Recipe #16: Cornbread Bacon Muffins

Recipe #16: Cornbread Bacon Muffins

Posted by Unknown

I try to make a dish for dinner once a week that will provide enough leftovers to where I get a night off from cooking. Growing up I can recall my dad making three really good dishes – spaghetti sauce, omelets, and chili. So I called my dad to get his chili recipe. I actually can’t believe I haven’t asked for this before being that I have made chili quite a few times in my life yet it has never turned out as good as my dad makes it. Ofcourse when I asked for the recipe he just said “well it’s all in my head”. That’s pretty much what I expected to hear but what I really wanted to know is what the seasonings were. Turns out he buys a chili seasoning kit that comes in a little brown box and it’s amazing! I looked through the book to see what might pair with the chili and there it was… cornbread bacon muffins.

I took a double take when reading the recipe – you not only add bacon to muffins (which is AWESOME) but you also add in the bacon grease. I have never come across a recipe that calls for bacon grease (except when leaving some in the pan to sauté up vegetables for a soup or something).

This recipe was quite fun and simple to get through and it was nice to have a few simple steps to follow and bust these out while alternating between making the chili. 

One of the most fun parts is after cooking the bacon and collecting the grease you put the bacon back in the pan and add some maple syrup until it reduces to a beautiful glaze.

After all the rest of the ingredients are mixed accordingly you make a well in the dry ingredient, add the wet ingredients, and then fold together with a whisk until just combined.

The result: They are pretty dense and the flavor is just amazing with the sweetness from the maple glazed bacon. You only need one to fill you up.  These went along perfectly with the spiciness of the chili. This post is dedicated to my dad - thank you for sharing with me; I won't be trying a new chili recipe anytime soon.

For full recipe see page 72 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Chocolate Flake Buttercream

Chocolate Flake Buttercream

Posted by Unknown

I'm not treating this as it's own recipe because it's just a version of vanilla buttercream. I topped the devil's food cupcakes with this frosting and it was to die for. You just shave some good bittersweet chocolate and mix it in with the vanilla buttercream along with a pinch of salt.

The only thing that can go wrong with this is if the chunks of chocolate are too big then they can get caught in your pastry bag when decorating. When this would happen I would just stick a toothpick in the tip of the bag and push the chocolate back up into the frosting.

Recipe #15: Buttery Cupcakes with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Recipe #15: Buttery Cupcakes with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Posted by Unknown

This recipe is part II to the SuperBowl party. I made these along with the devil's food cupcakes. These are by far the best cupcakes I have ever tasted. There is a reason for the word butter in the title because they are just that.... nice and buttery. Paired with the tanginess of the chocolate sour cream frosting they are sure to be a hit!

This recipe is definitely easier then the devil's food cupcakes. I realized that whenever I see the word "sift" in a recipe I let out a long sigh. You sift the dry ingredients 3 times and I think it just bothers me because I have to get out the food mill, put it together, and then clean it... blah blah!

These turned out perfectly. I expected them to rise a bit more but after seeing the picture in the book they appear to have turned out just right.

If you have a little extra time on your hands and want to impress people with these bad boys I strongly recommend them vs. stopping by Trophy or Cupcake Royale.

For full recipe see page 274 in the Dahlia Bakery Cookbook 

Recipe #14: Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Flake Buttercream

Recipe #14: Devil's Food Cupcakes with Chocolate Flake Buttercream

Posted by Unknown

We hosted a little Superbowl gathering at our home this past Sunday and I decided to make a couple different kinds of cupcakes for the dessert. I chose this recipe and the buttery cupcakes (which I will write about in a separate post).

The recipe is a bit daunting and the most complex cupcake recipe I have ever made. I honestly thought they probably wouldn't turn out. After sifting the dry ingredients you take egg yolks and mix with brown sugar and then slowly drizzle in oil as if you are making mayonnaise. I know this in itself is an art form and you have to be patient and make sure to not add the oil too fast. Once again, I am reminded that I need a KitchenAid mixer.

