Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie

lisi_cookie_picWho doesn’t like a triple chocolate anything this point in the summer! Lisi from Lisi’s Luscious Desserts has whipped up a delicious recipe of chocolate cookie that is great to serve to family or bring to friend’s cookouts! If you are opposed to white and milk-chocolate chips, you can substitute with semi-sweet chocolate. Bakers tip: Try not to over bake these, they can get a bit hard. Baker’s tip: Have plenty of vanilla ice cream at the ready!
Triple Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ingredients
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks
3/4 cup milk chocolate chunks
3/4 cup white chocolate chunks
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together the dry ingredients. Melt chopped semisweet and unsweetened chocolates and butter together in a non reactive bowl over a sauce pan of barely simmering water. Let cool to room temp.  With the paddle attachment, beat sugar, eggs, and vanilla together on high speed until light and fluffy – 4-5 minutes.  Remove from mixer and gently fold in chocolate mixture and then gently fold in the flour until just incorporated.
Toss all the chocolate chunks together in a bowl, then set aside about one quarter of the mixture into another bowl (to place on top of cookies).  Fold the large portion of chunks into the batter. Drop by generously rounded tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheets.  Take the leftover chips and place one of each kind on top of each cookie to show off the flavors.
Bake until cookies look a littler dryer on top – a little crusty on the sides, but still very moist inside. This can be tricky. Somewhere around 10 minutes – but really can be more or less. Remember to rotate your sheet pans and know it will take longer if you put a couple of pans in the oven.
http://lldesserts.com/triple-chocolate-chip-cookie/

Lisi’s Grapefruit Cake

grapefruitcake_webLisi of Lisi’s Luscious Desserts shares this flavorful confection that is great to make with the family. This is more citrus tasting than grapefruit so please don’t shy away. The cake has three little parts – but each part is easy to do together.
Grapefruit Cake
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated grapefruit zest
2 grapefruits
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temp
2 eggs, room temp
2 teaspoons grapefruit juice
1 1/3 all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk well shaken
syrup
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
glaze
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
pinch of salt
Directions
Prepare pans – grease then line the bottom of a 9×5 pan (other sizes will work, just adjust baking time) with parchment and grease again. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Zest the grapefruit (rem to wash and dry first) and just take the outside part of the skin.  The inner white layer is bitter.  Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers to incorporate the flavor. With paddle attachment, beat butter and the zested sugar on medium high for 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl, mix in the vanilla and scrape again. Combine whisk the dry ingredients.
With mixer running on lowest speed, add the 1/3rd of the flour mixture, follow it with half of the buttermilk.  And repeat, ending with the flour. Do not over mix.  Remove from mixer and fold 2 or 3 times to make sure all butter is incorporated. Pour into prepped pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean and the cake is nice and golden. Let sit 10 minutes. While it sits, make the syrup. Bring grapefruit and sugar to a boil (mix to incorporate first) – boil for one minute.  Be careful as it is hot!
Poke many holes in the cake with a toothpick.  Brush the syrup all over the cake and continue as it gets absorbed. Let cool completely. Invert and remove from pan. Make the glaze by mixing the confectioners’ sugar and juice – and the tad of kosher salt.  Spread over the syrup soaked cake.

Lisi’s Raisin Oatmeal Cookie recipe

cookies_lisiLooking for a great cookie recipe to do with the kids during spring break? This recipe from Lisi’s Luscious Desserts is made with all organic ingredients and is a great way to discuss why those choices are made when we are buying our food. Here at Walter Stewart’s we take this point seriously! Ask us if you can’t find an ingredient.
Lisi’s Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (use half if using table salt)
2 and 2/3 cups rolled oats
8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (Milk chocolate, dark or semi-sweet are all good here)
2/3 cup raisins
Directions
In a medium bowl, combing the flour, baking soda, salt, and oats and set aside. With the paddle attachment of a stand mixer (or handheld beaters) cream the butter until lighter and fluffy.  Add the sugar and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the brown sugar and mix.  Then the egg and mix again.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl. On the lowest speed, add about half of the dry ingredients. Then the other and mix until almost incorporated.  Add the chips and raisins and mix just a tad.
Place the dough in the fridge for 6 hours or longer.  You can place in a bowl and cover, then use a cookie scoop to scoop the batter on to the pan.Or you can make the dough into logs – so you can slice and bake.
Remove dough from fridge and let come to room temp for 20 minutes. Or alternatively, you can slice and bake right out of the fridge – just adjust baking time. They will take longer to bake the colder they are.
Preheat oven to 350. Place scooped or cut dough on lined baking sheets.  Bake 9 -14 minutes (keep checking) until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy.

