Recipes

Sticky Toffee Tea Cookies

• 7 1-ounce English toffee candy bars
• ¾ cup flour
• ¾ cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons solid shortening

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Break candy bars and chop into coarse pieces.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, salt, and baking soda.  Add the chopped candy and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, and egg.  Add butter and shortening and mix well.  Add the candy/flour mixture and blend well.

Drop by tablespoonfuls one inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden.  Remove from over and cool on wire rack.  Makes about 36.

Recipe from the Elmwood Inn, Kentucky

MINI VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Makes about 20 – 24 mini cakes

For the cake:
200g caster sugar
200g softened butter
4 eggs
200g all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp milk

For the filling:
100g butter, softened
140g icing sugar, sifted
drop vanilla extract
small jar of raspberry preserves 
icing sugar, to decorate
raspberries, to decorate (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Weigh the ingredients.

Into the stand mixer, add the cake ingredients. Castor sugar, softened butter, and eggs were beaten first with the eggs added in one at a time. Next the milk, then flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Make sure not to overmix, especially after the dry ingredients are added.

Empty the cake batter into a plastic storage bag and cut off bottom corner. This will make it easier to pipe the batter into the pan. Butter the mini cheesecake pan and start filling in each of the tins with cake batter. Make sure you only fill about halfway up since you want a flat cake top. This batter makes about 2 batches.

Bake for 6 – 8 minutes in a 350°F oven. Tops should be golden brown. Cool in the pan, then pop out the cakes. After cake cools, cut each in half, horizontally.

Now for the filling. In the stand mixer, mix softened butter, icing sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth.

Take the bottom half of the cake and spread on the icing, then the raspberry preserve and top with the other half of the cake. Dust some icing sugar to decorate and serve with fresh raspberries.

Earl Grey Chicken Salad

• 1 can Kirkland chicken breast in water (12.5 oz.)
• 1 Earl Grey teabag of tea
• Mayonnaise to liking
• Craisins to liking

Mix all (cut open teabag and put leaves directly into mixture).  Makes approximately 15 servings.  Spread onto raisin/cinnamon bread.  Cut off crusts and half each sandwich.

Cucumber Chive Sandwich 

• White or potato bread such as Pepperidge Farm—1 loaf
• Sweet Butter—1 cube or 8 oz.
• Chives—1 batches
• Cucumbers—1
• Parsley—1 bunch       

Soften butter.  Chop chives.  Mix butter and chives together.  This can be made ahead. 

Using 2-1/2 inch circle cutter, cut one round from each bread slice.  Each loaf should yield about 20 rounds. Spread chive butter on each round.

Wash cucumber thoroughly but do not peel.  Slice cucumbers, about ¼ inch thick.  Put on top of chive butter.

Garnish with a bit of chive butter and top with a parsley sprig.

Kentucky Benedictine Tea Sandwiches

• 2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup peeled, seeded, and finely chopped cucumber
• 1/2 cup minced green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Thinly sliced cucumbers—about 100 slices*
• 48 white bread slices

Stir together first 7 ingredients. Spread mixture on 1 side of 24 bread slices; add 4 thin slices of cucumbers to each piece of bread; top with remaining 24 bread slices. Trim crusts from sandwiches; cut each sandwich in half with a serrated knife.

*The original recipe from TeaTime Magazine does not have this layer of cucumbers.  I added these thin slices as I thought it made the sandwich a little tastier.

Bread and Butter Refrigerator Zucchini Pickles

• 14 oz thinly sliced unpeeled zucchini* (you want ones that are smaller–about 2-3 inches in diameter)
• 1 oz halved and thinly sliced yellow onion
• 1 oz halved and thinly sliced green pepper
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds

Pack the zucchini, onion, and peppers into a clean quart canning jar that has a lid.

Heat the cider vinegar through yellow mustard seeds in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir and let come to a boil. Reduce heat and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved.

Pour the hot liquid into the jar covering all the vegetables. Let cool and cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before eating.

Enjoy within a few weeks of pickling.

Parmesan Zucchini Bites

• 3 medium zucchini
• garlic salt, to taste
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• paprika

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and place a rack inside a baking sheet. If you don’t have a rack, just spray the baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

Trim both ends from the zucchini and slice diagonally into ¼”-thick slices. Arrange the zucchini slices in a single layer on the rack or baking sheet. Sprinkle zucchini with garlic salt and flip each piece so that the garlic salt is on the bottom.

Brush tops of zucchini lightly with olive oil and top each slice with Parmesan cheese. Use as little or as much as you would like, then sprinkle lightly with paprika.

Bake 10–15 minutes or just until zucchini is soft and Parmesan is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and allow zucchini to cool about 5 minutes before serving. Season with additional garlic salt if necessary, then enjoy!

Mom’s Zucchini Bread with Chocolate Chips

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool