Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies

The flecks of golden brown throughout these melt-in-your-mouth brown butter shortbread cookies are a testament to their rich buttery flavor. 

It’s confession time again. I first attempted this shortbread recipe a couple of years back as part of a challenge to make stamped cookies. The dough tasted fabulous and I was very excited about the new cookie stamp I had bought for the occasion. 

Unfortunately, despite chilling the dough for more than the requisite amount of time, my cookies turned out looking unstamped, plain, unacceptable. 

I’m sure the fault was mine because I browned my butter instead of using normal butter. But if brown butter is wrong, who wants to be right? Can I get an amen? 

The cookies did, however, taste wonderful! (I ask again, is there anything so lovely as brown butter? I maintain there is not.) So I had another go and made a more traditional shortbread shape instead. Success! 

These would be perfect to put out for Santa on Christmas Eve. To see more Cookies for Santa, make sure to scroll down passed my recipe for a great list from my Sunday FunDay friends. 

Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies

My recipe is adapted from one on the blog, An Italian in my Kitchen. As you will see if you follow the link, it is for stamped cookies. Note that the original is with normal butter, not brown butter.  

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups or 218.75g all purpose flour

1/4 cup or 32g cornstarch

1 cup or 227g butter

1/2 cup or 63g powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 8x8 in or 20x20cm pan by lining the bottom with a square of baking parchment. 

To make the brown butter: Melt, then cook the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the remainder into a heatproof container. Cool the butter slightly, then refrigerate until almost solid. For photos with instructions, I highly recommend this post by my friend Kayle, The Cooking Actress. 

Now that your butter is almost set, it’s time to make the cookie dough. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt. 

Check out the brown butter:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the chilled browned butter with the sugar until they are soft and creamy. Admire the lovely flecks of golden brown and congratulate yourself into working brown butter into another recipe. 

Add the flour mixture to the creamy butter a few tablespoons at a time, beating briefly to combine in between. 

When the mixture begins to come together, move to a clean flat surface and knead until you have a smooth dough.

Divide the dough into two pieces and wrap them in cling film.  

Chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Two thinner pieces chill more quickly than one thick piece. 

When the chilling time is up, press both of the dough pieces into the bottom of your prepared pan. Score the top with a sharp knife. 

Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes. Use a sharp knife to cut the shortbread into pieces where you scored. Leave to cool completely before removing from the pan.

Enjoy!

Years ago, we left out cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve and he always seemed to enjoy them both, nothing but crumbs on the plate. This year has been a doozie and I’m sure Santa has earned those cookies more than ever. Check out the delicious list of cookies my SundayFunDay friends have been baking for him. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Brown Butter Shortbread from Food Lust People Love 
• Chocolate Shortbread with Sprinkles from Our Good Life 
• Eggless Nankhatai from Sneha's Recipe
• Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies with Nutella Filling from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Krumkake from Cooking With Carlee
• Macaroon Kiss Christmas Cookies from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Butterscotch Cookies from Making Miracles
• Salted Honey Pecan Thumbprint Cookies from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Peppermint Crinkles from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Toffee Coffee Bars from Palatable Pastime

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Stuffed Bagel Balls

These stuffed bagel balls are baked till golden with lovely cream cheese inside, topped with everything bagel seasoning. 

During the pandemic, I’ve been borrowing e-books like crazy through the Libby app, which allows you to add a number of library cards and search for books in your own local libraries. I have three cards, two here in Texas and one in the UK so I have had a wide variety of books to choose from. 

One of my recent loans was the cookbook Family Meal, published to raise money for the Restaurant Workers’ Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund. Since I didn’t buy the book I made a donation but I wanted to tell you about it, in case any of my readers might want to buy one. Or to make a donation to the fund, click here. 

Each recipe is preceded by a personal introduction from the chef or bakers and I really enjoyed getting to know many of whom I had never heard like Dominque Crenn, Gina Homolka and Sam Sifton and many I already love/admire like Ruth Reichl, Kwame Onwauchi, Ina Garten and Eric Ripert, among others. 