The Best Sugar Cookies Ever

holidaycookieswebIt’s time to start your holiday baking! We reached out to Lisi of Lisi’s Luscious Desserts for this simple recipe of an old time favorite. This sugar cookie turns out crisp, flaky and flavorful. The best part is the decorating possibilities. Enjoy sprinkling color sugar, sprinkles or icing with the kids!

The Best Sugar Cookies Ever

Yield: 60-70 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup vegetable oil (NOT olive oil!)

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

4 1/8 cups flour

Directions:

Cream sugar, butter, powdered sugar, and oil. Then cream in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix baking soda, cream of tartar, and flour. Start adding dry ingredients to creamed ingredients less than 1 cup at a time. Chill in refrigerator at least 2 hours. Drop 1-2″ balls on the cookie sheet. If you would like, you can flatten the balls with the bottom of a drinking glass that has been dipped in sugar. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are browned. Now you are ready to sprinkle on cinnamon and sugar, colored sugar sprinkles, etc. Here is the great post from Lisi

Lisi’s Chocolate Pecan Torte

iStock_000015473406_LargeOh, so scrumptious and rich and chocolaty!  This torte is worth every calorie.  Dense and moist with it’s curious texture (ground pecans), this one surprised Lisi from Lisi’s Luscious Desserts. This torte is delicious if served with ice cream and will stay fresh and tasty for several days under a cake dome. Lisi topped it with ganache, some chocolate shavings, a bit powdered sugar and some fruit but you can experiment with your unique toppings.
Chocolate Pecan Torte
Ingredients
1 cup (3.5 ounces) pecan halves (toast them now)
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (66-72 percent), coarsely chopped
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened but still cool – cut into chunks
3/4 cup (5.25 ounces) sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cold large eggs
powdered sugar
freshly whipped cream
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom and sides of springform pan. Toast the pecans by baking them for 7-10 minutes.  Stir once or twice as they bake for even toasting. They should be fragrant and golden (but don’t burn or they will become bitter). Let cool completely.
Turn the oven up to 375 degrees.
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place over a pot with an inch of simmering water. Melt the chocolate. Do not cook it. The simmering water should not touch the bowl with the chocolate in it.
Place the cooled pecans and flour in a food processor and pulse until finely ground.
Place the melted chocolate, softened butter, sugar and salt in a bowl fitted with the paddle attachment of your mixer and beat on medium speed until the butter is completely melted and the mixture thickens and gets a little lighter in color.
Add the eggs, one at a time and mix on med/high speed until the is fluffier and even lighter in color, about 2-3 minutes.
Stir in the pecan mixture and pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the outer edges of the pan should come out clean, but the inner area of the cake should still be gooey.
Place the cake on a cooling rack and carefully run a thin knife along the inside of the pan to loosen the cake and allow the think crust to sink a little.
Let cool completely. Remove from pan.
Serve with your toppings such as the ganache, shavings and confectioners sugar. A little whipped cream makes it extra special.

Lemon Curd Cake

Screenshot 2015-03-25 09.47.03To usher in spring and get ready for the holidays nothing like this lovely light cake to share with family and friends. Lisi from Lisi Luscious Desserts shares this angel food cake that has been compressed and moistened and bathed in luscious lemony goodness. Served it with macerated raspberries and freshly whipped cream, this worth the time to create.  You can make the lemon curd a day or 3 before you make the cake freeing you up to prepare the rest of your meal.
Lemon Curd Cake
Ingredients
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 & 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 cups sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 tablespoons (half stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest (yellow only)
6 large egg whites
1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar
Gather ingredients from above, bring eggs to room temp, set butter out, make lemon juice, and measure out the rest. Butter and flour a 9 inch round cake pan that is 3 inches high.  (I used a spring-form pan since my cake pans are only 2 inches high.)
Lemon Curd
Fill a medium saucepan 1/4 full of water.  Bring to a low boil. In a medium stainless steel bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, eggs, and only 1/2 cup of the sugar.  Stir in 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Now place the bowl on top of the saucepan of low boiling water.  Make sure that the bottom of the stainless bowl does not touch the water or it will get too hot. Set up a mesh strainer over a container to place the curd (once cooked). Cook the mixture over the hot water, stirring with a wooden spoon until thick.  This might take about 10 minutes or so.  You will see it visibly thicken – then immediately remove from heat and strain the curd into the container.  Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd and chill until cold (or hold in fridge for a couple of days until you are ready to make the cake.)
The Cake   
Preheat oven to 325.
Sift together the cake flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the salt and the baking powder and set aside. With the paddle attachment of your mixer, mix together the lemon curd, butter, lemon zest and remaining 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Mix until well combined.  On lowest speed stir in the dry ingredients.  Place into a medium bowl and clean out your mixer bowl to beat up the egg whites.
With the whip attachment of the electric mixer, beat the whites on medium speed until a frothy (white bubbles will appear). Increase to high speed and gradually add the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar. Whip until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the cake batter. Spread the cake batter into the pan.
Bake until a skewer or toothpick comes out just clean (about 50-55m).  Cool and then un-mold cake. Sprinkle with the confectioners’ sugar and serve.

