Annual Cookies Trays

Blink, and a month passes by. Or at least that is my excuse. Last I knew it was Thanksgiving, and boom - now it's nearly Christmas. That old adage that time flies when you get old is 100% true. Hell, I would say they padded it a bit because I think time is vanishing. I have more things to do than I have fingers and toes to count and keep track of them all!

In an effort to try and be timely, I made my Holiday Cookie Trays a little early this year. And then forgot to post about them before my vacation (whoops). Bad Panda. Maybe I will get on board with being timely next year...or maybe I shouldn't hold my breath.

Now I could have listed out each and every recipe, like I usually do, but time is of the essence these days and I opted for the link-friendly approach. A few of these recipes are repeats from prior years' holiday trays and a few are newbies. I encourage any and all feedback on how folks liked the selected cookies for 2013, as this will help the cookie boxes improve in years to come. This year's line-up:

• Crispy Crunchy White Chocolate Balls
• Lady Grey Tea Cookies (made with Lady Gray Tea instead)
• Popcorn Cookies
• Piggy Print Cookies (bacon chocolate chip)
• Chocolate Almond Cherry Crisps
• Basil Lime Cookies 
• Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods

By and large, the Piggy Print cookies are a favorite of my taste-testers. As are the popcorn cookies and basil lime cookies. The crisps, balls, and rods are time-saving, easy recipes (good space fillers), but need to ensure they stay in airtight containers or else they will get stale (same for the popcorn cookies). Next year's ideas - homemade extracts and/or syrups, maybe the return of a brittle (?), and as always - more cookies.

Happy holidays and enjoy!

Classic Pumpkin Pie with Bourbon Whipped Cream

In my arsenal of recipes, I have a few favorites when it comes to a basic pumpkin pie. First and foremost, I am a huge fan of growing pumpkins in the garden and using fresh pumpkin puree in any pie recipe. That being said, for some reason I don't always get a good turnout when it comes to growing pumpkins (or I am plain lazy) and resort to the canned stuff. You can definitely taste a difference, though, and of course when you grow your own you know where the stuff is coming from.

Next, I need to confess that I am a lover of simple, basic pumpkin pie recipes. No flashy stuff here (although the streusel topping is yummy). Give me a good, solid pie crust recipe and fill it with a traditional pumpkin pie filling any day. One of the recipes I return to again and again is the Eagle Brand pumpkin pie recipe. Yes, I'm referring to the one on the back of the Eagle Brand Condensed Milk can that most of us grew up with. Now before you start harping on me for not having ingenuity, let me defend myself by saying if it ain't broken, don't fix it. That is a great basic pumpkin pie recipe and given the pie dough used, it can become even better.

For most of the big holiday dinners this year, this is the pie I contributed and always with success. The bourbon whipped cream is what makes this pie shine, although any type of whipped cream or topping will work. I've swapped out the bourbon for rum or even frangelico before and simply loved it. I've tried this pie with store bought, ready to bake pie crust, with homemade ground hazelnut crust, with streusel topping, with chocolate mixed into the recipe. You name it, I've likely doctored up this recipe trying it once upon a time. And the basic core of this pumpkin pie never does me wrong. So I encourage all you budding pie makers to jump into the pool with this recipe and see where it takes you. Happy holidays! Nom nom nom...

Classic Pumpkin Pie Recipe with  Bourbon Whipped Cream
Adapted from: Eagle Brand Pumpkin Pie & Bourbon Maple Whipped Cream

• 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin puree
• 1 (14 oz) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

• Bourbon Whipped Cream
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, very cold
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 2 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
• 1 to 3 tablespoons bourbon

Combine the cream, vanilla seeds, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and bourbon, to taste, in a large chilled bowl, and whip until soft peaks form. Scoop dollops onto individual pieces of pie. 

Holiday Travels: Key West

When the opportunity arose for me to steal a few days in Key West, FL around the holidays, I jumped on it. Nearly 20 years had passed since my last visit to the quirky island and I needed no more coaxing to return than an airplane ticket and the lure of sunshine. Hence I found myself recently in the Conch Republic.

For any of you who haven't been in recent years, it's more or less the same. Just more developed (like everywhere else in the world). The island now boasts more incoming and outgoing flights, a large shopping center, more hotels and inns, more eateries, more, more, more. But the general laid back vibe is still present, and the sun is still shining bright, and the sunsets are still just as amazing. And you can still find at the local watering hole a few kids who moved down to the island in hopes of stepping away from real life and never left.

