Author: Ashley

Ashley's tiny kitchen is located in Ossining, New York- a short train ride from NYC. Her professional background is in graphic design + fine art, and she brings that aesthetic to her culinary creations.
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Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies

Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies

Goat Cheese Sugar Cookies
Love and Olive Oil (Adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

Yield: 36 cookies
Total Time: 1 hour

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup (3 ounces) soft goat cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
nonpareil sprinkles or sanding sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Combine sugar, goat cheese, and melted butter in a large bowl and whisk until mixture forms a smooth paste (a few lumps are ok). Whisk in oil. Add egg, milk, and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. Fold in flour mixture until incorporated and no dry ingredients remain.

Pour sprinkles or sugar into a small bowl. Dough will be soft, but should still be workable. If not, refrigerate it for 15 to 20 minutes until it is. Use a small cookie scoop to portion out about 1 tablespoon of dough, then roll in sprinkles/sugar to coat. Arrange on prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies are just set and slightly cracked. Cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

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Roasted Roach Dip (Walnut Dip with Garlic)

Roasted Roach Dip (Walnut Dip with Garlic)
Divine Dinner Party

Ingredients:
3 slices of whole wheat bread, well toasted
1/4 C. walnut pieces
4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 C. water
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions: 1. In food processor (or by hand), crumble the toast into fine crumbs.

2. In food processor or blender, combine walnuts, garlic, and crumbs until all is finely ground.

3. Add lemon, oil, and parsley. Process until smooth. Add water as needed until desired consistency.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. This is one of those gross recipes for Halloween that’s easy to make ahead of time. As it sits in the fridge, it gets a little darker– a good thing for cockroach puree. The parsley may darken a bit and begin to look like bits of “cockroach skin”.

6. Serve up in a bowl labeled “Cockroach Puree,” “Roasted Roach Dip,” etc.

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Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts

Pumpkin Cake Doughnuts
King Arthur Flour
Hands-on time: 15 mins. to 20 mins.
Baking time: 15 mins. to 18 mins.
Total time: 30 mins. to 38 mins.
Doughnuts:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée (canned pumpkin)
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus heaping 1/4 teaspoon each ground nutmeg and ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour*
*See tips, below, to substitute King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour.
Coating:
3 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease two standard doughnut pans. If you don’t have doughnut pans, you can bake these in a standard muffin tin; they just won’t be doughnuts.
2) Beat together the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, spices, salt, and baking powder until smooth.
3) Add the flour, stirring just until smooth.
4) Fill the wells of the doughnut pans about 3/4 full; use a scant 1/4 cup of batter in each well. If you’re making muffins, fill each well about 3/4 full; the recipe makes about 15, so you’ll need to bake in two batches (unless you have two muffin pans).
5) Bake the doughnuts for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of one comes out clean. If you’re making muffins, they’ll need to bake for 23 to 25 minutes.
6) Remove the doughnuts from the oven, and after about 5 minutes, loosen their edges, and transfer them to a rack to cool.
7) While the doughnuts are still warm (but no longer fragile), gently shake them in a bag with the cinnamon-sugar. If you’ve made muffins, sprinkle their tops heavily with cinnamon-sugar.
8) Cool completely, and store (not wrapped tight) at room temperature for several days.
Yield: 12 doughnuts or 15 muffins.
Tips from our bakers:
Want to make these doughnuts with King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour? Reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon; omit the baking powder, and substitute 2 cups (8 ounces) self-rising flour for the all-purpose flour. Bake the doughnuts for about 18 minutes.
Don’t wrap leftover doughnuts tightly in plastic; they’ll become soggy. If you’re not going to consume all of the doughnuts at one sitting, add the final coating of cinnamon-sugar only to those you’ll eat; store the rest, without their sugar, on a plate covered with a cake cover; or in a plastic bag that’s not fastened shut. Add cinnamon-sugar coating just before serving.