Salted Peanut Caramel Sauce

This peanut caramel sauce will not last very long in your house. It's absolutely wonderful on ice cream, apple slices, cookies, and tarts. I'm sure you can think of lots of other reasons to make this caramel sauce. I used some as a filling for peanut butter thumbprint cookies.

It lasts for several weeks in the refrigerator..... if you can resist it for that long.

Salted Peanut Caramel Sauce

Ingredients

1 C heavy whipping cream

1/4 C water

1 C granulated sugar

1 T light corn syrup

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 C (4 ounces) finely chopped roasted salted peanuts

Instructions

1. Heat the whipping cream in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, until just hot. Set it next to the stove top. 
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to a medium sauce pan (at least 2 1/2 quarts), and bring to a boil over medium, stirring occasionally with a heat proof spatula, until the sugar dissolves. 
3. Turn the burner to high and boil the sugar mixture until it turns a golden brown. While it is boiling, swirl the pan occasionally. The minute the mixture reaches the right color, turn off the heat. 
4. Slowly pour the cream into the sugar mixture, whisking constantly. The mixture will bubble up quite a bit. Continue to whisk until the cream is thoroughly incorporated. 
5. Pour the mixture into a heat proof bowl to cool. 
6. Add the peanuts when the caramel is just warm.
7. Place into a jar and refrigerate. 

Enjoy!

I found this recipe in the book The Art & Soul of Bakingby Cindy Mushet and Sur la Table. I've had this book for about five years, and have been so happy with the lessons and recipes included in the book. 

Seventeenth Century French Bread

This French bread recipe is from a 1660 recipe by Robert May, from his book, The Accomplisht Cook, The Art and Mastery of Cooking. 

Ilva, of the blog, Lucullian Delights, chose this bread for this month's Bread Baking Babes (and Buddies). Visit her blog for more information about the origin of this bread, as well information about Elizabeth David, the writer who discovered this recipe.

This bread is really easy to make, so Ilva decided to challenge anyone who baked along to get creative and decorate the bread. Decorating baked goods is not my strong suit. In case you haven't noticed, there are only three cakes on this blog, and none of them are decorated.

I decided to try snipping a "crown" on the top of the bread with scissors, but this bread does not behave like typical crunchy French bread, so I ended up with little "smiles" around the top of my loaf. I topped the middle with a seed mixture. If you want to see an excellent example of masterful bread decoration, visit Ilva's blog. I am not worthy.

So how is the bread? It's really good! It's perfect for sandwiches... and it's easy! Even though the dough is sticky, it is really easy to shape, and it doesn't need a basket to help it hold its shape during the second rise.

I used half all purpose flour and half white whole wheat flour. White whole wheat flour is a whole grain, but with a milder flavor. It's not really white, as you can see, and it has all of the benefits of whole wheat.

Robert May's French Bread Recipe

Adapted from Elizabeth David's English Bread and Yeast Cookery.

Ingredients

250 g unbleached all purpose flour

250 g white whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)

6 g instant yeast

10 g salt

2 egg whites, whisked until just frothy

255 g water

85 g milk
Egg yolk and a tsp. of water, whisked
Mixture of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried onion, dried garlic, and sea salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Whisk the flours, yeast, and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer. 
2. Add the egg whites, water, and milk, and stir with a large spoon until the flour is moistened. 
3. Mix with the dough hook for about 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Form the dough into a ball, and place it in a greased bowl or dough rising bucket, cover, and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a boule, place it on a piece of parchment paper on a peel or baking sheet, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let it rest until puffy and nearly doubled. 
6. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. I baked mine on a baking stone, but you can bake it on a baking sheet if you don't have a baking stone or quarry tiles. 
7. With a pair of scissors, snip a crown onto the top of the loaf (or not), brush lightly with the egg yolk mixture, and top with the seed mixture. 
8. Place the loaf on the baking stone (parchment and all) and shut the oven door. Alternatively, place the baking sheet with the loaf on the lower middle rack. 
9. Bake for about 30 minutes, tenting with foil about halfway through to prevent over browning and burning the seeds. The interior of the bread should be about 200 degrees. 
10. Cool on a wire rack.

Mozarella and Potato Cakes

These little balls of goodness are made from mashed potatoes and cheese, along with a flavorful mixture of herbs and spices. They make excellent appetizers.

Chocolate Cappuccino Toffee Chip Cookies

These chocolate cappuccino toffee chip cookies are a result of one of those "I want to bake some cookies but I don't feel like going to the store" moments. These are "raid your cupboard and bake" cookies.