Not waiting to be bombarded by the annoying hotel crowd, I opted for a quiet stay at a local B&B: the Atlantis House. What a pleasant surprise! A locally owned and family run small B&B located close to the beach and within easy walking/biking distance of the main drag, the Atlantis House was a fantastic stay.

The property had two beautiful suites, both with in-room jacuzzi tubs, free bike rentals, a stellar patio to sit and enjoy a mellow island moment, and I was fed some of the best baklava and key lime pie of my life. If you are heading to Key West, STAY HERE. You can send me a postcard later in thanks.

And being the foodie fanatic I am, I ate my way around the island. One of my first stops: Lupita's. Filling, simple, delicious, Lupita's was a wonderful tucked away spot for some traditional Mexican food and cokes. This was the perfect place to go for an inexpensive feast that was easy on the wallet. Their salsa was muy delicioso.

Another spot I sampled: Banana Cafe. This establishment is on the main tourist drag, had a lot of hype about it's awesome breakfast (especially eggs benedict), and was recommended through a few foodie sites. Honestly, I wasn't blown away. The food was good, but not great and not worth the hype in my book. They managed to get my order wrong, but promptly fixed it, and just didn't seem to have their act together as there was a lot of staff discussions going on (constantly). A few orders at nearby tables also appeared to be wrong and it took a long while to get our dirty plates cleared (pet peeve in my book) as well as our check. Would I go back? Eh, probably not. But you should try it for their crepes - they are also supposed to be amazing. And the view from the upstairs patio is wonderful for people watching.

The shining gem of all the food sampled: Santiago's Bodega. I had sworn I had taken a ton of pictures of the many (many!) tapas plates I sampled, alas I was too busy eating as I don't have a single one. I tried their beef carpaccio, prosciutto wrapped goat cheese stuffed figs, beef short ribs, pork skewers (heavenly), patatas bravas, and more. Everything was outstanding. What I also managed to find was a bottle of some of the best tasting wine of my life. Along with this, I met wonderful patrons at the tables next to me as I devoured some of the best tapas to pass my lips. Santiago's was outrageously good! And well worth every penny spent. I would return in a heartbeat and likely eat a meal there once a day on my next Key West journey.

And last but not least, I made a point to swing into Havana 1 for a little authentic Cuban food. After a delicious meal of roast pork which melted in my mouth and some of the best plantains ever, the owners treated me to some homemade flan (complete with a chocolate sauce rose). Needless to say I was blown away by the food!

And for anyone wondering, they still have flocks of wild chickens running about. Of course being the former chicken lady I am, I chased them about for a few good shots. Enjoy!

Easter Beer Hunt & Cadbury Egg Cupcakes

Yes, I know I am doing this backwards. Most bloggers have their posts coincide with upcoming holidays, not ones that have just passed. Well, call me unconventional because I like to share post-holiday news. Or lazy. Either will work.

Last Sunday marked the 8th annual Easter Beer Hunt at a friend's house. If you have never heard of Easter Beer Hunt, I pity you. Seriously, it's life changing (thanks Charlene for pointing this out). Once you have attended an EBH, you will likely do everything in your power not to miss one in the future.

This year, the gang was coming off of the high of the Arcimoto launch from the evening before (way to go, Arcimoto gang!). Many of EBH hunters were still sore from the festivities the night before and getting to see Nathan Fillion (or in my case, touch him).

Yet I digress. Here are a few of the basic tools for EBH: hammer and nail to make your necklace (imagine flair). 

Each year our fearless leaders spend much of Easter morning hiding beers around a very large yard, which close friends and family then spend the remainder of the day searching out for achievement awards. 

Remember it's not a competition, it's an exhibition. 

In keeping with the holiday spirit, my foodie contribution this year were Cadbury Egg Cupcakes. During my usual weekly hunting, I discovered the recipe from My Baking Addiction. Using a Chocolate Cupcake recipe from Joy of Baking as the base and a Buttercream Frosting recipe from My Baking Addiction, I whipped up two batches of these sweet babies to share with the hunting crew.

