Krispies And Candies Cookies

A lot of the best stuff I make comes from me surveying my fridge and pantry, then going with what I have on hand. These cookies are like that.

I had a jar of mini M&M's that had seemed like a good idea while I was at Bulk Barn but not such a good idea when I got home. They sat there on my shelf looking all bright and cheerful and useless until I decided I had to use them up. And cookies are good, right? Pretty much any kind of cookie is a happy thing.

So...What did I have to put in the cookies along with the M&M's?  I could've gone with nuts of some sort, but I had none and I didn't want to buy anything more. I did have Rice Krispies because I always have Rice Krispies. So, that's what I went with.  

The finished cookies were surprisingly good. The coating on the M&M's and the crispy cereal gave them a pleasant crunch that made my mouth really happy.

If you'd like to make these cookies, you'll need:

• 2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 c each white sugar and brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups mini M&M's
• 4 cups Rice Krispies

Use a fork or a whisk to stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In another, large, bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. 

Add in the beaten eggs and vanilla and mix them until they were well combined with the creamed butter and sugars. Beat them together until they're light and fluffy.  The batter may look slightly curdled - broken - at this point. 

Mix the flour/baking soda/salt mixture into the wet ingredients until all of the ingredients are mixed into a stiff dough.

Add in the M&M's and Rice Krispies. Use a wooden spoon to mix them into the dough as gently as possible. Some of the Rice Krispies will get broken in the process but enough will stay intact to give the cookies good texture.

Form the dough into 1-1/2 to 2 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake the cookies at 350F for about 12 minutes, until they begin to take on colour around the outside edges. 

Cool the cookies on a baking sheet for about 5 minutes and then transfer them to a rack covered with a sheet of brown paper to cool to room temperature. (The brown paper will absorb any extra moisture or butter from the bottom of the cookies, helping to ensure a crisp finish.)

Once the cookies are coooled to room temperature, store them in air tight containers and use them up within a few days.  If you need to keep them for longer than that, put them in the freezer.

Sesame Crackers

I made crackers last night. I know there are a great many commercially made crackers but, still, they're a regular part of my baking routine. Homemade crackers are delicious, inexpensive, and really easy to make.  You can add whatever you want to the dough and come up with your own unique flavours.

This recipe is an adaptation of the white cracker recipe in Marion Cunningham's "Fanny Farmer Baking Book."  The recipe's a blank canvas and over the years I've added all sorts of different seeds, nuts, and seasoning to them.  I chose sesame seeds this time because they provide a nice, slightly nutty flavour that's neutral enough to go with the meats and cheeses or with jams or fruit.

To make Sesame Crackers you'll need:

• 1/2 cup raw sesame seeds
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2/3 cup milk (plus a very small amount extra if needed)
• 2 teaspoons flaked or coarse salt

Begin by toasting the sesame seeds. Pour them into a dry frying pan and cook them over medium heat, stirring constantly until they darken a bit and take on a golden colour.  You'll be able to smell their toastiness too. Sesame seeds are easy to overcook while toasting so pay careful attention and remove the pan from the heat as soon as they warm and deepen in colour.

Stir the flour, sugar, and salt together.

Cut the butter into small pieces, add it to the flour mixture, then use your fingers to rub it into the flour until it breaks down into small, irregular crumbs.

Add in the sesame seeds and stir them through the flour.

Use one hand to stir the flour mixture with a fork while you use the other to pour in the milk.  Keep stirring until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough's too dry to come together add more milk, a few drops at a time. Use as little extra milk as you can manage. You want the dough to hold together but to stay as dry as possible.

Leave the dough in the bowl, cover it with waxed paper, and let it rest for at least an hour.

Roll the rested dough out as thinly as possible, using a little flour both under the dough and on top of it to keep the dough from sticking to either your work surface or your rolling pin.  You should aim for a 1/8-inch thickness.

Wrap the dough loosely around the rolling pin and transfer it to a parchment lined baking sheet.