After digging through my bin of chips [yes, I have a big bin in which I hide all of my bags (and half bags) of chocolate and other flavored chips!],

For these cookies, I decided to try bittersweet chocolate chunks, cappuccino chips, and toffee bits. If you can't find cappuccino chips (I got mine from King Arthur Flour), white chocolate or butterscotch chips would be a good substitute.

These cookies are perfectly chewy and have a great crackly crust. They are definitely the perfect comfort food when you crave something sweet.

Chocolate Cappuccino Toffee Chip Cookies

Makes about 48 cookies

Ingredients

6 ounces unsalted butter, slightly softened
5 1/4 ounces granulated sugar
6 ounces light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
11 1/4 ounces unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp espresso powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
7 ounces bittersweet chocolate chunks
7 ounces cappuccino chips
3 ounces toffee bits

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the butter and sugars with the paddle attachment on medium for about two minutes. 
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat each time until mixed in. 
4. Add the vanilla and beat until blended. 
5. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, espresso, and cinnamon. Add it to the butter and sugar mixture and mix with a spatula first, and then the paddle attachment, until just blended in. 
6. Add the chips, and mix until just incorporated. 
7. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and scoop the dough with a tablespoon scooper or a regular tablespoon, place the dough in mounds, two inches apart onto the baking sheets. 
8. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for about 12 minutes. 
9. Cool on a wire rack. 

The theme this month is Comfort Food Cookies! What cookie says comfort food to you?

If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links. You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). You will be able to find them the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month! Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made:

Butterscotch Cookies from A Baker's House

Chocolate Cappuccino Toffee Chip Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Chocolate Chip Cookies Made with an Assortment of Chocolate from The Spiced Life

Quadruple Chocolate Shortbread Cookies from Magnolia Days

Dark Chocolate Chunk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies from Food Lust People Love

Roth (The Sacred Cookies from Kashmir) from Spiceroots

Crispy Potato Chip Cookies from Rhubarb and Honey

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies from Made with Love

Triple Chocolate Cookies from It’s Yummi

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Noshing with the Nolands

Thekua (Sweet Wheat Cookies from Bihar) from Indian Curries/Stew

Momma's Bran Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sweet Cinnamon Honey

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from What Smells So Good?

Overnight Country Sourdough Bread

This overnight country sourdough bread is thusly named because the first rise takes 12 to 15 hours. The resulting bread is has a wonderful sourdough tang because of the long rise time.

Slow Cooker Asian Beef Short Ribs

These slow cooker Asian beef short ribs were "melt-in-you-mouth" tender and flavorful. The beef ribs are braised in hoisin sauce, chicken broth, chili garlic sauce, and scallions. To finish these short ribs, just skim the fat from the resulting sauce, and pour the sauce over the ribs, serve with rice, and garnish with green onions. To separate the fat from the sauce, I really love this gadget.

This is the perfect easy slow cooker company dinner. If you have a rice cooker, it's even easier. The ribs are amazing fresh from the slow cooker, and just as good the next day. According to Mr. Kitchen, this dish is delicious. I would agree.

Slow Cooker Asian Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients

1/4 C chicken broth

3/4 C hoisin sauce

3 scallions, thinly sliced and the white parts separated and minced

2 T chili garlic sauce

1 T instant tapioca

5 pounds bone in short ribs, trimmed of fat and with the silver skin removed. 

Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Combine the broth, hoisin sauce, the white parts of the scallions, garlic sauce, and tapioca. Add the mixture to a 6 to 7 quart slow cooker. 
2. Salt and pepper the trimmed short ribs and add them to the slow cooker so that the bones are vertical and the ribs are evenly nestled into the sauce. 
3. Cook on low 9 to 10 hours, or on high 6 to 7 hours. 
4. Remove the ribs from the slow cooker and place them on a serving platter. Tent with foil for at least 5 minutes. 
5. Skim the fat from the remaining sauce. 
6. Serve the ribs and sauce over rice and garnish with the green parts of the scallions. 

Slightly adapted from The Make Ahead Cook.

Pear and Cherry Sourdough Bread

This pear and cherry sourdough bread is loaded with chunks of fresh Asian pear and dried cherries. In fact, shaping this pear and cherry sourdough bread was kind of like playing whack-a-mole in order to keep all of the bits of fruit inside the loaf. Even so, once the loaf was allowed to rise and bake, it developed little open craters of fruit on top. They looked like little mini pear tarts on top of the bread.