Sourdough Baking Wednesday # 3 : Apple and Carrot Quick Bread - Pane Veloce con mele e carota Italiano a seguire

Few days ago I found out that Zucchero & Cannella just started a new group : it's called Sourdough Baking Wednesday and the name says it all ...

I thought of baking a cake with the sourdough leftovers that I hate throwing away and I found the recipe on what was Recipezaar and now is Food.com.

It's a very simple quick bread to make and I found it quite tasty. I decided to bake it in muffin sized hearts so they took around 30 minutes to bake.

RECIPE

1 cup sourdough

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 apple shredded

1 carrot shredded

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup coconut

1/2 cup chopped almonds

Mix everything together, let it rest 10 minutes ad bake in 350° oven for about one hour.

Ho scoperto da pochissimo il blog Zucchero & Cannella dove ogni mercoledì si usa la pasta madre e così ho provato questa ricetta per usare anche gli avanzi della creatura...

Ricetta

• 236.59 ml pasta madre
• 158.51 ml zucchero
• 59.14 ml burro (io ho usato olio)
• 2 uova grandi
• 236.59 ml mela sbucciata e a pezzettini
• 118.29 ml carota grattugiata
• 9.85 ml cannella
• 4.92 ml lievito chimico
• 2.46 ml sale
• 414.03 ml farina
• 118.29 ml mandorle tritate
• 118.29 ml cocco

Mescolare tutti gli ingredienti, far riposare 10 minuti e infornare in forno caldo a 180° per un'ora (per i muffin 30 minuti)

TWD : Peach Upside Downer

Ciao a tutti ! This week Sabrina of Superfluous chose Cranberry Upside Downer but Cranberries are a very rare fruit around here so I settled for peaches which were a more summery alternative Dorie offered. I even had a few (someone stole the others!!) raspberries to make the cake even more cute. I must say this cake was greatly welcomed even by my pickiest taster Carlo (who decided he will be a restaurant critic in his bright future !) and as aways my problem is how not to eat all the leftovers.

Visit Sabrina for the recipe and all my twd colleaugues for more variations !

TWD : Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

This week we baked with Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine and she chose this that in my ideas is an American classic.

When I lived in Santa Barbara I worked in an house where we were so lucky to have Joanne a cook who would bake cookies and fill two cookie jars for all the workers with all kind of cookies but PB cookies were always there !

I must tell you that in Italy we almost never use peanut butter, I was amazed to find out kids eat peanut butter sandwich almost every day .....

But you know what ? My kids loved these cookies !
Not to mention the fun Anita and I had decorating them with chocolate... this is Anita mad at me because she wants to decorate alone.

Please go here for the recipe and visit the Tuesday with Dorie site to find out what we are up to !!

Tomatoes, Potatoes and Onion Casserole

Roz at La Bella Vita started Fresh, Clean, Pure Friday where everybody can post things we do to make our lives 'cleaner' and fresher.

A few days ago I made this very simple dish layering sliced potatoes, tomatoes and onions in more layers ending with a tomatoes layer. Sprinkle with origano, salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and top with bread crumbs if you like a little crunch.

Bake in a hot oven until nice and brown (not too long like I did!). Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy !

Daring Cook's Challenge : Pierogi

The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale.

I know you couldn't even say I'm late, but these Pierogi were a fantastic dish, so I have to post about them even if they are known in the US, they are not known at all in Italy and in the last 20 years lots of Polish immigrants came mostly to Rome but I do not know why the didn't open a Pierogi's restaurant they were a huge success at our house with many different guests and now Carlo asks me often to make them !!

I made the dough according to the Russian style recipe.
I filled the sweet ones with peaches, amaretto cookies, ricotta, cinnamon and sugar.

And the savory ones with cottage cheese, ground meat, mushrooms, potatoes and herbs the first time

And with cottage cheese, potatoes, sausage and sauteed onions.

I formed them by hand. And fried after boiling ... They are wonderful !!!

RECIPE

Cottage Cheese Wareneki (pierogi)

Dough:
½ cup (125 ml) milk (can be whole milk, 2% or skim milk)
½ cup (125 ml) whipping cream
3 large egg whites
1 tsp (5 ml) salt
3 cups (450 gm) all-purpose flour

1. Mix flour and salt, add other ingredients, and knead dough until you have a smooth dough. (I kneaded this dough quite a bit, and it yielded a nice, pliable dough).
2. On a floured surface roll out fairly thin (1/8” or about 3 millimeters), cut into 2” (5 cm) squares, and fill with 1 tsp (5ml) cottage cheese filling (see below).