 

Once it's on the baking sheet, score the dough into 1-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch rectangles (roughly the size of a business card).  Use a fork to dock the dough, poking a few holes in each rectangle.  

Sprinkle the flaked or coarse salt over the top of the crackers and press it in so it adheres to the dough.

Bake the crackers at 425F for 6 to 8 minutes, then flip them over, put them back in the oven and bake them for about 5 minutes more.

Remove the crackers from the oven and, as soon as they're cool enough to handle, break them apart.  If some of them aren't yet crispy, put them back in the oven and let them continue to crisp.

When the crackers have cooled to room temperature, store them in an airtight container.

Lemon Poundcake With Candied Pineapple And Crystallized Ginger

In mid-November, British Columbia was hit by a series of rainstorms that Environment Canada described as "atmospheric rivers." They brought so much rain that catastrophic flooding and mudslides ensued, driving thousands of people from their homes and damaging highways and railways so severely that southwestern BC (where I live) was cut off from the rest of Canada.  Most people have returned to their homes but the damage to infrastructure is going to take months to repair. 

One highway connecting the affected areas to the rest of the country has now been re-opened, but only to essential travel.  It's a treacherous drive, still prone to flooding, with entire lanes of highway missing; sloughed off into canyons, washed away by rivers, or buried under tons of mud and stone and the journey is now complicated by snowfall and the potential for avalanches. The drivers who make the trip are heroes in this story. 

Because of the limited traffic, essentials are being given transport priority and, as much as we all love our Christmas treats, seasonal baking ingredients don't rank high on the list.  Some things, including candied and glace fruits and certain spices, have disappeared entirely from grocery store shelves.  

I had the good fortune to have done my big holiday shop just before the storms but, still, there were some things I forgot to buy and now I'm now having to do without them.  If it isn't in my pantry, it won't be on my table this Christmas.

Two things I do have on hand (because I like them a lot and try to keep them in my pantry year 'round) are candied pineapple and crystallized ginger. While not a typical holiday combination, both are included in many seasonal recipes so I decided to make something that paired them. This poundcake is what I came up with.

This cake is cerainly not the prettiest girl at the dance but she's probably the one you'd take home to Mom. Substantial in texture, bright with the flavours of lemon, pineapple, and ginger, and blessed with a comparatively long shelf life, this recipe's a winner. It freezes beautifully too.

To make this cake you'll need:

• 1-1/2 cups each finely diced candied pineapple and crystallized ginger
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon each baking powder and baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened 
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 Tablespoon each grated lemon zest and lemon extract
• 1 cup buttermilk

Butter and flour two 8-/12 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch loaf pans or one 10-inch bundt pan.

Cut the candied pineapple and crystallized ginger into a fine dice; 1/4 inch or smaller.

Put the eggs in a bowl and pour hot tap water over them. Let them stand for several minutes to warm gently.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl, then stir them well with a fork to ensure they're evenly mixed. 

Add in the candied pineapple and crystallized ginger and stir again so the fruit is coated with the flour mixture.

Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat it until it's smooth and creamy.

Slowly add in the sugar, beating constantly until smooth and well blended.  

Add the eggs all at once and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. 

Add about half the flour mixture to the bowl and beat until well blended.

Stir the lemon zest and lemon extract into the buttermilk, then beat half the buttermilk into the batter.

Add in the remaining flour and buttermilk mixtures and beat until the batter is well blended.  

Pour the batter into the prpared pans and bake at 325F until a skewer or toothpick inserted in the middle of  cake comes out clean.  This can take between 1 and 1-1/2 hours.

The cake will brown quite a bit around the edges.  If it's becoming too browned for your taste, turn the oven off towards the end of the cooking time and let the cake finish cooking in the residual heat.

Put the cake pans on a wire rack and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before turning the cakes out.  Allow the cakes to cool completely before slicing them.

