must.love.frosting

There’s a reason I decided to call this post must.love.frosting.

And that reason is must. love. food.

You see … I’m the host of a new tv show on Rogers TV … and it’s called must.love.food.

I think I’m still a little gobsmacked that this is really happening.

You might wonder … “why in the world is Lynne talking about frosting???”

I got to hang with my friends Derick and Lois on Daytime Ottawa today, and while we debuted a clip for must.love.food. we also made some frosting.

But not just any frosting.

We made oreo frosting.

Holy mother of pearl.

I love it so much I’ve made it 5 times in the last 10 days … it all started with a visit to always with butter.  There was a recipe for  oreo frosting that … well it made me stop in my tracks.

First off … it’s oreo frosting.

Nothing wrong with that.

Second of all … it’s super simple.

All you need is a food processor, some oreos, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt and cream.

And lastly … IT’S OREO FROSTING!!!!!!!!

(check out the segment here)

As I said on Daytime - this frosting is probably one of the easiest things to make … EVER.  Plus it packs a HUGE punch … which means with very little effort you will impress just about anyone who tries it.

It even smells good.

A million sighs of happiness.

oreo frosting

ingredients:

1/2 package (2 sleeves – about 25 cookies), oreo cookies

1 c. butter, at room temperature

1 tbsp vanilla

couple pinches of salt (to taste)

5 – 6 tbsp cream

4 c. powdered sugar

Grab your food processor and dump the oreo cookies into the bowl.  Pulse until you get a fine crumb.

Baker’s note: It’s important to pulse the cookies first … otherwise they won’t get quite fine enough … and you’ll end up with some larger pieces … which make trying to pipe a cupcake pretty frustrating.

Ok … so the cookies are all crumbly … now toss in the butter (in cubes) and the splash of vanilla.  Add a pinch of salt and then half the powdered sugar.

Turn on the food processor … and let it go.

Add a little of the heavy cream … you’ll see that the batter starts to come together.  Turn it off and add the rest of the powdered sugar.

Turn the food processor back on.  Keep mixing it and adding a little bit of cream (as needed to get the texture you want).

I found that the frosting was a little warm once it was finished … so I put the bowl in the fridge for a few minutes and let it cool a little.  Then I filled my piping back … and went wild.

Oh … and if you’ve noticed that the cupcakes in the picture above are not the same ones as I made on Daytime … it’s true.  They aren’t.  I’m saving that recipe for the must.love.cupcakes episode :0)

chocolate – sailor jerry’s – coconut cream bars

The count-down is just about done.  Today is the beginning of the fun part of the holiday season – you know … the part that actually involves seeing the people we love, spending time with them (and not shopping for them), getting to catch-up, laugh, reminisce about the past year … and then … eat.

I figured this would be a good recipe to share … it’s pretty simple, it doesn’t take very long to make … and is an easy addition for anyone hosting a réveillon tonight.

Plus … they’re pretty.  Real pretty.

The original recipe was actually chocolate – sherry cream bars.  I don’t have sherry in my pantry … but I have some rum (no big surprise there eh?) – and I figured that the chocolate rum combo would work.  It does.

Then I thought – why not add some coconut to the chocolate base? Brilliant idea!  This is a dressed up, and grown-up version of  nanaimo bars – a tender base with a fluffy, boozy topping and then a drizzle of chocolate glaze.

Yum?  Yeah.  Intense yum.

Like I said – these aren’t complicated – and likely, after all the holiday baking you’ve already done – you have all the ingredients on hand.  If you’re missing the coconut flakes – no worries, they weren’t in the original recipe.  Just omit that addition and you are good to go.  And if you don’t have rum on hand – how about adding some eggnog?  I bet that would be AWESOME.  Heck … I wish I had thought of that before now.  Sigh.  That’ll be for next year I guess.

chocolate – rum – coconut cream bars

ingredients:

base:

1 c. butter

1/2 c. chocolate chips

4 eggs, lightly beaten, at room temperature

2 c. sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 c. flour, sifted

3/4 c. sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line your rectangular pan with parchment paper or foil.  Grease the liner with non-stick spray.  Set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat and stir the butter and chocolate over low heat until smooth.  Remove from the heat.  With a whisk, beat in the eggs, sugar and vanilla until just combined.  Swap out the whisk for a wooden spoon and stir in the flour, then the coconut (obviously from the picture you’ll see I used the whisk … the wooden spoon just folds it in better).

Spread the mixture evenly into the pan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.  These brownies are pretty moist – so check with a wooden skewer … it likely won’t come out perfectly clean, but you don’t want a runny batter to appear on the tip.   There will be a slight crust on this brownie – but the centre should be solid.

Allow to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Time to make the filling.

sweet rum filling:

4 c. powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/4 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. rum

1 c. chopped, toasted walnuts

This time you need to pull out either your stand-mixer or your hand-held mixer.  In a large bowl, beat together the powdered sugar and butter.  Gradually increase the speed, and add the heavy cream and the rum.  Once it has come together (is nice and fluffy), fold in the toasted walnuts (use a spoon or spatula for that).

Spread the topping evenly over the baked brownie.  Chill for at least 1 hour, or until firm (you can put this in the freezer – or stick it outside if you’re lacking freezer space).

