Colleen James

Tag: baking

  • Alfajores Marplatenses (an Argentine Cookie)

    Pictures of the alfajores!

    There was no Christmas cookie competition this year, which was a bit of a disappointment. At the same time, it was a relief to not have any restrictions placed upon me for my cookie inspiration this year.

    This time around, I opted to try to find a recipe online for a cookie that is undoubtedly my husband’s favorite. The cookie is known as an alfajor (al-fa-HOR), and it is a sandwich cookie consisting of two shortbread cookies and a dulce de leche filling. While there are several versions of this dessert, the one my husband loves most and that I set out to make this year was a chocolate version, which meant making chocolate shortbread cookies and then coating the entire dulce-de-leche-filled sandwich cookie in chocolate. Yum!

    After searching for recipes and finding an authentic one, I came to learn that this particular version is called an alfajor marplatense. I further came to learn, according to my husband, that this cookie comes from the coastal city Mar de Plata, Argentina. So, there’s your geography lesson for today! 😉

    My husband’s father was from Argentina, and JJ lived there for three years as a child, so this cookie is more than just a yummy treat for our family. It’s part of keeping JJ’s cultural heritage alive.

    The recipe I followed is a video of a woman from Argentina named Isabel Vermal making these cookies step by step. If you speak Spanish, I encourage you to follow along with her to make your own. Her accent is delightful and easy to understand, and she explains the process well. You can watch her video here: Alfajores Marplatenses with Isabel Vermal.

    Otherwise, I have translated the ingredients and instructions below. I also converted the ingredients from grams to cups, but I will include the measurements in grams for each ingredient below as well, for those of you who would prefer to follow those measurements with a food scale.

    Lastly, I made these cookies a little under half the size that the creator made hers, which yielded me a over 25 cookies to her 12. These cookies are so rich that I felt that a smaller size would be more suitable for my family and me. My cookies are roughly 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter to her 3 inches. Because of this, the baking time is less than what it would be for the bigger cookies. Also, because this recipe yielded more for me, I needed to compensate for the amount of dulce de leche and chocolate. I will include both the original amounts and baking time alongside my adjusted amounts and baking time.

    These cookies are a bit time consuming, but completely worth the hassle! With a hint of orange, creamy dulce de leche, and a rich chocolate coating, these cookies make for a great teacher’s gift, Christmas party dessert, or cookie for a Christmas cookie exchange!

    If you make them, let me know what you think! You may just find that your family is begging you to make these each Christmas, much like mine will be doing with me!

    Alfajores Marplatenses

    Ingredients:

    • 2/3 c unsalted butter, softened (150 g)
    • ¼ c granulated sugar (50 g)
    • 2 T c honey (50 g)
    • Zest of ½ lemon
    • Zest of ½ orange
    • 1 egg
    • 1 t vanilla
    • 2 ¼ c cake flour (250 g)
    • ½ c cornstarch (50 g)
    • 1 scant teaspoon baking powder (5 g)
    • ½ t baking soda (2 g)
    • 2 T cocoa powder (20 g)
    • 3 c dulce de leche*
    • 5 c semi-sweet chocolate chips*
    • 2/3 c edible cocoa butter*

    Instructions:

    1. Mix together the butter, sugar, honey, and zest of lemon and orange with a hand beater, then add the egg and vanilla and blend again.
    2. Sift the cake flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder into a separate mixing bowl, then stir until well combined.
    3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
    4. Roll out the dough on plastic wrap over a clean surface until a quarter inch thick. Cover the top with additional plastic wrap until the dough is completely covered, then place in the refrigerator for an hour (leaving the dough overnight may alter the dough’s taste).
    5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
    6. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut out into circles to place on the baking sheets.
    7. While cooling, whip the dulce de leche to make light and fluffy.
    8. Once the cookies are cooled, place a dollop of dulce de leche on the concave part of the cookie, then add another cookie on top (both flat parts should be facing outward). Set in the freezer while preparing the chocolate.
    9. To prepare the chocolate, place a heat-safe bowl or pot inside a pot of hot water over medium low heat. Add the chocolate chips to the pot and stir until melted.
    10. Add the edible cocoa butter and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
    11. Remove the cookies from the freezer and fill in any gaps of filling with extra dulce de leche so that the dulce de leche filling is even with the cookies’ edges.
    12. Dip the cookie into the chocolate and cover completely, then set on parchment paper to cool and harden completely. Enjoy!

    *The original recipe calls for 1 c (300 g) dulce de leche repostero (a thicker dulce de leche) and ½ c (150 g) original dulce de leche. If you have the option of buying both a lighter and thicker dulce de leche, then do so by all means! Otherwise, use whatever dulce de leche is available at your store.

