Can Snickerdoodles really be called a dessert?

I say No.  My definition of dessert requires chocolate most of the time, and in the rare delicious dessert not containing chocolate, there is most definitely a gooey factor of some kind....peanut butter, caramel, cheesecake, or pudding filling.  Snickerdoodles do not have any of these qualities.  I know some of you may disagree.  My husband loves snickerdoodles, and will gobble them up with a large glass of milk.  I have a good friend who will even serve them as dessert at Bunco.
As paradoxical as this may seem, I am not a fan of brownies as a dessert.  They are chocolatey and a good one is gooey, but they are not my favorite.  I don't choose them on a menu, even when smothered with ice cream and toppings, and I do not bake them.  In fact, I think the only good brownie I've ever had was one made from scratch, by a good friend...you can taste the butter in her brownies!
But, my family likes snickerdoodles and brownies, it's raining today, and I have a new 9x13 heavy aluminized steel cake pan to try out, so I decided to try a Snickerdoodle Blondie recipe I found on Pinterest.

(Shiny new pan ready for use)

Snickerdoodle Blondies

2 2/3 C. all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

2 C. brown sugar

1 C. softened butter (2 sticks)

2 eggs (room temp)

1 Tbsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. white sugar (for topping)

2 tsp. cinnamon (for topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease 9x13 pan.  

Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix butter and brown sugar together for 3-5 minutes.  Add in eggs, 1 at a time, then add vanilla and mix until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended.  

Spread evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon mixture over the top of the batter. (I keep a mixture of cinnamon and sugar in a shaker, in my cupboard to top toast, hot cocoa, pancakes, ice-cream, etc.)

Bake 25-30 minutes, or until surface springs back when gently pressed.  Cool before cutting.

The recipe says it yields 20-24 bars....not sure in what world that happens?  In our house, it yielded 12 bars.

The family liked them a lot.  

I gotta be honest...this did not satisfy my craving for dessert...but it may be good for breakfast in the morning with coffee;-)

Christmas vacation must end....

French Toast Souffle

My husband, Keith, left town yesterday afternoon, heading to Temecula for a long weekend of sales meetings for the new company he is employed with.  Sounds like work, but doesn't look like work...Knowing I'd be here, alone with our kids for the last few days of our Christmas break, still dealing with bouncing checks after my purse was stolen before Christmas, and embedded in a spring cleaning frenzy I did not intend to begin, I knew I would be in need of some cooking therapy.  So, I started looking through my Pinterest boards...I tend to pin a lot but often forget what I've pinned and then forget to actually try the idea I thought was so ingenious or yummy at that early morning pinning hour. 

I found this recipe for French toast souffle - essentially a baked french toast.  I've seen these and various strata recipes from time to time, but have never tried them.  I looked in my cupboards, and had everything the recipe required except for the "loaf of crusty bread".  So, I headed out to Costco and picked up the package of 6 small loaves of fresh baked sourdough in their bakery section.  (It was hard not to bust that package open with some real butter right when I got home!)

Ingredients assembled last night, while the kids were watching a mind-numbing episode of "A.N.T.S.", I began my therapy session...

The recipe called for 10 cups of a crusty loaf bread, cut up into 1 inch cubes.  I used small sourdough loaves, produced in Costco's bakery.  I used a 2 Cup measuring cup, and slightly overfilled it each time with the bread.  I ended up using 4 loaves of the bread.  As you'll see, I did end up with dry points on the top of the finished souffle.  I would recommend using less bread, if you want all of the bread to be immersed in the custard mixture.

I put the bread in a 9x13 dish, I had sprayed with Pam.

I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer to mix the rest of the ingredients for the custard which gets poured over the bread:

1 (8 oz) bar of cream cheese (recipe called for light, but that's silly in my opinion)
8 eggs (added one at a time)
1 1/2 Cups milk
2/3 Cup half & half
1/2 Cup of maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

I mixed the cream cheese first until smooth and then added each egg, mixing after each.  The eggs and cream cheese did not blend in well together, the cream cheese broke into small clumpy pieces.  I've worked with cream cheese quite a bit, and I'm not used to this experience.  I think this happened because there was no sugar added to the cream cheese in the beginning (as you would with a cheesecake).  Next time, I may add the syrup before the eggs to see if this will keep the cream cheese smoothly blending with the eggs, and if not, I may add some sugar.  When the cream cheese clumps like this, you get bites with distinct sour cream cheese flavor, which my son for one, does not care for.

