Yorkshire Pudding

 Adapted from Gordon Ramsay. This is a surprisingly simple method that produced surprisingly good results!

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour 

4 Tablespoons vegetable oil 

Directions:

• In a blender, combine the eggs, milk, flour, and salt. Blend until well combined and place in the refrigerator until ready to use (allow to rest for at least 30 minutes).
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Put 1 teaspoon of the oil (or beef drippings) into each section of a 12-hole Yorkshire pudding tray or muffin tray and put into the oven on the top shelf until very hot, almost smoking.
• As soon as you take the tray from the oven, pour in the batter to three-quarters fill the tins (it should sizzle) and immediately put back into the oven.
• Bake until the Yorkshire puddings are well risen, golden brown and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Don't open the oven door until the end or they might collapse.

Royal Icing for Gingerbread

 Great, strong icing for sticking gingerbread houses together. Adapted from here.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound confectioners' sugar (sifted, more as needed)
• 1/2 cup/3 large pasteurized egg whites (room temperature)
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Procedure:

In a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, pasteurized egg whites, and cream of tartar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Turn the mixer to high and beat until the mixture is thick, very white, and will hold a peak. This should take at least 7 to 10 minutes. If the icing is still too soupy, add more confectioners’ sugar, a little at a time. Don't add too much, or the icing will be dry and hard to work with.

When finished, cover with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the royal icing so a crust doesn't form. Royal icing dries out quickly, so make sure it is covered all the time. Otherwise, lumps will form in the icing and they will never pass through an icing tip.

Pipe as desired.

Spritz Cookies

Another Moo-family favorite.

1 cup butter

¾ cup sugar

1 egg yolk

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp. almond flavoring

¼ tsp. vanilla flavoring

 

Mix all ingredients together.  Use cookie press to form cookies

 

375º (190º), 5 to 7 minutes

German Spice Cookies

A Moo family favorite. The dough is almost as good as the cookies!

 

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup shortening 

4 cups flour (scant)

2 eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

 

Sift flour, spices, and salt.  

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs.  Beat well and add dry ingredients.  

Chill dough (around 30 min) and roll. Cut.

 

Bake at 375º (190º) degrees.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

 A family Christmas favorite! We substitute Baker’s chocolate with cocoa powder and vegetable oil (1 oz square = 3Tbsp cocoa powder + 1 Tbsp oil)

3 squares Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate (or 1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp cocoa powder + 3 Tbsp oil)

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

Additional granulated sugar

 

Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on high for 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Stir 1 cup sugar into melted chocolate until well blended. Stir in egg and vanilla until completely mixed.  Mix in flour, soda, and salt until well blended.

Chill dough until easy to handle, about 30 minutes.  

Shape into 1 inch balls, roll in sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheet. (If a flatter, crisper cookie is desired, flatten with bottom of glass.)

Bake at 375º (190º C) for 8 minutes or until set.  Remove and cool on rack.  

Makes about 3½ dozen cookies.

Perfect Piecrust

 Favorite piecrust. Easy to work with and tastes great. Reposted from here.

Ingredients:

• 170g very cold unsalted butter
• 420g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 15g granulated sugar
• 70g very cold vegetable shortening
• 6 to 8 tbsp (about 120ml) ice water

Procedure:

Dice butter and keep in fridge while you gather the dry ingredients. Place flour, salt, and sugar in food processor and pulse several times to mix. Add butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 12 times until the butter is the size of peas. 

With the food processor running, add ice water and pulse until the dough begins to form a ball. Place bought on a floured surface and roll into a ball. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate 30 min.

Cut dough in half. Place each piece on a floured surface. Roll into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to keep it from sticking.

Fold dough in half lightly, place in pie dish, unfold, and fit to the dish.

Uncle Bob’s Deviled Eggs

A Christmas Eve tradition. The recipe is not very specific, so it takes some practice to get the flavor and consistency just right. I make the mistake of using too much mayonnaise, which drowns out the mustard, making them too mild. You want the yolk mixture to have a good bit of bite, since the egg whites will soften it somewhat.

Ingredients:

Eggs (at least a dozen)
Mayo
Yellow Mustard
Dried Onion Flakes

Hard boil eggs and peal off the shells

Slice eggs in half and place yolks in a separate bowl

Mash yolks with a fork

Using electric beaters, begin adding mayo and mustard. I don't have any measures for the ingredients. It's a matter of adding them gradually and tasting along the way while at the same time watching the texture. Shake in a goodly amount of onion flakes for flavor.

I usually cook at least a dz+ so I will start with a few heaping tablespoons of mayo followed by a hefty squirt of mustard. You'll want the mixture to be creamy and mustard-taste strong. When added to the egg halves the taste get mellowed.

You can then either piping bag the mixture into the egg halves or spoon it in.

Cardamon Coffee Cake

A Moo family Christmas tradition. But good for brunch any time of the year!

Ingredients
2 pkgs dry yeast (4 1/2 tsps)
8 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. cardamon
3 eggs (1 for egg wash)
1 1/2 scalded milk
1 cup melted butter

For filling:
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

4 Tbsp. butter (melted)
nuts (optional)

Directions:
Melt together scalded milk and butter.

Sprinkle yeast into 1/2 c. lukewarm water. Stir until dissolved.

Combine flour, salt, sugar, and cardamon. Stir in 2 beaten eggs, yeast and milk and butter mixture. Beat until smooth. Cover and let rise 1 hour in warm place until dough doubles in size.

Knead dough for 5 minutes on floured surface. Divide in half. Roll out one at at at time to form ovals 18–20 inches long. Brush with melted butter. Combine sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle evenly.

Roll up (like a cinnamon roll). Place crescent-shaped on a greased baking sheet. Brush with remaining egg. Allow to rise another 30 min.

Bake at 350º for at least 20 min or until firm and golden brown.

Mom's Frosting

Makes great frosting for sugar cookies. This recipe makes a lot, so I usually make half or even a third of it.

2 lb powdered sugar (4 c per pound)
3/4 c crisco shortening (not liquid)
2/3 c milk
1 t salt
1 t vanilla
1 t almond flavoring

Beat together crisco, salt, flavor and a little of the sugar. Slowly add milk and sugar alternately, beating well. You can not beat it too much. Add more or less milk depending on the consistency you want.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

¾ c peanut butter

2 c Bisquick

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375º. In a large bowl beat milk and peanut butter until smooth.

Add Bisquick and vanilla; mix well. Shape into 1 in. balls. Roll in sugar. Bake on

ungreased baking sheets. Bake 6 – 8 min or until lightly browned. Press Hershey

Kiss into center immediately after baking.

Makes 4 dozen

Egg Casserole

Mama Otten's classic Christmas and Easter recipe.

7 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 tsp dried mustard
1 tsp salt
1 dash pepper
5 cups Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb sage flavored sausage, browned and drained

1) Combine eggs, milk, mustard, salt, and pepper. Add stuffing mix, sausage, and cheese.
2) Pour into greased 9x13" pan (can cover and refrigerate over night)
3) Sprinkle more cheese on top
4) Bake at 350° for 1 hour or more