Happy New Year! I realize I’ve been a missing-in-action the last few months. I have been having trouble finding my blogging rhythm ever since French Fridays with Dorie ended. I have plenty of ideas about what I want to share with you, but so far the execution has not happened. Maybe in the new year?
In the meantime, here is a quick and dirty catch-up of the Tuesdays with Dorie recipes I have made over the last few months.
Apple Pielettes
What a clever idea! Little mini pies baked in muffin tins. I cut the recipe in half and made six pielettes. My only issue with these was that my filling did not entirely “fill” each pielette. They sure were tasty though!
Chocolate-Covered Toffee Breakups
There is only one word to describe this toffee: Wow! It was SO GOOD! It’s a good thing I gave most of this away, because I may have eaten it all within a day or so if I hadn’t. It was very addictive.
A Note About Making this at High Altitudes: To make the toffee, you have to bring the sugar mixture to 300° F. At higher altitudes, since the boiling point is lower, you need to bring the sugar mixture to a lower temp, otherwise it will burn. I took mine off the heat at 292° F and it was perfect. To find the appropriate temperature for your altitude, check out this site: http://bakingwithaltitude.com/high-altitude-candy-making-tips/.
Stained Glass Cookies
My daughter and I made these together a few days before Christmas. It turns out we aren’t very good at filling the holes with the crushed lifesavers. I like the way they look though; kind of like water colors. These were fine, but I wasn’t wowed by them. I would make them again as a fun Christmas activity, but otherwise I would skip the lifesavers and make basic vanilla cookies, maybe with a sprinkling of colored sugar on top.
I hope 2016 treats all of you well. See you in the new year!
From Scratch 
Great roundup Karen. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! I love your cookies. You know they are homemade when they are not perfect. I am still plugging along with my French Friday recipes and I am currently enjoying the soups. Look forward to more baking in the new year.
Oh yummy — just looking at your treats makes me hungry! I agree with you about the pielettes, I would have liked more filled inside as the filling bakes down but the crust holds its lovely shape.
Great catch up, everything looks wonderful. The recipe for the toffee was one of my favorites and really not difficult at all. Happy New Year. Ro
Wonderful catch ups! The toffee looks so good.
Those all turned out beautifully! The apple pielettes were a big hit with my family – so much so that I turned out a few batches for my mother’s Christmas craft fair bake sale.