As you can see from my photo, I like to serve this cake with marmalade. It's a lovely accompaniment to afternoon tea.  It's also good toasted and then topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or lemon or orange sorbet. If you want to get fancy about it, you can drizzle the ice cream or sorbet with a little Grand Marnier or Triple Sec.

Enjoy. 😊

Salted Caramel Brownie Bars

These bars happened because of a random purchase at the Bulk Barn.  They had salted caramel chips there and because I'd never cooked with them, I bought some.  

I spent some days trying to decide what I might make with those salted caramel chips. Recent flooding has caused serious damage to the roads that connect southwestern BC with the rest of Canada. Essential goods are given shipping priority and some and luxury goods can be hard to come by. I wanted my recipe to be attainable for others affected by these shortages so I decided to work with ingredients I already had on hand. These bars are what I came up with. 

Because of the dulce de leche layer in these bars, they aren't a quick bake. I usually make dulce de leche from commercially made sweetened condensed milk but right now it's really expensive so this time I made my own sweetened condensed milk from scratch. If you choose to buy sweetened condensed milk already made, or if you buy pre-made dulce de leche and add your own salt to taste, the process will be much less time consuming.  

Since I did make my own dulce de leche from scratch and you might want to know how I did that, here are the steps:

Begin with Baker Bettie's recipe for Sweetened Condensed Milk. Increase the recipe quantities by one half (so your batch is 1-1/2 times larger than what the original recipe calls for) and cook it according the the recipe directions.

Once the sweetened condensed milk is made, transfer it - in a heatproof container - to your slow cooker.  Pour boiling water into the cooker, around the container, taking care not to get water in the milk.  Turn your slow cooker on low and continue cooking the milk, stirring occassionally and topping up the hot water around the milk container as needed, until it reaches the stage of caramelization you prefer. The more brown the caramel, the deeper the flavour, but take care not to over-do it. Taste as you go along. There's a point where the caramel flavour crosses the line from deep to bitter and once that happens there's no going back.

When the caramel has reached the stage you want it to be, remove the container from the slow cooker and put it in a cold water bath, stirring and changing the cold water often so it cools as rapidly as possible.  When it's reached room temperature, add your salt.

I won't give you a specific measurement for the salt in the dulce de leche layer because I've found that people's preferences about the saltiness of their food vary wildly.  Add a little salt, give the caramel dulce de leche a thorough stir so you know the salt is distributed throughout, taste, and adjust.  Continue adding salt, mixing, and tasting until it's where you want it to be.

At this point, I covered the caramel container and put it in the fridge. I finished making the bars the following day.

To make the brownie layer, you'll need:

• 1-1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup salted butter
• 1 cup Dutch process cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups salted caramel baking chips

Stir together the flour and the baking powder.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. 

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cocoa until it's completely combined with the butter.

Stir in the sugar.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Mix in the vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture, mixing just until no flour is visible.  

Stir in the salted caramel baking chips.

Pour the batter into a buttered or oiled 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pan and bake in a 350F oven for 30 to 35 minutes. 

Cool to room temperature, then transfer the pan to your freezer and let the brownies get really cold.

To assemble the bars:

Take the salted dulce de leche out of the fridge and heat it in the microwave on 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval until it's warm and has thinned to a more spreadable consistency.

Take the brownie pan out of the freezer and, using an offset spatula, spread the dulce de leche over the brownie layer in an even thickness.  Put the pan back in the freezer.

When the dulce de leche layer is well cooled and set (I left it in the freezer overnight), make the ganache layer.

Finely chop 12 ounces of semi sweet chocolate and put it in a bowl.

Heat 1-1/2 cups of heavy cream to a simmer.

Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted and is completely incorporated into the cream.

Pour the ganache over the dulce de leche layer in the pan and use an offset spatula to spread it evenly.

Put the pan in the fridge until the ganache has thickened and the entire bar is well chilled.

Use a hot knife (run the blade under the hot water tap) to cut the bars while they're still very cold.  Let them warm to room temperature before serving them.

