Muffin Mondays

George Hirsch January 7, 2024

I look forward to my Muffin Mondays to kick off a chilly winter week. It's a perfect way to take the chill out of the air. It'll inspire you to keep on baking with fresh muffin inspiration. So let's get started—here's my seasonal spin on the average apple muffin - add pumpkin and crumb. My muffins are great to take on the go, too. Enjoy!

Apple Pumpkin Crumb Muffins

recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes 18 muffins or one 9 x 13 coffee cake

For the crumb topping:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup oats, not quick cooking

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1/2 cup melted butter

Mix all sugars, flour, oats, and nuts. Pour in butter and mix until the topping looks like wet sand. Do not over-mix; the topping should have a lumpy consistency. Reserve crumb topping and prepare the muffin batter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.

For the muffins:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; or 50/50 whole wheat flour

2 cups pure cane granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ginger

Pinch allspice & fresh grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup applesauce, or vegetable oil

2 cups Green or baking apples, peeled, core, and chopped into small pieces

In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until flour is absorbed. Add chopped apples.

Add batter into prepared muffin cups 3/4 filled. Top each muffin with crumb mixture and bake.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

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Vine Ripen Pizza

George Hirsch September 1, 2023

FLATBREAD PIZZA When it comes to making any type of pizza, let imagination and the season rule your toppings. I love this Caprese-style pizza in the summer with an abundance of vine-ripe tomatoes. And if you are up to expanding your hand-tossed style, take the dough to the grill for an added fire-roasted flavor.

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Caprese Flatbread Pizza

Makes four servings |

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the art of making pizza dough, easy as 1, 2, 3

Mix Dough and place in a bowl lightly oiled with olive oil. Cover loosely with a towel or plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator overnight.

The next day, preheat *oven to 475 degrees F.

Stretch out the dough to a rectangular shape and cut it into two pieces. Sprinkle a teaspoon of fine-grind cornmeal on the surface of a heavy gauge pizza pan or sheet pan. Place the two pieces of dough on the top of the cornmeal. Brush top lightly with olive oil.

Bake for 8-10 minutes or until pizza flatbread crusts is fully baked. You can check for doneness by tapping on the edge of the dough with your finger. It should be hollow.

Remove from oven, place two pizza flatbreads on a rack, and allow to cool.

When cool, top with sliced vine oak leaf lettuce, ripened tomatoes, fresh basil, and pesto; sprinkle a small amount of sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and olive oil.

*NOTE: If grilling, pre-heat the grill to high heat. After stretching and right before placing dough on the grill surface, brush heavy with olive oil.

George's Pizza Dough

Makes enough for 2-3 pizzas

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1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (between 105 and 115 degrees F)

1 teaspoon sugar

3 1/2 cups bread flour

1/4teaspoon salt

3/4 cup warm water

1 Tablespoon olive oil

In a small bowl, combine the yeast and water. Add the sugar and stir well. Set aside for 10 minutes or until tiny bubbles appear on the surface.

Place 3 cups of the flour in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour the yeast mixture and the water. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, using the additional 1/2 cup flour if the dough is sticky.

The dough is sufficiently kneaded when you can stick two fingers into it, and it springs back without leaving an indentation.

Cut the dough into four pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Let the dough rest in an oiled bowl for 45-60 minutes. Lightly oil the top of each ball with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, cover with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

- Mixing with a mixer & dough hook: Mix for eight minutes at medium speed

- Mixing with a food processor: process for 40 seconds until smooth; add one additional Tablespoon of flour until all of the flour is combined into the dough.

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Summer Time Whoopie

georgehirsch June 21, 2023

George Hirsch Lifestyle PBS TV Series Oven Fried Chicken Video Recipe

The whoopie pie, aka black moon, gob, black-and-white, bob, or the round Devil Dog, borders on a cookie, cake, and pie. My recipe for a Summer Time Whoopie Pie with grilled pineapple Piña Colada version is worth all the steps. How can you go wrong with chocolate pastry sandwiching a grilled rum-infused pineapple in coconut cream?

Summer Time Piña Colada Whoopie Pies

Make 15 small Dessert Burgers

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For Grilled Pineapple

1 ripe Pineapple

2 Tablespoons Brown sugar

¼ cup Dark Rum, such as Myers

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 Tablespoon mint, chopped

Cut off the top and bottom, and peel the outside skin of the ripe pineapple. Cut horizontally into 1/2-inch slices; remove the center core. Pour marinade over top of pineapple for 3-4 hours prior to grilling.

Remove the pineapple from the marinade. Grill at medium-high temperature for 2 to 3 minutes, basting on each side with marinade. Remove and cool.

Chocolate Pies/Cookies

Makes 30 small cookies to make 15 whoopee pies

3½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1¼ teaspoons baking powder

1¼ teaspoons baking soda

¾ cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder (such as Valrhona)

½ cup good strong warm coffee

2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

¾ cup canola oil

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk, *or ½ cup milk with 1/4 teaspoon vinegar

2 Tablespoons Shredded coconut, lightly toasted

*Add white vinegar to milk to make the buttermilk. Allow to sit 5 minutes to sour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.