Just before you’re ready to cut them into squares, prepare the chocolate – rum glaze.  Yes … there is a wee bit more rum required.

chocolate – rum glaze:

1/2 c. chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp rum

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate chips with the vegetable oil.  Once smooth, remove from heat and add the rum.  Allow the glaze to thicken a little (about 10 minutes in the fridge should do).  Place in a piping bag and drizzle over the firm filling.  If you don’t want to bother with the piping bag – just take a whisk, dip it in the glaze and then drizzle the glaze that way … it’ll still look really pretty.

Chill until the bars are firm.

Remove from the pan (lifting it out using the excess parchment paper), and then cut into the desired size.  I was able to get about 70 mini squares … and really – these are pretty rich.  A small piece goes a long way … just about the perfect thing to nibble on at around midnight :0)

I’m going to say it … Happy Holidays – and a super Merry Christmas to you if you celebrate this particular holiday.

holiday cookie 4.0 (and i was on tv)

authors note: no studio pics today … I didn’t have an entourage this time round  :0) good thing for the clip!

These are the best cookies.  Period. Seriously.

And the best part about it … was that it was a pleasant surprise.  I honestly thought that they would be o.k. – simply a twist from the ordinary ginger cookie.

Wrong.

These are good.

Each cookie was thin.  And chewy.  And then … in the centre – you could still see the dark moistness of the molasses.  Oh my.

So the cookies were good.

But then it was time to turn them into little sandwiches … a layer of lemon glaze holding two ginger-molasses cookies together.

That is when they became HOLY HECK I CAN’T BELIEVE HOW WONDERFUL A COOKIE CAN BE! kind of cookies.

A-MAZ-ING.

I think I heart these cookies so much because they combine the ginger cookie (we know I’ obsessed) with lemon – which we all know is my number one true love.  Sigh.  A combination made in my kind of heaven.  DEE-LISH!

I also got to talk up these wonderful little babies while on Daytime Ottawa – Erin and Derick – became huge fans.  It turns out that TL is allergic to ginger … but she promised me that if she weren’t – she would love these cookies :0) LOVES IT!

click here to watch

This time round TL proved that she’s more than just the finishing touches gal.

She’s got skills.  As in the best reflexes EVER.

Did you see her react to my misdirection with the butter?  Fast hands people.  She’s got fast hands.

Derick didn’t do too badly himself … he just needs to remember that the molasses should always be added as a heaping quarter cup.  Always.  I think he knows better now (right Derrick) :0)

Let me guess … you want to make a batch of these cookies too right?  I mean … I am emphatically declaring these as my favourite holiday cookies.  EVER.  Bar NONE.

Since this blog is all about sharing the love … here’s the recipe.  Make this love.  Share it.  You won’t regret it.  I promise (have I let you down yet?).

ginger-molasses lemon cookies

ingredients:

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. molasses (heaping please)

1 egg

3/4 c. melted butter

2 c. flour, sifted

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

3/4 tsp salt

zest of half a lemon

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, molasses, egg and melted butter together.  Use either a whisk or a wooden spoon – no stand-mixer or hand-held mixers required.

Once everything is well combined, add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and lemon zest.

Stir until combined.  This dough will seem a little oily – just keep mixing.  Once everything is incorporated, cover the bowl in plastic wrap and allow it to chill in the fridge for about 1 hour.  This will make it easier to handle.  Believe me … much easier (the original dough is otherwise too sticky and tacky to roll into small balls).

When ready – preheat your oven to 375 F.  Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Set aside.

Spread 1/2 c. raw sugar in a pie plate.

Roll the dough into small balls – then cover them completely in the raw sugar.  Place on the cookie sheet.  You want to leave about 2-inches apart from one another on the cookie sheet – they spread while baking.  I was able to get a dozen on each baking sheet.

Bake for 8 minutes.  Rotating the sheets at the halfway mark – this will ensure even baking.  If you’re like me you’ll notice that they look barely baked at the 4 minute mark – don’t worry – by 8 minutes, the top of the cookies will look cracked.  BEAUTIFUL!

Remove from the oven.  Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 4 minutes.  This will allow them to firm up a bit.  Place them on the wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Now make the filling.  This is what makes these cookies extraordinary.  Sigh.

lemon glaze

ingredients:

3 tbsp butter, softened

2 c. powdered sugar, sifted

juice of 1 lemon

In a large bowl (the powdered sugar can go flying!), whisk together the ingredients until smooth.  That’s it.  Add the lemon juice bit by bit – this will permit you to (1) decide how much lemon flavour you want and (2) ensure that the glaze isn’t too thin.  It should be about as thick as a caramel sauce … not a thin broth.  Is that helpful?

Spread about a teaspoon on one of the cookie bases (stay more in the centre of the cookie – not the sides), topping it with another cookie – creating a little sandwich.  Don’t worry if the top cookie looks like it’s going to slide off … just reposition it on top of the other cookie and allow to sit for 30 minutes.  They should firm up … leaving you the most beautiful cookie.

Lemon glaze sandwiches between two sugar-coated ginger-molasses cookies.

Sigh.

I’m still thinking about these cookies.

Time to whip up another batch.  For reals.

Enjoy!

Robin – you should make these … hopefully you’ll enjoy them as much as your mother’s gingersnap recipe.