Brownie Macaroon Torte w/ Irish Cream Glaze

I found this recipe in my Pillsbury Bake-Off booklet (37th contest) - a booklet that I've had for ages. In fact, one of our favorite meals comes from that booklet, Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos, but I had never noticed this recipe.  I'm not sure why because it's pictured on the front page of the booklet.  But this time, when I went to put the book away, I happened to notice the picture, and I just had to look up the recipe, and then I just had to make it.

I'm taking it for a potluck tomorrow, so I hope it tastes as good as it looks and smells.

Brownie Macaroon Torte w/ Irish Cream Glaze
12 Servings

 Filling:

• 1/2 cup almonds, toasted and finely chopped or ground
• 1-1/2 cups coconut
• 2 T unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (NOT evaporated)
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 egg

Brownie:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 box Brownie Mix (Large Size for 13x9 pan) 
• 3 T amaretto (or 1-1/2 tsp. almond extract + 1-1/2 tsp. water)
• 2 eggs

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 T Baileys Irish Cream

Garnish:

• 2 to 3 T toasted coconut (or toasted, slivered almonds)

Directions:

1.  In medium bowl, combine filling ingredients; mix well.  Set aside.
2. Heat oven to 350° F.  Grease bottom of a 10-inch springform pan.  In large bowl, combine all brownie ingredients.  Beat with electric mixer at low speed until moistened.  Beat at medium to high speed 1 minute.
3. Pour brownie batter into greased pan and spread evenly.  Using spatula, make a 1-inch wide circular groove in the batter, about 1 inch from the edge of the pan.  Make a second groove about 1 inch from the first one.  Spoon filling into grooves and press down gently so that it is level with the brownie batter.
4. Bake at 350° F for 55-60 minutes or until set in center.  Note: the center will raise up, but it settles down after the torte is removed from the oven.  Cool 15 minutes and remove sides of pan.  Cool completely - 1 to 1-1/2 hours in the refrigerator.
5. In a small bowl, combine Glaze ingredients.  Drizzle over top of cooled torte and garnish with toasted coconut.

To toast almonds: Spread almonds on baking sheet.  Bake at 350° F for 5 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown and fragrant, stirring occasionally.  Cool slightly before chopping.
To toast coconut: Spread on baking sheet.  Bake at 350° F for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Keep a close eye on it so it doesn't burn.

I don't usually buy cake mixes or brownie mixes, but I just happened to have one this time.  I bet my regular brownie recipe can be used in this recipe, so I'll have to try that next time.  See, I'm already saying next time - because this smells so good.  Chocolate, coconut, almond, all kinds of yummy flavors together.  And then the Irish Cream glaze on top.  The original recipe called for a vanilla glaze flavored with amaretto and a chocolate glaze - and then a garnish of slivered almonds.  I bet that's really good, too - but, I decided to just go with the one Irish Cream glaze and toasted coconut, because the slivered almonds I found in my pantry were old and didn't taste good anymore.  Also, that vanilla glaze called for store-bought vanilla frosting, which I have never bought, so I was going to have to make something up anyway.  Baileys and Amaretto - it wasn't a huge stretch.

It's a miracle I didn't just cut into this already.  There's nothing wrong with taking a dessert to a potluck with a wedge or two missing, right?  Or not.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to grab a picture (and a taste) once it's cut.  I have noticed that anything chocolate seems to go quite quickly at potlucks, so we'll see.  I may just have to make another one really soon - especially since this recipe only uses about 1/2 the can of sweetened condensed milk.  I have to find something to do with that other 1/2, don't I?

Update:
It was yummy!  I managed to grab a small sliver, and the rest disappeared completely.  I talked to a few people who had some, and they all agreed that it was very good.

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White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

I found this recipe on Pinterest a while back and finally got the chance to make them today.  They are as good as I thought they'd be.  I especially love the tartness of the cranberries against the sweetness of the rest of the cookies.

