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OEN Manifold Pilot Community: The Party Cookbook: Oen Manifold Pilot Community: The Party Cookbook

OEN Manifold Pilot Community: The Party Cookbook
Oen Manifold Pilot Community: The Party Cookbook
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“Oen Manifold Pilot Community: The Party Cookbook” in “OEN Manifold Pilot Community: The Party Cookbook”

Apple Pancake

My parents are originally from Chicago and The Walker Bros. Pancake House was a staple of our visits back to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins. They are known for their apple pancake which is absolutely delicious and is both mine and my dad’s favorite breakfast. My mom came up with this copycat recipe and we have it for birthdays and holidays. The key is to use Ceylon or Saigon cinnamon, but regular cinnamon will still work great! Enjoy!

— Jamie Witman, Open Education Network, University of Minnesota

Ingredients

  • 5 tbsp butter
  • 2 granny smith apples (peeled, cored, sliced thin)
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¼ tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs
  • ½ cup dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F
  2. In a mixing bowl add flour, milk, vanilla, and eggs to make batter. Mix well.
  3. In another bowl mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon.
  4. Add butter to a 10 inch pyrex pie deep dish pan and put in the oven.
  5. When butter is completely melted, remove from the oven.
  6. Pour the batter into the pie dish and bake for 20-25 minutes so the edges begin to puff up.
  7. Remove from the oven and add the apple mixture. Just place the apples all over on top of the batter.
  8. Next cover the apples with the remaining cinnamon sugar
  9. Bake for another 20-25 minutes.


Arroz con leche (Spanish rice pudding)

This is not a baked item – I am not much of a baker, though I do love to cook! – but I wanted to add something that fits with our sweet and yummy theme. This is one of my favorite desserts and the cinnamon really reminds me of being in Spain during the holidays. It is always a hit at parties, can easily feed a crowd, travels well, and can be served at room temperature.

I can’t remember exactly where the original recipe came from, maybe a Mediterranean cookbook I was given ages ago. Over the years I have adjusted it to try and recreate the rice pudding I have eaten in Spain and to appeal to my love of lemons and cinnamon. The rice is key here so try to find Spanish Bomba or Calasparra rice if you can, if not Italian Arborio (rice used for risotto) will work just fine.

— Robin Miller, Manifold Team, CUNY

Ingredients

  • 4 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1-2  tablespoons lemon zest, grated on a microplane, plus more for garnish (optional)
  • 1 cinnamon stick, 3 inches long, plus one for garnish, grated on a microplane (optional)
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 1 cup medium-grain white rice such as Spanish Bomba or Calasparra or Italian Arborio

Instructions

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the milk, water, sugar, lemon zest, and cinnamon stick. Using the tip of a small knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture and then add the pod. Stir in the rice and bring to just below a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a brisk simmer and cook, stirring often, until the rice is tender but some liquid remains, about 35-45 minutes. The pudding should have the consistency of thin oatmeal.

Remove the vanilla pod and cinnamon stick and discard. Spoon the pudding into a 2-qt cazuela or other serving dish or into individual glasses. Let it cool to room temperature and then cover and refrigerate, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day. Grate the cinnamon stick over the top just before serving and sprinkle with lemon zest, optional but highly recommended!

Be sure to serve this rice pudding cool, but not cold.

Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cookies

Yeah, I couldn’t find our coffee cake recipe, so we’re going with the cookies my mom always used to make for me during the holidays, and which I ate far too many off straight out of the oven.

Be warned, this makes a stupid amount of cookies, and they score a zero on the healthy meter. However they are really tasty and hard to stop eating.

— Terence Smyre, Manifold Team, University of Minnesota Press

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups applesauce
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 3 ½ cups flour
  • 1 bag chocolate chips

Instructions

Cream the sugar and shortening together in a large bowl. Add to that the eggs, applesauce, and rolled oats and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine and mix the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour. Now sift the mix of spices and flour into the bowl with the sugar and oats. Finally roll in the chocolate chips and mix evenly.

