This year, I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap.The Cookie Swap is in its second year and helps raise money for Cookies for Kids’ Cancer, a national non-profit organization committed to funding new therapies used in the fight against pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease. I was assigned three food bloggers and made one dozen cookies for each of them. In return, I received three different boxes of cookies from other bloggers.
I wanted to make a cookie that was a spin on a traditional cookie. This Cooking Light recipe was perfect: Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, AND Pecans!
If you’ve never heard of these lovelies, you are not alone. Rainbow cookies are made of almond cake dyed fun bright colors with apricot preserves all sandwiched in between two thin layers of chocolate.
They really aren’t cookies at all, more like thinly packed cake. But whatever the heck they are, they are delicious!
I don’t really recall these cookies growing up, but my boyfriend (who is from Long Island) absolutely loves them. In fact, he was kind of taken aback when I mentioned I didn’t really know what they were. One of his friends was absolutely horrified; he basically forced me to eat one right then and there which I didn’t complain about. I love them now!
So I wanted to try to make these little guys… I’m not sure why. They are awfully difficult (well, more time consuming than difficult). But I was so darn proud of myself when they were done, I don’t even care about the effort I had to put in! The cookies go by a ton of names… Rainbow, Seven Layer, Neapolitan, Tricolor… but I’m pretty sure they tend to be a Christmas staple in Italian households. I found this recipe on Epicurious.
Ingredients:
1 (12 oz) jar apricot preserves, heated and strained
I was recently sent the Taste of Home Cooking School Cookbook to review. Paging through the cookbook, I really loved the number of how-to’s included in the book. Everything from how to cook an omelette to what kitchen utensils every beginner cook needs. The recipes are really simple with beautiful photos to help you throughout; it’s basically a better version of my blog! 🙂
The cookbook isn’t just for beginners though, there are plenty of recipes that are helpful for any level of at-home cook. There is a recipe for gnocchi I can’t wait to try! (I attempted to make gnocchi once before, but they didn’t end up being happy little pillows of deliciousness; they were pretty dense. Sigh)
I decided to try to make their cherry pie. I have only made pie crust once before so I was excited to try again. Plus, I recently bought a Babycakes Pie Maker and had yet to try it out. The recipe for the cherry pie was followed by a how-to for making a lattice pie top so I wanted to try that out as well.
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup cranberry juice
4 cups frozen pitted tart cherries, thawed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pie crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
7 tablespoons cold water
Note: I will give the directions as if I was making a large pie and will add commentary where the mini pie maker has different instructions. (I’m guessing most people don’t have a mini pie maker lying around!)
To make the filling, combine the sugar and cornstarch in a large saute pan.
Stir in the cranberry juice until smooth.
“Smooth” might be more appropriate
Bring to a boil, stirring for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Remove from heat and add the cherries, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.
To make the crust, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening until crumbly.
Gradually add the cold water. Start with 5 tablespoons and add 1 or 2 tablespoons more if needed. Toss with a fork until a ball forms.
Divide the dough in half with one ball slightly larger than the other. (You don’t have to do this if making mini pies.)
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger ball to fit in a 9-inch pie plate. When ready to transfer to the pie plate, loosely roll the dough around your roller and unroll into the pie plate. Trim dough 1 inch beyond the edge of the plate. (The mini pie maker comes with a cutter so I used that to get the correct shape. I then used another tool that comes with the product to push the dough into the mini pie plate.)
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Add the filling. (For mini pies, this is about 2-4 tablespoons of the filling per pie)
The book also goes through how to make a lattice-topped pie! Roll out the remaining pastry dough into a 12-inch circle. (I just used the cutter provided with my mini pie baker). With a pastry wheel (? No idea what a pastry wheel is. Feel free to use a pizza cutter or a knife), cut the dough into 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide strips.
Take half the strips (I just went every other that was cut) and lay them across the pie in with 1/2 inch to 3/4 inches between them.
Fold back every other strip.
Take one strip of dough and lay it perpendicular to the strips already on the pie. Unfold the folded strips over the perpendicular strip and fold back the strips that are running underneath that strip.
Lay down a second strip and continue the process until the lattice top is finished.
Trim the strips to fit in the pie and fold bottom pastry up over the edges of the strips and seal. (I couldn’t do this for mine, but I bet they would have looked much nicer!)
Bake at 425 F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake for 45-50 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack. (I baked mine for 15 minutes and cooled on a wire rack).
I was quite happy with how these turned out. I think they needed a bit more sugar, but I think I used the wrong type of frozen cherries (mine were no sugar added). I also think a little lemon zest would really up the flavor of these quite nicely.
I also made a normal topped pie
I’m so excited about the lattice top! I obviously added a bit too much filling because it spilled over, but when I make a real pie, I now know how to do the lattice on top, yay!
To sweeten it up, I just topped the mini pies with ice cream. That solved the problem!
