chocolate dipped almond orange butter horns

My Danish grandmother would have loved these traditional Scandinavian almond orange butter horns dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with chopped almonds. She was born in Denmark and immigrated with her family to the United States when she was a very young girl. Her name was Louise, she loved to bake cookies and especially to share them with loved ones. She believed, as I do, that Christmas time was a time to bake cookies. My butter cookies are made using both chopped almonds almond paste which makes them especially rich and flavorful with the orange zest and the almond coated melted chocolate on the ends.

Ingredients and Recipe for Chocolate Dipped Almond Orange Butter Horns
Makes 3 dozen

3 & 1/2 ounces almond paste, crumbled

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 egg, room temperature

Zest of one orange

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 & 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 cup finely chopped sliced almonds, divided-1/4 cup for the chocolate dipped ends

1 10 ounce bag Ghirardelli dark chocolate flavored melting wafers

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the almond paste, powdered sugar, butter, egg, orange zest, extracts and the salt. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.

Beat in the flour and 3/4 cup of the almonds, just until the dough comes together.

Cover the bowl and chill for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350F

Line two baking sheets with parchment or Silpats

Pinch off rounded teaspoons of dough and gently roll into 2 & 1/2" logs.

Place on baking sheets, they don't spread very much so I put 18 on each sheet and baked one sheet at time on middle oven rack.

Bake for 10 minutes, they should be overall light in color with light brown edges on cookie bottoms.

Cool on metal racks.

When the cookies are cool, melt the chocolate according to package instructions.

Dip the ends or edges in the melted chocolate and immediately sprinkle with the chopped almonds.

Cookies can be put in the refrigerator for a few minutes to help set the chocolate.

Comments

springtime chamomile tea cake with strawberry icing

Good grief, Easter is in the rear view mirror and we are deep into this new year. And once again it's tea time at my house. This chamomile tea cake is a beautiful sweet addition to any tea ritual, especially my favorite, chamomile tea, which I rediscovered in my hotel room in Carmel earlier this fast moving year. I highly recommend a slice of chamomile tea cake with strawberry 🍓 icing with a cup of chamomile tea to just take a moment and slow this year down. Baking with tea is both creative and fun. Earlier this year I made Earl Gray sugar cookies which are made using the same method of infusing the butter with loose tea. For my tea cake I also rubbed the lemon zest into the sugar -another way to lend a pop of citrus to your baking. The strawberry icing is made using freeze dried strawberries, I pulverize them in my spice mill and then they are pressed through a fine sieve into the confectioner's sugar. In addition to using lemon zest rub...

braised romano beans with heirloom tomatoes and purple leaf sweet basil

Romano beans braised in heirloom tomato sauce, shallots and garlic make an easy summer side dish -excellent served with grilled fish and potato purée. I know because that's what we had for dinner last Saturday night. I happily used purple basil from my own herb pots that are now watered with leftover shower water. We have many more months of drought ahead of us in California and apparently mask wearing when in public, no not in the car. I appreciate our farmers markets more than ever, thank you farmers for romano beans and heirloom tomatoes and also myself for the fresh purple basil. Such a treat to find fresh romano green beans at the farmers market; they hold up to a fairly long, about 20 minute braise and become tender in the tomato broth from the heirloom tomatoes. 🍅 This is one of those simple good veg recipes. Ingredients and Recipe for Romano Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes and Purple Leaf Sweet Basil Serves 2-4 1 pound fresh romano beans, washed...

artichoke, green olive and caper tapenade

artichoke, green olive and caper tapenade serves 6 We spent last weekend with friends at their country home. They made dinner at home one night so I brought a couple of appetizers to share. My tapenade is easy to make, just spoon the blended artichoke mix into a terrine then pack in an ice chest for a short road trip. I like to serve it spread on small crisp crackers but toasted sliced baguette works well too. Save a sprinkle of capers for the top of your tapenade before serving and enjoy. recipe for artichoke, green olive and caper tapenade serves 6 One 14 ounce jar of artichoke hearts packed in water, drained and cut into quarters 1/3 cup pitted green olives, I like Castelvetrano green olives 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons capers, plus extra for sprinkling on top 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 cloves garlic, minced Aleppo pepper to taste, I use a scant 1/4 teaspoon Sea salt to taste Place the artichokes, olives, olive oil, capers,...

Tarragon and Chives

Search This Blog