1 cup butter
2 cups  sugar
2 eggs
.25 milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3.75 cups Flour
.5 teaspoon baking soda
.5 teaspoon cream of tartar
.5 teaspoon salt
1 cup nuts (optional

Preheat oven to 375 F
Cream butter and sugar
add eggs one at a time, mixing well
blend in milk and vanilla
Stir together dry ingredients
Add into creamed mixture
Add nuts, if using
Form into 1 inch balls, roll in cinnamon sugar mixture
Place 2 in apart on greased cookie sheet
bake at 375 F till done 10-12 minutes 

Mix: 7 minutes
Chill: none
Shape: 10 minutes 
Bake: 10-12 minutes

1.75 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
.25 teaspoons baking soda
.5 teaspoon salt
.33 cup butter
.66 cup sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup (2-3) mashed bananas
spices to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt
Cream butter, add sugar gradually
Work until light and fluffy
Add bananas and flour mixture alternatively, mixing well
Add spices
Turn into a well greased loaf pan.
Bake for 70 minutes

3 cups Flour
.75 cup dark brown sugar
.75 teaspoons bakjing soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1  tablespoon ground ginger
.5 teaspoon ground cloves
.5 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) Butter, softened but cool, cut into 12 pieces
.75 cup light or dark molasses
2 tablespoons milk

In a food processor, process the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt until combined.
Scatter the butter pieces over the flour ixture, and process until the mixture is sandy (15 seconds)
With the machine running, gradually add the molasses and milk.  
Process until the dough is evenly moist, and forms a ball (10 seconds)

Scrape the dough onto a work surface, divide in half
Roll dough to .25 inch thick between two sheets of parchement paper.  Leaving the dought between the paper, stack onto a cookie sheet and freeze for 15 to 20 minutes, or chill for 2 hours or overnight.  

Adjust oven racks to upper and lower middle positions.  

Preheat oven to 350 F
Line 2 baking sheets with parchement, or greese.  
Remove dough from fridge, one sheet at a time.  Peel off parchent from one side, replace.  Flip, peel and discard second sheet of parchement.  
Cut into 5 inch ginger bread men, or 3 inch cookies.  
 Place on cookie sheet .75 inches apart
Bake for 8 to 11 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.  
Cool on sheets for 2 min, then remove and cool.  

Mixing: 7 minutes
Chilling: 15-20 in freezer, 2 hours-overnight in fridge
Shaping: 30 minutes
Baking: 8-11 minutes

Spritz
from Better Homes and Gardens HOmemade Cookies 

1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla
2.33 cups Flour
.5 tsp Baking Powder
.25 tsp Salt

Preheat Oven to 400 F
Cream butter and sugar.
Blend in eggs and flavoring.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt; stir into wet mixture.
Without chilling the dough, pack the dough, half at a time, into a cookie press.  
Press into desired shapes onto ungreased cookie sheet.  

Bake at 400 F for 7 to 8 minutes.   

 Mixing: 10 minutes
Chilling: None
Shaping: 10 minutes
Baking:  7 to 8 minutes

Pressed Cookies
from The New York Times Cook Book

.5 pound Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar, packed
.5 cup granulated Sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
.5 teaspoon  baking soda
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat Oven to 400 F

Cream butter and sugars
Add eggs and vanilla, cream well
Sift together dry ingredients
Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternatively with the milk .  Mix well. 
Force the dough through the cookie press onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  
Bake 10 minutes.

Mix: 15 minutes
Chill: None
Shape: 10 minutes
Bake: 10 minutes

Candy Cane Cookies
.75c butter
 .75c sugar
1 egg
.5 tsp vanilla
.5tsp peppermint extract
2c flour
.5tsp salt
.25tsp baking powder
1tsp red food coloring
Heat oven to 375 F
Cream butter and sugar
Beat in egg, vanilla and extract
Stir flour with salt and baking powder, add to creamed mixture
Divide dough in half, add food coloring to half
Chill dough for 30 minutes
Divide each dough into 30 balls, keep half of each dough chilled until
ready to use
Roll each ball into a five inch rope
For each cane, pinch together one end of a red rope and one end of a
white rope, twist ropes together, pinch together remaining ends.
Place on ungreased cookie sheet, curve to form cane
Bake for 10 minutes

Mixing: 10 minutes

Chill Time: 30 minutes

Shaping: 30 -60 minutes

Baking: 10 minutes

3/4 cups blanched almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon salt to taste
1 cup all purpose flour
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 7 pieces

Position racks to divide the oven into even thirds, and preheat the oven into 350 F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set them aside.

Put the almonds sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until nuts are finely ground, about 2 minutes.

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
slightly rounded 1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour

Put the butter in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until the butter is smooth.  Add the sugar, and process until combined, scraping the sides to make sure everything is thoroughly blended.  Add the egg and continue to process until the mixture is smooth and satiny.  Add the flour all at once and pulse 10 or 15 times, until the dough forms clumps and curds and looks like streusel.

Turn dough out into a work surface and gather it into a ball.  Divide the ball in half, shape each half into a disk, and wrap the disks in plastic.  If you have the time, chill the disks until firm, about 4 hours.  If you are in a hurry, you can roll the dough out immediately; it will be stickier.  The dough can be shilled for up to 4 days or frozen for up to a month.

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Working with one disk at a time, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface until it is between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick.  Using a 1 1/2 in round cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can and place them on the lined sheets, lleaving about 1 inch space between them.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until they are set but pale.  Transfer to cooling racks.