In another large bowl, mix the cocoa powder and brown sugar. Add warm coffee and whisk until completely dissolved. Add oil, egg, vanilla, and buttermilk and whisk until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients gently. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as you fold.

Use a small ice cream scoop to drop a heaping tablespoon of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and can be lifted off the; use caution not to overbake. Let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the pan.

Piña Colada Filling:

5 large egg whites

1½ cups sugar

2 cups (4 sticks) sweet butter, room temperature, cut into ½-inch cubes

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure coconut extract

Whisk the egg whites and sugar together in a medium bowl. Set the bowl over a double boiler with simmering water but do not let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. Heat the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved and the color is milky-white, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the egg mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment and start slowly at first; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Remove the whisk attachment and replace it with the paddle attachment. Add salt and coconut flavoring, then the cubed butter. Starting slowly at first, beat on medium-high speed until the filling is light and creamy, about 5 minutes.

Chef George Hirsch Grilled Piña Colada Whoopie Pies

To assemble Summer Piña Colada Whoopie Pies:

Turn half the cooled cookies upside down (flat side facing up). With a pastry bag or spoon, drop a teaspoon of Piña Colada icing onto the flat side of the cookie. Top with grilled pineapple, a teaspoon of Piña Colada icing on top, and sprinkle a small amount of coconut on top.

Place the cookie with the flat side down on top of the filled bottom. Press down slightly so that the filling spreads to the edges of the pies. Repeat until all the pies are used. Put the assembled pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up the icing before serving.

Allow the Piña Colada Whoopie Pies to adjust to room temperature before serving.

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Top Of The Muffin To You

George Hirsch April 16, 2023

Who doesn’t like a good muffin? After all, once the recipe is mixed, it bakes in minutes and is ready to serve.

Tips: Using very ripe bananas (black) is the key to success with a banana muffin recipe. Save ripe bananas and freeze them in a plastic bag until you have enough to make a full recipe.

For a "lower fat" muffin, replace the butter in part or all with applesauce.

Banana Nut Muffins

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makes 10-12 muffins

Optional: For the Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons nuts, chopped

1 Tablespoon sweet butter

Mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts in a small bowl. Blend butter in with a fork until the mixture is crumb-like.

For the Muffin Mix:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups, about 3-4 large very ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup pure cane granulated sugar

3 Tablespoons honey

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 cup sweet butter, melted or replace with part/ all applesauce

Lightly grease 10 muffin cups or line them with muffin papers.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and follow the directions below.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, honey, egg, cinnamon, vanilla, zest, nuts, and melted butter. Fold in the banana mixture by hand with a spatula into the flour mixture until moistened.

Place batter into muffin cups filling each cup to three-quarters full. Divide the crumb topping evenly over the top of the muffin batter.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin; when a toothpick comes out clean or when touched lightly, the muffin should resist finger pressure slightly.

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Angel Wings

George Hirsch April 6, 2023

Galani is also known as fried ribbons, bow ties, or angel wings in the U.S. The ribbons of sweet pasta dough are fried and covered with sugar or honey. It takes on different names throughout central Europe including; chrusciki, krusczyk, frappe, frappole, sfrappole, flappe, cenci, crustci, donzelli, crostoli, galani in Veneto, lattughe, nastri delle suore, bugie, and gigi. No matter what you call them - they are addictive.

Angel Wings

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2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

6 egg yolks

pinch of salt

grated zest of 1 lemon

6 Tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon Sambuca, whiskey, or rum

frying oil

approximately 3/4 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar to pastries

By Mixer:

Place the flour in a mixing bowl with a dough hook, add all ingredients except the confectioners sugar, blend well at low speed, then mix for fifteen minutes.

By Hand:

If kneading by hand, make a well in the center. Add the egg yolks and rub in with the fingers until combined. Add all the other ingredients except the confectioner sugar. Blend well and keep kneading by repeating a pattern of folding the dough, flattening it, folding again, and flattening it for at least half an hour.

Divide the dough into four pieces and cover it in plastic wrap. Allow to rest in the refrigerator for one hour or overnight.

When ready to fry, roll out dough with a rolling stick 1/16th inch thick. Slice into one-and-a-half-inch wide strips. Cut the strips diagonally, preferably with a fluted pastry wheel, into 5-inch lengths. In each strip, cut a one-inch slit the long way in the middle. Pull one end of the strip through the slit so that it looks like a bowtie shape.

Preheat frying oil to 375F. Test a small piece first; it should become golden in about 45 seconds, then turn over. Fry the strips in small batches until they turn light golden, turning once. Drain on wire screens and allow to cool. When cool, move to a serving platter and dust with confectioners sugar.

Tip: The long mixing will create air pockets in the dough; you will want the air pockets to make the pastry puff when frying.