Posted by Beth on Oct 27, 2021 in Blog, Bready or Not, cookies | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
A necessary clarification first thing: these Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles are named thusly because they include pumpkin spice, not pumpkin.
If you do want Snickerdoodles with pumpkin, I can help with that, too. Even in bar form.
These cookies look like normal Snickerdoodles with crackled tops, but the flavor is much more complex thanks to that spice mix. These really taste and smell like autumn.
However, these are so good, they are fantastic year-round. As I’ve said before, the things you enjoy–be it food or music or décor–shouldn’t be confined to one season. If you like it, like it whenever you want!
This recipe makes a decent batch, about 50 cookies using a teaspoon scoop, and will be best if eaten within 3 days. Therefore, make them to share with a crowd, or you may experience a Snickerdoodle overdose.
Bready or Not Original: Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles
This fresh take on Snickerdoodles uses pumpkin spice mix, not pumpkin, to create delicious cookies. Pumpkin spice is associated with autumn, but these are so good, you’ll want to make them year-round! Makes about 50 teaspoon-sized cookies.
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cookies, snickerdoodle
Servings: 50 cookies
Author: Beth Cato
parchment paper
teaspoon scoop
Topping
- 3 Tablespoons pumpkin spice
- 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom
- 1/3 cup white sugar
Dough
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 cubes) room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Preheat an oven at 350-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the three topping ingredients. Set aside.
In another bowl, combined the flour, cream of tartar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract. Gradually work in the flour mixture until it’s just combined.
Use a teaspoon scoop to form small bowls of dough. Roll the dough in the topping spices, one at a time, and place spaced out on the baking sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tops are crackled and just set, but not browning. Let them cool at the sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a rack to fully cool.
Store cookies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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Posted by Beth on Oct 20, 2021 in Blog, Bready or Not, breakfast, cake, chocolate, pumpkin | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Sugar-Crusted Pumpkin Cake
This Sugar-Crusted Pumpkin Cake is moist, delicious, and packed with autumnal flavors!
There is a definite pumpkin pie-like vibe to this thing. The white chocolate chips melted along the bottom (hence the direction to grease the foil well) and formed a sort of scrumptious crust, too.
This thing is even pretty. I like using turbinado sugar as a top crust because it’s pretty, texturally delightful, and tastes darn good!
This cake will keep for at least 3 days, covered and chilled, and maybe longer. It also freezes like a champ.
Since this makes a 13×9 pan, it’s probably a good thing it can be portioned out over days and weeks!
Bready or Not Original: Sugar-Crusted Pumpkin Cake
This easy-to-make pumpkin cake makes a lot of hearty, moist cake loaded with fall flavor. It keeps well in the fridge for days, and can also be frozen for later.
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: applesauce, cake, chocolate, pumpkin
Author: Beth Cato
Cake
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Topping
- 1/2 cup turbinado or other coarse sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
Line a 13×9 pan with foil and apply generous nonstick spray or butter. Preheat oven at 350-degrees.
Mix together the eggs, white sugar, vegetable oil, and applesauce. Add the cake flour, baking soda, pumpkin spice, and salt. Follow up with the vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. Fold in the white chocolate chips.
Pour batter into the pan and level out. Mix together the two topping ingredients and sprinkle over the cake.
Bake for 1 hour, or until the middle passes the toothpick test. Let cool at room temperature, then store in fridge. Cake will keep for at least 3 days in the fridge, but can also be sliced and frozen for later enjoyment.
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Posted by Beth on Oct 13, 2021 in apples, Blog, boozy, Bready or Not, breakfast, French, nutty, pie | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Apple-Frangipane Galette
This Apple-Frangipane Galette is like a leaner apple pie. It’s the way to enjoy a sweet treat without going full overkill.
This recipe has a lot of ingredients and steps, but they can be spread out over a few days, if you want. The actual recipe is pretty straightforward!
I’ve been doing a number of recipes that use frangipane, and I get asked almost every time: “what is frangipane?”
