Brown Sugar Shortbread (My Mother's Favorite Cookie)

I like to bake and I LOVE to bake something that is my mother's favorite. Among all my treats, she enjoys Brown Sugar Shortbread the most. I baked these for her before I moved to Salem. It was also GREAT HIT from the bake sale I did for fundraising last year. It is quick and simple to make and taste great. This recipe is from Your Homebased Mom

Ingredients:
1 cup of Butter (room temperature)
3/4 cup of Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons of Vanilla Extract (use pure)
2 cups of Flour

Optional:
Melted Chocolate Chip for Dipping

 

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cream butter and brown sugar together
3. Add vanilla extract
4. Gradually floor until the dough becomes manageable
5. Make two inch logs and place in the baking sheet
6. Bake for 8-10 min until edges turned brown

Enjoy with a cup of tea.

Share with your friends and family; I guarantee they will enjoy them.
You can even sale them in a bake sale, I promise it would be sold out quickly.

Quick and Easy Home Made Brownies Recipe

I am very sorry that I neglected this blog. I was busy at work due to tax season. After the season is over, I took a vacation. After that, I just wanted to relax and was not in the mood of blogging. However, I did not forget about this blog, and it is time to bring my blogging life back again.

Making brownies from scratch scared me first. I am sure I was not the only one. Actually, it is simpler than you think, you probably already have all the ingredients on hand. This recipe is from Lizzy

Ingredients

2 cups of Sugar

1 cup of Melted and Cooled Butter (use unsalted)

1/2 cup of Unsweetened Cocoa

1 1/2 cups Flour

1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon of Salt

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract (use pure)

4 Eggs

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F

2. In a large bowl combine melted butter and sugar together

3. Add eggs one at a time and gently fold in

4. Mix in vanilla extract

5. Sift in cocoa, flour, baking powder, and salt

6. Stir until all the ingredients are well incorporated

7. Pour into a 9X13 inch pan with parchment paper on the bottom

8. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes until tooth pick inserted the center comes out clean

9. Let it cool and cut into 32 pieces then planning to share!!

 

*Above photo was taken at the first time I made them. I was surprised that they turn out to be so successful. This recipe is foolproof. Give it a try:)

Basic Truffle Recipes

Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I decided to share my family's favorite truffle recipe.Valentine's Day equals chocolates and candies, right? They are the perfect Valentine Gift. We make those for gift even it is not Valentine's Day, and sometimes we just make for ourselves. This recipe is from my mother.

When it comes to chocolates, I do not eat candy bars from the snack food idle. I like to buy rich and beautiful truffle from stores such as See's Candies. Buying truffle costs a lot money; however, they can be simply made at home with very basic ingredients. After getting taught by my mother, it was easier than I expected. After I mastered truffle making, I do not have to spend extra money on store bought truffles. 

Ingredients

1 Cup of Semi-Sweet/Milk/Bitter Sweet Chocolate Chips (I Used Milk) 

6 TBSP of Butter

1/2 Cup of Apricot Jam or Any Jam 

2 TBSP of Apricot Brandy or Regular Brandy(optional) 

Coating: nuts, powdered sugar, cocoa etc. 

1. Melt the chocolate chips and butter slowly in a bowl over the hot water with low heat. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. 

2. After the chocolate and butter are melted, take out from the heat and cool to room temperature 

3. Add jam and brandy if you like

4. When every thing is well combined, put it in the fridge for more cooling. 

4. As soon as the chocolate got firm and became manageable, take out from the fridge. 

5. Roll it into 2 inch balls (I recommend using a small ice cream scoop to make all the balls into same size). 

5. Coat the truffle with nuts, cocoa, powder, sugar etc.

Suggested additional coating: coconuts, crush candy cane, sprinkles 

There is no better way to spend Valentine's Day making these!! 

Impress your lover and/or family for these on Valentine's Day!! 

