If you like crunchy cookies, you’ll love these! You bake them in a jelly roll pan and then break them into any size pieces you want for a fun and yummy cookie experience.
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
¾ tsp salt
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
8oz/227g chocolate covered toffee pieces (ex. Heath bar, Skor bar, Daim bar)
– Preheat oven to 325ºF/160ºC.
– Line bottom of 17″ x 11″ jelly roll pan with baking parchment. Set aside.
– Cream butter and sugars together.
– Mix in vanilla and salt.
– Stir in flour.
– Stir in chocolate chips and toffee pieces (dough will be quite crumbly).
– Even pour crumbs into jelly roll pan, then press crumbs firmly together into the pan.
– Bake for 30min (brittle should be golden brown and firm to touch).
– Cool in pan on wire rack.
– Break into pieces.
These are great savory cookies! If you’re not a fan of sweet things, then these are the cookies for you. They’re also great as snacks for guests or with soups.
4 slices thick cut bacon, chopped finely
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or adjust to taste
1 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 stick softened butter, cut into cubes
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons heavy cream
– In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the chopped bacon until very crisp. Drain on paper towel.
– In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the flour, cayenne pepper, butter, egg, egg yolk, and cream. Mix until well combined.
– Add the shredded cheese and crisp bacon to the work bowl and mix on low speed until combined.
– Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured board and roll into a log about 1 1/2″ around.
– Wrap the log in plastic wrap and chill for at least two hours (or 1 hour in the freezer).
– Once chilled slice into 1/4″ thick disks and place about 1/2″ to 1″ apart on an un-greased cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with baking paper.
– Bake for 18 to 25 minutes, or until the cookies are just turning golden abound the edges and the cookies are firm to the touch.
– Cool on a rack until they are slightly warm or to room temperature.
Nanaimo bars are a fantastic Canadian treat. They have 3 delicious layers – a chocolatey, coconut, nut base layer, custard middle layer, and chocolate top layer. These no-bake bars are easy to make and super yummy!
Base Layer:
1 stick Butter
1/4 cup Sugar
4 tbsp Cocoa powder
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 3/4 cups Graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup Sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup Nuts chopped (optional)
– Line an 8″ x 8″ or 9″ x 9″ square pan with a strip of parchment.
– In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
– Remove pan from heat and stir in sugar and cocoa.
– Slowly add egg, then return to medium heat for 1-2 min until thickened.
– Stir in vanilla, then stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts and mix until well combined.
– Press firmly into parchment-lined pan.
– Refrigerate 1 hr until firm.
– Using a mixer or hand mixer, cream butter and custard powder together.
– Add 3 tbsp cream and mix until combined.
– Mix in confectioners’ sugar, adding more cream if needed to achieve a spreadable consistency.
– Spread over chilled base layer and refrigerate for 30 min until set.
Top Layer:
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 tbsp butter
– Slowly melt chocolate and butter together.
— In the microwave – 30 seconds, then stir, then another 10s, then stir (continue with 10s bursts until melted being careful not to burn the chocolate).
— In a double-boiler – place a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and melt chocolate and butter until smooth.
– Spread over middle layer and refrigerate 10 min until set.
Seville orange marmalade is one of my favorites. It has the best sweet and tangy flavor. Seville oranges are often called sour oranges because of their bitter taste and they have lots of seeds. This makes them bad for eating, but perfect for marmalade!
You can adjust this recipe bases on the weight of your oranges, so there isn’t a specific starting quantity. When you get your oranges, weigh them whole. Double that amount and that’s the amount of sugar and water you will need to add. For example, in this video, I have 1.3kg of oranges, so added 2.6L of water and 2.6kg of sugar. It’s a 2-day process to make this recipe, but well worth it.
Day 1
– Wash your oranges.
– Cut oranges in half, ream out the juice into a bowl with a sieve on top (you want to catch all of the seeds and pith), and scrape out the remaining pith as well.
– Place all of the seeds and pith into the muslin and tie into a bag.
– Slice or chop orange peel into desired thickness/size you want for your marmalade.
– Place juice, peel, bag of seeds, and water into your preserving pan or a large stockpot and soak overnight.
