Dutch Frangipane-Filled Cookies ("Gevulde Koeken")

Our Avid Baker's Challenge ("ABC") group is in full swing. For our March challenge, the chosen theme is "COOKIES". Any kind of cookies! Due to the global pandemic, I haven't been able to travel to The Netherlands to visit my family. Although we talk often, I miss hanging out with them. I also miss the baked goods.

If I can't go to The Netherlands, I'll bring The Netherlands to me. And so became my baking journey to make "Gevulde Koeken" for the very first time. These buttery and melt-in-mouth cookies (I'd call them pastries, really!) are filled with a soft and creamy almond paste filling. I love eating them the day they're baked. That's when the buttery outer "cookie" shell is still crisply. When you bite into it, it crumbles into your mouth!

Freshly baked Gevulde Koeken, golden brown and delicious!

ABC - Perfect Christmas Stollen

This month's recipe concludes our ABC baking for 2016, and with that, baking from the Weekend Bakery blog. So we went out with a bang: Perfect Christmas Stollen. Soft citrus-y yeast bread, chock full of dried fruit, wrapped around a log of lemon flavored homemade almond paste. What's not to like?

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Croûte d’abricots with Lavender & Honey

The August recipe for the ABC club was the Croûte d’abricots with Lavender & Honey. Although I left out the lavender, it still tasted awesome. So awesome in fact, that I baked this recipe twice: one time with apricots and one time with raspberries.

First time: made half the recipe in a 6" round pan

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Homemade Rondo's

Happy belated New Year! I hope you had a good holiday season with lots of oven trips :)

We're starting 2016 with a new recipe source: WeekendBakery.com. I couldn't be more excited about that. I've baked recipes from this blog before with great results and I'm certain you will too.

The first ABC recipe of the year is: Homemade Rondo's. This is a traditional Dutch pastry consisting of a buttery crust with a sweet almond filling that gets its slight tang from the citrus zest. I love how Rondo's are decorated with a whole almond on top. I grew up on these cookies. I usually got them from the grocery store. Sometimes I'd splurge and buy them from a fancy bakery, eating them slightly warm. Yum! I have to admit that these homemade Rondo's are another step above that.

Homemade Dutch almond pastries called Rondo's

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Caramel Custard Pumpkin Seed Pie

This is the last recipe of the year which means this is the last recipe from Scientifically Sweet for the ABC bakers, or at least for the bake along. Feel free to bake from Christina's blog anytime as she adds new recipes almost weekly (these rugelach and these biscotti look really yummy but that's for another time). It was a delicious ride. I hope you enjoyed it just as much.

For this monthly challenge, the ABC bakers baked the Caramel Custard Pumpkin Seed Pie, or in my case, Caramel Custard Bars with Almond and Pumpkin Seeds. I needed a dessert to feed a lot of people at a work potluck, so I made some tweaks :)

Caramel Custard Bar with Almonds and Pumpkin Seeds

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

***ANNOUNCEMENT***

In 2016 we will be baking from a new online recipe source that I'm very excited about: "Weekend Bakery" (http://www.weekendbakery.com/). They offer a variety of recipes: breads, rolls, cakes, cookies, you name it. Happy baking!

ABC - Double Chocolate French Macarons

This month's ABC recipe was a really good challenge: French Macarons! I had only recently eaten my first French Macaron, from Trader Joe's. It's in their frozen food section. I believe it's imported from Europe. The taste was OK. I can't really say that I understand the big hype around it. Making these yourself seems to be one of the biggest challenges that mankind has ever faced (according to the internet anyway). I did some "online research". Given the many tricks one has to employ to create one of these treats, I was ready for the challenge (and I hope all the ABC bakers are as well).

Double Chocolate *Mocha* French Macarons with almond chocolate spread filling

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Apricot & Almond Olive Oil Cake

This month's recipe for the ABC bakers screams summer to me: Apricot & Olive Oil Cake. Shortly after I had picked this recipe for our August challenge, I ran into some beautiful organic apricots at Trader Joe's. Since they don't last very long, I decided to bake the cake early and not wait till August :o)

Yummy cake!

I've always wanted to make a cake with olive oil so this was my chance to do so. Since I only have extra virgin olive oil, I mixed it with canola oil  50-50, fearing that it would otherwise be too overpowering.

