Daring Bakers Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca. Nanaimo Bars are a classic Canadian dessert created in Nanaimo, British Colombia. It’s pronounced Nah-nye-Moh.

Lauren is an amazing high school student who creates wonderful gluten-free treats and meals for her family. Growing up in Canada, Lauren  would buy these rich and delicious treats at the grocery store. Now that the 2010 Olympics are being held in Canada she thought it was the perfect time to share Nanaimo bars with the world.



The first part of the challenge was to bake homemade graham crackers. I have seen lots of posts on homemade graham crackers but had never taken the time to make them. Since I didn’t have any of the GF flours, I decided to use whole wheat pastry flour instead. My dough was pretty sticky so I rolled the dough out between parchment paper.



My grahams puffed up a lot and didn’t keep their shape or holes on top. I thought they were just okay the day I made them, but the next day after being in a Ziploc overnight they tasted just right – honey sweet and crispy.

Then we used our homemade grahams to make the Nanaimo Bars. The bars have three layers: a crust containing graham cracker crumbs, cocoa, coconut and nuts, a middle custard (buttercream) layer, and a chocolate topping.

I’m not a fan of buttercream, so right after I made the bars I wasn’t so sure I liked them. But after resting overnight in the fridge the buttercream seemed to thicken up a bit and I found myself going back again and again throughout the day to have just a little bit more. I can see how these could be addicting!



Graham Crackers
2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp of all-purpose wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
1 cup Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons Unsalted Butter (Cut into 1-inch cubes and frozen)
1/3 cup Honey, Mild-flavoured such as clover.
5 tablespoons Whole Milk
2 tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.
2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.
3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.
4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.
5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.
7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.
8. Bake for 15 - 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.
9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.



Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs (See previous recipe)
1/2 cup Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

Middle Layer
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons Heavy Cream
2 tablespoons Vanilla Custard Powder (Such as Bird’s. Vanilla pudding mix may be substituted or 2 T. cornstarch and 1 teaspoon Vanilla)
2 cups Powdered Sugar

Top Layer (I doubled this layer)
4 ounces Semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter

Directions:
1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
2. For Middle Layer: Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light in colour. Spread over bottom layer.
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.
-------------------------------

These bars freeze very well, so don’t be afraid to pop some into the freezer.


Thanks for a fun challenge Lauren. Visit the Daring Bakers’ blogroll to check out all the wonderful Nanaimo Bar variations that the other Daring Bakers have whipped up. Visit Lauren of Celiac Teen for the GF version.

Chocolate Eclairs

Eclairs are one of my family's favorite desserts. It’s a perfect combination.   A crisp exterior surrounds a smooth, creamy, light as air custard and topped with a rich chocolate glaze - it’s heaven on a plate.

I bought an Accent Decorator from Pampered Chef recently and was anxious to try it out. So when I offered to make dessert for an upcoming get together, of course I decided to bring chocolate eclairs. The decorator makes filling eclairs a breeze, but you can use a pastry bag as well.

We love the eclairs at Schmidts, a local pastry shop, because their custard is a mix of vanilla pudding and whipped cream. So for my eclair filling I made my favorite homemade vanilla pudding and mixed it with whipped cream.

Usually I use the Betty Crocker recipe for the choux pastry, but this time I tried a recipe from the Food Network and I liked it even better. Instead of mixing the eggs into the dough in the saucepan, you put the dough into a mixing bowl before adding the eggs, which stops the cooking process and you don’t have to worry about working so quickly.

Making eclairs at home can be a bit time consuming, but it isn’t difficult. If you haven’t tried it yet, it's well worth the effort!

Vanilla Pudding
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla

In a saucepan combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to boil. Cook for 2 minutes more.

Remove from burner. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the hot mixture in the saucepan. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Transfer pudding mixture to a medium bowl. Cover with plastic; refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour or overnight.

Pastry Cream
Vanilla Pudding (above)
1/2 cup whipping cream

When vanilla pudding is chilled, whip cream to form soft peaks and gentle fold in to vanilla pudding. Keep covered and chilled until ready to use.

Pastry
Food Network
1 cup water
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, plus 1 extra, if needed

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds.

Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer). Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, add 3 eggs, 1 egg at a time. Stop mixing after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining 1 egg and mix until incorporated.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe fat lengths of dough (about the size and shape of a jumbo hot dog) onto the lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them. You should have 8 to 10 lengths.

Use your fingers to smooth out any bumps of points of dough that remain on the surface. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet. Fit a medium-size plain pastry tip over your index finger and use it to make a hole in the end of each eclair (or just use your fingertip). Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain tip, gently pipe the custard into the eclairs, using only just enough to fill the inside (don't stuff them full).

Shiny Chocolate Glaze
Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
5 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons water

Place the chocolate chips, margarine, and corn syrup in small saucepan over low heat and stir until the chocolate and margarine melt, 2 minutes. Add the water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is of a pouring consistency.

Dip the tops of the eclairs in the warm chocolate glaze (or spread on if that’s easier) and set on a sheet pan. Chill, uncovered, at least 1 hour to set the glaze. Serve chilled.

Mini Cheesecakes with Lemon Curd

 

Instead of cake for his birthday, my husband asked me to make him a cheesecake with a tart lemon topping similar to the Lemon Cream Cheese pie they serve at Marie Callender’s. My wonderful son gave me a mini cheesecake pan for Christmas, so this was the perfect opportunity to give it it’s maiden voyage.

Jenny at Picky Palate is always creating fabulous desserts with her mini cheesecake pan. So I adapted her Shortbread Cookie Crusted Peanut Butter Mini Cheesecakes with Chocolate Ganache to create luscious lemon mini birthday cheesecakes. These little beauties were a wonderful combination of sweet and tart, creamy and crunchy. I bet you can’t eat just one!

Mini Cheesecakes with Lemon Curd
12 mini cheesecakes

1 cup graham cracker crumbs, (1 package)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 8oz packages cream cheese, softened
½ Cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons sour cream
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 300º. In a medium bowl, combined graham cracker crumbs  and melted butter. Spoon a heaping Tablespoon of crust into each mini cheesecake pan or mini muffin tin. With fingers or round end of a wooden spoon, press crust down evenly.

In a stand or electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add in eggs one at a time following with the vanilla, sour cream, pinch of salt. Mix until just combined.

Fill each crust filled cup ¾ way full of cheesecake batter. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until cheesecake is set. Remove from oven and let sit in pan at room temperature for 30 minutes before removing. Transfer mini cheesecakes to a cooling rack to cool completely, another 30 minutes or so.

Refrigerate until serving. To serve spoon lemon curd over each cheesecake.

Lemon Curd
MarthaStewart.com
Makes 1 1/2 cups

3 large egg yolks
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, (2 lemons)
6 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

Directions
Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk to combine. Set over medium heat, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to stir sides and bottom of pan. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat back of wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add the butter, one piece at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until consistency is smooth.

Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin from forming; wrap tightly. Let cool; refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour. Store, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

If you want to bake a bigger version of this cheesecake in a springform pan, I loved Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake I made last year for the Daring Bakers challenge and then top it with the lemon curd recipe.

Daring Cooks Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce and Awards

 

The January 2010 DC challenge was hosted by Cuppy of Cuppylicious and she chose a delicious Thai-inspired recipe for Pork Satay from the book 1000 Recipe Cookbook by Martha Day. 

I substituted cubed chicken breasts and made the long marinade recipe. We didn’t love the marinade. I think it may be the turmeric in the marinade that we didn’t like. One day I’ll try it again with the faster marinade recipe because we loved the peanut sauce. Thanks Cuppy!

Click HERE to visit the Daring Kitchen for the recipe and instructions. Visit the Daring Cooks Blogroll to check out all the scrumptious variations of this recipe.

Awards

Jill at Jillicious Desserts, a very talented pastry chef and fellow Daring Baker, recently honored me with an award. Jill has an online bake shop and you really need to visit her site to see all of her amazingly beautiful creations.

This award came with some fun instructions:
1.  Post the award on your blog. Present this award to seven others whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged you.
2. Tell those seven people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP, inform them of these guidelines, and ask that they link back to you.
3. Share TEN HONEST THINGS about yourself.


I also was honored to received the Happy 101 award from Nicole at Prevention RD and Sarah at Maison Cupcake. Nicole’s a Registered Dietitian and her blog is filled with great recipes and tips on eating better. Sarah is a Twitter buddies who lives in the UK. Her blog is filled with wonderful recipes served up with a side of humor.

The rules of the award are:
1. Copy the award image into a post.
2. List 10 things that make you happy.
3. Tag ten bloggers who brighten your day.
4. Put in a link to their blogs.
5. Notify the award receivers.
6. Recipients to link back to the sender's blog.

