Saltine Toffee

I forgot how good this stuff is.  In high school, each year at the beginning of Hanukkah, my friends and I used to get together and make it on top of matzo, and everyone in the class would be begging for "just a little piece" all week long.  Thank you Melissa for introducing me to this simple and delicious candy!

When I was back in Eugene for a few days this summer, my mom decided to make it for Krissy's Going away (to College) party.  It was a hit.  Only she makes it with Saltine crackers, which add just the perfect amount of saltiness to each bite.  And I was so excited that mom had left a good amount at home in the fridge, however, I had gotten excited too soon.  Mom, being the generous person that she is, had my sister and I deliver it to my cousins' house so that they could enjoy it instead.  Sigh.  But that's what sweets are for, sharing.  So I've decided to make a batch myself, and I'm sure there will be plenty of friends to share with :)

This recipe is all over the internet, but here it is once again:

Ingredients
A bag and a half salted saltine crackers (about 40 crackers)
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
cup chopped nuts (I used slivered almonds)

Procedure
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray (I forgot to spray mine, but it turned out okay).  Lay the saltine crackers evenly on the pan, squeezing in as many as possible.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over medium heat.  After the butter has completely melted, continue stirring until the mixture begins to boil around the edges.  Let it boil for three minutes without stirring. After three minutes, pour the hot brown sugar mixture evenly over the saltine crackers.  I had to spread the toffee over the crackers, so that the whole pan was evenly covered.

 my small sauce pan was just barely big enough

Bake in the preheated oven for 5-6 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips across the toffee. Let them melt for a couple of minutes and then use a spatula to spread the melted chocolate evenly across the toffee (I turn off the oven after taking out the toffee, but return the toffee to the warm oven after sprinkling the chocolate chips over it.  One minute in the hot oven melts the chocolate just enough that it's easy to spread).

 after 5-6 minutes in the oven, it should be all bubbly

Sprinkle chopped nuts on top of the melted chocolate. Let the toffee and chocolate cool completely (I put mine in the fridge to help it set up quickly). Break the toffee into bite-size pieces.

To store, keep toffee in an air-tight container for 1-2 weeks (in the fridge if your house is warm, like mine) or in the freezer for a couple of months (if you can make it last that long).

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Sattler Dresdner Christstollen

Ingredients
2.2 lbs (~7 cups) flour
25.6 g instant yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
500 g (~2 cups) butter, melted
zest of one lemon
100 g chopped almonds
100 g candied lemon or orange peel
500 g raisins
60 g butter, melted
60 g powdered sugar



Procedure
Warm milk and flour slightly above room temp. In a small bowl combine yeast and sugar, combine. Put flour in a large mixing bowl. Add butter, sugar yeast mixture, lemon zest, and milk. Combine carefully with a wooden spoon. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the almonds, citrus peel, and raisins. Once everything is incorporated place dough in a greased mixing bowl and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Pre-heat oven to 360 degrees. Form dough into a long oval loaf and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 55-70 minutes or until a tester comes out clean and the stollen has a nice brownish sheen. Remove stollen from oven and immediately alternatively brush with melted butter and dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm or chilled.

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A Sattler Family Recipe

Cranberry Almond Bundt Cake

Ingredients
2 cups white flour
3/4 cups rye flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp cardamon
1 tsp cloves
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup toasted almonds, chopped
1 cup frozen cranberries

For Glaze
2/3 cup powdered sugar
4 Tbs lemon juice

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To toast almonds place coarsely chopped almonds on cookie sheet in 350 degree oven fro 7-10 minutes. In a medium mixing bowl beat butter until smooth. Add sugars and cream together for approximately 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and yogurt. Stir in between each addition. Add in all dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in cranberries and almonds. Pour batter into greased bundt pan and bake for 65-75 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Let dry completely before glazing. For glaze combine powdered sugar and juice. Drizzle over cake.



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Adapted from an Epicurious recipe.

Biscotti: Three ways

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
4 Tbs butter or margarine (1/2 stick)
2 tsp vanilla extract

for Chocolate Almond Biscotti add:
3 Tbs cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 large handful almonds, coarsely chopped

for Orange Chocolate Biscotti add:
1 1/2 tsp orange extract
1 cup chocolate chips

for Pisachio Raisin Biscotti add:
2/3 cup pistachio nuts
2/3 cup raisins

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugar until uniform consistency. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and any other extracts. Add flours and salt, and mix until everything comes together. Stir in any nuts, dried fruits, or chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half, forming each half into a log (about 10 inches long). Lay each log on a greased cookie sheet, and press to flatten each log to 1 inch thick. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. While cooling, turn oven down to 325 degrees.