Stuffed Bagel Balls 

This recipe is based on the one Gina Homolka shared for her family’s favorite Bantam Bagel balls which she says they normally buy at their neighborhood Starbucks or in the freezer section at their local supermarket. I've never tried to buy them so I cannot verify this but she says they are often out of stock. No more worries when you can make them at home! I don't know about you but I almost always have these ingredients on hand as well. 

Ingredients

4 oz or 113g cream cheese in a block

1 cup or 125g all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading, dusting, etc. 

2 teaspoons baking powder 

3/4 teaspoons fine sea salt 

1 cup or 245g non-fat Greek yogurt   

For topping: 

1 egg white, beaten

Everything bagel seasoning

Method

Chill the cream cheese block in the freezer for about 15 minutes and then cut it into 8 even pieces. Pop it back in the freezer while you make the dough.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk well. Add the yogurt to the flour mixture. 

Use a fork and a light touch to gradually mix the flour into the yogurt. Gina says you'll get small crumbles but mine was wetter and more clumpy than that. 

Use a small strainer or sieve to lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out on it. 

Knead the dough, sprinkling with flour as needed when it gets too sticky. You want a smooth dough without lumps. Cut the dough into 8 pieces of equal size. I am a electronic scale user so I weighed the whole ball of dough and then I calculated how heavy each piece should be when divided by eight. Or you can eyeball it, your call. Roll each piece into a ball. 

Remove the cream cheese from the freezer and use clean damp hands to roll each piece into a ball or at least a cube with rounded corners. Return to the freezer. 

Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and prepare a baking pan by lining it with baking parchment or a silicone liner. 

Flatten one ball of dough into a circle about 3 1/2 in or 9cm and then put one ball (or rounded lump, if we are being realistic) of cream cheese in the middle. 

Pull the sides of the circle up to cover the cream cheese and pinch the dough to seal it well. 

Roll it between your hands gently and place it sealed side down on the prepared baking pan. Repeat the process with the other seven dough/cream cheese balls.

Finally, use a pastry brush to brush the balls with the beaten egg white and sprinkle liberally with the everything bagel seasoning. I am a "the more toppings the better" kind of person. If I'd thought I could get away with rolling them in the egg wash and then the seasoning, I'd have totally tried it. In retrospect, that would have worked, so you do you. Next time! 

Tip: If you have an extra (read: clean/dry) pastry brush, use it to sweep up the seasonings on the pan from time to time so you can reuse it for sprinkling. This avoids waste but also stops all the toppings from burning on the pan, which no one wants. 

Bake the bagel balls for about 22 to 25 minutes, or until golden, turning the pan 180° midway through so the bagel balls brown evenly.

Let them cool for at least 10 minutes.  Then enjoy! 

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so that means it’s time for a Foodie Extravaganza party. As you might guess from the list below, our theme is all things bagel. Many thanks to this month’s host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. 

• Bagels and Lox on the Casual Side by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chicken Donut Kebab Bagel Sandwich by Sneha's Recipe
• Everything Bagel Breakfast Casserole by Making Miracles
• Everything Bagel Seasoning & Avocado Topped Bagels by Palatable Pastime
• Marbled Rye Bagels by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Piquant Veggie Bagel Spread by Magical Ingredients
• Stuffed Bagel Balls by Food Lust People Love
• Za'atar-Dusted Bagels by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board

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Winter Crunch Grape Muffins #MuffinMonday

Winter Crunch grape muffins are baked until golden with those special grapes for a light and tender sweet treat perfect for breakfast or snack time.  

I must confess that I had never heard of Winter Crunch™grapes before they arrived, a gift of Melissa’s Produce, along with some sweet pumpkin persimmons and butterscotch pears. I was expecting the last two items since signing up to take part in the family baking challenge, but the grapes were a surprise.  

They are crunchy and sweet and it took a lot of self-control not to sit and eat the whole clamshell full before I could create something with them. This is not a sponsored post but I still wanted to take advantage of the gift by making something to share. 

According to the Melissa’s Produce website, “Due to their late harvest, these grapes develop an excellent sweet flavor tone that is juicy and delicious. Great sizing, sugar content and texture, this seedless grape variety tops the competition.” They are indeed lovely and a great bonus. 