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from two twenty one

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 cups quick oats
• 3/4 cups dried cranberries
• 1-1/4 cups white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. In mixing bowl, cream butter with sugars; mix in egg and vanilla.
3. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together and stir in.
4. Fold in oats, cranberries, white chocolate chips, coconut, and pecans.
5. Roll into 1" balls and place on cookie sheet.  Flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass or measuring cup dipped in sugar.
6. Bake 12-14 minutes or until cookies are set and starting to brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

I mixed these up by hand, but the original recipe called for using an electric mixer. Either way works.  Just be sure your butter is really soft if you're mixing by hand.  When it's time to add the cranberries and white chocolate chips, etc., you'll want to mix those in by hand.

I added the coconut and pecans to the recipe, because they just sounded good with all the other ingredients.  I also flattened the cookies slightly before baking them because I just rolled the first pan I baked, and they didn't really spread out.  Even flattened, they don't spread out much, but that's OK - they're good!  I'll definitely make these again.

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Coconut Macaroons

I had some egg whites in the fridge - leftover from my Secret Recipe Club recipe, which you will get to see on July 7, so be sure to come back for that - so I went looking for a recipe to use the egg whites.  I had a recipe saved from a while back, but I decided to try something else, even though I haven't tried that one yet.  It looks really good, so I am going to have to try it next time.

These just sounded interesting.   Once again, I am making cookies with cereal.  These also called for cornflakes, and I still don't have any, so I used a combination of Wheaties and Honey Bunches of Oats.

Coconut Macaroons
from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 cups flaked coconut
• 3 cups cereal, crushed (I used 2 cups Wheaties and 1 cup Honey Bunches of Oats)

Directions:

1. Grease cookie sheets (or use silicon baking mat).  Preheat the oven to 350° F
2. In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir in sugar. Fold in coconut and crushed cereal. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 18-20 minutes in preheated oven, or until golden.  Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes before moving from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

Makes about 3 dozen

These turned out really good.  They're kind of gooey in the middle with a nice crunch from the cereal.  The only thing I want to change next time is to cut down the sugar.  I should have read the reviews before making these, instead of after, because several people mentioned cutting the sugar down. 

A couple of the reviewers also mentioned that these weren't really like macaroons, which I don't really know because I've never made them before, or even had any as far as I can remember.  All I know is that these are really yummy, and it's hard to stop eating them!

Tip: Measure cereal into mixing bowl and use a plastic cup to crush it.

Cranberry and Lime Muffins

After I made my Lemon Cranberry Muffins for this month's Secret Recipe Club reveal, I started thinking they'd be good with lime, too.  So I had to try it!

Cranberry and Lime Muffins
Adapted from The Pajama Chef

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 2/3 cup sugar (half brown)
• 2 large eggs
• zest and juice from one lime
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 cups frozen cranberries (or fresh)
• 1/2 cup coconut
• coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Line muffin tin with paper liners or grease with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat together yogurt, sugar, and eggs. Then add lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla extract. Lastly, stir in oil.
3. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Gently fold into wet ingredients and stir until just moistened. Batter will be lumpy.  Add cranberries and coconut and stir until combined.
4. Preheat the oven to 350°.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups and sprinkle tops lightly with coarse sea salt.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. If not using liners, allow to cool a few minutes before removing from pan cooling on a wire rack 

Enjoy! Makes 12 muffins.

Yep, cranberry and lime are awesome together. I also love the addition of the coconut, which was a last minute thought.  It adds just a touch of chewiness that I think is perfect.

I also love how the whole cranberries pop and explode in these muffins as they bake, leaving little pockets of cranberry goodness.

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Coconut Lemon Bars

When I was posting that last recipe for Cranberry Coconut Pecan Bars, I was planning to link to this recipe.  That's when I realized that I never posted it here.  I have it on my old recipe site, but since I never use that one anymore, I really need to get all the recipes copied over here.  I thought I had, but I guess I got distracted by new recipes before I brought all my old favorites over.

Anyway, these Coconut Lemon Bars are some of my favorites.  I'm going to have to make them again soon, because I don't have any pictures, but trust me - they're good.

