summertime treats :: raspberry lemon pops!

i saw this fabulous post on the blog Dessert First. and i was inspired to try the recipe. who wouldn't be!? looks yum, right?

my son has been ice cream obsessed lately, so i thought it was time to try a healthier version. that way i could say yes a little more often! i tweaked the recipe a bit. notes are below. but i have to say these were a SUPER yummy treat. indeed.


from Dessert First (hopefully it's okay to reprint!)

You can place the yogurt into a cheesecloth-lined strainer or colander and place over a bowl. Fold the cheesecloth around the yogurt and place the whole setup into the refrigerator overnight to let the yogurt drain. You will need more than 3 cups of regular yogurt to yield 3 cups after it's been strained. Or, you can use Greek yogurt, which has already been strained and is thick and creamy. The more fat the yogurt contains, the richer the frozen result will be, naturally, but the 2% yogurt I used yielded quite excellent results and it's not necessary to use full-fat yogurt (not to mention it might negate its touted healthfulness!)


3 cups plain strained regular yogurt, or Greek yogurt - i used the full-fat. i couldn't help myself.

1 to 1 1 /2 cups sugar (to taste) - i used less sugar. trying to keep it somewhat healthy for the boy. i went with 1/2 cup and it was plenty sweet.

1 cup lemon juice -i knew my son would not like it if i went too lemony so i cut this to about half a cup.

1 tablespoon lemon zest -again, cut this down a bit. for the kids' sake.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir together until the sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate the mixture for a couple of hours until it is thoroughly chilled. - there is no mention of how many raspberries to use, so we just added them until we liked the color. we mixed them right in, so they were not whole. the boy enjoyed so mashing them up!

Freeze in an ice cream maker per manufacturer's instructions.

When it has reached the consistency of soft serve, you can either scrape into a container and freeze overnight, or divide among popsicle molds and then freeze overnight. You can swirl the raspberries into the mixture before you freeze the yogurt. If you are making popsicles, you may want to cut the raspberries into pieces so you don't have large frozen berries in the pops.

evidence of the yumminess!

thanks Dessert First!

cookie carnival :: july (a bar!)

for july's cookie carnival we'll be making Blackberry Bars! for info on joining up, click here.

happy baking!

cookie carnival :: june round-up!

it's so exciting to have so many people participate this month! thanks to each and every one of you who baked the Doodles. i so much enjoyed getting your emails and photos.

so, let's get to it! i have to say. . . i enjoyed the cookies, but i wasn't all ga-ga over them. i know people who think they are the king of cookies. and they're good. they are a solid, real, honest-to-goodness cookie. but, at the heart, they are just a sugar cookie. which isn't a bad thing. it's just sorta. . . so-so. if i'm going to have a sugar cookie i prefer the Vanilla Bean Thins we did back in April. i think those had a little more character and were sort of more sophisticated, i guess. that being said, i'd make the doodles again. they were tasty with coffee, that's for sure!


here is the recipe brought to you by martha stewart.

INGREDIENTS
* 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons cream of tartar (what the frack is cream of tartar, anyway?)
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
* 1/2 cup pure vegetable shortening
* 1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
* 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
* 2 large eggs

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with one rack in top third and one rack in bottom third of oven. Line baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
2. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter, shortening, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.


3. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon. Use a small (1 1/4-ounce) ice-cream scoop to form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 5 minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. Store in an airtight container up to 1 week.

and here's all the folks who participated. if you sent me a photo, it's placed *above* your entry.


first up (in no particular order) is sihan of Fundamentally Flawed. you must visit her blog and read her post if for no other reason than the baby tigger situation. go see if you wanna know what i'm talking about.


next is jen of Delightful Delicacies. check her post for the story of how she was sung to from a conga line! ha! fun.

megan of My Baking Adventures baked along with us and she wonders what i think when i get her emails (she's an infamous recipe fiddler). i usually think, "hooray! megan's getting creative!" she added coffee to her doodles. check out her post to read how that went for her.

brook from And a Cookie For Dessert (great blog name) joined in and baked up some snickerdoodly goodness. here is a bit of what she had to say about this recipe, "Nice and chewy with the perfect mix of sugar and spice from the cinnamon. " read the rest of her post here.


pam of Cookies with Boys is up next. clearly she is a cookie enthusiast and will no doubt fit right in here. here's a little snippet of her post. "They smelled really enticing and they looked alluring when they came out of the oven." read the rest here.

stephanie from Confessions of a City Eater is next and she has the most beautiful pink ribbon'd cookies ever. here's a bit of her post, "This particular recipe was great...the cookies were crispy and chewy at the same time. Within 10 minutes of them being out of the oven, we ate half of them." read the rest of her post here.

stacy of Simply Tasty played along this month and her post cracks me up because it goes into detail about her aversion to shortening. and i'm right there with her. no likee. read her post here.

