O.k..so it took me nearly all night but I did some baking. In fact this recipe is out of my cookbook….sort of. I found out something interesting tonight. I can’t even follow my OWN recipes verbatim.

Since I am doing pictures at night the color is a little off, sorry.  Someday I will have a nifty light box.

These are a very rich, sweet bar. You ARE going to want coffee or milk or tea… Be sure to let them cook before cutting (I didn’t) and eating (didn’t) because they WILL crumble. If you want thicker coconut cherry white chocolate bars just use a 9 x9 inch pan.

These would be great for a tea, not so great for a lunch box, and do not try to ship them! IF there are any leftover, which is doubtful, wrap them and put them in the fridge.

Coconut Cherry White Chocolate Bars

• 1 cup of flour
• 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of kosher salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix the 1 cup of flour and  confectioners sugar. Mix in the butter until the dough is crumbly.
3. Press firmly in a buttered 13x 9 inch pan. Layer will be thin.
4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until firm and golden.
5. Mix the 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
6. Beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture, coconut, cherries, and white chocolate chips.
7. Pour over the crust.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until firm.
9. COOL COMPLETELY before cutting.

images Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I love making Christmas cookies but get tired of making the same ones year after year. My family likes tradition and by the time they are two most of my kids can tell you what should be on the cookie plate for each holiday, what dishes should be on the table, and if I forget or try to do something different, you can bet I hear about it.

I can add to the basic stuff but never, never take away and do something different.

The problem is that when I add something new it becomes part of the repertoire, and must be served year after year after year after year….

These are a twist on traditional kiss cookies. I wanted something…oh..I don’t know, softer and gentler. Something festive in a more subdued way. With all of the different Hershey’s Kiss flavors these days it is pretty easy to come up with a totally new combination.

I used the cherry filled Hershey’s Kisses and flavored the dough with rose and almond. This is a fantastic combination, very subtle and yet it captures your attention like the softest whisper. They would work well for Valentine’s Day as well. You could even tint the dough to make it pink.

Almond and rose is a classic combination. Rose flavoring was particularly popular during the Victorian era and to me these would fit beautifully at a Victorian Christmas Tea.

Give them a try, see what you think. Rosewater is available at many health food and gourmet food shops. It isn’t very expensive at all and once you start working with it you will find more and more recipes to add it to.

Cherry Almond Kiss Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla

1 tsp almond

1 tsp. rosewater (or more to taste)

1 tsp baking powder

2 ¾ cup flour

Colored sugar for rolling

36 unwrapped cherry chocolate kisses

Preheat the oven to 375

Mix the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix in well. Add flavorings.

Mix together the flour and baking powder. Stir into the creamed mixture.

You may need to chill this for a few minutes if the dough seems too sticky.

Roll heaping teaspoonfuls of dough into a ball. Roll in sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on a silpat lined cookie sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, or until cookies are puffed and soft, but done.

Remove from the oven and, working quickly, gently push a kiss into the center of each cookie. Let cool completely.

Image(c) 2008 Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

We had an afterglow at church last night and I am experimenting with some of the cookies I want to do for the cookbook. It was a great reason to spend my entire free afternoon baking cookies, right?

These came out fantastic, moist and chewy with a slight crisp crust. To me, that is the perfect chocolate chip cookie, not crispy not chewy but a combination of the two.

Unlike most chocolate chip cookies these are not their best fresh from the oven. As they cool the cherry and almond flavors develop and they become more complex. When they are hot they taste just like good chocolate chip cookies, but when they have had a chance to cool….they taste like ….well…really, really good.

Oh! I almost forgot. I just melted some chocolate chips with a little butter for the chocolate drizzle.  I thought it was a nice touch. Apparently everyone else did to, I made 8 dozen and they were GONE.

Cherry Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 c unsalted butter

1/3 c oil

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 egg

1 tbs vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

1/2 c chopped, blanched almonds

1/2 c drained and chopped maraschino cherries (dried cherries will work too)

Cream the oil and butter. Add in the sugars and beat until fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each. Now, add in the vanilla.

Mix dry ingredients together and add all at once.

Stir in the chocolate chips, the cherries and the almonds. Stir gently but thoroughly. If you freeze the cherries first they will not turn your dough pink!

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on a silpat lined baking sheet and bake at 375 for 12 minutes. Take them out of the oven when slightly underdone.

Makes 4 dozen.

Image: Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I notice that the more kids I have had, the bigger house I have had, the more projects I have going, the more I am unorganized. My family, as you know, has a combined sweet tooth the size of Vermont. Maybe bigger. Therefore, if I want there to be peace , joy, and happiness then something sweet, besides yours truly, had better be available round the clock. Yesterday when I got home from church I was struck by two important facts. One, it was later than usual, and two, I had failed to create dessert for our planned meal. Ack!

With visions of predatory, prowling, wild things dancing through my head, and hoping that my family would be distracted by a football game or something, I began the mental quest for dessert. Bars. Quick, easy, great. But I have done brownies alot lately…hmmm.

Well this is what I came up with. They were really good, moist and chocolaty with the rich marshmallow and cherry topping, and cherry fondant type swirl through the brownie it’s self.. A casual dessert or a great snack.

Brownies:

3/4 c unsalted butter- melted

2 c sugar

4 eggs – beaten

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

3/4 c dark cocoa

pinch of salt

Mix sugar and melted butter. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Beat in cocoa until smooth and then flour mixed with salt.

Spread in a greased 13″ x 9″ pan.

Fondant Swirl

Mix:

1/2 c sweetened condensed milk

1/4 c marachino cherry juice

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 egg

4 Tbs cream cheese

until smooth. Make channels in the brownie batter with a spoon and pour the mixture into the channels. Swirl through the batter.

Bake at 350 about 20-25 minutes. Do not over bake.

Remove Brownies from oven. Sprinkle 2 c mini marshmallows and 1/2 c chopped marachino cherries over top. Put back in over for 5 minutes, or until marshmallows are melted.

Let cool and cut. Makes 2 dozen.

Reminders!

I hope you are playing B5’s Fall Scavenger Hunt

Don’ t forget about the First Annual Boobie Bake-off here and on Apron Strings & Simmering Things. It is for a good cause and you can enter on either of the blogs, and be featured on both at the end. Check the link for instructions and more information! All proceeds will go to Breast cancer research in the name of the winner! There have been several entries all ready, and I am telling you, this is going ot be an fantastic event!!!!!

Post from: Baking Delights