    I also added more chocolate chips and cocoa butter as a result of needing more to cover my cookies completely. The original recipe calls for 3 ½ c (600 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/3 c (60 g) edible cocoa butter. I bought my cocoa butter online. If you are unable to obtain cocoa butter, you can substitute coconut oil or butter.

    Lastly, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! Praise God for the gift of His Son!

    For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

    Isaiah 9:6

  • White Chocolate Peanut Butter Loaf

    Picture compliments of my younger sister, a peanut butter white chocolate loaf of bread

    Although I didn’t get around to creating a Christmas cookie recipe this year, I did spend some time trying to perfect a bread recipe that was inspired by my white chocolate peanut butter latte. After all, what could go better with a specialty coffee than some sort of baked good?

    As I mentioned in my former post, I was quite busy this fall, so I didn’t have a lot of time to dedicate to this recipe.. Fortunately, my younger sister helped me out with this one when she offered to make it herself and try to figure out why it was initially turning out so dry. What she determined is that i needed to add twice as much buttermilk, then add more sweetener to counteract any sour taste the added buttermilk might bring.

    My little sister is a gifted baker, so her advice seemed good, and I thought I’d test out her ideas at a later time. I didn’t get around to it, however, until  she was asking for my revised recipe again weeks later.  After seeing a picture of her last white chocolate peanit butter loaf, complete with chopped up peanuts and drizzled white chocolate on top, I felt motivated to make it myself. And I must say, I am so pleased with the end results!

    The secret to this recipe is to chill the loaf in the fridge. Not only will it allow for easy slicing, but it also better brings out the bread’s taste. Before setting it in the fridge, I sprinkled  some Reeses baking chips (found in the baking aisle at my local Walmart) over the top of the loaf while it was still warm. Then, once they had softened, I spread the mixture out with a knife and drizzled melted white chocolate over that, adding extra flavor and a little bit of crunch once the toppings had hardened. There are plenty of options for garnishing the top,  however. A white chocolate and/or peanut butter cream cheese frosting would be delicious, or  serve it like my younger sister did with crushed peanuts and drizzled white chocolate for a more elegant loaf! No matter how you garnish it (or don’t), you’ll be sure to enjoy it if you like peanut butter like I do!

    WHITE CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER LOAF

    Picture also from my little sister. Hers looked so much better than mine did!

    Ingredients:

    1 4 oz white chocolate baking bar
    1/2 c creamy peanut butter
    1/2 c granulated sugar
    1/2 c brown sugar
    1 c buttermilk
    1/2 c apple sauce
    1 egg
    2 c flour
    1 t baking soda
    1/2 baking powder
    1/2 t salt

    Optional toppings: melted white chocolate,  peanut butter chips or candy, peanut butter, peanuts, white chocolate and/or peanut butter cream cheese frosting

    Instructions:
    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.

    Melt the white chocolate over medium heat on the stove, then add the peanut butter and stir until combined. Remove from heat.

    In a large mixing bowl,  mix together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, buttermilk, apple sauce, and egg, then stir in the white chocolate peanut butter mixture.

    Once combined, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the wet ingredients. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Allow to cool once removed from the oven and garnish as desired. For best results, chill in the fridge before slicing. Makes one loaf.

  • A Collection of Christmas Cookies

    Pictures of the different cookies above

    I didn’t get around to entering the Christmas cookie bake off this year. Between working a part-time job this fall, taking Liam to soccer practices and games, helping him with his homework and Bible work and memory verses, and trying to keep up with the normal routine of cooking, cleaning, and trying to be a good wife and mom, I just didn’t have the energy or time to commit to such an endeavor.  I may be back at it next year, but this year I thought I’d share my collection of past cookies in one blogpost to make them easier to find.

    I have yet to make any cookies this Christmas season, so this listing will help me as well. So, without further ado, here are the Christmas cookies I’ve made throughout the years with a brief description of each:

    ALMOND CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

    These cookies combine the sweet, juicy taste of maraschino cherries with chocolate and a hint of almond extract. Soft and chewy, they make for a great party treat. These may very well be my husband’s favorite out of all the cookies I have made. Recipe below:

    http://anticipatingadventure.com/2020/12/02/almond-cherry-chocolate-chip-cookies/

    DOUBLE DECKER BUTTERSCOTCH BARS WITH EGGNOT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

    This recipe is a bit complicated but completely worth the hassle! It consists of a chewy cookie bar covered in a creamy, rich butterscotch layer, which is then topped off with a fluffy eggnog frosting. It’s delicious, travels well for Christmas gatherings (when kept in its pan), and, if topped with some extra butterscotch pieces or nuts, looks quite elegant. Recipe Below:

    http://anticipatingadventure.com/2021/12/11/double-decker-butterscotch-bars-with-eggnog-cream-cheese-frosting/