temperance of High on The Hog didn't get the crackly tops she was looking for, but seemed to like the cookies despite their flaw. read her post here.


hoooooraaaaay! kitty of Boring History Girl has participated quite a few times and and hasn't had an easy time of it, but this time she KICKED snickerdoodle ass! go, kitty. we knew you could do it. check her post here.


afoneleri of Camcupcakes had never heard of a Snickerdoodle before, but ended up cranking out some good little treats. read her post here.

april of Abby Sweets got to give her hubby a treat with these--his fave. read her post here.

holly of PheMOMenon made hers a little different and added M&M's! yum! i love that holly participates in my little food event. her emails are delightful to get. she's always cheerful. read her post here.


hannah of Ma Baker's Blog has also never had a snickerdoodle. but she baked herself up a fine batch of them! read her post here.

*side note* we need to get some guys baking with us, don't we? looooootta gals in here....

megan of Megan's Cookin' had this to say, "These cookies were so soft and chewy. I'm eating one right now for breakfast research. When I asked the hubby for his opinion, he said "Mmmm, there so chewy and, and, Mmmmm!" she's always a fun one to have carnivaling with us. read her post here.


Mari of Mevrouw Cupcake wins for most fun photography. she also dug up some info on the usage of cream of tartar in the recipe as well as some history on the Snickerdoodle. fascinating! read her post here.

carrie of Carrie's Sweet Life is new to the carnival and i certainly hope she sticks around. read her post here.



hygeia of Phamished had this to say, "Snickerdoodles are a great cookies to share. They are easy to make, no special ingredients are required, and everybody likes them!" read the rest of her post here.


and finally cat of creating with cattitude (LOVE the blog name) joined in this month had this to say, "Today's cookie has a twist, it has been dunked into a cinnamon-sugar mixture thus calling it the Snickerdoodle." read the rest of her post here.

that's all folks! soon, i'll be emailing you with the cookie for july. until then, something i have been wondering. . . in your mind, would a bar be fair game for a cookie carnival? i'm thinking it is (especially given that many cookbooks lump them together in one section-- cookies and bars). what do you think?

cookie carnival :: june (you had your say)

well folks, it's decided! the majority vote for SNICKERDOODLES! so, that's what we shall make. Carnivalers, check your inboxes for the recipe and off we go!

i expect that some will bow out this month as some of you felt strongly about NOT doing the doodles. so, to you i say, see you in july.......i hope!

and we'll do the macaroons and double chocolate ones eventually!

cookie carnival :: april round-up!

it's time!

The Cookie for April was a lovely, delicate little thing called a Vanilla Bean Thin. i have to say, i really enjoyed this cookie a LOT. however, it's possible i enjoyed the dough even more. so very tasty. i'm a sucker for just about anything that includes vanilla bean. i'm not a big fan of cheesecake, but my good friends makes a kick-ass one vanilla bean cheesecake and when that gets served, i'm ALL over it.

some folks had a little trouble with crumbly dough. i was afraid i'd run into that, but i really didn't. these cookies were pretty easy for me to make. and they tasted so good with english breakfast tea. or a bit of coffee. or just plain milk.

i had my son in the kitchen whipping these up with me, of course, and he had a ball. i chose this recipe so that he could roll and cut. he gets so proud when he brings out his little rolling pin along side mine. we have fun together getting all doughy.

so, without further ado, here's the recipe, the photos and links to all the other carnivalers posts!

VANILLA BEAN THINS

Gourmet Magazine Makes about 4 dozen cookies.
Ingredients
1 fresh (moist) vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg yolk

Special equipment:
a 2-inch cookie cutter (we used a fluted diamond-shaped one)

Preparation
Make vanilla sugar:
Scrape vanilla seeds from pod with tip of a knife into confectioners sugar. Halve pods crosswise and bury in sugar. Cover tightly and let stand at least 24 hours and up to 1 month.

Make cookies:
Discard pods and transfer vanilla sugar to a food processor. Add flour, salt, and baking powder and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse just until mixture is in pea-size lumps. Add yolk and pulse just until a dough forms. Gather dough into 2 balls, then flatten into 2 (5-inch) disks and chill, each disk wrapped well in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325.

Roll out 1 disk (keep the other chilled) to less than 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cut out shapes with floured cookie cutter and chill scraps. Arrange cookies 1/2 inch apart on a buttered large baking sheet. Make more cookies with remaining dough, rerolling scraps (but only once).