And then things got tricky for me... you whip up some egg whites to the point where they form soft peaks which went well and then fold them into the batter - being very careful when doing so as you don't want to deflate the whites. You fold the egg whites in 3 parts so I folded in the first 1/3 and then got distracted by my adorable 8 month old son. I came back to my whites and thought maybe they lost some of their "umph" and decided to place the beaters back in the bowl to re-whip to soft peaks. #EPICFAIL. The egg white mixture fell apart and turned back into a liquid. So... I quickly took 2 eggs out of the fridge, added the whites to the bowl with sugar, and whipped up but nothing happened! I was just beating the mixture for what felt like days. I looked back at the recipe and realized the eggs needed to be at room temperature which I had done the first time around so I took out 2 more eggs, placed them in warm water for a few minutes to bring to room temp, and then whipped up the whites again. This time they whipped up quickly and now I had to fold in the whites two more times and guesstimate approximately 2/3 of the remainder of the whites the recipe called for since I already folded in 1/3. I finished up and scooped the batter in the cups, shut the oven door, and hoped for the best.

The result: They could not have turned out better and they even look just like the picture in the book. Even though they are packed with chocolate they are not overly chocolatey (if that's even possible). I topped some with vanilla buttercream and some with chocolate flake buttercream (which was amazing and will write up in separate post since I am considering it a separate recipe). Both devils food and buttery cupcakes pictured below.

Recipe #13: Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Crackly Crust

Recipe #13: Chocolate Truffle Cookies with Crackly Crust

Posted by Unknown

I made these cookies last week as I had about 30 extra minutes on my hands before relieving the nanny. Instead of throwing in some laundry I decided to cruise through a recipe and bake these cookies. These have been haunting me ever since we went to the Book of Mormon as they were being served at the Paramount.

I hurried through the recipe and was in awe of the amount of chocolate that goes in these bad boys. A pound plus 4oz of bittersweet chocolate AND then 2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips get mixed in at the end.
I read that whipping the batter well as you incorporate the eggs will give that crackly top - in hindsight I would have spent more time on this step.

Baking the cookies took the most time because as I've mentioned in previous posts I can only bake 6 cookies at a time in my small oven and in this recipe you turn the cookie sheet halfway through plus you can't refrigerate the dough so you need to commit to the baking process once the dough is made.

The result: A packed with chocolaty goodness cookie. Not all of the cookies turned out to have the crackly crust that makes the cookie so desirable. The taste was still there but next time I really need more then 30 minutes to whip this up and I need to use a bigger ice cream scoop.

Recipe #12: Grandma Douglas's Schnecken

Recipe #12: Grandma Douglas's Schnecken

Posted by Unknown

Every time I visit my grandparents they have something similar to this sticky bun out for breakfast. My grandma always kept a backup dish of them in the freezer to thaw out at a moment's notice. Whenever I would devour these at my grandma's house I always thought they must be very challenging to make - time consuming, etc. At Thanksgiving a couple years ago my grandma asked if I wanted to learn how to make them - and I thought OMG(!) she is going to share the magical recipe!! Turns out not so much magic was involved as she purchased ready made dough and just mixed up the topping in a saucepan, easy peasy.

I was a little intimated by this recipe at first glance as I haven't made sticky dough before  however I was pleasantly surprised how easy everything came together.  This recipe was so fun to make - especially the dough and something I can't wait to make with my son. If you have kids they would have a blast getting their hands all sticky from kneading the dough. I ended up adding 3 cups of dry ingredients (the recipe called for 3 to 3 1/2 cups). I kneaded the dough for exactly 5 minutes and it was nice and smooth. I wanted to keep going but I knew over-kneading would lead to tough dough so I stopped myself.

While the dough was resting I made the pecan brownies (see my previous post) and prepped the sugar-pecan topping. I took the dough out after about 2 1/2 hours in the fridge. I punched it down and rolled it out. I knew it would be important to have the measurements right once rolled out (15in x12in) and thank god I double checked as I was over a few inches. I brushed the butter on the dough and sprinkled the sugar and cinnamon; I did stray from the recipe a bit here and added a tad more cinnamon because I love it. I then rolled the dough up and cut the buns. A tip that I wish I had at this point was a recommendation on the best knife to cut the buns. My chef knife is not sharp right now and so I went with a steak night which ended up working fine.

I carefully placed the buns in the baking dish and let them sit 40 minutes and then into the oven they went.  Pulled them out and got impatient and flipped the baking dish onto the cookie sheet just a few minutes early. What happened when I did this is the topping oozed on over the edges of the buns so I quickly flipped them back into the baking dish and let them sit for another 5 minutes. Note to self: patience. Next time I make these (which will be very soon, possibly as soon as this weekend because they are so good!) I will let them sit in the baking dish at least 10 minutes before flipping. I will also chop up the pecans a bit more and sprinkle more generously in the center of the dish versus the edges. And finally when rolling up the dough I will roll it tighter - the sugar/cinnamon mixture was falling out when I transferred the buns from the table to the baking dish. To make sure the flavor was still there I just took that mix and sprinkled it on the buns once placed in the dish.