So I’m going to combined the awards and list 10 things that honestly make me happy - in no particular order.

1. My kids
2. My husband
3. Traveling
4. Scuba diving
5. Baking something yummy
6. Eating something yummy
7. Bright sunny warm days
8. Long walks on the beach
9. Sweet comments on my blog
10. Sleeping in my own bed after a long trip

I’m going to pass both awards on to some wonderful new friends and fellow food bloggers. Be sure and stop by their blogs and check out their delicious recipes:

1. Krista, The Double Dipped LIfe
2. QIS, Baking Temptations
3. Renee, Flamingo Musings
4. Chris, Mele Cotte
5. Lauren, Celiac Teen
6. Paula, Dragon’s Kitchen
7. France, The Scorpio Woman
8. Joyce, Flour Power
9. Mimi, Mimi’s Kitchen
10. Jessica, How Sweet It Is

Breakfast Hashbrown Casserole

If you are trying to eat better this year, this is a great breakfast recipe for you. You can use egg substitute to cut the calories and toss in lots of fresh veggies.

I host Christmas morning brunch at my house every year for my extended family. Traditionally we have sweet rolls, fresh squeezed orange juice and this cheesy baked breakfast hashbrown casserole. 

The original recipe, Kelsie’s Hashbrown Breakfast Pizza by Kelsie Swindells, was printed in the Salt Lake Tribune in May, 2002. I’ve made it as a breakfast pizza a few times, but for a crowd it works better in a 9x13 pan. My family loves this hearty hashbrown casserole and I love how quick and easy it is to prepare.

Recently, I made it in my new cast iron skillet. I put the skillet in the oven while it preheated, spread a little oil in the bottom of the skillet before adding the hashbrown/egg mixture. The hashbrowns crisped up so much better cooking it in the skillet, but either way this casserole is a real crowd pleaser.

 

Breakfast Hashbrown Casserole

Crust:
1 (24-ounce) package shredded hash browns, fresh or thawed
1/4 cup egg substitute or 1 egg, beaten
Topping:
1 3/4 cup egg substitute or 7 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup ham, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped (optional)
Green onions (optional)
Mushrooms (optional)

Heat oven to 450º. Spray 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine potatoes and 1 egg, mix well. Spread mixture into 9x13 pan and pat down firmly to create a crust. Bake for 10 minutes until edges start to crisp.

Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Scramble eggs in a non-stick fry pan on medium high heat until set. Mix in ham and chopped veggies. Spread egg/veggie mixture over potato crust. Top with shredded cheese. Return to oven and bake 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to crisp.

FYI: In the US we have liquid egg substitutes, such as Egg Beaters, that comes in a carton that is basically just egg whites. 1/4 cup of Egg Beaters equals one egg. You could use just egg whites to reduce the fat and calories in this recipe too.

This recipe is part of the A Breakfast Recipe Blog Carnival to Help Haiti roundup.

Favorite Recipes of 2009

It seems fitting that my first post of the new year should be a round up of my favorite recipes of 2009. It was definitely a delicious year!

Banana Nutella Bread – an adapted Cooking Light banana bread recipe with a swirl of Nutella.
Strawberry Panna Cotta – smooth, creamy Italian dessert that is easy to make and perfect for summer.
Cranberry Crumb Bars – crumbly and tart, a perfect cookie for the holidays.
Cashew Chicken in Puff Pastry with a Parmesan Cheese Sauce – a Daring Bakers’ challenge that’s flaky, crunchy and creamy delicious all roll into one.
Spicy Chicken Soup – an easy, crockpot recipe that everyone who tastes it asks for the recipe.
Spicy Grilled Pork Tenderloin – this quick, spicy pork tenderloin recipe is succulent on the grill or baked in the oven.
Oatmeal White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies – my family has fallen in love with this cookie. A wonderful blend of sweet and tart and loaded with white chocolate chips.
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake – my version of TGIF’s mouth-watering cheesecake.
Coconut Lime White Chocolate Chip Cake – this cake is moist and dense like a coffee cake, topped with coconut and a tart lime glaze.

I hope you'll try some of my favorites. The best thing about blogging is sharing recipes with all the wonderful friends I've made. Thanks to everyone who took the time to visit my blog last year - those who commented and those who just lurked. Wishing you a happy and sweet New Year!