Chocolate Creme Filled Cookies

                                          Chocolate Creme Filled Cookies


Ingredients:


Wafers: 
1/2 C. Butter
1 C. Granulated sugar
1 Egg
4 Tbsp. Premium Dried Cocoa

2 C. All purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

Icing : 
1/2 C. Semi Sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. Granulated sugar
1/2 C. Cream cheese
1 tsp. Milk


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside
3. In a large bowl combine butter and sugar together. With a pastry blender cut butter into small pieces and blend with sugar to form a smooth paste
4. Add egg to butter/sugar mixture and mix until smooth and creamy
5. Stir in cocoa and blend until mixture takes on a grainy appearance
6. Measure flour into a measuring cup and add baking powder. Blend ingredients together
7. Mix flour into cocoa mixture a small amount at a time until flour forms a smooth dough
8. Refrigerate dough for 1/2 hr before rolling out on a lightly floured surface about a 1/2 inch thick
9. Take a small lid measuring 2 1/4 inches and cut out rounds from the dough then place them on  parchment lined cookie sheet
10. Bake in preheated oven for about 8 to 10 minutes
11. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before icing
12. In a small saucepan over medium heat Stir sugar and chocolate together until chocolate is melted and is of spreadable consistency
13. In a large mixing bowl mix cream cheese, cooled chocolate and milk together to form icing that is easy to spread on the cookie
14. On the underside of one cookie spread a small amount of icing with a butter knife and top with another cookie pressing together to form a sandwich cookie
15. Place sandwich cookies in refrigerator until icing is set firm

Servings: 22 Creme Filled cookies

Coconut and Lemon Creme Filled Cookies

                                              Coconut and Lemon Creme Cookies


Ingredients:

Wafers:

1/2 C. Butter
1 C. Granulated sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 C. All purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

Icing:

1/2 C. Cream cheese, softened
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
3/4 C. Medium shredded coconut
3 C. Icing sugar


Directions: 

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2.  Lightly grease a large baking sheet and set aside
3.  In a large mixing bowl combine butter and sugar together.  With a pastry blender cut butter into small chunks and blend well with the sugar to make a fine paste
4.  Add egg and vanilla to the mixture and stir well to cream together
5.  Stir in the flour and baking powder  to make a soft dough that can be kneaded with your hands and form into a smooth ball
6.  Refrigerate dough for a half hour and then on a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut with a small round lid measuring approximately 2 1/4 inches in diameter.
7.  Place rounds on greased cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes until lightly browned on top
8.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from  pan
9.  Gently use a butter knife to remove cookies from pan by sliding underneath and loosening cookie from bottom of pan
10.  Place on a wire rack to cool completely before icing
11.  In a large bowl combine cream cheese and lemon juice and zest together. Mix in icing sugar and coconut to make a smooth icing of spreading consistency
12.  On the smooth underside of each wafer place a small amount of icing and spread it with a butter knife to form a nice smooth layer
13.  Place another wafer with the underside facing the icing and put wafers together.
14.  Store completed wafers in the refrigerator to allow the icing to set and become firm.

Veggie and Bean Soup

                                                  Veggie and Bean Soup


Ingredients:

1 Rutabaga, peeled and diced
1 Onion, chopped finely
2 Tbsp. Butter
3 C. Fresh spinach leaves, chopped
1 14 oz can Pinto Beans, drained
1 32 oz container of Chicken broth
1 tsp. Salt

Directions:

1.  Chop rutabaga into 1/2 inch slices and then peel and dice into 1" squares
2.  Rinse rutabaga under running water and set aside in a saucepan
3.  Peel and chop onion coarsely and place in the bottom of a dutch oven with 2 Tbsp. of butter
4.  Cook onion over low to medium heat until onion is translucent in colour
5.  Add the chicken broth to the onions and bring to a boil over medium heat
6.  Combine rutabaga with onion and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until rutabaga is tender
7.  Continue to cook over low heat adding spinach leaves and pinto beans to the mixture
8.  Add salt to soup mixture and continue to simmer over low heat until you are ready to serve the soup.