Coconut Lemon Bars

Ingredients:
Crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4cup brown sugar

Filling:

• 3 eggs, well beaten
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. grated lemon rind

Directions:

1. Mix flour, butter, and 1/4 cup brown sugar together and press firmly into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan.
2. Bake 10 minutes @ 350°.
3. Mix the eggs, 2 cups brown sugar, and salt thoroughly, then stir in the coconut, walnuts, lemon juice, and lemon rind.
4. Spread evenly over partially cooked bottom layer.
5. Bake about 25 minutes until lightly browned.

Cut bars when cool - Makes 24

  Looking at the recipe card, I see that the original recipe called for raisins - 1/2 cup raisins stirred in with the coconut, walnuts and lemon juice.  My mom never used the raisins, so I've never used the raisins.  That, and nobody here seems to like raisins except me.  But now I'm thinking maybe raisins next time...  Probably I will split this into two separate pans and put raisins in one of them, just to see how it turns out.

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Cranberry Coconut Pecan Bars

The Food section of our newspaper recently held a Holiday Cookie Contest and published the winning recipes along with several runners-up.  There are some really good looking cookies here, but the ones that caught my eye were these Cranberry Coconut Pecan Bars. (can you guess why? yep, it's the cranberries!)

I just had to make these today.  My whole kitchen smelled amazing, and then I was required to taste them, right?  So good!  The perfect combination of crunchy and chewy, sweet and tart - I'm in love!

I pretty much followed the recipe, only cutting down the sugar just a bit, but there are a couple other changes I will make next time (there will be a next time!) and those changes are reflected here.

Cranberry Coconut Pecan Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1-1/4 cups flour (part whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dried cranberries

Filling:

• 2 lightly beaten eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cranberry juice (or orange juice)
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 cup chopped dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Glaze

• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon cranberry juice (or orange juice)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Prepare crust by stirring together flour, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Mix in melted butter and then stir in pecans and cranberries. Press mixture onto bottom of ungreased 13-by-9-inch pan. . Bake in preheated oven 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown around the edges. Leave oven on.
3. While crust bakes, in bowl, beat together eggs, granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons cranberry juice, the orange peel and vanilla. Stir in pecans, cranberries and coconut. Pour over hot crust and spread evenly.
4. Return to oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes more. Remove to a wire rack and let cool slightly (about 10 to 15 minutes) in pan. Cut into bars while warm.
5. While bars cool, mix together powered sugar and 1 tablespoon cranberry juice. Add more sugar and juice as needed to achieve drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cut bars.

Makes 24  

The original recipe called for cutting the butter for the crust into the flour and sugar until it resembles course crumbs.  A lot of bar cookie recipes seem to be written that way, but when I make my mom's Coconut Lemon Bars, I always just melt the butter and mix it in.  It's much easier and works just fine - so I will be making this crust that way from now on.  I used 1/4 cup whole wheat flour in the crust and brown sugar instead of granulated for more flavor - cut down from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup.  I think even 1/2 cup whole wheat or even half whole wheat and half unbleached flour would be fine.

The original recipe called for mixing the eggs, sugar, juice, orange peel, and vanilla for the filling, pouring that over the hot crust, and then sprinkling it with the pecans, cranberries and coconut.  That worked fine, but next time I'm just going to mix the pecans, cranberries and coconut in and then spread the whole thing over the crust - again like those lemon bars.  It will be less messy and easier to spread evenly.  It will still bake up just fine.  I used the cranberry juice this time because I had some in the fridge (cranberry apple, actually), but I think this would be great using some fresh-squeezed orange juice.  You're already using the orange for the peel or the zest, why not squeeze it and use the juice too?

Ready to bake

Also, the original recipe says that it makes 30-35, but I can't imagine anyone actually cutting them that way.  That would be 5 one way and 6 the other or 5 one way and 7 the other.  I have a hard enough time getting things even when I can first cut down the middle.  Cutting them into 24 pieces makes very nice-sized bars - and I still couldn't stop at just one.

