saucepan and add brown sugar. Boild for 1 minute, then our over dough balls, again using 2/3 for Bundt pan, 1/3 for loaf pan. Cover pans with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, for 30 minutes to an hour. Bake one pan at a time until golden brown, for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and turn over on a plate and remove pan. Bread should slide out pretty easily. 

Then just EAT!

My Apologies

I made you cookies. Lots and lots of cookies! Every single day. Just for you. Will you forgive me?

But really, I'm sorry I've been gone. I've been busy with things. I don't remember what those things were, but still... I have been baking though. Monkey bread, broccoli quiche, banana cream pie, blackberry cobbler... but writing about it has been a challenge. All in due time.

Oh, and the sugar cookies? I tested some Halloween ones. Didn't have black food coloring though so had to live with purple. They do need a little tweaking. We'll see about those on October 31st.

The moons, leaves and pumpkins? They were just for fun, and I loved brushing the icing on. Now I consider them my lazy cookies. No piping, no waiting. Just brush and sprinkle, and eat. Makes me wonder why I didn't try that before.

Speaking of sugar cookies, if you'd like to see some amazing and inspiring decorated cookies, visit Bake at 350. Just click on Cookie Index and browse away. My favorite? Beer and Hot Dogs!