Nutella Pie Cookies

Like Nutella? Like pie? Like cookies? How about a Nutella pie cookie?  This cookie isn't made from a traditional cookie dough but rather, a buttery and flaky cream cheese pie crust (elevated just a little) formed into a cute little half crescent cookie.  Every bite is flaky and buttery and when paired with the smooth Nutella filling...well...that's just a sublime bite!  An elegant cookie made from very simple ingredients that you most likely already have in your pantry. Let's get started...

Put your cream cheese and butter in your mixing bowl. Both should be at room temp. If they aren't at room temp, you'll notice annoying lumps of butter and cream cheese.

Beat together until the butter and cream cheese is evenly incorporated and fluffy.

Add flour...

...and mix until the flour just is incorporated and a dough is formed.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap. I like to flatten it so that rolling it later becomes easier.  Put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to 2-3 days if not making immediately.

Remove your dough and divide in half. I find that working with half of the dough at a time is easier.

 

Roll out the dough to 1/8" thickness. You will probably need to flour your rolling pin and work surface.

Those yellow rings you see around my rolling pin are "even dough bands". They fit around the rolling pin and come in four pairs with four thickness sizes in a package. There's no guessing if my dough is evenly rolled out. Check it out here.

Cut out the circles with a biscuit cutter or any circular cutter you may have

Gather the excess dough and form it in a ball and roll out again to cut more circles. You will probably still continue to need to flour your work surface and rolling pin.

Sprinkle a heaping 1/8 tsp of sugar, trying not to get sugar on the edges. It will be more difficult to seal if sugar gets on the edge but if it happens, no worries, just keep going.

Put a spoonful of Nutella in the center.  Notice the middle one. Not sure what happened but that is what you are NOT supposed to do. HA!

Dab your finger in the water and moisten half of the circle's edge. You'll see my finger there at the edge.

With the dry side, fold it over to meet the moistened side and put a little pressure with your finger to seal the edges.  If you like, grab a seafood/dessert fork and crimp the edges to make a nice border. Optional but very pretty.

Lay them in your nonstick or parchment lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with more sugar, about 1/8 tsp on each one. You don't have to be exact, just sprinkle!

Half of the dough made 17 pie cookies cut with a 3" cutter. Now they're ready for a 350F oven.

And 21 minutes later, here they are! Nice and golden.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar

Are you impressed that I multipurposed my tea infuser as a powdered sugar duster? 

Here is what it looks like inside. Pretty huh?

There you have it. 

A beautiful and elegant cookie that will add and upscale flair to your next dinner party or potluck.

Warning, if you make these once, you'll be required (and repeatedly asked) to make these again or else I'm afraid you won't be allowed at the next potluck/gathering. It happened to me.

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Nutella Pie Cookies

Makes 30-32 Pie Cookies (if cut with a 3" cutter)

1 Cup Butter (2 sticks) -room temp

8 oz cream cheese -room temp (not whipped, just the regular "block")

2 Cups flour + more for dusting your work surface and rolling pin

3/4 Nutella jar (13 oz)

1/4 Cup or so Water

1/2 Cup or so regular white sugar

Powdered Sugar to dust cookies

Special equipment: 

Rolling Pin

Cocktail/seafood fork or any small dessert fork if you want to make a decorative border

3" Biscuit cutter or any circular cutter -you could even use a cup or can

Beat cream cheese and butter until you get a smooth fluffy texture.  

Add flour and slowly mix until the flour is incorporated and a dough forms.  You do not want to over mix.  

Flatten into a disc (makes it easier to roll later) and cover with plastic wrap.  Put it in the fridge for 30 min for dough to rest and for flour to hydrate.  If you will not be making the cookies immediately, you can leave the dough in the fridge for 2-3 days.  Remove half hour before rolling if your dough is left in the fridge overnight.

Preheat your oven to 350 F and now you're ready to roll.

Remove the dough from the fridge and divide in half.  It is easier to work with a smaller piece of dough.  Roll out the dough to 1/8" thickness and cut out circles.  You may find that you'll need some flour to dust over the dough and on your rolling pin if the dough gets a little sticky.  Gather remaining dough (flour as you go along if needed) and roll again to 1/8" thickness and cut out more circles.  Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Over each "circle" that you cut out, sprinkle about a heaping 1/8 tsp of regular white sugar, keeping it in the center as much as possible.  If too much sugar gets along the edges, it will make it difficult to seal.  

Top with a small spoonful of Nutella in the center of the circle.  Dip your finger in the water and lightly moisten half of the perimeter edge of the circle with your finger.  Starting with the dry half of the circle, flip it over to meet the moistened edge and put light pressure with your finger to seal it, essentially creating a crescent or "half moon".  If you want a decorative border, use a small seafood fork or dessert fork and impress it with the tines.  Place your cookies on a nonstick or parchment lined cookie sheet.  Sprinkle the cookies with more white sugar, about a heaping 1/8 tsp on each one.

Bake in a 350 F oven for 18-22 minutes (turning the tray once half way through the cooking time) or until the cookies are a light golden brown.  In my oven, it took 21 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!  You can experiment with other fillings too!  If you want a savory filling, then you would omit the sugar and play around with the salt measurements to suit your taste. You can also make these cookies a little smaller or bigger depending on your preference.  A smaller cutter will yield more cookies.

Recipe Adapted from Food Network.