Filling:
Traditional
1 lb (455 g) dry cottage cheese (this is usually found beside the “wet” cottage cheese in the supermarket’s dairy aisle. If you can’t find it, please see below for how to proceed with the “wet” cottage cheese.)
3 large egg yolks
Salt to taste

1. Mix well all the ingredients for the filling.
2. Put 1 rounded teaspoon (5 ml) of the filling in each square, fold corners to form a triangle, seal edges well using your fingers or a fork
3. Cook in salted, boiling water for 5 minutes.

Boiled pierogi can also be fried after boiling for a nice crunchy dumpling.

If you can’t find dry cottage cheese, simply drain normal cottage cheese by nesting the cottage in a few layers of cheese cloth or a fine sieve over a bowl.

Adapted from The Mennonite Cookbook

Sweet version of Warenki – cottage cheese and strawberries served with Greek yogurt

* You can very easy make a sweet version of Warenki - just add some fruits and sugar to the cheese filling and mix well together (strawberries or blueberries are great idea!).

Russian style pierogi (makes 4 generous servings, around 30 dumplings)
(Traditional Polish recipe, although each family will have their own version, this is Anula's family recipe)

Dough:
2 to 2 1/2 cups (300 to 375 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
About 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water

Filling:
3 big potatoes, cooked & mashed (1 1/2 cup instant or leftover mashed potatoes is fine too)
1 cup (225 g) cottage cheese, drained
1 onion, diced & sauteed in butter until clear
3 slices of streaky bacon, diced and fried till crispy (you can add more bacon if you like or omit that part completely if you’re vegetarian)
1 egg yolk (from medium egg)
1 tablespoon (15 g) butter, melted
1/4 (1.25 ml) teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper to taste

1. Combine all the ingredients for the filling (it’s best to use one’s hands to do that) put into the bowl, cover and set aside in the fridge until you have to use it.

2. Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl or on a work surface and make a well in the center. Break the egg into it, add the salt and a little lukewarm at a time (in my situation 1/2 cup was enough). Bring the dough together, kneading well and adding more flour or water as necessary. Cover the dough with a bowl or towel. You’re aiming for soft dough. Let it rest 20 minutes.

3. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out thinly (1/8” or about 3 millimeters) cut with a 2-inch (5 cm) round or glass (personally I used 4-inch/10 cm cutter as it makes nice size pierogi - this way I got around 30 of them and 1 full, heaped teaspoon of filling is perfect for that size). Spoon a portion (teaspoon will be the best) of the filling into the middle of each circle. Fold dough in half and pinch edges together. Gather scraps, re-roll and fill. Repeat with remaining dough.

Pierogi made using the form


Pierogi made by hand

4. Bring a large, low saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop in the pierogi, not too many, only single layer in the pan! Return to the boil and reduce heat. When the pierogi rise to the surface, continue to simmer a few minutes more ( usually about 5 minutes). Remove one dumpling with a slotted spoon and taste if ready. When satisfied, remove remaining pierogi from the water.

5. Serve immediately preferably with creme fraiche or fry. Cold pierogi can be fried. Boiled Russian pierogi can be easily frozen and boiled taken out straight from the freezer.

Other types of fillings:

Potato and cheese
4 – 5 boiled potatoes
4 table spoons butter (60 g) or olive oil (60 ml)
50 ml (3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) milk
1 egg white (from medium egg)
about 120 ml (½ cup) farmers’ cheese (any unripened cheese like Indian Paneer)
salt and pepper

Meat and cabbage
200 g (7 oz) cooked meat (minced or cut very finely)
500 g white cabbage (chopped and simmered in a little bit of water, until soft)
1 onion (diced and fried)
1 whole medium egg
1 tablespoon (15g) butter
dry breadcrumbs (add as much to hold the filling together, about 2 tablespoons)
salt and pepper

Soy bean filling
350 g soy beans (canned, drained and minced)
2 medium eggs
1 onion (diced and fired)
100 g (2/3 cup) dry breadcrumbs
salt and pepper

Sauerkraut filling
2 cups (500 g) sauerkraut
1 big carrot, grated
1 shallot, chopped and fried with a tablespoon of butter
few (about 3) wild mushrooms (I used dry ones, you can use fresh but chop them and fry on some butter before adding to the sauerkraut cabbage)
salt, pepper and cumin
- Saute all the ingredients together until soft, cool before filling pierogi.