3 large eggs, separated
1 large egg white
1 cup granulated white sugar, divided
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup safflower oil (or vegetable oil)
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease and flour a 9″ spring form pan.

Separate the eggs, placing the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another.  To the whites, add the extra egg white and then cover both bowls with plastic wrap.  Bring them to room temperature (about 30 minutes) before using.

Meanwhile sift together 2/3 cup granulated white sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the oil, water, and vanilla extract.

In your electric mixer beat the egg yolks for a minute or two on high speed.  Turn the mixer on low speed and slowly pour the oil mixture into the egg yolks until very well combined.  Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until well incorporated.

In a separate mixing bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy.  Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.  Gradually beat in the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  With a large rubber spatula or wire whisk, gently fold the egg whites into the batter just until blended (being careful not to deflate the batter).

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  (When lightly pressed the cake will spring back).  Cool on a wire rack.  To remove the cake from the pan, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake.  Invert onto a wire rack.

Chocolate Soak

3/4 water
1/2 sugar
1/4 cocoa powder

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool.

Chocolate Ganache

9 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
7 tablespoons butter

Put chocolate in a heat proof bowl.  Put cream in a heavy sauce pan, bring to a boil.  Pour cream over chocolate, wait 30 seconds, stir until smooth.  Cool.

Cut cake into 3 layers.  Wash, dry and reassemble the spring form pan.  Place first layer cut side up into the pan.  Moisen cake with syrup syrup.  Pour 1/3 of the ganache over the cake.  Repeat the process for the other 2 layers, you may not use all of the chocolate syrup.  Chill cake until ganche is firm (12 hours to over night)

Chocolate Ganache Glaze

4 oz chocolate bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Bring the cream, sugar, and water to a full boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and wait for 30 seconds, then stir to melt the chocolate and smooth the glaze.

Pour glaze over chilled cake, using a spatula to smooth the top and sides.

Aebleskivers with Cardamon

From Cooking.com

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon -1 tablespoon ground cardamom or cinnamon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups buttermilk
Unsalted butter (for greasing pan)

Preheat cast iron Aebleskiver over medium-low heat.

Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cardamom or cinnamon (if using).

Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a medium bowl and the yolks in a large bowl.   Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla, beating until light.  Add half the dry ingrediants to egg yolk mixture, stir.  Add the buttermilk, stirringuntil combine, then add the rest of the dry mixture.

Beat egg whites into stiff peaks, and fold into batter being careful to not deflate the egg whites.

Check temperature of the aebleskiver pan, it should be hot enough to make a drop of water dance.  Brush each cup with melted butter (Important!), and fill each cup with 2 tablespoons of batter, or about 2/3 full.  Cook until the bottom is set and golden brown (1 1/2 – 3 minutes, longer if you are filling them).  Using a skewer, flip the aebleskiver so that the cooked portion is on top.  If the aebleskievers aren’t flipping cleanly, make sure that you are using enough butter to grease the pan.  You can use a spoon to loosen the aebleskiver and help flip it as well.  Cook until the aebleskiver is an even golden brown color, which should take about 2 minutes (longer is filled).  Using the skewer or a spoon to remove the aebleskiver from the pan.  Serve warm.

To fill the Aebleskiver, add half the batter to the cup, add a dollop of jam, and add the rest of the batter.  You will need a little less batter to fill the cups than the unfilled aebleskivers.  Pay careful attention that you do not disturb the aebleskiver before the golden crust forms, or the jam will move from the center of the aebleskiver to the outside.

Makes about 3 dozen.  If you wish to halve the recipe, use one egg, and half as much of the rest of the ingridients.

Fresh Blackberry Pie with Sweet Almond Crust

Crust from Sally’s Fresh Blackberry Tart

First you make and pre-bake the almond pastry crust, then add the filling.

For Filling:

4 1/2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
0-1 cups sugar (based on how sweet your berries are)

For a 9-in Sweet Almond Crust:

1 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup finely ground almonds
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 stick butter (if using unsalted, don’t forget to add a bit of salt to the crust)
2-3 tablespoons ice water
pie weights (you can use dried beans, rice, or those fancy pie weights from Williams Sonoma)

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 400 F

For crust:
In large mixing bowl, combine the flour, ground almonds, brown sugar and salt together.  Cut the butter into one inch cubes.  Rub the butter pieces into the flour mixture.  Add the ice water and rub in, until dough comes together. If the dough is sticky, refrigerate for an hour.

Dust a surface with flour.  Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap that is at least as long as it is wide.  Place the dough in the center of the plastic wrap and pat flat.  Place a second sheet of plastic wrap the same size as the first over the dough.  You will be rolling out the dough between the 2 sheets of plastic, which results in the dough absorbing less excess flour, and greatly reduces the risk of unfortunate sticking.

Place the rolled out dough in a 9-in pie plate.  Line with foil or parchment paper and pour in pie weight, filling to the edges.

Bake about 20 minutes, or until crust begins to look cooked.  Remove foil and pie weights, and continue baking for five minutes.  Remove from oven.

For Filling:

Mash 1 1/2 cups of the berries.  Dissolve the cornstarch in the water.   Add berries and cornstarch mixture to a sauce pan.  Add sugar if using.  Cook over medium heat until warm and thick.  Remove from heat.

Pour 1/4 cup of thickened berry mixture into the pie crust.  Add the remaining berries.  Pour the rest of the berry mixture over top, distributing evenly.  Let cool and serve.