Tea Cookies

These cookies come together rather quickly and are fairly easy to make; plus they taste great.  I always get compliments when I make these cookies.  The butter gives it a flaky texture and the nuts give it a nice crunch!  They are a great addition to any holiday baking tray!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
dash salt
dash baking powder
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (or other nuts)
powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. In a bowl beat together the butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.

2. Add vanilla.

3. Blend together flour, salt and baking powder. (Don't forget it's just a dash!)

4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, blending well.

5. Add the chopped nuts; combine well.

6. Roll the dough into two balls.  Wrap each ball in plastic wrap an chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

7. Flatten dough out and cut into 15 or 16 equal size pieces.

8. Shape into small marble-sized balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheets.

9.  Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes until firm not brown (one cookie sheet on each rack).  About halfway through baking, rotate the baking sheets to the one that was on top is now on the bottom and the one on the bottom now on the top.  Watch closely that the cookies don't brown too quickly and burn!

10.  Cool the cookies on a rack while still on the tray.  While still warm, dust with powdered sugar.

11.  Let cool completely.  Roll again in powdered sugar.

Makes about 30 cookies.

Cookies rolled and ready to bake.

The final product!

Matcha (Green Tea) Ice Cream

I love tea, and matcha tea is one of my favourites.  What's really neat about matcha is that it is ground green tea leaves.  Instead of steeping the leaves as you would with pretty much any other tea, matcha powder is whisked into hot water.  The powder doesn't dissolve; instead it is suspended in the hot water.  This is why if you don't drink the tea right away, the powder will fall to the bottom of your mug and you will need to whisk it again.  Because you are actually ingesting the tea leaves when you drink matcha, you are reaping the health benefits of green tea (like high in antioxidants) in greater amounts.

Matcha will give your ice cream a nice green colour!  There are different grades of matcha powder.  For ice cream you can use a culinary grade, which will not be as expensive as a ceremonial grade for example.

I use an ice cream bowl attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer.  It needs to be placed in the freezer for at least 15 hours prior to using it.  The ice cream mixture itself also needs to be chilled prior to using it; at least 4-8 hours.  And then once it has been churned, the ice cream needs to be placed in the freezer again for another 4-8 hours to firm up.  So the whole process is very slow, but it is so worth it!


Ingredients:
3 tbsp matcha green tea powder, or more to taste
1 cup milk (I used 2%, but whole milk provides a richer flavour)
2 cups heaving whipping cream
3/4 cup - 1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Directions: 

1. Sift matcha powder into 1/2 cup milk and whisk until the powder and milk is combined.  Gradually whisk remaining milk into matcha-milk mixture.

The cooked matcha mixture
cooling to room temperature.

2. Heat whipping cream and matcha-milk mixture in a pot over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally until heated through.  This should take about 5 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk sugar and eggs together.  Pour about 1/2 cup of the hot matcha mixture into egg mixture to temper the eggs; whisk thoroughly.  Add another 1/2 cup of the hot matcha mixture and repeat.

4. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the pot, whisking constantly.  Cook, while occasionally whisking, over medium-low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours, or overnight.

The churned ice cream mixture ready to firm up in the freezer.

6. Prior to pouring the cooled matcha mixture into an ice cream maker, give it a quick stir.  Then pour it into the ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The ice cream has a soft texture
even after being left in the freezer
for 24 hours.  It tastes yummy!

Lemon-Ricotta Biscuits

I seemed to have a lot of ricotta and lemons lying around and I've always loved the combination of the two.  And muffins are a big hit in our house and pretty quick to whip up, so I went on a search for something to bring all these together.

I found this recipe for Giada DeLaurentiis that she bakes in a muffin tin but has the texture of a biscuit. I made some tweaks to fit the ingredients I had and it was delicious. 

Keep in mind that the batter is much thicker than one for muffins and it won't rise as much as a muffin while it bakes, so you can fill the tin up almost to the top. 

These taste heavenly warm, with some butter or jam. 

Ingredients: 
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
zest from two lemons
1 cup ricotta (if you don't have quite enough, you can use some plain yogurt in place)
1 large egg
freshly squeezed lemon juice from one lemon
splash of vanilla

Directions:
1. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.  Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Beat in the ricotta.  Next beat in the egg, lemon juice and vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy).
5. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp of sugar.
6. Bake until the muffins become pale golden on top, about 20 minutes.
7. Cool slightly.  Serve warm or at room temperature.