Caramel Pear With Almond Cookies Food

CARAMEL PEAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
• Use an electric mixer to cream together butter and sugars until well blended. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add in the dry ingredient mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Carefully stir in the caramel bits and diced pears until combined.
• Use a small cookie scoop or a spoon to form the dough into tablespoon-fulls. Place on a cookie sheet at least 2.5 inches apart, and then dot on top with a few additional caramel bits. Bake cookies until the outer edges are golden and begin to slightly harden, about 15 minutes. Remove and let the cookies cool on the baking sheets.

ALMOND PEAR TART

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 10-in. circle. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. , In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar and flour; add pears and toss to coat. Spoon over the crust to within 2 in. of edges. Fold up edges of crust over filling, leaving center uncovered. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. , Bake at 450° for 15 minutes or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly. Sprinkle with almonds; bake 5 minutes longer. Using the parchment, slide tart onto a wire rack to cool.

CARAMEL PEARS

Steps:

• Microwave 10 ounces unwrapped soft caramels with 1 tablespoon half-and-half, stirring every 20 seconds, until smooth. Pour into a wide mug, then quickly dip 4 pears in the caramel, sprinkle with chopped pistachios and let set on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

CARAMEL PEAR

Steps:

• In a martini shaker filled with ice, combine the vodka, juice and simple syrup. Shake well and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a slice of pear.
• In a pot combine the sugar, water, and spices. Bring up to a simmer, stirring occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved. Pour the mixture thorough a strainer and discard the whole spices.

CARAMEL PEAR WITH ALMOND COOKIES

Steps:

• Juice and zest one lemon into separate bowls and set aside. You should get at least one tsp of lemon juice. Use 1/2 tsp over the diced pears and 1/2 tsp for the cookie dough.
• Dice 1 Barlett pear into small pieces and then sprinkle 1/2 tsp of lemon juice over the pears. Lemon juice will stop the browning process. Weigh or measure the white and light brown sugars into a bowl and set aside. Weigh or measure the flour and baking powder into a bowl and run a whisk through to blend.
• In a stand or hand-held mixer, add the butter and the sugars and blend on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Next, add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest till incorporated. Turn the mixer down to a low setting and add the flour mixture for about a minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and across the bottom and finish blending. Don't over mix; just incorporate the flour.
• Add the caramel chips, almonds, and dices pears and just mix for a minute till everything is blended. Don't mix for any more than a minute, so the pears do not crumble. You can always hand mix with a spatula if you think it needs to be incorporated more throughout the cookie dough. Loosely wrap and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350° and line 2 cookie pans with parchment paper and set aside. Pull dough from the refrigerator and using a medium cookie scoop place 12 scoops on a lined cookie pan. I take three fingers and flatten the top of the cookie scoop. Bake for 13-15 minutes, moving to a cooling rack after being taken from the oven. This recipe makes about 2-1/2 dozen cookies.

ALMOND CARAMEL THUMBPRINTS

Steps:

• For the cookies: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly butter 2 baking sheets.
• Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer equipped with the paddle attachment-the one that looks like the peace sign-and beat until creamy and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the egg yolks and almond extract and beat for another minute or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
• In another large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped almonds.
• Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture. When combined, the dough should be soft and homogeneous. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, until firm.
• When you're ready to bake, take the dough out of the fridge and roll it into 3/4-inch balls. Place the balls about 1 inch apart on a prepared baking sheet. Using the tip of your thumb, make a hole as deep as you can in each doughball without actually poking through the bottom. Roll your thumb around a little bit to widen the hole-this is your thumbprint!
• Bake the cookies for 16 to 18 minutes or until they begin to turn golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool. While the cookies are cooling, repoke each one with your thumb to create a really nice spot for the caramel. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• For the caramel: In a medium saute pan, combine the sugar, lemon juice, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water. Bring the pan to medium-high heat. Be careful not to swish the pan around as that can cause the sugar to recrystallize. As the mixture boils, the water will evaporate and the sugar will begin to turn brown, or "caramelize." This is the point when you DO NOT want to take your eyes off it! Things can take a turn for the worse here and there will be no recovery. As the sugar begins to turn gold and move toward golden brown, remove it from the heat and add the heavy cream. As you do this it will bubble up like crazy. Be sure to use a pan large enough to accommodate the bubbling-this stuff is molten and can cause a very severe burn. Whisk the cream until things settle down and the bubbles subside, then add the butter 2 pats at a time, making sure each addition is thoroughly incorporated before adding more.
• Let the caramel cool slightly, then spoon it into the hole of each cookie and let cool. You'll most likely have leftover caramel sauce, so save it for something yummy-like pouring over vanilla ice cream!