Christmas Cookies Galore!

Yesterday I started my annual Christmas cookie baking fest. I love to make many different types of cookies to have on hand for guests, give as gifts and bring to parties. This year I decided to make most of my cookies small so that guests and friends can try many different kinds. This is an important tip that I learned from my sister in law last year.

Pictured above in a very festive scene in my home are apricot pistachio pinwheels, peanut coconut cookies, cranberry pistachio cookies, chocolate sugar cookies with sprinkles and peppermint buttons. Some of these recipes are from magazines and newspapers and others are passed on through family members. I love my ever growing and changing collection of cookie recipes from many different sources.


Also, I made my first cookie containing organic coconut oil yesterday! I tried using half butter and half coconut oil in the chocolate sugar cookies and it turned out perfectly. I have been curious about using coconut oil and I have learned that it is a very healthy oil. It is high in fiber and very good for you. This recipe has been adapted from a magazine clipping from Martha Stewart. Here is the recipe:
Chocolate Sugar Cookies:
Makes 8 large cookies or about 20 small ones

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use organic unbleached flour)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa- Dutch processed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil (it is solid at room temperature)
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl using a metal whisk mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Set bowl aside.
2. Mix butter and sugar together in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium high speed until fluffy and light colored. Mix in coconut oil. Add egg and vanilla and mix until creamy.
3. Turn the mixer to a low speed and slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
4. For big cookies use a 2 1/2 inch ice cream scoop to measure out dough balls. I like to cover the balls in sugar before placing them on a parchment lined baking sheets. *If you are making small cookies use a small spoon to measure out 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place them about 1/2 inch apart on lined baking sheets. Bake big cookies for about 18 to 20 minutes and baking small cookies about 14 minutes. The edges will be firm and the center of the cookie will be a bit softer. Let them cool on sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks.

*You can also mix in some sprinkles to add some Christmas cheer to the cookies before rolling them in sugar.

Enjoy!


The festival of cookie baking and candy making will continue today so stay tuned for more pictures and tales from the kitchen.

Cinnamon and Spice

Last week we spent the greater part of two days preparing for & baking many spiced treats for a local Christmas tree farm in Oregon City called Wheeler's Tree Farm located at 19566 S. Central Point Rd Oregon City, Oregon 97045. Go and visit them for a tree and a treat from us! They ordered many items from us to sell at their farm including many loaves of cinnamon bread pictured above. Also being sold at the farm are our famous cinnamon rolls and pies such as hazelnut and apple streusel. We enjoyed spending time together to create such delicious baked goods for this holiday season. Stay tuned for more as we get busier throughout the season. Pictured below are our packaged cinnamon rolls for the farm:

Farmer's Tea Pastries at Green Grocer!

We are very excited to announce that you can now find packaged Farmer's Tea pastries at the Green Grocer Store in Oregon City! Since my last post we have been busy with creating these pastries and preparing for the holiday baking season.

For Thanksgiving we baked some pies and treats for some wonderful Oregon City customers and delivered them to the Green Grocer store for pickup. That Saturday, November 24 we delivered our first batch of pastries to the Green Grocer. We now have two gluten free items available including (pictured above) our lemon gluten & dairy free snack cakes and hazelnut coffee biscotti. Also, we are offering hazelnut-chocolate madeleines, ginger scones, coconut scones, chocolate hazelnut scones and our delicious and buttery chocolate dipped shortbread! Yum!

So, if you are in the Oregon City area drop by the Green Grocer and check out our pastry selection. Or, if you'd like to special order pastries, cakes or pies for the holidays we can have them available for pick up at the Green Grocer as well.

This week we'll be busy baking cinnamon bread, cinnamon rolls, large pies and mini pies for a local Christmas tree farm in the Oregon City area. Thank you so much for your continued support! We love baking for you!

Roasted Applesauce Spice Cake with a Caramel Glaze

Lately I've been really working on using a lot of the wonderful ingredients that I have on hand in my pantry, fridge and freezer. To make this amazingly delicious cake I first roasted some of Oregon's bounty- apples- in the oven with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Then, I pureed those to create the applesauce used in this cake. I also used some apple pie filling I'd canned earlier in the fall season. Yum!

This cake is amazingly delicious and chock full of wonderful ingredients including some almonds that I had in the freezer as well as a lot of raisins and spices. I originally was going to put an additional vanilla glaze on top of the caramel glaze, but I found it wasn't necessary. It's so moist and good with the caramel that soaks into the cake that it doesn't need further embellishment. So, I encourage you all to raid your pantries and use the fall harvest to create something scrumptious to share with family, friends and co-workers. As you can see in the picture above the cake is full of big, juicy apple chunks! Enjoy!

