Simple Onion Jam

Simple Onion Jam
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons honey
two large white onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced

Bring the vinegar, water, maple syrup, and honey to a boil. Add the onions and garlic. Simmer until onions are softened and liquid is reduced. Add a little more water as needed to keep the pan from going dry. 

Roasted Baby Potatoes with Mustard Aioli & Onion Jam

White baby potatoes. Cut an "X" in the top of each potato. Do not cut all the way through the potato, just enough to make a small crown-like opening. You can also cut a small slice off the bottom of the potatoes if they are really round and roll too much. Drizzle the potatoes with oil, salt, and pepper and roast at 425◦F until tender. They can be prepared ahead of time up to this point.
Fill the centers of the potatoes with onion jam and pop back in the oven to heat through. Remove from oven and top with a dollop of mustard aioli and two thin slices of chives.

Pecan Jam Thumbprint Cookies

These are a real special cookie (read: tedious and time-consuming). They look great on a Christmas cookie platter, next to a cup of tea, or with a glass of milk. Use any type of nut and jam you wish! Pictured here are pecan and strawberry. 

Pecan Jam Thumbprint Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
pinch salt
1 cup chopped pecans
jam of choice

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt. Chill dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350◦F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll dough into one inch balls, dip in egg white, then roll in nuts Place on prepared baking sheets.
Make an indentation in the center and fill with 1/2 teaspoon jam.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until cookies are set.

Banana Peanut Jam Muffins

Yummy, moist, healthy, delicious, vegan muffins that are a cinch to make!!

Banana Peanut Jam Muffins
1 1⁄3 cups whole wheat flour 
1⁄2 cup turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3⁄4 cup wheat bran
1 cup salty seasoned cocktail peanuts (whatever your favorite kind are)
2 over-ripe mashed bananas
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup non-dairy milk
6 teaspoons strawberry jam
4 teaspoon turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375◦F. Grease or line 12 muffin cups.
In a large bowl, mix together the first nine dry ingredients.
In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the next five wet ingredients.
Blend the wet into the dry.
Spoon half the batter into the muffin cups.
Place 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry jam into the center of each.
Top with remaining batter.
Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Bake for about 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Ginger Lime Jam

Ginger Lime Jam
1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
2 cups lime juice
1 cup granulated (white) sugar

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer until thickened and almost syrupy. It will thicken more and form more of a syrup once cooled.

This jam has a pleasing zing to it, and because of all the lime juice, it isn't too sweet either. It can be used in more savory applications and pairs particularly well with nuts. Pictured here in the center, is has a beautiful shine to it and would be delicious on bread or biscuits, as well as a jam cooking filling option.

Strawberry Jam Oatmeal Thumbprint Cookies

This is a really easy cookie recipe that just happens to be vegan and relatively healthy. The rolling and filling of the cookies is a little time-consuming but well worth the effort. These cookies are filled with oats and whole wheat flour, use oil instead of butter, and are naturally sweetened by molasses and maple syrup. They also contain a hint of spice for flavor, but this can be omitted for a plain cookie. They keep well and freeze well.

Strawberry Jam Oatmeal Thumbprint Cookies
4 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup maple syrup
strawberry jam (or your favorite flavor)

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flour, salt, and spices.
Stir in the oil, molasses, and syrup; mix well.
Roll dough into walnut-sized balls, using about 1/2 tablespoon dough for each. Alternately, you may make these cookies as large or as small as you wish.
Place cookies slightly apart on prepared baking sheets.
Using your thumb or the opposite end of a mixing spoon, press a small indent into the center of each cookie. 
Fill each cookie with one teaspoon or so of jam - fill it straight to the top but don't overfill. The jam will reduce slightly when baked and doesn't tend to overflow like in some cookies, so be generous.
Bake for 15 minutes until the bottoms are lightly browned. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a couple minutes to firm up.

Makes approximately small 60 cookies.

Marmalade Bars

Marmalade Bars
4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butter or hard margarine, softened
2 large eggs
2 cups orange marmalade

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line a 9x13 inch rectangular pan.
In a large bowl, crumble together all ingredients except the marmalade until well blended. Press two-thirds of the mixture into the prepared pan.Spread evenly with the marmalade, then crumble remaining crust over top. Bake for about 25 minutes until light golden.

This is sort of similar to the recipe for jam bars, except the crust is more tender and crumbly and doesn't require the fuss of rolling and cutting. I bet this recipe is great with any type of jam, and would be especially tasty with a homemade jam filling.

Chocolate Berry Jam Roll

I have only made a jelly/jam roll a few times before, but I never actually made it with jelly or jam. I always made a different kind of filling - such as chocolate, icing, cream, or ice cream. This is a jam roll made with a triple berry fruit jam. I cheated a little and did not actually use a jelly roll recipe. I was really busy baking for the exhibition, and since I was making chocolate cake anyway, I decided just to use that as my cake base for the jelly roll since I knew it was already an award-winning recipe that always goes over really well. Plus, I only needed a small amount of each. I whipped up the batter, than poured some of it into a five-inch round ovenproof bowl for the cake, and poured the remaining batter (which only needed to be a thin layer) into a 9x13 inch rectangular pan lined with parchment paper. Normally, a jelly roll cake would be baked in a 10x15 inch pan, but I only needed a small jelly roll. After it baked, I rolled it into a roll on a tea towel sprinkled with icing sugar, cooled it, filled it with jam, re-rolled it, and sliced it. It worked out, and the cake was delicious, but there are reasons there are certain recipes designed to be jelly rolls. i think this cake batter is a bit too moist and heavy for a really successful jelly roll. It cracked in a few places and was a bit difficult to hold together in order to be sliced, but nothing a little sprinkling of icing sugar could not hide. After I got the three slices I needed for the contest, I actually cut the cake in half vertically, and then sliced it horizontally to make smaller, less messy pieces. 

