Smutty Advent - Day 6

I love baking cookies and I baked new to me cookies today. They turned out so yummy, so I thought I'd share the recipe. I found it in a Taste of Home Cookies magazine but I searched and it is available online, too. The picture is my end result.

Now how does this relate to smut? Well, the gents from the Hammer might be having a cookie exchange this year and that short story may be coming to an online retailer near you soon ;)

Here's the recipe:

Double Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups packed brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package English toffee bits (10 ounces) or almond brickle chips (7-1/2 ounces) (I used skor bits)
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions
In a large bowl, beat the butter, shortening and brown sugar for 2 minutes or until mixture resembles wet sand. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; gradually add to the brown sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in toffee bits and pecans.

Shape into three 14-in. rolls (mixture will be slightly crumbly); wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.

Unwrap and cut into 1/2-in. slices. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 9-11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

Fair warning - this does make 7 dozen cookies and also they are delicious, so eating very many of them is totally a possibility.


Sean
smut fixes everything

Crockpot Lasagne Recipe

Most of my favorite recipes are either family favorites, or come from BA Tortuga. I got this one from BA well over 10 years ago now and it's my favorite lasagne ever.

Crockpot Lasagne

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

29-oz. can tomato sauce

1 c. water

6-oz. tomato paste

2 t. salt

2 t. oregano

8 oz pkg lasagna noodles, uncooked

4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 c. small-curd cottage cheese

1/2 c. grate parmesan

Cook beef, onion and garlic until browned. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce, water, paste, salt and oregano. Mix. Mix your cheese and break your lasagna noodles up a bit. Layer sauce/noodles/cheese, beginning and ending with the sauce.

Cook on low 5-6 hours. 

That's the basic recipe and it is yummy. Over the years I've done a little doctoring. My new crockpot is slightly bigger than the old one and works best if I go about 1.5 times in the recipe. Although I halve the salt - only putting in 1t for the bigger recipe, and I only put in the 2t oregano. I add another 1-2 of 'italian spices'. I also make sure I put two layers of noodles in each noodle layer because otherwise there aren't enough noodles (and this from someone who thinks most lasagne's are too noodle-heavy.)

It is extremely yummy and my favorite. I also find it a little less lengthy to put together.

Enjoy!

Sean

smut fixes everything

Inside Out Pumpkin Muffins

I was asked to share the recipe for the Inside Out Pumpkin Muffins I baked earlier today. This recipe is from King Arthur Flour and can be found here.

They're actually pretty easy to make, they just take a little more time than your average muffin/cupcake because there's three different things to mix, and then four steps to fill the muffin tin. They aren't very sweet - just enough - and the oats in the streusel topping ads a nice nutty note.

Ingredients

TOPPING
1/2 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed), light or dark
1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats (not instant)
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, at firm room temperature

FILLING
1 cup (8-ounce package) cream cheese, at room temperature; low-fat is fine
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or a few drops Fiori di Sicilia flavoring, optional

MUFFINS
1 cup pumpkin purée (about half a standard 15-ounce can)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup boiled cider (for best flavor), dark corn syrup, or honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice; or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves + 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with muffin papers, and grease the papers. (I did not grease the papers and I have to admit, they do stick a lot to the papers).

To make the streusel: Whisk together the flour, sugar, oats, and salt. Work in the butter, mixing until coarse crumbs form. Set the topping aside.

To make the filling: Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature. If it's not, place it in a microwave-safe bowl, and heat on low power for 40 seconds, just to soften it. Stir in the sugar and vanilla or Fiori di Sicilia, if using.

To make the batter: Whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, oil, boiled cider, salt, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and milk. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. (I used honey in mine instead of the boiled cider as that is not a ready to hand ingredient)

Add the flour and mix until well combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat briefly to incorporate the scrapings.

To assemble muffins: Drop a scant 2 tablespoons of the batter (a heaping tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) into each muffin cup, spreading it to cover the bottom. Dollop on a heaping tablespoon of filling, then cover with another 2 tablespoons of batter.

Sprinkle each muffin with some of the streusel topping.

Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted towards the edge (not into the filling) comes out crumb-free. Remove the muffins from the oven. As soon as they're cool enough to safely handle, transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy fresh-baked muffins within 2 to 3 hours; refrigerate up to 3 days for longer storage. Freeze, well-wrapped, up to 3 weeks. Rewarm cold muffins in a preheated 350°F oven, tented with foil. Or heat briefly in a microwave set at low power.