Autumn Swirl Cookies

Autumn Swirl Cookies

Autumn Swirl Cookies

Autumn Swirl Cookies

I came across these darling Halloween Swirl Cookies from Make Bake Celebrate (recipe link below) on Pinterest and wanted to make them with the colors of Autumn. I used AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste Food Color in Super Red, Orange, Lemon Yellow and Wilton Kelly Green Gel Paste. The dark chocolate dough was the brown color and represents a tree and red, orange, yellow and green are for the colors of leaves. As summer says bye-bye and autumn arrives (yay!), green leaves morph into these beautiful colors. I had vanilla sugar cookie and dark chocolate sugar cookie dough in my freezer from previous cookie projects, so I made Autumn Swirl Cookies. The cookies have a little bite and the combination of vanilla and dark chocolate swirled together makes this a divine cookie. Use whatever sugar cookie recipe you prefer or find the links below for the vanilla and dark chocolate sugar cookie recipes. Instructions follow. Happy Fall!

Autumn Swirl Cookies

Pretty Autumn Swirl Cookies

Autumn Swirl Cookies

For the sprinkles, I used Wilton Chocolate Jimmies, Wilton Autumn Mix and picked out Yellow Jimmies from a Wilton Spring Mix and combined them in a bowl; set aside.

Autumn Sprinkles Mix

Wilton Chocolate Jimmies

Wilton Autumn Mix Sprinkles

Once your dough has chilled, place over wax paper and roll out into a log. Cut the log into however many colors you will use. 

Take the sections of dough and form each one into a ball. Insert your finger in the center of each one to make a well and add your color gel paste. 

Added Gel Paste Colors to each dough well

Use disposable rubber gloves for each color and knead until the color is reached.

All the dough is colored

Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper and make small round dough balls for each color.

Small dough ball on baking sheet

I had five colors, so I took one of each dough ball and put them together. I alternated colors to make different designs. Repeat this step until you are done.

Put 1 of each dough ball together in any color combination you like

If the dough gets to room temperature it will be difficult to work with so if this happens, place in freezer for 5 minutes.

Roll each into one ball and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until you have all the colors rolled together in a ball. 

Roll each dough ball together like this

When I had all the dough balls done, I placed them in the freezer for 5 minutes. 

Take each dough ball and roll out into a long rope trying to keep it as even as possible. 

Roll out each ball like this

Take one edge and start rolling into a swirl and then dip the edge rolling it in the sprinkles, and gently press a leaf decoration in the center. 

Dip each one into the sprinkles

Place cookies on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Repeat this step until all the cookies are swirled and sprinkled. 

Place them in the freezer for 15 minutes.

If you use the sugar cookies linked below, heat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. My cookies baked perfectly in 14 minutes. 

Autumn Swirl Sprinkles on wire racks cooling. 

Oven temps vary so check the cookies at the 12 minute mark and adjust baking time accordingly.

If you use your own cookie recipe follow those directions.

Let cookies cool for 10 minutes on baking sheets and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

For the Halloween Swirl Cookies recipe and instructions, visit Make Bake Celebrate:
http://makebakecelebrate.com/swirly-halloween-cookies/

For the Vanilla Sugar Cookie recipe, visit my Firetruck  Cookies post:
https://twofrys.blogspot.com/2017/08/firetruck-cookies.html

For the Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookie recipe, visit my Eclipse Galaxy Cookies post:
https://twofrys.blogspot.com/2017/08/eclipse-galaxy-cookies.html

-Enjoy!

Sophia/Two Frys

Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce

Butternut Squash with Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce

Butternut Squash with Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce close-up

For the second year in a row, New Jersey based Born to Hula made their seasonal Harvest sauce. This seasonal sauce is a great addition to your holiday meals. It is not an extreme heat hot sauce, yet is has a creeping kick from the Caribbean Red Habanero Peppers in the recipe. The Harvest sauce smells like a fresh piece of pumpkin pie and has a welcome pumpkin spice aroma. If you ever dreamed of a spicy slice of pumpkin pie that is almost exactly what you'll get when enjoying this pumpkin based seasonal sauce. Harvest captures all the essential flavors of the autumn season.

Butternut Squash with Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce

The ingredients of Harvest are a unique blend of Pumpkin, Apple Juice, Brown Sugar, Apple Cider Vinegar, Caribbean Red Habanero Peppers (nice heat), Lemon Juice, Cinnamon, Salt, Ginger, and Nutmeg. The ingredients are well balanced and are a treat to your taste buds. I have tried and cooked with several seasonal hot sauces from different companies, and Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce is now one of my top favorite seasonal sauces. Harvest is great both as a condiment as well as an addition to your recipes.

Butternut Squash with Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce

We used Harvest on Butternut Squash and the flavors melded extremely well. Sophia and I are both big time Born to Hula fans, and Harvest brings another favorite flavor to add to the Born to Hula Two Frys recommended list. Butternut Squash with Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce recipe below.

Butternut Squash with Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce; so yummy and tender

Ingredients
1 Butternut Squash

1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (California Olive Ranch)

Coarse Salt to taste

Cracked Black Pepper to taste

1/2 cup of Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce

Butternut Squash with Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce ready for the oven and Allen's half is larger

Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cut Butternut Squash in half.

