The Cowgirl Chef: Cooler days bring back urge to bake sweets

• 2 cups flour
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
•  1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
•  1/4 teaspoon cloves
•  6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
•  1/2 cup sugar
•  1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk (keep the white for brushing the tops of the loaves)

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

3. Beat the softened butter in a mixer until it’s light, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour in the sugars and mix until fluffy, for another minute or two. Add the egg, then the egg yolk, beating for at least a minute between each one.

4. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix just until the dough comes together. Divide dough between the two cookie sheets and form 2 inch-by-10 inch logs.

5. Brush the logs with the egg white and bake them one at a time, just until the bottoms turn light brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Wait 10 minutes before slicing the biscotti on the diagonal, then put them back on the cookie sheet for a second bake. I bake mine for 10 minutes, then turn the biscotti to the other side for another 10 minutes. Let them cool completely before storing in an airtight container. They’ll taste even better the next day.

Nutritional analysis per biscotti: 95 calories, 3 grams fat, 15 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, 25 milligrams cholesterol, 77 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber, 31 percent of calories from fat.

• 1  1/2 cups flour
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 stick/ 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon butter, for greasing the pan
• 1 day-old baguette
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup cream
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
•  1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Make the streusel topping. Combine the first 6 ingredients n a small bowl. Set aside.

3. Butter an 8 inch-by-8 inch glass dish.

4. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes. I like to leave the crusts on, but if you want to take them off, now’s the time. You should have 4 to 5 cups of bread. Toss into a large bowl.

5. Whisk together the milk, cream, eggs, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Pour this over the bread, press down and stir; keep watch on this for the next 15 or 20 minutes to ensure that the bread soaks up the mixture. You’ll want to stir it around a few times.

6. When the bread is completely saturated with the eggy mixture, spoon half into the prepared dish. Sprinkle half of the streusel topping on top, then spoon the rest of the bread on top of this. Finish with the remaining streusel topping. Put foil on top of the dish and place it in a larger dish and fill halfway with water. Slide into the oven and bake for 45 minutes or until set. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Nutritional analysis per serving, based on 9: 513 calories, 22 grams fat, 68 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams protein, 129 milligrams cholesterol, 550 milligrams sodium, 2 grams dietary fiber, 39 percent of calories from fat.

•  1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and finely ground
• 1 cup flour
•  1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 stick/ 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
•  1/2 cup brown sugar
•  1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
• 2 ounces milk chocolate

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8 inch-by-8 inch pan with foil.

2. Whisk together ground walnuts, flour and sea salt, and set aside.

3. In a mixer, beat the softened butter with brown sugar until fluffy. Add flour mixture and mix just until combined. Fold in walnut pieces.

4. Press the dough into the pan, making sure to mash it all the way into the corners and evenly along the sides. Prick all over with a fork. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, remove from pan and cut it into 24 cookies with a serrated knife. Let cool completely on a rack.

5. Melt chocolate over a double boiler, and spoon it into a small heavy-duty plastic bag (I use quart-size freezer bags). Snip off corner and pipe chocolate onto cooled cookies.

Nutritional analysis per cookie: 116 calories, 8 grams fat, 9 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams protein, 11 milligrams cholesterol, 62 milligrams sodium, trace dietary fiber, 61 percent of calories from fat.

• 2 cups cream
• 3 cups milk
• 2 vanilla beans
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
•  1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 pears, medium-firm, peeled and seeded and split in half
•  1/4 lemon
• 4 teaspoons butter
• 4 teaspoons sugar
• Salty caramel sauce, recipe follows

1. Put a wire mesh strainer over a large bowl and pour the cream into the bowl.

2. Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Split the vanilla beans, scrape out the seeds and add them to the milk.

3. Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a medium bowl with the sugar and salt.

4. When milk begins to show tiny bubbles along the side, it’s ready.

5. Temper the eggs by slowly pouring a little milk into the egg mixture, and whisking quickly. Add the egg mixture back to the saucepan and continue to cook over medium heat until it thickens slightly, another 5 to 10 minutes. When the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon, pour it through the strainer and into the cream. Whisk to combine.

6. Cool the mixture in an ice bath, then refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours (I usually do this the day before and let it chill overnight).

7. To roast the pears, heat the oven to 400 degrees and lay the pears inside-up in a glass baking dish.

8. Squeeze the lemon over the pears and put a pat of butter in the center of each one, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through and slightly soft. Let cool, then chop into bite-size pieces and refrigerate.

9. When ready to make the ice cream, pour half of the vanilla bean ice cream mixture into a container, add half of the chopped pears and a heaping tablespoon of caramel sauce. Add the rest of the ice cream, and the other half of the pears and another heaping spoonful of caramel sauce. Freeze until the ice cream hardens completely, another 1 or 2 hours. 　

Salty caramel sauce

• 1  1/2 cups sugar
•  1/4 cup water
• 1 stick salted butter
•  3/4 cup crème fraiche or sour cream

1. Get out your heaviest, deepest pot and a long wooden spoon. Put the sugar and water in the pot, stirring so it combines, and turn the heat to medium-high. It’ll bubble continuously. Don’t even think about stirring the pot. The less you mess with caramel, the better.

2. After 10 to 15 minutes, you’ll notice the sugar beginning to darken around the edges of the pot. Don’t stir. But, you may pick up the pot and give it a gentle swirl. The sugar may look weird and crackly at this point, but don’t worry. Soon, you’ll notice that the bubbling sugar has turned into a bubbling foam, which means it’s getting close to ready. Watch for the color to turn to amber, and when it does, turn off the heat, add the butter and crème fraiche or sour cream and stand back.

It’ll bubble up like crazy, but it will calm down quickly. Stir it with the wooden spoon until the butter and crème fraiche or sour cream is completely incorporated. Pour into a glass bowl to cool, and then refrigerate.

Nutritional analysis per serving (entire recipe): 450 calories, 26 grams fat, 52 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams protein, 130 milligrams cholesterol, 205 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber, 50 percent of calories from fat.

Nutritional analysis per 1-tablespoon serving of salty caramel sauce: 40 calories, 4 grams fat, trace carbohydrates, trace protein, 13 milligrams cholesterol, 32 milligrams sodium, no dietary fiber, 96 percent of calories from fat.