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Hazelnut Rocher Cake

That's this month's ABC recipe. Of course, I had to convert it to an Almond Rocher Cake where I replaced hazelnut meal with almond meal.

Some ABC folks reported crumbliness issues, so I set out to make just half the recipe using my 6" round pan and fix the crumbly texture by adding more egg to the recipe. The weather was really hot so I quickly decided to forego the creamy filling, and serve it as a tea cake instead. This worked out really well. I took it to work where everybody loved it. Honestly, I loved it too and so did hubby who's normally not a chocolate fan. Would I bake this again? With my modifications, you betcha!

Almond Rocher Cake with an apricot glaze and finely chopped European milk chocolate

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Fudgy No-Butter Brownies

I'm late, late, late, but better late than never, I suppose. These Fudgy No-Butter Brownies were awesome! I was skeptical at first but I have to admit, it worked.

The ABC bakers had interesting challenge this month. Bake a gluten free brownie without butter. Mission impossible, you say? Not so much.

These delicious gluten free brownies were baked about a month ago for the Pi(e) Day celebration at work. I baked the batter in a 9" Pyrex pie pan and so the "Brownie Pie' was born :o)

"Brownie Pie"

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

TBB - Luxury Oatmeal Cookies

This week, Rose's Alpha Bakers are baking oatmeal cookies. Not just any oatmeal cookies. Luxury Oatmeal Cookies. What could be luxurious about a plain ol' oatmeal cookie, you ask? These are made with homemade granola.

To be honest, I already have a favorite oatmeal cookie recipe that I've tweaked to "perfection" and have been using for many years. Rose's recipe has several steps, including making your own granola which is one of the ingredients in this cookie recipe. Since the oatmeal cookie is hubby's favorite cookie, I wanted to give it a try.

After I tasted the granola, I knew my efforts weren't in vain. Even if the cookie is a dud, I'd still be extremely happy (luckily the cookie wasn't).

Chock full of raisins, toasty almonds, and butterscotch chips! And oats of course :)

TBB - Caramel Buns

Due to allergies, I would normally omit pecans from a recipe, if possible, and continue my merry way. But since my husband LOVES sticky buns, and he hadn't had any since before we got married, AND because it was our anniversary last week, I decided to put the pecans on one half of the dough, and make these Caramel Buns our anniversary treat.

Caramel Bun Fondue, anyone?

Fully dressed Caramel Bun for hubby. Look at that fluffy texture!

This will be a short and quick post. I've been really busy and additionally I'm participating in a club-level Toastmasters speech contest tomorrow (for which I have to practice just a little bit more tonight).

TBB - Almond Coffee Crisps

Another round of cookies for us, Rose's Alpha Bakers. And what a special cookie it was. The Almond Coffee Crisps looked so plain and casual, but boy, did it pack a lot of flavor. It has finely chopped almond, espresso powder and lots of butter.

Light as air, crispy, melt-in-your-mouth Almond Coffee Crisps

TBB - The Ischler

The Ischler that almost never was. It was this week's baking challenge for Rose's Alpha Bakers. Such bad timing for me! I've been battling a really nasty cold all of last week, I really dislike roll-out cookies, and I dislike sandwich cookies even more because for the amount of work you put in, you're only getting half the number of cookies. I deliberated skipping this week's challenge. Then my brain went into problem solving mode: "are there any kind of shortcuts that can be made?". Well, I could make half the recipe, skip any kind of fruit, use the chocolate ganache leftover from the Eclairs I made recently, and use almond meal from the freezer so I wouldn't have to mess with the extra steps of finely chopping the almonds (Trader Joe's sells unblanched almond meal). And so, my "quick(er)" version of The Ischler was born :o)

Ganache dipped Ischler with toasted and chopped almonds

And then I went overboard with shapes, dipping, and chopped almonds.

Did I mention overboard? It did look pretty though!

Ghriyba - Moroccan shortbread cookie

Ghriyba is a childhood favorite cookie of mine. This Moroccan version of a shortbread cookie has a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth texture which I really love. It's typically enjoyed with a glass of hot Moroccan mint tea :o)

There are many version of this Moroccan cookie. The kind I will be sharing with you today is made with finely ground almonds and golden flax seeds. Traditionally, this kind is made with almonds and sesame seeds, but since I'm allergic to sesame seeds, I used flax seeds instead, which works great.