Five My Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

October and November ALL about pumpkin. For the last several of falls, I had pumpkin overload. There were pumpkin smoothie, pumpkin latte, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin rice pudding etc… I pretty much tasted EVERYTHING in pumpkin flavored….


This fall, I try not get into "pumpkin coma". I will control myself to only limit to these following five recipes 

When I cook pumpkin, I like to make my own puree. I never used the canned pumpkin puree, but that would work as well. HERE is a step by step video demonstrates how to make pumpkin puree. It is easier than you think. 

No. 5 Pumpkin Pancakes

The recipe can be found in HERE

I have eaten so many different kinds of pumpkin food, but I never experienced pumpkin pancakes. This is definitely going to my  pumpkin baking list because we all enjoy tender pancakes. This would be a great breakfast in the crispy fall morning. I can't wait to make them. 

No. 4 Pumpkin Cookies 

The recipe can be found in HERE

When I made these cookies with my friends on halloween two years ago, we had marvelous time. The kitchen turned quite a mess. The texture was like a bread rather than cookie. It is not the prettiest cookie, but they do have the yummy fall flavor. 

No. 3 Pumpkin Roll

The recipe can be found in HERE

First time I had pumpkin roll was in Southern Oregon University's dorm cafe. It was SUPER delicious. Then I found it at my local Wal-Mart store, so I let my family taste it, too. They like it as well. I love the cream cheese filling, which is not too sweet. I hope I can make it someday. I never roll cake, and it look challenging. 

No. 2 Pumpkin Bread

The recipe can be found in HERE

Among all my baked goods, my family likes the quick/sweet bread the best. It is perfect warm, sweet, and soft from the oven. We can eat it as breakfast and/or snack. It can also made into the muffins. This year, we gave several pumpkin muffins out. They all wanted the recipe and thought the muffins were the best gift ever.   

No. 1 Pumpkin Pie

The recipe can be found in HERE

My favorite is definitely the PIE!!  It was the first pumpkin treats I had. Before knowing the pie, I did not like pumpkin, so the it opened my taste buds to all the pumpkin world. I was very nervous when I first baked the pie because it sounded difficult. I did not expect it would turn that great. 

What kind of pumpkin do you like the best? Are you going to make pumpkin pie for thanksgiving? 

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Couple of month ago I made Zucchini Bread Bread, and the reaction from my family was unforgettable. When I bake something, they are usually happy to eat; however, this time they LOVED it. I was afraid to make this bread at first because we never cooked zucchini at home before, so I did not expect the it would turnout to be that good. Since I was extremely satisfied with the result, I decide to share the recipe in here. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of oil

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract  

2 cup of shredded raw zucchini

1/2 cup of pecans or walnuts

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour 

1 tsp baking of soda

1/4 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of cinnamon 

1/2 tsp salt

Directions: 

1. Mix oil and two kinds of sugar together

2. Add eggs one at time and then vanilla

3. In another bowl, combine flower, baking soda, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.

4. Scoop about half cup of the dry ingredients and incorporate it with nuts. This prevents nuts from sinking down in the bottom while baking.

5. Put zucchini, nuts, and dry ingredients to the oil/sugar/egg/vanilla mixture

6. Preheat oven to 350F

7. Grease 9X5 inch pan with nonstick spray

8. Pour the batter into the pan and drop the pan on the table for several times 

9. Bake for about an hour until a knife inserted center comes out clean

10. Let it cool, then ENJOY!! 

Here is the in side of the bread. Isn't beautiful? 
It was warm, soft, and mildly sweet. Nothing can be more perfect than home made bread just came out from the oven. 

My Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe

I like cookies, and I love to bake cookies. First time I started to bake, there were trials of errors and I made the kitchen very messy. The more I bake, the better I become. There are various kinds of sugar recipe, and this one is my favorite. Sometimes, I found sugar cookies that are too sweet; however, this sugar cookie is perfect on its sweetness. Most importantly, this is cookie made me famous at Southern Oregon University. People loved this cookie regardless of their age, gender, and ethnicity. 

