Pecan Cinnamon Balls

 So, I have this huge box of cornflakes. I'm not a big cereal fan and Dylan eats bran flakes. Yes, he's kinda strange like that. This huge box (they don't sell them any smaller) is just sitting in my cabinet, staring at me. So I began the hunt. Six cookbooks later I found this recipe in Wisconsin Power and Light Company's 1963 pamphlet Cookies (all kinds). Not super excited about it but the recipe claims it is 'delicious' and, most importantly, it includes a good amount of cornflakes.

Easy peasy looking. Just had to get margarine. Had the cornflakes!

I am little concerned about the lack of liquid. How are these things going to stick together?

He He He. I just thought this was a cool shot. 

Yep. Nothing is sticking together. It is just a large bowl of crumbs. I even tried using my hand to warm up the margarine more but it is not happening.

So, I added more margarine a tablespoon at a time until I got something that I could squish together into a ball. It ended up being almost double the original amount.

But I get pecan balls! They are still crumbly though...

And still crumbly...they are not looking appealing to me but I still have powdered sugar to add.

Oh! These look much better! Almost like Russian Tea Cakes.

They look quite pretty and smell delicately of cinnamon.

They are pretty rocks. I was so disappointed in these. I'm not certain what went wrong but these did not turn out well! It could have been the flour wasn't sifted enough or the cornflakes weren't ground fine enough or a combination of everything. The outside was hard as a rock and the inside just flaked apart. I was not a fan. Dylan like them though. (He also admits that he usually eats the reject cookies so he will eat almost anything.) He enjoyed the light cinnamon flavor and the crunch.

My Rating: Nope. Never again.

Dylan's Rating: Not bad. Not the best but I can eat them.

Pecan Rolls

What does it say about me when I can choose almost any recipe and have all the ingredients already in my cupboards? Do I have too many baking ingredients? My boyfriends says no. hahaha These pecan rolls turned out a little funky looking but were delicious.

 So...were brides judged by their biscuit making abilities? I would fail! I don't like biscuits. But I will make them for others because I am nice like that. And I am not above using food as a bribe.

I had to try the pecan rolls after seeing the picture. As I said before, I had all the ingredients.

Strangely enough, milk is usually what I am missing since I don't drink it. I have no idea why I had a whole carton of it. I didn't have pecan halves but I figured pecan pieces would work just as well.

The start of a beautiful roll...You know it's going to be nice and sweet when you use this much brown sugar!

Check out that beautiful marble board! My amazing boyfriend got that for no for the Holidays and it is fantastic! The biscuit roll dough came together really nicely and, thanks to the marble, I was able to use less flour when kneading and rolling out.

 I have issues with rectangles.

These look like they are going to be similar to sticky buns. Yum...

 Looking back, I probably should have put more brown sugar in the rolls. A quarter of a cup doesn't look like enough.

They look so pretty! Sometimes I am a little unsure when I put things in the oven but I am feeling great about these!!

My place is encased in a bubble of pecans and brown sugar. Who needs scented candles?!

Well, good news and bad news. Good news: They taste great! Bad news: They stuck to the pan. Since the bottoms were so gooey I thought it would be a good idea to let them cool in the pan a bit. Then they hardened in the pan. I put them back in the oven to soften them and then had to pull out the knife. Eventually, I won the battle!

They ended up looking really battered and in pieces! It's make your own! Just pick up a couple of pecan pieces and a chunk of sugar and put them on top of your roll. Ta Da! Pecan Roll!

These little rolls were easy and delicious! The bottom/tops ended up caramelizing instead of staying soft and gooey. I would make these all together in a round pan next time to make them easier to flip over.

My Rating: Yum! Would make again with a few changes.

Friends and Family Rating: "Did they explode?" Several days later..."Do you have any more?"

Chocolate Pecan Wafers

I'm back! Moving took much longer than I anticipated but I am finally settled. The new place is much closer to work! Yeah! Unfortunately the kitchen is much smaller. Boo..oh well!
A couple of weekends ago my family and I went to Yorktown to tour the replica of the Santa Maria and decided to stop at the local used bookstore. I found a 2 delightful 'new' cookbooks including Aunt Jenny's Favorite Recipes.  I decided to stick with something simple to start again, the chocolate pecan wafers.