Each cupcake held inside of it a mini cadbury egg, adding to the insane amount of sweetness. I had some extra batter left so I made a few small star cupcakes without any hidden treats inside. Next time around, I might use the mini-butterfinger eggs or other flavor to hide inside, changing up the flavor matrix a bit. These are definitely holiday-friendly, easily modified for whichever holiday is coming up next. Enjoy! 

Cadbury Egg Cupcakes 

From: My Baking Addiction

• 24 paper cupcake liners
• Batter for 24 cupcakes (see recipe below)
• 48 Mini Cadbury Creme Eggs (24 frozen) You’ll use the frozen ones inside the cupcake batter. Freezing the eggs keeps them from completely vanishing inside the baked cake.
• 1 batch of buttercream frosting (see recipe below)
• yellow dye or gel
• Large Round piping tip or snip the end off of a piping bag.

Scoop batter into paper liner ⅔ of the way full. Place one frozen Mini Cadbury Creme Egg into the middle of each cupcake. Use a spatula to spread the batter over the egg.

Bake according to the recipe you are using. Allow cupcakes to cool completely.

While your cupcakes are cooking, make your buttercream. My favorite recipe can be found within this Fundamentals Buttercream Frosting Post.

Remove about 1 cup of buttercream from the mixing bowl and dye it yellow.

Assemble your piping bag fitted with a large tip and pipe a large circle around the perimeter of the cupcake.

Fill in the center of the circle with the yellow buttercream and top with a Mini Cadbury Cream Egg.


Chocolate Cupcakes 
From: Joy of Baking

• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 1 cup boiling hot water
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter, or line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

 

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup about two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16 - 20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. (Do not over bake or the cupcakes will be dry.)  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 

Buttercream Frosting

From: My Baking Addiction

• 4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• pinch of fine grain sea salt
• 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in confectioner’s sugar, and continue creaming until well blended.

Add salt, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk. Blend on low speed until moistened. Add an additional 1 to 3 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk until you reach the desired consistency. Beat at high speed until frosting is smooth and fluffy.

You're Baking Me Crazy! Guest Bakers In the Kitchen

It's official. I have finally figured it out. How to have way too much fun, that is. Get a couple friends into the kitchen with you, add sugar and alcohol, then wait for the magic. And giggles. Smiles all around, all night long.

This week I invited two lovely, adorable ladies into the Panda le Chef kitchen for some holiday inspired baking.

As I recently picked up a pack of forest friends cookie cutters from Ikea, I opted to try out Martha Stewart's Sugar Cookies while my dear friend C opted for the Polar Opposites Cupcakes from What's New, Cupcake?

Ok, I may have pushed C a bit to do these ones. We thought they were easy. If you look closely you can see what time the clock in the picture reads...too late to be baking!

My dear friend H also came along and inspired these beautiful little piggies.

The Polar Opposites Cupcakes involved a glorified yellow cake mix batter (made with buttermilk) baked in typical cupcake liners. The frosting involved store-bought vanilla frosting with marshmallow fluff. Sweet as can be!

We used doughnut holes, sweetened coconut, frosted oat cereal, and mini marshmallows to decorate the bears. Next we used piped chocolate store-bought frosting to make the hands, feet, and face. C is amazing with decorating baked goods.

As for my Sugar Cookies, they were pretty straight forward. Some of the comments on Martha's page call for adding more sugar or making the cookies sweeter. I see no need in this if you are going to frost them. Actually, they needed little altering other than adding both vanilla and almond extracts. Very tasty. They make great lunch (as they have been mine for two days running).

Now go find a friend or two and start baking! Make sure to include some mimosas or hot cocoa with whiskey. Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies
From: Martha Stewart

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• Assorted candies, sprinkles, or colored sugars, for decorating (optional)

In large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, almond and vanilla extracts. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; beat until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and freeze up to 3 months (thaw in refrigerator overnight).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment. Remove one dough disk; let stand 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out 1/8 inch thick between two sheets of floured parchment, dusting dough with flour as needed.

Cut shapes with cookie cutters. Using a spatula, transfer to prepared baking sheets. (If dough gets soft, chill 10 minutes.) Reroll scraps; cut shapes. Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake, rotating halfway through, until edges are golden, 10 to 18 minutes (depending on size). Cool completely on wire racks. To ice cookies, spread with the back of a spoon. Let the icing harden, about 20 minutes. Decorate as desired.