These are really tasty but also very sweet, so a little goes a long way.  The bar in the photo is about 1-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches.  If I was serving this as part of a dessert tray I'd cut it in smaller pieces; about half this portion.

Sprinkle a bit of flaked salt over the top of the ganache just before plating the bars.  I used locally harvested salt from Vancouver Island Sea Salt.

I returned my Salted Caramel Brownie Bars to the freezer after slicing them. A cup of coffee is really all they need in the way of accompaniment, which makes them an excellent treat to have on hand when entertaining on short notice

Because the ganache layer stays quite soft, if you're giving them as part of a food gift, I don't recommend packing the bars in layers in cookie tins. If you're going to include them as part of a food gift, cut the bars in smaller pieces as mentioned above, put each individual piece in a petit four cup (like a paper muffin cup but smaller), and pack them in a single layer in a shallow container with an airtight lid. Leave the sprinkle of salt off the top of the ganache. If you want to, you can pack some salt in a separate container, with instructions to sprinkle it on just before serving.

Cranberry Ginger Beer Bread

Yesterday I posted a beer bread recipe with flavours that go beautifully with a spaghetti and salad supper.  Today's recipe is a variation on that recipe, but with a very different flavour profile. 

This quick bread is a little sweeter, but savoury enough to accompany a meal centered on chicken or pork. Served warm with butter and honey, it would make an afternoon or evening cup of tea into a very special treat.

Instead of beer, I use a pool Jamaican style ginger beer for this recipe. It's less sweet than ginger ale, with a strong fresh ginger flavour; a fast, easy way to bring bright flavour to a simple bake.

To make this bread, you'll need:

• 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup of dried cranberries 
• 1 12-ounce bottle of Jamaican style ginger beer
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and use a whisk or a fork to stir them together. (A whisk or fork won't compact the flour. A spoon would.)

Add in the dried cranberries and stir them in so they're coated with the dry mixture. (This helps keep them suspended within the batter.)

Add the Jamaican style ginger beer, then the fresh ginger and the melted butter. Stir until the ingredients are well combined but don't over-mix the batter. Lumpy is okay.

Spoon the batter into a buttered or oiled  9 x 5-inch loaf pan. It'll take about 45 minutes to bake at 375F. 

If you portion the batter into smaller containers you can shorten the baking time. Half pint/125 ml Mason jars work perfectly. The smaller loaves cook in about half the time it takes to bake a 9 x 5-inch loaf, and they're easy to present in a bread basket; no slicing required. 

This quick bread is always best served hot from the oven. If you have leftovers and want to reheat them, you can slice them and toast the slices, or you can wrap the leftovers in foil and reheat them in a 350F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

"Oh, Look! We Have Unexpected Company!" Quick Bread

My husband was really bad about inviting people to dinner and then forgetting to tell me about it until our guests pulled into the driveway. Seriously. Thirty four years of marriage never broke him of the habit. After so many years of magically conjuring dinner for four, or six, or eight out of ingredients planned for just the two of us, I'm really good at it. 

One of the things I learned very quickly about stretching meals is that carbs are your friends. Having a few good quick breads in your repertoire can be a great help when unexpected company arrives at dinnertime.  

Served before dinner, hot from the oven, with butter or with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a quick bread can buy you some extra time to prepare the rest of the meal. It can help take the edge off appetites too, which means main course protein servings can be smaller and the meal can be more heavily weighted towards vegetables that are quick to prepare. 

Your guests don't have to know any of that. You can keep mum and let them be impressed with what a special treat they're enjoying. They'll love it.

You don't have to re-invent the wheel either. Learn to make a basic quick bread like this beer bread. Beer bread's been around forever because it's easy to make and it tastes really good. 

Almost all beer breads call for self rising flour: a pre-mixed blend that also includes baking powder and salt. It's not an ingredient commonly called for in recipes from this region so I don't go through it quickly enough to use up a bag before it's past its "best by" date. When I bake a recipe that calls for self rising flour I make this substitution:

For every cup of self rising flour called for in a recipe, I use 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. 