Cranberry Streusel Pie

Cranberry Pie SliceNothing like a delicious pie for your Valentine’s Day treat. This is one of Lisi’s favorite desserts. Lisi, from Lisi’s Luscious Desserts loves the color of the cranberry and the flaky buttery crust. That combination of tart and sweet against the crust is mouth-watering.
This is a great recipe to make in steps. Make the streusel one day during the week – it will keep in the fridge. Make the tart dough and even roll out (then place in freezer) until ready to bake. This way, in the AM, you can blind bake your pie crust, while it is baking make the filling (so easy) and then you already have streusel.
Cranberry Streusel Pie
Ingredients:
The crust
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (155 grams)
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (6 grams)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt  (3 grams)
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks (4 ounces or 115 grams)
1/4 cup very cold water,  (60 ml) plus an additional tablespoon if needed
The filling
4 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries (from 1 1/2 12-ounce bags)
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 to 2 more tablespoons, if desired, to taste
a little bit of orange zest
2 pinches kosher salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
The Streusel
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
3/4 cup pecans, toasted first if you have the time
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Directions:
The crust (Chose a way)
By hand:
With a one-bowl method: In the bottom of a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir with a spoon or flexible silicone spatula until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.
With a food processor:
In the work bowl of a food processor, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add butter and pulse machine until mixture resembles a coarse meal and the largest bits of butter are the size of tiny peas. Turn mixture out into mixing bowl. Add 1/4 cup cold water and stir with a spoon or flexible silicone spatula until large clumps form. Use your hands to knead the dough together, right in the bottom of the bowl. If necessary to bring the dough together, you can add the last tablespoon of water.
Both methods: Wrap dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours, or you can quick-firm this in the freezer for 15 minutes. Longer than 2 days, it’s best to freeze it until needed.
Form the crust:
On a floured counter, roll the dough out into a 12 to 13-inch circle-ish shape. Fold dough gently in quarters without creasing and transfer to a 9-inch standard (not deep-dish) pie plate. Unfold dough and trim overhang to about 1/2-inch. Fold overhang under edge of pie crust and crimp decoratively. Return to fridge until ready to fill.
[Optional: If you’d like to par-bake the crust, once you’ve rolled it out, freeze it for 10 minutes inside your pie tin, until solid. Prick unbaked crust with a fork several times. Line it with lightly buttered foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or pennies. Bake at 400°F (205°C) on rimmed baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove paper or foil and weights, and bake 5 to 10 more minutes until crust is golden brown and lightly crisp.]”
Heat oven to 375 degrees…or lower the oven if you just par baked.
The Filling
Mix all the ingredients together. And if cranberries are frozen, no worries, they will just take a few more minutes to warm up. After about 5 minutes (or 10 if cranberries frozen), the cranberries will begin to leak juices. Cook, stirring here and there until filling is loose.  You can crush some of the berries a bit too. Transfer the filling to a bowl to let cool for a bit.
The Streusel Topping
Place the oats (if you are using whole ones) in a food processor and grind until powdery. Add toasted pecans and grind too. Add flour, sugars, cinnamon and salt, and lastly, the butter, pulsing a few times to combine.
Sprinkle the streusel on top of the filling and bake the pie for about 45 to 50 minutes.  You want the juices to bubble. If the pie browns to fast, just lay foil loosely on top.
When done, eat warm or cold (I like it cold!) with freshly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Click here to read the full recipe

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Screen Shot 2014-10-27 at 3.52.36 PMThe large collection of pumpkins here at Stewart’s are ripe and ready for you to make these delicious cupcakes. This is a great recipe, from Lisi’s Luscious Desserts,  to add your special touches to – nuts, no nuts, cranberries or a bit of heath bar crunchies. This is a quick and easy addition to your dessert repertoire!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 extra large eggs (room temp)

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar (lightly packed)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

chocolate chips if desired

frosting –

1/2 cup coarsely chopped heath bars

6 ounces cream cheese, room temp

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

pinch kosher salt

Directions

Cupcakes – 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray or brush top of a muffin pan (this will prevent tops from sticking) and then line with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, and the vegetable oil. Add the dry to the wet and mix until just combined. Add chocolate chips if you like at this point.  And then you can skip the icing. Scoop the batter into the prepared tins and bake for 20-25 min – until a toothpick comes out just clean. Cool completely.  Then spread with the icing (below) and top with the chopped heath bars.  Enjoy!