Servings 5 to 6 servings

Carrot and Raisin Muffins

                                            Carrot and Raisin Muffins


Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. All purpose flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 C. Carrots, grated
1 C. Raisins
1/2 C. Fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. Maple butter
1/2 C. Wheat germ
2 Eggs
1 C.  1% Milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan and set aside
3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend well
4. In a separate bowl mix grated carrots and parsley together. Mix in maple butter and stir to dissolve into the carrots and parsley
5. In a large mixing bowl stir milk and eggs together with a wire whisk until light and frothy
6. Add wheat germ, raisins, carrots and parsley to the egg mixture and stir well
7. Mix in the dry ingredients and stir until  all the flour is mixed in and batter is smooth.
8. Pour batter into measuring cup and fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full
9. Bake for 20 minutes and then remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before removing from pan
10. Place muffins on a large plate to cool completely.  Have for breakfast or dessert

Servings:  12 medium size muffins

Lasagna Bread

                                                             Lasagna Bread


Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. Warm water
1 1/2 tsp. Active  dry yeast
1 tsp. Granulated sugar

1 tsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Canola oil
1 Egg
1/2 C. Cottage cheese
7 Spinach leaves, chopped finely
3 Tbsp. Tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. Granulated sugar
3 C. All purpose flour
2 C. Whole wheat pastry flour
1 C. Cheddar cheese, grated
1 C. Onion, finely chopped


Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast in warm water and stir in sugar then wait 10 minutes until it foams
2. Mix in salt, canola oil, egg, cottage cheese, tomato sauce, sugar  and spinach leaves, 2 cups of all purpose flour and 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour to make a sticky dough
3. Add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl
4. On a lightly floured surface work dough and shape into a round that holds it shape well
5. Lightly coat  the inside of a large bowl with oil and place dough to rise in a warm place (preferably the oven) for 1 hr. until doubled in bulk
6. Take out the dough and punch down with your fists and break the dough evenly into 2 separate loaves
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 9" by 5" by 3" loaf pan and a large cookie sheet. Allow loaves to rise for 45 minutes until doubled in bulk and then sprinkle grated cheese and onion on top of loaves
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes until lightly browned on top of loaves
9. When loaves are out of the oven apply with a brush a small amount of butter over the top of loaves to make a nice soft crust
10.  Allow loaves to cool on a wire rack before putting in storage bags to store in fridge or freezer for longer storage time

Servings: 2 Loaves or approximately 30 slices

Amaranth Ginger Cookies

                                                   Amaranth Ginger Cookies



Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. All purpose flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 C. Quick oats


1/2 C. Amaranth grain cereal

1 C. Boiling water
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 C. Crystallized ginger, diced
1/2 C. Walnuts, chopped
1/2 C. Roasted sunflower seeds


1 C. Granulated sugar
1/2 C. Butter
2 Eggs

Directions:


1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2.  Grease a large cookie sheet with butter and set aside
3.  In a small saucepan cook amaranth grain in boiling salted water for 15 to 20 minutes
4.  Set amaranth aside to cool before adding to other ingredients
5.  In a medium size bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and quick oats. Blend well
6.  Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream together to make a smooth paste
7.  Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and beat with an electric mixer until creamy
8.  Mix in ginger, walnuts and sunflower seeds to form a drop dough
9.  Drop small amounts of dough onto greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned
10. Remove from cookie sheet and set on a wire rack to cool completely before putting in a storage container

Servings:   Recipe makes 30 cookies

Grainy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

                                            Grainy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. All purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 C. Butter
1 C. Granulated sugar
2 Eggs
1 C. Sultana raisins
1 C. Rolled oats

1/2 C. Roasted pumpkin seeds


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Grease a large  cookie sheet and set aside
3. In a medium size bowl combine flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Blend well.
4. Combine butter and sugar together and mix until they form a smooth paste together.
5. Add eggs one at a time to butter and sugar mixture and beat with an electric mixer until smooth and       creamy.
6. Beat in the last three ingredients each separately with electric mixer until all ingredients are mixed together well.
7. Stir in the flour, baking powder and baking soda to make a drop cookie dough that forms well.
8. On the greased cookie sheet drop small amounts of dough with a teaspoon 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes until lightly browned.
9. Allow to cool and then set on a wire rack to cool completely before storing in a container.

Servings:  Makes 27 cookies