Using a spoon, gently remove the seeds.

Lightly brush the butternut squash with olive oil, and season with salt and black pepper.

Brush butternut squash liberally with Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce.

Place with flesh side up in baking sheet.

Place in center rack of oven and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Insert fork to check for tenderness at the 45 minutes mark.

Our butternut squash was done in 50 minutes.

Let butternut squash rest for 5 minutes. Serve with your favorite meat or fish, etc...

To order Born to Hula Harvest Hot Sauce and other fine products, visit:
http://www.borntohula.com/

"Like" Born to Hula Hot Sauce on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BTH52/

-Allen/Two Frys

Strawberry and Blueberry Smoothies

Strawberry and Blueberry Smoothies

Blueberry Smoothie

I recently made Strawberry and Blueberry Smoothies for breakfast and had one every morning for a week. They came out great and I used my Ninja but you can use an immersion blender or blender. I used fresh fruit but you can use frozen as well. The taste of each smoothie was great, not too sweet and filled me up until lunch. I plan to make a lot more smoothies using more ingredients and protein powder in the near future. I will share the recipes as I experiment with different fruits and veggies. See recipe below.

Ingredients
1/2 cup Fresh (or Frozen and Washed) Strawberries (tops sliced off) or Blueberries

1 cup Fresh or Frozen Spinach

1/2 cup Greek Vanilla Yogurt (if you use Plain Yogurt, add 1 teaspoon of Raw Honey)

1/2 cup Coconut Milk (or Almond, Cashew or any blend you prefer)

Strawberry Smoothie

Directions
Add all the ingredients in blender and combine until smooth.

If desired, add ice and blend.

Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie

I love Cherry Pie and I only bake it once or twice a year which is a darn shame because it is one of my favorite pies. I need to bake it more often. To celebrate Labor Day (yay, a day off but more importantly it's a holiday to honor the labor movement), instead of covering the pie with just crust, I cut the dough using a star cutter and made a bunch of stars. I used my new cherry pitter for the first time today and it worked great. See recipe and directions below. This Cherry Pie filling is from the blog, Sally's Baking Addiction (link below).

Cherry Pie close-up

Ingredients
Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust or your favorite Pie Crust recipe

Cherry Pie Filling:
4 1/2 cups Fresh Cherries, pitted and halved

2/3 cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 cup Cornstarch

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 teaspoon Almond Extract

Egg Wash:
1 Large Egg, beaten

1 tablespoon Milk

To top crust:
1 tablespoon Turbinado Sugar

Cherry Pie just out of the oven, smells delish!

Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Take one half of your packaged or homemade pie crust and place in pie pan.

With the remaining pie crust, cut stars with cutter. Place stars on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put in freezer for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and extracts with a spatula; set aside.

To make the egg wash, beat egg with fork, add the milk and combine; set aside.

My nifty cherry pitter

Using a spatula add the cherry pie filling into the crust.

Place chilled stars over the cherry pie filling using as many as you like. I spread them out a bit.

With a pastry brush add egg wash over the crust and finish by sprinkling with turbinado sugar.

Place pie on a baking sheet.

Cherries I used from Hood River Cherry Company from Hood River, OR

Bake for 20 minutes.

Cover the edges of the crust with a pie shield or with strips of aluminum foil so the crust does not burn, and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

Bake for another 30-35 minutes.

For the Homemade Cherry Pie recipe, please visit:
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2017/07/01/cherry-pie/

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys

Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies

Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies

Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies

Well, hello September!  The time has come for cooler weather and all things pumpkin spice. I await fall with open arms. 'Tis the season for apple cider, squash, apple pie, and pumpkin everything! This weekend while grocery shopping, I bought a few bags of Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Morsels and some cans of Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin. I made the cookie recipe on the back of the bag and the result was awesome. This Pumpkin Spice Molases Cookie is soft and moist (oh no, that word again) and has a balanced taste of pumpkin spice from the morsels, cinnamon and ginger spices. All of this combined with molasses, make it one great cookie. See recipe and directions below.

Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies

Yield: 3 Dozen Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/3 cups King Arthur All-Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Coarse Salt

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened

1 Large Egg

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin (or homemade)

1/4 cup Molasses

1 package (10 oz.) Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Morsels

Close-up of Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies

Nestle Toll House Pumpkin Spice Morsels

Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger; set aside.

Using a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes.

Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies cooling

Add pumpkin, molasses, egg, and vanilla extract, and mix on medium speed until incorporated.

Turn mixer to low speed, and gradually add flour mixture until combined.

With a spatula, fold in pumpkin spice morsels.

Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies cooling

Once dough has formed, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour or chill in fridge for 2-3 hours.

Note: This dough is sticky from the molasses so the more chilled the dough the easy to work with it.

Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, form and place dough balls on baking sheets spacing 2 inches apart.

Bake for 11-15 minutes or until cookies are set. My cookies baked in 14 minutes. Oven temperatures vary so keep this in mind.

Pumpkin Spice Molasses Cookies cooling

Wait 3 minutes and then transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely but be sure to eat one warm.

Enjoy!

-Sophia/Two Frys