Kab El Ghazal (Horn of the Gazelle)

This is my favorite cookie from Morocco! My husbands parents brought numerous amounts of cookies over from Morocco on their visits to us. This was my first time making this cookie and I was really unsure how it would turn out. It took a couple times to actually get the shape of the cookie down. My husband said it tasted good, not to mention he almost ate the entire plate which says something about it!


Dough Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 cup water
5 Tbsp butter (also equals 1/3 cup)
pinch of salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp blossom water (You cannot find this at a regular grocery store. Check online or around town for a middle eastern store that sells specialty foods and ingredients.)

Filling Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups blanched almonds (if not blanched boil regular raw almonds for 45 seconds)
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp blossom water (also known as orange blossom water)

Dough:
Melt butter. Making the dough by hand requires you to knead the dough for about 20-30 minutes. Otherwise you can use a food processor. Add the flour to the food processor, then add the salt, then add butter, egg. Cover and turn on the food processor for a couple of seconds. Then add water through the top and turn on again for about 10 seconds. Open and add the blossom water. Turn on food processor for several minutes. Make sure dough is properly mixed. You may have to hold the food processor down. The final product should be a smooth elastic dough.
Filling:
Roast the almonds in a pan to enhance the flavor for a few minutes. Again in a food processor add your almonds, sugar, cinnamon, butter, and blossom water. Mix until the filling is paste like with no chunks.

Now its time to roll the Kab El Ghazal. Roll out the dough very thinly. Take a small handful of filling and place it on the dough. Cover the filling with the dough and shape the cookie into a crescent shape. Use a cookie cutter to cut the cookie out of the rest of the dough. Then reroll the dough thinly and continue until all the filling is used.
Use aluminum foil or parchment paper on a baking sheet. If you don't have either you can use nonstick cooking spray directly on the baking sheet. Place the Kab El Ghazal on the baking sheet. Use a fork to poke holes in the sides of the dough to allow heat to escape when baking. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook for 15-20 minute. Serve.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

When you are in the mood for something sweet, home baked goods are always the best. The other night I was in the mood for something chocolatey and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies, however every recipe I came across told me to use brown sugar and unfortunately I didn't have any. I decided to continue on and make the recipe without the brown sugar and surprisingly they came out ok. The brown sugar adds to the brown color and chewiness of regular chocolate chip cookies. However, the cookies without sugar are just as good but lighter in color. So if you are ever without brown sugar and in the mood for some chocolate chip cookies don't worry, just make the recipe without.

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl mix sugar, butter, oil, vanilla, and egg until well blended. Add in flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.
On a greased baking sheet, drop spoonfuls of cookie dough. Bake 9 minutes. Enjoy!

Make your own French Bread!

I've been trying to come up with all sorts of different ways to save money. With my love of cooking one small way to do this is to make your own bread at home. The cost of a loaf of bread is upwards of $2. By making your own bread you can save because the cost of the ingredients for bread are inexpensive plus you can buy them in bulk and save lots of money. In my household this helps out a lot because we eat bread with most of our meals. Eating fresh baked bread everyday is definitely a lot healthier than the processed breads you buy from the grocery store plus for us cooks it gives up purpose throughout our days!

I was very nervous the first time I made bread because I was unsure of how it would turn out. Although the first loaf turned out good, each loaf got successively better and better. Make sure you follow the recipe as it directs. Do not substitute anything. At first I tried using Pam spray instead of grease. It worked but the grease worked much better and allowed the bread loaves to double in size when they needed to. Each loaf I make has been better than the last and I will continue to make my own bread daily!

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups water
1 packet of instant yeast
2 3/4-3 cups of bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
baking grease
corn meal

Combine water with instant yeast and stir together. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add salt and 1 1/4 cups flour and combine. Add the rest of the flour and knead the dough thoroughly for about 10 minutes. If you need to flour a counter top surface or cutting board and roll dough out combine. Once light and fluffy grease a bowl and flip the dough in the grease a few times. Leave the dough in the bowl and cover it for 1-2 hours until the dough has doubled in size. Flour a cutting board or counter top surface again and roll out dough about 8 inches by 12 inches long. Roll the dough along the longer edge creasing the edges together. Grease baking sheet and sprinkle with corn meal. Place bread roll on baking sheet and cover for 45 minutes to allow bread to increase in size once again. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut three slits evenly into the top of the loaf. Bake for 20-30 minutes unto bread is brown and hardened on the outside.
Bread is best when warm but can be stored in a bread box up to a week.
Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Another favorite one of my recipes is chocolate peanut butter balls. These delicious little treats are great for holidays, birthdays, homemade gifts or dishes to bring to a party. Easy to make, with few ingredients, you will get praise for these wonderful sweet treats!

Makes 50 pieces
Ingredients:
16 oz creamy peanut butter (crunchy if preferred)
1 (16 oz) pk powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 (12 oz) pk semisweet chocolate

In a large bowl combine peanut butter, powdered sugar and butter. Beat until smooth. Scoop out spoonfuls and roll into 1 inch balls on a baking sheet. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Line another baking sheet with wax paper. Melt chocolate chips in double boiler. As an alternative to a double boiler melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Using wooden picks dip balls into chocolate to coat completely. Set balls on prepared baking sheet. Store refrigerator.

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Chex muddy mix with a twist

For my holiday baking I included Chex muddy mix however I wanted to add a twist to it so I added pretzels, and peanuts to the recipe. Either way this holiday favorite can be given away as a homemade gift or eaten as a snack at home.

Servings 18 (1/2 cup each)

Ingredients:
4 cups Rice Chex cereal (Corn or Rice, mix the two)
3 cups pretzels
3 cups peanuts
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a large bowl mix cereal, pretzels, and peanuts; set aside.
In 1 quart microwaveable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter on high 1 minute and stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until coated evenly. Pour into 2 gallon resealable food storage plastic bag. Add the powdered sugar. Seal bag, shake until well coated. Spread on wax paper to cool.