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Homemade Moonpies

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One of my favorite desserts as a child were moist, chewy moonpies that I would get on special occasion from my great-grandma Dolly. She didn’t make hers by hand, but rather bought them from Mrs Bairds (still my favorite breadstore). The moonpies Grandma Dolly bought were filled with marshmallow and came in five flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, banana, and lemon–chocolate being my favorite of course. The kind I purchase at Mrs Bairds come covered in a thick icinglike coating and are easily addictive. So one day I set out to recreate these chocolate heavensents and I think I came pretty close. I left my moonpies uncoated, but you could easily melt some chocolate bark and either dip them in it or pour it over the top for a more traditional look.

Note: Some people, mostly Northerners (aka Yankees) call these delicious desserts Whoopie Pies. I told my oldest kid that and he thought I was going to spank him. Personally when I say Whoopie Pie, I think of Sister Act or Corina Corina.

Moonpies

2 cups white sugar
1 c shortening
1 c cocoa, unsweetened
2 egg yolks (save the eggs whites for the Homemade Marshmallow recipe!)
2 tsp vanilla
1 c milk
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups flour
1 recipe for Homemade Marshmallows

Cream together sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating very well in between. Sift together dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Drop by tablespoon (I prefer to use my hands) onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes or until done. Do not overbake! Makes 16-18 cookies, which will equal 8-9 moonpies.

As each batch finishes baking, remove from oven and let cool for two minutes on cookie sheet. Then, using a spatula, remove cookies and place on cooling rack to cool completely. Once all cookies have finished baking and cooling, it is time to make the marshmallow filling.

Use this recipe for Homemade Marshmallows to make the filling to be used for the moonpies, except do not spread on cookie sheet just yet. Instead, immediately spread on one cookie, let set slightly; then cover with another cookie to create a cookie sandwich. Use a wooden toothpick to help moonpie retain it’s shape. Let set for one to two hours.

Coat with chocolate if desired. Pour the remaining marshmallow mixture into a powder sugar coated cookie sheet and spread evenly. Allow to set overnight or for four to six hours, and then cut into squares for homemade marshmallows.

Eat and enjoy the moonpies with a tall glass of milk.

Texas Pecanlava

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Recipe by TJ Gilmore (new contributor to Screwed Up Texan Recipes)

So my office mate invited us to come pick up pecans this Christmas break. What’s more Texan than pickin’ pecans over the holidays? I realized quickly that I’d be the only one eating these pecans if they became pecan pie. So I did what I always do when I have a problem I can’t noodle out: I put it in the cranial percolator and didn’t think about the pile of pecans in my house.

The kids and wife were slowly shelling pecans, piling nuts up to a point where they couldn’t be avoided. Finally, while roaming Wally World for the regular groceries, inspiration! There, blandly sitting in the middle of an aisle- one of my wife’s favorite treats, baklava. But no normal baklava would I make, oh not me. This called for Texas Pecanlava (yeah… I’m not so great with the names).

The recipe breaks into three parts, the filling, the filo dough, and the syrup. Most baklava recipes have you just mix spices, sugar, and chopped nuts together and sandwich between layers of dough. I figured that candied pecans would make things even better.

The filling:
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg white
2 tbsp walnut oil (vegetable oil works too)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cayenne (you could go with smoked paprika or even candied jalapenos here although you’d have to be really good mincing jalapenos!)
2 cups pecan halves

Mix all but the pecans in a small bowl until frothy, then add the pecans. Make sure they get well coated then place them on an oiled cookie sheet and put in a 300 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, stirring them every 5 minutes with a fork so they don’t clump. If you dared use a different nut, chop them up, you need the nooks and crannies for the coating to stick to. Walnuts are a good, non Texas alternative.

Once they’re out of the oven, chop the pecans into a small mince, about the size of lentil beans.

The filo. Get a 1 lb box of this terrifying stuff. Having only seen filo used once before, I was a tad out of my element. It comes in two 1/2 lb plastic bags within the box. Let it thaw. Melt a stick of butter and get a brush- this needs to be quick so the dough doesn’t dry.

