Cookie Swap SHF/IMBB: Sesame-Butter and Oatmeal No Bake Cookies

The SHF and IMBB events have teamed up to bring us a cookie-swap.  This event should leave everyone with plenty of sweet ideas for the holiday season.

Sadly, our place in Kraków has no oven.  I have been at more of a loss with cooking that I expected.  The bright side is that I am learning new recipes (though I would really love an oven all the same. . .).

For this event I made sesame-butter and oatmeal no-bake cookies.  These take a matter of minutes to create.  While I have to admit that I would rather a just-baked cookie any day, for those of us without an oven these are a delicious option.

Sesame-Butter and Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

In a medium sized pot bring to boil 1 1/2 C of sugar, 3 Tbl good cocoa powder, 1/2 C of milk, and 1/4 of butter.  Cook 1 minute at a boil.  It should bubble and froth. 

Remove from the heat and immediately add 3 C of quick-cook oatmeal, 1/2 C of sesame-butter (or peanut-butter), 1 tsp vanilla, a dash of cinnamon, and 1/2 C of hazelnuts.

Drop by large spoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper.  Let stand a half hour or until cool.

SHF#10: Honey, Pistachio and Rum Palmiers

Oh honey!  The Baking Sheet is hosting this Sugar High Friday and the theme is honey.  I decided to try palmiers.  You can see what others chose to make here.

Honey Pistachio and Rum Palmiers

3/4 C pistachios (roasted and hulled)

1/4 C caster sugar

7 teaspoons Flor de Caña Nicaraguan rum

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 stick of butter (at room temperature)

2 tbl light brown sugar

2 sheets puff pastry (I used store-bought)

1 C honey plus 1 tbl

Preheat oven to 400F

Process pistachios until finely ground.  In a bowl combine the pistachios, butter, caster sugar, cinnamon, 3 tsp of the Rum, and 1 tbl of honey until the ingredients come together to form a paste.

Distribute half of the brown sugar on a counter or cutting board and place one of the puff pastry sheets over it.  Press the puff pastry so the sugar adheres.

Spread half of the pistachio mixture onto the center-third of the puff pastry.  Fold each outer third in to meet in the middle and press down.  Fold each side in once again and press. Repeat one last time and fold each side of the resulting cylinder into each other.  Cover in plastic wrap and chill for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is cool enough to handle without coming apart.  Repeat with the other half of the ingredients.

Remove from the plastic wrap once chilled and cut into pieces 1/4in thick.  Place on a greased cookie sheet or Sil-pat mat.

Bake 10-15, watching carefully near the end so the bottoms do not burn.  Meanwhile combine 1/2 C of the honey with 2 tsp of the rum in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat.

When finished baking, place one palmier at a time in the honey mixture, turn to coat, and place on a wire rack (with paper towels underneath).  Allow to cool and enjoy.

This was a very easy recipe and it would lend itself well to substitutions and different flavors.  I do not typically enjoy things that taste heavily of honey, but I really enjoyed these.  The rum and boil mellow out the sweetness and leave you with a lovely consistency.

I used Kallas brand unfiltered and uncooked alfalfa honey.  The alfalfa gave a subtle earthy flavor that worked nicely with the honey's natural sweetness.

My roommates really seemed to enjoy these.  Aviva made madelines during the day, so we had lots of sweet things to eat last night. Mmmm.

SHF #9: Pear and Almond Frangipane Tart

The topic for the ninth edition of Sugar High Fridays, one of the many excellent food blogging events, was Tantalizing Titillating Tempting Tarts.  I am quite the tart fan and I decided to take this opportunity to learn to make something new.  I decided on a pear and almond frangipane tart.  I based the recipe primarily on this recipe, though I made some notable changes.  I used almonds in place of the hazelnuts because they were more readily available here.  I also substituted canned pears at the suggestion of another pear tart recipe.  This worked well, though you must be sure to properly dry the pear halves before use. Lastly, per the suggestion of other cooks in the comment section, I cut the almond flavoring in half.

This was a very tantalizing, titillating, and tempting tart and it was incredibly easy to make.  It is also a fairly healthy tart (except the butter and sugar. . .), but with only two eggs, almonds, and pears you fare pretty well.  The hardest part was cutting the pears and keeping them nicely arranged while transferring to the tart.  I used a a flat cake knife to slide under the pears once I had fanned them and was ready to move them.  Having an extra pear half or two on hand is a good idea.

This was a great theme.  To find out what the next topic for this event and others will be, visit the Is My Blog Burning website.

SHF #7: Molasses Snaps and Banana Ice Cream

This is my first participation in a sugar high friday (and quite a late entry at that).

I made molassas snaps with banana ice cream/smootie. Here is the recipe:

Molasses Snaps

Preheat oven to 350 F

In a pan on low heat combine 2 oz sugar, 2 tbl molasses, and 2 oz butter.

When melted and combined through stirring add 2 oz flour, a pinch of salt, and 2 tsp ginger powder and combine.

Then add the juice of half a lemon, mix, and take off the heat.

Proceed to drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with a silpat mat while reserving 2 tbl of the mixture.

Bake for 10 min.

Form into the desired shapes and let cool.

Banana Ice Cream/Smoothie

In a food processor combine 2 tbl of the molasses snap mixture, 1 frozen ripened banana, 1 tbl sugar, 1/2 cup milk, and 1/2 shaved ice.

When combined into a smooth mixture place in the freezer to come together.

Dust the snaps with powdered sugar and serve with the frozen banana mixture.