Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Lemon Pepper Cornmeal Cookies


Pepper doesn't really turn up in many desserts, but if these cookies are any indication it certainly should.  Initially people thought these were shortbread, but soon couldn't get enough of their unique, lemony-with-a-hint-of-spice taste.  Despite their deliciousness, they're very easy to make and you probably already have most of the ingredients in your kitchen.  


The first step is to zest all three of your lemons.  Be sure you're using your grater or zester to only remove the bright yellow outer skin of the lemon.  Going any deeper into the skin will be bitter and not give the bright lemony flavour you're looking for. 


Mix lemon zest with sugar in a small bowl. 


Use your fingers to squish the lemon zest and sugar together to release the oils from the lemons. 


In a large bowl, with an electric mixer  beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually bean in the sugar-zest mixture. Add the egg and egg yolk, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. I was worried about over-mixing these cookies however I gave them a good mix after each addition and they turned out just fine. 




Grind your peppercorns in preparation to mix with the other dry ingredients   Here I am using a four peppercorn blend but using just black pepper would be fine. 


In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, pepper, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to the wet a little at a time, beating with electric mixer until combined. 


 Once your dough is well mixed, turn out on to a floured counter. 


Roll into two cylinders and wrap in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least three hours or until firm enough to easily cut.  If you don't have time to let them chill you could easily form these into one inch balls and press down with a fork and bake as normal.  


Preheat over to 350.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Remove dough from fridge and slice into rounds about a quarter of an inch thick.  These cookies will not spread so you can fit a lot of each cookie sheet.  Bake for ten to fifteen minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned and tops are set.  Allow to cool for about ten minutes on the pan then remove and place and baking rack to cool completely. 

Lemon Pepper Cornmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
  • 1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper (freshly ground)
  • ½  salt
  • Zest of 3 lemons
  • 1 cup  granulated sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, very soft
  • 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Adapted from: Baking Obsession 

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Cheesecake Surprise Bites


These cheesecake bites are a surprise because although they look similar on the outside, they each contain a different flavour of cheesecake.  I chose strawberry, blueberry and peanut butter for my bites.  You could easily use pumpkin, lemon zest, caramel bits, maraschino cherries or whatever other flavouring agent you could think to mix into the basic cheesecake filling.  

You could also scale back the surprise by using toppings to differentiate flavours from their chocolate shell, however I found that all of these were so delicious it didn't matter to me which flavour I got.  Extremely rich and decadent just one was more than enough to satisfy, however they were amazing and everyone who tried them ended up eating many many more. 


Preheat  oven to 350.  Combine sugar and cream cheese in a bowl until creamy. 


Add egg and vanilla, beating until combined.  



Stir in sour cream.



Mix graham crackers, butter and sugar. Line 3 bread pans with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.  Divide graham cracker mixture into 3 and press into bread pans.  Bake each pan for seven to ten minutes or  until set. 



Split cream cheese mixture into three bowls.  Mix blueberry pie filling, strawberry pie filling and peanut butter into each bowl. 




Pour one bowl in to each bread pan. Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until set along edges of the pan. 


Allow each pan to cool for about 2 hours. Refrigerate for four hours to overnight. 



Cut into one inch squares then freeze overnight.  Be sure to use tupperware or tightly cover the pans you freeze the bites in, or else they will form ice crystal.  These ice crystals will melt into water when dipping in chocolate and cause your chocolate to seize up. 



Melt chocolate in a double boiler.  



Dip each frozen cheesecake bite in chocolate.  Dipping cheesecake side down will prevent the crust from flaking off into the chocolate and ending up all over your bites. Place on parchment paper.  Once dipped sprinkle toppings if using over the bites.  If you're having trouble keeping straight which bites are which flavour use a permanent marker to write the flavour on the overhanging edge of the parchment paper.  Place in fridge to set.  

Cheesecake Surprise Bites

Crust
2 cup finely crushed graham crackers (9 graham crackers)
5 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoons of white sugar

Cheesecake

2 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream


Flavourings

2/3 cups strawberry pie filling
2/3 cups blueberry pie filling
2/3 cups peanut butter

Coating
6 (12-ounce) package (2 cups) real semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 tablespoons butter
Crushed candy bars, sprinkles etc for decoration (optional)

Adapted from: Barbara Bakes