Linda in the Kitchen

seasonal eats & healthy treats, made with Love.
  • Made with Love
  • Meet Linda!
  • Category: Cookies

    • Meyer Lemon Raspberry Pie Crust Hearts

      Posted at 10:05 pm by lindainthekitchen
      Feb 14th

      Happy Valentine’s Day!

      It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without yummy treats, especially when they’re heart-shaped!  I saw this recipe that Joy the Baker posted earlier this week and knew I had to give it a try.  You just can’t go wrong when you combine lemon, raspberry and pie crust!

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      These were so much fun to make!  I made the crust the night before and refrigerated it overnight.

      IMG_5555Hearts upon hearts upon hearts!

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      It’s impossible to avoid making a mess…

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      Hearts assembled!  Time to brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar.

      IMG_5563Ready to bake these bad boys!

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      Voila!

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      Meyer Lemon Raspberry Pie Crust Hearts

      Recipe from:  Joy the Baker

      Makes about 16 pies

      Ingredients

      For the Crust:
      2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
      2 tablespoons sugar
      1 teaspoon salt
      1 cup unsalted butter
      1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk

      For the Filling:
      2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed and thoroughly drained (I left mine to drain throughout the day in the sink before baking at night)
      3 tablespoons granulated sugar
      3 tablespoons cornstarch
      2 teaspoons lemon zest (I used a fresh meyer lemon)
      1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
      1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
      pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
      pinch of salt
      1 large egg, beaten (for the egg wash)
      turbinado sugar, for topping

      Directions

      To make the crust (I did this the night before and refrigerated overnight):
      In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt.  Add cold, cubed butter and, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture.  Quickly break the butter down into the flour mixture.  Some butter pieces will be the size of oat flakes; some will be the size of peas. Create a well in the mixture and pour in the cold buttermilk.  Use a fork to bring the dough together and moisten all of the flour bits.  On a lightly floured work surface, dump out the moist dough mixture.  Divide the dough in half and gently knead into two disks.  Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour (or overnight).

      To make the filling:
      In a medium bowl, gently stir together thawed and drained raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, spices, and salt.  Stir until just combined.

      In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and set aside.  In another small bowl place about 1/3 cup of turbinado sugar to sprinkle on the pies before baking.

      To roll out the pie crust and make the hearts:
      On a well-floured surface, roll one of the disks out to a 1/8″-thickness.  Use a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut about 10 to 12 hearts out of the rolled crust. Place the hearts on a plate or cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator while you roll out and cut heart shapes from of the second pie crust disk.

      After rolling and cutting all of the hearts, you should have 28 to 32 hearts (I got exactly 32 hearts).  Brush half (14 to 16) of the hearts lightly with the beaten egg.  Place about 1 heaping teaspoon of raspberry filling in the center of each heart.  Get as much fruit and go easy on the juice.

      Lightly stretch the remaining hearts with your fingers.  Place the slightly stretched hearts over the fruit-studded hearts and press the ends/edges together with your fingers.   A bit of raspberry juice might seep out of the sides, but don’t worry, that’s ok!  Use a fork to score/seal the edges and then use a small knife to create a few small vent holes on the top heart.

      Lightly brush the the tops of each heart pairing with beaten egg and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  Allow them to chill in the refrigerator while the oven preheats.  Place oven racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place prepared hearts on a parchment lined baking sheet about 1-inch apart.  Bake for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbling.

      Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

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      Enjoy!

      Posted in Cookies, Muffins/Breads/Scones | Tagged Meyer Lemon, Mini, Pie, Raspberry, Valentine's Day
    • Soft-Baked Andes Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies

      Posted at 1:36 am by lindainthekitchen
      Dec 31st

      These are exactly what they sound like. Soft cookies with chunks of Andes mint chocolates inside. YUM! These are definitely on the sweeter side and are quite minty. Casey requested MINT. I gave her mint! These cookies were easy and fun to make!

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      Soft-Baked Andes Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies

      Recipe from:  Sally’s Baking Addiction

      Ingredients

      1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
      3/4 cup  light brown sugar, packed
      1/2 cup  granulated sugar
      1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
      1 teaspoon vanilla extract
      3/4 teaspoon baking soda
      1 teaspoon baking powder
      1 teaspoon salt
      2 cups and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
      2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
      2 cups chopped Andes Mints

      Directions

      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  With an electric or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed.  Add the egg, then the egg yolk, mixing for about 1 minute after each addition. Mix in the vanilla extract.

      In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking soda, baking powder, salt, flour, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Mix for about 1 minute on low speed.  Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed until combined.  By hand, fold in the Andes Mints.

      Drop rounded tablespoon-fuls onto ungreased baking sheet or silicone mat. Bake for 9-12 minutes until sides slightly begin to brown.  Depending on how big you make the cookies, the time will vary.  We made smaller cookies and they took exactly 9 minutes.

      Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and transfer to a wire rack.  Cookies stay fresh & soft in a sealed container at room temperature for 1 week.  You can also freeze the cookies for up to 2 months!

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      Made with Love, Linda (and Casey)

      Posted in Cookies | Tagged Andes, Chocolate, cookies, Mint
    • Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

      Posted at 1:17 am by lindainthekitchen
      Dec 28th

      You just can’t go wrong with chocolate chip oatmeal cookies!  They’re one of my absolute favorites to make, because they’re so easy and such a crowd-pleaser.  This is exactly why I decided to bake some for Christmas to hand out to friends and family.  However, I had been doing so much baking, that I ran out of all-purpose flour.  SO, I found a recipe using whole wheat flour instead.  Perfect!

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      Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

      Recipe from:  Two Peas & Their Pod

      Ingredients

      1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
      1/2 teaspoon baking soda
      1/2 teaspoon baking powder
      1/2 teaspoon salt
      1 /2 cup dark brown sugar
      1/2 cup granulated sugar
      1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature
      1 egg
      1 tablespoon milk (I used homemade almond milk)
      1 cup rolled oats
      1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

      Directions

      1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

      2.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

      3.  Using a mixer, cream the sugars with the softened butter for about two to three minutes until light and fluffy.

      4.  Add in the egg, vanilla, and milk.  Mix until smooth.

      5.  Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, with the mixer on low.  Mix just until flour disappears.  Don’t over mix.

      6.  Stir in the oats and chocolate chips by hand.

      7.  Form rounded cookie dough balls.  Depending on how big you want your cookies, you can use 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of dough.  I used a heaping teaspoon, rolled into small balls and baked for 9 minutes and they were perfectly lightly browned.  The original recipe calls for a tablespoon of dough, baked for 11-12 minutes, yield 2 dozen cookies.   Since I doubled the recipe and made smaller cookies, it made too many cookies to count!

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      Along with my Cranberry Orange Pecan Coffee Cake, these cookies made the perfect holiday treats to hand out to friends and family!

      Made with Love, Linda

      Posted in Cookies | Tagged chocolate chips, cookies, Oatmeal, Whole Wheat
    • Soft & Chewy Mint M&M Cookies

      Posted at 12:06 am by lindainthekitchen
      Nov 22nd

      Today is yet another Ciatti birthday….Happy Birthday Chris Welch!

      Linda in the Kitchen 138

      Last year I asked Chris what his favorite dessert or dessert flavors are.  His response?  Mint chocolate chip.  Last year I made M&M Chocolate Chip cookies and sandwiched Mint Chip Ice Cream between the cookies.  Man, were they a hit!  This year, I wanted to stick with the theme.  I decided to make mint chip cookies.  Three different stores later…and not one carried mint chips.  Can you believe it?!  Change of plans.  Mint M&M cookies!

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      Soft & Chewy Mint M&M Cookies

      • 2 cups flour
      • 1 tsp baking soda
      • 2 tsp cornstarch
      • 3/4 tsp salt
      • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
      • 1/3 cup brown sugar  *
      • 1/3 cup granulated sugar  *
      • 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
      • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
      • Mint M&Ms (8oz bag – add to your preference)

       * Note:  I like my cookies less sweet, so I added 1/3 cup sugar.  The original recipe uses 1/2 cup sugar, so feel free to add a bit more if you like sweeter cookies. 

      1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
      2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside.
      3. In a large bowl, beat butter and both sugars until fluffy (approximately 5 minutes).
      4. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla.
      5. Mix the flour mixture into butter mixture (I mixed in a third of the flour at a time).  Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and mix well.  Fold in M&M candies.  I used almost the whole bag, which ended up being 2-3 M&Ms per cookie.
      6. Scoop a tablespoon of dough onto the prepared baking sheet (I used a 1 tablespoon cookie scooper).  Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes or just until they start to lightly brown on the sides.  Let cool on pan for 3-5 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack.  ENJOY!

      The original recipe estimated 2 dozen cookies.  However, I made about 40 cookies with the 1 tablespoon scooper.

      Soft & Chewy M&M Cookies Recipe adapted from On Sugar Mountain.

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      Made with love.  Enjoy!

      Posted in Cookies | Tagged Birthday, Brown Sugar, Cookie, M&M, Mint
    • Cancer Sucks!

      Posted at 11:30 pm by lindainthekitchen
      Nov 20th

      As we all know…CANCER SUCKS!  My friend, Connor, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma.  I can’t imagine there being many things worse than this news.  Connor is one of the silliest, loving guys I know, and I absolutely love him and his boyfriend and his family – they are the greatest, strongest, most inspirational support team you could possibly imagine.

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      Hospitals are no fun…and Cancer Sucks…these are two things we can all agree on.  I think we can also agree that baked goods can make things a tiny bit better.  So, I decided to make some treats to take to the hospital.  I made my absolutely FAVORITE Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins from Barefoot Contessa.  They’re a hit every time!