The result: AMAZEBALLS! This has been my favorite recipe to make and eat thus far. I know when something is good when my husband eats them for breakfast because he never eats breakfast nor does he really have a sweet tooth. They melted in my mouth and the ratio of dough to the rest of the ingredients was perfect. You will definitely want to eat these warm so the next day just toss one in the microwave for about 25 seconds and enjoy.

For full recipe: See page 103 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook.

Recipe #11: Prizewinning Pecan Brownies

Recipe #11: Prizewinning Pecan Brownies

Posted by Unknown

Well it's been over a week since I have been able to bake something due to catching the worst flu that is spreading like wildfire over the nation. Now that I have fully recovered it is time to get my bake on! I am baking a couple recipes today and have chosen two that do not require a mixer since I am still bitter about my KitchenAid mixer getting stolen.

I had a run in with a Dahlia cookie yesterday when my husband and I attended the Book of Mormon at the Paramount. They were serving a couple of different cookies and the infamous coconut cream pie. I asked my husband to pick what we would share and he chose the chocolate chunk cookie. I secretly wanted him to go with the chocolate truffle cookie because I knew I was going to attempt that recipe soon but I respected his choice. I was happy to discover the flavor profile matched the cookies I made recently.  A couple of differences I noted which I will make sure to change next time is the size of the cookie and the size of the chocolate chunks (the difference being the size and chunks need to be bigger next time).

We have a great view of the water and ferry boats from our place in West Seattle and this morning is unusually foggy. Definitely a great day to bake up some goodies and turn on some Radiohead (The King of Limbs Album - so amazing). But first things first - I read over the recipe, cleaned the kitchen, and prepped my ingredients (including all cookware and utensils). I cannot stress the importance of doing this - it just makes everything so much easier along the way.

I put my new apron on that my husband bought me for Christmas from Anthropologie - they have the cutest aprons and he selected the exact one I wanted without even pointing it out. This one to be exact: http://anthrpl.ge/UIPbzh. Hilarious to discover it's supposedly a "kids" size.

The best part of making this recipe was stirring in the melted chocolate and butter. The mixture was so shiny and mouth watering - it reminded of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I just zoned out on the chocolate and imagined myself basically bathing in it.

The only snafu I had with this recipe was my oven.... yep, hate my old ass oven. I ended up baking the brownies about 20 minutes longer then the recipe called for but followed Tom's advice and was waiting for the top to appear dry. In the end I probably could have gone 5 minutes less.

The result: very rich and chocolatey (not sure if that's a word but I like to make up words sometimes so there it is).  And you better like pecans because there are a lot of them. Next time I make the recipe I think I will opt for topping the brownies with the pecans but not mixing them in. They were also so rich that they reminded me of fudge and the first or maybe second taste to hit my tongue was salt. All in all a success.


For full recipe: See page 141 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook.





  

Recipe #10: Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

Recipe #10: Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

Posted by Unknown

First off - I don't love the picture above. I couldn't get decent lighting so it turned out a bit blurry.

I took a little time off from baking just to enjoy family and decompress after our holiday madness. The sad part of taking a break from baking is that I didn't have homemade treats in the house however I managed to get by with some pretty amazing brownies from the Metropolitan Market up the street.

Before the Christmas break a friend of mine sent me an amazing deal from Gilt (http://www.gilt.com/home) that had KitchenAid mixers on sale for $250. I quickly ordered my new silver KitchenAid and it was supposed to arrive by Christmas Eve - just in time for Christmas! I was home all day and waited patiently for the UPS driver however it never showed up. I checked the tracking # and it said it would be arriving on 12/26. I was traveling that day to Iowa and I had a friend come by to pick up the KitchenAid for me. To my utter disappointment someone had stolen it right off my front porch. This happened once before about a month prior with another package. I was so bummed!! And ofcourse when I called Gilt that deal had expired and they had no mixers left in stock but they did refund the money which was nice. I will continue to be on the hunt for another good deal or eventually I will just give in to buying it at full price. 

