Posts Tagged ‘coconut’

Last week my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary.

We now have an entire four years of wedded bliss to our credit.

Have I ever introduced my husband to you? He’s quite the guy. This is the man I was crazy about in college, but never dreamed I’d actually end up with. Life can be good like that.

Back in our dating days, I had a coconut-lime body spray that I wore a lot. Every once in a while I get a whiff of something coconut-lime, and suddenly I’m in college again, and we’re taking a slow walk around the stadium on a warm summer night, and going out for ice cream, and the feel of his hand in mine is still novel and exciting. That’s what coconut-lime does to me.

Whew. Mushiness aside. Let’s talk scones.

These are everything you could ask for in a scone. Fluffy, moist, rich, flavorful, all of the above. . . The secret? Cream, my friends. Heavy cream. Don’t fight it. And don’t work the dough any more than you absolutely must, once you add the liquids to the dry ingredients. I also threw these in the freezer for about 15 minutes before baking them. It helped them keep their shape and rise better. If you go that route, increase the baking time a bit so they won’t be underdone.

You won’t be knocked over the head by the lime flavor, but there’s a definite citrus presence here, which plays well with the coconut. I think I struck a pretty good balance, but if you prefer one flavor over the other, go ahead and play around with it.

Happy anniversary, Love. Here’s to many, many more.

Coconut Lime Scones

1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

5 tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces

3/4 cup flaked coconut

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 egg

zest from 3 limes

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Add the cold butter and rub it in until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in the flaked coconut.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Add to the dry ingredients, and stir just until the dough comes together. Knead gently a couple of times, and shape into an 8″ circle. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut into 10 wedges, and separate the wedges slightly.

Bake for about 15-16 minutes, or until they are golden brown. These are best if eaten within a couple of hours after removing from the oven.

I seem to be on some sort of Norah Jones kick these days. I may or may not be spending way too much time on Pandora lately.

Some artists have food voices. Our friend Nora is one. Her voice is a peach. A fresh, ripe peach. Right off the tree, in the late afternoon in August.

Or, take Billy Joel. His voice is a chewy pretzel. Salty and savory, and dipped in marinara sauce. Mmm, Billy Joel…

Josh Groban. A rich, dark chocolate silk pie. No walnuts, though, and no whipped cream. Josh Groban isn’t whipped cream. Just straight up pie, and lots of it. Maybe the whole thing, all in one sitting.

Ella Fitzgerald. Easy. She’s a thin slice of light, smooth New York cheesecake, on a white ceramic plate. Maybe with a bit of caramel sauce. Add some toffee bits on top - that’s Louis Armstrong. A match made in heaven.

Jack Johnson. A fresh, cool piña colada smoothie, don’t you think?

That’s what I thought, too. Maybe I should have named these cookies after him. And sent him a box.

These cookies provided a badly-needed springtime pick-me-up. There may be snow on the ground outside, but it’s a tropical party in my kitchen.

Piña Colada Cookies

adapted from The Taste of Home Baking Book

Ingredients:

1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, drained

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup flaked coconut

For icing (optional):

1-1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 Tablespoons reserved pineapple juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Drain pineapple, reserving 3 tablespoons juice. Set pineapple aside; set juice aside. In a mixing bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add pineapple, and extracts; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the coconut.

Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until slightly golden. Immediately remove to wire racks to cool.

If icing is desired, combine confectioners’ sugar with enough of the reserved pineapple juice to achieve spreading consistency. Spread over cooled cookies.

(High altitude: Increase the oven temperature 20 degrees, and decrease baking time by a few minutes. Watch them closely.)

Sunday is my baking day. Not my only baking day, you understand, but my favorite one. By a long shot.

Check it out. I get home from church, kick off my shoes, and don the cute plaid apron. Wha-BAM! The flour starts flying. But, you know… in a peaceful, Sunday sort of way.

Sunday afternoons are just about the loveliest time for me. I can put my little boy down for a nap, turn on some pretty Sunday-ish music, throw something in the oven, sit and read for a while, and enjoy the sunlight streaming through the muslin curtains on my west-facing kitchen window.

Then, before you know it, there’s something warm and delicious - like this sweet carrot pineapple bread - that my husband and I can sit down and share together. And you know what? I think that’s the sweetest thing of all.

When do you like to bake? I wanna hear.

Carrot Pineapple Bread

adapted from The Taste of Home Baking Book

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup vegetable oil

1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple, drained

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven for 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs; add carrots, oil, pineapple, and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. The batter will be very thick. Fold in nuts, if desired.

Spoon into two greased 8-in. by 4-in. loaf pans. Bake for 50-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove loaves from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

(Note: This bread was great the day-of, but it wasn’t until after I wrapped it up and let it sit over night, that I fell in love with it.)

The longer you stick around here, and the more you read and get to know me, the more you’ll realize that I have a rather abnormal, year-round love affair with the holiday season. Meaning, I go nutty for all that lies between October 1st and January 1st. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest to see Halloween candy in the grocery store in August, or Christmas decorations up in October. That’s the kid in me, getting stars in my eyes just thinking about pumpkin desserts and sweaters and tinsel and colored lights and Nativity scenes and stockings and pretty paper. And yes, even snow.

Year-round, like I said. Once New Year’s Day is over, the annual post-holiday melancholy sets in, and suddenly - shoot, I have to wait almost a whole year before The Holiday Police will give me permission to get excited about the holidays again. And if I show my excitement too early, I can expect acidic glares, or discourses on the atrocity of anything Christmas-related raising its head even a day before Thanksgiving. I know. I’ve heard it all. I’ve heard the lectures. I’ve received the acidic glares. And I think it’s kind of silly. But okay, I can keep my Bing Crosby off and respect your views.

Heh. So much for keeping Christmas throughout the year.

So. Now that I’ve offended half of you (and assuming the other half is still reading this), you can understand why my fancy was captured by these cookies. These are Christmas cookies in my brain. Look at them! They’re pretty. They’re red and white.

And the best part is, they don’t have to be Christmas cookies, for the Scrooges in the world; they can pretend to be July cookies. They don’t scream Christmas, so everyone else can savor them in ignorance, while I secretly delight in my festivity.

Cherry Almond Chews

from The Taste of Home Baking Book

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon almond extract

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2-1/2 cups flaked coconut

3/4 cup chopped almonds or pecans (optional)

1 jar maraschino cherries, drained and halved

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in coconut and nuts.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheets. Place a cherry half in the center of each. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 12-13 minutes or until barely browned on the edges. Immediately remove to wire racks to cool. Store in an air-tight container for up to 10 days, or in the freezer for six weeks.

***High altitude adjustment: Adjust oven temperature about 20 degrees higher, and decrease bake time slightly.