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      The second time I visited Connor, I made the infamous Lemon Crinkle Cookies.  Lemon was requested, so I had to make these yummy cookies!  I use at least 50% more lemon juice and zest than the recipe calls for…I LOVE LEMON!  I knew that his family would need some energy, so I made No Bake Energy Bites from Gimme Some Oven, full of oats, peanut butter, toasted coconut, honey, chocolate chips, flax and chia seeds.

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      Connor’s mother will be running the Boston 2014 Marathon and has set-up a Fundraiser for the Melanoma Foundation of New England, GO TRACY! Please take a moment to read her story and see how much she’s raised for such a great cause!

      Here are some fun pictures of me and Connor in Dubai – see how amazing he is?!

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      GINGER MOVEMENT!!!!!!!!!

      Love you Connor xoxxooxo

      Posted in Cookies, Muffins/Breads/Scones, Snacks/Sides | Tagged Barefoot Contessa, Blueberry Muffins, chocolate chips, Coconut, Coffee Cake, cookies, Lemon, Oats, Peanut Butter
    • Chocolate Chip Reese’s Pieces Cookies

      Posted at 4:28 am by lindainthekitchen
      Oct 29th

      ‘Tis the season…with Halloween around the corner, there are plenty of Halloween costume parties.  This past weekend I attended a “Halloween/Birthday/Goodbye” party.  My friend Kota is moving to India for a year, can you believe it?!  Any occasion calls for a special treat, so I wanted to do something fun for the party that Kota would love.

      Knowing that sweet treats would be welcomed with open arms, I decided to make a crowd pleaser (chocolate and peanut butter, what could be better?!).  BUT it had to be festive for Halloween (yellow, orange and brown Reese’s Pieces are perfect Halloween colors)…AND it had to be an easy grab-and-eat treat…COOKIES!  Bam!  Chocolate Chip Reese’s Pieces Cookies.  I took an easy chocolate chip cookie recipe and switched it up a bit.

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      Can you guess what I was for the Halloween party?  Something baking related, of course!

      Yes, that’s right, I was a CUPCAKE –  I just couldn’t help myself…and I can’t wait to wear this costume to the office for Halloween on Thursday!

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      Now back to the cookies…yum!

      Step 1:  In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add vanilla and the eggs one at a time.  Beat until smooth.

      Step 2:  Mix baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour in a medium sized bowl.  Add mixture slowly to the butter/sugar mixture.  Fold in the crushed Reese’s Pieces and chocolate chips.

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      Step 3:  Spoon dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.  I rolled them into small 1” balls and then flattened them with the palm of my hand.  Add as many Reese’s Pieces on top as you would like.  As everyone has their own preference for sweetness, I did some with no extra Reese’s Pieces on top, and some with as many as 4 or 5 Reece’s Pieces.  Bake 12 per sheet at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.  Time may vary, depending on your oven.  Check the cookies after 6 minutes, again at 7 minutes, etc.

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      Step 4:  VOILA, enjoy!

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      I doubled the recipe and made LOTS and LOTS of cookies for the party.  I know it’s hard to believe based on the picture above…but…I should have made MORE!  The cookies were gone within a few hours.  I can’t wait to make them again for Halloween this week!

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      CHOCOLATE CHIP REESE’S PIECES COOKIES

      • 2/3 cup brown sugar
      • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
      • 1/2 cup butter
      • 1 teaspoon vanilla
      • 2 large eggs
      • 1 teaspoon baking soda
      • 1 teaspoon baking powder
      • 1 teaspoon salt
      • 3 cups flour
      • chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli 60% cacao chips, but feel free to use the chips of your choice!)
      • crushed Reece’s Pieces (use as many as you would like, I recommend 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup)
      • whole Reece’s Pieces to put on top of the cookies before baking

      1.  In a large bowl, mix butter and sugars together until fluffy.  Add vanilla and the eggs one at a time, then beat until smooth.

      2:  In a medium sized bowl, sift the baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture in thirds.  Fold in the crushed Reese’s Pieces and chocolate chips.

      3.  Spoon the dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.  Roll into 1 inch balls and flatten with the palm of your hand.  Add whole Reese’s Pieces on tops of cookies (2 to 4 per cookie).  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.  Time may vary, so check the cookies at 6 minutes, just to be safe!

      4.  ENJOY!  Be sure to eat one hot out of the oven.  Nothing is better than melted chocolate chips oozing out of a delicious cookie!

      Needless to say, the cookies were A HIT.

      I hope you enjoy them!

      Made with love, Linda.

      Posted in Cookies | Tagged chocolate chips, cookies, halloween, reece's pieces
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    • Recent Recipes

      • Meyer Lemon Raspberry Pie Crust Hearts February 14, 2014
      • Soft-Baked Andes Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies December 31, 2013
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