Daring Baker's Challenge: Baked Alaska

As you can see we have an injured guest for josephine's first birthday !!

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

The photos of my baked Alaska look so bad I intended to make onother one but never made and even postponed posting forever...

The baked Alaska itself was fun to make and a surprise for my Italian guests who didn't know what to expect from it.

I really loved the smell and taste of the browned butter pound cake and regretted not tasting it fully when frozen.

I used a middle layer of pound cake too but I think it was too thick.

I used the chocolate ganache ice cream I had made for Tusday with Dorie.

I used the chocolate ganache ice cream I had made for Tusdays with Dorie and some little leftovers of store bought ice cream.

This dessert was easy to assemble provided you have enough room in your freezer !!

RECIPE

Vanilla Ice Cream

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (165g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise OR 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
2 cups (500ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract

1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean with a paring knife and add to the milk, along with the bean pod. Cover, remove from heat, and let infuse for an hour. (If you do not have a vanilla bean, simply heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams, then let cool to room temperature.)

2. Set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2 litre) bowl inside a large bowl partially filled with water and ice. Put a strainer on top of the smaller bowl and pour in the cream.

3. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks together. Reheat the milk in the medium saucepan until warmed, and then gradually pour ¼ cup warmed milk into the yolks, constantly whisking to keep the eggs from scrambling. Once the yolks are warmed, scrape the yolk and milk mixture back into the saucepan of warmed milk and cook over low heat. Stir constantly and scrape the bottom with a spatula until the mixture thickens into a custard which thinly coats the back of the spatula.

4. Strain the custard into the heavy cream and stir the mixture until cooled. Add the vanilla extract (1 teaspoon [5ml] if you are using a vanilla bean; 3 teaspoons [15ml] if you are not using a vanilla bean) and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.

5. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze in an ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make it without a machine. See instructions from David Lebovitz:http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/07/making_ice_crea_1.html

Brown Butter Pound Cake

19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) (See “Note” section for cake flour substitution)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.

2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.

3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.

5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.

6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Chocolate Glaze (For the Ice Cream Petit Fours)

9 ounces (250g) dark chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (250 ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
1 1/2 tablespoons (32g) light corn syrup, Golden syrup, or agave nectar
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract

Stir the heavy cream and light corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir to completely melt the chocolate. Stir in the vanilla and let cool until tepid before glazing the petit fours.

Meringue (For the Baked Alaska)

8 large egg whites
½ teaspoon (3g) cream of tartar
½ teaspoon (3g) salt
1 cup (220g) sugar

Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt on high speed in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in the sugar gradually in a slow stream until stiff peaks form.

Assembly Instructions – Ice Cream Petit Fours

1. Line a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) pan with plastic wrap, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and so there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides. Spread 1 ¾ to 2 cups (450ml to 500ml) ice cream into the pan. Cover with more plastic wrap and freeze several hours.

2. Once the brown butter pound cake has completely cooled, level the top with a cake leveler or a serrated knife. Then split the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers.

3. Unwrap the frozen ice cream. Flip out onto one of the layers of cake and top with the second layer of cake. Wrap well in plastic wrap and return to the freezer overnight.

4. Make the chocolate glaze (see above.)

5. While the glaze cools, trim ¾” (2cm) off each side of the ice cream cake to leave a perfectly square 7.5” (19cm) ice cream cake. Cut the cake into twenty five petit fours, each 1.5”x1.5” (4cmx4cm).

6. Glaze the petit fours one at a time: place a petit four on a fork and spoon chocolate glaze over it.

7. Place the petit fours on a parchment-lined baking sheet and return to the freezer for one hour.

Assembly Instructions – Baked Alaska

1. Line four 4” (10cm) diameter tea cups with plastic wrap, so that plastic wrap covers all the sides and hangs over the edge. Fill to the top with ice cream. Cover the top with the overhanging plastic wrap and freeze for several hours, or until solid.

2. Level the top of the brown butter pound cake with a serrated knife or with a cake leveler. Cut out four 4” (10cm) diameter circles from the cake. Discard the scraps or use for another purpose.

3. Make the meringue (see above.)

4. Unwrap the ice cream “cups” and invert on top of a cake round. Trim any extra cake if necessary.

5. Pipe the meringue over the ice cream and cake, or smooth it over with a spatula, so that none of the ice cream or cake is exposed. Freeze for one hour or up to a day.