Chocolate Jam Sandwich Cookies

Here is the recipe from yesterday's cookies. It is incredibly quick and easy, and the dough need not be chilled before rolling (unless your kitchen is really hot), so there is no advance prep work required!

Linzer Cookie Dough
1/2 cup butter or hard margarine, softened
2 Tablespoons granulated (white) sugar
2 Tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup golden corn syrup
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
jam or jelly of your choice 
icing sugar or chocolate to decorate

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line a cookie sheet. 
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. beat in syrup, egg, and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Roll dough out about 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface and cut with a floured cutter into desired shapes. If you are doing different shapes, ensure there is a top and bottom for each cookie, and cut a small hole somewhere in the top shape for the jam to show through.

Place the bottom cookies, a few centimeters apart on the prepared cookie sheet. Spread with the jam of your choice (I used strawberry), using only about a 1/2 teaspoon for each cookie and being sure not to spread right to the edges of the cookies. Place the top cookie on top. Bake for about 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned (check the bottoms). Transfer cookies to cool. 
Alternatively, cookies could be sandwiched together with jam after baking, however this can be messier and I think they stay together better if the jam is placed on the raw dough and sandwiched together. I also prefer the jam to be baked. 
Once cookies are cooled or nearly cooled, they can be decorated with a dusting of icing sugar, or drizzled with melted chocolate. I melted a handful of semisweet chocolate chips and used a fork to drizzle the chocolate horizontally over the cookies. 

Eiffel Tower Cookies

I suppose you could consider this somewhat of another trip post, although I did make these cookies here at home. While I was away, I went into a beautiful kitchenware store (actually one of many) that sold a vast selection of unique cookie cutters. Among them was the Cologne Cathedral and one of my favorite famous landmarks, the Eiffel Tower. It's funny because this store actually was not in France at all, but in Germany. However, I assure you I did soon after visit the actual site of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. In Paris, you can buy just about anything with the Eiffel Tower on it, or shaped as such - from plates to towels, to snowglobes, clothing, dry pasta, bedding - you name it! The Eiffel tower is surely a beautiful and iconic landmark. Therefore, Eiffel Tower merchandise is available in many places outside of Paris as well. Come to think of it, upon my return home I've begun to notice while shopping here how many Eiffel tower things there are to purchase here as well. An Eiffel Tower shirt definitely does not signify you have been to Paris. I can now say I have, but I must admit, I had Eiffel Tower luggage before my trip.

Getting back to the cookies, this cookie cutter makes a lovely decoration. It stands up by itself or could also be hung from a string and displayed. such as on a Christmas tree. Although it's main purpose is to cut cookies, I wasn't sure the cookies would stay together with the intricate shape, but just had to try. Also on my list of things to try were linzer cookies, which are basically jam-filled butter sandwich cookies in shapes such that the jam appears through a small hole in the cookies. I've had these cookies before but never made them myself. 

So I whipped up a batch of dough and tried the cutter. At first the cookies weren't working, which is why you see one Eiffel Tower placed on top of a circle shape, but I think I had rolled the dough too thin. Next, the top half and the bottom half of the tower would not stay together in all the cookies, so I made these the top cookies in order to expose some of the jam. Finally I got the hang of it, by dipping the cookies cutter in flour between each cut, and cutting out the small diamond in the middle for the jam to show through. So the cutter does work well, though I'm not convinced the Cologne Cathedral cutter would have fared as well. 

Jam Squares

My mother made these jam squares for the first time the other day. The recipe was given to her by my father's mother, who often used to make these. This is definitely a comforting, old-fashioned recipe. It is one of those classics that could be modernized, but really shouldn't. It has a nice sweet base, jam filling, and crumble topping, but yet they are fairly quick and easy to make. I'm sure any type of jam would do, but the ones pictured here have strawberry jam. 

Jam Squares
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter or hard margarine
1 1/3 cups coconut, flaked or shredded
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
jam (strawberry is pictured above)

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Grease or line a 9-inch square pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Mix in the butter, then the coconut and walnuts. Add the egg and vanilla until crumbly.
Press 3/4 of the mixture into prepared pan. Spread with jam and sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over top. Bake for about 40 minutes until lightly golden around the edges.

Jambuster Muffins

These are Jambuster muffins. They are firm oatmeal muffins with a spoonful of jam in the middle. They are quite good, with a nice burst of fruit flavor from the middle, although they are a bit dry overall. I like the idea of a hidden filling, but perhaps adding something else to the entire batter would give these muffins a little more flavor and moistness. Be sure to cover the jam completely with batter, it doesn't look as nice but it saves the jam from burning or bubbling over onto your pan.

Because I like to experiment, and because not everyone likes jam, I put a chocolate kiss into the center of some of my muffins instead of jam. A spoonful of chocolate chips would probably work too, although they tend to hold their shape in the oven and not melt into the muffin. Caramel chocolate kisses were especially good. 

Jambuster Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil

Measure first 6 ingredients into large bowl. Stir. Make a well in center.
Combine next 3 ingredients in medium bowl. Add to well. Stir until just moistened. Fill 12 greased muffin cups 1/2 full.
Make small dent in batter with back of spoon. Spoon 2 teaspoons jam into each dent. Spoon remaining batter over top. Bake in 375◦F oven for 18 to 20 minutes until firm to touch. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool. Makes 12 muffins. 

From Company's Coming "Mostly Muffins".

Paré, Jean. "Jambuster Muffins." Recipe. Mostly Muffins, Edmonton Alberta: Company's Coming Publishing Limited, 2007. 37.