Tips for making the PERFECT sugar cookie. 

-Chill the cookie dough, so it would not lose its shape while it is baking. When the dough its too soft, the cookie will spread. 
-Measure the ingredients precisely. I recommend to weight the dry ingredients instead of using measure cups. 
-Use the good quality butter and pure extracts. Most of the flavor comes from those two ingredients. 
-Roll out the dough to the even thickness, so part of the cookie will not look darker than the other.
-Constantly scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure the all the ingredients are completely mixed. 

Ingredients
1 cup (227g) of butter (room temperature)
1 cup (200g) of sugar
1 egg
*1 teaspoon of vanilla 
3 cups (390g) of flour
**1/4 teaspoon of salt 

*I like vanilla flavored sugar cookies, however you can substitute any extracts. Sometimes I use almond as well.
**I usually use unsalted butter, so I add it, but if you used salted butter, omit it. 

1. Cream the butter and sugar together
2. Add an egg and vanilla
3. Gradually add the flour and make the dough come together
4. Divide the dough into two to three parts and wrap in the plastic 
5. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least an hour to overnight
6. Roll out the dough into 1/4 inch thickness
7. Shape the dough using cookie cutters  (Be creative!!)
8. Preheat the oven to 350F
9. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges turned brown.

You can even package them and send as gifts. Aren't they cute? 

Enjoy!! Decorate them with sprinkles or color your glaze if you want!! Merry Christmas!! 

My OWN Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Happy Thanksgiving!! I should have write something about what I am thankful for. However I realized that there are SO MANY things I want to be thankful for and I do not want miss anything,    Plus I already wrote a similar post like that last year 

Instead,  I am going to share my pumpkin pie recipe. I love Thanksgiving because I like to cook and of course eat. Last year, I made pumpkin pie for the first time. I made everything from scratch, the pie crust, pie filling and even pumpkin puree.



Pumpkin Puree:
Actually it is very easy to make. You will need a pumpkin, knife, and baking sheet. 

1. Wash the pumpkin
2. Cut it in half
3. Take out the seeds
4. Place the pumpkin face down on a baking sheet 
5. Preheat the oven to 350 F
6. Bake for about an hour until the pumpkin is so soft enough for a knife to be easily insert.
7. Use a spoon to scope all the pumpkin out from the skin. 

This is a step by step video.

Pie Crust: 
This crust is BEST crust. I absolutely LOVED it. It is kind of tricky, but it is doable. 

Ingredients

1 1/4 all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt

1 tablespoon (14 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 cup (1 sticks) (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm) pieces

1/4 to 1/2 cup (60 - 120 ml) ice water

1. In a bowl or food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar.

2. Add butter in and the mixture will look like coarse meal

3. Add ice water gradually. 

4. Gather the dough into a ball and chill in refrigerator for an hour
5. Roll out the dough into a large circle about 9 inch. Make the thickness is even
6. Place the dough on a pie plate. 
7. Chill the dough for a bit before baking. 

Makes one 9 inch (23 cm) pie crusts. 

Tip: Make the butter and water is EXTREMELY cold.  

If you want learn more: Demonstration Video

Pie Filling: 
Most of the food I make, the recipe comes from somebody else, but this pie filling is my FIRST own special recipe. I did use others' recipes for guidance though. I think filling is the easiest part to make for the entire pie. 

Ingredients 

2 eggs

1/3 cup of white sugar

1/3 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp of pure vanilla exact

1 tsp cinnamon 

½ tsp salt

1 cup of half and half (whole milk and heavy cream should work as well)

1. Preheat Oven to 350F

2. Beat eggs and add sugar and vanilla

3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, salt and other spices (if there is)

4. Gradually add milk/half and half/cream
5. Pull the batter into the pie crust
6. Bake for about an hour until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. 

Now Enjoy!!