Day 2
– Wash jars in warm soapy water and sterilize in water bath canner for 5 min. Leave them in the hot water until you’re ready to pour in the marmalade.
– Have the smaller saucepan on the stove with hot (not boiling) water and place the jar lids in the hot water to soften the rubber.
– Place a couple of small plates in the freezer.
– Place your preserving pan/stockpot of juice, water, peel, and bag of seeds on a medium heat and slowly bring to a boil.
– Boil for 1-2 hrs, until the peel has become translucent and breaks apart when squeezed between your fingers.
– Turn off the heat. Carefully squeeze all of the pectin out of the seed bag and into the oranges, then set seed bag aside.
– Stir all of your sugar into your oranges.
– Heat over a low heat, stirring, until sugar has completely dissolved.
– Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the marmalade to a boil over a medium-high heat, stirring until it reaches a boil.
– Boil for 10 min. without stirring.
– Turn off the heat. Test for set point – remove a plate from the freezer, place a small amount of marmalade on the plate and return it to the freezer for 1 min. After 1 min, remove the plate and run your finger through the marmalade. If it wrinkles at the sides and leaves a space where your finger went through, the marmalade has reached set point. If not, boil marmalade for another 2 min. and try again.
– Remove jars from hot water and ladle marmalade into jars. Wipe off any excess marmalade on the rims, add lids, and screw on bands until finger tight.
– Return to canner, bring to a boil, and process jars for 10min.
– Remove jars to a tea towel and let cool for 24 hrs. The lids will pop over this time.
– Check that all of the jars have sealed properly. If not, process again with a new lid or place in fridge to eat.
– Sealed jars will keep for about 1 yr in a cool, dark place.
1/2 cup Unsalted butter (1 stick), cubed
1/2 cup Heavy cream
3 tbsp Water
1/4 cup Light corn syrup
1 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp flaked sea salt
– Lightly oil a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, line with parchment paper, and oil the parchment. Set pan aside.
– Place butter and cream in microwave-safe bowl/jug. Microwave for 1-2 min until hot and butter has melted. Set aside.
– In a small saucepan combine the water and corn syrup.
– Then gently add the sugar, so it doesn’t spray up the sides of the pan.
– Stir the sugar into the water and corn syrup, just moistening the sugar.
– Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cover with a lid for 1 minute.
– Remove lid and attach a candy thermometer.
– Continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar reaches 320ºF/160ºC and has a slight amber color around the edge.
– Once the sugar reaches 320ºF/160ºC, carefully pour in about a sixth of the butter/cream mixture and stir using the candy thermometer. Be careful as it will bubble up quickly and is extremely hot.
– Continue to add small amounts of butter/cream mixture stirring, with candy thermometer, after each addition. It will continue to bubble up after each addition. (By adding the cream and butter, the temperature will drop).
– Once all of the butter/cream mixture has been added, continue to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the caramel reaches between 240ºF-245ºF/115ºC-118ºC, depending on how soft you’d like your caramels (stop at 240ºF for softer caramels).
– Once the caramel reaches your desired temperature, pour into the prepared loaf pan.
– Cool 20 to 30 minutes and then sprinkle the sea salt over the caramel.
– Continue to cool completely – about 3 1/2 hours.
– Unmold the caramel. Cut into desired size and wrap in cellophane, parchment or waxed paper.
– If not eating right away, you can refrigerate or freeze them for later.
This is the best almond nougat recipe and it makes lots. I love giving it as a gift! Feel free to change the almonds to your favorite nut and add in some dried fruit too.
2 Egg whites, room temperature
3/4 cup Light corn syrup
1/2 cup Sugar
For the second part (nougat):
1 1/2 cups Light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups Sugar
4 tbsp Unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Salt
3 1/2 cups Whole raw almonds, skin on
– For the first part: Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff and set aside.
– In a small saucepan, combine corn syrup, 1/4 cup water, and sugar. – Clip on a candy thermometer and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon.
– Reduce to a medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until temperature reaches 242 degrees (soft-ball stage).