Cut each half diagonally, into 1/2 inch thick slices. Lay each slice, cut side down, onto the baking sheet, and bake (at 325 degrees) for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and turn each slice over, bake for another 10 minutes. Biscotti should be lightly browned, and hard on the edges. Centers will harden as biscotti cools. Cool on a wire rack.

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Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.

Kayls

Ingredients

2/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1 cup chocolate chips

2/3 cups walnuts, chopped

1/3 cup almonds, chopped

1 cup cut dried fruit

1 1/3 cups flour

1/3 cups rye flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

4 Tbs margarine

4 Tbs apple sauce

1 Tbs peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tbs milled or ground flax seeds

2 Tbs boiling water

1 tsp vanilla

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream margarine, apple sauce, peanut butter, and brown sugar together in large mixing bowl.  In a separate small bowl combine flax, water, and vanilla.  Let sit for one minute with light stirring.  Add to margarine mixture.  Add flours, baking powder, and salt (As long as you have 1 2/3 cups flours you can use any combination of white, whole wheat, and rye).  Mix well.  Add coconut, chocolate chips, nuts, and dried fruit (we used 2 parts prunes to one part raisins in this batch--feel free to leave out the chocolate or substitute it for more dried fruit for a vegan option).  Stir together.  Drop onto greased baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring to drying rack.

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Heavily adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Almond Pear Tart

Ingredients
For Crust
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup margarine, cold and cubed
~1/4 cups ice cold water
For Filling
3 pears
4 Tbs almond paste
3 Tbs sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
For Glaze
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
2 Tbs honey
1 1/2 Tbs margarine
1 Tbs cooking sherry
1 tsp sesame seeds

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, salt, sugar in large mixing bowl. Rub in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water bit by bit until dough just comes together. Grease tart pan and press dough into pan (you can roll out the dough with a rolling pin first if need be). Place pan in freezer for ten minutes. Remove from freezer and use a fork to make holes in the bottom of the crust. Bake for 8 minutes.

Cut up almond paste into small bits and sprinkle over crust. Peel, core, and slice pears. Set in pan on top of almond paste. Mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over pears.
Combine ingredients for glaze in a small microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 30 seconds. Drizzle glaze over pears/ Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes, or until crust is a light golden brown.

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Crust taken from a Martha Stewart Recipe.

Almond Raisin Spice Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
2/3 cup almonds, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
raisins to garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine remaining ingredients, then add to butter mixture. Form into small balls on greased cookie sheet. Compress slightly, and garnish with extra raisins.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.

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Adapted from a Sju Sorters Kakor recipe.

Almond Pear Bread

Ingredients
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 heaping Tbs cinnamon
1 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
2 Tbs honey
2 cups pears, peeled and chopped into small pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in mixing bowl, stir well.
In a medium bowl, stir together oil, eggs, sugar, pear, nuts, and vanilla. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour is incorporated and the batter is evenly moistened.

Divide batter into two greased loaf pans and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until bread is browned and firm. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely, top side up.

optional tips: sprinkle batter with oats prior to baking, or sprinkle with powdered sugar after removing from oven.

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Adapted from a Slow Like Honey recipe.

Granola

Dry ingredients
3 1/2 cups old-fashioned (not quick) oats
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup almonds

Wet ingredients
1/4 cup water
2 Tbs vanilla
>1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/2 cup honey
4 Tbs peanut butter

Fruit & nuts
2 cups mixed dried fruit & nuts. (i.e. dried banana chips, macadamia nuts, raisins, craisins, dried cherries, dried pineapple, dried papaya, cashews)
1/2 cup applesauce


Preheat oven to 330 degrees F. In large bowl mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix well. Put into large baking pan(s). Glass pans work well. The thinner you can spread it out the faster it will bake. Place into the oven, stirring every 5 to 7 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan each time to prevent burning. After 20 to 30 minutes (when granola feels about halfway done), mix applesauce and dried fruit and nuts in a bowl, then stir it into the granola. Continue to bake in 5 to 7 minute intervals, stirring between each interval. Granola is done when it browns slightly, begins to stick together a little bit, and is slightly crunchier to the touch.

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