Belgian Waffles

adapted from Simple Daily Recipes

INGREDIENTS
2 eggs, room temp
1 cup milk
4 Tbsp oil
2 tsp butter vanilla baking emulsion
1 cup cake flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp sugar

DIRECTIONS

Separate the yolk from the whites of your room temperature eggs.

Combine yolks with milk, oil, and vanilla emulsion. Beat until combined. Set aside.

In a clean metal or glass bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peak stage. A KitchenAid is your best friend for this. Reserve one quarter cup of stiff egg whites.

Turn on waffle maker to let it come to temperature.

In a medium sized bowl, thoroughly combine flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and sugar. Whisk in your wet ingredients, until mixture is homogenous. Slacken batter with 1/4 of egg whites, then carefully fold in the rest.

Fill waffle iron according to the directions, and bake in iron until it has reached the desired color. No one likes to clean up the mess of an overfilled waffle iron.

When you have approximately 1/4 of your batter remaining, gently fold in the remaining quarter cup of stiff egg whites. The last bit of batter is never quite as fluffy as the begging of the batch, and this has prevented me from having the dreaded waffle iron mess.

Serve with your favorite waffle toppings, and enjoy!

Ever have those moments when you see something that would make all of your childhood dreams come true, but you recognize that you're an adult and don't actually need that dream to come true? Well that was me with this Mickey Mouse Waffle Maker… and I resisted, until they came back in stock and my favorite Disney Instagrammer was like, "they're baaaaack!" Well friends, I don't regret the decision because this waffle iron has several settings, and a super even heating element. It's just pure quality… especially with this waffle recipe.
I didn't take very long searching for the perfect recipe. And then I was committed to making waffles, even though we didn't have regular flour OR vanilla extract, but the adjustments to the recipe are now necessary. Cake flour is a little sweeter, and much lighter, and Butter Vanilla Baking Emulsion is HEAVEN SENT. The trick of setting aside some of the stiff egg whites has also been loads of help, because the batter tends to be denser, and will just ooze out like lava if you don't have set it aside to add later.

Sweet 'n' Spicy Baked Beans

Recipe from Brian Ballou

INGREDIENTS

1 lb thick sliced bacon, chopped
3 large sweet onions, diced
5 bell peppers, diced
12 hot links, sliced into half moons
3/4 lb light brown sugar
18 oz BBQ Sauce, sug: Sweet Baby Ray's*
2- 55 oz cans Bush's Baked Beans Homestyle*
1- 55 oz can Bush's Baked Beans Original*
Vinegar (optional)**

*Use whatever ratio or brand you want, this is just what I have always used, and it works.
**If you find that the beans are too sweet, throw in a dash of vinegar to cut the sweetness.

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot, over medium heat cook bacon until crispy.
Remove from pot, and leave rendered bacon fat in pot.
Add onions and peppers, and cook until soft. Add hot links and brown.
Return bacon to pot, add brown sugar and BBQ sauce. Mix thoroughly.
Stir as you add baked beans to mixture. Cook over medium heat until beans are warmed.
Remove from heat and serve.

I used to work at an oilfield chemical company, and every year we were tasked with catering the API Golf Tournament Lunch for the Friday flights every year. I had joked that we needed to do catering on the side, because we'd kill it. This recipe for baked beans will make the crankiest of old men happy to see you. They will also keep them coming back for more, even if they just ate or are about to eat, a crap ton of food on the course. They are spicy, they are sweet, they are delicious. I'm certain I will find true love someday while serving these baked beans.

Roll Out Cookie Hack

Rolled out cookies are always my favorite cookies. There is just something about eating a cookie that is shaped like a heart, or bear, or Christmas tree that just makes you happy!

However, rolling out the dough is the worst. There are so many factors at play that it's hard to nail it sometimes.

• The dough can be too cold.
• The dough can be too warm.
• The dough is sticky.
• The dough keeps cracking.
• The dough isn't rolling out evenly.
• The dough can't be worked too much.

 It is definitely the worst part about making delicious shaped cookies.

Most recipes call for some refrigerator chill time, because for cut out cookies, a lot of the rise comes from butter*, so you want to the dough to be cold, so that the butter doesn't melt prematurely. Premature melting is what causes misshapen, and greasy cookies. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Which is why older recipes always say to wrap your dough in cling film, and let rest in the refrigerator.

Which is nearly impossible to roll out after you've forgotten it for several hours, and it has unfortunately taken on the smell of the pungent onion your grandma cut and chucked into the refrigerator.


Which is where gallon sized ziplock bags came into my life and to the rescue. Instead of wrapping your dough in a ball in cling film, use a gallon sized ziplock bag. The pros are as follows

• ziplock bags are sturdy enough that you can make it as flat as possible without tearing
• you'll take up less space in the refrigerator
• the dough will be evenly chilled
• you will spend a lot less time working the dough
• you don't have to worry about getting caught in a roll of cling film

A gallon sized ziplock will perfectly hold a single batch of my Momma's Sugar Cookie Dough… and single batches of most other roll out cookie dough recipes.

When it's time to roll out your dough, just rip open the side of the bag and pull it out.

