Apple Oatmeal Cream Pies

Father's Day is a great excuse to do some baking; not that I need an excuse.  I asked Dad, cake or pie and he voted for pie.  I figured a standard Apple Pie was the way to go.  I can make a good dang apple pie and I am pretty sure it tops out the list of most men's favs.  After I hit the grocery store to pick up the apples I had a change of heart.  Apple pie just felt kind of, well, boring to me.  I thought I would rather make a apple cookie.  I knew my sister had made some cookies with shredded zucchini so I went in search of a zucchini cookie that I could switch up. 

I found the perfect thing.  I had a recipe for Zucchini Nut Bread Cookie Sandwiches (whew! That's a mouthful and a half) from good ol' Martha.  This looks like one of those Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies Dad used to eat all the time in his lunches.  This one was kicked up a notch...or two.  I subbed out apple for the zucchini and pecans for walnuts.  The luscious cream cheese frosting was way better than anything I can remember that was sandwiched into a Little Debbie. 

What I liked was it encompassed the flavors of the apple pie; apples, cinnamon, vanilla, butter--but in a different little package.  I decided adding some apple pie spice to the cream filing would add a nice touch. 

When I was baking them, I wished I had a way to bottle up the smell and share it with you here!  The smell drew Dad into the kitchen for one of his investigations.  He stated a phrase I have heard so many times, one of my childhood quotes to my Grama, "I smell something good to my nose!"

Now for the recipe...
Apple-Oatmeal Cream Pies
Prep Time 25 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Yields 12-14 sandwich cookies


Ingredients
For Cookies

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Coarse salt
• 1 stick (8 T) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely grated apple
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

For Cream Filling

• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon apple pie spice

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Beat 1 stick butter and the sugars until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

2.    Beat flour mixture into butter mixture. Mix in apple, oats, and walnuts. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
 

I put my apples through the grater attachment of the food processor...two large did the trick!

3.    Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop (about 2 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, about 17 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Keep your bowl-o-batter in the kitchen between trays of baking. 
The chilled dough keep the cookies from spreading too thin while they bake!

4.  Beat together remaining 1/2 stick butter, the cream cheese, and confectioners' sugar until smooth.  Add apple pie spice and whip until incorporated.Spread 1 heaping tablespoon filling onto the flat side of 1 cookie, and sandwich with another cookie. Repeat with remaining filling and cookies.

 

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Aren't they pretty!

I stored these little cream pies in a airtight container in the refrigerator.  I separated them with a layer of parchment because I knew such a moist cookie would stick to the others.  They were good served at room temperature but also just as yummy cold, straight from the fridge. 

We all really enjoyed these and I think I would have really liked the original recipe since I am a big fan of baking with zucchini.  If you want, you could even throw some raisins or dried cranberries in these guys.  I think the zucchini version with a cupful of mini-chocolate chips mixed in could be fun too!  This recipe has a lot of room for playing! 

Yumalicious Dishes!

Kitchen SNAFU...

So in the making of this blog I have had a few all out disasters.  Recently when experimenting with a recipe for S'mores Brownies thinks took a bad turn.  I carried the mess of a dish to my sister's house, where her kids happily ate my ugly concoction.  She asked me if I going to blog about that and I wasn't sure what to do.  I had planned to blog about it until I saw and ate the final product. 

So, I want to know from you; would you want to hear about my kitchen nightmares?  We all have them, even Martha Stewart must have things go terribly wrong every once in a while. 

As I type this, I am snacking on my last smashing success, Apple Oatmeal Cream Pies.  I will blog about that one soon!  Wish you were here to taste this...you will just have to make it yourself!

Yumalicious Dishes!

Ricky Who? -Cherry Lime Cups

In Raleigh, if you are looking for a cool summer treat, you go to Goodberry's.  It is a little frozen custard "shack" with outdoor seating that serves up icy cold yummy goodness!  (Well, except the fancy one in Cameron Village!)  One night we went there and my friend ordered a Cherry Lime Ricky.  This is some sort of drink.  I didn't try it cause it sounded too much like lemonade, which I don't like, and I don't know who Ricky is. 

This month, when my Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine arrived (a must have subscription), I noticed a recipe for Cherry Lime Cups.  They made me think of that drink.  Now, we've established that Dad likes lime things and Mom likes cherries so this seems like a home run sweet treat.  Problem was, could I get away with giving Dad cherries, which he thinks he doesn't like?

I had bought some fresh Bing Cherries from the supermarket and the key lime juice from previous cupcake ventures.  This recipe was ready to unfold without any additional trips to the store.  I love baking something without having to make a "special trip".  When I was a kid, I always knew we had ingredients for peanut butter or oatmeal raisin cookies...just in case I got the hankering and wanted to convince Mom to bake some.

I went to work baking these little tatties.  In attempts to avoid getting dough under my nails, I tried some creative things to press the dough into the cups!  (I used a medicine bottle wrapped in a cupcake liner!)  Afterwards I realized I didn't it tampered down as much as I should so they did not have much room for the lime custard filling.  The crust was so yummy that it did not turn out to matter.  They may have been a little cuter if I had better followed the directions (ie: using my fingers) or used a tart tamper (which I am dying to have--note to self, buy one of those).