Winter Crunch Grape Muffins

The grapes retain a bit of their eponymous crunch in these sweet muffins, even though I cut them into quarters. The reddish purple outsides contrast beautifully with the pale green insides. 

Ingredients for 6 muffins

1 1/4 cup or 156g all purpose flour

1/2 cup or 100g sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

1/4 cup or 60ml canola oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 large egg

1 generous cup or about 175g fresh Winter Crunch™grapes, cut in quarters

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C Generously grease the cups and top of 6-cup muffin pan or use paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in about two thirds of your quartered grapes, coating them well with the mixture. Set aside the other third for topping.

In another smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla and egg. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl. 

Gently fold the milk mixture into the flour mixture just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Divide your batter evenly between the six muffin cups. Top with the reserved grape quarters. I put some up and some down to show off the color difference. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until muffins are turning golden.

Remove from oven and leave to cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.

I couldn’t wait for these to cool completely and I’m so glad I didn’t. They are fabulous warm. 

This recipe can also be baked as a small coffee cake, if you don’t have a muffin pan.  Extend baking time by five to 10 minutes or, once again, until golden.  

Enjoy!

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it is Muffin Monday. My blogger friends and I get together to share muffin recipes we hope you will love. Check them out below. 

• Banana Nutella Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cranberry Orange Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Dutch Apple Pie Muffins from Making Miracles
• Olive Oil Gingerbread Muffins from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Sourdough Gingerbread Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sugarplum Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Winter Crunch Grape Muffins from Food Lust People Love

 

 #MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad

This Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad recipe will bring fresh zip to your leftover Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey by adding glass noodles, lime juice, chili peppers and fish sauce, turning it into an Asian specialty.

I learned how to make this salad from a Burmese friend who was my close neighbor when we lived in a small oilfield town in Brazil. I didn’t know any better so I assumed it was a typically Burmese recipe. Turns out that Burma, Vietnam and Thailand, among others, all claim it. Here in the US, most people seem to think of it as a Thai dish, hence my title. 

Ma Toe’s version starts with ground pork that she fries really crispy. And in addition to the dried shrimp, she also puts in some boiled shrimp for added protein. It’s one of our favorite things so I make a great big bowl and we eat it for several days. 

When we lived in Malaysia, occasionally I’d make it to take along to a school lunch or potluck, replacing the pork with ground chicken so even the Muslim students or my Muslim friends could enjoy it. It was delicious with either addition and just as good with shredded turkey.

If you are looking for creative ways to repurpose leftover turkey, you might want to try my Brie cranberry turkey quesadillas, my turkey cranberry Camembert muffins, or my own personal favorite turkey pot pie.  Make sure you scroll down to see what other holiday leftovers my Sunday FunDay friends are transforming into other wonderful dishes. 

Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad

Turkey is an excellent addition to glass noodle salad, a worthy and delicious use of leftovers. True confession: I actually poached boneless turkey breast to make this dish because I couldn’t wait for leftovers. 

Ingredients

For the salad:

8 oz or 227g bean thread or glass noodles (not rice sticks!)

1 packed cup or 200g shredded, leftover turkey 

1/2 chopped or 30g green onion tops

1/2 cup or 25g chopped cilantro, leaves and fine stems. (Discard hard woody stems.)

2 tablespoons dried shrimp

For the dressing:

1/4 cup or 60ml fresh lime juice

1 onion, sliced thinly

2 bird chilies, chopped

1/4 cup or 60ml fish sauce

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Method

Soak the glass noodles in cool tap water to soften for about 10 minutes.

Drain the water and put the noodles in a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over the noodles and leave for about 1 minute. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cool water. Set aside. 

Put the sliced onions and chopped chilies in a bowl with the lime juice and set aside while you make the rest of the dressing. 

Use a mortar and pestle to pound the dried shrimp into powder.

Combine the fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Stir till the sugar dissolves. Add the sweetened fish sauce to the lime juice and onions. Stir to combine.

Pour the dressing over your drained bean thread noodles in a large bowl. Toss to combine.

 

Tip: I find that the bean thread noodles don’t toss very well whole so I use my clean kitchen scissors to cut them up a bit. Or you can use your clean hands to mix the other ingredients into the noodles. 

