Cindy's Recipes and Writings

Amish Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Cindy Kerschner

Amish Sour Cream Sugar Cookies bake and stay soft, with a hint of nutmeg! Easy, quick rollouts that don’t require chilling the dough.

Amish Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

I’ve seen many variations on these cookies. Probably just as many nationalities claiming them too! Amish, Moravian, PA Dutch, Russian and others have their recipes online.

This simple dough is sticky soft when mixed. Add just enough flour to make dough easy to roll. Don’t worry, this dough is very forgiving if extra flour gets mixed in! I reserve 1/4 cup to dust the board and add to ease the sticky texture.

Because sour cream can vary in density, you will need to adjust the dough with flour anyway!

Amish Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

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Servings 24 cookies

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour divided
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
granulated or colored sugar for decoration

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cream the butter, egg, vanilla, and sour cream together.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 1/4 cups flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Mix into wet ingredients. Dough will be sticky.
Dust board with just enough reserved flour to easily work the dough. Roll out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sugar or colored sugar for a touch of sweetness.
Bake at 425 degrees, hot oven for about 8 minutes until bottoms start to brown. Cool on sheet a few minutes before moving to rack to cool completely.

Posted in Christmas, cookies | 1 Comment

Spicy Salmon Salad Stuffed Avocados

Posted on December 10, 2020 by Cindy Kerschner

Spicy Salmon Salad Stuffed Avocados make lunch, brunch or dinner delicious! Slightly spicy and not overly creamy, flaky salmon salad. Avocados and salmon make perfect partners.

Spicy Salmon Salad Stuffed Avocados

I became a big fan of cooked salmon in pouches. I feel cooked salmon is a bit more versatile than tuna. It’s a nice change too.

This salad has hints of citrus, horseradish and heat from red pepper flakes. A splash of lemon juice, shake of dill and some celery for crunch.

Low fat sour cream replaces mayo for a touch of creaminess. You can use yogurt or skip it altogether if you like. Add a few more drops of lemon juice and olive oil instead.

Spicy Salmon Salad Stuffed Avocados

I picked avocado for my vessel because it’s texture and flavor goes so well with fish and seafood. Fish tacos anyone?

Spicy Salmon Salad Stuffed Avocados

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Servings 1 each

Ingredients

1 avocado, cut in half, pit removed
2.6 ounce cooked flaked salmon (pouch)
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 green onion, thinly sliced, reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon horseradish
1/4 teaspoon dill
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together salmon, celery, onion, lemon juice, horseradish, dill, salt, sour cream and pepper flakes. Fill avocados. Garnish with reserved onion and lemon zest.

Posted in avocado, salad, salmon, seafood | Comments Off

Turmeric Sausage Apple Stuffed Squash

Posted on December 9, 2020 by Cindy Kerschner

Turmeric Sausage Apple Stuffed Squash serves a twist on a familiar favorite. A little spice added turns out both a new flavor and more healthy meal.

Turmeric Sausage Apple Stuffed Acorn Squash

Years ago my doctor told me to supplement my diet with turmeric and black pepper. This combo is touted as a aid to reduce inflammation. Turmeric helps on it’s own but black pepper aids in absorbing natural curcumin by the body.

Using a sweeter apple cuts the need for brown sugar or honey drizzle. I use fresh bread cubes for a moister stuffing. I think potato bread adds more flavor.
Try these other recipes picked for squash lovers.

Chicken Mushroom Stuffed Squash

Chicken Mushroom Stuffed Squash

Beef Apple and Squash Napoleons

Beef Apple and Squash Napoleons

Butternut Squash and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Butternut Squash and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I held back on salt because sometimes sausage can be salty. Feel free to adjust the seasonings with turmeric friendly spices like ginger, cinnamon or cumin. Those spices also compliment the apple.

Turmeric Sausage Apple Stuffed Squash

Print Recipe

Servings 1 each

Ingredients

1 acorn squash, medium-sized, cut in half and seeded
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 pound loose sausage, pork, turkey or chicken
1 apple, medium-sized, peeled and chopped
2 cup fresh bread cubes
1/2 cup broth, chicken or vegetable
1/4 cup green onion, sliced, reserve half of green part for garnish
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place squash cut side down in a shallow baking dish. Add enough water to reach about halfway up side of squash. Bake for 30 minutes. Move squash to plate. Drain water then replace squash cut side up.
While squash bakes, prepare stuffing. In a medium-sized skillet, add oil, sausage and onion. Fry over medium heat for about 5 minutes to brown sausage. Add apple and sauté an additional 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and add broth, turmeric and pepper. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes until sausage is thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat and add enough bread cubes to make a moist but not soggy stuffing.
Stuff squash halves and return to oven. Bake for about 30 minutes until squash is done and stuffing has set. Garnish with green onion if desired.

Posted in apples, autumn, sausage, squash, What's For Dinner? | Tagged acorn squash, stuffed squash, turmeric | Comments Off

Wintery Grape Coffee Cake #FamilyBakingChallenge

Posted on December 7, 2020 by Cindy Kerschner

I received produce from Melissa’s Produce Company to use in recipes. I received no further compensation. All opinions are my own.
Wintery Grape Coffee Cake serves hardy red grapes in a moist yellow cake topped with cinnamon pecan crumbs. A bit of sweet, a bit of crunch and a lot of fun to eat!

It’s time to get your baking heads on! Melissa’s Produce Company is sponsoring the #FamilyBakingChallenge for fun and prizes! It’s easy to enter to win over $5000 in cash and baking supply prizes.
Melissa’s is partnering with Challenge Butter, Bigger Bolder Baking, Good Cook, KitchenAid and Bob’s Red Mill to offer fantastic cash and prize packages. Get the details here.

Week four of this six week challenge includes this Wintery Grape Coffee Cake recipe.

Wintery Grape Coffee Cake

I’m a fan of coffee cake. Adding fruit just makes it better. Melissa’s Produce has a wide selection of fruit to try in this basic batter.
I received a sample of Melissa’s Winter Crunch Grapes. These red seedless grapes are big, juicy and firm for snacking or cooking. So I thought, why not for baking?

They turned out to be a great choice! Winter Crunch Grapes held up their shape and texture. Learn more about Melissa’s Produce Winter Crunch Grapes here.
You can find the original Grape Snack Cake recipe from Melissa’s here.

Wintery Grape Coffee Cake

Print Recipe

Servings 9 pieces

Ingredients

2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 Tbsp shortening
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup red grapes cut in half (I used Winter Crunch by Melissa's)
topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
2 Tbsp cold butter, cut into small cubes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 8x8-inch baking pan. Cream together butter, shortening and sugar. Mix in egg and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Alternate adding dry mixture and buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Stir in grapes.
Pour batter into prepared pan. In a separate bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and pecans. Crumble in butter to form small crumbs, Sprinkle crumbs over top of batter. Bake for approximately 45 to 50 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cool completely before cutting.