To quote Wikipedia, it’s: “a sweet almond-flavored custard used in a variety of ways including cakes and… pastries. …Today it is normally made of butter, sugar, eggs, and ground almonds.”
In other words, it’s a spreadable, sweet, nutty layer of goodness. It acts as the perfect complement to apples in this recipe.
Do note that this is best enjoyed the day it is made. It’s fine, though, to freeze slices of it right away. When you thaw them later, enjoy the pieces that same day!
Bready or Not Original: Apple-Frangipane Galette
This Apple-Frangipane Galette is like a lighter, thinner version of apple pie, made all the better by the rich-almond filling beneath the apples. Note that this should be eaten the day it is made, but it can also be frozen to be eaten later.
Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: French
Keyword: almond, apple, pie
Author: Beth Cato
parchment paper
food processor
pastry brush
Crust:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 4 teaspoons white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces
- 1 large egg
Frangipane:
- 2/3 cup almond flour sifted to remove lumps
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tablespoon apple brandy such as Calvados (optional)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice
- pinch salt
Apple filling:
- 2 medium apples such as Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar packed
- 1 Tablespoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1 large egg beaten
- turbinado or other coarse sugar
Glaze:
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons apple brandy such as Calvados
Make the crust:
In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and chop until it’s pea-sized. Add the egg and pulse until it comes together; if it doesn’t, add tiny drizzles of water until it does–just make sure the dough ends up cohesive, not wet. Turn out the dough onto a big piece of plastic wrap and compress the dough to form a disc. Wrap it up and chill it in fridge for a few hours, minimum, or a few days.
Make the frangipane:
Use a rubber spatula to combine the almond flour, sugar, flour, butter, egg, apple brandy, vanilla, pie spice and salt, making it smooth. Stash it in the fridge until ready to use.
Assembling the galette:
Preheat oven at 400-degrees. Prepare a big cookie sheet with a piece of parchment. Bring out the dough to warm for a few minutes, then lightly flour a surface and roll it out to about a 12-inch round. Move it to the parchment paper.
Spread the frangipane over the dough, leaving a blank 1 1/2-inch border. Set the baking sheet in the fridge while preparing the apples.
Prepare the apples:
Peel the apples and slice to 1/4-inch thickness. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar, sugar, lemon juice, and pie spice. Add this to the apples, and toss them to coat. Bring out the galette dough. Arrange the apples on the frangipane starting from the middle, spiraling them outward while slightly overlapping them. Fold the blank edge over the apples to form a thin, pleated crust. Brush the beaten egg over the crust, then sprinkle it with coarse sugar.
Bake galette for 35 to 40 minutes. Apples in middle should be fork-tender when done. Cool for about 30 minutes.
Make the glaze:
In a small saucepan on the stovetop or in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, warm the honey and brandy until it is loose and spreadable. Using a clean pastry brush, brush glaze over the apples.
Let galette cool another 30 minutes, minimum, before cutting it–a pizza slicer is great for this. The galette is best eaten the day it is made, or promptly frozen in slices to be eaten soon after it thaws.
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Posted by Beth on Oct 7, 2021 in Uncategorized | Comments Off on New Publications Galore!
I’ve had a lot of works published in September and in recent days. Here’s the recap, and expect another post soon–I’ll have more things published in October!
– “Your Cat” at Daily Science Fiction. A tear-jerker about time travel and cats.
– “Shared Pain” in Nature. A story for those of us who deal with chronic pain.
– A story based on the letter H in the new anthology G is for Ghosts, just released on Tuesday, and available for purchase everywhere! My story features airships, floating islands, and spirits who just want to get home.
– Southwest Review Volume 106, No. 3, a prestigious literary magazine, just published my poem “The Exorcist Does a Consultation and No More” in their Halloween issue.
– Star*Line 44.3 includes my poem “Out of All the Experiences.”
– Issue 2 of Black Cat Magazine is available for free download, which features my poem “As if My Anxiety is at Last Depleted.”
– “But You Mustn’t Look Back,” a poem co-written with Rhonda Parrish, in the October 1st issue of The Dread Machine.
#SFWAPro
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