– Remove sugar syrup from heat. Beating constantly on medium speed, slowly pour hot syrup into egg whites. Continue beating for 3 to 4 minutes until syrup is incorporated.
– Spray an 8″ square baking pan with vegetable-oil spray, line with parchment, oil parchment, and set aside.
– For the second part: In a medium saucepan, combine corn syrup and sugar, clip on candy thermometer, and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
– Reduce to a medium-high heat and cook to 280 degrees (soft-crack stage) without stirring. If heat is too high it can boil over, so watch carefully.
– Remove from heat and, without scraping pan, pour syrup over first part.
– Working quickly, stir with a wooden spoon until almost smooth.
– Stir in butter, vanilla, and salt until incorporated.
– Stir in nuts.
– Scrape into prepared pan, and smooth the top.
– Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until firm, 4 to 6 hours.
– Unmold nougat from pan and cut nougat into bitesize pieces or other desired shapes. Wrap each piece in baking parchment or waxed paper.
– Coat a 12″ x 17″ rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and coat parchment with cooking spray. Set aside. – Pour 1/3 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle with gelatin.
– Place sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil.
– Remove lid, clip on candy thermometer, and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup reaches 238 degrees (soft-ball stage).
– With mixer on low speed, whisk gelatin mixture, and slowly pour the syrup in a steady stream down the side of the bowl (to avoid splattering).
– Gradually raise speed to high and beat until mixture is thick, white, and has almost tripled in volume, about 12 minutes.
– Add vanilla and beat 30 seconds to combine.
– Pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet and smooth with a lightly oiled offset spatula.
– Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until set, at least 3 hours or overnight.
– Coat snowflake-shaped cookie cutter with cooking spray to prevent it from sticking and cut out as many individual marshmallows as possible.
– Marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
4 tbsp Butter, melted
1 cup Graham cracker crumbs
1 cup Sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup Chocolate chips
1 cup Walnuts
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
– Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Line an 8″ (20cm) square pan with a piece of parchment.
– Mix melted butter and graham cracker crumbs and press into the bottom of the pan.
– Sprinkle the coconut, chocolate chips, and walnuts over the top.
– Evenly drizzle the can of sweetened condensed milk on top and bake for about 30min or until golden brown.
– Cool on wire rack.
This is a great recipe for a last minute fruitcake. It’s nice and moist and only takes a day to make! Substitute your favorite dried fruits, nuts, and liqueur.
Makes a 9″ round or 8″ square.
Ingredients:
2½ lbs Mixed dried fruit/glace fruit
2 sticks + 2 tbsp Butter
1¼ cups Brown sugar
1 tbsp Corn syrup
½ lemon, juice and zest
¼ tsp Nutmeg
¼ tsp Allspice
¼ tsp Cloves
¼ tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Curry powder
2½ oz Blanched almonds, chopped
¾ cup Brandy
1 tbsp Cornflour
4 Eggs
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
– Preheat oven to 320ºF/160ºC.
– Line baking pan with baking parchment. If using a regular baking pan, wrap some newsprint or parcel paper around the outside of the pan and secure with baking twine.
– In a large pot, bring fruit, butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup to a boil, stirring constantly.
– Once bubbling, add in lemon zest, lemon juice, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, curry powder, salt, almonds, and brandy.
– Simmer for 10 min, stirring constantly.
– Remove from heat and cool completely.
– Once cool, stir in corn flour.
– Mix in eggs, then flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
– Scrape into prepared pan.
– Bake at 320ºF/160ºC for 30min. Then reduce temperature to 250ºF/120ºC and bake for 3½ hrs or until done.
And here is the slightly modified one from the video:
Ingredients:
2 1/8 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 1/2 sticks Butter
1 1/2 cups Brown sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla
1 x 12oz bag (about 2 cups) Chocolate chips
– Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
– Melt butter in 10″/25cm skillet over medium heat.
– Add sugar and stir until smooth, but not completely dissolved.
– Turn off heat and let butter and sugar mixture cool to room temperature.
– Once cooled, mix in eggs and vanilla.
– Stir in flour, salt, and baking soda.
– Stir in chocolate chips.
– Bake in skillet for 30-40min.
– Cool and serve in skillet.
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