After blending the rest of the ingredients, I poured it evenly over the bread and put the dish in the refrigerator overnight to chill.

I set the casserole dish out on the kitchen counter a half hour before baking this morning, while the oven warmed up to 350 degrees.  (Recent reports of Pyrex exploding in ovens has me more cautious than usual.)

I let this bake for 30 minutes, but the middle was still runny (or soupy) when I checked it.  So, I let it cook for 10 more minutes, and knew it was done at that point because the center had puffed up as you would expect a souffle to do, and my knife came out clean, when inserted in the middle.  (This test also deflates the puffy middle)

The recipe suggests pouring syrup over the top and sprinkling with powdered sugar, after removing from the oven, but I prefer to top individual pieces after cut.

My kids and I enjoyed this breakfast, but each of us have definite ideas of how to improve upon the recipe next time:  My daughter, Kaley thinks the custard should cover all of the bread, because she doesn't like the crusty dry parts on the top.  My son, Kellen, does not like the bits of definite cream cheese taste in some of the bites.  I like the crusty top portions dipped in the syrup, and am happy with how it turned out over all.  But, in my next attempt, I think I may try to make the custard a little more like creme brulee (add some eggs, more cream, and sugar), for a sweeter dish.

Our last day of Christmas vacation started out nicely with this warm breakfast, but I'm sure this serenity won't last long....

New Year's Luck

Black Eyed Peas

Black eyed peas, eaten on New Year's Day, are supposed to bring good luck and prosperity in the coming year.  I've known this tradition existed, but am not a huge fan of black eyed peas, so I've never cooked them up, and most years I'm so focused on getting the football food ready for the day, that I forget about this tradition until late in the day - too late to whip some up.  But, I am a sucker for tradition tied to a good story, so this year I planned ahead to start off the New Year with a pot of black eyed peas.

According to Wikipedia (the deepest source I could muster up the energy to locate on an early New Year's morning) black eyed peas were grown in the southern region of the United States as early as the 18th century.  They are still a mainstay in southern cuisine today.  George Washington Carver (an American scientist born into slavery and most known for his work with peanuts) encouraged the planting of black eyed peas because they add nitrogen to the soil.  Black eyed peas are rich in calcium, folate, and Vitamin A.

The tradition of eating black eyed peas on New Year's Day, in order to bring prosperity throughout the New Year, dates back thousands of year, in world history, to the Babylonian Jews.  Jews arrived in Georgia in the 1730s and brought this tradition with them, and it seems to have been adopted into American culture around the Civil War period.  Some sources state these "field peas" were the only thing left untouched by Sherman's March to the Sea because they were thought to be only suitable for animal fodder.  This reference to the Civil War is enough to hook this history teacher into trying out the dish.

So, I bought a 16 oz bag of "blackeye peas" at the store yesterday, for $1.59, and followed the directions on the back of the package.  I soaked them in a big pot of cold water, overnight (8 cups to be exact).  Then this morning, I poured the beans and water into a colander and rinsed them with cold water.  I noticed some of the skins coming off, so I picked those out of the beans.  I'm not really sure if you're supposed to remove the skins or not?  You lose the "black eye" of the bean when you lose the skin...

So, I stopped shucking all of the skins, fearful I'd end up with a pot of white beans.  I poured the beans into my trusty crock pot, and covered them with 8 cups of fresh tap water. 

Then I cut up some of the left over ham from last night and added that into the pot.  I chose the fattier, uglier pieces on purpose, thinking the fat would add more flavor and that my family would not want these pieces on a sandwich later.

I'm not sure if I added enough ham to flavor the beans or not....I also added some salt and pepper, but intentionally kept the salt light, thinking the ham will add some salt to the pot as well. 

I'll post the picture of the finished product and let you all know how it tasted.  Until then, I have football food to prepare and a Christmas tree to take down.

Not enough ham...next time I'll take Ashley's advice and add a whole ham hock to the pot.  Not enough salt either, so they came out rather bland.  But, adding a little tabasco, as suggested by several recipes doctored them up good and tasty.  Happy New Year my friends.