Maple Frosting –

With the paddle attachment of your mixer (or hand held beaters) – cream the chream cheese, butter, syrup, vanilla and salt on medium speed until very smooth.  Turn the mixer to low – and slowly add the confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth.

Adapted from the Ina Garten’s Foolproof Recipes. If you want to enjoy Lisi’s wonderful story about this recipe, click here. 

Screen Shot 2014-10-27 at 3.52.47 PM

Blackberry Sour Cream Pie

blackberry-sourcream-tart-wNothing says ‘the heat of the summer’ better than a berry pie! We have so many locally grown berries to choose from so no need to make just one! This great recipe from Lisi of Lisi’s Luscious Desserts combines a creamy tart sour cream filling with sweetened cooked blackberries and an awesome graham crust. This pie is easy since it’s really just like a cheese cake baked in a pie plate. No dough to roll out and the custard easily bakes in the oven without any trouble.  It is impressive looking with beautiful purple hues and lovely in its varied texture. As Lisi would say, enjoy!

Blackberry Sour Cream Pie

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons sugar

2-3 pinches kosher salt

1/2 cup (one stick) melted unsalted butter

Sour Cream Custard Layer

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup minus

2 tablespoons sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Blackberry Topping

1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup water

2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (do not thaw frozen blackberries)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon water

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make the graham cracker crust. Place the crumbs, sugar and salt in a small bowl and add the melted butter and mix to combine. Transfer crumb mixture to a 9 inch pie pan and press firmly into the pan – making sure to keep it even and smooth. Press the crumbs up the sides of the pan – to the top. Bake 8-10 minutes – until golden and firm. Set aside to cool completely. You can make this earlier in the day, or the day before you plan to bake the pie.)

Preheat the oven again to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and salt. Pour the mixture into the cooled pie shell and carefully place in the lower third or middle of the oven. (If you have too much custard, don’t overfill pie. You can place the extra in a ramekin – with some berries and bake in a water bath if you’d like an extra treat. Or just toss the extra if you have.) Bake for about 34-39 minutes – until the filling doesn’t have a liquidy jiggle when you shake it a bit. The custard should look set but wet. Remove from the oven and cool to room temp. You can also place in the refrigerator at the is point for several hours (if you choose) before adding the berry topping.

Berries next. In a medium saucepan, over medium high heat, boil the sugar and water, stirring a bit to help the sugar dissolve. Reduce the heat to low and and add the berries. Cook gently for about 5 minutes until they soften and some of the juice is released. In a small cup – mix together the cornstarch and water. Whisk well. Add to the berry mixture on stove – let boil gently for about a minute – until the topping is slightly thickened. Place in a shallow bowl (to speed up the cooling process) – and let sit and cool, stirring occasionally and very gently. Once cool, spoon the berry sauce and berries over the cooled custard spreading it all over the pie. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight and slice and serve.

Here is a link to Lisi’s whole post, as delicious as the pie

blackberry-sourcream-slice

A Very Berry Breakfast

Berry BreakfastWith the local berry season well underway, we are full of many varieties of organic berries from all our local growers. Lisi from Lisi’s Luscious Desserts shares a healthy hot cereal ripe for your special touches. The hot cereal could be McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oats or Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats, available here at the store. The cereal is cooked with berries and its combined with a little cold almond milk (or milk, soy or rice milk) and the addition of fresh cold fruits (the more colorful the better) which can make for a lot of happy campers. You can also make this with chopped apples, raisins, dried cherries and cinnamon too.

A Very Berry Breakfast

Ingredients

1/2 cup hot cereal (your choice!)

raspberries

blackberries

blueberries

strawberries

pomegranate seeds (so good if you can find)

and

any other fruit – mango is nice, red currants too

1-2 teaspoons sugar (brown is nice) or small bit of Truvia

1/3 cup cold milk (I use unsweetened almond milk – but any milk will do)

Directions

Measure cereal according to package and add water (this one calls for a cup). Mix in about 4-5 raspberries and 3-4 blackberries. Place in microwave for 2.5-3 minutes. The fruits will soften and liquefy to some extent and flavor the whole bowl with berry! Be careful pulling out as it is very hot. Sprinkle with sugar or Truvia. Top with cold milk. Heap on cold fruits.

Begin eating 🙂  A nice addition: Flax seed or wheat germ too.

Enjoy Lisi’s variation on this recipe here