It's now time to get back to it. I thumbed through the Dahlia Bakery cookbook and landed on the coffee cake. This just sounds heavenly. This week I just happen to have some free time as our nanny started watching my son as I officially go back next week to work. The great thing is my office is just a short walk up the stairs.

Anyway... I decided to go with raspberries as the fruit to add in this recipe. The recipe is pretty straightforward and it took about 30 minutes to get everything measured out and prepped (this probably could have gone more quickly had I not been prepping dinner at the same time).

The total baking time was 50 minutes and I was pleased that my oven actually cooked something that matched with what the recipe stated.

The result: By far the best coffee cake I have ever tasted. My father-in-law has a pretty darn good recipe for coffee cake but I have to say this one is better. I made sure to take a bite when it was still warm right out of the oven. The first word that comes to mind when tasting this coffee cake was butter. It was moist, full of flavor, and I loved the tartness the berries added.

The only thing I will do next time is try a mix of blueberries and raspberries. I made sure to give some of this away as it would have been way to dangerous to keep in the house. That is the only downfall of working from home - I will still be so close to all the calories that tempt me.

For full recipe: See page 106 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook.

Recipe #9: Sparkling Sugar Cookies

Recipe #9: Sparkling Sugar Cookies

Posted by Unknown

Our family tradition around Christmas has always been to roll out some store bought sugar cookie dough, gather around the table, and frost away for hours. This year I decided to make sugar cookies from scratch and wow what a difference! The dough was simple and quick to make. I don't typically like sugar cookies but I think it's because I was always eating the store bought stuff, I could eat these cookies all day long.

For frosting my mom mixes together powdered sugar, butter, and food coloring. My siblings don't exactly enjoy frosting all the cookies but it is a tradition that we follow through on each year. As you can see from the picture we aren't exactly gifted at decorating cookies but we do our best and all that really matters is how they taste. 

Now that my husband and I have a son we will start our own holiday traditions with him and this recipe will be made year over year.


For full recipe: See page 148 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #7: Double Chocolate Layer Cake

Recipe #7: Double Chocolate Layer Cake

Posted by Unknown

When I first thought about starting a food blog the one thing I was most nervous about was making cakes. It is definitely not my strong suit. I can eventually get the recipe right however I am not a skilled cake decorator so this is a something I hope improves over the next year.

It's the day after we put our dog down and we are going to my brother's house tomorrow for an early xmas celebration and I decided to make him a cake (unfortunately for him his birthday is Christmas day). I want to keep myself distracted and this looks like just the recipe to challenge me and keep my mind off losing my sweet dog.

I got my mise en place together and started in. I got all the way to step #7 and realized I skipped ahead and did step #8 before completing step #6 and #7. I had added in a 1/2 cup of oil and then added the buttermilk, then the chocolate, and then the rest of the oil. Based on my limited experience with cakes I already knew the cake would not turn out but I had come so far so I treated it as an experiment. I completed all the steps, baked it, and pulled it out of the oven. Within 20 minutes the cake fell in the middle. Ugh! Time to start over.

I prepped all the ingredients again and this time I realized the I had left out a couple tablespoons here and there of ingredients on the first round so basically the first cake didn't have a chance. My brain was distracted by sadness, my son, and family that was visiting at the time. Note to self: Cakes need 100% of focused attention.

The result: The cake turned out ok... actually the presentation turned out quite poorly. I could have cooked it about 5 minutes longer and I really didn't let it cool long enough either. Time was not on my side and I wanted to get it frosted as I knew I would not have time to decorate the cake the morning of. Because I took the cake out of the pan too soon the cake was not stable enough for me to split it. It was quickly falling apart and so I decided to just cover it with a bunch of frosting and call it good. The flavor was good but it was not a success overall.

No picture included on this post for obvious reasons. I will try this recipe again but not for awhile. It was time consuming and having made it twice I don't want to attempt it again for several months.

For full recipe: See page 258 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #8: Fluffy Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Recipe #8: Fluffy Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

Posted by Unknown

The most important step in this recipe is to be sure that some of the ingredients are at room temperature and as always use good quality chocolate. I never knew how important it was to spend the extra money on good chocolate (and all ingredients really) until I started baking these recipes. If you are going to spend the time to get everything just right then doesn't it only make sense to spend the money on good quality ingredients? At this point every time I hit up the grocery store I cruise the baking aisle and check for sales on King Arthur flour, softasilk cake flour, extra fine sugar, chocolate, etc. even if I already have it stocked I know eventually it will get used up.