I've already done the math for you in this recipe, then adjusted so it's less salty and there's no aftertaste from the baking powder.

You're welcome. 😊

To make this bread, you'll need:

• 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon each of onion powder, granulated garlic, ground dry rosemary, oregano, and basil
• 1 12-ounce bottle of beer (I use a lager)
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and use a whisk or a fork to stir them together. (A whisk or fork won't compact the flour. A spoon would.)

Add the beer and then the olive oil. Stir until combined but don't over-mix the batter. Lumpy is okay.

Spoon the batter into a buttered or oiled  9 x 5-inch loaf pan. It'll take about 45 minutes to bake at 375F. 

If you portion the batter into smaller containers you can shorten the baking time. Half pint/125 ml Mason jars work perfectly. The smaller loaves cook in about half the time it takes to bake a 9 x 5-inch loaf, and they're easy to present in a bread basket; no slicing required. 

Beer bread is always best served hot from the oven. If you have leftovers and want to reheat them, you can slice them and toast the slices or you can wrap the leftovers in foil and reheat them in a 350F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Now, go forth and fear unexpected company no more. You've got this!

Rosemary Raisin Bread

In 1977, I bought the Sunset Cook Book of Breads.  It was one of the first cookbooks I ever purchased - a paperback - and I have it still, so well loved that it's mostly held together with sticky tape. This recipe comes from that book but I've adapted it to suit my tastes and baking style over the years. It's a surprising combination but the flavours work together really well.

I enjoy this bread toasted, with crabapple jelly, or as a sandwich bread, with ham, a mild cheese, and some sweet mustard. 

I should mention that I eat every dish I make for my blog. Nothing goes to waste. The wedge of bread I cut out of the loaf for the photo was made into a bread pudding, with pears.  😊

To make Rosemary Raisin Bread you'll need: 

• 1 to 1-1/2 cups of raisins (I only had 3/4 cup of raisins when I baked the loaf you see in the photo. It was not enough.)
• 3/4 cup raisin soaking water
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1/4 cup neutrally flavoured cooking oil (I used sunflower oil)
• 3 to 3-1/2 cups bread flour (sometimes called hard flour)
• 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped very fine
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 Tablespoon cold water

Put the raisins in a heat proof bowl or measuring cup and pour boiling water over them.  Let them soak until the water has cooled to 110F.

Drain the water off the raisins, reserving it and setting the raisins aside. Pour 3/4 cup of the raisin soaking water into your mixing bowl. Add the honey, stirring to dissolve it into the water.  

If the honey won't dissolve completely, put the water/honey mixture in the microwave for a few seconds and then stir it again. If you put the water and honey in the microwave, remember to allow it to cool down again, to just above body temperature.

Sprinkle the yeast over the water and honey mixture.  Let it sit for about 10 minutes, until the yeast has dissolved and started to foam a bit. 

Crack 1 egg plus the white of the second egg into a small bowl and beat them with a fork. (Reserve the yolk from the second egg for later.) Pour the beaten egg into the water/yeast mixture, then add the oil, and the drained raisins.

Add in 3 cups of flour, the rosemary, and the salt in the order given here. (Salt impedes the rising action of  yeast. Putting it in last helps insulate the yeast from the salt.)

If you have a stand mixer, use a dough hook to mix the bread, adding more flour if the dough is sticky.  You'll need to mix it for at least 10 minutes, until the dough becomes elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

If you're kneading the dough by hand, spread the remaining half cup of flour on your board and knead the bread until it's elastic. This can take up to 20 minutes.

Wash out the mixing bowl and coat the inside of it with some olive oil. Put the dough in the bowl and turn it until it's coated all over with the oil.

Cover the bread dough with waxed paper and let it rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

Punch the dough down and knead it a few times to release the air.  Shape it into a sphere and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet.  

Let the dough rise until puffy; about 30 to 45 minutes.

