My Grand Central Kitchen » Holiday Basket Bonanza

Someday, I’d like to be a boss.

twobarefeet — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:54:22 +0000

So that I can get holiday gifts like I’m sending in tomorrow for suitNtie’s bosses. This afternoon, I’m making peanut butter cups and salted caramels. The leftovers will get bagged up for our neighbors and we’re giving them all out tomorrow after our son’s school holiday party.

Nom nom nom.

2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza: Snickerdoodles

twobarefeet — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:49:04 +0000

This is the fourth installment of the Kitchen’s 2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza (HBB). Last year, I started doing baskets for a few recipients on our holiday list. They were so well received that I decided to do them again this year, but I am switching out a few of the recipes to try new ones! I’ll be making a trip out soon to buy supplies and I’ll be updating the Kitchen with pictures as we go!

Last year’s baskets included Oreo truffles, banana bread, homemade white bread and Stonewall Kitchen jam, spiced pecans, brownies, cookies and seasoned popcorn. This year, I am keeping the banana bread, spiced pecans and the brownies and I will make a different homemade bread with jam. The rest is getting changed up! I’ll be doing truffles again this year, but I’m going to do Almond Joy truffles instead of Oreo. I’m also making some savory crackers, snickerdoodles and granola.

This week, I’m sharing the snickerdoodle recipe. Snickerdoodles are one of my absolute favorite cookies and I really think they are underrated! Everyone gets so distracted with nuts, chocolate, fruit and everything else that you mix in to the cookie dough, forgetting that just a simple cookie itself can be so very delicious.

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.
Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl. Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture. Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture. Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes.
Remove from pan immediately.

2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza: Carriage House Granola

twobarefeet — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:12:24 +0000

This is the third installment of the Kitchen’s 2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza (HBB). Last year, I started doing baskets for a few recipients on our holiday list. They were so well received that I decided to do them again this year, but I am switching out a few of the recipes to try new ones! I’ll be making a trip out soon to buy supplies and I’ll be updating the Kitchen with pictures as we go!

Last year’s baskets included Oreo truffles, banana bread, homemade white bread and Stonewall Kitchen jam, spiced pecans, brownies, cookies and seasoned popcorn. This year, I am keeping the banana bread, spiced pecans and the brownies and I will make a different homemade bread with jam. The rest is getting changed up! I’ll be doing truffles again this year, but I’m going to do Almond Joy truffles instead of Oreo. I have a very soft spot for Almond Joys. Mmmm. I’m also making some savory crackers, snickerdoodles and granola.

This week, I’m sharing a recipe for granola. A few years back, suitNtie and I had the good fortune to get away over Valentine’s Day weekend to Vermont. We found a cute bed and breakfast online and made our reservations. The Carriage House of Woodstock was everything we thought it would be. Debbie, one of the owners, was a wonderful cook and not only was our breakfast consistently tasty, but the cookies she put out for us in the afternoon were amazing. suitNtie fell in love with the granola and ate it every morning we stayed there.

I never asked for the recipe, but I did stumble upon it online within the past year and I’ve sworn to make it as a surprise to my husband. I’m including it in our holiday baskets this year because he is quite the granola snob, so I know that if he likes it that it MUST be good!

2½ cups of old-fashioned oats
¾ cup sliced almonds (chopped)
½ cup pecan pieces (chopped)
¼ cup sweetened shredded coconut
¼ cup toasted wheat bran
¼ cup (packed) golden brown sugar
¼ cup mild flavored (light) molasses
¼ cop vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups of whole grain cereal
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 325F. Combine oats, cereal, nuts, coconut, wheatbran and cinnamon. In separate bowl, whisk sugar, molasses, oil, and vanilla. Pour sugar mixture over cereal. Mix thoroughly and then pour into large roasting pan. Bake granola uncovered until toasted, stirring every 5 minutes (about 30 minutes total). Mix in cereal, raisins and cranberries and bake for 5 minutes. Cool granola and then transfer to airtight container. Makes 8 cups.

2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza: Brownies

twobarefeet — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:22:11 +0000

This is the second installment of the Kitchen’s 2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza (HBB). Last year, I started doing baskets for a few recipients on our holiday list. They were so well received that I decided to do them again this year, but I am switching out a few of the recipes to try new ones! I’ll be making a trip out soon to buy supplies and I’ll be updating the Kitchen with pictures as we go!

Last year’s baskets included Oreo truffles, banana bread, homemade white bread and Stonewall Kitchen jam, spiced pecans, brownies, cookies and seasoned popcorn. This year, I am keeping the banana bread, spiced pecans and the brownies and I will make a different homemade bread with jam. The rest is getting changed up! I’ll be doing truffles again this year, but I’m going to do Almond Joy truffles instead of Oreo. I have a very soft spot for Almond Joys. Mmmm. I’m also making some savory crackers and snickerdoodles, and one more savory item TBD.

This week, I’m sharing the recipe for some amazing brownies that I am keeping for this year’s baskets. The recipe is only slightly adapted from one by Ina Garten.

1 pound unsalted butter
1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, divided
4 ounces unsweetened Ghiradelli chocolate
2 ounces unsweetened Ghiradelli cocoa powder
6 extra-large eggs
2 tablespoons real vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (1 cup for batter and 1/4 cup in the chips and nuts)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 18 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Melt together the butter, 1 pound chocolate chips, and unsweetened chocolate and cocoa on top of a double boiler. Cool slightly. Stir together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla and sugar. Stir in the warm chocolate mixture and cool to room temperature.

Stir together 1 cup of the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cooled chocolate mixture. Toss 12 ounces of chocolate chips with 1/4 cup flour to coat. Then add to the chocolate batter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until tester just comes out clean. Halfway through the baking, rap the pan against the oven shelf to allow air to escape from between the pan and the brownie dough. Do not over-bake! Cool thoroughly, refrigerate well and cut into squares.

2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza: Spiced Pecans

twobarefeet — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:00:08 +0000

This is the first installment of the Kitchen’s 2009 Holiday Basket Bonanza (HBB). Last year, I started doing baskets for a few recipients on our holiday list. They were so well received that I decided to do them again this year, but I am switching out a few of the recipes to try new ones! I’ll be making a trip out soon to buy supplies and I’ll be updating the Kitchen with pictures as we go!

Last year’s baskets included Oreo truffles, banana bread, homemade white bread and Stonewall Kitchen jam, spiced pecans, brownies, cookies and seasoned popcorn. This year, I am keeping the banana bread, spiced pecans and the brownies and I will make a different homemade bread with jam. The rest is getting changed up! I’ll be doing truffles again this year, but I’m going to do Almond Joy truffles instead of Oreo. I have a very soft spot for Almond Joys. Mmmm. I’m also making some savory crackers and snickerdoodles, and one more savory item TBD.

This week, I’m sharing the recipe for spiced pecans that I used last year. It was great, very easy. My only issue is that I wish I had a bigger cookie sheet so that I could make more at a time!

1 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg white
3 c. pecan halves
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 300. Line baking sheet with nonstick foil. In small bowl, stir together sugar, salt and cinnamon. In medium bowl, whisk egg white and 1 tbsp water until foamy, then add pecans to bowl and stir until coated. Pour in sugar mixture and melted butter and stir well to combine.

Spread pecan mixture in an even layer on your baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. Remove from oven and cool completely.

This makes three cups.