Accidental Chocolate Sauce

I created this chocolate sauce by accident.  How do you ask? Well, one very late night, like midnight, I was baking a cake. Why was I baking a cake at midnight? Good question.  I offered to bring dessert for a family function and between time slipping away from me and my procrastination, baking a cake at midnight was the most "logical" thing to do.  I was making a chocolate zucchini cake in a fluted pan and I thought frosting it would be a nice touch.  After I made the frosting, I was baffled as to why it turned into a thin sauce instead of a thick spreadable frosting. I was pacing back and forth (mind you -I was exhausted at this point) in my kitchen wondering what I did wrong.  How can I mess up frosting with a such a straight forward recipe?  So I decided to reread the frosting recipe on the back of the Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa Powder container, at 1 a.m. at this point, I then realized that I misread the measurement of milk.  I ended up using 1 cup of milk instead of  the 1/3 cup of milk as stated in the recipe.  Despite how utterly exhausted I felt, I decided that I just had to make a new batch of frosting....but as I opened my fridge...I see that I ran out of butter and milk!  So exasperated and annoyed at this point, I decided to go to bed and with the dawn of a new day it hit me...use it as a drizzle for the cake!  It was thoroughly enjoyed by all and it turns out, the chocolate sauce was a hit of the party.  It also doubled in function as a "dip" for the fruit tray.

It was still a little thin for my taste so below are the revised measurements as I've intentionally made this "accidental" sauce many times over the years.  Enjoy!

(By the way, 3 cups of powdered sugar as specified in the recipe is WAY too much for my taste! I used less than half that!)

Anyways...here goes...

Melt butter in small saucepan, turn off the heat and add the cocoa powder

Whisk in the cocoa powder until combined

Add the cream (or milk if using) and powdered sugar alternately and in small increments

Use as much cream and sugar to suit your personal preference

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 Accidental Chocolate Sauce
1/2 C (1 stick) butter
2/3 C unsweetened cocoa
1/2 C or 1 1/2 C powdered sugar (you decide how sweet you like it -you can add more if you like)
1/2 C - 3/4 C Heavy Cream (or whole milk)
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Once the butter is melted, turn off the heat and then slowly stir in cocoa.

Alternately whisk in cream (or milk if using) and sugar. Do NOT dump them in at once! It WILL clump.  The key is to add the cream (or milk) and powder sugar incrementally and alternately.  Heavy Cream will give it a richer flavor. Whole milk works as well and is less calories.

Once all the ingredients are fully incorporated, then the "sauce" is done. Drizzle over your favorite cake or dessert or use as a fruit "dip".  This tastes great when drizzled over strawberries and bananas.

Apple Cheesecake Bars with Crumble Topping

Like apple pie? Like cheesecake?  Then you'll LOVE this dessert!  If cheesecake and apple pie got married, this would be the offspring.  The crumble topping adds a nice crunch and complements the apple very well. This four layered dessert will hit all those sweet notes that you look for in a dessert but has great texture from the apples and the crumble topping.  This sweet, creamy and crunchy dessert will be a HIT at your next gathering!

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In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix in butter with your hands until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 x 9 baking pan that has been buttered or spayed with cooking spray (if your pan is non-stick then no cooking spray needed). 

Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Pour over warm crust that has just been baked in the oven.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. 

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients until you get pea sized lumps that resemble a crumble. Sprinkle evenly over the apple layer.

Bake 30-40 minutes, or until filling is set. I ended up baking mine in 35 minutes.

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Apple Cheesecake Bars with Crumble Topping

Crust Layer:

1 1/2 C flour

1/2 C firmly packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter (softened to room temp)

1 tsp cinnamon

"Cheesecake" Layer:

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/4 C sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

Apple Layer:

3 Granny Smith apples (or whatever you like), peeled, cored and finely chopped

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tbsp sugar

Crumble Topping:

1/2 C firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 C flour

1/4 quaker oats (or your own creative blend of chopped nuts if you like)

1/2 stick butter, softened to room temp

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Crust Layer:

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix in butter with your hands until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 x 9 baking pan that has been buttered or spayed with cooking spray (if your pan is non-stick then no cooking spray needed). Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cheesecake Layer:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Pour over warm crust that has just been baked in the oven.

Apple Layer:

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. 

Crumble Topping:

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients until you get pea sized lumps that resemble a crumble. Sprinkle evenly over the apple layer.

Bake 30-40 minutes, or until filling is set. I ended up baking mine in 35 minutes.

Coconut Rice Pudding

Here is a recipe that brings me back to childhood. My mom always made rice pudding for my brothers and I. But she never made it this way. This is my twist on an old classic. The coconut milk and cardamom pods gives the pudding a fabulous flavour. I've been making this recipe for over 5 years and it's my go to recipe when I want something sweet but don't want cake. 

In this recipe I've used a medium grain rice but I've also made it with basmati. Either rice will work, just remember using a medium grain rice might require a bit more milk. I actually prefer using basmati rice I like the texture and fragrance. 

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                        The line up

   Cardamom pods that I crushed slightly

Cardamon pods swimming in coconut milk and whole milk

 I used medium grain rice... Although I do prefer basmati, thought I'd try something different. 

        Toasting the desiccated coconut 

The smell from toasted coconut is amazing!! 

It's on it's way... Boiling away 

Lovely and getting thick... Yummy

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2 cups coconut milk

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 cardamom pods, crushed

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup rice

1/2 cup desiccated coconut, toasted

In a medium sized saucepan combine coconut milk, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, cardamom pods and salt. On a very low heat stir the liquid mixture just until warmed through a bit and sugar has dissolved. Add the rice and stir so that the rice doesn't stick to the bottom. Don't go to far you will need to stir the rice a few more times until the pudding comes to a boil. Simmer on a low heat for about 20 mins or until the rice has cooked and most of the milk has evaporated. 

In the meantime, in a separate fry pan toast your coconut. Stir until coconut has turned a lovely golden brown. 

Sprinkle the toasted coconut on top of each individual bowl of pudding or mix into the entire pudding. 

Remember to remove the cardamom pods. 

If you could resist and wait, place the rice pudding into bowls and place in the fridge too cool.