In the midst of my halving and pitting the cherries, Dad came in to investigate what was being concocted.  He asked me what kind of fruit I had there (really?  apparently he is only familiar with maraschino cherries) and in an effort to prevent him from not being willing to try them I said, "it is kinda like a plum."  This was not a lie.  It is, kinda like a plum.  They are shaped and colored similarly.  They have the same texture and pits inside.  Am I right?  That answer sufficed and after he tasted and gave his approval, I explained they were, in fact, cherries!  (He still happily ate them!)

Now, on to the recipe...

Cherry-Lime Cups

Total Cook Time 45-47 minutes
Yields 6
Ingredients

For Crust:

·         7 tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

·         2/3 cups all purpose flour

·         2/3 cups crushed graham crackers

·         ¼ cup sugar

·         ½ tspn. coarse salt

·         2 large egg yolks

·         ½ tspn. pure vanilla extract

For Filling:

·         2 large eggs

·         3 tbsp. all-purpose flour

·         2/3 cup sugar

·         ¼ cup plus 1 T. key lime juice

·         ¼ tspn. coarse salt

·         9 bing cherries, halved and pitted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350⁰. Spray muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray.  In a food processor; process butter, flour, graham crumbs, sugar, and salt until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add yolks and vanilla and process until dough comes together when pressed (dough will be crumbly).

2.  Divide dough into 6 pieces.  Roll each into a ball and place in a muffin cup, pressing evenly into the bottom and up the sides*.  Line each crust with a cupcake liner and fill with dried beans or pie weights.  Bake until edges are dry, 15 minutes.  Carefully remove liners and weights ; bake until crusts are dry and barely golden, an additional 5-7 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile, make filling:  In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, four, sugar, lime juice, and salt.  Place three cherry halves into each crust and divide filling among each.  Bake until filling is set, about 25 minutes.  With the tip of a knife or a small offset spatula, remove cups from pan.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.  (To store, refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 day.)

The original recipe called for all flour in the crusts but I felt some graham flour would add a nice touch and better balance the tartness of the filling. The crust was super good so I would do that again!
 

These were really yummy and the crust was tender, buttery, and delish.  I would use this crust recipe again and make different fillings.  You could put in a lemon or chocolate chess filling or even just put in fresh fruit and top it with a glaze.  You could also omit the cherries (if they aren't in season) and top with a little fresh whipped cream and a touch of lime zest as a garnish! 

Yumalicious Dishes!



Cinco de Momo parte dos...Chile Rellenos

During one particularly good restaurant experience at Dos Taquitos Centro, I ordered a dish that I remembered as a Chile Relleno...I think it was actually what they call Chiles en Nogado.  What I remembered was a Chile stuffed with meat, raisins, and nuts.  It was really yum.
I looked it up and found a Chile Relleno to be a stuffed poblano pepper with ground beef and cheese in an egg batter, fried and served with a red sauce.  The Chile en Nogado has the meat with nuts and raisins and a cream sauce.  Mom doesn't really like the breading part on the traditional number so I thought I would try something different.

One of my tricks when I want to take on a new recipe is to see what has been made on Bobby Flay's Throwdown on the Food Network.  Sure enough, there was a Chile Relleno throwdown which gave me some pointers.  The men on the show didn't bread and deep fry theirs and I liked the looks of their sauce and used it as inspiration for mine.

Well, my experiment was not what I would call successful.  I mentioned the disastrous yet creative attempt to blister the poblanos with a blow torch...I think the broiler would have worked a bit better.
The filling was very good but was defiantly not what I think Mom thinks of as a Chile Relleno.  I browned up ground pork with seasoning (cumin, s&p, garlic) and threw in golden raisins and chopped walnuts.  I also put in about 2 oz of goat cheese...it seemed an appropriate pairing for this dish.

I cut a pocket in the pepper (which was a bit underdone from my botched roasting) and stuffed them with the meat mixture.  Then I topped them with a home-made sauce.  The sauce was very tasty (spicier than I planned) with a nice smokey taste and brightness from the fresh cilantro.  It was easy to make and would be worth making again for any Mexican dish I might try to whip up!

To make the sauce...

2T olive oil

3 Roma tomatoes chopped and seeded

1 large onion, rough chopped

2-3 cloves garlic

fresh cilantro

2-3 chipotle peppers (they come in a jar)

1-2 dried ancho chiles (reconstitute by soaking in warm water)

1.  In a small saucepan add oil and heat up on medium high.  Toss in onion and garlic and saute about 2-3 minutes.  Add tomatoes.

2.  Cook until tomatoes are soft and onions are translucent.

3.  Pour into blender (be careful it is HOT!) and add fresh cilantro, chipotles, and reconstituted ancho chile.

4.  Whir this around until smooth...hold down the lid because a hot mixture causes pressure in there and it might pop off!

5.  The sauce will be warm and can be spooned right over the relleno, a burrito, or enchilada!  You could also put it over a dish that is being baked.

Even though this dish was not completely successful it was still yummy.  I learned a lot and may take a stab at it again some time.  I will probably do it a bit differently but I will make the sauce again in a new creation!

Yumalicious Dishes!