Bake cookies in batches in middle of oven until edges are pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Cooks' notes:
::Dough can be chilled up to 2 days.
::Cookies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature 1 week.

first in the round-up is kitty at boring history girl. she's a funny one. she battled the crumbly dough and ended up the winner. you go, kitty!

next is megan at megan's cookin'. she went a different way and cut her cookies with a knife as opposed to using a cutter. and they look elegant!

on to mari with her jaw-dropping-awesome photography. (this is hers with the cookies tumbling from the jar). i've been a lurker on her blog for a while, and i love what she does, so i was all flattered that she wanted to join up with the carnival. check her post here.

then there's megan of my baking adventures. she also battled the crumbly dough, but persevered and made a great-looking batch of cookies. go megan!

last, but by no means least is sihan from walking in the rain, who battled mother nature to get these cookies made! that's right. carnivaling cooks don't let anything get them down. read about it here. and check out some more beautiful photography. . . here's sihan's cookie photo.

thanks to everyone who participated this month! i hope we continue to grow and maybe get everyone who's signed up to bake in the same month. it would be so fun!

stay tuned for a little something different for the May Carnival!

anticipating summer :: ICE CREAM!

today it's going to reach 70 degrees here in my corner of New England. though we in these parts know it's just a tease, it does mean that Spring had actually, officially arrived. the tulips are out, the crocuses have croaked, the daffodils are ta-tooting (don't they look like little trumpets, announcing that Spring is here?) and we're feeling frisky.

for my son, this means that "summer, must be coming next week!" and summer means ice cream. and for us, that's something to get excited about. for him it's like Christmas. or even better.

so, today, in honor of the weather and thoughts of summer, i bring you my favorite ice cream recipe. FRESH STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM. it's yummy. really yummy.

it always amazes me when i make my first batch of ice cream in the summer (or spring) how much better it is than *any*thing you find in the market. it's just so good.

so, get our your ice cream makers everyone! it's time for some strawberry lovin'.

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM

ingredients:

1 cup heavy/whipping cream
1/2 cup half & half
2/3 cup sugar
5 large egg yolks
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled (from one 16-ounce container)

instructions:

1. combine cream and half & half in heavy medium saucepan. stir sugar, yolks and corn syrup in medium bowl. bring cream mixture to simmer. gradually stir cream mixture into yolk mixture. return mixture to saucepan.
2. using wooden or rubber spatula, stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spatula when finger is drawn across, about 10 minutes (do not boil). transfer custard to bowl. cover and refrigerate custard until cold.
3. puree strawberries in food processor. gradually blend in custard. strain custard through fine-mesh sieve.

4. process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. transfer to container and freeze until firm. if you want to jazz it up a bit, mix in some chocolate chips before you put it in the freezer. that's some extra good yum.

that's all it takes, friends.

cookie carnival :: march round-up!

we have carnival'd! not as many people who signed on came through, but we still had a great month and we'll hopefully see them in april. i'm just so thrilled that folks wanted to do this with me at all!

so, on to this month's cookie. i have to say, they were kind of pain in patootie to make, but dang, they are TASTY little buggers. really tasty. worth the bit of frustration. . .

of course i had my little kitchen helper on hand to help me thru it. he, as usual, had to make "my OWN cookies, mommy!" so, i had support. the trouble comes when rolling the log. the dough tends to crack and crumble a bit, so i had to sort of do repair work as i rolled, pinching the dough back together. i have no idea why this happened--i'm not a skilled enough baker. but, i wonder if it has to do with the temperature of the dough or the flour to fat ratio.



RASPBERRY SWIRL COOKIES
Bon Appetit | February 2004

Makes 2 dozen.

ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts

preparation
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until blended. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture and beat until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Flatten and shape into rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Soften dough slightly before rolling out.)

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13x10-inch rectangle (about 1/4 inch thick). Mix jam and coconut in small bowl to blend. Spread over dough, leaving 1/2-inch plain border. Sprinkle nuts evenly over jam mixture. Starting at one long side, roll up dough jellyroll style into 13x2 1/2-inch log. Wrap in plastic and chill 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Unwrap cookie log; cut 1/2 inch off each end and discard. Cut remaining log crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Arrange rounds, cut side down, on prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart; reshape into neat rounds, if desired. Bake cookies until edges and bottom are golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and cool.

holly from pheMOMenon played along this month. here's her post. she and her son seemed to have no trouble making them. . .or eating them!

also joining this month was kitty from boring history girl. here's her post. she had a heap of trouble with the recipe, but she's got a good sense of humor about it. check out her post for the sorta sad pictures of her cookies! sorry, kitty! it'll be better next time, i'm sure!

and then there's cara from the picky apple. she had a hard time of it, too--due to sleep deprivation. believe me, cara, i've been there! many times. check out her funny post here.

lastly (but not leastly) we have mari at mevrouw cupcake who expertly thought to add vanilla bean to the dough. umm....YUM! check her post here.

if you'd like to join april's carnival, we would love to have you! drop me an email--kate AT thecleanplateclub DOT net.

thanks to everyone who participated!