    CHRISTMAS EVE COOKIES (MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE COOKIES)

    Made with Abuelita hot chocolate, these drop cookies are the perfect, chewy blend of chocolate and cinnamon, making them a great Christmas Eve treat! Recipe below:

    http://anticipatingadventure.com/2022/12/07/christmas-eve-cookies-mexican-hot-chocolate-cookies/

    CHRISTMAS PIE COOKIE CUPS

    The next two cookies I’m about to share are my favorite and were a big hit at my church family group last year. This first one is a sweet and tart combination of strawberry-cranberry filling with hints of cinnamon and clove in a chewy cinnamon cookie cup. They are so elegant looking and are only bite-sized, so there won’t be any guilt in indulging in these a little! Recipe below:

    http://anticipatingadventure.com/2023/12/10/christmas-pie-cookie-cups/

    SOFT GINGERBREAD COOKIES WITH NUTELLA BUTTERCREAM

    Creamy Nutella buttercream makes for a winning combination with this soft, gingerbread cookie! These can be made as whoopie cookies or kept as a single cookie with the frosting on top. Both are delicious! Recipe below:

    http://anticipatingadventure.com/2023/12/18/soft-gingerbread-cookies-with-nutella-buttercream/

    If you try any of these recipes, please send me a message and let me know how it turned out for you! I hope you enjoy this season, these cookies,  and everything this month has to offer as we remember the birth of our Savior. Merry Christmas!

  • Mini Nutella Swirl Gingerbread Loaves with Nutella Buttercream

    Warm and spicy flavors of gingerbread mingle with rich, creamy Nutella in every bite. Perfect to give away as gifts this Christmas season, to share at a holiday party, or to simply enjoy with loved ones at home. Picture of four mini loaves

    Recipe #2 for this Christmas season is Nutella swirl gingerbread loaf with Nutella buttercream frosting. But before we get to the recipe, let me tell you the back story to this creation.

    Over the summer, Liam begged me to make gingerbread cookies, and I kept resisting the idea because it’s such a seasonal, Christmas treat. But he kept asking, and then we ended up attending a Christmas in July event in town, so I figured, why not?

    I bought the few ingredients lacking to make the cookies, and Liam and I quickly whipped up a batch of cut-out cookies just a few days later, pulling out the sprinkles and other cookie decorations while they baked. But then I realized my grave error—I hadn’t bought frosting or ingredients to make any! Fortunately, I vaguely remembered having a tub of frosting in a cupboard, so I scrummaged around for the only thing I had—store-bought strawberry frosting. The combination was definitely not ideal, but Liam was happy, so I was too. As we went about spreading pink frosting over the gingerbread, it dawned on me that I had also bought a container of Nutella months earlier, so I got that out and began to spread it over one of the cookies and then promptly ate it.

    I might as well preface this story right now by telling you that I am not a big fan of gingerbread (although I do like to decorate gingerbread houses!). Or better put, I wasn’t until then. The Nutella gingerbread combination was so, so good! I easily ate three cookies in a row and had to fight off the temptation to eat another!

    Ever since unintentionally pairing those two flavors together, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of creating a recipe involving the two and was determined to make it a bread recipe with a Nutella swirl. Well, this combination was definitely easier said than done! But after a lot of persistence and many failed, albeit delicious attempts, I stumbled upon a Nutella banana bread recipe that led me in the right direction to come to the recipe I am presenting to you all today. So without further ado, here is the recipe:

    Ingredients:

    • ½ c butter, softened
    • ½ c brown sugar
    • ½ c granulated sugar
    • ½ c apple sauce
    • ½ c molasses
    • 2 eggs
    • 2 c flour
    • 2 t cinnamon
    • 2 t ginger
    • ½ t cloves
    • 1 t salt
    • 1 t baking soda
    • 1 t baking powder
    • ¾ c Nutella

    For the Buttercream:

    • ½ c Nutella
    • ½ c butter, softened
    • 1 ½ c powdered sugar
    • 1 T milk

    Instructions:

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease 4 mini loaf pans.

    In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer, then add the apple sauce, molasses, and eggs and mix thoroughly.

     In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, then mix the dry ingredients in with the wet. For the Nutella mixture, mix together 1 cup of the bread batter with the ¾ c Nutella in a separate mixing bowl.

