Cocoa Pecan Ring Food

COCOA PECAN RING

Steps:

• In large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add cocoa, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the shortening, salt, egg and 1 cup of the flour. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in remaining flour until smooth. Scrape dough from side of bowl. Cover; let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until double in size.
• Grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening or cooking spray. In small bowl, mix 1/4 cup granulated sugar and the pecans. Stir down dough by beating about 25 strokes. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls into sugar-pecan mixture, coating each ball of dough. Place in pan, making 2 layers of balls. Cover; let rise in warm place about 40 minutes or until double in size.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Bake about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over. Carefully remove pan. Cool slightly. In small bowl, mix all glaze ingredients with spoon until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over coffee cake. Garnish with almonds. Serve warm.

CHOCOLATE COVERED PECANS

Steps:

• Combine the chocolate chips and cream in a medium metal bowl, and set on top of a pan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Stir pecan halves into the chocolate until completely coated.
• Remove a few pecans at a time with a slotted spoon. Separate pecan halves and place onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to set.

CRISP COCOA-PECAN COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk flour, cocoa, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon (generous) salt in medium bowl. Stir butter and next 5 ingredients in another medium bowl until smooth. Stir in flour mixture, then nuts. Cover and chill until firm enough to scoop, at least 4 hours. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.
• Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment. Measure 2 level tablespoonfuls dough; roll between palms into ball. Place on prepared sheet. Using fingers, spread out dough to 3-inch-diameter disk. Repeat with remaining dough, spacing 5 inches apart.
• Bake cookies 8 minutes; reverse sheets. Bake cookies until flat and beginning to darken around edges, about 10 minutes. Transfer cookies on parchment to rack (cookies will crisp as they cool). DO AHEAD: Can be made 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
• Place rack inside rimmed baking sheet. Place chocolate chips in small microwave- safe bowl. Heat chips in microwave in 15-second intervals until smooth, stirring occasionally. Place cookies on rack. Drizzle melted chocolate over cookies. Let stand until chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

SWEDISH TEA RING WITH PECANS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water and let stand until creamy, about 15 minutes. Zest and juice the lemon; set juice aside for later use.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast mixture, milk, butter, salt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and 2 cups of the flour. Stir until smooth and well combined. Mix in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has come together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and satiny; about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume; about 1 hour.
• Punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 12x24 inches.
• In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, 1/4 cup sugar and pecans; spread this mixture evenly across the dough. Roll the dough into a long roll and press the seam closed. With the seam turned downward, seal the two ends together to make a ring. Use a little water to help you seal the ends.
• Place the ring on a lightly greased cookie pan. Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, make cuts every inch or so along the ring, cutting only three quarters of the way through. Twist each piece slightly so that the rolls fan out from the center of the ring. Cover the roll with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the ring from the oven, place on a rack to cool.
• Place the lemon juice in a small bowl along with the vanilla. Add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Continue adding powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is fairly thick but still pourable. Drizzle the lemon-sugar topping over the ring.

PECAN COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, stir 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon together. Butter a tube pan well and liberally coat it with the cinnamon sugar.
• In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. With the mixer running, slowly add the sugar and mix. Add the eggs and mix until the mixture is light and fluffy. Sift the sifted flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Working in batches, add them to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with dollops of sour cream. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
• Make the topping: In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Add the butter and, using your fingertips, pinch the ingredients together into a sandy, crumbly mixture. Add the pecans and mix. Sprinkle the mixture over the cake.
• Bake until risen and browned, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan then turn out. Serve in slices.

COCOA PECAN BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Combine the melted butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Blend well until smooth. Add the salt, vanilla, and cinnamon, and blend until smooth. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix until smooth. Combine the cocoa powder and flour, and sift. Add the cocoa-flour mixture to the butter mixture and to form a batter. Add 1/2 the nuts, and blend well.
• Grease a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Pour the batter into the dish. Sprinkle the surface with the remaining 1/2-cup of nuts. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until set.

PECAN-FILLED COFFEE RINGS

Steps:

• In a bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar in warm milk; let stand for 5 minutes. In a bowl, cream butter and remaining sugar. Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla and salt. Add yeast mixture and 1 cup flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 16-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Combine filling ingredients; spread over dough to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal., Place seam side down on greased baking sheets; pinch ends together to form a ring. With kitchen scissors, cut from the outside edge two-thirds of the way toward center of ring at 1-in. intervals. Separate strips slightly and twist to allow filling to show. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. , Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks; cool for 20 minutes. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over warm rings.

CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE

Steps:

• Make the dough for the Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust . Roll, shape, and prebake it as follows:
• Roll the Dough
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or until it is soft enough to roll. Using a pastry cloth and sleeve rubbed with flour or two sheets of plastic wrap lightly sprinkled with flour, roll the dough 1/8 inch thick or less and large enough to cut a 12-inch circle, for a 9 1/2-inch tart pan, or 12 1/2 inches for a 10-inch tart pan.
• Shape the Dough
• Use an expandable flan ring or a cardbard template and a sharp knife as a guide to cut the circle. Transfer the dough to the pan by rolling it around the rolling pin, by slipping your hands underneath it, palm sides down, and lifting it into the pan, or by folding it into quarters. Press the dough against the fluted sides of the pan. Turn down the edge about 1/4 inch so that it extends about 1/8 inch above the top of the pan. Using the back edge of a knife blade held on an angle, make decorative marks all around. Cover the pastry lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 24 hours.
• Blind Bake the Dough
• Preheat the oven to 425°F. at least 20 minutes before baking. Set an oven rack at the lowest level. Line the dough with parchment, pleating it as necessary to fit the pan, or use a large cup-shaped coffee filter. Fill with rice or dried beans, making sure they are pushed up well against the sides of the liner. Place it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Lift out the parchment with the rice or beans and prick the bottom of the tart shell all over with the tines of a fork; if using a sticky or runny filling, prick only halfway through the dough. Return it to the oven for 7 to 10 minutes more or until pale golden brown (5 minutes for a partially prebaked crust). Check after 3 minutes and prick again if the upper layer of dough bubbles up.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. at least 15 minutes before baking.
• Arrange the pecans, top sides up, in the bottom of the baked crust.
• In a medium nonreactive saucepan, combine the cocoa, egg yolks, syrup, brown sugar, butter, cream, and salt. Cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and without letting the mixture boil, until it is smooth and uniform in color and hot to the touch (115° to 120°F. on a candy thermometer), about 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a small bowl and stir in the vanilla.
• Slowly pour the filling over the nuts, coating the upper surface.
• Place a foil ring on top of the crust to prevent overbrowning and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the filling is puffed but still soft enough to shimmy like jelly when moved. Allow the pie to cool completely on a rack about 45 minutes before unmolding it from the pan. Serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream, if desired.
• Store
• Room temperature, up to 1 week.
• Pointers for Success
• Be sure to check the pie toward the end of the baking time to prevent over-baking and drying the filling.
• Understanding
• The filling is brought to a lower temperature than for the nonchocolate version because the acidity of the cocoa would cause coagulation of the egg yolks at a higher temperature. Straining is difficult because of the thickening quality of the cocoa and unnecessary in any case, as the cocoa masks any slight graininess from the eggs.

COCOA-PECAN CRESCENTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, with electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
• Stir together flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, blending well.
• Stir in pecans.
• Cover; refrigerate dough 1 hour, or until firm enough to handle.
• Preheat oven to 375°.
• For each cookie, shape scant 1 tablespoon dough into log about 2 ½ inches long; place on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Shape each log into crescent shape, tapering ends.
• Bake 13-15 minutes, or until set.
• Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.
• Cool completely.
• Roll in confectioner’s sugar.

SPICY COCOA GLAZED PECANS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, then use a vegetable oil spray to lightly coat a large but shallow baking sheet.
• In a bowl combine the 1/2 cup of sugar & the warm water, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
• Add pecans & let soak 10 minutes before draining & discarding the water.
• In a large bowl, stir together the 1/4 cup of sugar, cocoa, chili powder & cayenne pepper.
• Add pecans to this spicy cocoa mixture & toss until all the cocoa mixture coats the pecans, then spread the nuts evenly on the prepared pan.
• Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until pecans start to glisten & appear dry, stirring several times while baking.
• Remove from the oven & let the baking sheet cool completely on a wire rack.
• Store nuts in a tightly covered container, placed in a cool, dry spot.
• Serve as a snack, with beverages, or sprinkle in salads.