Spoon batter onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350°F until golden brown, approximately 10–12 minutes. These are great hot, right out of the oven, and equally good later once they have cooled, but the flavor signatures are different, so be sure to sample them at both times.


Machine Shed Applesauce Bread

There is a farm-themed restaurant called the Iowa Machine Shed near where I grew up, and my two sisters and I all worked there at one time or another. In addition to the typical dinner rolls, their bread baskets include this cinnamony applesauce bread. I usually make this recipe into muffins but here is the original with notes from both my mom and me.

— Anne Marie Gruber, University of Northern Iowa

Ingredients

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened (margarine is almost, but not quite as good)
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 3 eggs (room temperature)
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1½ cup applesauce (unsweetened is best, room temperature)
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon-sugar ("Sugar-mon" in our household)

Instructions

  1. Stir together flour, soda, and salt.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and gradually add sugar.
  3. Beat in eggs, milk, vanilla, and applesauce.
  4. Beat in flour mixture until well combined.
  5. Pour into two greased loaf pans (8 X 4 X 2).
  6. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar.
  7. Bake at 325 for 60 minutes.
  8. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
  9. Remove from pans, place on a wire rack and cool completely.

Note: Freezes well.


Party Mix

This sweet-salty version of party mix is something I’ve only seen in Hawai‘i. The versions I’ve seen on the continent tend to be plain (no coating), and strictly salty. If you like sweet-salty snacks, you’ll probably find this mix addicting.

— Leanne Urasaki, UHCC Manifold Team, Hawai‘i Community College

Ingredients

  • 1 lb (4 sticks) butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
  • 1 box (12 oz) Corn Chex
  • 1 box (12 oz) Rice Chex
  • 1 box (12 oz) Honeycomb cereal
  • 1 bag (9 oz) Snyder Butter Snaps pretzels
  • 1 bag (7.5 oz) Bugles

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 250°F.
  2. Melt the butter and sugar together.
  3. Add the garlic powder and worcestershire sauce, and mix well.
  4. Remove the butter mixture from the heat and set aside.
  5. Mix the cereal, pretzels, and Bugles, and spread into two large baking pans. (I use foil roasting/baking pans.)
  6. Pour the butter mixture over the cereal mix to coat.
  7. Bake for 1 hour, turning the mix every 15 minutes.
  8. Cool completely and store in airtight containers.

Notes: If you want to leave out any of the box/bag items, replace them with something similar to maintain the coating to mix ratio. Replacements need to have enough structure that won’t get soggy. Other common ingredients include Fritos, Cheetos, animal crackers, and nuts. In the image above, I used 12 oz each Corn Chex, Rice Chex, and Honeycomb cereals, and 16 oz of pretzels.


Pebernødder

Peppernuts (in Danish, Pebernødder) are tiny cookies that you can eat from the palm of your hand. But beware! Before you know it, you’ve consumed two dozen before dinner.

In years past, my mother-in-law made peppernuts in Kansas every Christmas, and mailed them to us in California. More recently, we’ve made peppernuts in California and mailed them to her in Kansas. I don’t use her recipe, however. I use a recipe adapted from a spiral-bound Danish cookbook that was once my grandmother’s. Copies were sold for $12.50, payable by check.

— Karen Lauritsen, Open Education Network, University of Minnesota

Ingredients

  • 1 c. butter, cut into cubes
  • 1 ½ c. brown sugar
  • ½ c. Greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 eggs
  • 5 c. flour, separated
  • 2 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 4 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

Mix together all ingredients, using only 2 c. of the flour. Make sure that all of the butter is mixed in well! Once mixed, add the additional 3 cups of flour until blended. If the dough is dry, add a sprinkle of milk, cream or water until it holds together. Chill for at least an hour to overnight. Roll the dough into links about half an inch in diameter. Chill again for at least an hour. Cut into squares and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375°F for 20 minutes or until golden.


Quick Dinner Rolls

These rolls are super easy to make, and take about an hour to make from start to finish! Leftover rolls can be stored in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I just made these last night, and finally remembered to take a pic.