Lay 1/2 the dough out under a sheet of plastic wrap with a damp towel over that. The towel keeps things from drying out, the plastic keeps things from sogging out. Lay out a sheet of dough on your cookie sheet, brush entirely with melted butter, repeat til your arm falls off. Next time I’m thinking spray butter as I went through two and a half sticks of butter. The spray might be faster but probably not as flavorful.

Once you’ve put down the first 1/2 of the dough, spread your candied pecans evenly over the top, then repeat the layer and butter procedure for the remaining 1/2 lb of dough. Cut into two inch squares (I made one big piece and while not tough, it would be easier to cut before cooking). Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes- brown and crisp is the name of this game.

The syrup:
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup Burleson Honey (keep it local!)
1 cup water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 shot light rum

Bring to a boil and let reduce for 20 to 30 minutes. This syrup doesn’t thicken as much as you think it might once cooled so make sure it sticks well to your wooden spoon. You can really play with this by adding cinnamon schnapps, almond flavoring, or even orange. Just think about contrasting flavors that would either bring out the spicy/smokey flavor of the cayenne, or sharper ‘twangy’ notes that would be a good counter point to the sweet of the honey and sugar. Pour the cooled syrup over the pecanlava and let sit for an hour at least.

The fun part is that people didn’t even notice the cayenne until they were done scarfing it down. It leaves just a warm tingle on the tongue (I don’t do hot at the expense of flavor) and is a great counter point to the sweet. Even my kids enjoyed the kicky counterpoint.

Give this one a shot, and make extra candied pecans for snacking!

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Homemade Marshmallows

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One of my favorite things is Homemade Marshmallows. So fluffy. So perfectly sweet. So magical. If you’ve never had a homemade marshmallow before, then you won’t believe how simple they are to make.

homemade marshmallows

Here’s how to make homemade marshmallows:

Homemade Marshmallows

You will need an electric mixer–trust me. You will also need a candy thermometer. Better than store bought marshmallows. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself.

1.) In a medium sized saucepan, attach a candy thermometer and mix together 2 cups white sugar, 1 Tablespoon corn syrup, and 3/4 cup water over medium-medium high heat. The mixture needs to be occasionally stirred until it reaches 250-260 F, which will take ten to fifteen minutes.

2.) While waiting for the sugar mixture to come to temperature, take a small saucepan and add 3/4 cup water and sprinkle with 4 Tablespoons (4 packets) of unflavored gelatin. Allow to sit until the gelatin mixture is completely translucent (5 minutes). Turn heat to med and allow to heat until gelatin is clear. If you want to add any special flavors or colors, now is your time. I suggest either 1 T vanilla or peppermint to taste. Take gelatin mixture off heat and set in warm place. Likely, you’ll still be waiting for the sugar mixture to come to temp.

3.) Take two egg whites and beat in metal bowl (stand mixer works wonders) until the whites reach a soft peak stage. You will know they have reached the soft peak stage b/c they will quickly fold over when attempting to make a peak. Stop beating whites when they have reached this stage, even if the sugar mixture has not come to temp.

4.) When the sugar mixture comes to temp, remove from heat and carefully add the gelatin mixture. Caution, the mixture will bubble up, so I recommend adding the gelatin mixture in thirds. Whisk together.

5.) Still using the whisk attachment, turn electric mixer to Low and and slowly, slowly add the sugar/gelatin mixture in a thin stream. Be careful as the sugar mixture will be very hot. Once the sugar/gelatin mixture is all added to the egg whites, turn the mixer up as high as it will go without splattering everywhere. Mix until the marshmallow has thickened to the correct consistency (5-12 minutes, depending on your mixer).

6.) Immediately transfer to a well confectioners/powdered sugar coated 9 x 13 inch pan. Use rubber spatula to spread evenly. Allow to set for 2-4 hours or until set. Turn pan upside down and transfer marshmallow out of pan and onto well confectioners sugar dusted surface. Cut into squares or other shapes and powder each side with more confectioners sugar. Will store for one week if you don’t eat them all before then.

I suggest dipping marshmallows in melted chocolate and then coating with crushed graham crackers. Makes 36 marshmallows.

Enjoy!

Apple Pie Filling for Canning

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One of my favorite dessert fillings to can for either my family or to give as gifts to friends, I think this applie pie filling will quickly become a seasonal favorite of yours as well.

The most crucial step to making this apple pie filling is preparation of the apples beforehand. I will use almost any apple, except Red Delicious since I find them too bland for pie making, but I prefer Galas if I can find them at an inexpensive price. All the other ingredients you should be able to find in your pantry and spice cabinet.

If I could tell you to go out and purchase one thing for this recipe, it would be a apple corer/peeler/slicer. You can purchase them from Target (where I purchased mine) for around $20. The device I bought is heavy duty and easy to clean. If you will spend the $20 it takes to purchase an apple corer/peeler/slicer, you will save yourself frustration and impatience, not to mention loss time when it comes to preparing the apples. My children love the strings of apple peels the device creates and love to eat them while they watch me make the pies and pie filling.

If you have a little lemon juice or vitamin C powder (you can purchase this at a health food store), then I recommend you add a little to 2 quarts of water to soak the cored/peeled/sliced apples in as you are preparing the filling (1/4 cup of lemon juice OR 1 tsp vitamin C powder).

Apple Pie Filling

6-8 pounds of apples that have been peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced to 1/4 inch thin peices
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp nutmeg
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
10 cups water

Set prepared apples aside and soak in lemon juice or vitamin C infused water.

Mix together the remaining ingredients in a large pot and slowly bring to a boil stirring frequently. Once the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, remove from heat.

Drain prepared apples and pack into 6-7 quart size OR 12-14 pint size clean and sterilized canning jars. Immediately with either a wooden or plastic knife or spatula begin adding the thickened mixture to the apple filled jars. You will have to use the knife to get the thickened mixture down into the jars. Fill to one-inch from the top. Dont worry if you spill a little, you can always use a clean, wet cloth to wipe up any that has dripped. Repeat for each jar. Note: Do not use a metal knife or spatula as this can cause breakage during processing.

Wipe rims and threads of jars. Place hot lids on canning jars and tighten with a hot band to finger tight. Process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes for pint jars or 20 minutes for quart jars. Once you have removed the jars from the water bath canner and allowed them to cool, check that lids have sealed. If they have, you can remove the band if you are storing for your own use or you can remove the band, place a pretty square cloth on top, then refasten with the band for gift giving.

I recommend you use my crust that I use with my pecan pie.

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Allie’s Apple Pie

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I love pies…in fact, each Thanksgiving as a child I can remember eating just a small amount of dinner so I could indulge on pie after pie for dessert. Usually, I didn’t even touch the apple pies although I loved apples. I love apples so much that once I sneaked an entire bag of freshly picked apples into my bedroom and ate them all to my mother’s surprise when she found me and the empty paper sack. I loved apples in everything–everything except apple pie. There was just something about the way people made apple pies in my childhood that did not please me. They were either bland, the crust not sweet enough, or the mixture of apples and spices not well balanced.

It wasn’t until college when my roommates and I discovered the apple orchard at the gardens at Ricks College that I learned how to make a great apple pie. Never mind the sign that told us not to pick the apples because they were part of some research program, my roommates and I made frequent trips to the gardens where one of us would climb the tree and shake the branches while the rest of us would try to fill our plastic bags with as many apples before someone told us to stop. What can I say? We were adventurous.

Afterward, we’d take the apples back to Sarah Barnes Hall and we’d each take turns peeling and slicing the apples. Then we’d get to work making apple pies and other delicious apple based treats. Here my recipe that I’ve perfected over the years since then.

Allie’s Apple Pie

6-8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4 inch thin quarters (use any apple except red delicious–I use Galas)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (can be adjusted to your taste)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (can be adjusted to your taste)
2/3 cup white sugar
2 T flour
small pinch salt
Recipe for pastry crust for bottom and top of crust (I use the same crust for my pecan pie)

Mix together dry ingredients. Add prepared apples and toss gently to coat. Pour into prepared unbaked 8 or 9 inch pie crust. Top with unbaked pie crust and sprinkle with a small amount of sugar (you can also brush with melted butter and then sprinkle with sugar). Bake in 350 F oven for 50 minutes.