Food Hoarding Confessions

Rum Balls

Candy, Food Hoarding Confessions, Unfussy
When I have cookies that are getting stale I stick them in a bag in the freezer. If you put them in the food processor you can turn them into a cookie crust for pies or cheesecakes, or use them for this thrifty little trick I’ve been doing to use up leftover cookies and assorted nuts that need a home after the holidays.
  • 3 cups crushed cookie crumbs (pretty much any cookie works here – chocolate, vanilla, graham crackers, etc…)
  • 1 1/2 cups finely chopped nuts – toast them ahead if possible
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 3 TBSP corn syrup or honey
  • 1 tsp. rum exract
  • 1/2 cup dark rum
  • Additional powdered sugar or cocoa powder for coating

Process cookies in food processor – measure 3 cups (+/-) and set aside. Process nuts in food processor – measure 1 1/2 cups.

Put cookie crumbs and nuts back in food processor. Add powdered sugar, cocoa powder, corn syrup, extract and dark rum. Pulse until evenly combined and starting to stick together.

Form into balls (1” is a good size, but it’s up to you). Coat in additional powdered sugar or cocoa powder.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

These are excellent right out of the fridge. They are also excellent when they come to room temperature and get soft and boozy.

Ravani

Cakes, Food Hoarding Confessions, Unfussy

This tasty and simple cake is based on a recipe by husband’s late aunt. It is an excellent use of that Cream of Wheat sitting in the pantry.

Syrup:

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Cake:

  • 6 eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 lb. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 1/2 cups farina (Cream of Wheat, Malt-O-Meal)
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Make Syrup Ahead: Bring water, sugar and lemon juice to a boil and reduce for 10 minutes. Cool.

For Cake: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 9×13″ pan. In a large bowl, beat eggs and melted butter together with a whisk until well-mixed – about 5 minutes. Add farina, flour, sugar, baking powder and vanilla and whisk to combine.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until firm in the center.

Slowly pour the cool syrup over the hot Ravani. Let cool completely before cutting.

Chocolate Black Sesame Rugelach

A little bit fussy, Cookies, Food Hoarding Confessions

A little leftover hand pie dough, black sesame paste from my freezer, and a bar of chocolate with almonds all found each other today.

Dough

  • 4 ounces cream cheese, straight from the refrigerator
  • 1 stick butter, straight from the refrigerator
  • 1 cup flour
  • 2 TBSP sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Black Sesame and Chocolate Filling

  • 1/4 cup black sesame seeds, toasted
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate (with or without almonds), chopped

1 beaten egg and coarse sugar for topping

For the dough: Cut the cream cheese and butter into cubes. Place flour, sugar and salt in food processor and blend. Toss in cream cheese and butter. Pulse until the dough comes together – check it by taking the lid of and pinching some dough – if it sticks together it is ready.

Divide dough into two pieces and wrap each in plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight.

For the filling: Toast sesame seeds in a small skillet. Let cool completely. In a food processor or blender, combine cooled sesame seeds, butter and sugar. Process into a paste.

Chop chocolate into small pieces and set aside.

When ready to assemble: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two rimmed baking sheets with foil (these will leak a bit).

Divide the dough into two. One at a time, roll out on lightly floured surface to about a 10-inch circle. Spread 1/2 of black sesame paste onto one circle and sprinkle half the chopped chocolate on top.

Cut the circle into 16 pieces, like a pizza, first in half, then quarters, then into eighths, etc… Roll up each triangle starting with the fat end of the triangle. Place on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

If desired, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Hello Dolly Bars

Cookies, Food Hoarding Confessions, Unfussy

These are completely uncalled for. This is a variation of a hand-written recipe titled “Hello Dolly Cookies” that has been in my recipe box for years, but I have no idea who’s handwriting it is (please let me know if this sounds familiar). It was a very forgiving recipe – I used up a variety of cookie crumbs and flavored chips that I was food-hoarding in the pantry. You could do the same. These are sweet.

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 1/2 cups homemade speculoos cookie crumbs (or Biscoff or graham cracker crumbs)
  • 1 cup sweetened coconut
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup cinnamon chips (these can be hard to find, but they are not too sweet so I like them. I get them at the Amish grocery store in Iowa.)
  • 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs ( I used some of my chocolate shortbread cookie crumbs)
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a 9″ square pan. Sprinkle speculoos/graham cracker cookie crumbs over butter and mix a little bit, then spread evenly. Sprinkle evenly over the top in this order: coconut, then chocolate chips, then cinnamon chips, then chocolate cookie crumbs. Pour condensed milk evenly over the top. Finally, sprinkle pecans.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until they are well-caramelized and not too gooey. They shouldn’t be wet when you press in the center.

Cool completely before cutting into small squares. Makes 16 diabetic sugar bombs.

Cherry Poptarts

A little bit fussy, Breakfast, Food Hoarding Confessions

Guys guys guys- after years of trying I finally nailed homemade pop tarts. Happy little accident involving self-rising flour I bought for no reason other than I heard a story about Loretta Lynn using it for biscuits. It makes the perfectly delicious cardboard-y tasting pastry I’ve been hunting for. The filling ended up being a great use of the half jar of morello cherries that was taking up fridge space. The key here is to roll the dough out SUPER thin. Like, when you say to yourself, “I think this is thin enough” – keep rolling until you say to yourself “this has GOT to be thin enough”.

  • Cherry Filling:
  • 1 1/2 cup jarred morello cherries, drained (reserve 3 TBSP liquid for optional glaze)
  • 12 pitted dates
  • 4 TBSP sugar
  • 1 TBSP cornstarch
  • 1 TBSP lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract
  • Crust:
  • 2 cups self-rising flour, if you have it
  • (or 2 cups cake flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt)
  • 1 TBSP sugar
  • 1 stick cold butter, cut in chunks
  • 1/2 cup milk

In food processor, process cherries and dates until crushed. Combine sugar and cornstarch in small saucepan. Whisk in cherries and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Add almond extract and set aside to cool. This can be done ahead of time and refrigerated.

Combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter in and work until it’s the size of peas, or a bit smaller (by hand or food processor). Stir in milk until combined and knead until the dough holds and is uniform. Divide the dough in half. Roll out each half between long sheets of wax paper until very thin – (as thin as possible – 1/16″ maybe) and in the shape of a long rectangle. Dust with flour as needed to keep from sticking. Using a ruler or straight edge, trim the edges of the dough. Cut the dough in half, the long way, then cut every 3″ or so to make 3″x5″ rectangles. You should get 16 rectangles total from all the dough. Spread about 2 TBSP filling in half the rectangles, but leave about 1/2″ from the sides free of filling. You will have extra filling, which you can freeze for another poptarting. Brush the edges with egg wash. Poke the other dough rectangles with a fork 3 or 4 times, then sandwich the pop tarts. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brush tarts with egg wash and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown on the edges. Dust with powdered sugar, leave unfrosted, or glaze.

  • Cherry Glaze:
  • 3 TBSP reserved cherry liquid
  • enough powdered sugar to thicken