I challenge you to "go Moroccan" and give these cookies a try. You won't be disappointed :o) If you do, I would love to hear how you liked it.

Nice crackly top!

ABC - Almond Tarts

I love almonds. Blanched, unblanched, roasted, spicy, plain, salted, it doesn't matter. The fact that I'm allergic to most other nuts probably also plays a role in that affinity. This month's ABC baking project is uber almond-y: Almond Tarts from King Arthur Flour. The recipe uses almonds in the crust, and almonds in the filling. It looked fairly straightforward and you didn't have to buy special ingredients like almond paste. If you don't have almond meal/flour, you could certainly make your own by grinding up almonds in a spice grinder (which I find does a better job than a food processor, although it takes longer because you can only do one small batch at a time).

One large Almond Tart. Yum!

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

ABC - Glazed Apricot-Plum Galette

This month's ABC challenge is the Glazed Apricot-Plum Galette. Well, kind of. I made a Peach-Plum-Cranberry galette instead because that's what looked good in the store. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving. The fruit wasn't very sweet so the filling wasn't quite sweet enough for me but it was still very tasty, and the crust was very flaky. I took the galette to a dinner party where it was very well received since the host family doesn't like overly sweet desserts.

Glazed Peach-Plum-Cranberry Galette decorated with chopped almonds

If you would like to join the ABC baking club, please visit the ABC blog to find out more details about how to join.

ABC - Overnight Brioche Braid

My head hangs in shame over such a late ABC post. I'm not setting much of a good example, am I? What can I say? Life happens!!

This month's ABC project was not only fun but also very delicious. The Overnight Brioche Braid from The Weekend Baker was a big hit, not only with me but with many of the ABC bakers. My twist on the recipe was to add a generous amount of orange zest and some freshly ground cardamom to the dough. The aroma is so tantalizing that it makes your mouth water before you even put a bite in your mouth.

If you would like to join the ABC baking club, please email me at HanaasKitchen [at] live [dot] com. You can find more info about our baking club on the ABC blog.

ABC - Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

The ABC bakers are tackling their second recipe from "The Weekend Baker" by Abby Dodge. This time it's a yeast recipe that's a favorite for many: Glazed Cinnamon Rolls. I love cinnamon rolls, BUT... they have to be homemade. Our mall has one of those famous cinnamon roll shops but I have no trouble walking past them and not buying a cinnamon roll that's the size of my head. And with this month's ABC recipe, making cinnamon rolls at home couldn't be easier. They're made with ingredients that anybody can pronounce and they're finger-licking good, especially warm from your oven. Ok, I'll get off my soap box now :o) Let's bake!!

Homemade cinnamon roll with sliced almonds (no glaze) - look at that fluffy interior :o)

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers, please email me at HanaasKitchen [at] live [dot] com. The rules for the ABC baking group can be found here.

Rose's Crescents

Jenn and I both own a copy of Rose's Christmas Cookies. Neither one of us had baked from it much so we decided to pick a couple recipes and bake them together. The first recipe is Rose's Crescents: butter, almonds, and cinnamon sugar. Need I say more? :o)

Rose's Crescents dipped in cinnamon sugar

I don't think I've ever made cookie dough this fast. Everything goes in the food processor and the butter can be used cold. Let the dough firm up in the fridge for a couple hours, or do as I did and put it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

Apple Crisp

That's what was left after eating and giving away a bunch of apples :o)

When life gives you apples, you bake apple crisp and do so often. We were blessed with an abundance of apples from our two trees this year: HoneyCrisp and McIntosh apples. So far I've baked apple crisp three times these past two weeks. I took some to work. At home, we served it with ice cream. Everybody loved it and I even got some recipe requests. I figured I might as well do a blog post about it. Normally I don't measure very closely when I make apple crisp because it doesn't need to be exact, but the last time I baked it, I paid close(r) attention for the purpose of sharing the recipe. I hope you bake it too. It's very easy to make and doesn't require a lot of time. Since we're on the topic of apples, what's your favorite apple dessert?

Apple Crisp - simple, homey, but oh so satisfying!