Posts by Beth

• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 9×9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray.
• Peel and core the apples, then slice to about 1/4-inch thickness. Place slices in a large bowl and toss them with lemon juice and 1 Tablespoon white sugar, until apples are coated. Set aside.
• In a big mixing bowl, beat butter and white sugar for several minutes, until blended and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing in well and scraping bowl afterward. Add vanilla. The batter may look curdled, but that’s okay.
• In a separate bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and allspice. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet.
• Spread about half of the batter into the pan, using an uneven spatula to form an even layer. Arrange apple slices, flat side down, to cover the batter entirely. Top with the remaining batter, using the uneven spatula again to even out as much as possible. Sprinkle turbinado sugar all over the top.
• Bake until the middle of the cake passes the toothpick test, which will be from 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cover pan with foil about halfway through to prevent it from browning too much.
• Let cool in pan for an least 10 minutes, then use foil to lift cake onto a cutting board. Slice into squares. Tastes best warmed and at room temperature. Pieces can also be shrouded in plastic wrap and frozen for later enjoyment.

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• In a large food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add the butter pieces. Pulse until they are almond-sized, then add the ice water. Pulse until mixture can form a ball, adding a touch more water if needed to make it cohesive.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead to shape into a disk. Tightly encase in plastic wrap and let chill in fridge for at least an hour, or up to a few days. Dough can also be frozen for up to two months.

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• Preheat oven at 400-degrees

Prepare pie crust

• Let pie dough soften at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. Lightly flour a surface and roll out dough to a 12-inch circle and transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate. Press into plate to shape, crimping edges as desired. Freeze crust until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Drape a large piece of parchment paper over pie crust. Fill to the top with pie weights.
• Bake crust until edges are turning golden, about 10 to 15 minutes. Carefully remove weights and parchment paper.
• Bake crust an additional 10 minutes to set. Cover the edges with foil if it is getting brown too quickly. Set aside on rack to cool while the filling is assembled.

Prepare filling

• Reduce oven temperature to 350-degrees.
• Line a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper. Place oats in pan.
• Bake them until they are lightly toasted, about 10 minutes, giving them a stir or two during. Set them aside to cool.
• Lower oven temperature again, this time to 325-degrees. Move the oven rack to the lower third of the oven.
• In a big bowl, mix together the brown sugar, salt, ginger, and nutmeg. Add the corn syrup, melted butter, honey, whiskey and vanilla, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Add eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition, and end by incorporating the oats until they are coated. Pour everything into the parbaked crust.
• Bake until the filling is set and slightly puffed, about 40 minutes. Check on the pie about halfway and cover the edges the foil if they are getting too brown. The done pie will register at 200-degrees if checked with an instant thermometer.
• Let pie cool completely on rack before slicing in. Store covered by foil in the fridge or at room temperature. Keeps for several days.

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• Preheat oven at 450-degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add about 2/3 cup of cheese, herbs, and pepper. Form a well in the middle and add the buttermilk. Use a hand to mix everything, kneading and clawing everything together; note that the dough will be very sticky and clumpy.
• Once it can be patted into a round, transfer it to the parchment paper. Reshape a bit if needed. Dip a knife in some flour, and slash an inch-deep X broadly across the top of the round; this is to release steam and, according to folklore, evil fairies. Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup of cheese on top.
• Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400-degrees. If the round is already looking quite brown, carefully cup some foil over the top.
• Bake for another 20 minutes. The bread is done when it is browned and registers 200-degrees or more on a digital thermometer. If the bottom is tapped, it should sound hollow.
• Let cool for about 30 minutes before cutting in. Bread is best served warm; easily reheat slices in the oven later. Pieces can also be frozen.

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• In a small bowl, stir the espresso powder into the hot water until it is dissolved. Set aside.
• In a big bowl, beat together the butter and shortening. Add both sugars, cinnamon, baking powder, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and cloves. Follow up with the eggs, vanilla, and liquid espresso. Beat in the flour until just incorporated. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours; otherwise, the dough will be very sticky and hard to work with.
• Preheat oven at 325-degrees. In a small bowl, stir together the topping ingredients.
• Use a tablespoon scoop to form dough into an round ball. Roll in cinnamon-sugar. Place rounds spaced-out on cookie sheet, flattening each to a fat disc.
• Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes. Let set on cookie sheet another 10 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Completely cool, then place in a sealed container at room temperature.

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• Place the water, olive oil, and sugar in a big mixing bowl, stand mixer, or food processor. Add the flour, salt, and seasoning, if using. Start mixing together, then sprinkle in the yeast. Mix until just combined.
• Keep in same bowl, if desired, or transfer to another bowl that is greased. Loosely cover top with plastic wrap or towel and let dough rise at room temperature until it flattens out on top, about two hours.
• Dough can be used now but is much easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a non-airtight container and use within two weeks. Dough can also be frozen in freezer bags, for up to a month, and defrosted later in the fridge.

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• Preheat oven at 450-degrees. Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to a cast iron skillet and place the pan in the oven to heat up.
• Grab a good handful of pizza dough, or as much as desired to bake today. Oil a small space of counter or table as well as hands, and gently stretch and press out the dough to a rough circle. If it tears, patch with other pieces of dough as best possible. Let dough rest for about 20 minutes.
• By this time, the oven should have preheated. Use a potholder to pull out the skillet. Carefully swirl the hot oil in the pan to coat the bottom and set pan down on a safe surface. Carefully, again, place the dough in the pan.
• Bake crust for 6 to 10 minutes, until it is set. Pull out of oven and add desired toppings.
• Put pizza in oven for another 6 to 10 minutes, until crust is golden and toppings are cooked to desired level. Let pizza cool for about 10 minutes, then slide onto a plate or other surface to slice and eat.
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