Now back to the recipe... it turned out great! I love the tanginess the sour cream provides and it was the perfect compliment to the buttery cupcakes as well as the double chocolate layer cake. The consistency also made it easy to decorate with. Just be prepared to use it right away as it can't be refrigerated.

For full recipe: See page 256 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #6: All American Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Recipe #6: All American Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Posted by Unknown

It's been a tough day - my 10 year old Boxer dog, Amy, is unexpectedly very ill and it's time for some emotional eating and one of my favorite things in the world is chocolate chip cookies. I was a little nervous to make these cookies - not because the recipe looked daunting or anything but because I was recently introduced to the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever had so wasn't sure how these would compare.

I had no problems making the recipe and at this point I have purchased 3 different sized ice cream scoops and they have changed my life. It's so easy now to scoop the dough and get uniformed shaped cookies.

The result: There is a good amount of chocolate in every bite! They easily compare to my other favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe which I will post separately.  In fact, it would be hard for me to choose a favorite. They are chewy in the center and a little crisp around the edges. They definitely helped make me feel better temporarily.

Later in the week we had to put Amy down so this post is dedicated to her. If she had wanted to eat in her final days I would have shared a chocolate chunk cookie with her. Her favorite food was apples and I know she is having an abundance of them now. 

For full recipe: See page 123 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #5: Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

Recipe #5: Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

Posted by Unknown

Well this recipe was just what I needed. After the amount of work that went into the peanut butter sandwich cookies it was refreshing to make something easy and straightforward. I whipped these up after dinner one night and they made an excellent dessert. I have to say I don’t typically ever order muffins from a bakery. I will usually go for a scone, cookie, or a donut. These turned out light and fluffy and full of flavor and I loved the raw sugar on top.

What was most helpful for this recipe was the scoop. It was so easy to scoop the batter into the cups and have the 12 muffins all look relatively the same. AND don’t forget to reserve some of the flour mixture to coat the blueberries. I almost forgot to do that and would have had to start from scratch as my intent is to always follow the recipe exactly. 

The only outstanding question I was left wondering was the best way to store the muffins  I let them cool and then stored them in Tupperware and I was disappointed to find that they were a little soggy on the top the next morning. They were definitely the best when right out of the oven.


For full recipe: See page 79 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #4: Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, aka “the Nora Ephron”

Recipe #4: Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies, aka “the Nora Ephron”

Posted by Unknown

My son had his 6-month shots this morning at the doctor so to ease “our” pain I decided today was the day to make the peanut butter sandwich cookies. It’s been about 3 months since I have experienced the joy that comes from eating one of these decadent cookies.  I am excited and scared all at the same time – excited because I will now have these tasty morsels in my home and scared for the exact same reason.

I have never left the Dahlia Bakery without purchasing one of these cookies (and if I had it was an oversight that I later regretted). I would go pick up treats from the bakery any chance I got. If there was a birthday on my team or if I just wanted to surprise my co-workers with a special treat I would go to Dahlia and pick up an assortment of cookies – always making sure to get myself a peanut butter sandwich cookie.  I really had a hard time trying anything else in the bakery because this became my favorite purchase. When I was pregnant these were definitely a regular part of my diet.

Now that I have made these cookies it’s no wonder why they are a few bucks a pop. They take a lot of time to make and since my oven is so small I was only able to cook 6 cookies at a time so it took me half the day to complete the process. It wasn’t until after dinner that I had the pleasure of scooping the peanut butter onto one cookie and smooshing the two cookies together. That was the definitely the best part of making the cookies – that and the fact that I knew it was only a matter of minutes before the moment I had anticipated all day.

I have two of the cookies in front of me… my husband picked one up and said “Oh my god!! Tears of joy!!” so I guess he was impressed. Just took a bite – DANG! These are amazing. The cookies turned out perfectly… just done enough, not too soft or too crunchy, and the peanut butter gooey goodness in the center makes me want a big glass of milk. Success.