— Leanne Urasaki, UHCC Manifold Team, Hawai‘i Community College

Ingredients

  • 3 3/4 cups (470 g) bread flour or all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk whole or low-fat
  • 4 tablespoons butter, plus a little to greasing the pan
  • 2 packs (4 1/2 teaspoons) instant yeast
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg
  • (additional egg and milk for egg wash)

Instructions

  1. Butter a 9 x 13 pan and set aside.
  2. Add the yeast and honey to the bowl of a stand mixer. Use a whisk to mix the yeast and honey together by hand, then attach the whisk attachment
  3. Microwave the milk and butter in 20 second intervals until it reaches 120°F.
  4. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the yeast and whisk on medium speed for 1-2 min.  until combined. Add the salt and egg and whisk until the egg is completely mixed in.
  5. Change to a dough hook and add the flour in three batches. After the last addition, mix until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  6. Continue to knead the dough in the stand mixer with the dough hook for 4-5 minutes until smooth and stretchy. The dough will still be sticky to the touch but you should be able to handle it with lightly floured hands without it sticking to your fingers. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour one tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. The exact amount needed can vary depending on the humidity.
  7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 16 equal-sized pieces. I find it helpful to use a bench scraper/dough cutter to handle and cut the dough.
  8. Form each piece into a ball by stretching the top and pulling down the sides of the dough then pinching the bottom together to create smooth tops. Roll the dough in the palms of your hands to create a round ball shape and place them into the pan about an inch apart.
  9. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and put it on top of the preheating oven to rise while the oven preheats, or until they have about doubled in size.
  10. Remove the plastic wrap, brush with egg/milk wash, and bake the rolls for 15-20 minutes. Bake covered with foil for the first 5 minutes, then uncover and bake until the tops are golden brown. Rotate the pan every 5 minutes.

Toffee Bars

Growing up, my mom always made (and still makes!) lots of Christmas cookies, mostly international flavors. This one is more Midwest in origin and is my favorite. Here it is exactly as shared in the Hansen Family Cookbook mom prepared for my siblings and me several years ago. Traditionally, the first batch of Christmas cookies, made over Thanksgiving weekend.

— Anne Marie Gruber, University of Northern Iowa

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter (leave out of refrigerator for at least an hour to soften)
  • 1 cup brown sugar (packed)
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 cup milk chocolate chips
  • ⅔ cup walnuts, finely chopped

Instructions

  1. Cream butter, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla.
  2. Stir flour and salt together and add to butter mixture, mixing thoroughly.
  3. Press dough into a greased 13 X 9 pan, using buttered fingers.
  4. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. It will still be soft.
  5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
  6. Let stand until chocolate is soft. (I cover the pan with a cookie sheet for a few minutes to melt the chips.)
  7. Spread chocolate smoothly over cookies.
  8. Sprinkle with nuts and gently press nuts down to set them in the chocolate.
  9. Cut into 1 inch squares with a sharp knife while still warm.


White Fruitcake

Ok, so don’t immediately envision the dark, bitter fruitcakes that most avoid. This is a white fruitcake, similar to a pound cake with the fruit and nuts.

— Leanne Urasaki, UHCC Manifold Team, Hawai‘i Community College

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks butter (1/2 c)
  • 1 1/2 cup sugar
  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup fruit mix
  • 1/2 cup chopped nuts
  • 1/4 cup flour

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.
  2. In a large bowl, cream the butter & cream cheese.
  1. Gradually add the sugar.
  2. Add eggs one at a time.
  3. Add the vanilla extract.
  4. Set aside.
  1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour & baking powder. Add to the large bowl slowly, combine, and set aside.
  2. Empty fruit mix into another medium bowl, add the chopped nuts. Then, slowly add flour to coat the mix. This helps to keep the fruit and nuts from clumping together in the finished fruitcake.
  3. Add to the large bowl, and mix to distribute—do NOT overmix.
  4. Spoon mixture into cupcake mold or loaf pan.
  5. Bake for 1 hour (test with a toothpick at 50 min). Cupcakes and mini loaves will bake quicker. Start testing after 40 minutes.
  6. Let the cake completely cool before serving (it’s even better the second day).

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