Holiday Baking

I'm not the kinda gal that is known for her culinary expertise. I'm known more for my assembling of dishes, not cooking or baking. Every now and then a recipe turns my eye, and at long last I had opportunity to bake a recipe that peaked my interest months ago. I spoke of it in a post last March
and you can read that post here. With the Holidays upon us, one of my dearest friends Kari, invited the Boy and I over to hers for what turned out to be a wonderful afternoon of Holiday baking. Finally I had my chance to bake the Black Bean Brownies! The recipe had intrigued me for some time but what held me back was, perhaps, the limitations of our Origio oven. Now that the recipe, I dare say, was a bloom'n success I may just attempt to bake them again aboard our Monster. 

 

The delight of these Brownies literally comes down to not knowing the ingredients. Besides the obvious, there were quick oats, maple syrup, chocolate chips, ...

I tested the waters. Would you like to try a Brownie? And folks dove right in. But if I asked 'Would you like a Black Bean Brownie?', well...., folks were a little more timid. Including my Boy. The biggest fault I made was letting him in on the secret ingredient. Oops. Even the chocolate chip and crushed candy cane topping would not sway my Boy. Eventually, he did indulge me with a bite. 

Besides these Brownies I made a few dozen of my favorite Soft Molasses Cookies. The recipe comes from a wee book my Mother picked up at some grocery check out aisle in the 80's for 0.69 cents. I can't say that I've ever made any other recipe from this book. It's yellowed with age, with smudges of molasses and flour, and a piece of tape holding our favorite page together. The top right of the page is marked 11 min. in my childhood writting. I think I was 6 maybe 7 when I first recall baking these formed ball cookies. Now, it doesn't matter if they turn out or not. It's all about melting the butter in a sink of hot water, rolling the dough into balls, and dipping them into sugar before placing them on the baking tray. It's also tradition that I burn the first batch. In the end, it's the memories of baking these cookies that tastes good! 

Thank you so much Kari! 

 

~~ This post 'Holiday Baking' first appeared on goodshipmonster.blogspot.ca ~~