CCC: Tried + True CC Cookies by ABK

recipe adapted from: A Bountiful Kitchen

INGREDIENTS
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt, or coarse sea salt
12 oz chocolate chunks*

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Prepare baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt, and set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract.

Add eggs, beating well.

Stir in flour mixture and chocolate chips. Taking care not to over mix.

Using a cookie scoop, drop onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.

Bake for 7-10 minutes on a middle rack until golden brown.

Remove from oven, and cool on baking sheets for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire baking sheets to finish cooling.

*Chocolate Chunks are necessary. Trader Joe's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks are best. Cheap and delicious.

A Bountiful Kitchen will never lead you astray. Her Tried & True CC Cookie recipe is literally the Toll House Cookie Recipe… aka Phoebe Buffay's Grandmother's Family Recipe. However it has all the tweaks that we need for high altitude. Si swears by baking these with a convection oven, and her cookies always look beautiful; but they work just as well in a conventional oven. THIS is my go-to chocolate chip cookie.

Gingerbread Sheet Cake

Recipe Adapted from Serious Eats
INGREDIENTS
1 cup light brown sugar
3 ounces unsulfured molasses
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, fresh grated
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/8 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
3 large eggs, straight from the fridge
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled to about 100°F
5 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour
2 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour
8 ounces buttermilk

DIRECTIONS
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F. Line an anodized aluminum half sheet cake pan with parchment, then grease lightly with pan spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, combine brown sugar, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, five-spice powder, black pepper, and eggs. Mix on low until moistened, then increase to high and whip until foamy and thick, about 8 minutes.

Reduce speed to low and drizzle in melted butter, then add all-purpose and whole wheat flours, followed by buttermilk. Once combined, shut off mixer and fold batter once or twice from the bottom up with a flexible spatula, then scrape into prepared pan.

Bake until cake is puffed and firm (though crust will retain a light impression when pressed with a fingertip), about 20 minutes. Cool in pan until firm, top with cream cheese frosting.

I love all things gingerbread. Gingerbread cookies- soft, snappy, I'll take them all, the gingerbread churro at Disneyland, Gingerbread Spice Life Cereal… so I knew I wanted to find a gingerbread cake that will make my heart the happiest. BUT in all the recipes I tried, it just wasn't quite spicy enough. Yeah, gingerbread needs to be spicy! To balance the of the sweetness of the holidays. So, I used the cake recipe that I enjoyed the texture of the most (the addition of whole wheat flour gives it such great texture) and used my favorite gingerbread spices.

Christmas Chex Mix

INGREDIENTS

13.5 oz Rice Chex
2 cup coconut
2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup light corn syrup
1.5 sticks butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp almond extract

DIRECTIONS
Line half sheet pan with wax paper.

In a large bowl, mix Rice Chex, coconut, almonds, and dried cranberries. Set aside.

In a medium sized pot, over medium heat, bring corn syrup, butter, sugar and salt to a boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, and add baking soda and almond extract. Mixture will bubble.

Pour over dry ingredients, and stir to coat.

Spread evenly over wax paper lined sheet pan. Cool 1 hour.

This is what I will probably eat every day in heaven, or not be allowed to eat in hell. It brings back memories of eating something very similar on cheer bus trips in high school. Only that definitely took out a filling, which then chipped a tooth, and was not nearly as delicious as this. There is just enough syrup to coat every ingredient, while still maintaining that delightful crunch from the Chex and slivered almonds. The flakes of coconut give it a "it just started to snow" vibe and complements the almond extract flavor, and the dried cranberries bring a tart sweetness and color. Definitely my new favorite.

Pumpkin Cake with Brown Sugar Caramel Frosting

Recipe adapted from: Our Best Bites
INGREDIENTS
Brown Sugar Caramel Frosting
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, divided
(2 sticks, and 1 stick)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1 lb powdered sugar

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

DIRECTIONS

In a large pot, heat two sticks of butter, brown sugar, cream, and salt over medium heat until sugar has dissolved, and mixture is combined.

Turn heat up to medium high, and bring to a boil. Let mixture boil for 1 minute, pushing mixture down from sides of pot. Reduce heat, and let simmer for about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat, and carefully* pour into a mixing bowl to cool. While the mixture is cooling, add remaining stick of butter 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until melted.
*Hot, simmering sugar is way hotter than simmering water.

When caramel has cooled to lukewarm, carefully incorporate  powdered sugar until fluffy and soft.

Use immediately, as frosting will thicken upon standing.

Okay friends, this frosting is my new favorite thing ever. It came about because the penuche frosting from my original post with this sheet cake has a tendency to become a little grainy, and is extra sweet. So I found the recipe for brown sugar caramel frosting from Our Best Bites, doubled the recipe, and added an extra stick of butter to give the sugar something to stay dissolved in. I also omitted the vanilla, because my vanilla was lost in our recent kitchen remodel, and I haven't made my way to Trader Joe's to purchase more. The extra butter does require that the cake stay fairly cool, because the butter makes the frosting extra soft and it will melt all over the place. But if you're looking for a frosting that has a warm, caramel flavor WITHOUT being sickly sweet, this is your jam.