Cookie Tray Recipes

As promised, here is the list, plus links, for the recipes for this year's Panda le Chef cookie trays. Please disregard the poor photography - I didn't have my nicer camera and instead used my small travel camera for most of the pics (while covered in flour and butter). Enjoy! 

Citrus-Drizzled Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies - These are it, folks. These are hands down the winner year after year. You can never go wrong with these. They are crack, sweet delicious crack! The cookies themselves are amazing, even without the citrus glaze. But the glaze makes them a whole new experience! And have fun with putting the drizzle on, let your artistic side out and play around.

Earl Grey Tea Cookies - A new addition this year, and a very unexpected surprise. I have quite a few friends who dislike sweets and after trying a few different options, I found this recipe to be very popular amongst them. The recipe calls for low-grade earl grey tea, however I found some AWESOME loose leaf earl grey tea in the bulk section of the local store. As always, I added a little splash of almond extract (a baker's secret weapon for yumminess).

Chocolate Almond Cherry Crisps - By far, the easiest of recipes and one I use every year.  Melt some white and chocolate chips, then mix with rice krispies, fruit and slivered almonds and let set. I used dried cranberries as they are usually cheaper and I like the tartness of them, although last year I used dried cherries and that was also delightfully good. Secret step - add a good sprinkle of sea salt on top while the chocolate is setting, results are outrageously good! The better the sea salt, the better the taste (I sometimes use smoked sea salt).

Lavender Tea Cookies - I adore these cookies. Oh how I love my lavender tea cookies! I skip the frosting glaze (too sweet for my tastes) and of course, add some almond extract. If you haven't discovered the world of baking with lavender, you are in for a treat! For the holiday trays, I made these into little star shapes for an extra festive touch.

Mini Popcorn Balls -  WARNING, highly addictive!! Oh my, I can't tell you how much popcorn goodness I ingested while making these. One popcorn ball for the cookie trays, one in my mouth. :) If you need to do a double or triple batch, ensure you have a large turkey/roasting pan. It makes all the difference!

Hazelnut Brittle - I modify the recipe by usually adding a wee bit more chopped nuts than called for. The recipe does not produce much so I always suggest doubling or tripling when making the brittle. Watch out for under cooking the sugar mixture on the stove; if you do not cook it until it is a beautiful golden brown, you will end up with hazelnut fudge of sorts. Which is what happened to me this year on the second batch! I used the leftover popcorn from the popcorn balls for my homemade Moose Munch.

Panda's Moose Munch - I ended up with the under cooked (hence sugary fudge) hazelnut brittle after doing my second batch. I also ended up with bits of yummy buttery popcorn goodness from the Popcorn Balls and extra cranberries. Instead of pitching all of these leftovers, I mixed them together and presto - Panda's Moose Munch was born!

Annual Cookie Tray & Boxes

Ah yes, it is that time of year again. Panda le Chef's famous annual cookie trays! For those of you who know know about my cookie tray and boxes, here is a little history...

A few years back I decided I was over Christmas... WAY over Christmas. So over Christmas that I revolted and decided to not buy anyone presents. I didn't want to add to the piles of useless junk we all carry around with us, only to have my gifts tossed out the following year in a landfill. After some brainstorming, I decided that I should bake gifts for folks. Especially since baking is a joy and a passion for me! I fiddled around with doing custom baked gifts for people, but that didn't prove to be very efficient in my kitchen. Next, I decided that a uniform cookie list was a good choice, but I didn't want to fall within the conventional holiday cookie tray trap (sugar cookies, frosted snowflakes, and all that jazz). After realizing how good at research I am and how it could be of great use to me for baking purposes, I spent a great deal of time searching for new and fun recipes for my cookie spread. Online resources, cooking magazines, friends of friends recipes, you name it. And after a while, my annual cookie trays became AMAZINGLY tasty and different from all the rest.

Nowadays, I usually spend all year selecting the right recipe blend for my cookie trays. I bake sample runs of the recipes throughout the year and get feedback from folks on which are their favorites. I have found that 6-8 recipes is just right for what I am going for. I typically do a double batch of everything making my total production line in my poor ol' kitchen around 600-800 cookies and treats. It literally takes me 72 hours of good solid baking and crafting to produce my cookie spread. And I put my heart and soul into those baked goods, so it feels incredible to hear the people who eat my treats tell me how much they brightened their day.

Check back later for a full list of recipes on this year's cookie tray as well as links to those recipes. Happy baking!