Basic Playdough (Nonedible)

1 cup flour
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
½ cup salt
1 to 2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix flour, cream of tartar, and salt in a pan. Mix desired coloring with water, add with oil to dry mixture. Cook over medium heat until thick. Mix in coloring later if preferred.

Katherine-Hepburn Brownies

I made these today and they were very yummy. I put walnuts and toffee bits in there and it was very delish :) and i omitted coffee...

From Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorrie Greenspan

 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons finely ground instant coffee

2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup broken or chopped walnuts or pecans

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

 

Directions:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax paper. Butter the paper, dust the inside of the pan with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
• Whisk the flour, cinnamon, if you’re using it, and salt together.
• Put the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and place the pan over low heat. When the butter starts to melt, sift the cocoa over it and add the instant coffee. Continue to cook, stirring, until the butter is melted and the cocoa and coffee are blended into it. Remove from the heat and cool for about 3 minutes.
• Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the eggs into the saucepan one at a time. Next, stir in the sugar and vanilla (don’t beat anything too vigorously — you don’t want to add air to the batter), followed by the dry ingredients, nuts and chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.
• Bake for 30 minutes, at which point the brownies will still be gooey but the top will have a dry papery crust. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the brownies cool for at least 30 minutes. (You can wait longer, if you’d like.) Turn the brownies out onto a rack, peel away the paper and invert onto a cutting board. Cool completely before cutting into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side.

Snickerdoodle Blondies with Cinnamon Chips

The newspaper this morning had a whole section on Christmas cookies with lots of yummy looking recipes. I am going to try a bunch of them out over the next few weeks - we are in trouble!!

2 2/3 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 C butter, softened
2 C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 T vanilla
1 1/2 C cinnamon chips
2 T white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 9 by 13 inch pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon, set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla untill smooth. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Add Cinnamon Chips. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Combine white sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over spread cookie dough.

Bake 25 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool slightly and cut into bars while still warm.