Snickerdoodle Bars
We love the simple deliciousness of classic snickerdoodle cookies. They’re easy to make, but do you know what’s even easier? Making a big pan of snickerdoodle bars! Pour the batter into a pan, bake, and slice into bars for lunch boxes or to keep on hand when friends drop in for coffee.Continue reading
Potato, Kale & Ricotta Galette
We love kale, and are always looking for new ways to do potatoes. We’re fans of creamy scalloped potatoes; thinly sliced spuds layered with cheese and cream, but sometimes it’s too heavy – this is a perfect compromise, and a great way to get your greens.
Sautéed kale cooks down dramatically, allowing a large serving between layers of soft, crispy potato. This version is subtle, with garlic and ricotta; try an Indian-spiced version by ditching the ricotta and spiking the kale with ginger and curry powder or garam masala as it cooks.Continue reading
Butter Tart Slice
Butter tarts are our all-time favourites, but we don’t always have time to make the pastry, roll, cut and fill individual tarts. Butter tarts in bar form is the perfect solution; this past weekend, having to bake for a gathering, they were quick to mix up and bake. And here’s a secret: when you’re making squares that have a sticky filling, like butter tart squares or lemon bars, if you freeze the whole thing in the pan before you slice them, they’ll cut much more cleanly. Let them sit on the countertop for 20 minutes to thaw – or if you’re bringing them with you, they’ll thaw en route.
Butter tarts are traditionally made with currants, but these call for coconut, raisins and/or pecans – a delicious combination on a buttery shortbread crust.Continue reading
Creamy Tuna Pasta Bake
It’s January. It’s cold. It’s time for some good old fashioned comfort food. This soul-satisfying classic is reassuringly familiar and easy on the budget – which in the face of skyrocketing food prices and holiday Visa bills, is welcome in our kitchen any time. Our modern rendition of tuna fish casserole includes a nutritional boost of broccoli in a creamy basil sauce but still has all the comforting goodness you remember. Feel free to substitute low sodium chicken broth and low-fat mozzarella to make this even healthier but if you can, treat yourself to some good quality Parmigiano-Reggiano. It’s complex flavour will take this to a whole new level of gourmet comfort food. And if you can’t find fresh basil, dried is just fine. We’ve included the substitution for it below the recipe.Continue reading
Pulled Pork
Whether you’re cooking for two or serving a busy family, slow cookers make easy work of creating delicious and soul-satisfying meals. We love being able to switch on the slow cooker in the morning, head out the door and then arrive home to a house filled with the mouthwatering aromas of dinner.
Shredded, or “pulled,” pork is the perfect slow cooker food and we think the BBQ flavours taste extra special in January when we all need a reminder of warm summer days. Enjoy!Continue reading
Eggnog French Toast Bake with Cranberry Sauce Syrup
Do you still have a few leftovers from a late Christmas celebration? This indulgent brunch dish is designed to use up leftover holiday eggnog and cranberry sauce. If you don’t have any eggnog left in the house, substitute with 1 1/2 cups of milk and 1/2 a cup of whipping cream (and you can always buy canned cranberry sauce if you don’t have any homemade leftover).
Eggnog French Toast Bake
½ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 loaf crusty French bread, cubed
8 eggs
2 cups eggnog
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
Spray a 9” x 13” baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Put the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and continue heating until butter is melted. Give it a good stir and pour into the bottom of the baking pan. Place the bread cubes into baking pan on top of the sugar mixture.
Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk until yolks are broken up. Add the eggnog, followed by the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until combined and pour evenly over the bread cubes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or over night.
In the morning, preheat oven to 325 degrees F and remove the baking dish from the refrigerator (take off the plastic wrap). Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle of the casserole comes out clean.
Cranberry sauce syrup
1/3 cup cranberry sauce
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tbsp molasses
½ tsp orange zest
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and gently simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Serves 8-10
Chocolate Peppermint Crackle Cookies
Earlier this month, Mary, Julie and Elizabeth gathered at the Cookbook Company Cooks with a few dozen Best of Bridge fans for an epic baking party to raise money for the Calgary Food Bank. (Huge thanks to Gail for letting us use her space, and to Calgary Co-op for donating all the ingredients we needed!) We put a pot of mulled wine on the stove and had a blast of an afternoon baking together. Among old classics and new favourites, this was a new discovery we came up with that’s sure to stay in our holiday baking repertoire.
Chocolate Peppermint Crackle Cookies
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup shortening, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. peppermint extract (or substitute vanilla)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
extra sugar, for rolling
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, shortening and sugar for a few minutes, until light. Beat in the egg and peppermint extract.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir until the dough comes together.
Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and roll in a shallow dish of sugar to coat. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes, until cracked and set around the edges, but still soft in the middle – they’ll firm up as they cool.
Makes about 2 dozen cookies.
Chow Mein Cookies
These no-bake cookies are a snap to make and come in handy when you need an extra treat to put into a box of holiday goodies. And they seem to be a favourite for many people — when we posted about them last week on our Facebook page, readers told us that they’ve been making these at Christmastime for years. There’s just something about the mingling of the flavours from the butterscotch and chocolate chips and the crunch of the noodles that make these little stacks of sweetness so nostalgic for so many people.
You should be able to find chow mein noodles in the Asian food aisle of most grocery stores — they typically come in a large plastic bag. Feel free to add other goodies like salted peanuts to the recipe (decreasing the amount of chow mein noodles or coconut to make sure there is enough melted chip mixture to cover everything). We kept the basic recipe here nut-free to make it safe for anyone with nut allergies.Continue reading
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