Here are my notes on making the cookies. Like I said – they were time consuming so be ready for the commitment. I didn’t have enough Skippy peanut butter so I used Adams Natural Creamy Peanut Butter. It was pretty hard to stir and get the consistency I desired but I managed to make it work and I prefer the taste of Adams to Skippy (I will try Skippy next time though since that is recommended). I didn’t have the 1-ounce ice cream scoop so I used a tablespoon scoop and the cookies turned out pretty uniformed. Some turned out bigger than others so I just paired them up the best I could to make the sandwiches. I did manage to make 48 cookies just as the recipe said. I had some leftover peanut butter filling only because I did not make 3 sandwiches due to overcooking a batch… well that and I ate 3 cookies in the process (hey! I had to taste the goods along the way).

All in all, I am very satisfied with how this recipe turned out. I think I will still enjoy getting one of these cookies from Dahlia because I find that when I cook or bake something it never tastes as good as when someone cooks for me.


For full recipe: See page 130 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #3: Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Avocado

Recipe #3: Grilled Cheese with Bacon and Avocado

Posted by Unknown

I choose pepper bacon, Beecher’s Flagship cheese, and rustic potato bread for this sandwich. The grilled cheese from Dahlia is one hunk of cheesy bliss. My plan is only to consume a half of sandwich with the soup – as long as I can make it as cheesy as Dahlia’s this should be plenty for dinner. My husband on the other hand will enjoy a whole sandwich.

The result: Close… but no cigar. What I will do differently next time is buy a loaf that has more height and cut the slices just a smidge smaller. I will also add more cheese and then cook the sandwich on low with a lid on the pan. Typically that is how I always make grilled cheese but I accidentally turned the wrong burner up and it cooked the sandwich to quickly which did not help the cheese melt. It certainly wasn’t inedible as I ended up eating a whole sandwich.


For full recipe: See page 344 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Coconut Macaroons: Take 2

Coconut Macaroons: Take 2

Posted by Unknown

 Well well well… it sure does help to have an accurate temp when baking. I made the macaroons again and they turned out much better. They were crisp all around and had a yummy chewy center. They were more evenly browned and delicious. I shared them with a few close friends and they were pining for the recipe.


For full recipe: See page 137 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #2: Tom’s Tasty Tomato Soup with Brown Butter Croutons

Recipe #2: Tom’s Tasty Tomato Soup with Brown Butter Croutons

Posted by Unknown

It’s a rainy Sunday morning in December and I am so excited to make the tomato soup today. Honestly I have never been a tomato soup fan until I had this particular one from the Dahlia Bakery. It was a fan favorite at my work and my co-workers and I would walk a couple measly blocks to warm our tummies with this hearty delight. I ate the soup in the following way - I eat about half the cup and then I tear off a piece of the roll that comes with the soup and dip it in. If everything goes smoothly I have finished the soup at the same time as the roll.  

For the croutons I ended up using about 6 slices of bread (rustic potato). I counted out around 30ish croutons just to make sure I was using the proper amount of butter.  Investing in the oven thermometer paid off (my oven was about 60 degrees off) and the croutons cooked perfectly at 20 minutes. I forgot to stir and they still turned out great (stirring occasionally would have made the appear more evenly toasted so I will do this for sure next time).

For the soup - after I sautéed the onions and garlic I added the tomatoes and rest of ingredients one by one, stirring after each addition (something I learned in culinary school). I also rubbed the oregano between my hands over the sauce to break up the herbs. That probably wasn’t necessary since it will all end up in the blender but something I learned in school as well and has become a habit. The soup is simmering on the stove as I type this and smells SO GOOD!

After I blended the soup completely I went back through the bowl of soup with a slotted spoon and put the chunks I missed back in the blender. I made the soup around 3pm and brought to room temp and then placed in the fridge in a covered container. I am hoping when reheating for dinner it will taste just as good. My experience with soups and sauces is that they are always better the next day as they flavors continue to develop.

The result: NAILED IT! I would even go as far to say that if I blindfolded someone they would not be able to tell the difference between the one I made and the one that is served at the bakery. My husband went back for seconds.

For full recipe: See page 342 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

Recipe #1: Coconut Macaroons

Recipe #1: Coconut Macaroons

Posted by Unknown

I decided to start with Tom’s favorite, the coconut macaroons, on page 137. I took Tom’s advice and separated the eggs when they were cold. I let them sit out at room temp for about an hour and a half  (even though it wasn’t necessary for this particular recipe however it worked out this way because I was in the middle of getting Nash down for his nap).

I used regular old beaters to whip the egg whites since I don’t have a kitchen-aid. I put it on my Christmas list for Santa and really hoping he comes through with a silver kitchen-aid (hint, hint).