Beat the reserved egg yolk together with 1 Tablespoon of cold water, then brush it over the loaf.

Use a floured, knife with a narrow blade to cut an X in the top of the loaf.

Bake the bread at 375F for about 30 minutes, turning it at the halfway point of the baking time. 

Start checking it for done-ness at 25 minutes. You'll know it's done when you tap on the top crust and it sounds hollow.  If it doesn't sound hollow, return the bread to the oven and turn off the heat.  Let the loaf finish baking in the residual heat.

Cool the bread on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing it.

Olive Bread

When things get hectic, good bread is a fine thing to have on hand.  You can serve it as toast alongside a bowl of soup or some scrambled eggs, you can throw together a quick and tasty sandwich, or you can assemble the makings of a savoury bread pudding and pop it in the fridge, ready to go into the oven when you get home from work, or in the morning if you have guests for breakfast or brunch. Olive bread works well for all these things.

I usually bake this bread in a rectangular loaf pan because if I'm using it to make sandwiches that shape ensures that all the slices will be similar in size and shape.  Sometimes, though, I divide the dough into three or four portions and use it to make pizza crust, or I'll form it into a round if I want to make muffaletta or some other stuffed loaf. The baking times will, of course, vary depending upon the size and shape of the bread.

To make this bread you'll need:

• 2 cups warm water, slightly above body temperature but not exceedin 110F
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 4-1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 -1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons Greek Seasoning (I use this recipe, shared on AllRecipes by Margaret Havenar)
• 2 Tablespoons of finely diced sun-dried tomatoes 
• 1 cup sliced green olives
• 1 cup sliced black olives

Stir the sugar into the warm water until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let it rest until the yeast has dissolved and started to foam up a bit.  (This usually takes about 10 minutes in my kitchen.)

Add the olive oil and 3 cups of flour, mixing them until combined.

Add in the salt, Greek seasoning, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and the remaining 3-1/2 cups of flour. Continuing mixing until a firm dough forms. 

If you're mixing it in your stand mixer, using a dough hook, set the mixer on low speed and continue mixing for 5 to 10 minutes, until the dough is elastic and springs back when you poke it lightly with your finger.

If you're mixing it by hand, knead it in the bowl so you don't have to add extra flour, working it for about 10 minutes until the dough is elastic and springs back when you poke it lightly with your finger.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board or onto a sheet of waxed paper or parchment. Wash and dry the mixing bowl, then lightly oil the inside of the bowl.  Return the dough to the bowl, turning it so it's lightly oiled all over, then cover the dough with a sheet of waxed paper or a slightly damp cloth.

Let the dough stand until doubled in size.  (My home tends to be a bit chilly at this time of year - around 65F most days - so the dough can take up to 2 hours for the dough to rise. If your space is warmer the dough will double in size more quickly.) While the dough is rising, butter or oil two loaf pans.

When the dough has doubled in size, punch the dough down, knead it a few times, then divide it in half and form each half into a loaf.  Place the formed loaves into the prepared pans and let them rise again until doubled in size. 

When the loaves have risen brush the tops with olive oil. Bake them on the middle rack of a 375F oven for about 45 minutes, rotating them at the 25 minute point.

When the bread is done it'll be golden brown in colour.  If, when you turn a loaf out of the pan and tap on the bottom crust, it sounds hollow you'll know it's cooked through.  If it doesn't have that hollow sound put it back in the pan and return it to the oven. Turn the oven off and allow the bread to bake a bit longer in the residual heat.

Turn the baked loaves out onto wire racks to cool.  Leave them for at least 30 minutes before slicing the bread.

Seriously, you need to make this.  It's SO good!

Tiny Mincemeat Turnovers

Many years ago, wanting to serve mincemeat as one flavour among many on a Christmas dessert table, I decided to make tiny turnovers. They needed to be small enough to be one of several treats on a sampler plate. The turnovers, which offered a small portion of mincemeat wrapped in flaky pastry, with granulated sugar on top to provide a little extra sweetness and crunch, were a big hit. They weren't the prettiest thing on the table but proportion of mincemeat to pastry was just right.  I still get requests for them every year and they remain a Christmas baking staple at my house.