    Alternate between the gingerbread and Nutella mixture, adding both batters by the spoonful to each bread loaf (the spoonful of gingerbread batter should be slightly larger than the Nutella one).  Continue to do so until each loaf pan is filled halfway full. Gently shake down to get rid of any air bubbles, then smooth out the top of each loaf with a butter knife. Place the mini loaf pans on a baking sheet in the middle rack of the oven and bake around 20 minutes or until the loaves have risen and look firm when looking in through the oven door. Do NOT open the oven to check, as this may cause the bread to fall. Once baked, turn off the oven and keep the mini loaves inside to continue to bake and then slightly cool. The loaves can be transferred out of the oven after about fifteen minutes and set aside to continue to cool.

    For the Nutella buttercream, beat together the Nutella and butter, then add the powdered sugar and milk and beat until smooth. Once the mini loaves are completely cooled, they can be removed from the loaf pan and frosted with the buttercream according to taste (I had leftover buttercream once I finished frosting mine). Or, if giving as a gift, place in disposable loaf pans and frost. Makes four mini loaves.

  • My Mom’s Hands

    The quilts and cross-stitch that my mom made for my family and me.


    She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands.”

    Proverbs 31:13

    My mom will be turning seventy in a few days, and I have found myself thinking about her a lot as a result and all that she has accomplished throughout the years. When I think of my mom, I can’t help but think of her hands. They have been the driving force behind many of her achievements.

    I think of the endless hours those hands played the piano when my siblings and I were young. She began taking lessons as a little girl and went on to earn a Master’s degree in music by her mid-twenties due to her giftedness and love for the instrument. Although she was primarily a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling us five children during our elementary school years, she also made a side income through her musical ability–both through piano lessons that she offered in our home and as the pianist at the congregation we attended.

    Some of my most special memories involve my mom’s hands moving across the keyboard of the upright, black Yamaha that graced our living room when we were growing up. My younger brother and I used to dance and frolic around the living room when we were little while my mother practiced her songs. As I grew older, my sisters and I would gather around her to sing songs as she played the piano and sang along, often resulting in raucous laughter at our failed attempts to harmonize or because of the humorous lyrics of a song. Our home was filled with music, and each of us children have been blessed with differing degrees of musical ability thanks to her.

    If my mom wasn’t playing the piano, then often times she could be found quilting or cross-stitching. She started quilting before I was born, and I can easily think of fourteen quilts that she has made throughout my lifetime. My siblings and I have owned a number of these quilts, and we have been very grateful for her willingness to bless us with such special gifts.

    To this day, JJ and I use the latest quilt that she made me over five years ago when I was single. We use it during the warmer months since it’s a lighter blanket, turning it horizontally to cover the width of our bed. Liam also uses a baby blanket that my mom designed and created for him over two years ago. Additionally, one of her cross-stitches hangs on the wall by our front door. It’s an Irish blessing that she made five more times after completing the original once since my siblings and I wanted one so badly. I’m glad she was up to the task. Years ago, she told me that she prayed for me as she made my cross-stitch, as she did for my siblings when she made theirs. It makes the Irish blessing that much more special.

    She continues to quilt and cross-stitch to this day, and my parents’ home is filled with the work of her hands in beautiful, vivid colors because of it. Each masterpiece is a testimony of her patience, perseverance, and skill. The pieces that each of us children have received from her are also a tangible expression of her love for us, which I’m so grateful to have since my mom and I live far apart.

    Another big part of our life growing up was the baked goods my mom made with her hands. She baked challah every Friday for our evening dinner, then she often used the leftover bread to make French toast the following morning. She also made a variety of breads and muffins during the fall and winter, and we also enjoyed her occasional homemade cinnamon rolls and birthday cakes and Thanksgiving pumpkin cream pie. As we got older, my mom taught us how to bake as well, and most of us still enjoy that skill today.

    Of course, my mom used her hands for more basic things also. They were used to clean, cook, and care for us children as we were growing up. They have also been used to turn the pages of the numerous books she has enjoyed overs the years, and even more importantly, to flip the pages of her Bible as she has read and memorized Scripture each morning. More symbolically, they have been used in constant prayer. She has been a beautiful example of righteous living to my siblings and me over the years.

    Although the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31 reminds me of my mom in general, I especially think of the verse mentioned above when I think of my mom because of her readiness to work with her hands in different ways.

    I’m so thankful for the godliness, giftedness, and kindness that they have expressed throughout the years and the blessing they have been to me and others in the process. Although I do not possess the same talents as my mother, I pray that I can leave the same kind of legacy that she is leaving the five of us. I pray that my hands will be an expression of kindness and godliness to my family and others, and I pray that the gifts God has given me will leave a legacy for my son and future generations. I’m so thankful for the example that my mom has been to me all these years, and I pray that God will give her many more years so that I can keep learning from her.