 
For more cookie recipes, be sure to check out the Holiday Cookie Contest.

Like Coconut?

Image via Wikipedia

I know not everybody does, but if you like coconut, you have to check out this list of recipes - all of them using coconut.  Originally I got distracted by the pictures - that strawberry rhubarb pie looks amazing and so do the muffins - but be sure to scroll down the page, because there are so many more coconut recipes.  I'm definitely going to have to try some of them.

I found all these recipes when I entered the Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil for Hair Treatment Review & Giveaway over at Shelley's Swag.  In order to enter the giveaway you need to check out the recipes and leave a comment letting her know which recipe (or recipes) sound amazing to you.  Sounds easy enough, right?  And you could win hair treatment that leaves your hair smelling good enough to eat!  (Giveaway ends June 24 at 11:59p.m.)

Using the Egg Whites

The verdict is in, and we like the pudding without the egg yolks best.  It tastes better, and I'm more than happy to skip that extra step of adding egg yolks.  So, I won't always have egg whites to use.  But for this time, I went looking for something to do with them and found this whole list of Recipes to Use Left-over Egg Whites.  I ended up freezing the egg whites instead of using them - which I didn't know I could do.  But, when I have time, I think I'm going to make these Coconut and Chocolate Macaroons.

Coconut and Chocolate Macaroons
30 Cookies

From Ready for Dessert (Ten Speed)

4 large egg whites
1¼ cups sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2½ cups unsweetened coconut (see note)
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

In a large skillet, mix together the egg whites, sugar, salt, honey, coconut and flour.

Heat over low-to-moderate heat on the stovetop, stirring constantly, scraping the bottom as you stir.

When the mixture just begins to scorch at the bottom, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl to cool to room temperature.
(At this point, the mixture can be chilled for up to one week, or frozen for up to two months.)

When ready to bake, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Form the dough into 1 1/2-inch mounds with your fingers evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until deep golden brown. Cool completely.

To dip the macaroons in chocolate, melt the chocolate in a clean, dry bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in a microwave.) Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Dip the bottoms of each cookie in the chocolate and set the cookies on the baking sheet. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes, until the chocolate is set.

Note: Unsweetened coconut is available in most natural-food shops or you can purchase it online.

They sound really good!

Chocolate Coconut Bars

I cut this recipe off my brown sugar package. It's been sitting on top of my canisters for a couple weeks just waiting for me. Today I finally made these bars - haven't tried them yet, but they smell wonderful!

Chocolate Coconut Bars

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick), softened
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces (6 oz.)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 cup coconut, flaked

Instructions:

1. Grease 13x9x2-inch-baking dish.
2. In large bowl using a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers, combine first four ingredients until crumbly. Pat into baking dish. Bake 10 minutes at 375°F.
3. Sprinkle chocolate pieces over hot crust; return to oven about 1 minute to soften. Spread chocolate evenly over crust.
4. In medium bowl, beat eggs until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt and beat into sugar mixture. Stir in coconut. Spread evenly over chocolate layer.
5. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Cool in pan and cut into bars.

Makes 2 dozen

This recipe was copied from the C&H website, slightly edited. There are lots more great-sounding recipes to choose from, too. It looks like I don't have to save the recipes from my sugar bags any more, just visit the web page and look them up.

ETA: These were a big hit at the church potluck.

• Print this recipe

Coconut Custard Pie

INGREDIENTS

• 1 (9 inch) pie shell
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl beat eggs then stir in sugar, salt, nutmeg or cinnamon, and vanilla extract.
3. Heat milk in a small saucepan then pour milk slowly into egg mixture, whisking constantly. Stir in coconut, then pour mixture into pastry shell.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve slightly warm or chilled. Store in refrigerator.

Source: allrecipes

It didn't seem to be set at all at 30 minutes, so I baked it for an additional 10 minutes. It looks good and smells good, but I haven't gotten to taste it yet.