Every good turnover begins with pastry.  When you buy a turnover at a bakery it will most likely be made with puff pastry but since my turnovers were going to be tiny, I thought that puff pastry's volume would overwhelm the filling.  I opted instead to make a simple lard pastry; the one I've used to make countless pies over the years. 

I'm giving you the quantities needed to make enough pastry for a single pie crust or about a dozen tiny turnovers.  The recipe is easily doubled.  I find, though, that if you want to make more than double this recipe, it's best to make a second batch. I can't explain why this is, but experience has taught me not to question good results.

To make the pastry, you'll need:

• 1 cup flour
• 3/8 teaspoon of salt 
• 1/2  cup lard. well chilled
• 2 Tablespoons very cold water
• 1 egg white + 1/2 teaspoon of cold water in a separate small bowl
• granulated white sugar

Stir the flour and salt together until well combined.  Cut the lard into the flour.  I tend to leave the lard in fairly large pieces—about the size of a kidney bean—because it’s always better to leave it too large than to break it down too small.  A light hand will result in a flakier crust.

Stir the water into the flour and lard mixture just until the ingredients are moistened and start to hold together.  Gently form the dough into a rough ball.

Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap, or put it in a small enough container that there's not a lot of airspace around it, then seal the container with a lid. Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. (I usually make the pastry one day and then roll it out the next.)

After the pastry has rested in the fridge, return it to the counter and allow it to warm for a few minutes.

Place the dough on a piece of waxed paper at least 12 inches square.  Gently press it into a thick disk and cover it with a second piece of waxed paper.  

Rolling out from the center towards the edges and rotating a quarter turn after each roll, roll the pastry until it's a uniform thickness and large enough to have reached, and perhaps slightly exceeded, the factory cut edges of the waxed paper.  

Gently remove the top sheet of waxed paper. If you're going to be using the scraps to roll the pastry out a second time, set the paper aside.

Use a round cookie cutter to cut rounds of pastry, cutting them as closely together as you can. (I use a 3-inch diameter biscuit cutter.) You should dip the cookie cutter in flour before cutting the dough, and again whenever the pastry starts to stick to it. 

Gently remove the pastry from around the rounds you've cut, leaving only the rounds on the waxed paper.  Lightly press the pieces of pastry you've removed together, using only as much pressure as is required to get the pieces to stick to one another. If you end up with a smooth ball of dough, you've pressed too much.  Set this pastry aside.

Spoon a scant teaspoon-full of mincemeat into the center of each cut round of pastry.  

Using a brush or your fingertip, apply water around the outside edge of each round before folding it in half, making a sort of half moon shape. Gently press the edges together to seal them.

Transfer the turnovers to a parchment lined baking sheet. Discard the bottom sheet of waxed paper.

Use a fork to beat the egg white and water together until it's frothy, then brush a little of the egg white mixture over the top of each turnover. Sprinkle some sugar over the egg white. You don't want a thick layer of sugar but you do want most of the upper surface of the turnovers to be lightly covered with it.

Place the scraps of pastry you removed from the first rolling onto a fresh sheet of waxed paper.  Cover the pastry with the top sheet of waxed paper you set aside and repeat the rolling, cutting, filling, and topping process again.

When you've made as many turnovers as you need, place them in a 400F oven and immediately turn the oven down to 350F.  Let them bake until they're lightly browned. I can't tell you exactly how long that'll take because it will depend upon the size of turnovers you've made and the quantity of mincemeat you've filled them with. I find that mine take about 30 minutes to bake.

I store my tiny turnovers in the same way I would store cookies: layered in a tin with a round of wax paper between each layer. They can be frozen, but thawing them will soften the sugar on the outside.  You may want to return them to the oven for just long enough to allow them to re-crisp.