6. Burn the tips of the meringue with a cooking blow torch. Or, bake the meringue-topped Baked Alaskas on a rimmed baking sheet in a 500°F/260°C oven for 5 minutes until lightly golden. Serve immediately.

BBD # 33 Breads with Booze : Crescia Cingolana

This month Bread Baking Day # 33 is hosted by Adriana at Baking Powders.

I made a sweet bread I wanted to make since I got The Baker's Dozen Cookbook ; in the book there are some photos and the Crescia Cingolana looks very cute baked in vintage cans.

So finally after years thanks to Adriana I decided to bake it !

The Crescia, a dialectal word that refers to a yeasted baked good coming from the word Crescere that means to Grow, is called in the book also Orange Rum Sweet Bread.

I wanted to add more informations and looked for this bread in the net but did not find anything. Anyway the recipe is from Carol Field and I trust her, maybe she ate it in Cingoli which by the way is called the Marche's balcony, for its wonderful view.

Traditionally in the central regions of Italy a sweet bread and a cheese one are baked for Easter morning; during the Holy week the Priest would visit all the households and bless eggs and all the ingredients of Easter lunch. Hens start laying more eggs in the spring and I remember the breads that my neighbours in Umbria baked were so loaded with eggs that looked almost green !!!

Recipe

by Carol Field from The Baker's Dozen Cookbook

Sponge

1/2 cup whole milk, lukewarm

2 1/2 teaspons active dry yeast (I used 1 3/4 instant yeast )

2/3 cup (3 1/2 ounces) ubleached all-purpose flour

Dough

1/4 dark rum

3 1/4 cups (1 pound) unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

3 large eggs at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

Zest of two oranges (see step 2)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large egg white beaten with 2 teaspoon water, for the glaze.

1. To make the sponge, pour the milk ito the bowl of a heavy duty stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Let stand until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to form a thick batter. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature until it is bubbly and doubles in volume about 30 to 45 minutes.

2. To make the dough, add the rum to the sponge. Attach the bowl to the mixer and fit with the paddle attachment. On low speed, add 1 cup of flour and the salt and mix until smooth. Add 2 eggs and another cup of flour and mix util smooth. Beat in the remaining egg, the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour, along with the sugar and zest (grate the orange zest right into the bowl, removing the bowl from the stand if necessary). With the mixer on low speed, add the olive oil in a slow steady stream, then mix for 3 minutes. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium-low speed until the dough is firm elastic and velvety with a barely sticky surface, about 3 minutes. If the dough seems too firm, beat in an additional tablespoon or so of milk; if too wet add flour 1 tablespoon at a time.

3.Detach the dough hook and remove the bowl from the stand. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand until the dough is doubled in volume, about 3 hours.

4. Lightly oil a 2-quart round soufflé dish or charlotte mold. Turn the dough into a floured work surface and shape it into a round. Fit, rounded side up, into the prepared dish. Cover with a moistened towel. Let stand at room temperature until the dough has risen to the top of the dish, about two hours.

5. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F.

6. Brush the top of the dough with some of the egg glaze. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F and bake until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when the bottom is tapped, about 20 minutes. (I checked the internal temperature and got the 195°F much later)

7. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool for 30 minutes. Unmold and cool completely.

TWD : Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Donna of Life's too short not to eat dessert first (who could not agreee ?) chose these cookies and I was ready for another spread failure when they didn't move ! Almost cutting edges ! (...) I'm so happy I want to try the world peace cookies again !

What I did is diminish the butter from 8 oz to 6 oz and increase the flour a bit, this is because European butter has a higher fat content than American ( 85 % vs.80%). But I didn't go into math and just tried..

In Italy ziplock baggies aren't so common so I just cut out a normal freezer bag and put some tape to the cut end, I loved Dorie's way of rolling and even in the heat wave after two hours in the fridge the dough was ready.

I used decaf soluble coffee because Andrea doesn't drink coffee, but he certainly enjoied these cookies, infact I gave him almost all of them to bring to work (they were TOO good for me) but he admitted he wasn't generous because he liked them a lot !

Please visit Donna for this recipe and go here to check all the cookies (there is even an oatmeal and spice version !)

Bread Baking Buddies : Sweet Portuguese Bread

The Bread Baking Babe Tanna decided to bake for friends this month and chose a sweet bread that comes from Portugal.

I love very much trying recipes from all over the world waiting to visit the places. This summer I read the History of the Siege of Lisbon by Josè Saramago where he imagines a proof reader changing just one word from a text and writing a new Story. He describes Lisbon in past times and today making me desire to visit it. I liked it, did you read it ?