Aunt Jenny was a character in a popular radio program in the 1940's that gave out housekeeping advice. All the recipes feature Spry, a brand of vegetable shortening. Shortening was still a fairly new product and so many cookbooks came out to promote this healthy alternative to lard.

 Spry makes everything better!

Starting with something simple in my small kitchen and I had all the ingredients.

 There is not a lot of flour in this cookie... Sadly I could not find Spry.

 Obligatory mixing photo. Yum! Shortening, sugar, and eggs!

 It looks much better with the chocolate added. Sorry the picture is kinda bad. I still have to figure out my kitchen lighting.

A whole tray of little turds. Ha ha ha

Aunt Jenny has special instructions on how to flatten your cookies.

 The only towel I could find had a pattern but it was a easy way to flatten them. I ended up only flattening half of the batch. I wanted to see how they were turn out un-flattened.

 I have missed the smell of baking!!

The flattened and un-flattened cookies turned out basically the same. Thin, crispy on the edges and chewy in the center. Delicious! A smaller batch than what I normally get out of an old recipe.

These were delicious! I would just skip the flattening part entirely next time. It was unnecessary and a bit annoying. Make sure you chop up the pecan nice and small.

My Rating: Keeper!

Friends and Family: Mixed reviews. "They are okay." "I love the texture. Crispy and chewy!" "Delicious"

Cinnamon Nut Squares

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! For my first recipe of 2019 I thought I would go simple and reached for the 1940's Christmas Cookies pamphlet, Cinnamon Nut Squares!

 I love a recipe that uses both the egg yoke and the egg white!

 Everything in lovely shades of brown. All simple and easy ingredients.

 Although the recipes says 'shortening' I'm going to assume they mean butter.  Best way to start a dessert!

The first cinnamon layer is done. It is really thick...kind of looks like a giant cookie...I was expecting more of a brownie-type layer.

 I'm so glad I bought pecans in bulk before the holidays. I love pecans!

Done! And they smell amazing!! You have to cut them while they are still warm but I would recommend waiting until they cool a little. Lesson learned.

 An orange plate was probably not the best way to display these tasty little treats.

I don't know why the combination of cinnamon and pecans never even occurred to me. So good!

These turned out more like a large cookie. I don't know why I was expecting brownies but these were nothing like it.  I had to adjust the baking time a bit by adding 10 more minutes but that may be just my oven. It can be a bit touchy. These were amazing little bites of deliciousness! The bottom layer is a nice soft cookie with just enough cinnamon. I would recommend chopping the pecans smaller.

My rating: Keeper! So easy and delicious and just a little bit different.

Friends and Family Rating : "Personally I think they were very good. But I needed a glass of milk with them." "I love cinnamon!"

Orange Slice Bars

I am sticking with desserts but decided to move away from chocolate.

But I stayed with the Cookies (all kinds) from 1963. This one promises to be good with summer drinks.

Chopping up the pound of orange candies seemed to take forever! I had to constantly stop to wash the sticky mess from my hands and the knife. I used pecans as the nut meats.

It looks so cool mixed together however I'm curious about the coconut. It could be good or not. Don't get me wrong. I love coconut! But mixed with orange candies?

The pre-baked pan looks a bit boring.

The baked result didn't change much. Still beige. Still boring. Where are the bright orange candies?!

The edges got a touch too browned but they turned out quite nice! They are a little difficult to cut. I blame that on me. My oven is touchy and overcooked these just a bit.

These were an interesting take on cookie bars. They were crunchier than I anticipated and a bit bland. The orange candies were nice bursts of flavor but overall they were not very exciting. The candies did not melt down, as I expected, so you will have to be careful because they will stick to everything.

My Rating: Okay but very beige.

Friends and Family Rating: "Interesting" "I think it pulled my filling out..."