Orange Nutmeg Popover Rolls

It has snowed twice since last week's blizzard. It's actually currently snowing in NYC. Winter has definitely decided to stay around. However, I didn't get a snow day from work. No snow day from work = no time to bake.

 

Fear not! I still have something to post! I made these rolls last week during the blizzard along with the Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies. My kitchen was THE PLACE TO BE during winter storm Juno. Just saying.

 

I was excited about these rolls because I love popovers. Also, I was nervous about using yeast. Isn't that silly? I've used yeast many times before and have baked lovely baked goods with yeast and yet I'm always nervous about using it. Probably because yeast is so finicky.

 

This recipe yielded more of a dinner roll than a popover. When I hear "popover" I think of something airy and eggy. This recipe yielded just a normal dinner roll with the added benefits of nutmeg, orange, cinnamon, and sugar flavors.

 

If you're intrigued by the combo or want a twist on the normal dinner roll, by all means feel free to try your hand at this roll. But if you want something more extraordinary, you can skip making this recipe.

Recipe found on Honest Cooking

Bake well and prosper!

Orange Pecan Icebox Cookies

I made these lovely cookies at the beginning of December and then forgot all about the pictures I took of them. It was a nice surprise to see them in my blog post cue. It was like I was tasting the intricate flavors of these orange pecan icebox cookies all over again.

These cookies are "adult" cookies. No, it's not because they have alcohol in them. As one friend asked, "Is it because they don't contain chocolate or tons of sugar?" Exactly! As a kid I would have passed these over for more chocolatey types. But now that I'm SLIGHTLY older... I love these! I love how the orange and butter flavors blend well together while the pecans help enhance that mixture. If you still have time to bake for Christmas and you have a lot of "older people" visiting, I suggest you consider making these delightful cookies.

Orange Pecan Icebox Cookies
recipe found here: One Perfect Bite

Bake well and prosper! 

Orange-Cardamom Sugar Cookies for my Valentines

My Valentine today is my running group. At least that's the lucky group of people that I'm sharing my evening and my baked goods with. Since it's Valentine's Day, that makes my running group my Valentine, right?

 

Either way, they are a deserving group of kind, goofy, supportive, and fun people. And they won't mind wolfing down these lovely, aromatic cookies after burning off 600+ calories. Man, they make good Valentines!

 

Who is your Valentine this year?



Orange-Cardamom Sugar Cookies (adapted from One Perfect Bite)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 yolk of large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one medium orange

Directions:
1) Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom and set aside.
2) In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar together till just combined. Add egg and egg yolk; mix lightly to combine. Mix in vanilla extract and orange zest.
3) Add dry ingredients a little at a time, mixing just until combined, about 30-45 seconds. Chill dough until it can be shaped, about 30 minutes.
4) Scoop dough with a tablespoon and roll into balls. Place evenly on cookie sheets (with or without parchment paper) and flatten slightly with back of a spatula. (If dough is still very soft, it may be easier to do this after dough is chilled.)
5) Place cookie sheets in refrigerator and chill dough for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. If you're baking one sheet at a time, place oven rack in center of oven. If you want to bake two sheets at one time, place racks so that oven is divided into thirds. Bake for 5 minutes. Reverse cookie sheets front to back (and switch shelves if you're using 2 shelves). Bake for 5-7 more minutes until cookies are brown on edges and still soft in the center. Place cookie sheet(s) on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove cookies with spatula and place them on wire racks to cool completely. Yield: 30 cookies.

Erika's Extras: The photo from One Perfect Bite showed thin cookies. Mine never thinned out. The cake like cookie was delicious and maybe a result of leaving the dough in the fridge over night...

Bake well and prosper!

Orange, Walnut, and Rosemary Muffins

Are you currently living in a winter wonderland? Feeling snowed in? Blue? Well, try these muffins for a nice pick-me-up! The combination of orange and rosemary will have your senses perked up in no time!

I used to think oranges were a summer fruit since they are so sunny and happy. It was a little shocking to find out they are best in winter (at least here in North America.)

I love what Eat the Seasons says about oranges: "Oranges provide seasonal eaters with a taste of sun in the middle of winter. [They are] fabulous [in] desserts where they form a heavenly match with chocolate."

 

Amen.

Orange, Walnut, and Rosemary Muffins (adapted from The Kitchen Prep)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar (Erika's Extras - I used organic sugar. Worked well.)
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 eggs
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
6 tablespoons canola oil (Erika's Extras - I used grape seed oil bc I didn't have canola. Worked fine but I think I would have preferred canola.)
Zest of 2 oranges - save 1 teaspoon for icing
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped, plus extra for garnish

For Icing:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
3-4 teaspoons freshly squeeze orange juice (Erika's Extras: Used the oranges you just zested.)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, and walnuts.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, oil, orange zest, and chopped rosemary.
4. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and mix until just combined. Do not over mix, there will still be some small lumps. If your mixture looks a bit dry, add 1 tablespoon at a time of milk or almond milk until moistened.
5. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into liners. Bake for 16-18 minutes until tops are slightly golden and firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool on a baking rack for about 30 minutes or until completely cooled. Spoon icing over top and decorate with a small sprig of rosemary.

Icing:
1. Sift powdered sugar into a small bowl.
2. Add zest and juice and whisk until smooth.
3. Drizzle or spoon over muffins.

4. Add a sprig of rosemary on top of the icing of each muffin.

Bake well and prosper!

Soft Cranberry Orange Biscotti

 

I made these the same day that I made the Hurricane Sandy Chocolate Cobbler. So I guess this was part of my preparations for the hurricane. I definitely had plenty to eat for breakfast...and to snack on the rest of the day.

It was nice to have time to bake.

I also had time to play jenga with these biscotti.

And arrange them in a martini glass as a toast to myself.

And make them nice and snugly in a couple of shawls.

Yes. Day 2 of no subways/not going in to work resulted in a lot of free time.

And yummy cranberry orange biscotti.

Cranberry Orange Biscotti (adapted from Bake For Happy Kids)

9 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 Tablespoon milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

finely grated rind of 1/2 an orange
11/2 cup self rising flour, sifted

1/2 cup caster sugar (Erika's Extra: I put white granule sugar into a food processor to make it finer.)

1/2 cup dried cranberries
powdered sugar to dust

1. Preheat the oven to 340°F. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

2. Combine butter, eggs, milk, vanilla and orange rind. Combine flour, sugar and cranberries. Make a well in dry ingredients and stir in butter mixture until a soft dough forms. Cover with a tea towel and rest for 10 mins.

3. Divide and shape dough into 11-12 inch logs. Place on trays. Bake for 25 mins or until golden. Cool on tray for 15 mins. Dust with icing sugar. While still warm, cut into slices. Serve.

Bake well and prosper!

Rosemary Orange Honey Fig Cake

This cake was extremely fun to make for many reasons. Top 4 reasons:

1. My roomie found this recipe and wanted to be my baking assistant for it (and he was very good. I might hire him!) ;)

2. We used figs that our landlord gave us from his tree! Thanks Charlie!

3. I had an excuse to buy a springform pan!

4. Raw honey, figs, butter...all glistening in a saucepan. See below.

Lovely, right?

I also enjoyed that this recipe used orange zest and rosemary together. It smelled great and reminded me of the Buttered Rosemary & Orange Nuts recipe.

I've also seen a lot of shares online via pinterest, facebook, etc about fig cakes. And I can see why. Fig cakes are so cheery and a perfect dessert to transition from summer into fall.

My roomie and I will be enjoying this all weekend long. (We even left a couple of slices for our landlord.) 

Have a good weekend! Bake a cake! With Figs!

Rosemary Orange Honey Fig Cake (from seriouseats)

Ingredients

Baking spray
2 1/2 cups (about 12 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (about 5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons grated zest from 1 orange
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup honey (I used raw)
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
12 figs, stems trimmed and quartered lengthwise
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup honey (I used raw honey)

Instructions
For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9-inch round springform pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Pulse sugar, rosemary, and orange zest in food processor until no zest strands remain and rosemary is coarsely chopped (see note above).

In large bowl, beat butter, oil, and rosemary-orange sugar on medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add honey and beat just until incorporated.

Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with milk. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Increase speed to medium and beat mixture just until combined, 20 to 30 seconds. Add vanilla and beat once more, just to combine, about 10 seconds.

Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake until cake tester inserted in cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating cake halfway through baking. Transfer cake to cooling rack set inside baking sheet and cool in pan 10 minutes.

Release springform and invert cake onto cooling rack; remove bottom of springform. Invert cake once again and cool completely, about 1 hour.

For the Figs and Assembly: Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat and cook until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add figs and season with salt and pepper. Cook until figs soften, about 3 minutes. Stir in honey and remove from heat.

With a knife (serrated is best), slice about 1/8 inch off top of cake. Spoon figs and any released juices on top of cake. Serve.

Bake well and prosper!

Orange Drop Cookies

Do you find it interesting that orange season (at least for naval oranges) is now? I do because when I think orange, I think summer. Maybe that's because as a child I would go to Florida in the summer and drink lots of freshly squeezed orange juice.