Add in the green onion tops, cilantro and shrimp powder and toss to combine again. 

Mix in the shredded turkey. 

Taste for seasoning and add a little more fish sauce if more salt is needed. This salad just gets better as it hangs out in the refrigerator so it’s great to make ahead and chill until you serve. 

Enjoy! 

If too many leftovers are the bane of your existence after a big holiday meal, let us help you out. Check out these Sunday FunDay recipes that will transform your leftovers into new dishes your family will love.

• Chatpata Leftover Rice Paratha from Sneha's Recipe
• Savory Bread Pudding from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Thai-style Turkey Glass Noodle Salad from Food Lust People Love
• Turkey and Stuffing Quiche from Palatable Pastime
• Turkey Cranberry Sliders from Making Miracles
• Turkey Tamale Skillet from A Day in the Life on the Farm

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family Funday, so each Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join!

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Marmalade Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Marmalade glazed sweet potatoes are a bit sweet, with a lovely sharp edge from the orange marmalade and a good splash of sherry vinegar. They are just as tasty as they are pretty and would make a great addition to your holiday table. I mean, really. Look at that shine!

Over the years, when we lived outside of the United States and away from family, we celebrated Thanksgiving with various groups of friends, some American, others not. When we lived in Paris, we hosted a fun dinner with friends and neighbors. I roasted the turkey, made quite a few side dishes and pecan pies and told everyone to bring the side dish or dishes it simply would not be Thanksgiving in their houses without.

All told, we were about 20 people, children included, and the array of side dishes was downright impressive. There was one dish I was completely unfamiliar with so I had to ask. Apparently creamed pearl onions is a must-have family side for my friend, Teresa.

That was in the days before internet but years later I remember looking it up and creamed pearl onions are a New England favorite. I’ve never made them myself but I remember them fondly from that one special dinner.

In my family, sweet potatoes are one of the must-have side dishes. My grandmothers would make them sweet and sticky, pouring on the Karo syrup with lots of butter. Truly, you could eat them for dessert. 

I like them less sweet, often just with a sprinkling of brown sugar. This recipe with marmalade and sherry vinegar is a little fancier but just as easy.  

Marmalade Glazed Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is wonderful made with butternut squash or pumpkin as well. You can use homemade or store-bought marmalade for this dish. 

Ingredients

2 lbs or 900g sweet potatoes – more or less

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon flakey sea salt or to taste

1/4 cup or 80g thin cut orange marmalade 

2 tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons butter

Method

Drizzle the olive oil in a large non-stick pan where the sweet potatoes can fit in one layer. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes and add them to the pan.

Mix together the marmalade, vinegar and the thyme leaves in a microwaveable bowl. Add in the butter and warm in the microwave until the butter starts to melt. Stir till the butter is completely melted and set aside.

Over a medium to high heat, cook the sweet potatoes, tossing or stirring occasionally, until they are browned on many sides, about 8-10 minutes. Add in a few tablespoons of water, turn the fire down to a simmer and cover the pan for 5-6 minutes or until the sweet potatoes cubes are fork tender. 

Remove the lid and add in the marmalade vinegar mixture. Over a medium heat, cook it down carefully until the sauce thickens and the sweet potatoes are well glazed. 

Transfer to warm serving bowl and use a silicone spatula to spoon every last sticky drop of glaze over the sweet potatoes. 

Garnish with thyme, if desired.

Enjoy!

Today’s SundayFunDay theme is That Holiday Feeling! Many thanks to our host Rebekah of Making Miracles. Check out all the great recipes below to get you in the holiday mood!

• Caesar Coleslaw by A Day in the Life on the Farm/
• Crackled Ginger Cookies by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Gingered Shrimp Cups by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Holiday Salad by Making Miracles
• Kohlrabi, Carrot and Spinach Salad by Cook with Renu
• Marmalade Glazed Sweet Potatoes by Food Lust People Love
• Parker House Rolls by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Savory Aloo Masala French Toast Rollups by Sneha's Recipe
• Turkey and Cranberry Reuben Sandwich by Palatable Pastime

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