As a general rule, my philosophy on dessert is, “If it doesn’t have chocolate, why bother?” These cookies break that rule. My mom makes pecan sandies every year for Christmas. They are lightly sweet, deeply buttery and over-the-top delicious. I am so glad that she shared the recipe with me so that I can share it with you. These are simple cookies to make and they are even easier to eat! They hold up well to give away as gifts. Don’t just bake them at Christmas either! They’re delicious all year long!

The key to success in this recipe is to NOT overcook the zucchini. If it turns to mush, it is unpleasant. You want it browned but still with some bite to it. Toast the walnuts until they have a slight aroma. Do not let them burn. I prefer to use a mixture of oregano, sage, and thyme for my herbs and follow Cook’s Illustrated’s recommendation to half the amount of herbs since these are so potent. Yum!

zucchini with walnuts and fresh herbs
from www.cooksillustrated.com

A note from Cook’s Illustrated: Salt causes zucchini rounds to release excess water. This important extra step helps the zucchini to sauté rather than stew in its own juices. Quarter-inch slices are the perfect thickness. Thinner slices fall apart during cooking; thicker slices require a longer salting time. If you want to use more intense herbs such as oregano, thyme, or rosemary, halve the amount of herbs indicated in the recipe. If you do not have kosher salt on hand, use a teaspoon or so of regular table salt.

4 medium zucchini (about 1 1/3 pounds), rinsed, trimmed, and sliced crosswise into rounds about 1/4″ thick
kosher salt
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion or 2 large shallots, minced
2 tbsp minced fresh herbs (see note)
2 tbsp toasted, chopped walnuts
ground black pepper

Place zucchini slices in colander and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons salt. Set colander over bowl until about 1/3 cup water drains from zucchini, about 30 minutes. Rinse and thoroughly dry zucchini.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions or shallots; sauté until almost softened, about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; add zucchini and sauté until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Stir in walnuts and herbs, and season with pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings and serve immediately.

pear salad with mustard vinaigrette dressing
adapted from www.allrecipes.com

several cups of mixed salad greens
1 pear, thinly sliced
1 orange, peeled and thinly sliced (or use candied oranges)
2 ounces crumbly cheese (gorgonzola, blue cheese, white cheddar, etc.)
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Place the baby greens in a large, flat bowl. Top with pear slices, oranges, and cheese.

In a skillet over medium heat, stir 1/4 cup of sugar together with the pecans. Continue stirring gently until sugar has melted and caramelized the pecans. Carefully transfer nuts onto waxed paper. Allow to cool and break into pieces. Sprinkle over the salad.

For the dressing, blend oil, vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, mustard, chopped garlic, salt, and pepper.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and pass additional dressing at the table.

crunchy granola
recipe adapted from www.foodnetwork.com

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup cashews (optional… I think these are icky!)
3/8 cup (6 tbsp) maple syrup
3/8 cup (6 tbsp) honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2-3/4 tsp salt, to taste
1 cup (or more!) chocolate chips
1 cup chopped mixed dried fruits (I love apricots, craisins, and even prunes!)

Preheat the oven to 250F.

Combine the oats, coconut, and nuts in a large bowl. Add syrup, honey, oil, and salt and mix well. Divide the mixture among two rimmed baking trays. Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes, stir the mixture in each pan and swap the position of the pans. The granola is done when the mixture is golden. Let cool completely (it will get crispy – I promise!) and then add the chocolate chips and fruit and store in an airtight container. Grab a spoon, shovel it into your mouth, and smile. Oh, wait. And go back one more time and grab another spoonful. Or two. Okay, so just grab the bowl and carry it with you.

winter fruit salad
adapted from allrecipes.com

dressing:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh is best, but store bought is fine, too)
1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 head of lettuce or several large handfuls of mixed greens
1-2 apples, peeled, cored and cut into bite sized pieces
1 pear, cored and cut into bite sized pieces
2 tangerines, peeled and white pith removed
1/2 cup pecan halves
2 oz gruyere cheese, chopped into 1/4″ pieces
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Heat a skillet to medium and add the pecans. Stirring frequently, cook until the pecans are fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Watch carefully to ensure that they do not burn.

Place the chopped lettuce in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Top with the fresh fruit, then add the pecans, cheese, and cranberries. Drizzle with dressing. Serve additional dressing on the side.