The coconut was a bit tricky to measure, I didn’t pack it down and I ended up adding a couple additional tablespoons in the end just to make sure I had enough in the recipe.

I let the batter sit overnight in the fridge.

The next day I scooped the batter with a tablespoon; I did lose one tablespoon of the precious batter on the floor. The recipe made 21 cookies (counting the one that fell on the floor).

My oven is old and the temperature never seems to be quite right which is essential when baking. I took a risk and cooked the macaroons for 10ish minutes at 325 degrees and then turned the cookie sheet and cooked for 15 minutes and checked them. They were not like the picture in the book so I kept baking for 10 additional minutes. They were lightly browned and I decided to pull them out for fear I would overcook them. For the second batch I noticed the batter spread when I put them on the cookie sheet – next time I will be sure to put the batter back in the fridge until I am ready to cook the second batch.

The result: a crispy outside with a chewy inside of heavenly sweet coconutty goodness.

I was bummed they did not turn out exactly like the picture in the book so I will try them again at some point.  And… I went out and bought an oven thermometer so I can’t blame the oven temp going forward. 

As I write this I am enjoying my fourth macaroon for the day with a cup of tea, a perfect way to end the evening.


For full recipe: See page 137 in the Dahlia Bakery cookbook

About Me

About Me

Posted by Unknown

My name is Jenna Buckley. I am a mom, wife, dog lover, and professional. I love practicing yoga any chance I get as well as cooking and baking as much as time will allow. I can beat anyone at a game of flip cup.

Welcome!

Welcome!

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Let’s just get this out of the way – I do not claim to be a writer (although I am a stickler for spelling so while I hope you won’t find any spelling errors you will likely find grammatical errors). I have a passion for cooking and baking and completed a Certificate of Culinary Arts at Bellingham Technical College back in 2001. I decided to go to Culinary School after dropping out of Western Washington University (just a year or so shy of my Bachelor’s Degree). The Food Network was taking off back then and I started to entertain the thought of going to school for cooking. My experience up until starting culinary school was following the recipe on the back of a Kraft Mac and Cheese box. I sat on the idea for one year and then decided to give it a go. Culinary school was by far the hardest school I have ever been through and I was definitely the most inexperienced student out of the 30ish students in the program  (99% of the students were already working in the industry so I was the 1%).  I had quite the learning curve but I gave it 110% and passed with flying colors. I completed three quarters of culinary and one quarter of baking. At first I hated the thought of baking however I ended up loving it and baking became one of my favorite things to do (plus I have quite the sweet tooth so it was a win-win).  

Since graduating I have never worked professionally in the industry however throughout the years I have played around with different recipes but never to the extent I desired. I recently left my job at a digital marketing agency in downtown Seattle to stay at home with my newborn son, Nash, who is now 6 months old. One of my favorite things to eat while pregnant was sweet baked treats (i.e. peanut cookies from Dahlia Bakery).  Now that I am home it’s not so easy to just run to the Dahlia Bakery so I started baking (sometimes daily) so that I could have sweets at my disposal. There is nothing better then a warm chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. My passion for cooking and baking has resurfaced with a vengeance and it’s also something I look forward to doing with my son.

This past Thanksgiving I stumbled upon The Dahlia Bakery cookbook by Tom Douglas in a little store in Chelan called the Culinary Apple. There was a stack of autographed copies that my mom pointed out. I instantly opened the book to see if the peanut butter cookie recipe was there and there it was (page 30)… SOLD! To purchase your own copy on Amazon click the following link: http://amzn.to/WQ999t.

This blog is dedicated to my husband and son. I want to thank my husband for having a high metabolism and being able to eat endless amounts of food that I cook and for taking the extra sweets into work so I don’t eat them.  I also want to give a shout out to my son for being patient in the exersaucer while I bake and falling asleep to the sound of the beaters in his vibrator chair.

My goal is to make every single recipe in the book (not in any particular order). I will document which recipe I choose, if I followed it exactly, and how it turned out. I promise to be honest with my reviews – good and bad. If it turns out to be a flop I will try again and if it fails more then three times I will be contacting Mr. Douglas to find out what I am doing wrong. He has promised in the book that each recipe has been tested again and again so I am going to hold him to it. 

I commit to making two recipes per week plus or minus two based on my son’s nap schedule and activities for the week. I also plan to mix in some of my other favorite recipes just for fun.