Comforting Cookies

Today I decided to make some wonderful, comforting, old-fashioned cookies that I know & love. Winter is settling in and it's time to light candles and fire up the oven to make some delicious little treats!

I was thinking a lot about my Grandma Marian these days and how much she loved cookies. Her favorite cookies were Ranger Cookies because she loved coconut & the crunch of the wheat flakes in them. They are extremely delicious and I don't think I've made them since she passed away so many years ago. It brought back great memories to make them again. I remember that she used to subtly hint to me that she wanted me to make these cookies when she said "I bought some Wheaties." I knew that meant that she'd love for me to make her favorite cookies. But, she'd never directly tell me to make them. She was so sweet & so subtle in her ways.

Today I'll enjoy some of these cookies again & include the recipe in this post. Right now they are fresh out of the oven and just as good as I can remember. Many modern cookbooks do not include Ranger Cookies as I remember them because they don't add the Wheaties (or any wheat flake that you'd like to put in) which I think is essential to the cookie. And as a bonus it adds more whole grains!

Here is the recipe:

Ranger Cookies-
Makes about 48 small cookies or 36 larger cookies

Heat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup oats
1 cup Wheaties cereal (or any other wheat flakes such as Kashi)
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Mix the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Stir in remaining ingredients. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in plain granulated sugar or cinnamon sugar. Place cookie balls 2 inches apart onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes. Cool on a cooling rack.

Enjoy this cozy recipe for a cold winter!

Goodbye! We'll miss you!

With the beautiful and delicious cake pictured above we said goodbye to our wonderful English as a Second Language secretary and great friend Apolonia yesterday. We will miss her very, very much in our department at Clackamas Community College. She is moving to Georgia..hence the lovely marzipan peaches on the cake.

Yesterday afternoon we celebrated with this cake that the ladies of Farmer's Tea made. We had a great time making this delicious cake! It's a fudge cake with custard filling iced with a rich chooclate buttercream and decorated with delicate marzipan peaches. Wow! It was so rich and good! It was a big hit at the goodbye party!

Here is a close up photo of the marzipan peaches as well:

Here's to celebrations and here's to Apolonia! May she enjoy many wonderful adventures in Georgia!! Thank you for all that you have done to help us!

A Sunny Sendoff!

We were so lucky to have such a gorgeous sunny day for our last farmer's market of the season. We enjoyed seeing so many of our regular customers and letting them know that we will be around to bake for them this winter. Our most loyal and favorite customer is pictured below in front of our booth with his paper bag that he has used since the beginning of the farmer's market season. He picked up his favorite pie- rhubarb custard-every week that he could and saved his pie boxes and tins as well! Great recycling job!

For our last day we decided to create some outstanding treats for our market crowd who to me seem more like guests at our outdoor tea party every Saturday! Pictured above is our vanilla cake filled with apricot preserves and cream cheese icing & iced with a rich chocolate buttercream. What a delight!

We also decided to try an East Coast favorite in a new fall flavor: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (pictured below). They are so good! We made ours with two soft pumpkin cookies sandwiched with a cream cheese and ginger filling. They are so delicious!

We also enjoyed giving out samples of our salted caramel and hazelnut caramel truffles for the upcoming holiday season. They are absolutely divine! I love the extra flavor that the salt imparts into the chocolate and caramel in the candy. Many people purchased and enjoyed these truffles.

After the market we stopped by the Green Grocer in Oregon City to return the commercial coffee maker that Gwen let us borrow for the market. We were able to get one on Freecycle for next season, so we are all set! Thank you Gwen for letting us borrow your coffee maker this season! Her store is so cute and so full of delicious foods. The store front is pictured below. If you live in the Oregon City area and haven't stopped by, you should check out the Green Grocer. We will have some of our pastries there shortly.

To end, I would like to thank so many people for our successful farmer's market season, 2007! Thank you to all of our wonderful customers, many of whom became "regulars" at our booth! We will miss you! Also, thank you to my dad and brother for helping us set up our booth very early every Saturday. Thank you to my dear husband for his support in my baking adventures and for doing household projects every Saturday while I was at the market. And, last but not least thank you to my mom and sister in law for their wonderful work baking all of our goodies, coming up with great ideas and being so supportive of this business! I really appreciate all of you! Thank you so much!

Keep checking back for all of our latest endeavors and holiday happenings!