Well, this lovely cookie is best when made while oranges are in season since they use the rind of the orange. It's a nice option to the normal, heavy, chocolaty, doughy, and super sugary holiday snacks showing up this time of year. Also, the smell of orange zest makes your kitchen smell so lovely!

So, what are you waiting for? Go make this now!

(Oh, and yes, I posted this recipe way back... Back in my dark ages with my simple point and shoot camera. It was time to shoot them the right way and show all the lovely orange colors!)

Orange Drop Cookies (from my Mom's Best Recipes Cook Book)
2/3 C butter
¾ C sugar
1 egg
½ C orange juice
2 T grated orange rind
2 C flour
½ t baking powder
½ t soda
½ t salt

Mix; drop on cookie sheet. Bake 375° about 8-10 minutes.

Cool partially, then frost with a mixture of the following
2 T soft butter
1 T grated orange rind
2 T orange juice
2 C powdered sugar

Blend and spread on cookies when they are mostly cooled.

Erika’s Extra’s: Buy 3 oranges just to be safe. Make sure the cookies are almost completely cooled so the frosting won’t run off them.

Bake well and prosper!

Orange Poppy Seed Cookies

I haven't blogged in forever it seems. But I have a good reason. (drum roll please) I MOVED!

Don't worry. I'm still in NYC. I just happened to have moved to Queens. (Yes, Queens is a part of NYC. It's one of the 5 boroughs.)

For those of you who don't know much about NYC, it's like I moved from "You've Got Mail" to "Julie & Julia." (Also, Sesame Street is filmed near my new place.)

Astoria is the neighborhood I live in and it is SO much more lively than where I lived on the Upper West Side. It has a young and diverse feel and so far fits me just fine.

As do my roomies. Yep, I moved in with two girls after living alone for two years. It makes me feel young again. Is that weird? Well, it does. Also, the larger kitchen is a nice perk. Compared to my kitchen in a wall in my last apartment, this kitchen is GINORMOUS!

So, I was busy packing and then cleaning and painting and unpacking. I didn't unpack my kitchen stuff until Sunday (a whole week after I moved in.) My roomies were of course wondering when I was going to bake. I'm glad to report that my first round of baking in my new digs turned out great. One of my room mates had worked long hours yesterday. She told me this morning that coming home to these scrumptious cookies made her day yesterday. Which made my day.

Orange Poppy Seed Cookies (adapted from Moogie & Pap)

Ingredients for the cookies:

2 c. all-purpose flour

3 T. poppy seeds

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 c.  & 2 Tbsp. sugar (I added the 2 T extra sugar because my dough wasn't as sweet as I wanted it to be.)

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. finely grated orange zest

Ingredients for the orange sugar:

1/3 c. sugar

1-1/2 tsp. orange zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, poppy seeds, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until creamy. Beat in the egg yolks. Mix in the vanilla and orange zest. With the beaters on low speed, mix in the flour mixture just until the dough starts to come together. Using your hands, work the dough into a ball.

4. To make the orange sugar, whisk the sugar and orange zest in a small bowl. Set aside.

5. Pinch off small clumps of dough and roll into balls about 1" in diameter. Place on the prepared cookie sheets, about 1-1/2" apart. Press down on the balls with your fingers to form rounds that are a scant 1/2" thick. Sprinkle the orange sugar onto the top of each round, pressing down gently so the sugar adheres.

6. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are golden and tops feel mostly firm. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool completely.

7. These cookies keep very well. Layer between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container for up to 10 days.

Bake well and prosper!

Potpourri - Buttered Rosemary & Orange Nuts

Ok. So, this isn't exactly a dessert. It DOES contain sugar, but I mean, seriously? Could I pull this off as a dessert at a bake sale? Exactly. Thus I have made a new entry idea for my blog: Potpourri. If I make something that isn't a dessert, but that I just HAVE to share with you, I'll label it as a Potpourri Post. (Say that 5 times fast.)

Well, I saw this recipe on Framed Cooks yesterday and I was so enraptured with it that I HAD to make it right away. Also, I had lots of nuts that needed to be used, so it was very much a win-win situation. Further side note: I know the sister of the author of Framed Cooks.

Anywho... these mixed nuts are so lovely! I have decided that they will be my afternoon snack every day this week. I hope you enjoy them too! 

Buttered Rosemary Orange Nuts (from Framed Cooks)
2 cups salted mixed nuts (Erika's Extra: I used raw nuts and added sea salt to them)
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons orange zest

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When melted add the mixed nuts, sugar, rosemary, and orange zest. Stir just until the sugar is melted and everything is well-combined, which will take about 2 minutes.

2. Pour onto a piece of parchment paper or nonstick foil and let cool before serving. This will keep for at least a week...if it lasts that long!

Bake well and prosper!