Ginger Snaps

Mmmmm... Soft yummy cookies with the warm zing of ginger. Perfect treats for a cold winter day. Also great with vanilla ice cream and caramel for a perfect sundae. 

Muscovado brown sugar is my choice for this recipe, it is darker and has a deeper range of flavor than your average brown sugar. Another great option is turbinado sugar.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed - give muscovado brown sugar or turbinado sugar a try
1 farm fresh egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp clove
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup granulated or turbinado sugar for coating the cookies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and molasses. Beat 1-2 just until mixed and turns a brown color. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix until ingredients are just combined.

Roll into 1 inch balls. Coat the balls with sugar. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until the outside is just baked, but the inside is still soft and gooey. Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy warm or cooled. Store in an airtight container or freeze for later. 

Melanie

Saffron Cranberry Bread

This Saffron Cranberry Bread is a unique favorite of my family during the holiday season. The sweetness of the saffron perfectly balances the tartness of the cranberries. This is a double recipe that makes 2 loaves. 1 to enjoy and 1 to freeze for later or give away.

Saffron Cranberry Bread

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups milk
approximately 20 strands of saffron

4 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda


6 Tbsp softened butter
2 farm fresh eggs, well beaten

3 1/2 cups cranberries (1 12oz bag)


Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.

Place milk and saffron in a pan on very low heat. Heat until hot, but not to boiling. Remove from heat and let sit to allow saffron to infuse into the milk.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add butter and mix in. Add eggs and saffron milk, making sure to get saffron strands into bowl, mix well. Stir in cranberries.

Pour into prepared loaf pans. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack 15 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on rack.

Peaches and Cream Scones

I love scones. This is a perfect way to use the peaches that are in abundance at local farmer's markets right now. I like to use the really rich and delicious heavy cream from Calder Dairy, a local dairy with wonderful milk products.

The key to wonderful texture in the scones is gentle mixing of the ingredients. Mix until just combined. Over mixing activates the gluten and changes the texture of the scones.

Scones

4 cups flour
1/2 cup Brown sugar or turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter chilled and cut into 1/4" pieces
3 peaches, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Glaze:

4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or knife until mixture is crumbly. Add peaches and stir until coated. Add cream and mix until ingredients are just combined.

Divide dough in half, set 1/2 aside. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and pat into a circle. Cut into 8 wedges.  Repeat with other 1/2 of dough.

Place scones onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until scones are just turning golden. Remove from oven.

For Glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla until smooth. Glaze scones and enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls Farm Style

These cinnamon rolls are so wonderful!

Making cinnamon rolls requires a time commitment (about 3 hours from start to finish for this recipe.) But they are straight forward to make using a step by step process. They are a fun way and delicious way to get into making yeast breads. This recipe is adapted from a recipe in the book, Baking Bread by Beth Hensperger. I adjusted the recipe to make my perfect cinnamon roll. I like to have the nuts ground to a coarse meal consistency, providing for a consistent texture for the filling. I use a food processor to grind the nuts. If you prefer more crunch, using chopped nuts also works in this recipe. I also love the way cream cheese frosting completes these cinnamon rolls.

I use eggs from my free-range chickens. Their yolks are a deeper yellow than store bought eggs and give a yellow tint to the dough.

Cinnamon Rolls - Farm Style

Dough:

4 large farm fresh eggs

1 ½ cups warm water  (105 to 110f)

¼ cup sugar or honey

2 Tbsp (or 2 packets) active dry yeast

7 ½ to 8 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter at room temp cut into pieces

Filling:

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

1 1/2 cups ground pecans or walnuts

1/3 cup ground cinnamon

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted

Frosting:

1 8oz package cream cheese at room temp (I like Cabot brand)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter at room temp

2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 Tbsp water

11.  In a medium bowl, beat eggs until light and foamy. Stir in the warm water and honey or sugar. Add yeast and stir  until it dissolves. Set aside until foamy, about 15 minutes.

22.     In a large bowl, mix 7 ½ cups of flour, salt and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until a coarse meal is formed. A mixer with the paddle attachment works well for this. Add the egg mixture. Mix or stir until the soft dough just clears the sides of the bowl.

33.     Place the dough onto a work surface and knead about 3 minutes until smooth and springy. Add small amounts of flour as needed to prevent sticking. Cover and let rest 10 minutes to allow the gluten to relax.

44.     Filling: In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, ground nuts, and cinnamon. Melt butter in a second bowl or pot.

55.     Divide the dough in half. Roll one half into a large rectangle, ½ inch thick. Brush the surface with one half of the melted butter. Spread one half of the filling evenly over the rectangle. Roll up from the long side like a jelly roll. Pinch seams to seal. Slice into 1 inch pieces. Repeat with second half. Place at least 2 inches apart on greased or parchment lined baking sheets. Cover loosely with towels or plastic wrap. Let rise at room temp until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  Pre-heat oven to 350f.

66.     Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, slightly underdone is better than overdone.

77.     Frosting: while the rolls are baking, in a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Add vanilla and 1 to 2 Tbsp water. Beat until light and fluffy. This should be like soft buttercream icing.

88.     Remove rolls from oven and using a metal knife or spatula, frost after 5 minutes. Let cool completely on pans. Enjoy fresh or freeze individually for later.

Hot Chocolate Mix Farm Style

Hot Chocolate Mix:

I love hot chocolate, especially mixed with coffee, for a home made mocha. I wanted a mix that was free from the additives in most commercial mixes and did a recipe search online. I started with a recipe from Alton Brown. It was overly sweet, so I did some tweaking and came up with my personal Farm Style recipe.

This is a grown up hot chocolate. It has a rich, complex flavor and is just sweet enough without being overpowering. I recommend trying different types of powdered milk til you find your favorite. I personally like buttermilk powder the best, it provides a slightly acidic flavor that complements the cocoa nicely.

Ingredients:

3 cups Powdered Buttermilk (Whole or fat-free powdered milk may be substituted)
1 1/2 cups Cocoa Powder
1 cup Turbinado Sugar
2 tsp Corn Starch
1/2 tsp Salt (may omit)
1/4 tsp Cayenne Powder

Mix all ingredients together until completed combined. Store in an airtight container.

Place 3 or 4 Tablespoons into a mug. Pour in hot milk, hot water or coffee. Mix well and enjoy!

Powdered milk options include non-fat or fat free, whole milk, and buttermilk. Non fat comes in instant (which dissolves quicker) and regular, it has a longer shelf life because it doesn't contain fat. Whole milk makes a more filling cup. I really like the flavor that powdered buttermilk adds to the mix.

Turbinado sugar is widely available under the brand name "sugar in the raw." It is a less processed sugar and still contains the molasses that is removed in refined sugar, providing a more complex flavor. The crystals are larger and may take a bit more stirring to fully dissolve. Regular or powdered sugar may be used instead.