Gingberbread Biscotti

"Oooooooh the weather outside is frightful, but the fiiire is so deliiightful..." 

Well, okay...the weather outside isn't frightful, and a fire would only be sort of delightful.  I'm trying to get us in the holiday spirit with our little Charlie Brown christmas trees, foods, and music.  

This was a really good recipe!  I made swirly patterns on mine before I baked them, and that added a nice touch.  They're great by themselves, or you could dip them in milk\white chocolate, or drizzle a little frosting across the tops.

Ingredients:

 - 1\3 cup vegetable oil

 - 1 cup white sugar

 - 3 eggs

 - 1\4 cup molasses 

 - 2 1\4 cup all-purpose flour

 - 1 cup wheat flour

 - 1 tablespoon baking powder

 - 1 1\2 tablespoon ginger

 - 3\4 tablespoon cinnamon

 - 1\2 tablespoon ground cloves

 - 1\4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375º, and grease a cookie sheet.

2. In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, eggs, and molasses. In another bowl, combine flours, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; mix into egg mixture to form a stiff dough.

3.  Divide dough in half, and shape each half into a roll the length of the cookie. Place rolls on cookie sheet, and pat down to flatten the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. 

4.  Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool. 

5.  When cool enough to touch, cut into 1/2 inch thick diagonal slices. Place sliced biscotti on cookie sheet, and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or until toasted and crispy.      

  

Coffee Cake

Yum.  Yum, yum, yum!  That's what I have to say about this coffee cake.  I find alot of good recipes online, and this one didn't disappoint!  Just the cake itself was great - buttery and moist.  But you add the cinnamon sugar mixture on top, and immediately it turns into coffee cake-y goodness!                         

Ingredients:

Cake:
•  1 1\2 stick butter, softened                
•  2 cups white sugar
•  3 cups flour, sifted
•  4 tsp baking powder
•  1 tsp salt
•  1 1\4 cup whole milk (or low-fat if it makes you feel better!)
•  3 whole egg whites, beaten until stiff

Topping:

•  1 1\2 stick butter, softened                              
•  3\4 cups flour
•  1 1\2 cups brown sugar
•  2 tb cinnamon
•  1 1\2 cups pecans, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º.  Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and set aside.  Beat egg whites until stiff, and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar.  Add flour mixture and milk alternately until combined.  Don't overbeat.  Fold in egg whites with a spatula.  Spread in well greased 9x13 pan (or larger), one with high sides (If you don't have a high-sided pan, it might be a good idea to spread foil in the bottom of your oven).  

In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter just until crumbly, and sprinkle over the top.  

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, or until the center is no longer jiggly.  

Enjoy!

Photo via The Pioneer Woman

Note: Beating the egg whites by hand doubles as a great arm workout.  I ended up pacing around the kitchen, whisking as fast as I could, urging them to hurry up. 

Popcorn balls

What says "fall" more than popcorn balls and caramel apples?  I have no idea.  I made these last night, and they were good!  I cooked the syrup mixture just a tiiiny bit too long, but if I hadn't, they would've been better.  Well, obviously.  

Ingredients:
- 1 cup white sugar
-  1\2 cup light corn syrup
- 1\4 cup butter
- 2 tablespoons water
- salt to taste
- 1\2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 10 cups popped popcorn

Directions:

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, corn syrup, butter and water. Stir and heat to hard-crack stage or 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Remove from heat, add vanilla; mix well. 
2. Pour slowly over popped popcorn while stirring. Wait 5 minutes and shape into 3 inch round balls. 
3. After eating, spend some time flossing or digging chunks out of your teeth.   :)