Back to our bread...we are devouring it every morning toasted and spread with lemon marmalade : wonderful !

Tanna diminished the sugar but I didn't as I wanted it for breakfast. Please visit Tanna for the recipe and to see all the Massa Sovada !

TWD : Crunchy and Custardy Peach Tart and a late Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

I should start with many excuses... I've been a real slacker with my blog and not only... but I've contracted a serious illness from Cagliostro !!!

Here in Rome the wheather is so hot that this morning at six o'clock I entered the kitchen and thought I had left the oven on !!!

The worst part are homeworks: in Italy schools start on Sept. 14th and my kids still have tons of homeworks (plus I'm helping two other kids too) I really can't wait for that day !!!

Do American kids have holidays homeworks as well ? How many of them ? Carlo has tons of pages !

Anyway This tart was sublime ! I'm so glad Rachel of sweet tarte chose it in these peach-rich days !!! I served it yesterday evening after dinner and I should have taken pictures of the happy faces after the first bite !!! Please visit Rachel for the recipe and the LYL for more tarts !

Last week I didn't post the wonderful Oatmeal Breakfast Bread chosen by Natalie of Oven Love, But I had baked it and yummily eaten almost all of it : it's a wonderful and simple quick bread. I didn't have applesauce but had some mixed fruit compote I had made when in my veggie box started appearing too many cantalupes so I substituted that and omitted the sugar and has I had a mix of flakes I used them instead of just oat ones. Please take some time and try it you will find the recipe here !

TWD : Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

This week it was Katrina of Baking and Boys who chose the recipe and what recipe ! I made the ice cream with a bittersweet chocolate , bad-motherly, and it was divine !

I own an ice cream maker so everything was quite easy to put together, to smooth the ganache I used the tip of a pastry chef and used an immersion blender immersing it all the way without letting any air going in, it works very well.

I hope you are going to try this recipe you can find it here and if you wish to see more ice creams please visit the rest of the group !

TWD : Gingered Carrot Cookies

And here comes my pick !

As the first thing I really want to thank Laurie for creating our group and for taking such good care of it, I started noticing it when Bill's Big Carrot Cakes appeared on many blogs and eventually joined the group some time later; then I would like to express my admiration for Dorie Greenspan who wrote this wonderful book really full of all kinds of great recipes for every mood and time, she was able to convince me to try and love coconut and white chocolate in the same dessert and much more ! Furthermore I would love to thank all of you that I now feel like friends for making me so happy for each of your comments on my blog.

During these last wonderful TWD years I had been imagining this post and hoped it would be THE most witful, interesting and so on post but I was too optimistic as usual !

We just came back from the holidays and the house looks like an Halloween location, I had to go for a new job interview (from September I'll be working in the The Vatican Historical Museum ( founded in 1973 and transferred in 1987 to the Papal Apartment in the Lateran Palace, houses a series of papal portraits along with objects of the past Pontifical Military Corps and of the Pontifical Chapel and Family and historic ceremonial objects no longer in use.), and finally got my migraine ! But nonetheless...I'M VERY PROUD OF HOSTING THE GINGERED CARROT COOKIES !!!!

Now I should tell you I chose them because since the very first day it was my dream to bake them but it's not true :... some time ago I had so many carrots from my veggie box that tried them and they were perfect for different reasons : they do NOT spread , do not require strange foods (like chesnuts for you and mysterious candy for me), I missed cookies in TWD, they are easy to make and they are good.

I really hope they met your taste too !

You already know I'm not the best photographer and the cookies are cute but not the best models so I used some special glasses and my latest holidays accomplishment as photographic set ...

RECIPE

Gingered Carrot Cookies

Page 162 - Baking from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch fresly grated nutmeg

1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup shredded carrots (about 3, peeled and trimmed)

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (I confess I used unsweetened)

1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

GETTING READY: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchement or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and nutmeg.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes or so, then add the egg and beat for another minute. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the vanilla. Continuing on low speed, add the dry ingredients in 2 or 3 batches and beat only until they just disappear into the mix. You'll have a very thick dough, and you might be tempted to overbeat it to incorporate flour-don't. Mix in the carrots, coconuts, raisins and pecans.

Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets in heaping tablespoonfuls (I used an ice cream scoop), leaving about an inch of space between them; THESE DON'T SPREAD MUCH.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be light brown and only just firm on top. Carefully transfer the cookies to racks to cool to room temperature.

This is the lovely view we had in Capalbio (Tuscany)