Oh the things you can do with these treats. They would make a pretty little Christmas gift if they were packaged in cellophane and wrapped with a ribbon. Or you could serve them at your annual holiday party as a unique snack. Or you could put them in a spinach salad with dried cranberries, goat cheese, and a poppy seed dressing. Or you could just eat them by the handful as I plan on doing.

By the way, if you want to double or triple this batch, just make sure you switch your trays around each time you stir the nuts. Alternatively, cook on convection and lower the temperature to 200.

spiced walnuts

1 egg white
1 tbsp water
2 cups walnut halves and pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice

Preheat oven to 225. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or with aluminum foil.

Combine the egg white and the water and whisk until foamy. Add the walnuts and stir to coat.

In a bag or covered container, mix together the sugar and spices.

Add the walnuts and shake to combine.

Spread the walnuts out in a single layer on a baking tray. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, cool, and store in an airtight container. Or just eat them all at once!

wild rice chicken supreme

1 6-oz package Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain Wild Rice
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt
dash black pepper
1 cup half and half
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups cubed chicken (or turkey, post holidays!)
1/3 cup diced roasted red peppers
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 400.

Cook the wild rice according to the directions on the package.

While the rice is cooking, prep your ingredients. The rest of the cooking process goes so much more smoothly if you do!

While rice is cooking, melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add onion and cook over low heat until tender. Stir in flour, salt and pepper (it’ll be really clumpy).

Add the half and half a little bit at a time, forming a roux (a paste). If you add all the liquids at once, they’ll never get absorbed. The trick is to add a little bit, stir until absorbed, and add more and stir more. Then add the chicken broth, using the same “add a bit, stir a bit” process.

Add the wild rice to the roux and mix well. Now add the parsley, chicken, peppers, and almonds. Mix well.Pour into your greased casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes.

If you have cooked yours for 40 minutes and it’s still not brown along the edges, put it on broil for a couple minutes. Watch it closely, though, because you don’t want it to burn!

Serve hot!

chocolate chunk banana bread

8 tablespoons butter
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (or more!)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 9 by 5  by 3-inch loaf pan.

Puree the bananas, sour cream, eggs and vanilla in a food processor.

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fixed with a whisk attachment. Add the butter and mix on medium-low speed until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the banana mixture in 3 batches, scraping the sides of the bowl and mixing on medium speed between each addition. Using a spatula, fold in the chocolate.

Pour into the loaf pan. Bake until lightly browned and bread bounces back to the touch, about 60 to 70 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Turn the bread out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Serve plain, with butter, or with cream cheese. Personally, I loved it plain. Certain pieces will have the classic banana bread taste and others will delight you with chunks of chocolate. It’s like breakfast and dessert rolled into one!

As a general rule, when it comes to cookies, I’m not interested if they don’t contain chocolate. And if they do contain chocolate, they must not contain nuts. (Whose idea was it to stick all those nuts in my cookies anyway? It ruins everything!) And there are plenty of other rules, too, rules that I don’t even know exist until I bite into a cookie and think, “Gosh, there’s something not quite right.” So clearly nut-free chocolate chip cookies are my favorite, but one day I decided to go out on a limb and whip up these babies.

These cookies break 90% of my cookie rules. There is no chocolate. There are nuts, and worst of all they contain almonds, which are my least favorite nut. And yet I love them. I think it’s the orange zest. Or the oatmeal. Or just the fact that they are so different than my other cookies. Either way, as we enter into fall, this is a cookie to serve to your friends and family if you want to treat them to a little something special. To make them extra special, try topping them with a bit of this frosting, using all butter instead of the shortening. Or make them festive by throwing in 1/2 a cup of chopped cranberries!

By the way, this recipe is from Cooks’ Illustrated. As always, they have perfected it. No changes needed! They note that if you do not have parchment paper, let the cookies cool directly on the baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

orange & oatmeal almond cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter (softened, but still firm)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups rolled oats
2 tbsp grated orange zest
1 cup chopped almonds, toasted in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes

Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350.

First, prep your ingredients! (I’m using 3 eggs because they’re smaller than most store-bought eggs.)

In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.

Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together. Then stir them into the butter-sugar mixture. Stir in oats, orange zest, and almonds.

Form dough into 16 to 20 two-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper-covered large cookie sheets.

Place pans on separate racks in your oven. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Half way through cooking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and switch from top to bottom. Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

Decorate with icing if desired.